Hello from Walt Disney World! I was in the magic so late posting today. I hope you enjoy this chapter. We are almost at the end of this story but there are some major things that are coming in the remaining chapters. Thank you for your reviews! Tell me one thing you want to see as this story wraps up.

(12/19) I've updated this chapter didn't realize, working on my iPad through the web browser was so horrible for editing and my Apple pencil stopped working.

The few days that Tobias has in Rome move too quickly for them. Tris and Nita play a great game the next afternoon. Tobias takes them out to dinner to celebrate. He thought it would be weird but he could see Nita and Tris were good friends and Tris needed her here. He could also now see why she was so lonely here.

"She's different with you, she's really happy, like next-level happy" Nita comments as she sips her sparkling water while they wait for Tris to return from a trip to the restroom.

"Thanks for being there for her, Even though you aren't together anymore. I know this is different, hanging out with your ex and their husband."

"She was just passing time, waiting when we were together," Nita remarks with a soft smile as she ran through memories of her and Tris together in her mind.

Tobias cocks his head to the side. "Waiting for what?"

"For you" Nita replies honestly as she continues to smile as she looks at Tobias.

He nods his head in understanding. Nita can tell he sees Tris making her way back to the table when his eyes move to look behind her. She could see the love in his eyes. She saw the soft looks between the two of them, like no one else in the world was there. She was happy for them and hoped she would find that kind of love one day.

"What are you two giggling about?" Tobias asks curiously as Nita and Tris whisper something two each other before they start to giggle again. They had been whispering to each other since the three of them left Colosseum so Tris and Tobias could enjoy the rest of the evening alone.

Just then the elevator dings for Nita's floor.

"Catch later T. Money, See you at practice tomorrow Tris. Have fun tonight" Nita waggles her eyebrows suggestively as she waves to them as the door closes and heads up to Tris's floor. Tris clamps her hand over her mouth to try and hold in another giggle.

"What was that about?" Tobias asks amused.

"Wellll" Tris draws out as she unlocks the door and they step inside.

Tobias raises his eyebrows as Tris gives him a smirk.

"Nita reminded me When She and I were together she asked me who I wanted she and I to have a threesome with...and well I said you..."

Tris tries to control her laughter as she sees her husband's eyes go wide and his mouth falls open.

"Holy Fuck" Is all Tobias can muster up. He'd had his fair share of women and Tris was such a baddie, her small perky breasts, her defined six-pack, and those perfect thighs that were thick in just the right way. Her shapely ass. She was fucking perfection. While there was no one for him but Tris, Nita was a baddie too, pretty face, nice tits, and an ass that amazed all of the guys in the locker room freshman year at Dauntless.

He had to admit that when Uriah let it slip that Tris was dating Nita, even though he was with Nicole, had gotten off in the shower imagining the two of them, and now this, he could feel himself straining against his khaki shorts.

Tris grins as she sees the shock still evident and his growing erection.

"I mean, I just...that's really fucking hot Baby" Tobias swallows thickly as he sees the wicked gleam in Tris's eyes.

"Maybe for your birthday" Tris pats him on the shoulder as she heads toward the bedroom leaving Tobias to chase after her.

She squeals as he catches up to her and throws her over his shoulder to carry her the rest of the way to the bedroom.

The last night Tobias is in Rome, He and Tris walk hand in hand over the cobblestones in front of the Trevi Fountain. Tris just wanted to soak up the last few hours they had together.

"You know it's not so bad here" Tobias comments as he wraps his arms around her from behind as they stare at the fountain.

"I could be anywhere as long as you are with me" Tris sighs. "I spent 5 years without you, and now I feel like I'm going to fall apart when we aren't together."

Tobias tightens his arms around his wife's waist, kissing her temple.

"I'm proud of you, I know it's hard, but you deserve all this though, you've been working for this since you were a kid"

"Yeah" She turns in his arms to kiss him. It felt magical, the sound of the tourists taking pictures and milling about in front of the fountain drowned out.

The next morning when Tris and Tobias say goodbye at the airport he holds her close, savoring their last few moments together.

"It's only 9 more weeks and I'll have you with me every day" He reminds her, but also finding comfort in the thought. It was harder to say goodbye even though it wouldn't be as long of a stretch before they saw each other again.

"I know, I love you" She whispers. "This is just…."

"Hard" he finishes for her as she feels the tears start to form in her eyes.

He rests his forehead against hers and closes his eyes. The system for women wanting to make it in professional basketball was shitty. He wanted her with him, wanted her to stay in Chicago, but he wasn't going to make the same mistakes he made in college. She had to make the decision for herself.

