This morning, Hailee and I are going over to my Moms for breakfast. My mom has been talking about it nonstop, counting down the days until she gets to meet Hailee. I'm nervous though, even though I shouldn't be since my Mom is going to love her. Although this part of the day will be slightly nerve racking, at least Hailee and I have tickets that Curry gave us for the Warriors vs Lakers game tonight, so I'm looking forward to that. While I wait for Hailee to finish in the bathroom, I'm leaned up against the wall waiting for the bathroom door to open.

"Ok! Ready!" She says brightly, coming out of the bathroom.

"Did you wash your hands missy?" I ask jokingly, and she rolls her eyes while giggling. I grab her wrists, bringing her hands closer to my face to inspect them sarcastically. I don't think I'll ever get over her beautiful hands and nails; the hand veins are a bonus. I follow her as she walks towards my front door.

"How are we feeling, tell it to me." I ask her, while I jog a little so I can catch up to walk with her after locking the door.

"Excited, you've told me so much about her and today I finally get to meet the woman who made you, and just because of that I love her already." She tells me while I close the door for her. I walk around the front, hoping into the drivers seat.

"You're so sweet you know that?" She says out of the blue while I start the engine.

"What made you think that?"

"I don't know, but just how you open the door for me always, and your little gestures like that. I just appreciate them so much Jay."

"Oh, um, of course, you deserve the best." I reply, now looking at her. Before I reverse out of my driveway, she plants a sweet kiss on my lips, her hands holding my face.

While we make the drive to Hyde Park, my childhood neighborhood, Hailee looks out the window the whole ride. She's holding my free hand over the center console, her thumb rubbing the gap between my fingers every so often. As we star to approach my neighborhood, Hailee looks around some more.

"It's not the nicest neighborhood, I know." I tell her, trying to guess what she's thinking. I'm not wrong in saying that though, Hyde Park is known to be dangerous.

"It's still your home though." She replies, as if she doesn't care I wasn't raised in a high end neighborhood. We make our way through the different inner streets to get to my Moms house.

"Look there." I motion to Hailee to look to her left. "That court right there is where I would walk to and practice when I was little." It's not much, I was lucky to have a full court with two baskets though. The nets were chain instead of typical net material, and the backboards made of a rusted metal. Regardless of the condition, it did the job.

We finally pull into my Moms driveway, arriving at the little light blue house with the small porch outside. Hailee and I begin to walk to the front, stepping up the 4 small steps that lead to the door. I take out my keys, unlocking the door for myself.

"Mom?" I call out once I step inside, and as soon as she hears my voice, she appears from the hallway.

"Hi baby!" She says excitedly, almost running towards me with her arms open. She embraces me tightly, as if she hasn't seen me in years, which is untrue since I saw her just last week. When we detach from our hug, I take a step back, revealing Hailee beside me.

"Mom, this is Hailee." I introduce, and my Mom brushes past me to get Hailee's share of a hug as well.

"Come here girl." She motions to Hailee, smiling as bright as ever. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"It's a pleasure Ms. Carter." Hailee replies politely, and I can tell by the tone of her voice she's slightly nervous, but she's doing great so far.

"Oh please, Josie. Call me Josie." My Mom asserts to her while they are attached in a hug. "Follow me, let me show you around!" She tells Hailee, and I gulp knowing that there are plenty of embarrassing baby photos to go around. Hopefully my Mom doesn't pull out the photo albums she loves to show guests.

My Mom leads us through the hallway that leads to the main rooms of the house. This so called house tour should be over quick, since my Mom lives in a fairly small home. For most of my life, it was just the two of us so it only made sense to live in a home that was on the smaller side.

The three of us walk though, following my Moms lead. She opens up the doors to the different rooms to show Hailee. First the bathroom, the small office area, and lastly the two main rooms: my Moms and my old childhood bedroom.

"Okay Mom, you can close the door to my room now." I say, trying to divert from the fact that my childhood room is still exactly how I left it, a relic of my younger years.

"What are you hiding in there huh?" Hailee asks, walking closer to the door, almost entering it. My hand raises above my head, nervously scratching the back of it. There's not much I can do to stop her from entering.

