The next couple of weeks after the funeral were emotional, chaotic, and hard. However, everyone made a conscious effort to keep the kids busy and their routines going each day.

Lola and Toby appeared to adjust as well as they could with their grief at first. But then, little by little, we would see signs of their pain playing out in different ways.

For Lola, she would play with her dolls and act out one of them dying, but then would "wake up," and everything would be fine, and everyone would be happy. But, then this last week, she's also woken up several times, in the middle of the night, wetting the bed.

At first, we thought we thought she was just trying to find ways to get to sleep in JP's bed, but then my mom told me she wet his bed the last two nights, too.

She's also broken down a few times when JP has left the house for meetings and clings to his leg, crying and begging him not to go; she expresses he won't come back if he leaves.

He stayed with her the first few times, but on days like today, we had to pry her arms and legs from around him as she screamed and yelled when he walked out each time. Once she settles down, she usually falls asleep crying on me, Miles or Kai.

Toby's setbacks are different types of regressions. He was potty trained early at the age of two but would still use pull-ups at night. But then, during the last week, he's had several accidents throughout the day.

His sleeping pattern has changed as well, and he started waking up in the middle of the night; My mom or I have taken turns at night with him, and we explain to him it's still night and keep the lights very dim; reminding him its quiet time, but he usually wants to play.

We've kept his bedtime consistent, hoping he returns to his regular sleep schedule, but at this point, it seems endless.

Carmen asked Lucy to sleep with her for the first little while, too. She's been having nightmares, but after the first few nights, I could see the lack of sleep was affecting Lucy. So, on the nights my mom is with Toby, I'm usually with Carmen.

During the day, Carmen's despondent, and when she does talk, it's usually guilt-ridden conversations.

She'll say things like if she just spent more time with Melanie, maybe she would have stayed better longer. Or, if she didn't waste so much time being afraid, she would have been able to spend more time with her.

And then there's Marco.

He grieves silently, not wanting to be a burden to anyone. Everyone visits with him daily to make sure he eats and gets time outside, and he also tries to help out a lot with his younger brother and sisters.

"Are you coming tonight?" Letty asks me, bring me out of my zombie-like mood. I push my soup around that I thought was a good idea to have for dinner, but now it seems so unappealing to me.

"Where?"

"It's the grand opening, remember?" Jessica comments as she finishes her sandwich.

I had completely forgotten about it. I shake my head, telling them I will be with the kids since that will mean JP will be out late.

"So, I guess this means goodbye?" Letty states sadly. The girls will be heading back to Miami tomorrow morning.

"Yeah, I guess it is." I walk over to them as Letty hops off the stool, but I notice she winces as she walks.

"Did you hurt yourself during practice?" I ask, concerned.

Letty chuckles, "No, not exactly. Let's just say Rio made good on making sure I wouldn't be able to walk right after we..."

My eyes widen, "So it finally happened, how was it?"

"Girl, I don't kiss and tell," She says seriously, and I give her a look.

Letty attempts to continue to act serious but then bursts out laughing, "Okay, you know I do. It was fucking mind-blowing, toe-curling, I saw stars, fucking amazing!"

"Letty!" We turn, and Rio is standing at the doorway with Bruiser and Roman, the smirk he gives her lets us know he heard her. "It's time to go."

"I'm just saying goodbye to Stella," Letty winks at him before she turns to me and hugs me. "I'm going to miss the hell out of you, girl; don't be a stranger. Thank you for being an awesome friend and person. If you need anything, even if it's just to talk, call me!" She squeezes me tightly. "By the way, I like Sean, but I'm team JP."

"I heard that," Jessica comments. She narrows her eyes jokingly at Letty. Letty giggles and kisses my cheek before walking away.

Jessica hugs me, too. "I'll miss you, too, girl."

"I'll miss you, Jess. Please take care of yourself."

She cups my face, "Please be fair to Sean but most of all, yourself, Stella," She hugs me again. "You have a lot going on right now. Don't forget to take care of yourself." I nod as I hug her back.

Bruiser and Roman walk up to me, and both hug me, telling me they hope we'll see each other again.

"Well, I guess this is it. You're one of a kind Stella," Rio says as he walks over to me. "I'm glad we had the opportunity to work together, and I hope everything works out for you. If you ever need a job, you'll always have a place with us and not just as a dancer. You have a mind for the business side of things, as I learned recently."

"Thank you, Rio. Despite our rough start, I enjoyed working for you, mostly," I chuckle, "But thank you for giving me a chance," I hug him and kiss his cheek. "Take care of Letty, or I'll come for you." I slap his face playfully; he laughs and heads out of the kitchen.

