Through Thick and Thin (Anthony Rizzo)

Fall Together

Anthony

After talking things over with Jazz's mom I decide to go look for rings because if I have a dog with no rings then the plan still isn't ready. Since I knew her size and what to look for I had a pretty good idea of what she wanted. So I grab my good buddy Jason Heyward and leave Jazz at his place with his two dogs to start implanting in her mind that we should get one of our own. I told her Jason and I were off doing baseball things, but that wasn't true. We didn't have any baseball responsibilities until the World Series was over. This was strictly proposal.

"When are we going to find you a girl" I ask Jason as we walk into the jewelry store. Not looking for anything specific yet but just to see if anything catches our eyes.

He just laughs as he shakes his head. "I was engaged not to long ago, remember" he reminds me.

"I remember" I assure him. "But that was a few years ago. What's holding you back" I wonder.

"I don't know. I tell myself I'm focused on baseball, that's why I haven't put myself back out there. But part of me doesn't want to fall in love just to fall out of love again" he explains.

"You're a great man, any girl would be lucky to have you" I insist.

"Thanks man, but I don't really believe that there's someone out there truly meant for me anymore" he shrugs.

"I used to think like that. I used to say to myself that there's no one in this life that could possibly be meant to love me. Someone like that doesn't exist.

But then in a middle of a pandemic came this girl who didn't know a lot about a domestic life, and what she knew about life in the real world she knew of a life with me. And through that, through her heart break and my willing to learn we fell in love. And we didn't fall in love because we didn't have any other choice. Honestly we probably shouldn't have been leaving the apartments or spending so much time together.

Sometimes everything falls apart so things can fall together. In a alternate timeline Mathew is still alive and Jazz is still with him. In a alternate timeline you're still with Grace and married happily. But here, now, our reality is whatever we make it" I insist.

"I'm not you. I can't find a girl who has seen the worst in the world but sees the best in me. Girls like that aren't just walking around Chicago" he claims.

"Aren't they though? Because I met my future wife at a Target" I laugh as he rolls his eyes.

"I wish I had someone who I could look at and know I could love her forever and who would love me back. Who is crazy enough to look at what I do and want to be a part of it no matter what.

I look at you and Jazz and I know you're meant to be together. I know you've been through some crazy shit, some I'm sure I don't even know about, and you guys always come back stronger. What a lot of couples break up over, you guys use as a stepping stone in your relationship. Those kinds of relationships don't just pop up, I can't sit around waiting for my Mrs right" he claims.

"Well I think you should. I think that you're Mrs. Right is out there wondering where you are too" I smile.

We look around for a while and I decide to get the band first. While I don't think she would be doing anything crazy that would blow her finger off with her engagment ring, with her I can't assure that won't happen. Plus the band will be more comfortable with her line of work and she can wear the other ring when we go out and stuff. I'll have to get a silicone one too for baseball so I might as well look now.

After we get the bands Jason and I move to rings. Although he didn't end up marrying Grace he did get her a engagement ring so he at least knew what he was doing. I knew the size but I had to do some serious digging for what kind of ring she would like. She's not like most girls who had a Pinterest full of rings and wedding ideas. She had some but it was mostly Halloween decoration, recipes she tries for dinner and cute animal pictures and memes. But I did find a few rings on her page and wanted to see which one would be best for her and all her endeavors.

After I find the perfect ring which is simple and beautiful just like her, and once I pay way too much money for some rings, we head back to pick up my girlfriend. Only she really wasn't ready to leave.

"Can I be the permanent dog sitter? I promise every time you leave for baseball I'll take the best care of them" she begs as she holds Hov in her arms as tight as possible.

"Why don't you get a dog of your own" Jason suggests trying to help me out a little.

"We can't have dogs in our apartment" she declares.

"Actually..." I trail off. "We can have service dogs in the apartment."

"Oh god, not you too. Did you talk to my mom" she accuses.

"I did. But I don't think we should get you a dog because you need one, I think it would be nice. Getting a service dog means that it can come with us most places and I do think it would help you. Look how happy you are with Hov and Chi, you can have a dog of our own. We can do doggy play dates and everything" I suggest.

"Well..." she starts.

"Let's just look at some dogs. If you find one you like that's qualified then we'll get it. If not we can wait a little longer until you're ready" I promise her.

"But I want these doggies" she pouts.

"Yeah, you're strong but you gotta go through Jason for that" I insist.

"It's never gonna happen" Jason laughs. Those were his babies and he would do a lot for them. And while Jenna is a strong strong woman nothing comes between that man and his babies.

"Fine" she huffs.

So I pull her from the pups and we head on home. The rings were secured at Jason's place until I need them and she hasn't the slightest clue. At least I hope she doesn't.

We get home and we start to look around for some dogs. She would only adopt which is preferred but makes it a little harder to find a service dog. They would have to be totally trained from the start which is a bit harder than the puppies who have already started training once they were born. But this is going to be a process regardless of the route we went.

But things were coming together quickly. I still needed to get her family in town before we get the dog. But soon, very soon, it'll all be worth it.