Hailey's POV

Isaac clings onto my hand, tightly might I add, as we sit in the back seat of the SUV driving back to the estate.

It's Tuesday afternoon. He extended our trip an extra day, we were supposed to be home yesterday but after a sudden phone call his whole demeanor changed.

My relaxed, calm, carefree husband was gone and the Italian, moody, mobster was back.

I was over the moon happy to hear that Isaac had extended our stay one more night because honestly I wasn't ready to go back home, I was too busy enjoying our alone time.

Enjoying what our lives could be had Isaac not been born into a certain lifestyle, not that we'd actually cross each other's life in such a parallel universe. I'd probably be that same sad broken anxious girl he first met, he'd saved me, he changed me, I'd be back to square one without him, he's who I often wonder who he would be if he had been born into a normal life.

Would he still have the same temper? Would he still be fearless? Brave? Would he still be socially liked? Popular still? Would he be into sports? Clubs? The mental picture is enough to make me snort in my seat, earning a small side eye from him.

"What?" His lips curve to the side.

I shake my head, "it's nothing, I was just thinking."

He smiles softly, shifting his attention towards me, "what's going on in your head?"

"Do you think you would've played sports if you had a different 'destiny'?"

"Sports?" He frowns as his lips grow wider. "As in school sports?"

I nod, "you know- if you hadn't been the heir to an Italian mob; do you think you would've been a jock? A Nerd?"

He chuckles and shakes his head, "neither, I'd probably just be your average keep to himself guy. Dion, Ric, Ang, and I actually used to talk about this a lot. Ang said she'd probably end up being a cheerleader because of how girly she is, that definitely wouldn't have changed in any lifestyle."

"No it wouldn't have," I smile agreeing.

"Ric definitely would've been the athlete still, Dion a little stoner; burnt out."

My smile continues to grow as I think about Isaac and his friends in another life, "yeah that actually sounds about right, only you'd be right along Dion's side still, a little burnt out as well."

"You know who I always tried to picture differently? Who I'd always tried to imagine?"

"Your dad?"

He nods, "it's hard trying to picture him anything other than a mafia lord. It's hard seeing this broken, beat up side of him. This man is weak, he's vulnerable, if someone like him can be broken then I don't stand a chance out there."

I reach for Isaac's hand on the seat, "baby-"

"Who's Isaiah gonna look up to if the men in this family end up worthless?"

I quickly scoff, something I rarely do, giving his hand a gentle reassuring squeeze. "Worthless does not exist in The Matteo vocabulary. Isaiah has nothing but extraordinary men to look up to. You don't live in your dads shadows just like our son won't live behind yours, you're each your own individuals. What your dad lacks you exceed. He was able to learn from his mistakes and integrate them into you. He's not weak, baby, he's tired, he's exhausted."

Isaac frowns.

"Your dads one of the strongest, most stubborn, men that I've ever met in my life. He doesn't ever ask for any help even when the world is crashing down on top of him. He finds a way out, he finds a way to survive, a way to provide and protect his family, even from the fucking dead."

Isaac smiles as he snorts softly.

"As shitty as they come- his intentions are always pure, they're out of the best interest for his family and right now his family is against him. He's used to doing things alone, not feeling alone. He lost a lot more than we ever did. He lost his entire army and now he's losing his wife, his son, and grandbaby."

"How do you always do that?"

"Do what??"

"Always have a positive outlook in life."

I shrug my shoulders and begin to smile, "my mom was the same way. She used to always tell us after she got sick that everything always happens for a reason, God would never throw anything your way if he knew you couldn't handle it. To see the positive side of things not the negative, don't take anything in as punishments but rather as life lessons, experiences."

Isaac's lips tug to the side, "she sounds amazing."

"She was," I smile back. "We were never really religious or anything, we believed in him, in God, but after my mom passed away my dad lost all hope and unintentionally reflected it into his kids. I was always quiet and kept to myself, but after my mom died it only got worse. I started losing my own faith. If God loves his children so much then why does he allow us to suffer? Why does he take away the people that mean the most to us?"

Isaac stays quiet grazing the top of my hand with his thumb.

"I don't know if it was my own subconscious playing tricks on me but I started dreaming about my mom a couple months after she passed away when my thoughts got pretty dark and my heart was pretty heavy." My voice begins to crack and I feel my eyes begin to sting. "Without rain nothing grows."

"Storms are only temporary, they don't last forever," Beanie says from the driver's seat, smiling through the rear view mirror.