Tris pushes through the next few months with her and Tobias settling on a house that they both loved in Lake Forrest. Tobias sent videos so she could see everything. She busied herself with picking out furniture online. Her mother and Evelyn had been invaluable in helping with scheduling movers and things with all the ups and downs of the games Tris and Tobias were both playing.

Tobias and Uriah end up with a playoff seat in the NBA East Tobias and the Bulls head to Toronto for the first two games of the series. Unfortunately, the second game is the same day Tris gets back from Rome. Tris and Tobias are excited for her to head back to the states but sad that the playoff trip was going to add three days before they could see each other.

Tobias is still breathing hard after the end of the game as he talks with Mikala Andrews from ESPN for his post-game interview. He was missing Tris but he was in good spirits after the win. Coby White the starting point guard had been injured with a sprained ankle a few weeks ago leaving Tobias as the starting point guard.

"Tobias Eaton, You have been having the comeback year of a lifetime, 35 points, 14 rebounds in Game 1, how are you and the Bulls going to continue to work through this series against the Raptors?"

"I've been focused on learning how to work better with the other guys on the team. Uriah and I are still comfortable playing off each other from playing in high school and college together so we capitalized on that. I think we've hit a sweet spot and we just need to keep the same energy"

"Thanks, Tobias, good luck in Game Two"

Tobias nods his head and walks to the locker room. He felt good, this was the level of basketball he always knew he was capable of when he was in Dallas and Charlotte. It took Tris, Christina, and George pushing him to unlock it. After their post-game meeting, Tobias and Uriah chat while they walk to the exit of the arena to get on the bus. All Tobias wanted to do was crawl into bed and call Tris. He was frustrated, he wanted to be home when she got there but three more days wouldn't kill him after 2 months. He pulls out his phone to check his messages, Tris was supposed to text him a let him know she landed. As soon as they hop off the bus to make their way into the front lobby of the hotel Tobias hears Uriah chuckle and slaps him on the shoulder.

"What?" Tobias asks annoyed. He didn't see a message from Tris and wonders if her flight was delayed.

"You got a visitor T." Uriah grins.

"Huh?" Tobias asks confused but when he looks up, a huge grin breaks out across his face as he sees Tris smiling at him leaning against the side of the building.

Tobias breaks out into a jog as Tris does the same thing. He drops his duffle bag when they reach each other and hoists her up in the air as she giggles and kisses her.

"What are you doing here? I thought your flight was to Chicago." Tobias asks between kisses.

Uriah and the rest of the team clap and let out catcalls and kiss noises as Tobias spins Tris around in a circle.

"It was and I was sitting in Paris on my layover and saw that there was a flight to Toronto leaving 30 minutes after my flight to Chicago and decided I couldn't wait three extra days to see you" Tris giggles as Tobias sets her on her feet and continues to plant quick kisses on her lips.

"In the hotel, Eaton" Coach Donovan warns as he makes his way to the bus even though he was thanking his lucky stars.

He worried about Tobias staying focused, he had observed that Tris was a large part of Tobias playing well. Even though he did great during the season he had his best games after his visit to Rome to see his wife during the All-Star break.

Tobias puts Tris down and she gives him another quick kiss before he picks up his abandoned duffle bag.

An hour later Tris and Tobias are cuddled in his hotel room after Tris and Tobias have had a shower. They were both tired, even though they wanted to make love, Tobias tries to convince Tris to get some sleep.

"You can ravage me when you wake up, you've been flying for 14 hours. I know the time difference is killing you" Tobias nuzzles her ear as he holds her tight.

"I am exhausted, but I want to feel you" She protests, It was true she was exhausted from her trip but there was no place she would rather be.

"I'll make up for it tomorrow, Stop being so stubborn, and go to sleep"

"Don't tell me what to do" Tris murmurs as she yawns, her eyes already closing.

Tobias chuckles and kisses her on the forehead, She was fast asleep within a minute. Tobias watches her as she sleeps, leaving soft kisses on her shoulder, her ear. He was so happy to have her in his arms again.

Tris feels her eyes flutter as she wakes up. She was disoriented not sure what time it was, she didn't even remember falling asleep the night before but she quickly realizes that her husband has his head between her legs.

She moans and grabs the back of his head. "This is the best way to wake up"

"Ummm it sure is" Tobias confirms after feeling her start to tremble and he moves up higher and slips into her and she gasps, spreading her legs wider for him.

