Celestial Love (Anthony Rizzo)

.33. Good Old Baseball Game

Anthony

Every player has certain games that they will remember forever. For many Cubs fans it's many of the games in last years post season. There were multiple memorable games from the 2016 post season, from Javy hitting the only run in game one of the NLDS to us rattling off four unanswered in game four of that series to clinch it. Or maybe it was Miggys grand slam against the Dodgers that set the tone for the rest of that series. Of course game seven of the World Series will go down in the record books as one of the best. The longest drought in major sports history had to end with a little rain.

But those are all in the past, it's 2017 now and we have new series to win. None of those wins gets us a World Series this year. And the divisional series against the Nationals was something to talk about for anyone who loves the game of baseball. The main stories was the hometown buddies going against each other with Kris on our side and Bryce on theirs. Both guys great players in their own right. And with Bryce hitting free agency on the off season he was someone on the Cubs' radar. I don't know how we would afford him but it wouldn't hurt to try. He's a great player and I would love to have him on this team, that is if he doesn't send us home tonight. With the series tied at two games a piece it's win or go home and no one on either side wanted to leave.

The game started out well for us. We were scoring with hard earned hits, using the long ball. Playing our game the way we usually do. But then we start trading hits, we score first then they take the lead and we take the lead back. It was one of those games that you love to watch as long as it's not your team playing.

And as we get late in the game you can feel how intense it was. Wrigley was rocking even though we were approaching 10 at night. No one left their seats hoping to see their favorite team clinch a national league championship series birth for the third year in a row.

We get to the ninth inning and our lead had shrunk to one the inning before. It was Wade Davis time and every out was the most important out this season.

It was a long inning but we end up scraping by and getting a exciting win. Cubs fans get to see their team in the next series and I get to be with my boys a little while longer.

I do post game interviews and shower before packing up my bag. Most of the guys go see their families in the common area and I was ready to head home for the night. That was a very emotional win and I needed a long sleep.

"Anthony" someone calls out and I turn around to see the security guard that works with us waving at me and I stop. "Someone is here to see you."

I look at him weird as he calls someone over. No one I knew was coming tonight so I didn't know who it would have been. It wasn't until I saw Celeste did I feel my soul leave my body. My eyes nearly pop out of my head as she stands there. She looked painfully good in a long tan coat that clinched her waist. Her long brown hair curled and she looked... perfect.

"Callie" I gasp as she walks over to me. I pull her into a hug and she wraps her arms around me. "How" I ask.

"Well someone keeps leaving me tickets, it would be mean if I didn't use them" she smirks and I smile. I always hoped she would pick them up but I never thought in a million years she would be standing here.

"I'm sorry. I'm still a little taken aback that you're actually here right now" I admit.

"Well it's football season and James is on a strict schedule. The man is nothing if not consistent. That means 8 straight hours of uninterrupted sleep so a lot of time I sleep in the spare. He's in his room at 8 and asleep by 10. It also makes it a lot easier to slip out without him knowing" she smirks.

"So you're a bad girl now" I ask as she laughs.

"No, I wouldn't say that. I think desperate is a better explanation" she nods.

"Well now that you're here would you like to meet some people? A lot of the women in here have been through a lot of stuff you have too. They're great at making people feel welcomed. Maybe you can make some friends" I say.

"I'll never know if I don't try" she smiles.

So I bring her to Kris and his wife Jessica first because he is the soul person in this room who has a tiny idea of what's going on. Though from the look on his face he wasn't expecting to see her here tonight either. So I introduce them and I haven't seen Celeste so happy in my life. She was a people person but doesn't get to see people a lot. This was all so exciting for her.

"I didn't know you guys were friends" Jess says before looking between us suspiciously and I laugh.

"It's complicated" I admit.

"Isn't everything with you" she jokes.

"You're not wrong" I smile.

"Well it is absolutely great to meet you" Jess says as she turns to Callie. "I know being married to a athlete is hard, it sucks some times. But if you ever want to talk or get your mind off things I know we would love to have you here. A lot of the girls follow you and I'm sure you have some crazy stories you can share and we can have a good laugh" she says and I smile.

"That would be really really nice" Celeste smiles too.

"Well let Anthony know when you're free and we will save you a spot. I hope you like cupcakes and mimosas" Jess says.

"I love them" Celeste assured her.

I introduce her to a few more people before they head home to their families. She wasn't quite ready to go back to her prison just yet so I drag her to our favorite ice cream shop. Even though it's cooler now I still want ice cream. There really isn't a bad time for it.

We sit in the back and she tells me about her experience at tonight's baseball game. She didn't get in until the sixth inning so she didn't see a lot, but she enjoyed her time she had there. A few of the girls introduced themselves or knew of her from social media. A lot of athletes or their significant others enjoy other professional sports so her being there wasn't anything unusual. I'm just happy she got some good memories here and that everyone loved her. It goes to show that given the chance she could brighten so many people's days and she shouldn't be locked up.

"You have such a great group around you" she notices.

"We couldn't do what we do without the people I that room. You included" I insist.

"I don't think I helped you with that game tonight" she tries.

"On the contrary, you are one of my favorite reasons to play" I say as she starts to blush.

"Wel I hope I can come to a lot more games" she admits.

"Me too" I agree.