I smile and nod, "She told me to embrace the storm, they don't always come to disrupt our lives, some come to clear paths, my moms soul was too pure for this world and I understand that now. It's definitely not always easy trying to be positive, but in the end what doesn't break you, makes you stronger, and you're one strong mother fucker baby."

Isaac chortles.

"I'm serious, Isaac, you don't give yourself enough credit, baby. You don't break easily, you hold yourself up so high, even in difficult situations that would make any human being crumble that when you actually fall you hit face first because you're not accustomed to not being in control, but you've never once let it stop you."

"She's not wrong," Ian says from the passenger seat. He turns to look over his shoulder. "We might not always have a positive outlook in life because let's face it, we know just how shitty life can't get, but you are the definition of strength."

Beanie instantly turns to look at Ian for about half a second and is smiling to himself, glancing through the rearview mirror in the next second. Our eyes meet for a quick second and he's nodding his head once, paying attention back to the road.

"The second Ric found me at Bregoli's I was instantly relieved but I could not for the life of me find the strength to get up after he unchained me, no matter how much I tried. I was exhausted after the torture, physically and mentally, I don't know how many times I told him to leave me, that he was wasting time but he didn't give up on me, he eventually got me up on my feet."

Ian points a finger towards Isaac, "bloody and bruised you were still beating on Ric with everything you had, you were still up and standing as if you just hadn't just got the living shit beat out of you. Your dads one hell of a man, but you truly are the prodigy of a king. This is the life you were meant to be in, we all are," he smiles looking in my direction. "Things happen for a reason right?"

I smile and nod.

Isaac releases my hand and is looking over in Ian's direction, "you want a raise or something for that speech?"

He chortles softly and is shaking his head, "no, just trying to back up the queen here. Her husband isn't worthless, my boss, my Don, isn't weak, neither one of them are."

"Hey may be a little broken, little lost right now," Beanie speaks up, looking at Isaac through the rearview mirror. "but he always bounces back, he was raised better than that, they're both stronger than they realize."

Isaac nods, tearing his gaze away from Beans, "give babycakes his keys back when you guys get back to the warehouse."

Beanie smiles, "yes sir."

Ian frowns looking over his shoulder again, "why? Not that I don't want them."

"Because I'm not my father. I won't keep you off of the bike if it's your form of release. I trust you, Metcalf, don't let me down, don't break the little trust I'm giving you. Go get evaluated, let me help you. If it doesn't work okay; we'll try something else, you're not alone, you're a part of this family and I will take care of my own just like they look out for my family."

Ian nods a half smile on his face, "thank you sir."

"Don't call me that, I hate being called that."

"Isaac-"

"I'll pick and choose, Elias. Is that okay with you?"

I glance over at Beanie as he stays completely silent, his full attention on the road ahead of us, his grip tightening around the steering wheel, the vein on his neck getting ready to pop at any second.

"You may call me Isaac while we're in private, Metcalf, we don't have to be so formal. Ric likes you, you're his friend and Ric's my friend- even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes. I would like us to have some type of friendship, some type of trust other than me just being your boss. Around everyone else I'm-"

"Mr. Matteo, understood."

I smile and place my hand on Isaac's lap, tapping it I whisper, "I'm proud of you."

He smiles back and is reaching for my hand bringing it up to his lips. He places a kiss on the back of it, "it's a new day, a new generation, cycles will be broken."

I smile to myself completely proud of the man my husband is transforming into, he's grown so much in the past three years that we've been together.

It's crazy to think about how much we've changed, how much we've gone through in only three years. It genuinely feels like we've been together longer, like I've known him longer, like I've always known him. It's crazy to try and picture my life without him now, his family, his friends. It's crazy to try and picture myself the way I used to be before he came into my life, insane to believe that I'm married to a man who not only comes from an Italian mafia family but one who runs it, a man who's baby I'm carrying.

I never pictured myself ever getting pregnant, ever being a mom, it just wasn't in my future, for the love of God I thought I was going to die a virgin with how timid and anxious I got being around men.

I glance over at Isaac to my left to find his phone back out in his hand, his per usual stern look as he probably goes over notes that have been sent to him, admiring just how handsome and amazing he is, how lucky I am. I'll never be able to thank him enough for helping me find myself and genuinely make me feel comfortable in my own skin, for helping me see that life can be beautiful, it doesn't have to be uncomfortable 24/7.

I take my AirPods out of my purse and plop them into my ears and turn some music on, falling asleep almost instantly. I'm waking up a few minutes later due to some movement in the truck and I'm pulling my phone back out and checking the time.

