Second Chance (Anthony Rizzo)

(56) Pleasant Surprise

Jessica

We were less than two weeks out from the wedding and with it being February it means a lot of the Cubs players and their families are back in Chicago. With Cubs Con and spring training coming up the facilities are being used for the first time in a long time.

And while they were in town some of the girls decided to throw me a bridal shower. At first I really didn't want one, I hate attention and not knowing what to say. But my twin Jess assured me that it's a lot of fun and it allows us to get to know each other all over again before were all locked up in Arizona together. Plus they can give me a bunch of advice on being a baseball wife without scaring me off and I couldn't turn that down. Or the free food.

So she sets something up at a nice restaurant. They decorate the place with balloons and a banner and it was actually really cute. I got a "bride to be" sash and a baseball cap that said "Mrs. Rizzo." I know I was opposed to this but it was super sweet and I am sure I have memories with these girls that were good even though I can't remember it. Now I have a chance to make new ones and I couldn't wait.

"There's the beautiful bride to be" Paige says as she walks over to me. A lot of the girls on this team is married but Paige like me is someone who is engaged. We had her party last season and it was a lot of fun. Now I guess it's my turn.

"Paige! How have you been" I ask as I pull her into a tight hug. She honestly gave the best hugs.

"I'm good but not as good as you. You're glowing" she claims.

"Anthony barley lets me walk anymore, he spoils me for sure" I laugh.

"Well can you blame him? He's been waiting for this for a while now" she jokes.

"Yeah well I'll be lying if I wasn't ready to be married already. All this talk and waiting is not good for my heart" I insist.

"Don't I know it. But soon enough we will both be married women" she smiles. I liked the sound of that.

We all order some food and I take pictures with everyone. I was hoping to get a wedding album going and this will be a good place to start. Anthony was out at his bachelor party and with him being him he chose to go to a bulls game. He loved going to those games and drink and hang out with his buddies. They loved when the baseball players and football players came out so it was a win win situation. He was going to have the time of his life no matter where he is. I'm sure he would rather be in Vegas for his party but we will all be there for a game during spring training so he will get his chance to drink himself into submission.

Eventually Jess comes over and sits next to be. She placed a bag in my lap and I look at her skeptical.

"Open it" she insists.

"What is this" I wonder.

"It's a gift from us girls" she explains.

So I open up the bag and the first thing I find is a picture frame and I smile. Pictures mean the world to me right now because that's all I have from the past five years. And maybe I don't know what the picture is from or who is in it but just seeing that I was smiling and happy warms my heart. To know I had it so good gives me motivation to go out and get that again.

I find a picture of me and many of the girls who was here today out on the field together. We had these really cool jean jackets that were personalized. The World Series trophy sat in my arms and I got chills. Anthony doesn't talk much about the World Series because he's so focused on winning another one. As an athlete it's fun to win but you don't want to look back until it's really over. I've seen some pictures before but I haven't seen this one which makes it special.

"Jess this is perfect" I say with a tear in my eyes. She had no idea how much this means to me.

"Hopefully we will have many more pictures like that" she smiles.

I set the picture to the side and see what else was in there. I find a coffee mug that said "Mrs" on it and some good smelling candles and a personalized jersey with "Mrs. Rizzo" on it. It wasn't expensive but it's exactly the kind of gifts I cherish more than anything. I couldn't of asked for anything better.

I pull her into a huge hug as her arms wrap around me. I felt a lot better after tonight knowing these girls got my back. They shared their stories, some of them involving me, and they told me that I was a good baseball girlfriend and that should make for a good baseball wife. Surprisingly enough I was a lot less stressed now than I was before. Knowing that there was people rooting for me put my mind at ease, a little.

After a great dinner and eating some cake we go our separate ways. I grab my gifts and take them home to put them with our wedding pile we were staring up. I wasn't ready to put things away until we were back from spring training knowing a bunch of stuff was going to pile up. And I'm lazy.

Once it was tucked away I find my tiny horse or gigantic dog and cuddle with him for a while. I wasn't expecting Anthony home any time soon. This really was the last of his freedom for a while so he deserves a night out with the guys.

I end up falling asleep with Tiny on the couch only to wake up a few hours later. But when I get up I find Anthony had now joined us knocked out on top. I laugh as I take a bunch of pictures because those two couldn't have been comfortable. Once I was done blackmailing my fiancé I move tiny a little and pull Anthony up so he wasn't hanging off the couch. He stirs a little before a smile comes up on his face.

"Hi baby" he mumbles keeping his eyes closed.

"Hi baby" I giggle.

"It's still late isn't it" he asks.

"It's 3 am" I tell him.

"So we can go back to sleep" he question.

"Yeah, let's get some sleep" I agree.