Five years later Alina has found herself in love with LA Kings defenseman Alec Martinez. They live together in Manhattan Beach with their three children Grace, Camila, and Douglas. Not to mention one baby on the way.
After five years of being left...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I was worried about today. Worried that I'd cry and breakdown. Worried that everything will go wrong. It was a ugly day to have a funeral. It was one of Chicago's snow days mixed with rain.
I wrap my coat around me and walk out the house. Douglas and Jeff were coming along with my parents.
My whole family knew Chase. He was my photographer at my wedding with Alec, and he was the guy who started my career.
"Ready?" Jonathan asks. I nod and we get into the car. The car ride was silent on the way to the cemetery.
Once we get there we both get out and he automatically grabs ahold of my hand. "Mommy!" Douglas yells running up to me. "Hey, baby." I say picking him up. He places a kiss on my cheek and smiles. "Hi Alina." Jeff says joining us.
"Hey, thanks for bringing him." I say hugging him. He nods and I hand Douglas to Jonathan. "Mom and Dad are sitting in the front." Jeff says.
Jeff and I now looked at Amanda as a mother, since she treated us as her own kids. "Thanks." I say walking up to the front row with Jonathan and Douglas.
"Thank you for coming." I say hugging the two of them. "Beatrice and Natalie are here somewhere." Dad says smiling. I smile and they both begin to greet Jonathan.
"You wanna start?" Adam asks as everyone begins to sit down. "Ya." I say nodding. Adam nods and calls the pastor to begin.
"We're gathered here today to say goodbye to a friend, son, and brother." He begins.
~*~
After all his four siblings say their speeches it was my turn. I walk my nervously to the microphone along with Jonathan by my side for support.
"Chase was not only just my boss. The past seven years I got to know him as a dad, something I was missing at the time. He treated me as a daughter, something he has never had. He started my career as a photographer. I was exploring all around the world and stopped at my mom's house where she held a family get together. I met my cousin I never knew of, and he introduced me into a wonderful man named Chase. Chase offered me a job and that was when I made the best decision of my life. I said yes. That man never quit to find me another job to get me to the top. I will forever thank him for that. Now I don't just have my speech, Chase wrote one for you all." I say as Jonathan hands me a unopened envelope.
"Dear those who go to my funeral, If Alina is reading this to you all I'm dead or missing. No need to worry I'm fine. Even better, I'm great. Better than ever. If I'm dead which is probably what happened, I want you to move on. Hold onto the memories we had and don't forget about me, but move on. You'll find someone to replace me in the future, and if not, well it just means something deep inside of you doesn't want to let me go. Anyways, I hope any of you aren't crying, because at this moment I cannot hand you tissues or tell you everything is fine. Because I do not know if everything is fine, but I can tell you one thing. I'm either taking pictures of heaven and finding a way to send them or watching my boys play hockey. I wish for everyone to be happy and I love you all. Xx Chase."
Everyone begins to clap and Patrick walks up to the microphone with something in his hands. It was a puck with all the boys' signatures squeezed onto it. I smile and Patrick hands it to me. "You haven't signed it yet." He whispers. "I'm not a player." I say shaking my head. "Your the coach." Patrick winks.
I smile and he hands me a pen to sign it. After I do so Patrick lays it in Chase's casket. Everyone smiles and us three walk back to our seats.
~*~ After Chase was buried we all go to my house for dinner. "This is a beautiful house Alina." Amanda says admiring the pictures. I still haven't changed them so it was my wedding pictures with Alec or family pictures.
I was furious that Alec didn't show up to Chase's funeral. Alec knew Chase just as much as I did. It just hurts that he didn't even call to tell me he wasn't going to make it. But hey who wants to call their ex wife?
"Thank you." I say finally replying to Amanda. She nods and Jonathan sits down besides me. "You okay?" He asks. "Yes, just a bit tired." I say smiling. "You sure?" He asks. I nod and he leans towards me to give me a kiss. "Hi mommy." Douglas says climbing into my lap. I smile at him and he begins to eat his chips as he laughs at nothing.
"This kid acts like you, I swear." I say. "What? Not even." Jonathan says. "Okay, who's most likely to eat chips and laugh at the same time?" I ask. "Me." Jonathan says smiling. "Exactly." I say.
Jonathan chuckles and grabs ahold of my hand. "My dad called, and asked if he should fly out to Chicago and or if we wanted to go out there." Jonathan says. "We?" I ask. Jonathan nods and I smile.
"Either one is fine." I say shrugging. "Okay I'll start looking for tickets tomorrow." He says. I nod and he kisses me on my forehead before getting up and walking towards the kitchen.
"Hey." Someone says behind me. I turn to see Nolan. "Hi." I say surprised. "How are you?" I ask. "I'm good, you?" He asks. "Good."
He nods and puts his hands in his pockets. "You look good." Nolan says smiling. "Thank you." I say awkwardly. "I see you married Alec." He says motioning at the pictures.
"Actually, we just got a divorced and I barley moved back in." I say. "Oh, sorry." He says. I nod and pray that someone with interrupt this conversation.
"You have children?" He asks. "Yes four and one on the way." I say. "Congratulations." He says smiling. "Thank you." I say smiling.
"Hey Alina!" Drew yells running up to me. "Hey." I say surprised that he showed up. "Beautiful house." Drew says pointing at the ceiling. "Thank you." I say smiling. He nods and turns to Nolan. "Nolan." Drew says surprised. "Nice to see you Drew." Nolan says shaking his hand.
They begin to talk so I slowly make my way out of the conversation and into the kitchen with Douglas.
"Hello." Keilani says. I smile at her and Patrick joins us. "Hey Monroe." Sam says entering the kitchen. "Hey." I say smiling. "Did you see Justin?" Sam asks. "No. He's here?" I ask.
"No he's outside." Sam says. I grab a water bottle and walk outside in a hurry. "What the hell are you doing here?" I ask as I see Justin walking back and forth outside my house.
"I just came to talk to you." He says worried. "Why?" I ask. "I heard about Alec." He says. "So?" I ask. "I meant to tell you this." He says stopping in front of me.
"Meant to tell me what?" I ask. "Danise and Alec were working together this whole entire time. Danise wanted Jonathan and Alec wanted you. They figured that since you were both together at the time they would make a deal. The deal was Danise threats Jonathan while Alec gets her pregnant twice. The good side for Alec was he gets you and gets to make a family without Danise talking to him about the arrangement until they needed to you know, make a baby." Justin says.
"You knew about this?" I ask. "Yes." He says. "In sorry I never wanted anyone to get hurt." He says. "Justin I got hurt twice, my baby even suffered. Yes my unborn baby. You know how hard that was for me? You should of told me before I went back home. I suffered so much from it." I says
Justin frowns and I shake my head. "You know what just get away from me. Don't ever come back here." I say turning around and walking away.
