Cough Syrup

Come Down

Alice was a traditionalist. She wanted an open casket. Wanted to see her son one final time before he was laid to rest beneath the ground.

Elena had other wishes for her husband, but Alice deserved to be respected. After all, she had raised the man with whom Elena fell so deeply in love. Raised the man who was such a wonderful father and husband. Raised the man who had given so many people so much happiness.

But the man in the casket wasn't her Henry. Her Henry had so much light in his eyes. So much expression on his face. So much life.

The Henry she looked down on was lifeless. And she wouldn't ever be able to shake the emptiness.

Elena jolted awake, her body covered in a thin layer of sweat despite the crisp early autumn air blowing through the window of her bedroom.

Before she could finish a deep breath to regain her composure, Christian's hand rested on her thigh. "Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice shaky with concern. "What do you need?"

"N-nothing. Just a m-memory," she stuttered slightly before taking another breath.

"I'm going to go get you some water," Christian decided, getting to his feet.

"No, please stay," she panicked, reaching for his hand to indicate that she wanted him to stay in bed.

"Whatever you want," he said quickly but softly, crawling under the covers and wrapping his long, strong arms around his love. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Elena shook her head no. "Just hold me, so I can fall back asleep?" she asked, her voice still hesitant.

"I will hold you forever if that's what it takes to make you feel better," Christian replied, running his fingers through Elena's hair as she buried her head into his bare chest.

***

"I can't believe how much I fucking suck," Christian muttered in the kitchen, playing with the mashed potatoes on his plate.

Elena tried to meet her boyfriend's eyes. "You just had a bad night, Christian," she tried to reason. "You didn't get much to hit."

"I keep swinging at shit outside the strike zone, Ley. This isn't how I want to end the season. I look washed up." His voice wasn't angry. Just deeply sad and disappointed.

Elena gently placed a hand over his. "Don't force yourself to eat if you're not hungry. Why don't we get ready for bed?" she asked tenderly.

Christian just nodded before standing up and going to brush his teeth.

***

Elena kissed Christian lovingly on his cheek, and was surprised when Christian pressed his lips against hers. "I love you, Elena," he sighed. "You and Jonas are the best part of every day."

Elena smiled softly at Christian, the pair getting into bed. "And you're the best part of ours too, Christian. You're such a good role model for my son."

Christian swallowed thickly, wondering if she would have thought the same thing before he met her. She had changed him somehow. For the better. "I need to play better for you two."

"You need to be less hard on yourself. I understand how difficult it is not to be when you're a perfectionist, but you need to take a breather sometimes too." Elena kissed him again, and moaned quietly when Christian carefully pulled her into his lap. He just wanted to be closer to her. She knew that.

"You know me better than anyone else ever has," Christian whispered, blushing slightly when he realized she could feel all of his manhood through his joggers and her sleep shorts.

"Can I take care of you tonight?" she asked a bit hesitantly, stroking his member over the grey fabric.

"If—if it's something you really want to do," he breathed out. He didn't want to force her. Didn't want to guilt her into anything. But, God, he ached for her touch. He had ached for months.

Elena chuckled. "Of course I want to . . ." as the words left her mouth, she began to remove his joggers, freeing his length from the confines of the fabric. She knew he was big, but she gasped at just how big he was in reality, his boner already pressed against his toned stomach. "Fuck," she whispered. "Christian," she muttered, as she palmed his impossibly thick, long cock. He had to be at least nine inches.

Christian shut his eyes tightly as soon as she began palming him, and moaned loudly when she grasped his dick and began to expertly move her hand up and down the shaft. It was the sexiest thing he had ever seen or felt, and he was terrified that he'd somehow fuck everything up.

He was almost overwhelmingly big, and Elena felt herself growing wet at the idea of challenging herself to get him all the way inside of her. But she couldn't. She just wasn't ready.

A handjob she was ready for. "Goddamn, fuck, Elena, shit," he groaned, knowing that he was only going to last a few minutes. He had desired her touch since the day they met, and it was even more wonderful than he anticipated.

She paused and looked at him. "I'm going to even this out a little," she said with a giggle before removing her cami to reveal her full breasts to him.

Christian's jaw dropped, and he instinctively reached out to touch them, brushing her nipples with his fingertips ever so gently. "So perfect," he whispered, as Elena started jerking him off again. She started slowly, but increased the pace quickly.

