Two years later...

Storm's POV

As I stood at my window, I watched everyone in the big backyard. So much has happened since Melo passed I haven't been the same since.

After receiving the news of his passing, my heart couldn't take the impact of it, which caused me to go unconscious. I woke up days after and it was honestly one of the worse days of my life. Telling his family had to be one of the hardest things anyone had to do. Since I was the closest with Melo, I had to tell his family the whole situation and what happened. And just like I expected, they were upset. And they were angry at me. They blamed me for causing the whole situation and for getting Melo involved. Which I don't blame them for, I blamed myself for the past two years.

Word then got out about the situation and I was instantly hated for it. It was one thing from getting it from his family, but by millions of people really hurt. I stopped living my life. I stopped working, I stopped going out, everything I did in my everyday life I stopped doing. I couldn't show my face to the world after the way I was being treated. I was hurt, I was scared, I was embarrassed. But most importantly, I was sorry. I was so sorry and there was nothing I can I do to change what happened. I wish it was me who got shot. I wish I was the one who took the bullet and suffered from it. I wish I died instead of him.

I kept my tears held in because I did promise him I wouldn't cry over him. So far, the hole that burned in my chest remained. And it only got bigger. I felt like no one allowed me to miss him. I was so attacked by everyone, I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye. I couldn't even attend his funeral. Look at that, I couldn't attend my best friends funeral because everyone hated me. I'm so sorry LaMelo. While I was in hiding from the world, I had the comfort of my friends and family. We were all grieving the lost of Melo and needed to be there for one another.

I then convinced Peyton to move out here and live with Josh and I. She of course agreed because she couldn't be by herself. Especially in a time like that. So she moved in with us and still today, lives with us. Now you might be thinking, what is the last thing Melo said to me. Well, he told me to care of his unborn baby at the time. And yes you're correct, he got Peyton pregnant. They slept together once and he slipped up and the condom broke. He told me to make sure his child was straight no matter what and that's exactly what I did.

Peyton had her son. LaMelo Unviverse Ball Jr. Also known as LJ. She named him after Melo which I loved. Melo always wanted a Junior. He even looked just like him, and had similar personalities. It's like he was reborn and came back as his son, which only made everyone miss him more. She reached out to his family and they welcomed her with opened arms. I'm glad they did, she needed to get close with them.

Heaven had her daughter. Shariah Nevaeh O'neal. She was a beautiful smart girl and looked just like Heaven. And then there's me, I had my daughter. Chelsey Lightning Bolt Christopher. That name sounds familiar to you huh? Lemme explain why I gave her that name.

I'm sure you guys remember that lovely young girl Chelsey, who came to my store. She was diagnosed with a sickness and was fighting for her life. The day where everything went day, one of my workers gave me a letter with my name on it. A month later I ended up opening the letter. It was a letter from Chelsey. This is what she wrote in the letter.

Dear Storm,

I just wanted to say thank you, thank you for everything you have done for me. If you got this letter, then it means that I passed away. The strong girl that I was couldn't fight for any longer. But I fought long enough thanks to you. I wish you all the best and hope you continue to inspire others, just like you did to me. I died with a smile on my face all thanks to you!

Thanks for being great!

Love Chelsey!

Ps, I made sure to wear my lashes and necklace.

I couldn't stop thinking about her. That amazing girl who tried to fight her sickness. I was upset that she had to go so soon, but was happy that I knew she died happy with a smile on her face. Just like Melo.

While I was pregnant, it was getting harder for me to keep up with myself. I was upset everyday and didn't wanna take care of myself. No matter how much Josh and other people tried to convince me, I felt like I didn't have a purpose to be on this earth anymore. I couldn't think straight knowing Melo was gone because of me.

With a stern talking to from Josh, I had to realize it's not about me anymore. It's about our daughter. Just because I didn't feel like taking care of myself, didn't mean I can give up all of my responsibilities. I still had to take care of her. She was very active in the womb and was always moving around, reminding me she was there. She also reminded me that everything I did or felt, she could feel. If I didn't eat, she didn't eat. If I didn't sleep properly, she wouldn't sleep properly. If I was feeling any kind of emotion, she could feel my emotion.

I gotten better over time and made sure I took care of her. Which went great because I was happily blessed with her months after. It was easy giving birth to her and she came out happy and healthy. She had a smile on her and had her eyes open to greet the doctors, Josh and I, and our parents.

Seeing her little face and how she was so attached to me, I felt like I fell in love all over again. The second I saw her the only thing that popped into my mind was, I'm going to protect her with my life and raise her the best way that I can. She was a perfect mixture of Josh and I, and I couldn't help but be happy. She had her dad's goofiness and her mother's independence. She was also the type to rarely cry. If something happened to her, she'd just get up and brush it off. Mommies strong girl. And when it came to doing something she liked or had interest in, she killed it. In a good way. For being so young, she was so smart. I don't call her lightning bolt for nothing. And I know someone will ask, yes we ended up adopting Lola, Marcus, and Kevin. So we have 4 kids.