Thirty minutes. I've been napping for thirty damn minutes when they've only felt like 10 minutes.

Sitting back up straight I stop my music and pull my AirPods out of my ear, plopping them back into their case.

I frown looking out the window, unfamiliar with the road we're on.

"What's wrong princess?" Isaac questions from beside me.

"Where are we? Where are we going?"

"Home," his lips tug to the side. "Sacramento made us take a longer route, there was a lot of stopped traffic that made him uneasy and edgy."

I smile to myself looking ahead of us at the other black SUV where Sacramento and his men are, Ric and Aj riding right behind them; in front of us, another SUV following behind us.

"Take another nap baby, we have about another twenty minutes to go."

I shake my head while yawning. "What's he like?"

Isaac frowns, confused, "who?"

"Sacramento."

"No."

"No?" I questioned.

"No," he smiles. "You are not allowed to befriend him."

"Oh- I'm not allowed?" I scoffed.

He chuckles softly, "I'm asking you not to."

"No. You were demanding, and if i'm being quiet honest it makes me wanna befriend him a lot more knowing he's off limits, Mr. Matteo."

Beanie snickers for a couple seconds in the driver seat.

"Hail, baby, Sacramento is not friendship material."

"That's what Emiliano said when he first threatened me and look at us now, practically besties taking bullets for me."

Isaac snorts softly but I obviously know it's forced, "baby, I need you to understand that Sacramento is highly classified, highly trained, there's a reason why he stays in the shadows, why no one knows who he is, he's good at what he does and it's definitely not befriending his boss's wife. Should you pursue him and he turns you down and you come crying to me it's gonna put me in an uncomfortable situation because I'm gonna have the need to fix the problem, terminate the issue."

"Then I won't tell you if he turns me down," I mutter as I shrug my shoulders.

"Hailey-"

"I got it," I wave him off looking back out of my window, the roads becoming more and more familiar. "Sacramento's off limits.. I don't even know what the guy looks like for crying out loud."

"You know what we look like," Ian smiles as he looks over his shoulder.

"He has green eyes if that makes you feel better," Beanie quickly smiles looking over in my direction, winking.

"Both of you shut the fuck up and mind your business," Isaac grumbles.

Beanie places a finger on his lips, shushing Ian, twirling his finger, "turn around babycakes, Sacramento is above our pay grade."

I laugh softly and watch Isaac roll his eyes playfully as he shakes his head.

The rest of the car ride is quiet and I can't help but feel like Isaac's hiding something, like he's keeping something to himself, it's the only time he ever stays deathly quiet, when he's constantly stressing out about something, when he's holding so much in, which has been a lot as of lately.

We pull up to the house twenty minutes later and I'm asking Beanie and Ian to step out of the SUV leaving Isaac and I alone, while they unload the truck.

Isaac instantly frowns while undoing his seatbelt, "what's going on? You okay?"

I nod as I undo my own seatbelt, turning to face him, "I could be asking you the same thing."

His frown deepens, "what do you mean?"

"You've been extra quiet since the minute we got up this morning."

He inhales a deep breath, "there's just something I have to do, something uncomfortable, and I don't know if I'm ready to do it. I've dreading coming back home."

"What's going on?" I asked, reaching for his hand.

He looks over at me, his pensive features never easing up, "Veronica's alive," he says softly.

My heart nearly drops to my stomach as chills run up my neck. "Veronica?" I frown. "As in- your aunt Vee?"

He nods.

I let go of his hand, shaking my head in disbelief. "W-what do you mean she's alive? H-how?"

He shrugs his shoulders, "that night of the attack was meant to take my mom out, not Veronica. It was meant to break my dad, it was supposed to force him to step down."

"Step down?" I frown, confused. "As boss?"

Isaac shakes his head, "as King of the city. Apparently the families are tired of our family being in charge.. My dad died so Veronica could live." His voice drops a little softer, "he faked his own death so that we could get her back."

"Wait-wait-wait, your dads known that she's alive?"

He nods, "yeah it's a lot. He told me the night I found you down in the basement."

"Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you talk to me baby? That's one hell of a thing to keep to yourself."

He shrugs his shoulders, "I guess I was still processing it. We're doing an extract and rescue in a couple days, you will be down at the safe house where I know you'll be out of harm's way with my mom and Jessica."

I nod, not bothering to argue with him. I'm too pregnant to not think about my son's safety. I have to worry about him first before I can worry about myself. I have to think about Isaac and where his thought process will be if we're not safe.

