Married To Baseball

What's Real Right Now.

Jailyn~

"You good?" Cam asks, nudging my shoulder. The question isn't exactly easy to answer right now. Nodding, I force a smile trying to fake that my mind isn't racing a million miles a minute. "You sure?" 

"Yeah," I reply, trying to reassure him even though I have no clue how well I'm masking the infinite levels of anxiety coursing through me. Even though I always figured things would get to this point, for him, I never imagined having any sort of a part in it. Let alone that I'd be in the worst place to be able to have any reaction to the news. I've gotta reel this in. 

Conveniently, one of the vendors is coming by with Long Islands. Flagging him down, I grab my card, "Anyone else want one," I offer. Cam pretty quickly takes me up on the offer, his mild concern seeming to dissipate. 

Through the game, I continue to go through the usual motions. The atmosphere at Miller Park, as the crew is on the brink of another world series, makes it a little easier to act like things are okay. One inning left has the crowd in complete pandemonium as we hold onto our one-run lead. That's what's real right now, that's what I've got to focus on. 

As the 9th inning rolls around, Alecia and I are clinging to one another, waiting for the final moments of the game to decide if we're coming back tomorrow, or if we've got another title in Milwaukee. The latter seems more likely right now. With two outs and a one-run lead in the top of the inning, we're minutes away from history. 

The crack of a bat silences the crowd. That's solid contact. Sucking in a breath, I watch as the ball flies deep out to center field. Tracking it back, Wiemer is on it, but it's going to be close. Joey jumps up into the wall somehow managing to pull it back in. "Holy shit," I say immediately, seemingly half a second before complete pandemonium ensues. The Milwaukee Brewers, your 2024 World Series Champions. 

Alecia and I embrace tightly, her elated for her son, and me for my husband. I'm sure she's got tears in her eyes just like I do, proud not even beginning to cut it. Cam and Colin are both a part of this as well, each of them getting their turn to celebrate with their mom and me. Everyone around is sharing in this moment, celebrating with one another, knowing how lucky we've been the last few years. 

When Friends and Families are finally let onto the field, we all wait for our boys to get through their celebrations for the time being. All of us know that this is their moment, this is what they've worked all year for. Usually, they're all pretty quick to want to celebrate with their families too. 

It only takes a couple of minutes for Christian to spot us. Immediately he makes his way over both of us ignoring every camera as we close the space between us. I'm sure Alecia and the boys are close behind, but neither Christian nor I pay any attention to anyone but each other as we finally get to embrace. I'd be lying if I didn't say I needed this more than I could've ever imagined. It'd be really shitty for me to let that on now though. 

"I'm so proud of you," I tell him, still clinging tightly to him as I kiss his cheek. He doesn't hesitate to kiss me fully. As much as neither one of us is big on PDA, it's more than welcome now. It's been a crazy year. 

"I love you," He tells me, kissing me once more before pulling away to hug his mom. Wiping under my eyes quickly, I can't help but chuckle seeing Alecia crying just the same. At least if I can't contain my anxiety over everything outside the stadium, I've got a pretty solid excuse.  

Christian makes his necessary rounds before finding his way back to me. Wrapping his arms around me again, he kisses the top of my head. Immediately it's as though I've got this impenetrable bubble protecting me from everything else. Even with even more shit piled onto my plate, I've got security with Christian.