"You have a game tonight..." Tris gasps as Tobias moves slowly inside her. So many athletes had superstitions about having sex before a game. Tris and Tobias had never cared about it though. Tobias thought he played better because he was more relaxed.

"I do but I couldn't wait to be inside you"

Tris groans in pleasure as Tobias picks up the spread of his thrusts and moves his mouth to hers. Yeah it was definitely the right move to fly to Toronto

Tris is happy she's able to catch game two of the series which The Bulls win easily. They head back to Chicago for games three and four. Tris has a million things to do when she gets home. She only had 10 days before needed to report to training camp so Christina and Tris get to work on packing up their condo for the move. Tris had been able to coordinate with the movers and order things she wanted from Rome so thankfully there wasn't much left to do but label things.

With this being such a big series for Tobias and Uriah, Zeke, Caleb, Hana, Reggie, Evelyn, Natalie, and Andrew all fly in for the next two games in Chicago.

Tris is on pins and needles but Tobias continues to dominate as they sail past the Raptors to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers. This was the first time the Bulls made it this deep in playoffs in over 5 years. It's an easy series though and the Bulls move on after a 4-1 series victory.

By the end of May, Tris is starting her season with the Sky. It was killing her to miss Tobias playing against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. Thankfully, Natalie and Evelyn stay in between series so they can get things in the house settled since Tris starts off the season with three away games and Tobias in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

After a rough series with the Boston Celtics, The Bulls have their shot at NBA Championship and are set to take on the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA finals. Everyone was on edge. Tris had just gotten home from an away game and Tobias was rubbing out a knot in her thigh as they lay in bed.

"I should be massaging you," Tris says half-heartedly because she was enjoying her husband's hands on her at the moment.

Tobias snorts. "Remember when we used to lay in my bed in college and ice each other"

"As much as I would love a game of one on one that would result in both of us naked, I am too tired" Tris admits.

"Me too" Tobias snorts.

"You nervous ?" Tris asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence. She could see Tobias was deep in thought.

Tobias thinks about it, he didn't want to be cocky but the Trailblazers were good. They were going to have to work for this series.

"I mean Dame Lillard is really good, Everything with this series, it's just intense. I don't want to be overly confident but I want this so much."

"I know, but you can do it, I have faith in you and Uri and the rest of the guys" Tris and her teammates were on good terms with the Bulls players. They tried to support each other's games as much as possible. She knew the pressure, everyone was looking at them, everyone had opinions but Tobias had been working so hard this season. She knew he wanted to prove that he could lead the Bulls to this championship.

Tobias leans over and kisses her. The amount of pressure he felt was like nothing before. This was beyond getting his contract extended. He felt the weight of the city, all the fans on his shoulders.

Tris looks at her watch as she navigates her Porsche through the Chicago streets with a CPD car in front of her and behind her with their lights on. She had just finished her WNBA game against the Las Vegas Aces and game 7 of the NBA finals was going on at the United Center. The commute between Wintrust Arena, where the Sky played was usually only 20 minutes but traffic was horrible with all the fans gathered outside to cheer on the Bulls.

"Calm down sweetheart, Natalie says as she looks at her phone to read a text from Caleb. "They just went to halftime. We're going to get there" Natalie says soothingly trying to calm Tris down. She had gone to Tris's game with everyone else going to the Bulls game because Tris insisted they support Tobias that night.

"I know, I just, I'm so nervous for them" Tris groans. This series had been a battle. This was it, whoever won this game between the Portland Trailblazers and the Bulls would be NBA Champions. She wanted this so bad for Tobias, Uriah, and the rest of the guys on the team.

"Finally" Tris mumbles as they reach the security gate. She goes to pull out her ID but the officer stops her.

"Go right ahead, Tris! Hopefully seeing you will push Tobias to close this out. I'll radio ahead so they can bring you through the back and escort you to your seats"

"Thank you so much!" Tris yells as she waves out the window. She, Uriah, and Tobias were practically royalty in Chicago now. It was getting harder to go places unnoticed but the upside was all the security staff and some of the CPD was amazing with moving them through security as they bounced between arenas.

10 minutes later Natalie and Tris are being escorted through the back of the arena and the event security brings them all the way to their seats a few minutes after the second half starts.

"You win?" Zeke asks as she settles in between Christina and Caleb and Natalie moves down between Hana and Evelyn.

"You know it" Tris grins as she throws her braids over her shoulder.

"Beatrice scored 27 points tonight" Natalie yells down the row proudly.