I'm known to be a target when it comes to the other families trying to get to Isaac and I am not doing that shit a third time. He doesn't need any more added stress, I need him to have a clear head so he can be in and out and back home to us, with his aunt hopefully.

"You're dreading telling Nate?" I mutter.

He nods looking down at his lap.

I reach for his hand, squeezing it, "baby-"

"I have him locked up at the warehouse against his own will," he says. speaking over me, turning in my direction a second later. "I want him in the E&R. It's his own mother. I think it'll be good for him, it'll give him the closure he needs, it'll help him release his frustration, but I don't trust him right now. I don't trust the druggy in him so I've been cleaning him out since before we left and the updates I've been getting on him are not pretty."

I scoot a bit closer to him, "addiction is not a pretty sight but you're doing it for his own good, babe, he'll thank you in the end when he's able to think clearly, when the addiction isn't affecting his judgment."

"I don't know how to tell him. Do I just bring it up casually? Do I show him the evidence? Do I show him a side to his mother no son should ever see? I mean I barely recognized her in the photos. If it wasn't for the birthmark on her collar bone I wouldn't have believed it was."

I squeeze his hand, placing it on my stomach, Isaiah's starting to move around and I know the movements always calm him down, they relax him, make him happy.

He immediately smiles softly the second he feels our son moving.

"Just follow what your gut tells you that day. You know Nate better than anyone else, he looks up to you for crying out loud, baby, you'll know how to handle the situation when the time comes. I ever tell you what your dad told me about my anxiety when we started training?"

He shakes his head.

I smile, placing my other free hand on top of his.

"If you feel it in your stomach, it's your intuition. If you feel it in your chest, it's your fear. Listen to what your body's trying to tell you, not your head, it's-"

"Your guidance system," Isaac smiles. "I've heard that similar speech. It's not as meaningful as yours," he teases. "Don't think, just do."

I smile because that's definitely something that would've come out Carmelo's mouth. I love how much he's actually changed, how much he's grown, how much softer he is towards Isaac, myself, in general actually. Don't get me wrong, he's still the same scary mafia Don, Grandpa just has a more gentle side now, he thinks things through, he thinks about possible consequences, how they'll make his family feel.

"Don't over think it so much, baby, just take it slowly, you'll know what to do when the time comes, you always do."

Isaac smiles and is letting go of my hand, placing his on the back of my head he brings me into him placing a kiss on my forehead, "let's get inside, I need my wife and a nap."

I smile and nod getting off of the truck a few seconds later.

Our bags are up in our room by the time we make our way up thanks to Beans and Ian of course. Isaac and I actually crash out immediately when we're in the room, taking almost a two hour nap. Something Isaac learned to love, naps. At first he would just lay with me as I napped and then he started slowly napping with me and now he's the one initiating nap times.

We actually only woke up because Beven's came knocking on our door, informing us that Mr. Matteo is home, and we would be having dinner in about half an hour.

We actually lay in bed for about another fifteen minutes before Isaac drags himself out of bed and into the bathroom, dragging me out of bed five minutes later and downstairs.

The house feels extremely quiet and empty as we make our way down stairs and I begin to get a little sad that in a few days we'll be out of the house I've come to love and into our own home.

I hate that everything is so intense between Isaac and his parents, the last thing I wanna do is leave while everyone is on bad terms because knowing Isaac I don't know how often he'll wanna come around before Isaiah is here.

My chest immediately begins to feel warm as we come across Isaac's dad coming out of the office and begin to secretly sympathize for everything the man's been through this past year and everything he's had to keep to himself in order to try and keep his family safe.

I quickly leave my husband's side and rush over to Carmelo and hug him as he welcomes me with open arms.

"How was the trip?" He asked, rubbing his hand up and down my back.

"It was good, much needed," I smile as I cling onto him for a couple more seconds before letting go.

Carmelo smiles as I take a step away from him, looking over at Isaac, "how are you doing son?"

Isaac's tone immediately changes towards his father. "We get everything situated?"

Carmelo's lips tug to the side as he motions for us to step into the dining room, "just about, two are being worked on right now."

Isaac nods quietly, leading me over to the dinner table and is pulling out my chair for me, the chair to his left. He takes a seat in his chair and Carmelo's following in pursuit, taking his seat a couple seconds later which of course is still towards the end of the table, where he usually sits.

This is actually our first family dinner together since everything happened so I'm a little excited to not be eating separately or in the bedroom, as much as I love fast food it literally makes me sick now that I'm pregnant.

