⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

after a long day at the office, bella was finally happy to be home. she let out a deep sigh as she tossed her bag aside and headed to the kitchen. as she turned on the faucet on, the faucet began to leak.

"shit." bella muttered to herself as she quickly turned the faucet off.

she dried her hands and reached to her back pocket, grabbing her phone to call johnny. she placed the phone up to her ear, sighing as she tapped her nails on the counter.

"hey johnny. can you help me with something–"

bella heard a knock on her door and hung up the phone. she went over to answer the door and found johnny standing outside her door, wearing an aviator costume and glasses.

"i'm here for whatever you need, bella." johnny said.

bella smiled and softly bit her lip before pulling  him inside her apartment. the brunette pressed her lips against his as she ran her hands through his hair. johnny held her waist and pulled her closer to him as he softly groaned into the kiss. they pulled away for a moment before bella dragged the blonde into her bedroom.

after a busy couple of weeks, bella was finally able to relax and spend these moments with her family, but now her family had grown. she had her husband, daughter, and now, her stepson, son-in-law, and a grandchild.

as she held her grandchild in her arms, she sat down at the table, surrounded by her family. she finally got the family dinners she dreamed of. she smiled as her daughter and stepson sat next to her, while her husband, johnny, placed a kiss on her temple and served her a plate of food.

bella had it all; her perfect house, her glamorous career, her husband, her kids, and now a grandchild.

bella's eyes fluttered open as she softly yawned before looking over to the side to find johnny waking up as well. she turned to the side, smiling at the sight of her fiancé. "hi." she said.

"hey." johnny said.

"i just had the best dream." bella said, as she intertwined her hand with his.

"yeah?" johnny said.

"yeah." bella said, smiling.

"tell me all about it." johnny said, smiling as he played with the diamond ring on bella's hand.

⸻

"okay, i officially hate morning sickness." stevie said, as she ran a hand through her hair. "fucking disgusting."

"you feeling better though?" alex said, as he grabbed a mug from the cupboard and served himself a cup of coffee.

"yeah, it's just the nausea." stevie said, sitting down on the sofa. "but i'm feeling better."

"stay home and rest. tell chris to give you the day." alex said as he sat beside stevie.

"i don't know. i want to but then chris is gonna be out of the office today." stevie said. "she's going to this charity auction so while she's out, i need to take care of some things that she has pending, it's just a lot."

"speaking of taking care of things, mom called me and invited us to lunch, so i figured we could tell them about the baby over lunch." alex said, as he intertwined his hand with stevie's.

"yeah, that sounds good." stevie said, smiling. "so this is really happening."

"what?" alex said.

"the baby." stevie said.

"yeah, i still can't believe it." alex said, with a smile as he placed a hand on stevie's stomach. "you sure you're gonna be fine?"

"yeah, i'll be fine." stevie said, with a chuckle. "are you gonna be fine?"

"yeah, totally." alex said. "well, honestly, i'm just kinda nervous to tell my folks, and sophie as well. i know they're definitely not gonna be expecting this, i don't know how they'll react."

"it's gonna be alright." stevie said, smiling. "i know they'll probably be caught off-guard, but it's gonna be okay. besides, we're doing this together."

"yeah, it's you and me." alex said, placing a kiss on her temple. "well, i'm glad you're feeling better because i made us breakfast. there's toast, eggs, bacon, and waffles. whatever you're craving."

"aren't you the sweetest." stevie smiled as she softly kissed the blonde. "i love you so much."

"i love you more." alex smiled.

⸻

"okay, i need your honest opinion." bella said, as she walked out of the bathroom holding up two dresses. "which one looks better?"

"the green one looks good." johnny said. "but your ass looks great in the blue one."

"i'm being serious." bella said.

"so am i. you said to be honest." johnny said. "where's chrissy dragging you to now?"

"it's another charity event that she was invited to, she didn't wanna go alone so she invited me to go with her and i agreed. serves as a distraction from planning for fashion week." bella said, as she finished getting ready.

"and how's all that going?" johnny said.

"it's going." bella said, as she finished doing her makeup. "i mean, it's good and all but i guess i'm just nervous about this whole thing. it's just been a while."

