When the Stars Align (Anthony Rizzo)

69| The Shoes

Kelsey

It's been five months since I started growing my beautiful little girl and although I've had a few major pregnancy symptoms, I've very much enjoyed it. It's been a beautiful experience and I'm just thankful it's over half over. For the most part she's been good, had only kicked me in the ribs once or twice and lets me sleep as much as I can. I think we've got this whole mother daughter thing down pretty well. And in just a few short months I will be able to finally meet her. I couldn't wait to show her this world and just how loved she is, even if she won't understand just yet.

But for now she's going to hang out inside my tummy. We were going to celebrate her even though she wasn't even here yet. So my sister and Chelsea set up a baby shower at the house. We still haven't decided what to do with the nursery yet, but after today we should have some good ideas. We wanted the walls to be a light grey for the future when we have other babies and can dress up the room however we want but the decorations were going to be gold and light pink. Just stuff that we'll hang up and if she wants she can have in her room when she moves from a crib to a bed and into a new room. We wanted to wait and see what to do for the room after the baby shower so we know what we still need to get but we had a idea.

So Anthony's family and my family and our friends fill the house nearly to the top. Halley goes to town on the food dropped by anyone in the house and I enjoy the company. It was kinda cool to see everyone we loved so near and dear to us talking and getting to know each other. Our group isn't super big, with Anthony being who he is it's important we keep our circle small, but people loved him and wanted to be here for us. I loved his friends and always welcomed them into our home. This life we built, it's strong and it's everlasting.

"Hey you" Anthony says as he appears behind me. He rests his hands on my growing belly and I place mine on top of his.

"Hey babe. What's up" I wonder.

"I was wondering if I could sneak you away from your friends for a second. I want to give you something" he claims.

"Anthony" I warn.

"I didn't spend any money on this and I'm just doing what's right" he defends. I eventually break down because with his pretty brown eyes it doesn't take much and I let him take me away.

He brings me up to the nursery that was empty because we just finished painting the walls. The only other things in the room was the light pink curtains with gold trims.

He walks over to the window and grabs the little gift box that was sitting there. He hands it to me and I reluctantly open it. Once I see what's inside I let out a loud gasp as I cover my mouth. I can feel the tears built up in my eyes as I realize what this was.

Inside I find the shoes my mom made my dad when she found out she was pregnant with me. She was so excited to have her little mixed baby that she made me these shoes with the Brazilian colors. I forgot my dad had them and I had no idea he gave them to Anthony. But I'm glad he did.

"I got them cleaned up because they were a little worn from being in the safe for such a long time. But they're restored and ready for our baby to wear" he explains.

"Oh sweetie, this is so precious. When did you get these" I wonder. Because my dad didn't know I was pregnant when he left. I didn't know either.

"You're dad handed them to me before he left as a parting gift. He made sure I knew that family was everything and we can't be ashamed of our family and our heritage. This baby is going to have some Brazilian in her and I think that's going to be awesome. She's going to be so beautiful and so one of a kind, just like you and your sister. And then one day she can give the shoes to her first born and it can stay in the family forever" he explains.

"How are you so incredibly thoughtful? Do you know how many times I tried to get people to open up and be vulnerable like you but it never happens. I've never met someone who had so much potential to open up their hearts and be genuinely great people but they always fell flat. That is until you came into my life" I explain.

"I just want to make sure we're on the same page. I want you to know that I'm proud to be having a mixed baby. I want you to see just how lucky we are to have this baby be born into a family that's loved her from before she was even born" he says.

"She will know. And if she forgets we will remind her" I promise.

"Good. Now how about we get down stairs to see what goodies people got us" he suggest.

"Good idea. Because being in here and seeing that it is empty worries me. Lets go fill 'er up" I smile.

We return downstairs where they were playing baby games and being ultra competitive like always. Once we decide on a winner we start with the presents. My sister and Chelsea help me document what I have so I don't go out and buy something I don't need. I thank everyone for their kind gifts and make sure to send them all a thank you card. Once the party started to wrap up we're clean and send the extra food home with my family because I know they'll take care of it. Once everyone was gone and all the stuff was just thrown into the nursery we were done. We were pretty tired from decorating the house for the party and entertaining so many people for so long. We both crawl into bed really tired and really happy.

"I'm really happy you kept those shoes" I admit.

"Why" he wonders.

"Because too many kids don't know where they're from or who they are. Just who they used to be. But with these we can show our little Ellie why she's so special and what makes her beautiful. On the inside and the out."