"I'll leave you guys to it, I'm going to start cooking breakfast." My Mom acknowledges, closing the door behind us leaving Hailee and I in my childhood bedroom alone.

"This is so embarrassing." I say lightly, and Hailee turns to me and giggles.

"No it's not my love, it's like I'm experiencing how young Jayden lived. I like it."

Hailee takes her time looking at all the walls and knick knacks on the shelves. The room consists of a small twin bed and a small desk with a closet on the biggest wall. My room is plastered with items from things I liked as a kid, posters and cut outs filling the walls. The shelves are stacked with different trophies and medals from my youth league years. One item that takes up the most space on the wall is the first Jersey I had with my name on it, belonging to the local team. Of course I was on the boy's team, but I still had a blast getting to play basketball more competitively.

"Nice Spider-Man bed sheets." Hailee points out, and my cheeks turn pink in embarrassment.

"Don't mention it." I say, slightly facing my head away from her, a smile creeping up on my face. Hailee places both her hands on my cheeks, diverting my direction of sight to her.

"Hey." She says in an almost whisper. "I love being here, your Mom is so amazing, seeing all the young photos of you.." She begins.

"I know we grew up differently, all I've ever known is a big house with a big backyard and that whole life. But that doesn't mean I don't get to appreciate how you lived, and I'm proud of you. You've made it a long way from this little room with Spider-Man bedsheets huh." She tells me genuinely, still holding my face, and I can't help but smile. "I love it because I.. L word you."

"Oh god L word." I reply laughing, her following suit and giggling as well.

"You know I mean it." She reminds me, and I nod.

"As do I. But saying that word is hard."

"Of course it is. That's why we have a temporary word, just for us." She says smiling.

"You're cute. Come on, let's get out of here before you find more embarrassing things." I tell her, as I motion for her to walk back to the kitchen area. We are welcomed by my Mom cutting up fruit for us.

"Everything's ready, grab a plate and serve yourself!" My Mom says proudly. I hand Hailee a paper plate, and she thanks me.

We both go through each section of food, grabbing a little bit of everything, my Mom doing the same after we are done. The three of us sit at the dinning table that hasn't seen a third chair in a long time. We begin to eat, our conversation is light.

"So Hailee, someone over here tells me you make music." My Mom asks, breaking the silence. Hailee takes a moment to finish chewing before answering.

"That would be correct, yes. I actually have a small EP coming out soon, it's been in progress since before I even met your daughter." Hailee tells.

"That's wonderful dear. Jay showed me a few songs, you have a great voice honey!" She compliments, and Hailee smiles.

"Thank you Josie, I'll have to play a few songs for you once it's released."

"That would be lovely, yes!" My mom replies.

We continue to eat and talk for a while, even long after we've all finished eating. My Mom tells stories of me from when I was young, and I have to sit there and listen. Even though it's nice to hear those stories again, I never know which one my Mom will tell next, and that's scary when my girlfriend is sitting right across from her. Hailee tells stories of her own too, stories of her and Griffin, stories from her time on different movie sets, all which my Mom seems to enjoy.

The mood changes however when my Mom get's up from her chair to clean up the table and is holding on tightly to the back side of the dinner chair, gasping for air.

"Mom?" I say frantically, immediately standing up from my own chair to go assist her. I place my hand on her back, my free hand on her own hand that's placed on the chair.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She says in between breaths, letting out a few coughs.

"Are you sure Mom? Here give me the plates and utensils, you need to sit back down." I encourage her.

"Give me the plates, I got it." Hailee offers with her hand out, and I hand them to her while I carefully walk my Mom to the nearby couch. It takes effort for her to even sit down.

"What happened there, are you okay?" I ask my Mom.

"Yeah, I just got a little winded that's all." She replies with here eyes closed. I look over to Hailee with a worried face, and I get one in return.

"Let me take your blood pressure, stay right there." I order while I go to the bathroom to grab the machine. I bring it back, placing the velcro loop around her arm. I press the button for the machine to begin it's test. The band around her arm inflates, then it stops for a moment to measure her heart rate and pressure. Once the band inflates, I read the numbers on the machine.

