Here we are at the end of this story. I had so much fun with this one, combining my love for basketball and expanding upon the original Love and Basketball script from Gina Prince Blythewood. Thank you to every single person who read this story and left a review. Thank you to the fabulous Lex in the City who helped me with so many parts of this story and putting up with my whining! Love Ya'll for Real!
Just to clarify a few things.
1. I'm aware that Sue Bird currently plays for the Seattle Storm, It's a fictional All-Star game set 6 years in the future, so I took some creative liberties. Zia Cooke plays for UofSC but I made her a Dauntless player so there's that...
2. To clarify why Tris and Tobias chose Russell and Jordan for the twins. Russell is named after Bill Russell, Tris' favorite player and the reason she chose 6 as her jersey number. He was the first African American to be the head coach of an NBA team and also holds 11 championships with the Boston Celtics, tied for the most championships won by any professional athlete. He is a social justice activist and is open about the racist conditions he played in. Jordan is named for Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and has 6 championships title with the Chicago Bulls. Check out The Last Dance on Netflix if you want to see why he is considered the greatest basketball player of all time.
"What's wrong baby?" Tris asks as she runs her hands over TJ's curly hair as she comes and sits on his bed. At 16 he was almost as tall as Tobias but at the end of the day, he was still Tris's baby. Over the years, Tobias and Tris didn't force him to have a relationship with Nicole. He called her on mother's day and her birthday but that was about it. They had encouraged him to spend time with his siblings. He would see them if the entire family went for a visit but too many chaotic visits when he was younger had left a bitter taste in TJ's mouth about spending time with his birth mother.
"Nothing" he grumbles.
"Well your father said you were pretty upset this morning before you left for the airport"
TJ sighs. He and his father had gone to Atlanta for an official visit to Dauntless. Tris was playing her last official season in the WNBA and had a game that day so she stayed behind in Chicago with his siblings. After 19 official seasons, missing out on one season due to pregnancy, she was finally ready to hang up her basketball shoes. She was still healthy but ready to conquer something new.
Tobias had retired 4 years earlier after 16 seasons in the NBA. This past NBA season he started a job as a player development coach for the Atlanta Hawks and spent most of the NBA season in Atlanta. The kids were still in school in Chicago but he and Tris were planning on moving the family to Atlanta at the end of the summer now that she wasn't going to be playing in Chicago and it looked like TJ wanted to go to Dauntless for college. They thought the kids would be upset but they were excited and wanted to be closer to their grandparents and their cousins. Uriah had retired three years before Tobias after an ankle injury that he couldn't bounce back from. He and Christina, Angel, and Javier moved to Atlanta two years ago where Uriah was now working as an NBA analyst, calling games for the Hawks and guest spots on NBA TV. Lynn was now an assistant coach for the Women's basketball program at Dauntless. There were rumors floating around that Tori was going to retire and Lynn kept dropping hints that Tris should think about coming on as an assistant coach if she was promoted to head coach.
"Pop just doesn't get it" TJ sighs.
"You want to tell me about it"
"You ever like somebody and they don't even know you're alive?" TJ asks while picking at the blanket on his bed. He always confided in her more than his father. Not that he didn't trust and love his father, sometimes she just understood where he was coming from.
Tris smiles. TJ was growing up so fast. She felt like it was just yesterday he was small enough to sit in her lap, asking for her to read him a story.
"What makes you think your father doesn't understand?"
"He just doesn't, everything's just so easy for him" TJ wasn't naive, even though his parents had been married for 16 years, women still threw themselves at his father. He was so charismatic, people just stopped and took notice when he spoke or walked into a room.
"Oh you know that's not true" Tris pats him on the leg.
