When the Stars Align (Anthony Rizzo)

83| Getting Around

Kelsey

As I hit eight months of growing a child in my body reality finally sets in. We were in the home stretch and this baby was coming sooner rather than later. She was fully developed and already knew the sound of my voice, I couldn't wait to meet her. And to see my toes too. But mostly to meet her.

As for today I officially entered maternity leave. I didn't like it, I would much rather be working, but for the safety of me and Elissa I was going to take it slow for once. But I'm sure I'll find myself over there to catch some shows and stay in touch with some of my friends. In the mean time I was going to eat all the foods she wanted me to eat and I was going to keep taking care of her.

So I grab Halley and take her out for a walk around the block. Anthony was in Seattle taking on the Mariners tonight so I was pretty much by myself for a while. Isaiah was at baseball camp and who knows what Trevor is doing at this point. I honesty couldn't wait for my little princess to get here so we could hang out. I'll never be alone again and that was pretty cool.

But until then I was going to take a nice relaxing stroll around the block. I try to get out and meet the neighbors and say hi to everyone, but it's hard considering we moved when I was pregnant so I don't get out all that much with Anthony doing all his baseball stuff and me working. I never got the chance to get around to meet the families around us. But now I can so I decide to go to the park near us and see who all goes here. I find a bench under a tree and Halley rests as she takes a drink. I make sure she's comfortable before looking around.

I chill out for a while before I felt like I was being watched. I look over and see a woman with a stroller staring at me from beside the swings. I watch her for a while before she finally comes over. I quickly realize she was coming over to me so I send her a kind smile and pray she's not some crazy mom about to ask me if my dog has all her shots yet.

"Hey there" she starts and I smile even bigger. She has a thick souther accent and she was kinda adorable. She had short brown curly hair and bright brown eyes. She smiles back at me a she parks her stroller next to me. I move over so she can sit next to me and she happily does. "I'm pretty sure you're my new neighbor" she claims.

"I think so. You have the blue house with a white roof right" I question.

"That's us" she smiles.

"Well it's nice to officially meet you. I'm Kelsey and Anthony isn't here but I'm sure he would love to have you and your family over for dinner sometime to officially meet" I say as I stick out my hand.

"I'm Santana and I'm so happy I can finally meet you. I've been meaning to stop by but I just had twins not too long ago and it's honestly so hard to get out that house" she insists as she shakes my hand.

"Oh man, I don't want to hear that. I love wandering and I don't know if I can ever give that up" I insist.

"When are you due" she wonders.

"Next month" I say.

"Oh that's cool! I had my kids a little more than a month ago so they'll be close in age. Who knows, maybe they can be friends and grow up together" she claims and I smile.

"I would like that a lot" I admit.

We sit there and talk for quite a while. I learn that she's originally from Texas but her and her fiancé moved here to Chicago about five years ago. They've been at their house since then and they've been wanting a neighbor for a while. We were pretty far out there so there weren't many families around. Her and her family was the first I've met and I learned a lot about her, she had a great story.

She met her husband in high school in Texas and they've been together ever since. He works in the city and she stays home with the kids now that they have two of them. They had a boy and a girl and they were honestly so precious. She explains how they don't watch a lot of sports and don't really know who Anthony was which kinda works out for the best. I still insist they catch a game at Wrigley and she was curious enough to agree to it.

After a while I realized we spent the whole day on that bench talking. I figured her kids needed to get home and Halley was getting impatient so we walk back to the house. We continue to walk and just share stories like we didn't just meet today.

"So how long have you and Anthony been together" she wonders as we get close to our houses.

"Over a year. We actually didn't start dating until the end of May even though we knew each other for a while before then. But I was pretty hard headed about dating, especially with someone who has such a spotlight on him. He just didn't care about the risks of him being with me and me being with him, he loved me and he wasn't letting me walk away from this. So it's been him and I ever since" I insist.

"I think it's cool you guys met at a baseball game since it means so much to you guys. Even though he did try to kill you" she giggles.

"It's pretty crazy, our story. There is a lot of hard parts, chapters I never want to read again. But through it all I've had him supporting me and reminding me that I can do anything I put my mind to. I just gotta believe" I say.

"Well I'm really happy to finally get a chance to meet you. I loved talking to someone who knows how to talk back unlike my babies. Sometimes I just want to listen and you have one of the coolest lives ever" she claims.

"I'm not all that interesting" I try.

"You really are" she insists as I blush.

"Well I'm happy I got to meet a neighbor and make a friend today. Lord knows I'll need one who's always around here. Maybe once Anthony is back we can get together and so some fun summer things" I suggest.

"I would love that" she smiles.