Love Prevails (Kris Bryant)

41| How Do You Do It?

Kris

Planning a baby shower was hard, but I did it. I wanted to make sure I could help in some sort of a way and hopefully she'll like it. All of our closest friends gathered at our new house to celebrate the gift of life.

Baseball season is well under way and the team is already off to a great start. In a 162 game season we understand we won't win them all but we still enjoy the wins and loses as they come.

And here on the rare off day we are together yet again. I even got Nick to come which made McKayla really happy. She was able to meet his wife and they naturally hit it off.

The house was decorated with little pink and girl themed things. My mom made little pink bows for the cake and diaper cookies which tasted amazing. Darya did great with the decorations and even had little baby bottles filled with pink and white m&m's that say "it's a girl" on it. The place looked nice filled with pink things and the people we love, it makes it that much more real that in a few months I'm going to be a dad.

"Are we going to get started" McKayla asks as everyone continues to mingle in the living room.

"I'm waiting for one more guest" I assure her.

"I didn't even know I knew this many people" she laughs. There's a knock on the door and I tell her to stay there. I return to her with a older couple and the tears were instant.

"Kayla, you've already met Tomas, and this is your grandmother Adriana" I say with a smile. She quickly pulls them into a hug as they smile brightly. I thought it would be important to have them here for this since they already missed out on so much. She wanted some part of her blood relative around and this was the best bet.

We all gather up and play baby shower games that Jonathan's girlfriend Lindsey organized. She said a lot of girls in the Hawks organization have been pregnant through her time there and she could handle it. She did a great job and had the funniest prizes to give out to the winners.

After the games McKayla and I open presents. She wouldn't open them by herself and insisted I did it with her. The first gift was from Nick and I expect nothing less than something absurd.

"Wow, it's a..." I trail off.

"A Daddy's Dooty Duty Kit. Everything you'll ever need to take care of a child" he claims. In reality it was a pale with a hard hat, protective glasses, gloves, and fresh diapers. Classic Nick. Kayla and I spend a hour opening gifts from everyone and making sure we thank them. After four hours the party was over and my mom and McKaylas grandparents stay back to help clean up.

"Thanks so much for coming out, it means the world to us" I tell Tomas as he picks up wrapping paper.

"It was a honor. Seeing you guys and prepare for another part of the family, that's exciting. We haven't had the opportunity to do that in so long" he sighs.

"I hope you'll be sticking around for a little. We would love to have you a part of the family" I admit.

"We just might have to" he smiles. After the house was cleaned up everyone leaves and McKayla wants to start on the nursery. A big reason we wanted this house is because the nursery is connected to our bedroom in case we ever need to get in there in a hurry. We set the crib by the door and the changing table under the window. We had about a thousand stuffed animals we set on the floor where the baby could play around in. The playpen was set in the corner along with a bunch of pillows and blankets. All the clothing items were in a dresser and the room finally started coming together.

"This is really happening. We're having a little girl" she says looking around.

"Yeah baby, we really are" I say wrapping my arms around her.

She lets out a large sigh and I notice how tired she is. I can't imagine what's going through her head. She still travels with the team, taking care of us and making sure we're happy. She's been Joes right hand girl since spring training and never says no to him or the boys. On top of that she is planning a wedding in like 7 months while preparing for the baby. That's a lot for normal person let alone a pregnant one. And she never complains once, I have yet to see her with anything besides a smile on her face.

"How do you do it" I ask and she looks at me questionably.

"Do what" she laughs.

"Just always be... so... I can't explain it. I can't put into words just how spectacular you really are. You're doing the work of three people and still have time to remind me how much you love me or do something to brighten my day. I guess I just don't understand why you're so good to me" I admit.

"Kris, you realize that my whole life you have been the reason I do anything. Why I played baseball, why I got into this profession, why I keep going even when I really don't want to. How you're feeling now, that's how I've felt about you since the first day we met. Everything I do, I do it to assure the happiness of others and in return I am happy. It's not that hard to do what I do feeling the way I feel" she explains.

"I just feel bad I guess. You're doing super human stuff and you don't really have to. I want to do more for you" I insist.

"Every time you walk out on that field I get this feeling that everything worked out the way it was supposed to. I can sit in the dugout like I always did and feel so happy because my best friend in the whole entire world is out there making me proud. That's all I ever ask for in return, the knowledge that you're out there doing what you're born to do" she claims.

"You're perfect" I comment.

"I'm not, but I'm perfect for you" she says softly before placing a kiss on my cheek. We go to bed and I hold her close, just a little afraid to ever let her go again. I watch as her breathing evens out and I have a flashback to the first time we slept together. Her eyes soften and a smile forms on her lips and I think to myself that I must be doing something right. Now she's just a bit older and a little bit more in love with me. And I'm okay with that.