Second Chance (Anthony Rizzo)

(11) Awfully Chummy

Jessica

Not much makes me nervous anymore. You fight face to face with death and everything after that just seems so... unimportant. I guess. But the thought of my family meeting Anthony was enough to make me sick to my stomach. And I'm not afraid that they won't like him, they're already big fans of him and once you're actually able to talk to him he's even better than he is on TV. I was more worried that they're going to embarrass me and Anthony will want no part of it.

"Come on peanut, lighten up" my dad teases as I send him a glare. Anthony texted me he was on his way over and I was getting more anxious by the second.

"Dad you're literally wearing his jersey right now" I accuse as he laughs.

"Trust me, I don't think anything I could do could really phase him" he tries.

"Not now" my mom mumbles and I look at her weird. She realizes that I was staring longer than I should have before turning to dad. "Oh someone just pulled up, I think he's here" she spits out as she runs to the door.

"What was that about" I ask my younger but not youngest sister Jen as she just shrugs.

"It's mom, who knows" she laughs.

Anthony gets greeted at the door by my mother before he even had a chance to find me. I smile big as he gives me one of those "holy crap your mom is really touchy" looks and I just laugh. I pull him into a quick kiss before turning to my family.

"Alright. Guys this is Anthony. Anthony this is my mom Leanne and my dad Kyle. Then I have two of my sisters with me. This is the youngest is Jamie and the second youngest over there is Jenny. The oldest of us girls has a family of her own but I'm sure she'll be around with her husband and the little one sometime soon" I explain.

"You handle all these girls" Anthony asks my dad making him laugh.

"Not at all" he smiles.

After talking for a while we all head to the backyard. My dad had the grill going for lunch and Anthony wanted to see what my dad was cookin. So they stand at the grill talking about bbq sauces and where the best meat was from, manly things. I sit in a chair on the porch next to them enjoying the smell of the different foods on the grill. My mom just smiles at me as she looks between Anthony and I.

"Will you quit that, it's weird" I whisper in her direction.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so excited" she claims.

"So Anthony, what do you like to do for fun" Jenny asks him.

"Anything really. I have a boat so I like to go out to Lake Michigan, I do a lot with the children's hospital so sometimes I go and just hang out with the kids there, I bother my friends a lot and of course baseball takes up most of my time" he explains.

"But you make time for my little girl right" my dad asks as I throw my head back on the chair. I hear Jamie start to giggle and I just couldn't wait for this all to be over.

"Of course. My favorite moments are the ones with your daughter. Any chance I get I want to be with her. I know our time together may seem short, but it's some of the best times of my life. I look forward to any time we can be together whether it's small or a nice date. I always enjoy our time together" he claims making me smile.

"Good answer" my dad teases.

My dad and Anthony get off on a tangent about baseball and I let them go. I talk to mom and I was relaxed for a while before I hear something. Anthony calls my dad by his nickname and I freeze. My eyebrows furrow as I look between the two. They were awfully chummy with one another for just meeting.

"Does dad know Anthony" I ask my mom as her eyes grow large.

"No, of course not" she says before taking a long drink of her lemonade.

"Are you sure, because he called dad SkyGuy and there's no way he would know his nickname unless they knew each other" I insist.

"I got your dad some grilling stuff with his nickname on it, I bet he saw that" she tries.

"I guess" I sigh. Never met someone who used nicknames within a hour of meeting each other but I guess that's good news for me then.

We spend the whole day in the backyard hanging out away from the city. Anthony had a game later tonight but he insisted he wanted to meet my family and spend the day with them before he had to be at Wrigley. And as long as they don't do anything too embarrassing I guess that's okay with me.

We eat a good lunch as I sit next to Anthony with his hand in my lap. I rest my head on his shoulder as the early June sun bears down on me.

"You okay" Anthony asks softly so he doesn't alarm my family and I just smile up at him.

"Yeah. I'm great actually. Just tired" I admit.

"You should get some rest. Listen to some music" he claims.

"I don't know what to listen to" I insist.

"Funny you say that, because I got you something" he claims.

He digs in his pocket and pulls out a iPod. He hands it to me and I hesitate to take it. "What's this for" I wonder.

"I got you a iPod. I know music means a lot to you and you don't know a lot of stuff from the past five years.

So I made a bunch of playlists of music both new and old. R&b and country. Boy bands and divas. Some songs I have a really good feeling you would like" he smirks.

"Anthony, this is the sweetest things ever. Thank you" I say softly. He slowly presses his lips to my forehead and I close my eyes.

"Anything for you" he promises.

It starts to get late so he goes off to his game. He promises to bring my family out soon to come watch and that made everyone really happy.

I walk Anthony out to his car and he pulls me into a long kiss. "What's that for" I ask as I bite my lip.

"I just... I really really like you" he claims.

"I really really like you too" I smile.

He takes off and I go back inside. I find my dad cleaning up and I help him.

"So you seem awfully chummy with Anthony. I've never seen you warm up to someone so quickly before" I accuse as he smiles.

"What can I say. That Anthony is a likeable guy" he claims.

"Uh huh" I mumble.

"What? Do you not believe me" he asks.

"That's not it" I try. "It just seems too easy."

"After everything you have gone through I think you should take the easy as it comes" he suggests.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" I smile.