Caleb and Tris chuckle. Natalie had taken her promise to her daughter very seriously about watching her play. She had learned parts of the game but still misunderstood some of the technical rules but behind Tobias, she was definitely Tris's number one fan.

"How's he doing?" Tris asks Caleb. As she looks at the scoreboard and sees the Bulls are down by 5.

Caleb and Zeke had been flying back and forth between Atlanta for each series as much as they could. Marlene and Kai stayed home this week since he had a cold. Everyone was so excited they could barely stand it.

"He's working as hard as he can, Lillard is playing him so close. Uri's in foul trouble. I hope they can pull this off"

"Let's go 4! D up!" Tris yells as Tobias tucks his jersey back into his shorts as the Trailblazers prepare to inbound the ball.

He looks up, knowing where his family was sitting and he sees his wife looking intense. He was surprised she made it, he told her not to rush since she had her own game to play that day but there she was. She probably broke every traffic law known to man to get there.

Something about her presence just made him turn up the intensity. On the inbound, Tobias steals the pass, Uriah runs to the basket and Tobias shoots it to him for a dunk. The United Center erupts in cheers and everyone is on their feet.

Tobias zones in and gets back on defense. They continue to battle for the next two quarters at one point the Trialblazzers widen their lead to 12 points but the Bulls catch up tying the game with only 3 minutes left. Tris was on the edge of her seat as the minutes ticked by she and Christina had interlocked hands were squeezing each other as they stood on their feet. The Bulls were only down by 2 with 1 minute left in the game.

Christina had screamed so much her voice was scratchy, her heart was beating a mile a minute as she and Tris held on to each other. Tobias dribbles the ball slowly up the court after Uriah inbounds it. Tris knows he's trying to run down the time on the clock. He calls the play and swings the ball to his right to Zack Levine who pulls up a shoots a three which bounces off the rim. Uriah grabs the rebound and if fouled in the process.

Tobias knows he had never been in a game that was this loud not even during the NCAA championship his freshman year at Dauntless. He looks at the clock as he stands at the free-throw line. Uriah misses the first of two shots and makes the second. 34 seconds left down by 1. Portland inbounds the ball and tries to eat up time on the clock and but Tobias and Zack set up a trap and Tobias is able to steal the ball away.

Tobias zones in again, he knew they would try to foul him to get the ball back and make him shoot free throws. He knew he could make them but he wanted to take his shot. He was quick, he knew he could get past his defender.

"Oh my God" Tris whispers "You got this T. " She knew what he was doing, the cocky bastard, but if anyone could pull off this shot it was Tobias.

He dribbles and crosses up the defender so bad he falls leaving Tobias an open lane. He pulls up from the three-point line and just as the ball leaves his fingertips the buzzer sounds. The ball left his hands so it would count if it went it.

Tris feels Christina hugging her as the crowd goes nuts as the ball goes in cleanly into the basket. The Bulls win by 1 point.

Tobias is swarmed on the court by his teammates. It's so loud he can't hear a thing. There's confetti flying everywhere. He was all smiles as Uriah crushes him in a hug. There were arms and hands patting him on the shoulders everywhere. This win, this championship meant more to him than any other game he had won. He'd come back and proved everyone who doubted him wrong.

"You cocky son of a bitch, I can't believe you made that shot!" Uriah yells as he pulls him into another hug.

Tobias just laughs, he knew everyone thought he was cocky but they hadn't started calling him T Money for nothing.

When he gets pulled to do media interviews he can't even think straight.

"Tobias, what was going through your head when you had the ball to make that last shot?" Mikalya Andrews asks.

"I knew he was trying to foul me, and I knew I could get a shot off, so I did what my wife would do and created an opportunity" Tobias was dripping sweat and still breathing heavy but he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Do you two talk strategy on how to attack plays? Is that what was going through your head?"

"Yeah we do, she's really great at analyzing defenders. It's what helped me in the championship game during the NCAA tournament when I was at Dauntless. I thought about what she would say and went left instead of right and it worked out in my favor"

"Thanks, Tobias, First time NBA championship for Tobias Eaton and first NBA championship for the Chicago Bulls since 1998" Mikalya finishes. She turns to Coach Billy Donovan to interview him next.

"My baby, you did it" Evelyn gushes as she hugs Tobias. Someone gives him a championship hat as he hugs his mother.

He pulls back smiling and puts his hat on and sees Tris smiling and taking a picture. He laughs, she was still in her uniform, she hadn't even changed after her game to get there.

