Love Prevails (Kris Bryant)

23| This Is Life

McKayla

"Alright, that's the last box" Mike announces setting it in the kitchen. After 15 days in the hospital I find myself in a new home. Luckily I never really unpacked from the last one so it took just two trips to get everything here. Kris won't let me lift a finger to help and I would usually argue, but my pain medication is very strong and it was probably best that I stayed out the way.

"Thanks so much for all your help" I say to Sue and Mike.

"Kayla, you know we would do anything for you. You did a courageous thing, what we did is nothing compared to that" Sue smiles. I go in for a hug but gasp when she wraps her arms around me. In order to get the bullet out they had to separate my ribs so they were still a bit sore, even with the medicine.

"I'm so sorry" she gasps and I shake my head.

"You're fine Sue, I just forgot I was hurt. That's all" I assure her.

"Take good care of her son, we know where you live" Mike jokes and I shake my head. Typical dad joke. We say our goodbyes and I tried my best not to cry. After it was all said and done I head to put my things up.

"What do you think you're doing" Kris asks as I bend over to pick up a box.

"Putting my things away" I say slowly.

"You go rest, I'll put everything up" he insists.

"If you think I'm going to sit around while you continue to live life you got another thing coming bud. You know we work best when we work together, not for each other" I reply taking the box back.

"Stubborn" he mumbles picking up another box and I smile. We spend the afternoon unpacking boxes and listening to my MP3 from high school.

"Holy shit, is this the prom tiara" asks holding up a crown.

"Yeah, I forgot I still hand that" I admit. He puts it on my head and I laugh.

"You've always been my queen" he comments. I feel a blush form and go back to my box I was tending to. After many long hours all the boxes were broken down and in the dumpster. I look down and see the blood starting to seep through my bandages.

"Hey Kris, I need to change my bandages. Mind helping" I ask.

"Of course not" he replies. We head to the bathroom and I remove my shirt and badges. His eyes widen as I sit there topless.

"Come on. You've seen me naked plenty of times. I lost my virginity to you for petes sake, this is nothing" I assure him.

"Still, I like to take the time to admire you" he says softly. I hand him a sponge and some anti-bacterial cleaner as he lightly rubs the sponge over the sewn up hole in my side. I flinch as the cold sponge makes contact but assure Kris it's okay to keep going. After the wound was disinfected he helps me wrap up and I throw out the old bandages.

"I'm so sorry this happened" he sighs.

"This is life Kris, yeah it sucks but I'm still here. I'm still in your arms loving you more than I ever had in my life. What happened, that's in the past. We have a bright future together if you would just open your eyes" I whisper. He looks into my eyes as I stare back at him. He lets out a loud sigh and I knew he wanted to change topics.

"How about I make dinner and you can sit on the counter like the good old times" I suggest and he grows a smile.

"I would like that" he admits. And that's just what we did. I make chicken alfredo and we talk about baseball as if nothing ever happened.

"Do you miss playing" he asks.

"Kind of. But my favorite part of baseball was being part of the team, I can still be that" I shrug.

"The guys are going to be so excited you're back tomorrow. Especially Joe, he's had no one to bounce ideas off of the past few weeks and he's kind of losing it" he laughs.

"Can't wait to be back. Not excited to be the baby sitter again but..." I trail off.

"Hey! We're not that bad" he pouts.

"Yes, you guys really are. But I love you all anyway" I say patting his knee. I make our plates and he hops down and joins me in the dining room to eat.

"I'm really happy you moved in" he mentions about halfway through the meal.

"Why is that" I wonder.

"Because now I can see you all the time and I don't have to wonder what you look like at any given moment or have to ask what's going through that beautiful mind of yours because I'll know."

"I'm pretty sure it's just because you want to see me naked" I joke.

"You're so right" he replies sarcastically. He helps me clean up and we wash dishes with the minimal amounts of water leaving the sink. Eventually it gets time for a bed so I change into a big t-shirt and climb into bed. Kris strips down to his underwear and joins me. I snuggle into his chest as he wraps a arm around me and pulls me close.

"Remember the first time we slept together" he asks and I laugh.

"Yeah, I got like two hours of sleep that night because I didn't want to go to bed. I just wanted to stay like that forever" I admit.

"I was so nervous, I mean we've slept in the same bed many times before that, but never together. I vividly remember looking down at you, you were facing me with your eyes closed and a little smile on your lips. Your hair was high on top of your head and your breathing evened out, I remember thinking to myself 'I waited so long for this, and it was worth it'" he says.

"That was the first time in a really long time I wasn't afraid to wake up. I opened my eyes and it wasn't disappointment I was met with. It was hope, hope for a better future as long as I woke up with you" I admit.

"I'm so happy we don't have to go through any more awkward firsts. The hard part of our relationship is long gone and we can just get back to the way things used to be" he sighs.

"That's true. I don't think I could go through losing my virginity twice" I joke. We talk the rest of the night about nothing in particular, that's one of the many cool things about our relationship. Nothing was ever forced, we genuinely wanted to be around each other talking about anything and everything. Eventually it gets late and he falls asleep first, I look around and get acquainted with my surroundings. This was my home.