"you'll be fine. i see how hard you work, you'll be great." johnny said, as he walked over to bella and wrapped his arms around her waist. "you're a badass, babe."

"thank you baby." bella said, smiling.

bella turned to face the blonde and placed her lips on his as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to his body. she softly groaned as he then trailed his lips to her neck.

"so we're really getting married?" bella said, with a smile.

"if you still want to." johnny said, smiling as he kept the brunette in his embrace.

"i do." bella said, as she admired her fiancé and her reflection in the mirror. "so, what are you planning on doing?"

"i think i should be asking you that." johnny said.

"i mean, we have time to plan." bella said. "in the meantime, we need to take care of other things before we can set the date."

"like what?" johnny said.

"like a lot of things." bella said. "but i guess right now, my biggest worry is how we're gonna break the news to stevie and robby."

"shit, you're right." johnny said. "how're we gonna tell them?"

"i guess just tell them." bella said. "we have to come clean with them, especially now with everything going on; you patching things up with robby, and now stevie being pregnant. we can't keep anything from them."

"i guess we can't." johnny said, with a sigh. "you'll tell stevie and i can tell robby?"

"i think we should tell them together." bella said. "after all, it's you and me right?"

"hell yeah."

⸻

upon arriving to the event, the ladies got out of bella's white mercedes, as bella handed the keys to the valet. "wow, this place is beautiful." chrissy said, admiring the venue. "this place is an actual house, this is crazy."

"it feels familiar though." bella said. "i'm getting deja vu."

"i don't think i've even seen this place, trust me i would know." chrissy said, looking to the side to find eva garcia, the founder of the charity. "hey eva! it's nice to see you again."

"chris, it's so nice to see you. thank you so much for coming." eva said with a smile.

"i brought a plus one, i hope that's okay." chrissy said. "this is my best friend, isabella monroe."

"of course, i've heard a lot about you, ms. monroe." eva said. "it's nice to meet you."

"it's nice to meet you as well." bella said, smiling. "your house is beautiful, by the way."

"oh, this isn't my home. it belongs to one of our donors, actually." eva said. "between us, i think he's angling for a spot on the board."

bella sighed as the realization set in; she was at terry silver's house. she turned to find the tall man walking towards them. "ms. monroe!" terry said, approaching the ladies. "what a pleasure to have you at my home."

"oh, i didn't realize you were acquainted." eva said.

"well, ms. monroe here is a very talented designer." terry said. "and may i say you look positively radiant in that dress."

"thank you." bella said, quietly as she nervously played with her engagement ring.

"well, please come in." terry said. "we have so much fun in store."

"thank you." bella said, as she and chrissy made their way into the house. "i can't believe we're here. out of all the places i could've ended up today, i end up at terry silver's place."

"i'm just as shocked as you are." chrissy said. "before you say anything, i swear, i didn't know."

"it's fine." bella said. "since the tournament, he just seems to be everywhere."

"okay, let's just enjoy the afternoon." chrissy said, as she and bella approached the bar. "let's have some drinks, stay for a while, and we're out of here."

"sounds good to me." bella said, as the bartender handed her a glass of champagne.

⸻

"the telephone pole said i could make $30,000 in 30 days from home." johnny said, as he called the number he had found on a phone pole. "look no further, i'm the man for the job."

"that's kinda sketchy." stevie said, as she continued to prep robby's things in a bag.

"i don't know my bank routing number, but i do know my social security." johnny said, to the other person on the line.

"dad, whatever you do, please don't give them your social." stevie said, as there was a knock on the door.

"i got someone at the door, i'll call you right back." johnny said, before hanging up the phone. he opened the door and found shannon standing outside.

"you know i didn't know the busy signal was still a thing until i tried calling you for the last three hours." the blonde said.

"job interviews." johnny said as he held up the piece of paper he found on the telephone pole. "i got this guy right where i want him."

"do you have robby's stuff for me?" shannon said.

"yeah." johnny said. "you sure he's gonna be alright?"

"spending the summer at my parents' cabin on bainbridge island? beaches, hiking, 3 meals a day? yeah, he's gonna be just fine." shannon said.

