Leigh sighed, toeing off her shoes and sitting back on the sofa. She looked around her trailer, seeing how empty it was of personal touches from herself, but noticing Anthony's influences. On the back of a chair sat his Cubs jersey from his retirement conference, at the small kitchen table there was leftover Chipotle and he had hats everywhere in the trailer.
After he had announced his retirement, Anthony had taken up permanent residence on set with Leigh, shadowing her once she left her position behind the camera. She knew he was still emotional from having to hang up his entire life as a baseball player but she also saw his limp and the pain of being benched another season as the younger kids came up and livened up the organization. He had heard trade talks and announced his retirement in the same season. He lived as a Cub after being traded from the Padres and would retire as one, he said. As if sensing that her thoughts had drifted to him, he entered the trailer and made a beeline to where Leigh was lounging between scenes.
"Hey, bella." He whispered, smiling as wide as his small mouth would allow him. He had let his curls grow out again and he took off his baseball cap, letting them spring back into place. Anthony dropped the cap on the table next to the leftover food and approached Leigh, crouching at her feet with a wince.
"Howdy. Getting used to the busy schedule?" Leigh asked, patting the seat next to her and making him sit down instead of crouch. He took one of her socked feet between his two hands once he sat down and began to massage them.
"A bit. I have no idea how you manage to pick everything up so fast when the location changes. Especially— you know." He tilted his head towards her midsection and she shrugged, looking down at her belly and how far it was protruding now at five months pregnant. She felt the baby shift and she thought that it knew they were thinking of it.
"I finally got this damn script in production after forcing it down every producer's throats in LA. Literally nothing will stop me from finishing this movie." Leigh rubbed a hand up and down the bulge of her belly before resting it on top of Anthony's head before playfully demanding, "Come cuddle me, husband."
He arranged Leigh into bed and curled around her back, instantly soothing Leigh with his breath ghosting over her neck.
"You've got thirty minutes until you need to be back on set for the car chase scene." Anthony reminded softly and she nodded, nuzzling into his hold and letting the thirty minutes slip by with a cat nap.
——
Anthony watched from behind the crew as Leigh waved her arms around, gesturing to the actresses to come closer and watch the monitor with her as they reviewed the shot they took. He smiled, despite himself, content to watch her work and display her passion. The script— the one that she had worked her ass off to get to production— was written by Beth two years ago and based off of a story Leigh had drafted in one of her endless notebooks that she carried. Anthony vividly remembers reading about it and asking Leigh how it ended. She didn't know then, but with Beth's help and some funding, it was realized and the script finalized.
Leigh made sure her casting director kept the roles diverse and relatively unknown. It was actually during the casting process that Leigh discovered that she was pregnant. She kept it a secret until she came home from Los Angeles to their rowhouse in Chicago to go to the doctor and make it official before telling Anthony. He blushes, remembering how he had reacted when she told him. Anthony had leapt up from where he sat on the futon in the editing room, grabbing Leigh and lifting her into the air while screaming nonsensically.
"Is that a good scream?" Leigh had asked, flushed and happy as Anthony spun her in his arms.
"Yes, oh god, yes!" He replied, putting her down and locking their lips for a kiss.
Watching her now, toddle around the set with a big belly and direct people, made his smile permanently attached to his face. Leigh never stopped— she made sure to take her vitamins and watch what she ate and drank during her pregnancy, but she never stopped moving. During the really bad months of nausea and morning sickness when they had been filming their most action-filled scenes, Leigh had kept a bucket next to her. That, of course, ended up on many gossip websites and accidentally added extra hype to her upcoming production.
It was riveting for Anthony, to watch her work. For so many years she had watched him play ball and be successful, winning not one championship, but three world series' with the Chicago Cubs. She was always supportive, no matter where she was going or how busy she was. When he was injured or sick, she'd always find a way to take care of him, even if it was ordering soup for delivery to the house while she was across the country debuting her films.
During the past seven years, Leigh had directed her share of short films and eventually feature length films. Last year she had won an Academy Award and propelled the brainchild of her and Beth into funding and existence.
So Anthony took it upon himself to be her pillar now. After she had graduated and let her history with Josh slide off of her back, she was his support through the wins and the losses. She stood alongside him even up to the day his career ended. One call sending him down to the minors and one trade rumor set his spine and he had retired, still recovering from a knee injury but mainly nursing his pride. Leigh had taken a break from the pre production of her film and tended to him. Initially, his concern was with having to step away from the one thing he had been doing his entire life. Just walking away from it entirely. But when multiple organizations had approached him enquiring about coaching positions or even broadcasting ones, he realized baseball would always be a part of his life. He then began to worry about his relationship with Leigh. Now that he was no longer a ball player, what was he in comparison to his wife? After having a full out midlife crisis, Leigh had seen what the root of the problem was and explained to him how she had felt before they started actually dating.