"It's really high Mom, look." I show her, facing the machine for her to see.

"That machine is old, it's probably wrong." She diverts. "I'm fine." She reassures again.

"Okay Mom, just please be careful okay?" I asks worriedly and she nods.

"Here, I brought some water." Hailee says, approaching with a glass of water in her hand.

"Oh thank you dear." My Mom replies in gratitude while she carefully receives the glass from Hailee's hand. Hailee and I both take a seat on the couch facing perpendicular from my Mom's single person chair part of the couch.

My Mom continues to share and talk to Hailee, as if nothing happened before. We engage in conversation for a while longer, until it's about time for Hailee and I to get going.

"It was a pleasure here today Josie." Hailee tells my Mom as we approach the front door. I notice my Mom walking slower than usual.

"Of course sweetie, you guys are both welcome here anytime. I'm so glad I got to meet the woman who makes my daughter so happy today." She tells her, and Hailee frowns at the cuteness of that statement. They hug one last time, and I wait beside Hailee until they finish.

"Bye Momma, please call me if anything happens okay? Or if the doctors call for whatever reason." I reinforce, and my Mom makes an expression.

"Yes I will sweet cake." She tells me. "This one worries too much." She says, directing to Hailee, earning an awkward laugh from her.

"Bye Jay, bye Hailee! Have fun at the game tonight!" My Mom shouts to us while we walk back to the car, and we both wave back. The second I close the door to the car, I let out a large sigh.

"Hey it's okay." Hailee tells me, immediately comforting and reassuring me. "She's going to be okay, I think she just got up too fast that's all. If anything happens we will go right over." She asserts, and her words make me feel slightly better. But the way Hailee said we would go right over, makes me feel safe, like we are in everything together.

"Thanks my love." I reply, grabbing her hand to hold. I use my free hand to start the car, reversing out of the driveway, our hands connected.

"Want to come back to mine?" I offer, and she nods.

We arrive back to my place after a 20 minute drive from my Moms. Hailee places her purse down on the coach, and I motion for her to follow me upstairs. We reach my bedroom and I immediately plop down onto my bed, my arm stretched out for her to curl up and do the same, which she does.

"I'm already tired, and it's only about 2pm." I say while letting out a sigh.

"I know ugh, but we don't have to be at the game until 7, so we have a few hours to kill." Hailee mentions, and I nod.

"Are you tired?" I ask.

"A tad tired." She replies.

"Want to nap?" I offer.

"You don't even have to ask." She says, while curling up even closer to me, the both of us falling asleep shortly after that.

—-

As my eyes adjust to being open after being closed, I notice Hailee missing from my side. I sit up to look around the room, but I quickly spot the bathroom light on. I swivel myself so I can get up, and I take a few steps until I reach the bathroom that's in my room since I have the master bedroom. I knock a few times, until I hear her say come in.

"Hi there." She says as I peer through the door, opening it fully after I see what she's up to, which is her makeup.

"How come you got up?"

"So I could start getting ready silly, it's almost 6." She tells me, and my eyes grow wide. I can't believe we slept that long. Hailee is now pretty much ready to go, already dressed to go to the game, her makeup and hair done in a ponytail. She's wearing a white shirt with one of my LA Sparks letterman jackets on top with black jeans and high top Jordans.

"If you want to you can shower before me." I offer, and she laughs.

"Already showered. I was going to ask if you wanted to join me but I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh uh.." I say flustered, imagining us both in the shower together. "Sorry about that."

"No worries, you can join me next time." She whispers into my ear, and I swear all the hairs on my body rose in that moment.

"Okay, yeah um, sure." I reply awkwardly.

I quickly shower and change into what I'm wearing for tonight, which consists of one of my LA Sparks hoodies and beige cargos with low top Nike dunks for my shoes. I throw on a flat top Sparks hat. Jokingly, Hailee flips my cap backwards and I leave it like that.