"alright, i'll grab his stuff." johnny said, as shannon walked into the apartment behind him. as she entered, she looked around the apartment, looking at the new decor and furniture.

"hey shan, how are you?" stevie said, as she walked out of the room with a bag of robby's things.

"hey kiddo, it's nice to see you again." shannon said, as she greeted stevie with a hug. "what'd your dad do to the place? it looks like a functioning adult lives here now."

"oh yeah, i just made some changes." johnny said, as he pointed to a portrait of a lighthouse that hung in the dining room area. "that is a real lighthouse in narragansett, built in 1856."

"yeah, i don't know, he just went on a redecorating frenzy." stevie said.

"oh my god." shannon said. "you knocked bella up again, didn't you?"

"what? no–"

"actually, it's me. i'm pregnant." stevie said, smiling.

"oh no way! congratulations kiddo." shannon said, as she embraced stevie once more. "how'd your dad react? did i miss anything good?"

"not really." stevie said, with a chuckle. "anyway, i have robby's bag ready. i'm gonna go run some errands with alex, so i'll see you both later."

there was a small moment of silence as stevie walked out of the apartment. "so, what happened with you and bella?" shannon said.

"how'd you–"

"you took down the babes, it smells nice, and you're making that face." shannon said.

"what face?" johnny said.

"that face. overwhelmed. the same face you made when i got pregnant." shannon said.

"yeah, well, there's a lot to figure out." johnny said, as he finished packing robby's bag. "i proposed to bella. she said yes, but i still haven't told stevie or robby. and stevie's pregnant now, so that's a whole other thing. bella had this dream, with a wedding, a house and a yard."

"well, weddings and yards aren't cheap." shannon said. "can you afford all that on a part-time sensei salary?"

"i'm not a sensei anymore." johnny said. "lost a bet, it's a long story."

"oh, that's why you're job hunting. got it." shannon said.

"last time i looked for a job, nobody wanted me and i'm not a suit-and-tie type of guy." johnny said.

"what if i told you there was a way to earn real money without being scammed and without a tie?" shannon said as she grabbed her phone.

"i tried that after high school, some of the women got a little grabby." johnny said.

"i'm talking about the gig economy, y'know, rideshares, food delivery, but you need a real phone for that." shannon said. "i'm gonna make this really easy for you. there are these tech guys, they'll show up at your door and set everything up."

"dork-to-door service?" johnny said, with a chuckle. "never thought i'd see the day."

⸻

as bella walked around the house, she looked around at the decor and the small pool in the garden, attempting to calm her nerves. a waiter approached her and offered her some food, to which she declined. she then turned around to find terry silver, holding two glasses of wine.

"ms. monroe, i trust my humble environs are suitably charitable for this afternoon's get-together." terry said.

"yeah, you have a nice house." bella said.

the man offered her a glass of wine, as she hesitated to grab it. "no, thank you." bella said.

"please. it's a 2013 aubert from my private collection." terry said. "still a little young, but far more complex than what they're serving at the bar."

"thank you." bella said as she grabbed the glass and took a sip. "okay, that's very nice."

"look, i'm not against your .. boyfriend." terry said.

"yeah, well, he begs to differ." bella said. "you really expect me to believe that after everything i've seen? the tournament, the dojo expansion, and that night when you beat him half to death."

"well, he did break into my dojo." terry said, taking a sip of his wine.

"i don't believe this." bella said, with a scoff.

"i know my actions in the past have been unforgivable, from whatever you might've heard, but i want to have a positive impact on kids." terry said. "that's why i took over cobra kai from john kreese. i saw the way he was teaching those lessons, i know it affected you and johnny. it's a shame what vietnam did to his mind. what i want is to train kids to use karate not for war, but to better themselves. i just wish he and daniel could see it that way."

"that's a nice little story. i know you got everyone in the valley to buy that, but i don't buy a single word of it." bella said.

"well, you seem to have it all figured out." terry said. "in the end, we're all entitled to our opinions. i'm really sorry about the dojo. it's a shame johnny had to shut down."

as the tall man walked away from her, bella took one last sip of the wine glass before walking over to the bar, where chrissy was sitting.