"Give Eva my best, please," I call out to him. He turns and smiles back at me.

"I will. Take care of yourself, Hermosa."

Victoria brushes past him, smiling, and then she walks up to me and hugs me. "I wanted to say you're amazing for dealing with everything so well."

I don't feel like I'm dealing with everything so well, but I smile and thank her. "So I guess you're heading back to Miami, too?"

"Actually, Rio asked me to stay for a few more weeks to work at La Ombra and..." She looks down and tucks her long hair behind one of her ears. "Dean and I...started to see each other again."

"Oh, that's great," I tell her, but I notice she keeps her eyes on her hands. "Right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I hope so. But I'm also scared he's going to bail on me again, you know?"

I nod in understanding. "I guess you have to ask yourself if it's worth the risk."

"That's the hard part because it feels like it is, but I don't want to get hurt again," She confides.

I tell her I understand as I rub her arm.

"Okay, I know we're all kumbaya and all now, but it still weirds me out to see you two in the same room...talking...being nice to each other...talking," Annalisa repeats as she walks in, smiling at us.

Victoria and I both laugh and agree with her. "Well, let's be honest, I think I was more the problem," Victoria comments.

Annalisa and I look at each other, "True." We say at the same time and laugh but pull Victoria in for a group hug.

"Whoa, this is so weird, right man?" Joey says, and we pull apart and see JP's with him. "It's like we are in some other dimension or something." Joey keeps looking at us distrustingly.

"I don't know, Joe, I wouldn't mind a catfight to break out for old times' sake," JP says, winking at me.

"Nope, not while this one has my little cannoli baking inside," Joey grabs Annalisa and picks her up, setting her on the island and kisses her stomach. Annalisa giggles and pulls his head up to kiss him.

I sigh deeply; my heart melts at how tender and sweet he is with her.

"That's just the damndest cutest thing ever," Victoria smiles at them, too, as she walks out.

"You okay?" JP lifts my chin to look up at him. His fingers trace along my face, then his thumbs brush under my eyes, no doubt noticing the shadows. I fight the magnetic pull I feel towards him and the need to have his arms wrap around me.

"Yeah, just tired," I say, looking away, but he moves my face towards his again.

"You know we have help here, for the kids. But, you need to rest; you need to take care of yourself, too," He tells me.

"The kids don't need to be taken care of by strangers, JP," I feel myself getting irritated that he can so quickly brush them off, but I know my emotions are still all over the place, too.

"Stella, they're not strangers. They've been around the kids, working around the house, and most of them came from Italy with them. So they know them; pretty well, too."

"It's not the same thing, John Paul," I argue.

Adonis rushes in, "Capo, incoming." but then he stops when he sees me. "Shit," Adonis mutters under his breath."

"Johnny, babe, are you ready?" Charlotte's eyes narrow when she sees me.

I look up at JP, who's still looking at me before he shuts his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath as he turns towards the doorway.

Charlotte weasels her way around Adonis, who was attempting to keep her out of the kitchen, and saddles right up next to JP. She's dressed in a white, nearly see-through, satin jumpsuit. Her blaring red lipstick matches her red pumps.

JP peels himself away from her and moves back, but she holds on to his arm as she smirks at me. Her eyes travel down and up again over my attire of a maxi skirt and loose shirt. "Oh, honey, this whole homeless, hippie chic outfit is not a good look for you."

Annalisa hisses under her breath and jumps off the counter, but Joey stops her before she reaches Charlotte, holding her back.

I shrug, in response, too tired to deal with her and move to the fridge.

"Stella, she's here for a meeting," JP follows behind me. "You can come if you don't believe me, but you need to rest if you want to keep your strength up for the kids." I look at him without saying anything as I pull open the freezer door in his face and grab some ice cream.

JP mutters my name in annoyance behind the door before I close it again. I walk back to where Annalisa and Joey are and open the ice cream pulling out three spoons from a drawer.

"You know, eating dairy this late is like the worst thing for your body, right?" Charlotte comments.

"Oh?" I say through a mouthful of cookie dough ice cream.

"Do you give a shit?" I point my spoon to Joey.

He shakes his head, eating a spoonful. "Nope."

"Do you give a shit?" I point my spoon to Annalisa next.

She licks the spoon, "Nope."

"Hmm, I'll be sure to pass your advice to someone who gives a shit," I state, smiling at Charlotte.

Enzo walks in, "Who gives a shit about what?" He asks as he takes the spoon from me and eats the ice cream.