"TJ! You're home!" A high-pitched squeal of excitement comes from just outside TJs room as the youngest member of the Prior-Eaton clan, Courtland comes flying into the room. She was so precious, her caramel skin-tone and hazel eyes, she looked just like Tris. Most people thought she and MacKenzie, Marlene and Caleb's youngest daughter who was the same age were twins. After giving birth to the twins, the doctors suggested that Tris consider not playing if she wanted to have another baby after some issues came up in her check-up the week after the twins were born. After much deliberation she and Tobias decided to hire a surrogate, it worked out as Tris didn't need to sit out that season and they had a beautiful baby girl.
TJ was her absolute favorite person and she was his. He doted on her from the minute she came home from the hospital when he was 9. When Courtland was 2 Tris and Tobias were panicked one morning when they went into the nursery and found her crib empty. Tris was completely panicked when Tobias started laughing when he realized where she was, fast asleep snuggled with TJ in his bed.
Now that she was 7, she thought her oldest brother was the greatest person in the world, she practically had a meltdown when Tris explained to her that TJ and Tobias were going to Atlanta to visit colleges, and the realization set in that she wouldn't see him every day.
"Hey Squirt" TJ perks up at the sight of his little sister as she climbed up on his bed, her curly hair wild and bouncing as she moved.
"Court, give your brother some space, he just got home" Tris scolds but knowing that TJ would never send her away.
"But I missed him" she pouts as she puts her arms around his neck as TJ chuckles and wraps his arms around his baby sister. He did miss her, but his mother knew him too well. He did kind of want to get what was bothering him off his chest and she was the only one he wanted to talk to about it.
"I missed you too" He grins. "How about you go say hello to Pop, Didn't you miss him too because I know he missed you and your hugs. And then we can read a story before bed after you take your bath"
"You two were gone FOREVER!" Courtland huffs with an eye roll.
Tris shakes her head at her daughter's dramatics, especially since she talked to Tobias and TJ on Facetime every night before she went to bed while they were in Atlanta. Lord help them all when she became a teenager.
"He's right, I know Daddy missed you too, I'll be in to run your bath water in a minute, how about you go pick out your pajamas and the book you want TJ to read?" Tris instructs.
"Yay!" Courtland squeals as she grins and gives TJ a kiss on the cheek as she climbs out of his arms and bounds off to go to find Tobias before going to get ready for bed.
Tris just smiles, she loved that her four kids were close like she, Caleb, and Lauren were.
"So you want to tell me what's going on now?" Tris asks after Courtland is out of earshot.
TJ sighs and looks at Tris again.
"I think I love Journee and she just looks at me like I'm her friend, like Kai or SiSi"
Tris thinks her heart might melt at his confession. TJ, Kai, Journee, and Sienna were close with all of them being so close in age. She had no idea that TJ had feelings for Journee even though all the adults joked that Journee was bound to be into Kai or TJ at some point.
"Did you know that's how I felt about your father before we started dating? I thought he would never look at me like someone he wanted to be more than friends,"
TJ perks up looking at Tris with wide eyes.
"Yep and it would kill me when I saw him with other girls. I would get so jealous"
"What did you do?"
Tris takes a deep breath, she definitely didn't want to share that she and Tobias had sex before talking out their feelings.
"Well I decided to be brave and kiss him and that led to us realizing we felt the same way about each other"
"What if she doesn't feel the same way and I look like an idiot?"
"Trust your heart and you'll know if she feels the same way. Just remember sometimes you have to be brave and create an opportunity"
Tris can hear Tobias telling Jordan and Russell to get ready for bed and decides she better go help wrangle them as it was clear they were hyper after not seeing their father for a week.
"Thanks, Ma," TJ says as Tris gives him a pat on the leg.
"Love you" Tris smiles as she gets up.
"Love you too" TJ grins as he gets up to see what story Courtland wanted to read before bed.
Late that evening as Tris and Tobias go ready for bed, Tobias filled her in on his trip.
"So did TJ tell you why he was upset? I just figured it was normal teenage mood swings at first"
"Yes, he did actually" Tris smiles softly as she rubs on her lotion her thighs at her vanity.