"what lies did silver tell you?" chrissy said.

"he did something." bella said. "i know he did. he's either up to something or he did something. he came up to me and told me this sob story about why he took over cobra kai. there's something definitely up with him."

"how do you know?" chrissy said.

"i just have this feeling." bella said. "i've had enough of his bullshit."

"you wanna get out of here?" chrissy said, as she finished her drink.

"please."

⸻

stevie nervously ran an hand through her hair as she looked at her boyfriend's parents walk into the restaurant and towards their table. alex noticed her nervous demeanor and intertwined his hand with hers.

"you okay?" alex said.

"yeah, totally." stevie said with a smile. "are you?"

"yeah." alex said, before standing up to greet his family. "hey dad, hey ma."

"hey honey." nancy, alex's mom, said as she embraced her son before turning to stevie and greeting her. "stevie! i'm so glad to see you again."

"nice to see you both!" stevie smiled. "it's been a while, huh?"

"definitely." andrew said. "but we're so happy to see you again. we're happy you two are back together."

"it's been a crazy couple of months, but they've been some of the best." alex said as he wrapped his arm around stevie. "by the way, where's soph?"

"she's at the waterpark with her friends." nancy said. "we invited her, but she said, and i quote 'nah, i'm good', so we just let her go."

as stevie looked over the menu, the waiter approached the table and began to take their drink orders. "can i get you kids some drinks? stevie?" andrew said.

"uh, no, thank you." stevie said, nervously. "i'll just get a cherry coke, please."

"you sure you don't want anything? a glass of wine? a beer? a mimosa?" nancy said.

"i'm good, thank you so much though." stevie said, smiling.

"i'll take a beer though." alex said.

"okay, so that'll be 3 beers and a cherry coke." andrew said to the waiter. "no drink today stevie?"

"not today." stevie said. "not for a while, actually. that's kind of why alex and i brought you guys to lunch."

the young couple intertwined their hands together before announce in their news. "we're, um, gonna have a baby." alex said, smiling.

"i'm pregnant." stevie said.

there was a small moment of silence at the table, which made stevie and alex nervous. a smile grew on both nancy and andrew's faces, the couple feeling relieved.

"oh! congratulations to you both!" nancy said, as she stood up from her seat to embrace the blonde girl as well as her son. "i'm so happy for you two!"

"congratulations!" andrew said, as he embraced the couple as well. "we're really happy for you guys. so how're you feeling?"

"well, i'm doing good so far. a little bit of morning sickness but nothing too serious." stevie said.

"you two are gonna be great parents." nancy said. "if you guys need anything and i mean, absolutely anything, we're here for you guys."

"thank you, it means a lot, ma." alex said. "we both really appreciate it."

"we really do." stevie said smiling.

⸻

the soft sound of the radio was the only thing heard in bella's old bedroom, as the brunette laid in bed, flipping through the pages of a recent issue of cosmopolitan. after arriving from the charity event, she headed to north hollywood to have lunch with her mother and jules. after lunch, she went up to her childhood bedroom to spend some time alone.

as she continued reading through the magazine, jules softly knocked on the door. "wow, some things never change, huh?" she said, smiling. "can i come in?"

"do you even have to ask?" bella said, with a chuckle.

"it's like a time capsule in here." jules said as she looked around the pink room and sat on the edge of the bed. "you're kinda quiet. what's up with you?"

"nothing, just thinking." bella said.

"you've got a lot on your mind right now." jules said. "the whole karate thing, fashion week, not to mention you're getting married and your baby girl's having a baby."

"well, when you put it like that, it makes it more overwhelming." bella said, tossing the magazine aside and sitting up.

"y'know, i always wanted to be like you, not anymore." jules said, with a laugh.

"you bitch." bella said, laughing and playfully smacking jules' shoulder.

"let me see the rock." jules said, grabbing bella's hand. "it's gorgeous."

"it was his mom's." bella said, admiring the ring that belonged to her late mother-in-law. "i still can't believe it. i would've never thought i'd be here again."

"i'm glad you both found your way back to each other." jules said. "you two get a second chance at this. tell your fiancé not to screw this up."

"we won't." bella said, chuckling.

