Madeline's POV- July 2017

I shut the bathroom light off as I made my way out of the bathroom. It was finally time to lay in bed and watch some TV.

"Is there a point in the day where you don't look beautiful?"

Cody's laugh was heard throughout the room as I rolled my eyes at him. I placed my damp towel on my desk chair and tossed my dirty laundry in the laundry bin.

"Did you find something to watch?" I asked.

I climbed up on my bed and smiled at Poppy.

"Well aren't you comfy" I stated.

His head was perched up on Cody's thigh.

"I see he's finally tired" I noted.

When I hopped into the shower, Cody was being entertained by Poppy who was playing with one of my hair bands.

"I find it funny that he's got one of the best toy collections for a cat yet he chooses to play with your hair band"

"Half of his toys are currently under the bed, so I need to go down there tomorrow" I told him.

I smiled as Poppy trilled a bit hoping I could give him love.

"So what are we watching?" I wondered.

"As much as I want to watch a movie, I know we both won't finish it"

That was true, I was tired and he had a game tonight. We drove separately but got here at the same time. I ran an errand after the game while he had his post game interviews.

"You obviously watched Orange is the New Black without me"

He then proceeded to pout.

"I'm not sorry" I stated.

I watched him sit up, and gently move Poppy off his thigh. Once Poppy was not on him, I laughed as he threw himself at me.

"You're not sorry?"

I smiled and shook my head.

"Nope" I replied making sure to pop my lips together.

He leaned back and smiled as he sat on my stomach.

"I got to say, these shorts leave no sense to imagine"

I grinned.

"It's hot" I answered.

I was currently wearing my famous, 'short' shorts. They were pretty short and were only worn in the comfort of my own home and for the sole purpose of sleeping.

"If I weren't so tired, I'd wooh you"

I laughed as he winked at me. There was no way I'd let myself be wooed, my brothers were sleeping in the rooms across the hallway.

"So what are we watching?" I asked as he got off of me.

"Psych"

"Love that show" I stated as he lied down next to me.

I reached over him to shut off the lights, and then cuddled up against him.

"Quick question"

"Shoot" I said.

I looked up at him and he smiled.

"You have three tattoos, right?"

I raised an eyebrow and slowly nodded.

"Where?"

Slowly sitting up, I tugged on my t-shirt and pulled it up. Cody had sat up and turned on the light in order to see.

"I've got a sunflower right under my right breast" I told him.

He looked at the sunflower and offered me a small smile.

"There's a story behind the meaning of the sunflower, right?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, during my first two years in Florida I got to meet a beautiful soul by the name of Heather Braswell" I began saying.

He nodded slowly and I let out a deep breath.

"She passed away half way through my Sophomore year" I informed him.

The second he heard that, he frowned.

"I'm sorry"

I shifted so I was leaning against the bedrest.

"She was diagnosed with cancer when she was thirteen years old, and unfortunately after a couple of years in remission the cancer came back" I explained.

"How old was she when she passed?"

"She was seventeen" I replied.

Cancer was a touchy subject, and many of us still saw it as disease that affected older people. A child hasn't lived as long as an adult, so it hits hard when you realize that these kids don't get to live a long life.

"We wore yellow ribbons on our hair after she passed away, and when we made the Women's College World Series we wore sunflowers to represent her. She was the teams biggest fan, and she watched us win our first National title from heaven" I told him.

"It's a sweet gesture"

I fixed my t-shirt.

"She was like family" I confessed.

He reached over and gently squeezed my hand.

"I got it a little after she passed away, and when we won our first National title the whole team got the date tattooed" I said.

I shifted a bit as I tugged down on my shorts. He looked at my hip where was tatted.

"How did I miss these tattoos? I've showered with you and seen you in a bathing suit"

That was very true.

"I know my roman numerals up to ten"

"June 4th 2014" I translated.

He nodded and I tugged down more on my shorts to show him the tattoo under it that said,

"It's pretty self explanatory" I mentioned.

"Did they hurt?"

"They stung" I admitted.

The pain was manageable since the tattoos were not too big.

"Would you get another?"

"Maybe, it has to be important enough for me though since it is permanent" I answered.

"That makes sense"

"Would you get a tattoo?" I asked.

He smiled.

"Probably not, I get queasy with needles"

I hummed, who would have thought?

"Is there a specific reason?" I wondered.

"I actually wasn't afraid of needles as a kid. The mild phobia started when I was about twelve, the nurse couldn't find my vein"

I scrunched up my nose.

"So she moved the needle around" I said.

He nodded and I reached for his dominant hand, his left.

"She eventually found the vein, but I had a nasty bruise on my forearm for about a month"

I shook my head as I looked at his forearm.

"There are other places to draw blood from" I stated.

I glanced up at him.

"You were the player that mom drew blood from his hand, weren't you?" I asked.

"Guilty"

Apparently he mildly freaked out when he saw the needle, which caused mom to have trouble finding his vein on his forearm.

"I didn't bruise"

"Mom's got a great hand" I informed him.

"She told me yours is better"

"It takes time" I answered.

I pressed on his forearm and his vein popped up.

"Phlebotomy was the first hands on exercise I learned" I told him.

He looked at me.

"Say that again"

"Phlebotomy" I repeated

"What's that?

"Phlebotomy, its the process of making an incision in the vein with a needle" I explained.

I took his hand and found a vein.

"The vein on your neck is super easy to find" I said as I looked at him.

"Your mom said the same thing, but I didn't let her draw blood from there"

It made sense, he didn't like needle so why would he let himself be poked with one on his neck.

"Let's watch an episode of Psych, and then go to sleep" I suggested.

Cody slept on his side, so halfway through the episode he shifted and curled up against me. After the episode finished, I moved a bit to look at his face. There was no way he was waking up any time soon, he was exhausted. He looked lanky in his baseball uniform, but he was heavy. The roster was filled with tall and thick guys, which made him looks small. I stared at him for a couple of minutes before deciding I was being a creep. Once the TV was shut off, and we were both covered by my blanket I curled up against him.