nothing less ➸ demar derozan

forty - epilogue

Isabella

I've thought about a lot of things. Things that shouldn't have come to mind but also things that I wished to have addressed earlier. Things that I wish I would have talked about before the time was no longer the right time to discuss about it-or when time ran out. When that one person wanted to explain to me so desperately and I waived them off because I was tired.

As I kick my legs back and forth on the wooden walkway of this villa on the beach, I think about Reggie. For some reason I think about only him when DeMar and I are supposed to be on this getaway vacation from the real world. We're both trying to escape from reality but here I am welcoming it back.

That night that I found out DeMar had sex with Tara-I think on Valentine's Day-Reggie told me he needed to tell me something. As a matter of fact, he told me he needed to explain something to me. However, he was never able to because I waived him off and made him tell me the next day. The next day came and he never told me. Him and I completely forgot about it-I forgot about it. I remember noticing how despairing his face was. I remember how he wanted me to know what ever he had to tell me. I'll never get to go back in time and ask what it was. Now I just wish that I could. Maybe all he was going to say was what happened that night, but I'll never be sure of it now. There was just so many unspoken words that I wished I could have told him. Those small moments that I just let slip away as if they were meaningless.

I notice the wood creak between my hands and look up to see DeMar with one of his infamous hats on. He gives me a small smile and I smile back at him. He sits down next to me and dips his feet into the water as well.

"What are you doing out here?" He asks. He notices my face and scrunches his eyebrows. He quickly wipes the tears that have fallen that I had yet to realize. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry-"

"It's okay. What are you thinking about?"

I shake my head and look down at the light blue water, "I know this trip was to escape everything that was going on, but I couldn't help but to creep the past back in." He let's out a small frown. "That night on Valentine's Day, the day you and I broke up, Reggie needed to tell me something. I don't know what it was about but he just said that he had a lot of explaining to do. Instead of letting him talk, I told him if we could talk tomorrow because I was tired and exhausted from everything that happened that day. Anyways, the next day came, and we never discussed about it. It's like I forgot about it and never mentioned it to him. Now I just wish that I let him have my time."

He gives me a sympathetic look and sighs as he turns his attention towards the water. His slouched position made me rest my head against his shoulder. I rub my growing belly and intertwine my fingers with his. I knew he was thinking about what to say but in this moment I no longer wanted him to talk.

"We should name our son 'Reggie,'" he says. I look up at him slowly and shake my head.

"You wanted him to be a Junior," I say. I didn't mind naming my son after DeMar so it was entirely fine by me.

DeMar shrugs, "I mean I don't really care."

I chuckle at our indecisiveness, "Maybe his first name is 'Reggie' and his middle name is 'DeMar' or vice versa."

He thinks, "I don't want to decide," he frowns, "you are the one giving birth to this monster."

"He is not going to be a monster!" I exclaim and his loud laugh rips from his mouth. "Let's flip a coin."

He shakes his head, "I don't want to one day tell my son that his name was decided by a coin." I scrunch up my lips as I imagine the disappointment my son would have when he discovers that his name was based on a penny--or a coin that was rare but I doubt DeMar had any of those lying around. "How about we see who can name the most pizza toppings in ten seconds?"

I furrow my eyebrows, "Ten seconds?" He nods and pulls out his phone. This idea was so random. He quickly pulls up his timer and sets it on ten seconds. "Wait, what is going to be the order of the name? Like do we keep your middle name or not, and where would 'Reggie' go?"

"It'd be 'DeMar Darnell Reggie DeRozan or Reggie DeMar Darnell DeRozan. So if I can name more than you, 'DeMar' will be first, but if you can name more, it'd be 'Reggie.' Is that good?"

I nod as I thought about it for a second and then rub my hands together. Now this would definitely be a more interesting way to tell my son how his name was decided. He counts me off and I start guessing, "Pepperoni, uh-cheese, sausage, ham, pineapple--um, uh. Frick! What are those one things called--"

"That's time," he smiles. "You only named five. That's trash."

I shake my head. The pressure got to me. DeMar would actually probably win. He hands me his phone and I count him down before starting the timer. "Bell peppers, lobster, fish, shrimp...ham, bacon, onion--"

"That's time but you win," I shake my head and cut off his last two seconds. He had won indefinitely. I'm not sure where lobster came from but I guess that counts.

The way DeMar was able to move my mind from a sad thought to a happier one made me fall in love with him more. I don't understand how he did it or if he did it on purpose, but either way I was feeling better. I didn't mind having him by my side for the rest of my life.

"I love you," I say and he smiles. His teeth show and I can't help but to squish his face and kiss him.

"I love you, Bear, now let's go swim," he says and helps me off the wooden walkway.

---

A Glimpse of the Future

Isabella and DeMar would go on to get married shortly after the birth of their son, DeMar, but they call him by his many nicknames such as 'Junior,' 'Mars,' and 'Reggie.' DeMar continued to play basketball in the NBA and would spend time with his family and best friends during his leisure time. Kyle joined him on the Raptors a year later and they continued to lead the Raptors to many victories. As for the rest of the boys, they would be split among the NBA and break multiple records of their own.

Haro and Arion opened up a new training facility that was now on the rise in Los Angeles. They had multiple famous trainers for basketball and football that many celebrities came by just to get trained by them. Arion started boxing to control his anger issues. He hasn't fought in the ring yet officially, but has sparred with some of his teammates.

Aja has entered college to major in criminal justice at UCLA. She attends many of DeMar's games but definitely not all because of college.

And as for Ella, she stayed home to take care of Junior and would attend most of DeMar's home games. Ella still has debates about starting a new company or doing something because she doesn't want to stay home. DeMar insists her staying at home is fine but she wants to do more.

Toronto would be the city that they called home for the next years to come. Ella would give birth to a sweet baby girl named Diar. Unfortunately, DeMar would be traded to the San Antonio Spurs in Ella's hometown state. Even with the relocation, their family and marriage remained strong.

---

---

---

This book has such a sucky ending that I may change in the future but that's a wrap! I want to thank everyone who stayed with me over the last year to finish writing the book. Thanks for all of the reads, votes, hilarious comments, and also shout out to my ghost readers because you guys helped me keep going. Unfortunately, there will not be a sequel, but I do thank everyone for enjoying!

-emilyyy