"so what else is wrong?" jules said. "you've got something on your mind."

"it's just overwhelming." bella said. "it's been a while since i've done la fashion week, it's just the hometown pressure. besides, eric's gonna be around."

"what?" jules said. "why?"

"his girlfriend's modeling." bella said. "just my fucking luck."

"you're fucking kidding me." jules said.

"i wish i was, chris found out." bella said. "i just hope he fucks off and leaves me alone."

"oh, blondie's gonna have a field day." jules said, with a chuckle.

"don't even." bella said, running a hand through his hair. "considering they both have really bad tempers, that's the last thing i want to happen."

"you'll be fine." jules said, placing her head on her cousin's shoulder. "we've got you."

"thank you." bella said. "love you jules"

"i love you too, izzy."

⸻

bella arrived to the reseda apartment complex after a long day and parked next to her fiancé's dodge caravan. as she stepped out of the car, she found robby, on his phone, pacing around the courtyard. grabbing her purse from the passenger seat, she locked the white mercedes and walked to the apartment.

"hey kiddo." bella said as the teen took his eyes off of his phone and looked up to find her. "everything okay?"

"hey bella." robby said. "yeah, i was just heading back inside."

"you look conflicted, you sure everything's okay?" bella said. "you can be honest with me."

"i actually could use some advice." robby said.

"it's about tory, isn't it?" bella said, smiling.

"how'd you know?" robby said.

"call it instinct, also i saw the way you two would look at each other during the tournament." bella said. "trouble in paradise?"

"silver's really got her. i tried talking to her about possibly quitting cobra kai, but she just wouldn't listen, so we broke up." robby said. "i'm pretty sure silver's filled their heads with shit."

"i'm sorry about that, kiddo." bella said. "i know you really like her."

"i do." the teen boy said with a sigh.

"look, give her some time to cool off. she's fresh off a tournament win so she's got all these emotions, but she'll come back. i know she will." bella said. "that high doesn't last forever, i'm sure whatever shit silver's feeding her will wear off and she'll decide what's next. it's gonna be okay."

"thanks, bella." robby said, smiling.

"no problem, kiddo." bella said, as she opened the door to the apartment. "i'm here if you ever need anything."

bella walked into the apartment, followed by robby and found johnny in the kitchen. "hey, i'm glad you two are here, i'm making dinner." johnny said.

"thanks, but i'm not hungry, dad." robby said, as he walked to the room. "thanks for hearing me out, bella."

"of course. night kiddo." bella said, as she walked into the kitchen. "oh, am i glad to see you."

"yeah, you missed me?" johnny said, as he wrapped his arms around bella's waist and kissed her.

"yeah." bella said, smiling.

"how's he doing? he tell you he broke up with tory?" johnny said.

"yeah, he's pretty bummed." bella said, as she opened the fridge and grabbed a banquet.

"so how'd that thing with chrissy go?" johnny said, as he handed bella a plate of steak fries.

"you really wanna know?" bella said, taking a swig of her beer.

"that bad, huh?" johnny said.

"it was terry silver bad." bella said.

"what?" johnny said. "you're fucking joking, tell me your joking."

"i wish, out of all the places i could've ended up today, i end up in hell." bella said, running a hand through her hair.

"he didn't hurt you, did he?" johnny said, as he took a swig of his beer. "because if he did, i'll go shove that ponytail right up his ass."

"no, he didn't do anything." bella said. "he just told me some sob story about why he took over cobra kai. he's up to something, i know he is."

"son of a bitch." johnny said.

"yeah, tell me about it." bella said, taking a swig of her beer.

"hey, um, thanks for helping robby out." johnny said. "i haven't been able to get anything out of him since he came back from the waterpark. he and miguel got into some shit again and then that whole thing with tory. thanks for being there for him."

"he's a great kid." bella said, smiling. "he'll come around, just give him some time."

"i'm guessing it wouldn't be the best time to tell him about us." johnny said.

"let him cool off." bella said, wrapping her arms around the blonde. "we've still got time."

"how'd i get so lucky with you?" johnny said, as he held bella close to him.

"you just did." bella smiled, as she pulled him in for a kiss.