Since the game tonight is in Los Angeles, I arranged for one of the LA Sparks drivers to pick us up and take us to the arena. This way we can enter through the back and not be seen as much by so many people. About 20 minutes to 7, the driver alerts us that he is here.

"Carter, nice to see you."

"It's a pleasure driving with you George. This is Hailee by the way." I introduce. George waves and we put on our seatbelts and then we are on our way.

The whole ride to the arena, Hailee is sat in the middle seat pressed against me, her head on my shoulder and her arm wrapped around mine.

"Excited?" I ask, and she nods.

"Very. I can't wait to see Curry." She replies.

Before we know it, we are pulling into the back entrance that I know all too well. Hailee and I walk through the tunnel, being escorted to our court side seats by one of the attendants of the arena. While I approach the hallway that leads to the court, a few fans catch my attendance, calling out to me. I turn around and wave to some, fist bumping the ones I can reach.

Hailee and I take our seats courtside together while we watch both teams warm up. While we are sat, I feel my phone buzz in my front pocket.

Billie: yoo plans this week?

Jayden: for sure. what day are u free?

Billie: u cool with thursday?

Jayden: good w me

Billie: yay i'll see u soon <3

Jayden: exciteddd muah

"Who was that?" Hailee asks while I put my phone away.

"It was Billie, we were making plans."

"Oh yeah! You guys had been meaning to since you ran in to each other." Hailee replies, excited for me.

Before we knew it, both teams were making their way out of the tunnel, making their entrances to the Lakers court. The usual before game rituals happened, like the national anthem and the announcement of the starting five players. Hailee and I cheered loudly when Curry was announced, even though we are technically in the rival city. Tip off happened just a few moments after, and the game began. Of course, Curry began the game with a deep three.

Sat together, Hailee and I watched as the game went by, cheering and clapping when necessary. Every so often I would look at her and I could just tell she was having a blast. Halftime came soon after, so we had about a 15 minute break before the last two quarters.

"Thanks for coming with me by the way." I tell into her ear as the arena was already loud enough.

"Of course Jay, I'm having a blast."

While we are talking, we both look up to the giant screens above us. To my surprise, they are playing an LA Sparks advertisement consisting of a cool sports montage with different key plays recorded throughout the season. The video ended encouraging Lakers fans to buy tickets to our games, which I appreciated. I look to Hailee and she's watching the Jumbotron in amazement as my face is practically plastered on those screens.

"Did you see that! You looked so awesome in that video." Hailee shouts excitedly, and I blush.

We both look up once more, and we notice one of the main cameras filming us, announcing that Hailee and I were at the game. We wave to the camera in unison, and we hear a few cheers. It's not rare to see the camera crews recording the celebrities that attend the games, it gets people excited.

Soon after, both teams return to their respective sides of the court. Our seats were right by the Warriors bench, so Curry flashed me a quick smile and wave and the two of us returned it back to him. The third quarter begins with the Lakers having possession of the ball, and we watch as LeBron takes it down the court. The game is pretty close, 79-73, Lakers winning. Games like these are always the most exciting to watch, especially more exciting when you're seated in the arena right by the action.

The game closes with a Warriors win, the final score coming to 115-112, a close game. All the players take their places doing their own respective on-court interviews, and I take a moment to step onto the court to thank Curry for the tickets once again. While I talk with Steph, I notice cameras coming closer to us; both videographers and photographers. We both pose together as they take our photos. Before I can leave back to Hailee, Curry stops me.

"Take this man." He says, taking off his jersey, and the camera flashes increase. I hold up his jersey with my two hands, posing with him once again.

"Man if I had my jersey we could have done a jersey swap." I tell him.

"Next time brother, take care." He tells me, running back through the tunnel high fiving fans. I walk back to our seats with the jersey in hand.

"Look what I got!" I show Hailee excitedly and she gasps in awe at what I'm holding it.

"He gave you his jersey!" She says, taking it from me to inspect it.

"You can have it." I tell her and her eyes grow wide.

"What! No he gave it to you."

"We've swapped jerseys before, you can have it. Think of it as a souvenir from tonight."

"If you say so Jay, thank you." She says smiling, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I get a little flustered at the public display of affection.