We sit in silence for a few seconds when I'm elbowing Isaac on the side of the arm, nodding towards his father who now has his full attention down on his phone.

Isaac shakes his head no and is then rolling his eyes a second later when I give him a knowing stare that if he doesn't talk to his dad then I'm gonna be upset.

He inhales a deep breath before he speaks. "How you holding up pops?"

"I'm alright," Carmelo answers flatly, his eyes still glued on his phone.

I nearly wanna grab the salt shaker on the table in front of me and toss it at him for being just as stubborn as his son.

Isaac turns to look at me and I'm silently pointing back to his dad to try again and he's shaking his head no. I smile and point down at my chest, at my breast and shake my head no.

Isaac immediately breaks out into a wide grin and is playfully rolling his eyes and turning to look over at his father.

He's been completely obsessed with how much bigger my boobs have gotten due to my pregnancy that I know if I threaten him that he can no longer touch them he'll crack.

"Dad."

Carmelo quickly looks up from his phone.

"How are you? Really?"

Carmelo frowns and is quickly shifting his gaze towards me. I simply smile but I don't nod, I don't say anything, I let the men handle their own business on their own for once in their lives. After a second or so Carmelo is averting his gaze back towards Isaac and inhaling a deep breath just like his son did a few moments ago.

"I'm hanging in there."

"How's it going with mom? She talking to you yet?"

The smallest smile appears on the corner of his lips, "taking it day by day. She's talking to me and I'm in the bedroom so that's a start."

"That's good!" I smile. "Baby steps."

"Where is she anyways?" Isaac frowns.

Carmelo checks the watch on his wrist, "she went to do her nails and hair this morning. Val gave me an update about twenty minutes ago that they were about to head back."

Isaac begins to get fidgety in his seat, glancing down at his own watch, "Siri call Valentine," he speaks to his watch.

"Son-"

Isaac quickly holds a hand up and is shutting his dad up as the line on his Apple Watch begins to dial, a deep voice is answering on the third ring.

"What's up, boss?"

"ETA."

"Pulling up to the front gate."

Isaac doesn't say anything else, he quickly hangs up his call and is reaching for my hand on his lap, squeezing it.

He's on edge all of a sudden.

Carmelo snorts softly from his seat and is slowly shaking his head. "Yeah, you're definitely worse than I was. I can't remember the last time I called for an ETA on your mother for a five minute delay."

"I'm nothing like you," Isaac hisses. "Unlike you I-"

"Hey!" I squeeze his hand, pulling it towards me, dragging his attention away from his dad. "He didn't mean that offensively, baby."

"No," Carmelo shakes his head. "It's fine. It was poor timing for humor, I shouldn't have made that comment."

"You were trying to make small talk with your son, stop apologizing for that shit, stop walking on eggshells around him."

I turn to smack Isaac on the arm with my other free hand, "take the stick out of your ass and stop being so fucking defensive."

Carmelo snorts loudly as he picks up the glass of water sitting in front of him.

Isaac arches an eyebrow and is turning to look at his father, "so Hailey's a lot more vocal and opinionated now that she's pregnant."

His father smiles and shakes his head, "she was always opinionated, Isaac. She's a lot more like you now, now she's blunt as fuck, now she's a Matteo."

Both men instantly break out into a small chuckle and I'm rolling my eyes mentally but secretly content that for once they're actually enjoying each other's company, that they're laughing together, even if it's for a few seconds.

Isaac reaches for my hand that I had released a few minutes ago, "I'm sorry," he whispers and is leaning in to place a kiss on my lips.

I smile in return and kiss him back, placing my free hand on his face, cupping it, "you're welcome."

He snorts softly and is kissing me one more time before he's sitting back in his seat and is quickly releasing my hand.

He looks up in front of him, towards the entrance of the dinning room to where his mother is now standing there perfectly still, looking over at us, an expression I can't read on her face.

"Ma?"

Adriana quickly looks up in front of her, tearing her attention away from the papers and yellow envelope in her hand. She looks over at Isaac, her chest slowly starting to rise up and down, eyes starting to glisten with tears.

"Ma what's wrong?" Isaac pushes.

She shifts her attention away from her son towards her husband, staying completely still as a tear runs down her cheek.

The chair Carmelo was sitting in is suddenly screeching loudly on the hardwood floor as he bolts out of his seat and is pointing to his wife, "Adri," his voice is soft. "Where did you get that, baby?"