Now for Josh and I. After he recovered, he got back to playing basketball. He still played amazingly and kept his title as one of the best NBA players. Since I stopped working, I traveled with Josh and his team to games. I never actually went to the games, just stayed in the hotels. Josh couldn't bare to leave me alone, especially after the fact that we just lost our friend. He wanted to make sure he was there for me no matter what. Later on, we had a private wedding and went to Cancun for our honeymoon. It was great to get away from our regular lives for a bit. I wish I could leave it forever.

But here we are today, at my daughters second birthday party. I wish I could post a cute message for her on social media but I haven't logged into my social media accounts since I started to get hate. I don't think I plan on logging back on anytime soon either.

"You ok?" I heard behind me. I turned around and seen Josh leaned against the door frame.

"I don't know" I said shrugging and looking back at the window.

"You've been saying that for a very long time" he says and walks over to me. He grabs my hand and holds it.

"What else do you want me to say Josh?" I ask turning to him.

"I want you to be honest with me, ever since-" he starts but I cut him off.

"Don't finish that sentence, please" I said putting my hand up. He sighs before lifting my head to look at him.

"It's ok to let it all out Storm. Scream, cry, break something if you want to. Do something" he says.

"I can't" I said.

"Why?" He asks me. As I open my mouth, about to speak, Chelsey runs into the room.

"Mama" she says. I look at her and a smile is instantly brought to my face.

"Yes baby" I said picking her up.

"I don't like" she says and points to her outfit. I looked at her dress and seen grass stains and food stains all over her dress.

"Chels I told you to stay clean" I said sighing.

"Sorry mama" she says.

"Let's go change you" I said sighing. Josh then grabs her from me.

"I'll change her, you go downstairs and vibe with everyone" he says.

"Josh it's ok" I said about to grab Chelsey but he turns away.

"Storm, go. Now" he says in a demanding way. I cross my arms and he gives me a look. I know what that means....

"Fine" I mumbled. After I walked past him, I rolled my eyes.

"Roll them again!" I heard him yell behind me. I couldn't help but giggle. I walked down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. There I seen mine and Josh's parents. As well as Josh's brother Patrick.

"There you are, I was looking for you earlier. Where were you?" My mom asks.

"I was just upstairs. I was doing something" I lied looking away. She then gives me a look and looks away. She knows I'm lying.

"Hi Everyone" I said turning to everyone else.

"Hi honey" Halona says as her and Laron give me a hug.

"Hi Halona, hello Laron. How are you two?" I ask them.

"I'm fine honey thank you" Halona says.

"I'm good. How are you Storm?" Laron asks me.

"I'm...." I tried to find the words but couldn't. Someone save me...

"Good to see you Storm, it's been a while" Patrick says and gives me a hug. I smiled and nodded. Love Patrick.

"Thank you" I whispered to him.

"Of course" he says and rubs my back. Thank the lord for him.

"I'm going to be in the backyard with everyone, I'll call you guys out when it's time to cut the cake" I said to them and they nodded.

"I'll come with you" Pat says. I nodded and we walked out of the kitchen and to the backyard. When we got out, I seen many of my friends. Which made me feel very good.

"I'll let you greet your guest" he says. I nodded and walked around to greet everyone. Everyone that you can think of was here. I'm happy that the people I love are here to celebrate my daughter with me.

"Hey where were you?" Peyton says as she walks up to me.

"I was inside, but I'm here now" I said to her and she nods smiling.

"Let's go where everyone is at" she says. I turned around to Pat but seen that he's gone. Oh, ok.

"I'll catch up with you, lemme make sure my kids aren't around giving any trouble" I said as Kevin, Marcus, and Lola came to mind. The twins were 10 and Lola was 7. I had nothing to worry about when it came to Lola, she's a very smart girl and knows right from wrong. But Marcus and Kevin. They gave me a headache.

"Lola is with North, Shariah, Stormi, True, Chicago, and LJ over there" Peyton points. I turned and seen them drawing together and having little conversation. Of course LJ is the only boy there. Something Melo would do.

"Now for Marcus and Kevin" I mumbled and scanned the whole backyard. My hands then dart to the candy table, I seen hands from underneath the table, grab a handful of candy, and make it's way back under the table.

"Found them" I said and we walked over to the table. I crouched down and lifted the cover off.

"What are you guys doing?" I said. They look at me and stop chewing.

"Hey Storm! You look nice" Kevin says.

"Yea you look beautiful, did you do something different to your hair?" Marcus says. I sighed as I looked at the two boys. This is why I leave Josh to handle them.