Tobias chuckles. TJ and Tris were so close, most people didn't even acknowledge that Nicole was his mother anymore. Ever since they gained full custody of him, TJ and Tris had formed a close relationship and it made Tobias so happy.
"I should have known you would get it out of him"
Tris smiles, she knew her son, and even though she hadn't given birth to him, in every way that mattered she was his mother.
"He's in love and doesn't think she feels the same way"
"Oh, how did I miss that? I thought he wasn't seeing Kiara anymore?"
TJ had been dating a young lady from school who lived in the neighborhood, her father was a coach for the Chicago Bears. She was polite and they seemed to get along well. Tris and Tobias had both been shocked when TJ announced they weren't seeing each other anymore.
"Oh, It's not Kiara."
Tobias cocks his head trying to figure out who it could be.
"He's in love with Journee"
"Journee!"
"Yep and he thinks she doesn't think of him like that. Did they hang out this week?"
"Of course, we had dinner with Lynn, Kima, Caleb, Marlene, Chris, Uri, Zeke, Shauna, and all the kids. We all went to the Dauntless game together. They went to the movies while I hung out with Caleb and Zeke. I wonder if she shot him down..." Tobias furrows his eyebrows going over the events of the week in his head.
"What's crazy is Kima and Lynn think that Journee is head over heels from him too"
"Really?"
Tobias plugs his phone in and pulls back the covers on the bed while he listens.
"Yeah, you should have seen them at Thanksgiving, always sitting next to each other whispering and laughing together," Tobias had been traveling with Hawks while Tris and the kids spent Thanksgiving in Atlanta with all their friends and family but even with that, the kids saw each other often and always spent part of the summer in Charlotte with Andrew, Natalie, Evelyn, and the Pedrads.
"Maybe they will figure it out after we move to Atlanta. We had a good visit at the prep school too. I was worried about moving him now but he seems sold on Dauntless and the Dauntless coach was ecstatic with him still having two years left in high school and him already wanting to commit. Even without us having to pull our cards, his numbers are good, he's only going to get better,"
Tris nodded and listened. TJ made it clear that he wanted to play professional basketball but Tris and Tobias had laid down strict rules that he would have to commit to all 4 years of college, not dropping out early for the draft like Tobias did.
"I told him that you and I were in that same boat in high school, neither one of us wanting to make the first move"
Tobias chuckles as Tris ties up her hair in her sleep scarf.
"Really?"
"Yes, I told him that I didn't think you felt the same about me at first and I took a chance and kissed you and that led to us talking. I figured it was better to leave out the part where we had sex BEFORE we talked and went on our first date"
Tris playfully rolls her eyes causing Tobias to laugh again as she made her way over to the bed and untying her silk robe, revealing she was wearing nothing underneath. Tobias licks his lips as she slowly moves it off of her shoulders and it falls to the floor.
"Ummmm that's a good memory" Tobias murmurs and Tris chuckles as she climbs into his lap and gives him a sultry kiss, running her tongue over his bottom lip. Tobias lets his hands roam down her body. At 39, and playing basketball her body was still insane.
"A very good memory" Tris whispers against his lips. "I don't know why you even put these on seeing as I haven't seen you for 5 days" Tris teases biting her lip and tugging at his sleep pants.
Tobias chuckles as he flips them over as Tris squeals with delight. Tris sighs with pleasure, even after all these years, she would never get tired of this.
15 Years Later
"Daddy, Jordan stole my charger again" Courtland yells down the hallway. She only had one day until the WNBA draft and of course, Jordan would try something like this when her nerves were already on edge.
"I did not! I just borrowed it, Geez" he replies with an eye roll as he leans back on his bed.
"Borrowing without asking is stealing" Courtland sneers back as she walks into his room and snatches her charger back throwing his phone at him.
"Hey, I'm only at 45%" Jordan frowns looking at his phone.
