protect my heart

16

c h r i s t i a n

I walk into the kitchen before heading off to my game. I'm sure Nadia was going to be happy with the news I had to share.

"Hey, babe," I say, kissing her cheek as I saw her getting some snacks together for the kids, "So, guess what?"

Nadia turns and smiles at me, "What's up, babe?" She set whatever she was doing down and turned her attention on me.

"Well, the guys were wondering if Wyatt wanted to throw out the first pitch today since its kids day at the ballpark.." I explain, "I just wanted to know if you were okay with it. I haven't told him yet, but I'm sure he'll be down for it."

"Baby, he's going to love that! Of course I'm okay with that, I think that'll be so exciting for him." Nadia says, the smile never leaving her face. "That's going to be so awesome, oh my goodness!" She kissed my cheek and then finished getting the snacks in the bag, "Will you go see if Willow has her pants on? She wouldn't put them on," She laughed.

I nod and chuckle before going into Willow's room to see her sitting on her bed, "Momma said you were being fussy about your pants!" I lean against the door, "You ready to go? We're going to the ball game! I wanna see my girl cheering me on!"

Willow got out of her bed and looked at me, "I not like the ones she had for me, daddy. I wanted blue ones." She pointed at her leggings, "Not bwack."

"I think either looks fine! I like the blue ones you're wearing now! They go really good with your shirt! They're daddy's team colors!" I tell her, picking her up. "You're letting your hair down today?"

She nodded, "I not want it up." Willow said, pushing hair out of her face before she wrapped her arms around my neck, "I see fwends today?"

I kiss her forehead, "Yeah, bug! It's kids day today so all the kiddos are going to be there and they're gonna have some activities and games planned for you! It's going to be a lot of fun.." I tell her as we walk into the kitchen, "She's got pants on."

"Not the ones I wanted, but I don't want to argue with my little girl about pants," Nadia says as she looks over at us, "You sure you don't want your hair up, Willow bug? It might get in the way later when you're running around.."

Willow shook her head, "No, mommy! It fine!"

Nadia laughed, "Okay! But if you want it up later, just let me know, because I know you'll get all hot and sweaty from running around with your friends!" She grabbed her bag and looked at me, "Wyatt's outside already, he's been waiting."

***

I walked with Wyatt out to the pitchers mound to get him set up for throwing the first pitch. I of course was going to catch it, but I would be a little closer to him because I know throwing from the mound to home plate is a pretty far throw for a little guy like him.

"Okay bud, when I give you the signal, you give me your best pitch, okay?" I pat his head before walking over to where I was going to take my stance. I gave him a second and then gave him the signal and he sent that ball launching into my glove. Once I caught it, I stood up and he ran to me and I picked him up, kissing his head. "That was awesome, buddy!"

Wyatt giggled, "I did it, daddy! I pitch like the big guys!" He smiled and I gave him back the ball to keep. He deserved it.

The game went alright. We won, but I went 2-3 at the plate. Not my best performance, and I wasn't really proud of myself coming out of that game. I walked into the clubhouse to get my things and meet Nadia outside where the rest of the families were.

Willow was asleep in Nadia's arms and Nadia knew right away that I was in a bad mood. She frowned as she approached me and just put her hand on my arm.

"It's okay, babe. You still did amazing.." She said, leaning up to kiss my cheek. "I can give you a back rub if you want..."

I just shook my head, "No thanks, baby. But, thank you." I picked up Wyatt to carry out to the car along with my things. I got him all buckled in and helped Nads buckle Willow in. I got in the driver's seat and just looked over at Nadia, "I played super shitty today."

She was quick to shake her head and look at me, "You really didn't, babe. You just had an off day, and that's okay! Everyone has off days. Don't beat yourself up over it, okay?" She grabbed my hand and kissed it gently, "We'll go home and go to bed and completely forget about it."

"Okay.." I say before beginning to drive home. As much as I appreciated her kind words, I know that she was trying her best to make sure I felt better about how I played and whatnot, but I take my playing to heart, I just beat myself up over it. It's always been a thing I've done, never really knew how to particularly stop that. Just being overly critical of myself.

We arrived home and got the kids all changed and in bed and I took a shower before walking into the bedroom to see Nads looking in the mirror, "What are you doing, babe?"

Nadia turned and faced me, "I'm starting to show a little bit! Look!" She turned to the side and I could see the bump peeking, much more prominently than it was, bringing a smile to my face. "I finally look pregnant," she giggled.

I walked over by her, putting my hands on her stomach, "And you're still so so beautiful, babe." I kiss her forehead, "I love seeing your glow and your smile, makes me really happy.."

"I can't wait to find out what we're having. I'm so excited for the party. Our families are flying out, too!" Nadia told me and moved my hands so she could pull her shirt down, "I gave the results to my sister so she would keep them otherwise I would be so tempted to just tear them up." Nadia laughed, sitting down in the bed, "I just can't believe we have another kiddo on the way.."

"That's crazy to me, too." I tell her as I sit down on my side of the bed, getting under the covers. "It always baffled me that we even had one kid, let alone two. But now three? Three little you and me's running around?" I chuckle, "Willow reminds me so much of you from when we were younger."

Nadia turned her head to look at me, "You think so?"

I nod, "She's got that little spunky personality and just giggles at everything and wants everyone to watch her all the time. When we were little, you always wanted the attention on you." I laugh and wrap my arms around her, "But that's alright, you always knew how to steal the show anyways."

She blushed and hit my arm, "Hey, you were a little show off too! Always wanting to show people your baseball tricks or whatever thing you had learned...I guess they get the show off part from you." She winked and smirked at me.

"Hey, their dad is an MVP, I would be showing off too if I were them." I said before laying down and getting comfortable. "The MVP would also like to get some sleep."

"I guess the MVP can get what he wants for once," Nadia said, moving to cuddle into my side. "Soon, I'm not going to be able to do this again and I'll have to use my pregnancy pillow and be the little spoon."

"You never complained about being the little spoon anyways," I tell her, rubbing her side. "But I do like when you lay against me like this, you're always so warm."

"Just consider me your personal space heater for the time being. Until my bump gets in the way.." Nadia said before laying her head on my chest, "I love you, babe. Good night."

"Good night, babe. I love you more."