Like Father, Like Son
Author's Note: Ladies and gents this is the final prequel chapter till the main story lines begin! Let's see what happens!
August 2037
At the age of 37 years old, Lucas Friar had become a 5 time NBA Champion, 3 time NBA Finals MVP, 2-time Olympic Gold Medalist, and 1 time Pan American Games Gold Medalist. But most importantly at this stage in his life, the things that mattered most to him. His three children: Aaron, Natalie, and Troy. Aaron is about to start High School, Natalie is now in the 8th grade, and Troy is 11 years old. He is still madly in love with his wife: Riley Friar celebrating 16 years as a married couple. They have made the world their own and have faced many challenges as a couple but have excelled in the face of adversity. There may have been a few mishaps along the way but their love had always remained strong and helped them becoming a stronger couple because of the adversity.
The six friends of Lucas, Riley, Farkle, Maya, Zay, and Vanessa have all stuck together throughout the years living in New York and making the world their own. They have seized every opportunity they could and have enjoyed the journey. Now it was time to start a new chapter in their lives. They knew they were getting older. However, for Lucas and Zay, their bodies were becoming more fatigued as they were always the go to guys on the Knicks during the big moments in a basketball game. When the game was on the line, they were the guys to go to. They have done it for years and now their bodies have begun to have enough. Their souls were willing to keep pushing in doing what they love but as time continues priorities change.
"So are you doing it tomorrow?" Riley asked her husband as she found him folding the laundry.
"Yup." Lucas answered as he finished folding all the colored clothes.
"No matter what happens, I will always love you Lucas." Riley told her Lucas as she went around their bed to kiss him as she hugged him from behind.
"I love you too honey, thank you for everything you've done and have given me." Lucas told her turning to face her and kissed her forehead being very appreciative. Lucas delivered the folded clothes the belonged to his children.
"Hey dad, can Anthony sleep over?" Lucas' oldest son: Aaron John Friar asked. Aaron had short brown hair similar to his father but with his mother's hair color. He also had his father's facial features and his bone structure being quite tall for an average 14-year old standing at 6 foot 3 inches tall. Anthony is the oldest son of Zay and Vanessa Babineaux. 6 feet 4 inches tall with a pretty thin build.
"Ya sure! Does your Uncle Zay know about this?" Lucas asked his son.
"Yup we asked him first." Aaron answered him.
"Ok then just stay up too late guys, I want you both to get your sleeping patterns ready for school." Lucas said laying down the law for his son and his best friends son.
"Yes sir!" The both responded as they went to Aaron's room. Lucas then delivered the next set of clothes to his little girl Natalie. She was the same age as Anthony, she had long dirty blonde hair, had Riley's eyes and her facial structure like her lips and nose. "Special delivery to Daddy's little girl!" Lucas barged into his daughter's room without knocking on the door and allowed himself in making his delivery.
"Thanks daddy!" Natalie said walking up to her dad as she got her softball uniform from her dad.
"Daddy, you're coming to my game next Saturday right?" Natalie asked her father. They have a close relationship. She is definitely his daughter. Both enjoyed baseball, both have blonde hair, and they both have a bit of a temper!
"Yup! Last time I checked I was free this weekend!" Lucas told his daughter.
"YAAY! But can you do one more thing for me dad?" Natalie asked.
"Anything sweetie." Lucas said ready for anything.
"Could you please make sure mom doesn't make a banner or signs again like last time? I heard throughout the game Aunt Maya and Uncle Farkle didn't know mom." The 13-year old requested bringing up what happened in her previous game as Lucas chuckled knowing his wife would do that.
"Ok I'll see what I can do. Remember your mother is the boss around the house." Lucas said giving it a try.
"Alright. Thanks daddy." Natalie said giving her father a hug.
"You have a good night Nat." Lucas said goodnight to his daughter before making his way over to his youngest son's room where he was practicing his punches and kicks for an upcoming karate tournament.
"Hey champ! Your gi is ready!" Lucas called over to his youngest son: Troy.
