Once Upon A Dream (Kris Bryant)

Epilogue

Jayden

The world is a crazy place. You don't want to get too high because you're going to fall even further. But you don't want to be satisfied with your life, if you're comfortable with where you are then you're doing it wrong. So you have to find a middle ground, somewhere where you're happy but not complacent. Where you're doing everything you ever dreamed up yet there's still so much you want to do. Ideally that's where you want to be, but things don't ever seem to work out that way.

But what kind of life is a ideal one? Something that is predictable is no fun. But I never seem to have a shortage of fun in my life, for something is always happening. And although it sometimes feels like I'm losing my god damned mind, at least we're doing it together.

After Kris and I got married at the end of 2017 we went to Jamaica for a honeymoon. I was about to start up another tour and unfortunately Jamaica wasn't on the list so we went there on our own. Naturally we had a great time but we wanted our baby and our dog so we came back a day or two early. Then we all embarked on yet another adventure and had an amazing time.

Not too long after that we had a little girl. Her name is Sarah Lynn Bryant and she has her daddies beautiful blue eyes. Loves the attention and is quite the athlete. Must run in the family I guess.

As Jacob got older he found his knack for baseball, not that he ever had any issues with that. The poor boy was born into it all, bless his soul. But he's been really picking up lately, he's a solid first base man like uncle Anthony. He comes over all the time to run drills, even though he has kids of his own.

Not too long after Kris and I got married fed Mandy Anthony tie the knot. I always thought they would get married before I did considering they've known each other their whole lives but things never seem to work out the way you think it will. But they finally tied the knot and had twins, two girls much to my sisters displeasure and Anthony's happiness. But even though Anthony loves the girls he always finds time for my little boy in his life.

Anthony and I are still best friends. He and Kris plan on playing their whole entire career in Chicago. This city is our home for sure now and there's nothing you can say that would lead me to believe it any differently. So I got to live out my dreams with my best friend by my side, just like we said we would back in the good old days. We used to dream up of times like this, him being one of the best players of the world and me making music for a living. As a kid those dreams never really felt like dreams, more like unmade plans for the future. It was never a matter of if it will happen, just win. I would have never imagined the success we would find, but all we asked for was a chance. A chance to show the world what we can do. And we did, and now we're neighbors once again and always finding ourselves in then out of trouble.

As for my music, it's still going strong. I'm still telling my story as I live it. Connecting to people who have similar problems or situations as me. I never get writers block or seem to run out of inspiration, there's plenty of it for me to use. You can write a song about just about anything, trust me, I've heard it all. But to write a song that inflicts emotions and thoughtfulness is something that is hard to do, that's why most people don't do it anymore. Too scared to cross the line, people like to stick to what they know that works and that's what everyone else is doing. But not me, I always seem to find more pleasure in bending the rules, not breaking them or conforming.

And Kris, well he's been the best. I love that man more and more every day of my life. I wake up in the morning and roll over in bed and see him smiling down at me, it's the best feeling in the world. We grab a cup of coffee before the kids are up then we start our day. It's always fun with him around, always lots of surprises and romantic gestures. He always asks if I'm doing okay and what he can do to make it better. But it doesn't get much better than this, living your dreams and watching the one you live the most living out their dreams too. Every day is the best day ever around here, there's plenty of reasons to smile and memories to be made. I wouldn't change a single thing about this life I lead. And honestly that's all I will ever ask for.

This fine morning was a hot one. Temperatures reaching the hundreds here in Chicago. I wake up and see the my husband isn't in bed. Not really that unusual for he's usually peeing or making coffee so I decide to go search for him. I go downstairs and there's no Kris. Just my coffee mug with some coffee on the stove. It was eerily silent but this never happens so I take advantage of it. I pour myself a cup and go to take a sip before I hear a loud crash from outside. I knew this was too good to be true.

I walk out there and see my kids in the pool and Anthony's kids in there too. Anthony was trying to get the grill from his side of the fence to ours but it wasn't working out very well.

"What's going on here" I ask and everyone stops.

"Hi mommy! Look! We're swimming" Sarah calls from the pool.

"I see that baby! Are you having fun" I ask.

"Yeah! Look what I can do" she calls out before going under water. She does a front flip before standing up in the pool.

"Oh sweetie that was great! Good job" I smile.

"Good morning mom" Jacob says getting out of the pool and grabbing a towel. He comes over and hugs me because he's a mommas boy.

"Good morning Jakey. How did you sleep" I ask.

"Good" he smiles. I mess up his wet hair and he shakes his head. He sheds his towel before jumping back in the pool making all the girls in there scream.

Anthony continues to try and wedge the grill through the door but I'm pretty sure that's not gonna happen.

"Why didn't you just keep the grill at your place" I ask.

"Because it's a lot easier to move this grill than the pool" he says back. Someone's being sassy.

"Where's K-" I start but I feel a pair of arms wrap around me. I look up and see Kris standing there smiling down at me. The sun encasing him in the powerful glow that makes me feels so good inside. "Never mind" I giggle. He presses a kiss to my lips and I hear the kids in the pool all groan.

"Oh hush it" my sister says climbing over the grill Anthony was trying to bring over and setting her things down in a pool chair.

"He knows we have a grill right" I ask Kris.

"That's his grill though" he says and I look at him weird. "It's a man thing" he claims.

"Ohhhhh" I gasp. Makes sense now. 

Eventually we get the grill over and no one gets hurt. I look around as everyone was in their bathing suits except for me. So I go in and change before washing my coffee cup. I return outside and join Kris who was sitting with his legs in the pool talking to Jacob. Anthony was with my sister at the grill as they talk too. The rest of the kids splashed around in the pool and I just watch this all unfold in front of me.

This is my life. It isn't perfect, but it is more than I would ever ask for. And I think of that the little girl back home who was dreaming of one day being here, I think this would make her pretty happy.

Falling in love isn't easy, at least it wasn't for me. But it was the kind of love you can't fall out of. The kind of love that you know you shouldn't but all the forces in the world can't stop you from falling.