Do Simple Better (Anthony Rizzo)

Chapter 40: Bet

-Anthony's POV-

We're playing bad. No one is totally freaking out but happy isn't how I would describe the clubhouse. Of course it helps when Willson is always running around here vibrant as ever, he's the happiest anyone this clubhouse could possibly can be. It's contagious, and he's such a great and talented kid. He's already impacted this team greatly and we're happy to have him here with us. I was sitting on the couch under the huge Cubs sign in the clubhouse and Vanessa is in my lap. "Remember the first time I was in here and David somehow got me to do karaoke" she giggles. I smile at the memory of her trotting around the room, confidence beaming off her as she strutted over to me and got me to sing. Forever thankful she had more balls than I did. "I do. I almost kissed you that day" I says and she rolls her eyes. "My dad would have killed you" she says hopping off my lap and skipping over to the small DJ system. She chooses a song and I instantly know what it is. "Come on Tony sing with me" she cheers dragging me off the couch. "This cannot be happening" I groan as she spins me around. "When I had you to myself I didn't want you around" she sang and I couldn't resist joining in. "That pretty face has always made you stand out in a crowd" I sing back and we take off. We sprint around the clubhouse holding our fake microphones to everyone as they would sing along. I mean who doesn't like the Jackson 5? Even Joe joins us and dances along the circular couches we once occupied. "Oh baby give me one more chance, to show you that I love you" she sings as I twirl her on my finger and bring her in. She stares into my eyes and I feel like I'm falling in love all over again. Every day feels so special and I never want it to end. We both stop singing and just study each other, really taking each other in. She made me so happy, through the toughest time of her life she still managed to put a smile on my face each and every day. All the criticism and doubters and nay-sayers never get to me because she is always by my side reminding me just how great I could be. She takes away my negative thoughts and replaces them with promises of our future. During times like this where we aren't doing that well, it means the world to have someone like her around. Nobody likes to lose but it's going to happen, and I know I'll be okay as long as she's with me. Here I am, staring at the only thing I want to see after a loss. The only girl who has ever made me go crazy. The only girl who makes me rethink my ways every day. "I love you so much" I say. "I love you to the moon and back" she says smiling.

June kind of sucked. As a team we were spotty. Pitching just wasn't there but truth be told we were tired. As July starts the allstar break is just around the corner, no one was more excited than us. Sure Dexter, Ben, Addi, Kris, Jason, Jake, Lester, and myself were all in it but that's different. We get to go to Cali and relax a little. Watch the home run derby and play a few innings of the game. But we were certainly crawling to the finish line. Playing the Reds is always a opportunity to get back into the swing of things. But it doesn't always work that way as this was actually a pretty close game. Both offenses were on fire today but the difference between us and them... was that we have Kris Bryant. Every time he steps up to the plate it's a extra base hit. First it was a double, then a homer, then another homer, then a double. We're we're comfortably in the lead now thanks to Kris and I decide to joke around with him. "Bet you can't hit another homer" I tease. He grabs his batting stuff and lets out a huff. "Bet" he says and goes to the batting circle. He steps up to the plate and I head to the batting circle to bat after him. "You shouldn't have said that" Vanessa says. I stop to look at her and she has a smirk on her face. "Why is that" I ask. "Watch" is all she says. I turn around just as Kris unloads a moon blast all the way to the back of the third deck. The fucker actually did it. He touches home plate and looks me dead in the eye giving me a wink. "Son of a bitch" I mumble walking up to the plate. I look back at the dugout and Jason was trying to coax Kris up to a curtain call but he wasn't having it. He was too kind for that. Instead it turns into a awkward hug and Kris stayed in the dugout. I refocus on the game before deciding to help the cause myself. I saw a fast ball up and in and knew it was my pitch so I cocked my leg back and let one rip. Straight center field. Even though we were now crushing the Reds in their own park the cheers were still loud. I mean we do have the best fans in the world after all. I hit home and head to the dugout. I might not be Jake, who is a pitcher and hit a home run, or Kris who just hit his third homer, but the boys were just as excited to see me. "That's how you do it!" David cheers and I can't help but smile. No matter what our records reflects, coming back to this dugout is always a win in my book.