"If you two don't get your asses from underneath this table in two seconds, You won't like the outcome. 1..." I started and they instantly got up and stood up straight.

"Didn't I say to stay out of trouble?" I said crossing my arms.

"That's exactly what we were doing, right Kevin?" Marcus says and Kevin nods.

"Go play or something" I said to them.

"We don't wanna play with babies" Kevin groans.

"Go play basketball then" I said to them. They give each other a look and sigh.

"Ugh fine" Marcus says and they both walk away to the court. I sighed and then made my way to my friends.

"Hi babe" Heaven says when she sees me.

"Hey y'all" I said smiling at them.

"Where's Josh?" Luzzy asks me. I was about to answer but I see him walk back out with Chelsey. He's dressed her in a Palm Angels shirt, leather black pants and Travis Scott 1s. She looks just like him.

"Mama look" Chelsey says running up to me. She smiles and does a twirl.

"You look beautiful baby" I said to her.

"You look like your daddy" Caleb says and she turns to him.

"My daddy dressed me uncle woo" she says to him.

"Go hang with the other girls ok princess" Josh says to her.

"Ok daddy" she says. Josh kisses her cheek before she runs off to draw with the other girls.

"Of course you dress her up to look like you" I said as he stood beside me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and looked down at me.

"Well duh, you already know my baby gotta be drippy" he says and I giggled.

"I can't believe it's been two years already" Star says as she looked at everyone.

"Yea, time flew by" Shareef says. As they all continued their conversation. I couldn't help but look down. Here we go again. I looked at my arm that had the money bag tattoo on it, the only thing I could think of was Melo. He would wanna be here today.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom" I said as I pulled away from Josh. I walked away and made my way inside. I walked into the bathroom and locked the door. I sat on the toilet and sighed. Pull yourself together Storm.....

Josh's POV

"Anything lately?" Luzzy asked me as Storm walked off. I shook my head sighing.

"You're telling me she hasn't cried once" Shaqir says.

"Nope, not at all. I would've known if she cried" I said.

"Storm is literally breaking herself down by not letting herself grieve over Melo" Jalen says.

"Josh and I already tried to talk to her but she just won't let herself. All of her emotions are bottling up in her and it's only going to get worse" Peyton says.

"I can't even use the excuse give her some time anymore" I said sighing once more. Storm then walked back and had a big smile on her face.

"Let's cut the cake now yea?" She says to me. I look at our friends before looking back at her.

"Yea let's do" I said nodding at her. She smiles and walks over to Chelsey and the other kids. They all cheer and stand up making their way to the table. I walk over to the DJ and tell him it's cake time.

"Alrightttt, everyone please make your way to the big pink table" he says and I grabbed the mic. Everyone surrounds the table and I picked up Chelsey and Storm stands beside us. She grabs a lighter and lights the birthday candle.

"Here baby" I said giving her the mic.

"Thank you babe" she says and we share a quick kiss.

"Ok! Thank you all for being here today to celebrate my baby's special day. She's growing up so fast and everyday she becomes less of a baby. Mommy and daddy loves you Chelsey" she says to her and Chelsey smiles and kisses her moms cheek.

"1...2...3" Storm starts.

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to Chelsey! Happy Birthday to you!" We all sang and then everyone clapped. Chelsey clapped as well and grabbed the mic from Storm.

"Tank you" she says in her little voice which causes everyone to laugh.

"Make a wish Chels" I tell her and she bends down slightly. She closes her eyes and blows out her candle.

"Yay!!!" We all clapped for her.

"Help me cut it" she says and looks at Storm and I. We nodded and Storm grabbed the knife. We all put our hands on it and cut a slice of cake. Storm then puts it on a plate and gives it to Chelsey. Chelsey says and grins.

"Yummy?" I ask her.

"Mhm, wanna try?" She asks me and I nod. She grabs a piece of it smashes it on my face.

"Ahh Chelsey!" I shrieked out and started laughing. I then used my finger to try it.

"It does taste good" I said nodding and she nods with me.

"You guys are a mess" Storm says as she continues to share out cake. I then smirked as I turned to put Chelsey down.

"Go ask grandma to wipe your face" I told her and she nodded.

"Baby come try some cake" I said looking at her. She side eyes me before shaking her head.

"Josh stay back" she says and I laughed as I made my towards her.

"C'mere" I said and grabbed her arm.

"Josh! No-" she yells but I grab her face and give her a sloppy kiss, getting cake all over her face. We heard laughs around us which caused me to pull away laughing.

"Joshhhh" she whines. I look at her and mock the sad face she was making. She then started laughing and smiled at me.

"You're a big baby" she says and grabs a napkin. She starts to wipe my face and I smile at her.

"I'm you're big baby" I said to her. She smiles and pecks my lips.

"I love you" she says.

"I love you too"