They make it to the stadium where the playoffs are being held. "Stella, I am so sorry." Sara apologizes.
"I'm not mad at the kids. I'm pissed at Brad, though." Stella tells Sara as they are finding their seats.
"Honey, he did give you that car." she tells her. "I know, but I would rather be spending my birthday doing what I like." Stella points out.
"You guys got enough candy? Remember, you can have anything you want, 'cause it's Christmas." Brad tells Dylan and Megan.
"No, it isn't. It's not Christmas, kids." Sara reminds them.
"All right, here we are." Brad says as they got to their front row seats.
"Sick! We're this close?" Dylan asks as he gets to his seat. "Yeah. Pretty good right?" Brad asks.
"Stella, Megan, you two sit right there." Brad instructs as the two Mayron sisters sit down, with Stella being in between Dylan and Megan.
"And, Dusty, I'm so sorry. Yeah. I could only get five in a row. I couldn't get six." Brad apologizes, not being the slightest bit sorry. "So you're across the aisle, next to that gentleman." he points out to an older, beefier guy, who looks a little surly.
"Look! There's Kobe! It's him! He's right there!" Dylan points out to Kobe Bryant, who is practicing for the playoffs.
Stella unlocks her phone to take a picture. Oh, yeah. She is never gonna let Shawn live this down.
"Thank you, Brad, this is the best present I've ever gotten." Dylan thanks Brad before hugging him.
"You are so welcome. I'm glad to hear it's the best present you've ever got!" Brad replies, directing that last part to Dusty.
"How much did these seats cost?" Sara asks. "Not too much." Brad brushes off.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a big welcome to all the kids from Hearts of Courage." the announcer says over the PA.
"Whoo! Hearts of Courage kids! Proud of you, you're all miracles!" Brad yells out. "Whoo! I love kids!"
"All right, honey. That's plenty." Sara tries to calm Brad down, but he doesn't falter in the slightest. "I just get excited when I'm with my family!"
"Dusty! Dusty Mayron!" a man calls out Stella's dad. The teenage girl squints her eyes before they widen in realization. "Oh, my God. That's the strength and conditioning coach for the Lakers."
She might have picked up a thing or two from being around Ryan and Shawn.
"Marco? Hey! What's up, man? Are you coaching now?" Dusty greets the man. "Yeah, I'm the new strength and conditioning coach." he responds, fact checking Stella's claims.
"Hey, I played ball with him in Italy." Dusty explains. "This is my family. My little guy, Dylan." Dusty points out his only son. "He's the biggest Kobe fan in the world."
"Really?" Marco asks Dylan, who nods excitedly. "Come on down. I'll introduce you." he tells him.
That definitely made Dylan's day.
Then Marco invites the whole family to meet Kobe Bryant.
"This is my oldest daughter, Stella. It's her birthday today. She turned 17." Dusty introduces as Stella jumps over the barricade and helps Dylan over it as well.
"Well, then, happy birthday." Marco tells Stella. "Thanks." she replies.
"And this is my little girl, Megan." Dusty introduces as he helps Megan over the barricade. "She just invited me to her first Daddy-Daughter Dance."
Stella thought that Megan invited Brad. Hey, if her sister wants both her dad and step-dad at the dance, it's not her prerogative to say no.
Marco led Kobe Bryant to meet her little siblings. "And this is Dusty's older daughter, Stella. It's her birthday today." Marco tells him.
"Happy birthday." Kobe says to Stella.
"Hey, this is kind of a weird favor. My friends, Ryan and Shawn, are really invested into sports, and Shawn is on the basketball team at my school. Do you mind if I take a selfie with you? They are gonna go totally nuts." Stella asks.
"Yeah, sure thing." Kobe accepts as he and Stella took the selfie.
After interacting with actual legend Kobe Bryant, Stella's mom joins them, and Stella notices her mom's tense mood. "Are you okay?" she asks her.
"I just found out that Brad paid $18,000 for those seats." Sara tells her oldest daughter. "How the hell is he not broke?" Stella asks out loud, thinking about the pony and the car that he got in addition.
The playoffs are ahead. Stella and her family were so close to the game, while Brad is sitting in the seat he paid $18,000 for with five extra empty seats. What the family doesn't know is that he is chugging beer after beer.
It is now halftime, and the Lakers are winning 44-43 against the Pelicans. The cheerleaders and the Pelicans mascot spread out as an announcer makes his entrance with a microphone.
"What's up, everybody? Let's make some noise!" the announcer said. "Tonight, one lucky fan is going to get a chance to shoot from the half court to win a family vacation to Disney World!"
"And our lucky fan is sitting in Section 113, Row 6, C-1!" he announces. Brad stumbles out to the basketball court. While Megan and Dylan were cheering for Brad, Stella noticed something off, and her suspicions were confirmed when she got a waft of beer from Brad.
"He is drunk." Stella tells her mom.
"All right, sir. How're you doing? What's your name?" the announcer asks. "First off, I love my kids." Brad slurs out.
"He loves his kids! Let's give it up!" the announcer exclaims, trying to gauge the crowd's reaction.
"And if anyone was ever to do anything to them, I would hurt them." Brad continues. "I would freakin' hurt them!"
"This guy over here is trying to take them!" he continues, pointing over at Dusty. "Trying to steal my family. He doesn't sweat."
"You might have a point." Sara mutters to her daughter.
"Okay, you know what? Why don't we just shoot…" the announcer tries to suggest, but Brad just takes the microphone from him.
"But I got news for you, buddy! Last night, while you were sleeping, I made love to our wife! My wife!" Brad confesses. "Sara, over there! Took my wiener out of my pants!"
Sara hides her face in embarrassment while Stella shrinks down in embarrassment. This might be one of the worst moments in Stella's life, and the cherry on top is that it is on her fucking birthday.
"So even if Sara does pick you, you're going to have to be the stepdad to my kid! You see how you like it! Okay?" Brad shouts.
Stella's rage is pumping through her veins, but there are two remedies that are preventing her from attacking her stepdad: Dylan and Megan.
She doesn't want her younger siblings to see her in a different light.
While the announcer tries to get somebody else to do the half-court shot, Brad just take the ball from him.
"This one's for Stella and Megan and Sara and Dylan. Happy birthday, Stella! Nothing but net." Brad slurs out.
"All right, he's going for it, nothing but net!" The announcer tells the crowd.
Brad ends up chucking the ball at the head of one of the cheerleaders. Stella winces at it. She would not be surprised if that cheerleader has a concussion at the end of the night.
The cheerleaders then crowd their teammate to see if she's alright.
Brad continues to yell for a do-over, stealing the ball from the announcers and he ends up throwing the ball at the head of one of the kids from Hearts of Courage.
Thankfully, Brad was taken out by security, but Stella is embarrassed beyond repair.
She leaves the court and goes for the stadium escalators.
The only good part about this crap day is how she got to meet Kobe Bryant. Other than that, Brad made it about himself and his rivalry with Dusty.
"Stella!" Dusty calls out, but she is blinded by tears of embarrassment and anger.
"This is the worst birthday I ever had!" she cries out.
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