"What is that?" Isaac questions.

His mother holds out her hand, "is it true?" Her voice cracks.

"Is what true?" Isaac glances back and forth from his dad and mom.

Carmelo takes a step to the side, away from the table, "how did you get that? When did you get that?"

"Is he- is he really your son?"

Excuse me?!

"Who?!" Isaac sits forward in his chair, already on edge.

I place my hand on top of his arm attempting to reassure him, reassure myself, my heart feels like it's about to rip out of my chest with how fast it's moving. I don't like this, I don't like where any of this is going.

"Adria-"

"IS CRIS REALLY YOUR SON, CARMELO?!"

My heart immediately sinks to the pit of my stomach as I grip onto Isaac's arm for dear life.

"I'm sorry what?!" I exclaimed, glancing back and forth from Isaac's parents.

My god, this man just can't catch a break.

Isaac sits back in his seat, looking just as confused, "the hell did she just say?" He points towards his mom, but is staring his father down deadly.

"Isaac-"

"What the fuck did she say?!"

"L-let me explain," Carmelo says looking from his son and wife, two shades lighter than he did a few minutes ago. "Please, Adriana."

My heart quickly begins to ache for Mrs. Matteo as more tears begin to stream down her cheeks, "It's true, isn't it?"

Carmelo inhales a deep breath and is nodding his head yes as he attempts to get closer to her, "but it's not what you think-"

Adriana throws the pages and envelope in her hand in front of her, at her husband. "Get your shit and get the fuck out of this house, Isaiah!" She yells before storming off.

I immediately want to smile at the mention of our son's name but I don't under the circumstances. I've actually never heard Isaac mom refer to his dad by his middle name so even though it's nice to hear her use unborn grandson's name, it sounds a little odd.

"Adriana, wait!" Carmelo quickly follows behind her.

Isaac is bolting out of his chair in the next two seconds and is leaving the dining room, going after his father, as I try to keep up with him.

Chills are instantly running up my spine as I watch my husband pull his gun out from behind him and point it towards his father, who's a few steps on the stairs already.

"Isaac!"

My heart thumps and ears ring as he fires the gun and a vase in the hall is shattering, his father quickly ducking down and looking in our direction a second later.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" He exclaims, standing back up to his full height.

"Start explaining yourself!"

"What if that would've ricocheted, idiota?!" Carmelo shouts, pointing behind Isaac, at myself.

"EXPLAIN YOURSELF. NOW!" Isaac shouts.

I take a step closer towards my husband and glance down at his hands.

The gun in his right hand is trembling. His hands are shaky, meaning that his anger is in full control right now and I'm sure he's probably blacking this out. My husband is better than this, he isn't this careless, he isn't this reckless, unless that anger is in control.

"Be mad at me all you fucking want, put a bullet in my back for all I care, Isaac, but I am not talking to you until I talk to your mother first, before I can explain myself to her first!" Carmelo shouts and is turning back around a second later, rushing up the stairs leaving me alone with his fuming son.

What the actual fuck.

***

A/N; Merry Christmas my babies! Here's your long over due chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it!

For those of you who don't have me on Snapchat and don't know why I was gone for the period of time I was gone I wanna apologize for taking so long to upload this chapter. My mom, who I'm very close with and live with, suffered a pretty severe stroke that almost took her life in the middle of November.

Nothing on earth ever prepares you for such traumatic events, my mom's completely blessed and luckily to be alive because of how fast my aunt and I reacted and called the paramedics.

The first week of my mom's stroke was completely hard because that same week just so happened to be the weekend my brother was getting married, along with Thanksgiving weekend.

She was in the hospital for a total of three long weeks and I was completely exhausted and mentally drained because during everything going on with my mom, my relationship with my boyfriend ended as well and just made everything so much worst because the one person I wanted to run to couldn't comfort me.

My mom is currently in rehab right now and doing alot better, she's finally eating more, finally has some movement in her leg and fingers, but between trying to take care of her and myself it left me with no motivation to write, I gave up on everything and everyone for a second but I'm slowly starting to feel like myself again, things definitely still ain't easy but they're finally looking up and I'm praying to baby Jesus that I'll have my mom back home within the new year, so that's where I've been.

I love you guys so much and I'm completely grateful for every single person that continued to check up on me and I make no promises but I'ma try my hardest to keep up with my writing. Just because my life changed so drastically doesn't mean it's stopped, I need to keep moving forward, I need to keep perusing my dreams and passions.

Love you guys, K ❤️