"Go" Evelyn smiles knowing he wanted to get to Tris.

Tris sees him move towards her and she feels drawn to him like she always is. He wraps his arms around her so tightly feeling overcome with emotion.

"You didn't give up on me," He says hold her face in his hands. Tears of joy fall from his eyes as Tobias gives her a passionate kiss.

"Never" she whispers now crying too. She leans up to kiss him again. There was confetti and noise all around but it was as if they were the only two people in the world.

When Uriah and some of the other players start making catcalls, Tobias pulls away laughing.

"I want a real celebration when we get home," Tobias says as he waggles his eyebrows causing Tris to laugh.

"Oh you for sure earned something very special, But you stink" She exclaims and tries to get away. She shrieks with laughter as he grabs her by the waist pulling her to him.

"So do you, I can't believe you didn't even change"

"I would have never made it if I would have showered and changed" Tris laughs. They link hands to move so that the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver can present the Championship trophy and the Finals MVP award.

Evelyn and Tris are so proud when Tobias is named the series MVP. Tris could tell Tobias wasn't expecting it but he earned it. He was a game-changer in the series. Finally, he was getting all the praise that he deserved.

The two weeks after the Finals that Tobias and Tris have Evelyn and TJ visiting are good. Tris is only there half the time due to her away game schedule but TJ is taken with her. He was such a happy baby, only crying if he was wet or hungry.

There are plenty of laughs as Tobias struggles with putting on a diaper, getting peed on more than once. Evelyn and Tris were in tears as they watched from the doorway of the nursery determined to let Tobias figure it out himself. By the end of the first week and a few more accidents, he had it down.

The night before Nicole flies in to pick up TJ, Tris is restless. She hears him on the baby monitor and grabs it. Tobias was sound asleep. There was no point in him getting up since she was awake. She throws on her robe and makes her way quietly to the nursery.

"What's wrong, Big boy?" Tris coos as TJ stops crying as soon as he hears her.

Evelyn had heard him and figured she would see about him but she watched quietly in the doorway as Tris changed his diaper and then sat in the rocker to put him back to sleep.

"You are going back with your Mamma tomorrow, Your Daddy is going to miss you so much"

Tris rubs her knuckle across his soft chubby cheek. TJ suckles on his pacifier and grips Tris's index finger His eyes flutter as he falls back asleep. Tris feels emotional as tears fall down her eyes.

She jumps a little when she hears a noise and sees Evelyn leaning against the door.

"I didn't mean to startle you, Dear, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," Tris lies, as she gets up and places the baby back in his crib rubbing his stomach before she walks away.

"Come have a cup of tea with me" Evelyn loops her arm around Tris's and guides them downstairs to the kitchen.

"What's got you upset? You know you can talk to me" Evelyn asks as she rummages for the tea bags after filling two mugs from the Keurig.

"It's harder than I thought it would be," Tris admits quietly, staring down at the mug Evelyn passed to her.

Evelyn sighs, she was afraid of this. She was on a different end of it but she could relate all the same. Tris didn't have any experience with blended families, so the concept of how to move forward was going to be foreign to her.

"I may not have had the same experience but I understand" Evelyn offers.

Tris starts to cry again as she rambles off her thoughts. She had been holding them in for so long once she starts talking everything she is feeling just tumbles out.

"I want to be there for Tobias but how do I do this Ms. Evelyn? What is TJ supposed to call me? I'm not his mother. Is he going to call me Tris? What if he doesn't like me? What if he blames me for his parents not being together? What if Tobias wants another baby? What do I do? Quit playing?"

Evelyn goes around the kitchen island and pulls Tris into a tight hug. She doesn't say anything she just lets her cry for a moment.

"You will figure it out Tris, there's no one way to do things. You worked so hard to build your career, you don't have to give that up to have a family, Tobias may not have understood that when you were in college but he understands that now"

"He's so happy with TJ. He was so worried about being a good father and he's amazing at it already. I can't give him what she has"

"Oh Tris, you give him everything that's important. He is his best self when he's with you. You two need to figure out together when you want to start your family. You need to talk to him"

Tris nods and wipes her face as she and Evelyn stay up for a little while longer and drink their tea.

"You have a game tomorrow, you need to get some sleep," Evelyn fusses looking at the clock seeing it was 4 am. She shoos Tris off to bed to get some rest.

Evelyn goes to check on TJ again while Tris goes back to bed. As soon as she slides into bed Tobias instinctively pulls her close to him. She tries to relax but her mind keeps racing.