🥀In Loving Memory🥀

Chapter 48

Six Months Later...

The world around Huey had changed in ways he never expected. His family, once fractured and distant, was now united by more than just blood. His daughter, Huelene, and Jazmine had given him a gift he never thought he'd receive—grandchildren who looked just like their mothers. The sight of Imani June Jackson and Hazel Rene Freeman brought a kind of peace to his heart he couldn't quite explain. He spent hours with them, watching them grow, witnessing the joy they brought to his family. It was something he could never have imagined before.

But even as he watched his granddaughters, so full of life, he couldn't escape the emptiness that remained.

The "meet-up spot" had become a sanctuary for the family—a place where laughter echoed through the halls, and memories were built upon memories. Despite his natural inclination toward solitude, Huey found himself drawn into the warmth of his family, feeling the presence of those he had once shut out.

But there was still that lingering ache—the gap left by Jazmine's absence.

Huelene, as much as she was a constant reminder of the love he shared with her mother, was also a reflection of what they lost. Their bond was growing stronger every day, and Huey couldn't help but marvel at the similarities between them. They both had an analytical mind, an eye for art, and a sense of justice that burned deep within them. But Huelene's kindness—the softness in her gaze, the compassion she showed to everyone, even in the face of her own struggles—was all Jazmine.

Jazmine, he thought, the name both a comfort and a wound. She was with him every day, in the little things. He would catch a glimpse of Huelene smiling, her laugh filling the room, and it would remind him so much of Jazmine. The way she approached life, the way she made people feel seen.

He couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if she were here now. What if they'd gotten that second chance to heal, to rebuild their lives together? He had so many questions for her, things he'd never gotten to ask. He wanted to hear her side, understand the weight she carried, the choices she made.

James had told him things—things Huey still had trouble accepting. It didn't make sense. Jazmine, the woman he loved, the woman he was supposed to marry, had hidden so much from him. The thought of it all—the affair, the way she'd kept him in the dark about her struggles, the desperation she'd felt—had left him in a fog. He couldn't reconcile the image of her that he had loved with the stories he was hearing. She'd been so many things to so many people.

Some of the stories painted her as a hero—strong, resilient, doing whatever it took to make sure her family was safe. Others... not so much. Ebony's side of things, in particular, had been hard for Huey to hear. They'd painted Jazmine as unpredictable, someone who'd kept secrets not just from him, but from everyone. The pieces didn't fit together in a way he could easily understand.

And that's what hurt the most. Jazmine had always been his anchor. She'd been the one person in his life who truly understood him, who saw the world through his eyes. The person he could trust with everything. And now, all he had were fragmented stories, pieces of her that didn't seem to match up.

He wanted to talk to her about it. He wanted to share this burden with her. She deserved to know. They deserved that closure, that final moment of understanding. But now, that was impossible. He couldn't fix it. He couldn't change the past. And that was something he would have to live with for the rest of his life.

But there was still Huelene, standing beside him, carrying her mother's spirit with her. She was the one good thing left in the wake of it all. And with each passing day, Huey was realizing something that he'd been too afraid to admit before: Jazmine's love hadn't disappeared. It hadn't been taken from him. It lived on, in his family, in the people she'd touched, in the legacy she'd left behind.