"Oh, we were just told dairy is the worst thing we could feed ourselves this late," I inform him as I take my spoon back.

"Who gives a fuuuccck?" He drawls out.

"Charlotte over here does," Annalisa gestures towards Charlotte. "She's full of unsolicited advice tonight. And unfortunately, it would appear Stella's outfit doesn't work for her either."

"Who?" Enzo looks over his shoulder, glancing briefly at Charlotte before he turns back to the ice cream, retakes my spoon, and eats the ice cream I had just scooped out. He winks at me before turning around to face Charlotte.

"Well, Harlot, is it?" Enzo addresses her, and Joey snorts.

"Charlotte." She says through her teeth.

"Same difference," Enzo shrugs, "Word of advice for you. Real men like the mystery of finding out what's underneath women's clothing. We like the challenge of having to work for it; otherwise, when it's just out there, it screams desperation..." He moves his eyes down her outfit, and she shifts uncomfortably.

"JP, bro, your standards have dropped drastically," Enzo says, clapping JP's shoulder.

"She's here for business," JP slaps his hand off of him.

"Nice, your friends fight your battles for you." Charlotte scoffs, glaring at me.

I laugh, "Battles?" I finish off the ice cream on my spoon. "What exactly are we 'battling' over? JP?" I glance over at him, and he presses his lips together in a tight line, clearly annoyed. "I don't fight over anyone, Charlotte. JP knows that. So your threat from a few weeks ago is pointless, but keep testing me, and I'll make sure you know mine isn't."

"You threatened, Stella?" JP grabs Charlotte by the arm roughly to face him. Charlotte chuckles, but there's both embarrassment and fear behind her eyes.

"I was kidding, Johnny. She knows that" Charlotte lies as she straightens herself under his fierce glare.

"Right, that's why you find it a point to throw insults at Stella whenever you get the chance; you just proved it by taunting her about her friends defending her. We all heard you, stupid." Annalisa walks up next to me.

"Charlotte, for the last and final time, nothing is going on, and there will never be anything between us. Yes, I slept with you when my memory was gone, but you know I didn't want you before the accident, and I don't want you now. So stop embarrassing yourself and let it go." JP tells her. "Adonis, please escort Charlotte to my office for the meeting."

Charlotte's furious eyes glare back at JP before she scoffs, "Don't think for one second you can order me around Johnny. I'm an equal shareholder in all of your businesses, remember? You need me if you want your reputation to stand as legitimate as possible."

JP stares back at her, and I can see there's truth behind what she's told him. I'm sure when he negotiated his business partnerships with her, he never imagined he was dealing with the devil until now.

Enzo's phone rings. "Sean Cena, what's up, man?" I chuckle as Enzo adds to the nicknames for Sean. "Yeah, she's here; hang on."

"Sean says he's been trying to call you." Enzo holds his phone out to me. I look down at my phone and see my phone's dead.

"I meant to charge my phone and completely forgot; he must be freaking out," I take Enzo's phone.

"Hello?"

"I'm not freaking out, Stels. Well, not anymore." Sean tells me, and I shake my head, chuckling.

I excuse myself. "Charlotte, always a pleasure to see you." I lie, plastering a smile on my face.

She gives me a fake smile of her own before I head towards the terrace doors.

"Who's Charlotte?" Sean asks, and I sit on one of the couches. Zeus trots over to be followed by Topo, the dog.

"No one."

I ask how his family is doing. He tells me they're fine. However, his mom is still upset that Jessica doesn't want to come home any time soon.

"So, are you headed to Miami tomorrow with the girls to move your things?" Sean asks.

"They're leaving in the morning, but I'm not leaving until later in the day."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come help?"

"JP is sending me with some of his guys, so it'll be quick. We don't have a lot of stuff as it is." I reassure him.

He tells me about some of the books he's working on for his publishing career, and I try to focus, but the fatigue I've been feeling starts setting in.

"Stels, you're tired and falling asleep on me," Sean says into the phone.

"Your voice is just so soothing," I hum as I yawn.

"Wow, thanks for calling me boring." He laughs. "But seriously, go to bed. I'll call you tomorrow. Good night, gorgeous." I chuckle and tell him goodnight, ending the call.

With Melanie passing and taking care of the kids, I haven't had the chance to sit down and talk to Sean, just he and I. I know he's getting anxious, maybe a little impatient with how we left things, but he also doesn't want to push me.

I rub my eyes and stretch as I stand and head back inside the kitchen, but I'm surprised when I see JP is still here.

~~~~~

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