Married To Baseball

Dibs On Kid Name.

Jailyn~ 

"Christian Yelich, Four-time world series champion, four-time national league MVP, an eight-time national league batting titleholder, three-time time golden glove recipient, husband, father, and now retiree, how's that feel buddy?" Jared asks Christian in his Starting Nine interview from our couch. 

"Pretty crazy," Christian says with a chuckle, "Mostly for the father and retiree part though seeing those are the two newest and biggest additions to that list." 

"You got drafted straight out of high school in 2010 into Miami Marlins organization, got brought up in 2013 to the majors played four-five years in Miami before you got traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2018 where you've spent the last eleven years now. So for the last nineteen years, it's been baseball mostly and you're still arguably one of the top players in the game why not sign another extension?" 

Christian points over at me where I'm holding Ryker just chilling in a chair off to the side of the interview, "The main and obvious reason is those two. I want to be able to be present for as much as I can for them especially with Ryker in the picture now. That's most of the reason JJ and I waited so long to have a kid because both of us had crazy schedules and it wasn't slowing down until now. Neither of us wanted our kid to have to be raised by a nanny for the first few years while we continued to play. I also would rather go out while I'm still relatively good rather than have people asking what happened if I started to suck," Christian laughs making me chuckle a little as I push around the hair on Ryker's head as he sucks on the little green pacifier. He's awake his dark hazel eyes roam the room before they land on me and I start making faces at him trying to get him to smile. It's pretty easy to do seeing as this kid has always seemed like crazy happy unless he needs something. He's pretty damn perfect. 

"Well I guess that's fair, were there any offers that you had to turn down?" 

I look up and watch them talk, "Sort of," Christian replies, "I think most people kinda knew where I stood with everything. JJ and I both spoke pretty openly about or mentalities when it came to having kids when we were asked. Then with us announcing that she was pregnant and her kinda announcing that she wasn't coming back this season I think people saw what we were planning on doing. Milwaukee pretty much told me that if I wanted an extension they'd give me one I just had to say the word." 

"Hey, Jai you got any plans to come back?" I scoff a little and shrug in response, "Jai is over on the other side of the room with Christian and her son, Ryker who is arguably the fucking cutest baby ever." I laugh a little looking back down to Ryk and smiling, yeah he is. "Come join the pod." I scrunch my face a little and shake my head, "C'mon, do it for the fans." 

"Yeah, Jai," Christian adds, "Do it for the fans." I roll my eyes shaking my head as I stand up and head over to join the two of them continuing to hold Ryker. 

"Alright we're here," I say as I sit next to Christian. I readjust Ryker so I'm holding him a little more comfortably again. 

"How do you feel about Christians retirement now?" Jarred asks. 

"I mean," I look at Christian once, "Right now it's kinda not a real thing, I've known him for the last ten years and lived with him the last nine so I'm used to him being around these next few months. I'm sure it'll sink in a little bit more when both of us are home next season, but right now it's just like it's the end of his season. I'm obviously incredibly proud of everything he's been able to accomplish and he deserves all the praise in the world but right now I don't know that it's fully a real thing yet in my mind. This one also has been keeping me pretty busy basically all the time so it's hard to let everything really sink in above, oh my god we have a baby. He also keeps me up all the time needing to be fed every like three hours so I'm relatively sleep deprived so I feel like I have no clue what's happening most of the time." 

"Doesn't Christian help you out?" Jarred asks making me laugh a little at the slight call out.

"He wants to but it's kinda hard when I'm breastfeeding. Ryker will take bottles and stuff when we've had to have family watch him but it's honestly just so much easier for me to just feed him," I explain. 

"How'd you guys decide on his name?" 

"We decided nothing that we could come up with worked," Christian says, "So I mentioned maybe just scrapping everything we'd thought of and just go based on meaning. He was three weeks early and then came right about forty minutes after JJ's water broke I guess and he decided to make his debut before the paramedics even made it out, so he was fast and we went off that. We found a few lists that JJ hated before we got to like the third one and there Ryker was at the very bottom of it. JJ said it out loud and the little dude smiled a little and we pretty much knew then." 

"Yeah, depending on where you look Ryker has a few meanings the English meaning I guess is 'Fast strider' but it also means prosperous and strong," I add. "So we dibs on kid named that." 

Christian and Jarred laugh at my joke, "You were only in labor for forty minutes?" I nod, "And had Ryker before the paramedics came?"

"Yeah, so not only is Christian Yelich a phenomenal baseball player he can deliver babies on the side," I joke getting laughs again, "My doctors and I are pretty sure that I was in labor for a while before my water broke but I didn't even realize it because I had been having Braxton hicks for almost the entirety of my third trimester as well as like four weeks before Ryker was actually born I went into a false labor basically where I was having real contractions after Ryk broke one of my ribs while shooting my last Adidas Campaign. I was told not to do anything strenuous or travel after that so that's why I stopped going to all of Christian's games. The morning Ryker was born I was having contractions but I was so used to them at that point I just wrote them off like they were nothing. Christian left for his game I went and took a shower, had a couple of contractions while I was in there that were a bit stronger before I got out and my water broke on the floor and I had my first big one. Christian's mom Alecia had been hanging out since I wasn't allowed to really do anything then so she came up and we decided I was in labor. I pretty much just told her that I wasn't about to go anywhere until Christian was home. We got a hold of him while he was at BP then he got home and like maybe ten to fifteen minutes later we're having him on our bedroom floor." 

 Jarred look stunned almost at my retelling of how Ryker made his grand appearance, "So it was just you three then? You two and your mom?" 

"Yep," I reply, "Kids gonna be trouble even if he's pretty damn good right now." 

"I'll bet," Jarred replies as Christian rubs Ryks head gently. "So Jailyn, seeing as your husband and baby daddy has officially retired, do you have any plans of getting back to the field?"

I just shrug a little, "I mean, I don't know right now I feel like it's super easy for me just to say no. I'm very happy with where everything is in my life right now. If I do go back I don't know how I'll manage to end things on a more perfect way, coming in clutch with a game-winning save in the Olympic gold medal game doesn't just happen every year." I laugh a little remembering that moment, "I also can't imagine leaving Ryk for that long like it would  be different than things have been with Christian and my schedule obviously but." I sort of just trail off unsure of what else to really say about it right now, "I guess I'm going to answer no, there aren't any plans to get back right now."

"Damn, both the GOAT's gone in the same season, you definitely do have to hate to see it." 

(I know I didn't use that last line in the correct context, don't come for me and just go with it lmfao)