Crazy In Love (Anthony Rizzo)

Dreams Dont Work Unless You Do

Anthony

"What color do you want" Mallory asks as she pulls out all her nail polishes. She lines them up to be in the order of a rainbow and I kinda just stare at all of them. My eyes go wide as I look at all the different colors and sparkles.

"Oh I don't know" I admit. Suddenly letting her give me a manicure wasn't such a good idea.

"Pink sparkles it is" she cheers and I swallow hard.

"Oh boy" I mumble.

"Don't sweat it big guy, you're going to look great" Tim claims as he blows on his nails. He got them done red and blue, and if you ask me he was enjoying them a little too much.

"Right" I laugh as he holds his hands out checking out his finger nails.

"I love them sweetie, thank you" he says kissing Mallory's head before going to the kitchen to fix dinner. Well... warm up leftovers.

Melissa was at work and like most days i was in town I was over at her place hanging with Mallory and Tim. I had nothing better to do and there wasn't a thing in this world I would rather be doing anyway.

"Alright, now spread your fingers like this" she insists as she spreads her fingers out on the table. I do as I'm told and she smiles. She starts to paint my nails as I watch her do it. She was actually pretty good at it.

"So Mallory, are you excited to start school next year" I ask.

"No! Then who is going to hang out with you and Uncle Tim" she asks.

"We can hang out with each other" I defend.

"That sounds pretty boring" she claims and I laugh.

"You're becoming a big girl, you have to go to school. Your mom went to school" I remind her.

"I guess so. But I would rather just spend time with her" she claims as the smile fades away from her face.

"I know you would, but she's working hard to take care of you and your uncle" I explain.

"Cooper gets to play with his mommy all the time though" she says.

"Yeah, but your mommy is earning everything she has. There's nothing wrong with not working, but your mommy has a dream just like you do. And she has to work to get it" I explain.

"Do you have a job" she asks and I chuckle.

"Playing baseball is my job" I try to explain.

"No it's not. It's called playing. Playing baseball" she explains. Man she sounds just like her mother right now.

"But that's what I'm paid to do" I explain.

"Uncle Tim say mommy gets paid for guys to hit on her" she says and my head snaps up.

"Before you yell at me, I said that before she met you. And obviously I was telling the truth if her daughter is painting your nails right now" he claims.

"I hate that you're such a smart ass" I mutter.

"You love me" he yells from the couch.

"I do" I laugh.

Mallory finishes up my nails and I hated how much I loved them. But they actually looked really good.

I take a picture and send it to Melissa which gets a kick out of her. We close up shop and join Tim in the living room.

"What are you watching" I wonder.

"Dora" he says and I laugh. "You're laughing now but I'm like 17% bilingual thanks to her" he claims.

"Really? Say something to me in Spanish" I say.

"Hola, me llamo Dora" he says confidently.

"You're just going to tell everyone your name is Dora" I ask.

"Eh, I've been called worse" he shrugs.

Mallory joins us as we watch tv. After some time passed Tim goes to the the kitchen to try to make dinner then when that ultimately fails we just order pizza and play along to the games on the show.

"You guys are really bad at this" Mallory insists.

"I don't get why she keeps asking the same question over and over again, it makes me second guess my answer" I defend.

"Yeah, she trusts her talking equipment more than me. I told her not to talk to that ugly fox and she did anyway. That's a big reason why we tell you not to talk to strangers" Tim tells Mallory.

"Swiper isn't a stranger though" she insists.

"She's right" I admit.

"Okay. Don't talk to boys period" he claims.

"I second that" I add on.

"But Dad" she whines.

"No buts" I argue.

"How am I supposed to have a play date with Cooper if I can't talk to him" she asks.

"Easy, you don't have the play date" I say.

"That's not fair" she whines.

"Life's not fair" I reply.

"Are you sure you're not actually her dad" Tim asks.

"Nothing can convince me otherwise" I insist.

After the show was done it was bed time. I put Mallory into bed and help Tim clean up our mess from dinner.

"Thanks for coming around, it really does mean a lot" he says as he pitches out cups.

"Don't mention it, I love being around here" I insist.

"Are you planning on being around here for a long time" he wonders.

"I do. Do you" I ask and he laughs.

"I'm going to tell you a secret and you cannot tell a soul" he insists. I slowly nod not knowing what I'm about to get into. "I was diagnosed with a second form of cancer. It's rare to have two different forms at once but it happens. And it happened to me, I was so unfortunate enough to be the lucky recipient of two deadly diseases. I don't know what happens next but I can't imagine it's good" he explains.

My arms drop to my side as I stare at him. I can tell just by looking at him that something wasn't right. It doesn't feel right, doesn't look right. But he was being so strong I would never guessed he was diagnosed with a second form of cancer.

"What type of cancer is it" I whisper.

"Lung cancer" he explains.

"I'm so sorry... is there anything I can do to help? Seriously anything" I ask.

"Can you make a miracle happen" he asks.

"No. The only miracle I've made happen was meeting your sister" I admit.

"You got her to open up so I guess that was a miracle in itself" he teases.

"You don't really think you're going to die soon, do you" I ask.

"I certainly don't want to. I want to see Mallory grow up, to see my sister get married. I want to work again even if it's just for a day, maybe travel and not be a couch potato. I don't want to call it a bucket list because they haven't given me a time limit yet, but I can't imagine this being good news" he explains.

"I get it it, I really do. I just want you to know that if you need anything, and I mean anything, to contact me. If you want another opinion I know some people and if you want to try different drugs I can make it happen. Anything to keep you here" I insist.

"I appreciate that Anthony" he says softly. I can tell he was scared and he didn't know what to do. I pull him into a hug and I try not to cry.

"Any time Tim."