"You could be at zero. How does Lex put up with living with you, do you steal her stuff too?" Jordan rolls his eyes but his girlfriend Lex did complain about it too. He was always losing his charger.
"You're such a cry baby, just because you are getting all the attention this week doesn't mean you have to whine to Pop and Ma about everything little thing"
"I am not, take that back"
"Oh My God, I have had it with you two! Outside now!" Tobias barks coming out of the master bedroom. He had no idea why his children insisted on bickering when they had only been back home all together for one night. Jordan and Russell had their own places, but Tris had asked them to spend the night under one roof so they could support Courtland and have a nice family dinner.
"Come on Daddy" Courtland whines from her doorway.
"Really Pop, I gotta play the day after tomorrow," Jordan huffs.
Jordan and Russell were both drafted three years ago to the NBA after playing college basketball at Dauntless. Tris and Tobias made sure that they got to try everything not wanting them to focus on basketball if they didn't want to. Jordan played baseball at Dauntless as well and was drafted by the Atlanta Braves as well but basketball was always his love. It was in his blood, just like the rest of his family. He had been drafted by the Orlando Magic and Russell by the Atlanta Hawks. It felt strange not playing with his brother, not being in the same city as his family. When Zeke negotiated a trade for him to the Hawks everyone in the family had been on cloud 9. After the Antenkoumpo brothers and the Lopez twins made waves playing on the same team, Jordan and Russell were putting up great numbers with the Hawks.
"You and Court know the rules, I don't care how old all of you are" Tobias reminds them. "Get your hoop sneakers on"
Courtland huffs and goes back to her room to throw on her basketball clothes and pull her braids up.
"Where are you two going?" Tris asks amused as she puts the final touches on dinner as Courtland stomps past her.
"Ask your husband!" Jordan yells as follows his younger sister out the back door, drawing another chuckle from Tris.
"You would think they wouldn't still bicker like they did when they were small, but Noooooo" Tobias chides.
"Well don't keep them too long, TJ, and Russ will be here soon, and dinner is almost done" Tris smiles with a shake of her head as Tobias leans down to give her a kiss. His beard was salt and pepper now but he was still every bit as handsome even though they were in their 50s.
It had been the late summer since everyone had been in the house together and she was determined to have a family dinner with all of them together for the two nights they had. Courtland had just graduated from Dauntless and was on the heels of winning her second NCAA championship. Thankfully the draft was in Atlanta and they could all spend two days together before everyone scattered again.
TJ was playing for the Golden State Warriors, in his 9th year in the NBA. Tobias and Tris were so proud of him. He was between games and had an excused absence from practice so he could come in for Courtland's draft night. Tris and Tobias tried to tell him he needed to focus on the Warriors' play-off run but Courtland had been in tears at the thought of him not being there and he caved in. They were still so close and he would do anything for his little sister.
When Russell pulls up in the driveway from picking his brother up at the airport, he and TJ immediately start laughing at the sight before them in the driveway.
There was Courtland dribbling as Jordan was trying to guard her as their father supervised.
"How much you wanna bet he stole her phone charger again" TJ snorts with laughter.
Since they were old enough to dribble and start bickering with each other, Tris and Tobias made all their children settle their disputes on the basketball court. They were all good but Courtland was a beast on the court. She had come within 50 points of passing Tris's all-time scoring record at Dauntless. She did pass her 3 point record though. It was clear she was going to be the number one draft pick in this year's WNBA draft.
Tris was now the assistant coach at Dauntless. She spent five years announcing and commentating after retiring from the WNBA but when Lynn begged her to join her at Dauntless when she was named head coach after Tori retired she couldn't turn her down. It had been great coaching Courtland the past two years and working with Lynn. There were rumors that if the coach of the Atlanta Dream retired, Tris would be asked to interview for the position. She had a few conversations with people so she was interested in where it would go. She had no idea she would enjoy coaching so much, thinking she would spend all her time commentating, coaching had been a nice change of pace. Tobias was now up for an assistant coaching job with the Washington Wizards with all the work he had done in Atlanta and the Hawks. He wasn't sure about it, with all the kids out the house now, and Tris happy coaching at Dauntless, leaving her for the NBA season but Tris knew they could make anything work.