"Thanks dad!" Troy said taking his white karate uniform from his father before bowing to each other like they usually do sharing that common bond of karate. Lucas kept training with his long time master: Master Dominic and since he retired his daughter: Adriana took over the school and has still kept up the very well prepared training for everyone. Lucas was now a 4th degree black belt in karate, and Troy was at green belt. Together they have won many tournaments taking home lots of gold with them in the form of trophies.
"Troy just remember you have a tournament at the end of the month in Brooklyn ok?" Lucas remembered telling his son.
"Alright dad." Troy understood.
"Good man, I'll see you in the morning champ." Lucas said smiling at his son as they bowed to each other then hugged as Lucas left Troy's room.
Lucas made his way to the living room as he was alone late at night. He had been contemplating something now for the past few weeks and finally understood the time had come. He later went to bed with Riley knowing and understanding what he had to do.
The next morning as Riley made everyone breakfast the house phone began to ring.
"Hello?" Riley answered the phone.
"Hey Auggie! Yeah Lucas is here I'll get him." Riley answered her now 29-year old brother. Auggie Matthews and his wife: Ava Matthews are in the podcasting business with theirs being about life, love, and sometimes sports but only if Lucas or Zay came onto the show. Lucas kissed his wife a good morning still in excellent shape as he took the phone from her.
"Auggie what's going on man?" Lucas greeted his brother-in-law.
"Not much Lucas are we still on today at noon?" Auggie asked confirming their show together.
"Yup I'll be there in an hour I'm just gonna have breakfast with everyone and then I'll be right over." Lucas confirmed his appearance as Auggie wrote on twitter that Lucas Friar would be on today's show.
After breakfast, Lucas drove to Auggie's studio in downtown Manhattan and entered the studio where Auggie greeted him and they went together to his office where Ava was all set ready to stream the podcast live.
"Alright guys, we're on in 3…2…" Ava counted down as Ava began the podcast: The Auggie and Ava Show.
"What's going on everyone! It's Thursday, August 15, 2037 and today my brother in law is joining us on the show! NBA Superstar and likely first ballot Hall of Famer: Lucas Friar ladies and gentlemen!"
"Thanks for the intro Aug!" Lucas said chuckling at Auggie's introduction.
"Well you know I gotta be creative with it somehow. Anyway what's going on man? The kids are gonna back in school soon and this will be your 14th year in the NBA as a member of the New York Knicks." Auggie said opening up the conversation.
"Yup this will be my 14th year in the NBA and Aaron is starting High School next month and Natalie is going to be in the 8th grade! As for Troy my boy is going into the 6th grade and is also getting ready for a karate tournament in Brooklyn at the end of the month." Lucas said telling Auggie what's been going on with his kids.
"And Riley is still teaching Drama at John Adams High?" Auggie asked.
"Funny you mention Riley teaching at John Adams High, she recently picked up History as a teachable subject! Maya on the other hand picked up English as a teachable subject so I swear if Aaron draws Riley as his history teacher when that first bell rings, it'll be our lives all over again!" Lucas laughed at the fact of Riley maybe teaching Aaron.
"Oh dear God! Oh for those of you who don't know Lucas, my sister Riley, her best friend Maya, Lucas' best friend Zay and Zay's wife all went to the same High School: John Adams High Class of 2019 and it's crazy to hear that possibility of Aaron drawing my sister as his teacher." Auggie mentioned.
"If he does then I know the universe is going to play it's hand in some weird shape or form." Lucas said.
"So you said you wanted to make an announcement here what's going on man?" Auggie asked as he and Ava held their breath.
"Well you guys know that in terms of health I am at as best of shape as I can be. Life is great, my family life is awesome, the kids are heathy and my career has been very busy like I just came back last week from helping out in an NBA Basketball demo in Manila over in the Philippines. And oh my God! Basketball is a huge deal there! I look around and there are basketball nets practically all over the place and kids are playing barefoot on concrete and that has been an amazing journey. The people of Manila treated me very well and I loved helping out over there but when I came back I feel like, in terms of my career…There is nothing else for me to do. My career is practically complete. So I'm here to announce that after this will be my final season in the NBA." Lucas announced as Auggie and Ava were shocked as their eyebrows raised.
