Celestial Love (Anthony Rizzo)

.93. Won't Be Denied

Anthony

Now that the season was over a lot sooner than we thought I wasn't sure what to do. I had some baseball left in me and I wasn't ready to say goodbye quite yet. So I grab Celeste early this morning and we come to Wrigley. We say our prober goodbyes and take some time to pack up and leave. Talk to our friends and close the book on this part of our lives. The next time we're here we'll have Stella with us and we will be different people. But that's okay, I couldn't wait to be different.

"Wanna play some catch" I ask Celeste as I hold up her glove I kept in my locker. I know she was a soccer star but she has quite the arm too.

"I'm 38 weeks pregnant and you want to know if I want to play catch" she asks me.

"Well, yeah" I shrug.

"Okay" she smiles. "Let's do it."

So I toss her her glove and grab mine. We found one of the many baseballs I stashed in my locker and go up to the field. She stands on first base as I toss the ball to her and she throws it back. I move to home plate just to see how good her arm still was. And it was pretty good.

"I think you were Jackie Robinson in your past life" I tease.

"I was hoping for Dorothy Kamenshek" she claims.

"Like Dottie from A League Of Her Own" I question.

"You've done your research" she notices.

"So have you" I accuse as I throw the ball back.

"Turns out baseball is quite a history rich sport. And women have a lot of really cool and important parts in the development of baseball. Football isn't as open minded and inclusive as baseball is. And I'm not saying baseball is inclusive because it's not. We had to give Jackie Robinson his own day for the pure amount of shit he went through to be considered a equal. What he endured in order for you to play alongside people like Dexter and Jason, people you call brothers, it was awful and never should have happened. The fact that women ever played professional baseball is crazy. It wasn't softball, it was baseball. It makes it easier for when we have our daughter and she watches you play and says she wants to play baseball just like you I can tell her that it happened and maybe, maybe someday it'll happen again" Celeste says as she catches a ball I throw. 

I drop my arm as I just smile at her. "You want our daughter to play baseball" I accuse.

"I want her to know that just because only boys play it doesn't mean she can't. If she comes to this field and sees you on this base and she decides that she wants to be you, she's going to be you" she insists.

"You're Kinda scary when you won't be denied" I accuse as she smiles.

"Good" she giggles.

We wrap up our little game of catch and I pick up the rest of my stuff and throw it in my bag. I look around one more time trying to take it all in. Man, am I going to miss this place.

Suddenly I hear a yelp and I stop in my tracks. I look around and Celeste was nowhere to be found.

"Babe! Baby where are you" I ask as I sling my bag over my shoulder. I turn the corner and find her hunched over with her hand on her stomach.

"Oh my god! Are you okay" I ask her.

"The baby" she gasps.

"What's wrong with the baby" I wonder.

"She's coming" she says making my eyes go big.

"What!? Are you sure" I question.

"Either she's coming or I'm going" she claims.

"That's not even funny Celeste" I warn as she smiles up at me.

"I thought it was pretty good" she tries.

"Has your water broke" I ask.

"I think so? It might have happened before we left this morning but I wasn't sure if that's what it was. There's always something when it comes to pregnancy but these contractions are making me thing that wasn't me peeing" she explains.

"Oh! Oh god. Alright let's get you to the hospital then" I try.

"We don't have anything ready. A overnight bag or the car seat or her clothes to bring her home in" she starts to list off.

"We had two weeks to figure out" I defend.

"And now it's two hours. So we should get going" she begs.

"Right" I nod.

I whisk her into the car and drive very illegally over to the apartment. I grab pretty much everything I saw and started stuffing it into a bag. While I was running around like a crazy person, Celeste grabs what she needs and gets the car seat ready. I just shake my head trying not to send myself to the hospital with her.

"How are you so calm" I ask.

"I'm trying not to have a kid here" she teases.

"Do we have what we need" I wonder as I look at the three bags I packed and the one she got together.

"I think we have that and more with whatever you stuffed into your bags" she accuses.

"Okay. Then let's go" I insist.

We drive over to the hospital and they get her a room. Her doctor walks in and checks her out to make sure the baby wasn't coming early because there's a problem. But her blood pressure was normal and the baby was healthy. Sometimes the baby just decides they are ready to meet their parents and little Stella was.

"Alright Miss Celeste you are all set. You're only two centimeters dilated so while starting labor has come quickly the rest won't. We do have food and drinks for the wait and a nurse on hand if and when you want a epidural. If you feel anything unusual there's a button on your bed to press. Now we wait until your little girl arrives" the doctor explains.

"Thank you" Celeste smiles.

I sit in the chair next to her bed and grab her hand. I kiss the back of it softly before lacing my fingers through. "How are you? How can I help" I beg.

"I'm fine baby, I promise. We're at the easy part where the contractions are mild and I don't feel like ripping your head off. Enjoy it while it lasts" she warns.

"I called our parents. Your mom was in the middle of teaching and she might have cussed in front of the kids but we found her a flight and she'll be in tonight. My parents should be here right around that time too" I tell her.

"Good. Now where's the food" she asks and I smile.

"Now you're speaking my language" I laugh.