"Elena, I'm not going to last," Christian let out, trying hard not to scream her name as he let go, cumming all over Elena's exposed breasts.

"Oh my God, Elena, I'm so sorry," he gasped — not expecting that much of a release from a handjob. But he should have known better. This was his Elena.

Elena laughed. "I wouldn't have it any other way," she said sweetly, smiling as Christian used her discarded tank top to clean up his mess.

"So beautiful," he sighed, enjoying how each of her breaths made her chest rise and fall.

"You can play with them," she offered, yearning for his touch, but knowing she couldn't offer much more right now.

"Really?" Christian asked excitedly, immediately throwing the camisole across the room and latching his mouth onto one of her perky nipples.

Elena moaned, as Christian excitedly licked, sucked, nibbled, and massaged her tits. She felt her hand trailing to the wetness between her legs, but jerked her hand back when she got too close

Baby steps. She needed to take them.

***

Christian woke up with a smile on his face. His girlfriend was half naked next to him, and, fuck, she was perfect. He never wanted to leave her side. Even if she could never give herself to him fully, just her kisses were enough. He could live off of those.

In that moment, watching his girl sleep peacefully, reality hit him hard. Today was the first game of the last series of the season. In just under a week, he would have to return to Los Angeles to spend time with his family, train, and do press junkets.

He could feel the hot tears sting his cheeks. He was going to lose her . . .

***

Jonas hung onto Christian's neck tightly, and Christian's heart broke when he heard the boy's muffled cries into his shoulder.

The sobs destroyed Christian, and he could feel the tears release onto his own cheeks. "I'll be home soon, buddy. I promise."

Jonas didn't respond. Just shook his head against Christian's shoulder.

"I have some presents for you," Christian said softly through his tears, a bit of relief rushed over him when Jonas perked up slightly to look Christian in the eyes.

"I thought that might help," Christian laughed through his pain, setting Jonas carefully on a chair outside the concourse gate that Christian definitely didn't want to step through.

"This is for you buddy," Christian whispered, giving the small boy a gift bag, which Jonas hesitantly opened. While he did so, Christian made eye contact with Elena. She appeared so unaffected, and it hurt him deeply. "Nothing too big," Christian mouthed to her.

Elena smiled and mouthed back, "You're the best."

"Is this your jersey, Mr. Christian?" Jonas asked, wiping his red eyes.

Christian kneeled down in front of the boy. "I wore this when I played a game last week, and then I had all our Brewers friends sign it, including Hernán," he said with a smile.

Jonas gave Christian a big hug before continuing to unwrap two other gifts: a photo of Christian and Jonas taking batting practice together and a game-used ball that Christian wrote a special message on:

I love, you Jonas. Christian Yelich, #22

Jonas hugged Christian again — as tightly as he could. "Should we give your mom her presents too?" he asked the boy, who had helped him pick out a couple gifts for Elena.

Jonas nodded aggressively, handing his mom a smaller bag.

"You guys shouldn't have," Elena muttered, biting her lip.

"You deserve the world, Ley. I love you. We love you." Christian smiled and kissed Elena's cheek as she opened a small tell-tale turquoise box to reveal a dainty platinum bracelet with three small diamonds. "It's beautiful," she muttered softly. No man besides Henry had ever bought her jewelry. She was conflicted, but decided in the moment to not show that.

"Let me put it on you?" Christian asked eagerly. "Just a little something to remind you of how much I love you when you're having a bad day."

"Of course," she agreed, as Christian delicately clasped the bracelet around her wrist.

"There's one more thing in the bag."

Elena nodded, opening another small turquoise box. This time it contained a thin silver cuff adorned with a few sapphires, Jonas's birthstone.

"This is beautiful, Christian. They both are. Thank you," she continued to try to be stoic — not wanting to break in front of Jonas. He was already having a hard enough time.

Christian kissed her sweetly but with so much passion.

"And your turn," Elena said with a bright smile, reaching into her purse to grab a perfectly wrapped gift adorned with gold ribbon and a bow.

Christian excitedly tore into the paper, tears striking again when he was met with a beautiful photo of the three of them standing on the field at Miller Park. Jonas was standing between them, and they were both holding one of his hands.

Elena wiped his tears away. "We'll miss you so much, Christian. So, so much. We love you."

So sorry this took so long to update! The holidays hit, then I had surgery earlier in January and started a new job immediately after. Things are settling down now, though, so look forward to more consistent updates!