"Wow Lucas! You're only 37 man and you could go for another 2 years or 3 knowing how well your body is! Why now?" Auggie asked.
"For me it's not about the money or even my legacy, that is already in stone to anyone that has seen me play, how I held myself in every game I played and every opportunity I was given. This is a decision I made for my family." Lucas stated.
"What's going on in the family? Like last time I checked everyone is doing very well." Ava asked as Lucas looked towards her side of the long table.
"Well I've missed so much in the last 14 years. Like I remember I was on the road with the Knicks going through Florida for that road swing, and Riley video called me through Skype telling me that Aaron said his first word and it was: mama. It hurt knowing I missed that. Also the anniversaries I've missed, birthdays. And I've been late to all of Aaron's birthdays since he was born because of training camp. I've missed lots of Aaron's games, Troy's karate grading and tournaments, Natalie's games and much more. I wanna be more involve in their lives and stop feeling like a part time Dad." Lucas answered Ava feeling guilty of all the events he's missed.
"So this is your farewell tour essentially right?" Ava asked.
"Yup gonna do it up Kobe Bryant style and say goodbye and play through one more season." Lucas said willing to go through one more season.
"Have you talked to Riley and the others about this?" Ava asked considering everyone else in Lucas' life.
"Well Riley and I have talked about this for a couple of days, and I've talked about this with Zay and my head coach: Marc Jackson. I have everyone's blessings on this decision and I know for a fact I'll still be around the game but no longer as a player and I wanna do my best to save myself from any major injury." Lucas said remembering everyone's conversations.
"So what's gonna be the plan after your time in the NBA?" Auggie asked considering Lucas' career will be over by between April to June depending on how well the Knicks play this year.
"First off start my teaching career, for those of you who don't know I have physical education as a teachable subject when I went to UCLA. I'm gonna be more involved in teaching Troy Karate at the Golden Dragons Dojo. I'm definitely gonna be around more so other than that I'm planning to go into teaching afterwards." Lucas said trying to figure out his plan.
The rest of the podcast was about going through Lucas' NBA Career, family life and life in general. After the 2-hour podcast wrapped up. Lucas came home greeted by many fans thanking him for his service to the city of New York and his service to the New York Knicks before going inside his house only to be greeted by his family as everyone came together for a group hug.
"I wanna thank you guys for allowing me to go out every day and night to do something I love to do. And I'm sorry for everything I've missed. Now it's time for me to be a better dad." Lucas said apologizing to his family.
"I'm proud of you honey." Riley told her husband as she kissed his lips.
"Yeah dad, we can understand because you're very famous and all but it's a nice change to see you coming to all of my games from here on out." Natalie told her dad.
"So do we get to fight more now?" Troy asked.
"Yeah buddy. We will get to spar more." Lucas told his youngest son.
"So after this year, no more one on one games or shooting around together at Madison Square Garden?" Aaron asked who always looked forward to every home game to shoot around with his father.
"I'm sorry buddy but I dunno about that yet. But we will always have time to play hoops together." Lucas said to his oldest son looking forward to spending more time with his family.
Lucas' email and twitter feed blew up with thank you tweets and emails as Lucas was happy with the work he has done and the legacy he has created for his family. Millions of dollars in the bank. Endorsement deals with Affliction Clothing, Under Armour, and Gatordae. Lucas has done very well in his career but now it was time to go through one more season but this one, would be his final go around.
Author's Note: There you have it everyone the final prequel chapter! Next up will be the main story as Aaron Friar is set to take on High School and the world. Please Review, Fav, and Follow the story I really appreciate it and I also appreciate everyone who has reviewed, faved and followed the story so far I never would've expected my work to be this good so I wanna thank you guys so much. Have a great day everyone and be safe out there! :)