"No doubt, you would think he would know better by now"
"I got $20 on Court" TJ grins as they hop out in the driveway.
Just as predicted Courtland smokes her brother in their one on one game and everyone gathers around the dining room table for dinner. Since it was Courtland's big day and everyone would be home she wanted Tris to make her favorite dinner.
"Who won?" TJ grins as Court comes downstairs after a quick shower.
"Who do you think?" She grins wide as Russell puts his head in his hands.
"Pay up Russey" TJ gloats as he sits down next to Tobias and fills his glass with sweet tea.
"You two bet on your siblings one on one game?" Tobias asks with an eyebrow raised as he takes his seat at the table.
"Been doing it for years" Jordan shrugs as he sits down.
"Only my children," Tris chuckles with a head shake as she places the fried chicken she just made in the center of the table.
"Court's the one who started it" Russell comments as he grabs an ear of corn.
"Dang Russ, you just going to put me on blast like that" Courland huffs with an eye roll as she fills her plate with macaroni and cheese and passes the dish to Jordan.
"Do I even want to know?" Tobias asks as he fills his plate.
"Well one time you made TJ and I play after we got into an argument, I don't even remember about what now. We were in high school so Court had to be what 11?" Jordan starts to explain.
"She was 10 actually and it was that time you borrowed TJ's Fendi sweater and got ketchup on it" Russ clarifies as Jordan and Courtland snicker while Tobias and Tris look at them amused.
"I was so mad, I had a date and you ruined my sweater" TJ chuckles at the memory.
"You had other sweaters, Geez" Jordans huffs as his siblings shake their heads, he was forever losing his stuff and borrowing theirs without asking.
"She bet us all $20 of her allowance money that TJ was going house you when Pop told you two to get on the court. And we kept it up after that. You've cost me a lot of money over the years Twin" Russell sighs as TJ howls with laughter.
"You three gambled with a 10-year-old" Tris clarifies while sighing and shaking her head.
"Come on Ma, you know how persuasive she can be!" TJ shrugs while Jordan and Russel laugh.
"I looked at all the variables and I took a calculated risk, and it paid off because I tripled my initial investment" Courtland shrugs trying to hide her smile.
"Maybe you need to be talking to your Uncle Caleb and your Uncle Fernando about getting in at Divergent on the accounting side instead of going into the draft" Tris replies giving Courtland a look.
"Who do you think taught me to play poker?" Courtland waggles her eyebrows and Tobias laughs as Tris's mouth falls open.
As soon as he graduated, Caleb hired Fernando as his first accountant in his expanded division at Divergent. As promised, Amar made Zeke and Caleb partners. Amar retired 2 years ago and Zeke and Caleb were running the company on their own now. Caleb managed all the investments in the family still but made sure that everyone learned about money management, credit, stocks, and investing.
"I think you should split your winnings with me TJ" Courtland grins and she digs into her plate.
"Ha, Keep dreaming Squirt" TJ laughs as Russell hands over his money to his older brother.
"Let him keep it Court, Journee is going to break the bank with the wedding" Jordan teases as TJ rolls his eyes playfully in agreement.
After 10 years of dating and the birth of their son, Jamie who was now 6. TJ had proposed to Journee over Christmas. Lynn, Kima, and Tris were trying to reign her in but she was so excited her ideas just kept getting more and more extravagant.
"She assured me this afternoon that she's going to stay within the budget" TJ groans but still tries to keep from smiling. After waiting two years to tell her how he felt, he and Journee had been inseparable since TJs freshman year at Dauntless. He couldn't wait to make her his wife.
