Third Strike Rule

Epilogue

"Cutting it a little close my guy," Cy comments as Nolan slides into the bleacher seat next to him with flowers and leis in hand.

"I had to go to three flowers shops for leis," Nolan says slightly out of breath.

Cy rolls his eyes, "you guys spent one week in Hawaii and now you think she needs leis for graduation?"

Nolan glares at his brother, "At least we have-"

Cy cuts his brother off and shushes him as the master of ceremonies heads to the podium. Nolan pulls at the collar on his button up. It was going to be a hot summer in Los Angeles and Nolan was extremely thankful to be in Milwaukee. He had no idea how Cy had played so many seasons in LA and he definitely had no idea how his dad had played so many seasons there. They were from Arizona...

"Nolan," Cody greets as he takes a seat next to Baker and Kathryn.

"Hey dad," Nolan acknowledges his dad who had been ejected from the Brewers v. Dodgers game the night before.

"Sorry about last night," Cody says with a laugh.

Christian leans forward, "Cy made a move towards second he was definitely out." Kat pulls her husband back before he got Cody fired up again. Viviana's graduation was not the time or place for baseball politics.

"He was out but why was your shortstop all the way over at first base?" Cody questions while looking at Nolan who just shrugged.

"It's called zoning and if you tried it you wouldn't have lost fourteen to three," Christian tells Cody as lightheartedly as possible.

Cody shakes his head knowing it was all jokes, "That is not zoning that is Nolan wanting to get his brother out."

The group of people laugh and greet CJ as he comes up dressed in a very expensive suit, Rolex and red bottom dress shoes. Nolan shakes his head thinking about how much CJ had flexed his massive contract with the Cowboys. CJ had made six times more in his rookie year than Nolan, but Nolan knew after this year and after he won Rookie of the Year he would have the one of the largest contracts in the MLB. He was already the predicted favorite for the award.

Zana and McCoy sat down as the ceremony started each with a kid in hand. Maddy and Mason McCoy were the two best behaved children Nolan had ever seen and he realized that was because Zana had raised her own kids and spent time making sure they had plenty of time with their dad. It was also hard for Nolan to wrap his head around having two kids  when he and Viviana were approaching their first full year together.

It had been a long year with Nolan spending a lot of time in Nashville at the Triple A team during the fall since Christian didn't want him to debut towards the end of a not so great season for the Brewers. Nolan had moved back to Los Angeles as soon as his season was over to catch the end of Viv's last indoor season and the beginning of her last beach season. USC had won the indoor national championship and Viv would be competing in her last beach volleyball national championship in two weeks. First, she had to graduate.

Nolan thought about the month of January when he thought it was going to be over between him and Viv because of a pregnancy scare. He tried so hard to be supportive and excited about the thought of being a dad but it just wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to enjoy his 20s' with Viv and travel in their off season without kids. It still hurt when Viv's pregnancy tests came back negative. He did see that in the future for them, but not right now.

The ceremony drug on as each student's name was announced and they walked across the stage. Finally, Nolan spotted Viviana in her red gown heading up to the stage. He knew the one announcing names had been her academic advisor and would make a big deal about Viv graduate.

"Graduating summa cum laude with degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology the most decorated collegiate athlete, Viviana Alecia Yelich!"

Nolan's entire section cheered loudly and then the entire stadium begin to cheer as Viviana walked across stage. Viv posed for several pictures and then was escorted to her seat so she could complete the tassel turning ceremony with the rest of her college.

Nolan followed Viv's posse to their designated meeting spot. He waited patiently as everyone took photos with her and then finally it was his turn. He kissed Viv and congratulated her before putting the leis on her neck and giving her the flowers.

Viv took a step away and everyone turned to her, "I was offered a spot with the USA National Team for indoor volleyball, but AVP has also given me a contract to compete as an amateur while still letting me keep my endorsements." Viv looked around seeing everyone's expectant faces. "I am going to keep playing beach volleyball with AVP."

Everyone cheered at Viv's announcement especially Nolan who was expecting to not have Viv with him, but with AVP being so flexible she could probably move to Milwaukee once her season was over. Plus AVP beach volleyball off season was in line with the MLB. Nolan and Viv were finally going to get a real chance at their relationship and Nolan couldn't wait to see what the rest of the year brought them.

~*~

So that was probably the worst epilogue ever but it was something and it set it up in case I do more later. With all that being said for the time being this is the end of Viviana and Nolan's story and I hope everyone was happy with how it ended. I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read from the beginning and who came over from How to Hit a Home Run. Also, thank you to everyone else who read, voted and commented your feedback was quite literally everything to me. This was a fun story for me to write and allowed me to keep my creative juices flowing while I went through a very very stressful year. If you guys want to connect with me on Tiktok or Instagram send me a DM! All that being said if you'll be a Cardinals v Brewers in St. Louis or any of the upcoming Padres game lmk! Love you all very much and look out for my next story!!!