Celestial Love (Anthony Rizzo)

.45. Fight For What You Love

Anthony

After spending a week in Seattle seeing where Celeste grew up and hanging out with her mom and trying all her favorite places to eat we return to Chicago. Christmas was in a few days so it was a quick turn around from our little trip. I was kinda sad that I wouldn't be home for the holidays this year, but my parents understood. I've had many Christmases with them, it'll be nice to be somewhere where it at least looks like Christmas.

Celeste was over at Carmen's watching over a few kids and that gave me time to catch up with my family and put in some work with the Cubs. I don't do a lot of training in the month of December, I will crank it up next month before going to spring training. But for now it was light work.

I meet up with Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber as we take a few swings in the cages. Just to knock off the rust and see some pitches.

"So I heard you're having quite the off-season" Jason accuses as I raise a eyebrow at him. Kyle was innocently murdering baseballs as we watched from the side in horror.

"What does that mean" I wonder. Because as far as I know know it has been uneventful which was a nice change of pace.

"I'm talking about you and a certain famous wife thats been seen together around town" he says.

"Ex-wife" I correct as he smiles at me.

"So it's true then" he asks.

"What's true" I question. I mean he hasn't exactly accused us of anything specific yet.

"That you two are a thing" he finally says.

I let out a soft sigh as I shake my head. "It's complicated" I start.

"I would imagine so. I never thought those two would separate, they seemed so happy together" he tries.

"Well that's how he made her act, but she was slowly suffocating in that relationship. His hands were tightly around her throat and if she made one wrong move she was done for. Forced to smile in public then cry in private. She was like an actress but with less rights, which is saying something. I honestly believe she would have been better off in prison" I admit.

"Damn. That bad huh" he asks.

"That man is a monster. The first time I ever saw Celeste she was at the bottom of their apartment building in the middle of a full on panic attack just because she didn't want to go back up there. She didn't want to see his face, the thought of seeing him made her sick to her stomach. And when I tried to help her she flipped a switch and it was like nothing happened. She had trained herself to shut everything down and pretend that everything was okay. She's freaky good at it, it still scares me sometimes. I can see on her face that she's upset but as soon as I ask there's a snap and all of the sudden she's fine. It's scary" I admit.

"How could it be that bad and no one knows" he accuses.

"He's on the god-level of athlete tiers. He's been playing seven seasons and he's already got his name in the hall of fame talks. Two mvp's, two Super Bowls, dozens of sponsorships and a whole city at his feet. He is protected by dozens of people who work for him. They know the problems, they're almost as unhappy as Celeste was. But for some reason he was so mean to her. I mean I didn't think a person could stoop to the levels he did just because he can. Would really like to put him in his place" I admit.

"Yeah he's not my favorite guy" he agrees.

"I've tried punching him once. I'm happy I didn't but I really wanted to" I admit.

"You also tried to fight the entire Reds baseball team by yourself" he laughs.

"I fight for what I love" I defend.

"And you love this girl" he wonders.

I just smile as I nod my head. "There's a lot of things I love in this life of mine, but there isn't a thing in this world I love more than her. We don't choose who our hearts fall for, and when we first met that night I never imagined this is where we would end up. But I'm so happy I've gotten the chance to watch her realize she is a amazing person, it's the greatest feeling ever. To see her rediscover the little things that make her heart beat a bit faster, to watch her eyes fill up with the stars in the sky, it's a feeling like I've never felt before and I only get it with her" I explain.

"That's deep" he admits.

"I got in deep fast. And I felt bad because she didn't enjoy sneaking around as friends, even though James was unfaithful what seemed like monthly she couldn't bring it to herself to do that same. We didn't hang out all that often and it's not like we were kissing or messing around. I literally just showed her how she deserved to be treated and she realized that she could no longer deny herself her worth. She made the decision on her own to leave regardless of what happened between us. She deserved at least freedom to do as she pleases, to think on her own and control her life. I just so happened to fall in love with her along the way" I shrug.

"So what are you guys" he asks and I laugh. You have to laugh.

"We're together. We're just working on some things before we come out in the open. I don't mind being locked up with her while we figure things out. This way when we're ready to make it official then I know we will be ready" I explain.

"Well I hope we can meet her soon. She's got the experience and I know she will fit in this organization well. The girls will love her and she won't ever feel like she has to be silent. Not with you around" he teases as he punches my arm.

"She's actually met some girls and I'm bringing her to the bars on New Years so she will meet a few more. She's not scared of baseball, Cubs fans are bad but she's been dealing with Bears fans for years. Plus she was married to the reincarnation of the damn devil so I think she can hold her own pretty well" I admit.

"If she's with you I don't doubt it" he smiles.

We spend hours in the cages hitting tanks but mostly messing around. Not a lot of guys stay into Chicago because while the city was beautiful in the winter it was a pain in the ass to navigate. But to me it was worth the struggle. She will always be worth the struggle.