A Hooper's Dream

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                   Imani's POV

"Yes Dad, I know" I said as I cleaned out the walk in closet

Micheal: "alright just call me sometimes, I miss you kid"

"I will dad, I promise" I smiled

Micheal: "alright, I love you, bye"

"By dad, I love you too" I smiled before hanging up

I sat my phone on the dresser as I continued to clean

"What's this?" I asked loudly as I pulled a bag from the closet

It had a bunch of small boxes in it

It looked like melo's jewelry box that his Chain came in so I sat it to the side

As I went to hang the bag up it ripped!

By then I was annoyed and didn't even wanna clean anymore

"This must be new" I said as I picked all the jewelry boxes off the floor to put at the top of the closet

I opened the smallest box only to see a ring

It was beautiful but it looked expensive ass hell so I quickly closed the box and put it at the top of the closet with the other boxes

Melo: "wifey?!" I heard him yell

"Ooh my man is home" I said as I did a happy dance before jogging downstairs

Melo: "well?" He chuckled as I snapped out of my thoughts

I couldn't stop Myself from crying so I just nodded

I watched as he smiled and slid the ring on my finger

I can't believe I didn't put 2 and 2 together when I found the ring months ago

Melo: "I told you this was forever" he said as he hugged me

"I love you" was all I could get out

Melo: "I love you too" he smiled before pecking my lips

"I can't believe I never caught on" I said Once I got myself together

Melo: "me either! I've been giving you hints and asking you weird ass questions for months" he laughed

I squinted my eyes trying to think back to what the hints could've been

Melo: "put every gift in order" he chuckled

"Unreleased MB.1's, pink roses, butterfly necklace, a blinged out basketba-"

Melo just smiled as my brain finally processed it

"Oh my- you remembered that?!"

I watched as he nodded and smiled before grabbing another slice of pizza

Around the second year I had known Melo my dad had gotten remarried

The proposal and the wedding were fancy, flashy, and gigantic..something I hated

I've always thought that a proposal should be special and private

I told Melo and shareef that I'd rather have my man drop clues that he was gonna propose and see how long it took me to figure it out

I remember Melo saying how crazy my expectations were and asking what clues would even make sense; shareef also agreed that it was a crazy idea

I told them I'd want gifts that meant something

Melo asked "like flowers?" And laughed right along with shareef who added "yeah chicks dig those smelly ass things"

I remember rolling my eyes and explaining that the gift would have to be something that I could always look at and immediately think of my man and how much I loved him but that it would also have to be something that I'd enjoy

Melo definitely understood the assignment

I secretly helped Melo design his very first pair of MB1's and he let me wear the prototypes as a trial and error kinda thing.

It doesn't seem like a big deal but it meant a lot to me because he trusted me enough to let me in on his secret.

It also meant a lot that he valued my opinion enough to let me help design them and try them out

The pink roses were in the shape of a teddy bear...one year I went with Melo and all his crazy ass friends to the fair; he had won me a pink teddy bear and I named it Rosie.

I ended up loosing the damn bear at the airport about a week later and was super upset about it for months

The butterfly necklace was Tina's.
we both had a love for butterflies and I've admired it from the very first time I seen her wear it

I was shocked as hell when Melo gave it to me

There was a little note inside from Tina saying that she wanted to pass it down to me because she truly believed that I was the only one who would love and care for it in the way that she had

Now the basketball was and will forever be my favorite gift.

It's shiny and pink, which I loved but the funny thing is..when I opened it the first thing I said was "it's beautiful! It's perfect for me since I can't play with it; I can only watch" as a joke..that's when I remembered that conversation I had with my dad at lavars when he tried talking me into playing basketball

Although I was annoyed at the time..that situation is really what brought me and Melo together

I couldn't be more thankful

STARTED: 11/14/2022
PUBLISHED: 11/20/2022
UPDATED:  03/17/2024