Small, he remembered whispering to her, feeling the realization hit him full force. She had held his hands in hers and placed one on the bump her belly was displaying.
"You could never be less than the love of my life and the only reason I am where I am now." She had said to him and he had kissed away the tears she shed when she saw how torn up he was.
So Anthony had politely put the job offers on hold and threw himself into being Leigh's support while she embarked on the most difficult time of her career. She had practically sold her soul to procure funding for her female fronted action film all while vomiting every morning and then filming the most expensive and complicated scenes. Anthony remembered one month that they had spent in the desert, coordinating with the special effects department and full out arguing with a particularly cocky pyrotechnician before she had fired the misogynist and hired her cousin's company instead. That alone had her up to her neck in paperwork that the producer had sent over, refusing to put in extra work for the film. While Anthony tried his best to support her throughout the entire process, he still found her taking care of him. When Anthony made sure to bring her vitamins and food if she was on set late at night, he would forget to feed himself until a production assistant had nervously introduced himself and told him that Leigh wanted him to go over to the craft service table and eat dinner.
The two of them worked seamlessly together and Anthony caught himself staring at the terrible paparazzi magazines in the grocery store checkout line that displayed rather creepy pap photos of the two of them together and Leigh gazing at him with a syrupy look. They caught pictures of her smacking his ass and racing him to their car as well. He knew he should be enraged that their privacy had been invaded like that, but he couldn't bring himself to be more than a little irritated. He loved the pictures. They captured the two of them perfectly. So when he bought one of the magazines and the teen girl ringing him up did a double take between the magazine and his face, he just smiled in return.
When their daughter was born, Anthony didn't think he could contain himself. He had been practicing for this ever since his nephew was born. He had trained to be the perfect father and now was his chance.
Anthony doted on their daughter, Dinah with every chance he got. She had her father's hair and her mother's eyes. Everything else was still mushy baby skin and he loved stroking her cheeks and marvelling at both his daughter and his wife.
"What?" Leigh saw him staring at her through the mirror that she used to delicately put her earrings in.
Anthony closed his mouth, realizing that his jaw was hanging open. The two of them were dressed for her film's premiere but Leigh looked amazing. She had just given birth to their daughter a couple months ago but she looked radiant still, her skin glowing through her makeup and her dress flowing perfectly down to her legs.
"You made a human two months ago." He said, dumbfounded. Leigh laughed and turned.
"So?"
"How do you look so good? This is crazy. You birthed a real live human being. You created life." He murmured, standing up and approaching her, nuzzling his face into her neck to avoid messing up the makeup she had professionally done. Anthony left kisses across her bare neck and collar bones, knowing that it had her burning up, judging from the noises she had begun making.
He leaned back, away from her and chuckled at her disappointed sighs, "You don't want to be late, do you?"
Leigh shrugged, "It would be worth it."
The premiere was a success, the red carpet going smoothly for the both of them and Dinah. Leigh had politely requested that the photographers remain respectful and not use flash, as her daughter was tucked in her arms when she arrived. At first, Dinah was entranced by the people but the excitement had gotten to her and she had fallen asleep quickly. Anthony took the baby from Leigh, cradling Dinah against the soft silk blend of his suit while Leigh did interviews with the stars of her film.
At a lull, Leigh looked back at her husband and smiled. He instantly mirrored her look and shot her a wink that she responded to by blowing a kiss.
Anthony couldn't help but remember when they had first met and he had tackled her to the ground, giving her a concussion and splitting the back of her head open. He was mortified when he had gotten up, helping the girl to her feet and apologizing rapidly while holding his glove and the ball in the air as proof. He remembered thinking how fucking embarrassed he was- not only did he knock a random girl to the ground to make a catch, on top of that, she was beautiful. Her lack of a response before he climbed back over the barrier didn't do anything to assuage his embarrassment and when he had returned after the game to give her a bat as an apology and saw that she was long gone, he had felt his heart drop. He had missed his chance.
So when he had seen her again in the coffee shop and spoken to her for longer than it felt, he knew he couldn't pass this chance up again. Multiple years, multiple World Series championships, two wedding ceremonies, and a baby later, he managed not to screw it up and landed the love of his life.
Leigh had turned back to the interviewer and was laughing at something the tanned woman had said and Anthony felt his heart swell when he glanced down at Dinah, sleeping peacefully in his arms.
They were happy, they were achieving their dreams, and they were together.