Tobias looks out over the table as everyone continued to talk, TJ telling everyone about the wedding plans, Jordan and Russell talking about their excitement for their next game against the Phoneix Suns. Courtland laughing at Jordan's joke. Tris looks over at him and smiles, seemingly reading his mind. The kids bickered like most siblings but they loved each other. This life had been a blessing and he was so thankful he was able to make things right with Tris.
Courtland shifts nervously in her chair as takes a look at the room. There were so many good players in the room. She was nervous even though everyone told her not to be. She knew she was good but it was intimidating growing up in the basketball dynasty that was their family. With her father winning 6 NBA championships before he retired and her mother being MVP three times and winning 5 WNBA championships, TJ being NBA Rookie of the Year and winning two NCAA titles, both her parents and now TJ winning gold medals in the Olympics there was so much to live up to. There had been so much pressure for her to surpass Tris's records at Dauntless. She loved her family but she had always pushed herself to show that she was as good as them.
"Baby girl, things are going to be fine" Tobias leans over and whispers in her ear seeing how nervous his daughter was. He gives her a soft pat on the leg.
"What do we always say?" Tris asks her with a smile.
"The Kennedys do politics, The Prior-Eatons, do basketball" Courtland laughs out.
"That's right, your numbers speak for themselves. Your father, your brothers and I know exactly how you are feeling so trust us" Tris gives her hand a squeeze.
The WNBA commissioner steps to the podium and Courtland holds her breath as she opens the envelope.
"With the first pick of the 2050 WNBA draft, the Washington Mystics select Courtland Prior-Eaton. Guard, Dauntless University."
Tris, Tobias, Russ, Jordan, and TJ pull Courtland into a big family hug. She wipes a few happy tears away as she goes to the stage.
"I'm proud of you Squirt" TJ grins as Courtland takes a deep breath before walking up to the stage.
After a few pictures, she heads to her first media interview.
"Courtland, you are basically the princess of basketball coming from the royal family of professional basketball with your grandfather, father, and three brothers playing in the NBA and your mother one of the greatest WNBA players to ever play the game. How does it feel to continue to the dynasty?" The reporter asks.
"I knew I wanted to play basketball since I was 5 years old just like my Dad and my Mom. I am pretty sure just like my brothers my first pair of shoes were basketball shoes. Basketball is in my blood and I'm just so excited to take it to the next level"
"Is it true your parent made you and your brothers play one on one to settle disagreements growing up?"
Courtland laughs as she thinks about her father making her and Jordan play the night before.
"It is true and they still do, I learned early to play hard and never settle on the court"
The report gives Courtland a genuine smile.
"The future is bright for Courtland Prior- Eaton and we can't to see all that you'll accomplish"
Courtland smiles as she heads backstage to where her family was waiting. She had waited so long for this moment and it was finally here. She couldn't describe the feeling but this was how things were supposed to be.
"Washington, D.C. My baby sis is really going to be out on her own" Jordon says pulling Courtland in for a hug.
"Maybe we need to ask Uncle Zeke to see about getting traded to the Wizards so the whole family can come?" Russ teases and he moves in for his own hug.
"Don't you dare!" Courtland laughs.
Tobias smiles as he watches more people come up to congratulate his baby girl. She wasn't a baby anymore, and he was so proud of her. Tris grabs his hand and laces their fingers together as she smiled up at him. It was another moment that she knew he was thinking exactly what he was.
Love and Basketball were the two things he needed in life and Tris was the one who gave him both.
I hope you will enjoy my next story that Lex in the City and I have cooked up which is my take on a Divergent Cannon story. I'm super nervous about it! It's a lot of drama, angst, and twists and turns. Be on the lookout in the next month or so! I
Secrets and Lies: Tris knows she doesn't fit in Abnegation, but one day while handing out supplies among the factionless she learns why. As she and Tobias uncover secrets Marcus and Andrew have been hiding for years, they uncover more than just a plot to seize control of Chicago. Can they expose Marcus, Andrew, and the other corrupt leaders or will their own secrets and lies bring them down first?