Heart of Gold (Anthony Rizzo)

Twenty Two

Anthony

January is a exciting month because not only is it the start of a new year but it's Nicholas' birthday. He was turning six today and that's pretty amazing considering he wasn't supposed to make it past three, yet here he was.

Unfortunately he wasn't feeling that good so we had to cancel the plans to go to a indoor amusement part to play put put and go bowling and roller skating and stuff and just stay home. He was really tired and cried the whole morning because he felt so shitty and I honestly felt terrible. Seeing that broke my heart and I know his was breaking too.

Nick laid on the couch sleeping the pain away as Isabella sat at her laptop trying to figure out something to make him feel better. It's never good to look these things up on the internet but she felt helpless and honestly so did I. Nick has a lot of good days, but his bad days are pretty bad and it sucks that one of his worst days was on his birthday. He spent most of his morning in Isabellas arms crying and she held him until he was able to go back to bed.

I hear her let out a large sigh as her head falls on the counter. I remove myself from under Nick who was sleeping on me and go over to Isabella. I rub her shoulders as she lets out a groan.

"This is hell. I'm in hell" she claims.

"They don't allow angels in hell" I try and she laughs a little.

"That was sweet, but not helpful" she smiles.

"I figured I had to try" I shrug.

"What am I going to do" she asks.

"I don't think there is anything more you can do..." I trail off.

"There has to be something. This is no way for him to spend his sixth birthday" she sighs.

"It's not, but our hands are tied right now" I explain. I see a tear fall and I catch it quickly. "Please don't cry" I whisper.

"I'm sorry, it just breaks my heart to see him like that" she admits.

"I know, me too. Lets just make the most with what we have" I suggest and she sniffles.

We get up and make Nick a home made birthday cake. It was a two tier chocolate cake with a baseball on the top. We wrote "Happy 6th Birthday Nick" on the top and call it a day.

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about what Nick said about wanting a brother or sister" Isabella starts and I raise a eyebrow.

"Where are you going with this" I ask.

"Calm down, I don't want a kid yet. But I think we can get him a dog" she says.

"A dog" I ask.

"Yeah, maybe we can get it to be a service dog. To notice when Nicky's heart is being erratic and it comes to tell someone when it does" she explains.

"Dogs can do that" I ask.

"Yeah, they are mans best friend after all" she laughs.

"Well then what are we waiting for" I ask.

She looks up where to find service dogs and I stay back to watch over Nick. Eventually he wakes up and he wasn't looking too hot. He crawls into my lap and lays there. I run my fingers through his hair as I listen to him struggle to breathe. Maybe Isabella is right, this is hell.

"How are you feeling" I ask.

"A little better. Where's Izzy" he asks.

"She went to get a very special birthday present" I say and he smiles for the first time today.

"Really" he asks.

"Yup" I nod.

"What is it" he asks.

"It's a surprise" I say and he gasps.

"A surprise" he repeats.

"Yeah. But first we have to get you some food and take your medicine" I say and he nods. I pick him up and take him in the kitchen. I get out what Isabella made because I can only cook when she's telling me what to do. He eats his Mac and cheese and broccoli and takes his medication. He takes a shower and comes out in his Spiderman pajamas my mom gave him for Christmas. The doorbell rings and Nick pops his little head over the couch.

"Izzy" he asks.

"That should be her" I assure him. I go to the door and open it to see her holding a chocolate lab puppy. It had a red service vest on and I smile.

"Is he up" she asks softly.

"Yeah" I reply and she nods. She comes in and sets the puppy down. Nick comes around the couch and stops when he sees the dog.

"No fucking way" he yells and both Isabella and I stop.

"What did he just say" she asks.

"You know what? This is a problem for another day" I say and she looks at me.

"Where did he hear that from" she asks.

"Really? Does "PASS THE FUCKING BALL YOU SISSY BITCH" ring a bell" I ask.

"Okay, I get it. I get into the football games but I can't help it" she blushes.

"I think it's hot" I whisper in her ear and she giggles. We turn around and see Nick on the floor and the dog sitting across from him. He tilts his head to the side and the dog copies him. He turns his head the other way and the dog copies him again.

"Hi doggy" Nick say softly and the dog barks. "I love him" Nick announces and I laugh.

"How'd you know it was a boy" Isabella asks.

"Isn't it obvious" Nicky asks.

"It is to us..." she says.

"He's brown" he exclaims and Isabella lets out a breath of relief. That could have been worse.

"What do you want to name him" she asks.

"Hmmmm" the boy says tapping his chin. He lays down so he's eye to eye with the dog. He lets it crawl over and the dog licks his face. "I want to name him Charlie" Nick announces.

"You really want to name him Charlie" she asks barley above a whisper.

"Yeah" Nick shrugs.

"Who's Charlie" I ask.

"That was our dad" she whispers and my eyes go big. I turn to the boy who was still laying in the floor playing with his puppy.

"We're going to best friends, okay" he asks the dog. Charlie barks back and he lights up.

"Thank you sissy and Anthony. I love him so much" Nick says picking the dog up and taking him into the living room.

"So what happens when Nick has a heart problem? What does the dog do" I ask.

"He should come get us or he'll just start barking like crazy. But if Nick goes back to school he gets to bring Charlie and he'll come to games too" she explains. 

"Oh that's cool. We should have done this forever ago" I admit.

"I forgot about it until today" she shrugs.

"Well it's been 2013 for 10 days and you're already the sister of the year" I say pulling her into a hug. She buries her face in my chest and I kiss the top of her head.

"Only one thing could make this better" she mumbles.

"What" I wonder.

"Cake and ice cream" she says.

"Lets put some candles in the cake and light this bad boy" I laugh.

We get everyone in the kitchen and put six candles in the cake. We sing happy birthday before Nicky blows out the candles.

"Happy birthday buddy" I smile.