When the Stars Align (Anthony Rizzo)

42| Just The Way It Is

Kelsey

"Please stop" I beg as Anthony jumps on top of me. He continue to tickle me and I try to push his hands away. But he's much stronger than I am so he easily continues his ambush. I try to catch my breath but the laughter goes on and on and on.

"Say mercy" he demands.

"Never" I laugh as he continues to tickle me.

I hear my phone start to go off on the night stand by our bed and I figured I should put a end to this before I missed my call.

"Mercy" I yell and he immediately stops. I catch my breath as I roll over and grab my phone.

"Who is it" he questions.

"My dad. Let me see what he wants, but this isn't over" I tell him as I point a playful finger his way.

"Sure" he smirks.

I answer my phone but it was nothing but silence. I look to make sure I got to my phone in time before the call ended but it said we were connected.

"Hello" I ask.

"Baby" my father says softly and I get chills. Immediately I know something was terribly wrong and I start to slump into the bed. I cover my mouth as every feeling he was feeling I was feeling too.

"Daddy, what's going on" I ask.

"I need you to come to the hospital. Isaiah, he's really sick and he's not doing good. He tried to stay away from the hospital to save all of us from getting in trouble, but if I didn't bring him here he was going to die. I couldn't let my little boy die" he explains.

"You did the right thing dad, I promise. I know you're scared but focus on getting Isaiah better and I'll meet you there. Stay strong" I tell him.

"Please hurry" he begs.

"I'll be there as fast as I can" I promise. 

I hang up and turn around to see Anthony with his coat on and my coat in his arms. He had his keys and my purse and was handing me everything I needed to dart out of here. Like fire we drive over to the hospital nearest to my old apartment. I walk in and see a bunch of police officers standing there and I let out a sigh. I know this was quickly about to turn into a documentation battle, but I needed to see Isaiah first before I dealt with any of that.

I find my dad and brother and sister sitting off to the side and I run over to them. I pull them into a hug and they squeeze me back.

"Is he okay" I question as we break apart.

"They're not sure. They know he has pneumonia and it's bad. They're trying to stabilize him now and see what they need to do to help him" Tatiana explains.

"How long has he been sick" I question.

"Just a few days. It probably could have been caught earlier and he would have been fine but he wouldn't go to the hospital. Then he didn't wake up this morning so I called 911 and they came and got him. We've been here since" Trevor explains.

"And I'm guessing the police officers over there are with us" I ask and I see my dads head fall. He blames himself for any hardship this family goes through when it comes to our legal status. He thinks it should have been him instead of mom who ran into the fire, then all of that would have went away. Then it would have been mom instead of me always helping out the family. And he hates that his illegal status effects us so much. But he's our father, and a damn good one at that. He protects us and we will do everything to protect him. That's how it goes.

"I'm so sorry" he whispers as I just shake my head.

"No, dad don't you start. This isn't your fault" I insist as I grab his face.

"It is. If I would have just married your mother we wouldn't have to do the things we do. The hiding, the being quiet, the holding back. This is all my fault" he sniffles. I hold his chin up so he had to look at me. 

"You're the most thoughtful and caring father I could have ever asked for. I'm so happy I get to call you my dad and no one else. I'm glad you're still here with us and I will never stop loving you. You're the best friend I could have ever asked for and I love you so much. So much. No matter what you have to know that you did the right thing. Anyone could have gotten married and stayed, it takes a real man with real strength to fall in love and not get married because it was the right thing to do" I say.

"I love you Cici" he says with a small smile.

"I love you too dad" I assure him. "You guys stay here and hang out with Anthony. Try to find some other stuff out and see what we need to do to help Isaiah. I'm gonna go talk to the police officers" I explain.

I walk over to the four police officers standing in the hallway near near where my family was. I introduce myself and tell them I'm Isaiah's sister to which they figured out the rest.

"We were called here because there was no files for you guys under the address we retrieved your brother from today. Although you do have documentation from this hospital it's under a different address and with you kids having green cards it's illegal to change locations and not tell the offices" he informs me.

"We're aware. But when our house burned down everything else in it did too. We didn't have extra copies of birth certificates, no passports and lost the social security cards. Therefore no proof" I explain.

"Alright. While you guys still broke the law by moving and not telling the offices, we can make a exception of everything being lost in the fire and being forced to move. We're going to go look to see if your mom might have put any of your things somewhere and get them into the system. You kids need to go to the offices and update your addresses to avoid being detained.

As for your father..." he trails off.

"He belongs here. There's nothing you can tell me that would make me change my mind" I insist.

"I know you love your dad. Somehow he's been able to be here a long time. But there's nothing we can do to stop him from being deported" he claims.

"He's not hurting anyone. He's more of a citizen than most of these people who have green cards. He didn't come here illegally, he was legal and he couldn't leave because he fell in love. But you guys decided that a love needed to be two years long before they can get married and they didn't need two years to know that they would die for their family they would create. It took my mom fractions of a second to know she would die for this family. If my dad had it his way it would have been him. But it wasn't and we still have him here, please don't take him away too" I beg.

"I'm sorry Miss Valdez, it's the law" he reminds me.

"Why does the law dictate how we loved or who we loved or where we love? Why are we setting limits when there's a whole universe of possibilities" I ask.

"I don't... I don't know. That's just the way it is" he says and I shake my head. I hate that saying.

I join my family again and they take us to go see Isaiah. He was hooked up to a breathing machine but they expect him to pull through. They were giving him drugs to get the virus out of his system and try to get him better as soon as possible. His lungs were about to collapse but they caught it in time. But that's what caused him to stop breathing and why he didn't wake up. Because his lungs were so full of fluids and shutting down because of the infection. They're hoping his body quickly responds to the drugs and that they can get him breathing on his own again.

But a whole new world of issues is now in my lap.