Forever - Christian Yelich

That's My Girl.

Brooklyn~ 

The team and I made it to Minneapolis late last night and had to be up earlier this morning. Today the guys would play their game then soon after the rest of the girls and I would play our game against the Twins' WAGs. It was so cool because all of the guys were so excited to watch us play. 

The girls and I walk into our clubhouse and see that the guys even made us "uniforms." I guess they really take this seriously around here. All of the girls who participated got the space their husband or boyfriend used prior to them. I walk closer to my space, well Christian's space, and look at all of the clothes laid out in front of me. This is really nostalgic and makes me feel so happy to be playing a game I once loved. 

We get changed and soon we are all sitting on our phones waiting for the guys to tell us we're ready. We hear a few knocks on the door and most of them come in. "You girls ready?" Ryan says coming into the middle of the room. 

"Hell, yeah," we say and start to cheer. We head out to the dugout and start to get warmed up. 

Christian comes up to me as I follow through with some swings. "Go kick some ass out there," he says and I laugh and shake my head. 

"I'll see what I can do," I say looking up at him and smirking. He laughs and heads back to the dugout. 

Ryan and Christian teamed up as the manager role for this exhibition game that was just for shits and giggles.  We all huddle up to our "managers" and they go over some simple rules. Luckily, they didn't want us to actually pitch, so we weren't going to be pitching. The other guys who didn't have a role in today's game we're going to soft toss the ball to us. 

Since we were visiting we were obviously up to bat first. I asked both Christian and Ryan to put me near the top, but not the very first because I can not hit lead-off for the life of me. They put me in third and also put me in the outfield. We were only playing four innings so hopefully, this will go fast because I don't really want to be too sore tomorrow and we have a big game tomorrow. 

Top of the first, I was up to bat. We already had one on base so all I needed to do was make contact and hope for the best. They pitch the ball and I make solid contact and start running toward first base only for that ball to go into foul territory. I jog my way back to home plate and pick up my bat. 

"You got it, babe," I hear and I look up seeing Christian smiling at me giving me two thumbs up. They pitch it again only for me to completely miss it. Okay, come on now, you got this. I reset and wait for the ball to come flying toward me. They placed it perfectly and I make contact again and watch the ball fly over the pitcher and head toward left field. I sprint towards second hoping I can make it. I dive into second and look up and see the ump waving his hands over each other. I stand up and realize that Jenny, Lo's wife, scored and I look toward the dugout and see so many of them cheering me on. 

"That's my girl!" I hear Christian say and I laugh and shake my head. 

I see Ryan and Christian high-five each other and look towards home plate as Larisa is getting set. Who knew most of us played softball at some point in our life and are now playing again just for one game. It feels like I'm in high school all over again playing one of our rival schools. I watch as they pitch the ball toward her and I go to take off to third and hope to steal third base. I can tell the catcher didn't even try to throw it toward third, making me safe. I get up and look toward the dugout again and shrug my shoulders and laugh. I dust off my pants and watch as Larisa hits a ground ball to first base and she gets out. 

I just need to get home and I'll be more than satisfied. I watch as Erin Suter comes up to bat and on the first pitch she sends it over the pitcher and in between the center and right fields. I make my way to home plate and step on the plate and jog back to the dugout. "Absolutely incredible," is all Christian says to me as I take the helmet off. I walk back to the bench and sit down. Ryan comes over to me and sits down. 

"And, you said you were mediocre," I roll my eyes and laugh. 

"Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are. I didn't think I still had it in me,"  I say and look towards the field and realize I have to go play defense now. 

I get up and grab my glove and head over to right field and wait for us to start up again. The first pitch goes past her and is called a strike. Her second pitch comes right at me. I realize that it's a little too far from me and I start sprinting to catch it. I dive and hope to god I caught that ball as I land on the field. I roll over and hold my glove in the air as I can tell I caught it. Holy shit I haven't done that in a while. Yeah, I'm gonna be sore tomorrow. I get up and throw the ball back in. 

"Girl, what can't you do?" Jaclyn, Keston's fiancé, says and I laugh and shrug. 

"A lot," I say as we focus back on the game. 

This half of the inning went by relatively fast and soon I was back in the dugout. "Seriously, you amaze me," Christian says as I put my glove down. I smile and wrap my arms around him and kiss him quickly. 

The girls and I won, 8-3 and it felt so good to be back on the field and playing the sport I love. Christian comes over to me and sits in the chair pulls me into his lap. "I think we need to get that to happen more often," he says and I scrunch up my face. He rests one of his hands on my leg and the other around my body holding my waist. "How'd it feel?" he asks and I smile. 

"Fucking amazing," I say, "I didn't ever think I would play a game again after high school. I realized that I missed playing softball. It just felt so good to make contact, dive after a ball, steal a base, and step on home plate," I tell him becoming even more nostalgic. 

"I'm really glad you did it. I think you really impressed most of the guys, even me," he says patting my leg as I smile and look down at him. He brings me in for a kiss, something that made me feel so safe and loved at that very moment. 

"Get a room, lovebirds," Ryan says as we break apart and look towards him. "Get over it Braun," I say and he chuckles. 

"Let's head to the hotel," he says and pushes me off of him. I grab my bag and walk with Christian, our hands interlaced, as we head to the buses. He grabs my bag and puts it in the overhead bin as I get settled into the seat. 

We make it back to our hotel room and I immediately head to the bathroom. "I'm gonna shower. You're more than welcome to join me," I say and Christian raises his eyebrows. I laugh and turn the shower on and wait for it to warm up. I get in and pull the curtain back and I stand underneath the water letting it relax my muscles after today. 

Christian comes into the bathroom and chuckles at my music choice. He pulls the curtain back and puts his hands on my bare hips and turns me around. He brings me into him and wraps his arms around me. "I am so proud of you," he says, and a giant smile forms on my face. 

I look up at him and kiss him as the water hits us. Christian stops before it gets too heated and starts to wash his hair as I start to wash my hair and body. We both finish showering and Christian hands me one of the towels on the rack. We quickly head to bed because he knows I'm tired and I know he has to be exhausted as well. 

I wake up and realize it's almost 10 and we have to be at the stadium at 11:30. I hear the door open and see Christian come into the room with coffee cups in his hand. "Thank you," I rasp out as he comes over to me and hands me one of the cups. 

I get up out of bed and go to stretch when I realize I am incredibly sore. I slowly head into the bathroom and realize I look rough. I come back out and somewhat limp to my phone and check for any updates. I sip on my coffee as Christian starts to get ready. He comes out and sees me standing weirdly. 

"Are you okay?" he asks laughing. 

"I'm sore as fuck," I tell him and laugh. 

We head to buses, slower than usual. Ryan comes up to us and starts laughing right away, "Yeli, what did you do to her?" he asks and Christian and I start laughing immediately. 

"He didn't do anything. I'm sore from the game yesterday. I don't know how you guys do it every day," I say as we load the bus. They both laugh at me and we start heading to Target Field. I really hope it's an easy day. I don't know if my body can handle it if it's a hard day.