Page 64 of The Lockdown Mann

“Yeah, for sure. She was talking about him like crazy.”

I roll my eyes, because of course my daughter has to be a fan of the cocky bastard. But honestly, there’s a part of me that likes it too. I might not tell him this, but Desmond deserves it. “We’ve been talking quite a bit and have hung out some. I invited him to the game today.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Tiana will love that! You know that girl’s going to think she’s tough shit with both of you there.”

I chuckle because Ree is right, and I’m damn proud of that fact. “She is tough shit.”

“Yeah, she is. I’m glad you and Desmond have been hanging out, though. You need more friends. You’ve been so wrapped up in being a good father and a good partner that I think you’ve let friendships slide other than with Hunter. And let’s be for real, for a bit there, Hunter was in his own world too, and while you would have always been there for him, that made it easy on you to let friendships go. I think that’s a pattern a lot of us fall into; I fell into it too, and it’s important that we nurture these kinds of relationships. That’s good for Tiana to see, too.”

Tell her. Tell her Des is your friend, but that you’re hooking up with him too.

“Thanks, Ree. You’re the best. I can’t imagine doing this co-parenting thing with anyone other than you, my best friend.”

“I feel the same.” She tosses a smile in my direction, and we finish our drive to Sanaa and Evander’s from Tiana’s school. The four of us go out to breakfast together before I drive to Sanaa’s appointment. Los Angeles has some of the best movement specialists in the country.

Dr. Chen has been great to work with so far, and Los Angeles is also good about privacy, considering they treat many celebrities.

It takes a couple of hours for Dr. Chen to run some tests and evaluate Sanaa. Her office does both stem-cell therapy and deep brain stimulation surgery—if that’s something she ends up needing—and they have access to very specialized clinical trials.

Her team decides we need to raise her medication, which makes concern tumble around in my gut. “Is it not working well?” I ask. Needing to raise her dose so soon doesn’t sound very positive.

“There’s no need to worry. We’re just working toward mitigating her symptoms as much as possible. There’s more weakness and trembling in that right arm, and it’s begun some in her right foot. As Sanaa said, it goes away with standing and is only when she’s at rest, but I’d like to see what the dose change could do. There’s also a clinical trial I wanted to talk to you all about. It starts in November, but it shows some promising data…” We listen as she continues giving us details before handing us some paperwork for Sanaa to go through before making her decision.

It’s a lot of information. The ride back to Sanaa and Evander’s is quieter than the ride to the doctor’s office.

We’re back at the house, with Sanaa and me ending up in the living room alone together when she asks, “What do you think I should do?”

“Umm,” I start, because I’m not sure I’m the one who should be answering this question. I don’t want to tell her the wrong thing. “I think that’s up to you. You, Evander, and Serena.”

“You’re a member of this family too.” Am I, though? Will she still think that when she knows Ree and I aren’t together? “I trust your opinion, Oakley.”

I sigh, knowing she won’t let this go and wanting to give her what she’s asking. She deserves my honest opinion. “If it were me, I would do it. I understand that there might be some unfavorable side effects, but I would try anything.”

She nods. “That’s the fight in you.”

“Well, I got that partially from you,” I tease, and she chuckles.

“From your dad, too. I know he’s struggled a lot since your mama left, but he’s got a lot of fight in him, and he was always there for you.”

Yeah, he was. It’s a reminder that I need to make a point to call him more often. I complain about other people not showing up, but maybe in some situations, I’m not the best at that either.

“I’ll talk to Evander and Serena too, but thank you. Not only for being open with me, but for being the best son-in-law a mom can ask for. I know that even seeing the doctors I see wouldn’t be possible without you—living here, in L.A., wouldn’t be possible either.”

I wave off her appreciation. “Don’t worry about it. When I needed a mom, you were there. When Ree and I needed help figuring out what to do with a baby, how in the hell to be parents at sixteen, you were there. That’s what family is for.”

Sanaa offers me a smile, and my gut is heavier than it was just a moment ago.

*

I shouldn’t be nervous about Des coming to the game. It’s a kids’ flag football game, and my friend is coming to see my daughter play. That’s all this is.

My stomach is still twisted up as we arrive. Everyone in the league is used to me being around. They all know who T’s father is, and there have never been any issues with me just being around sports or school events and it causing a ruckus. I don’t know if it’ll be different with Des here, too, though.

We had to arrive early for T to warm up with her team. I keep looking up toward the entrance to the field, waiting for Des to arrive.

Ree nudges me with her arm. “Why are you being weird?”

“I’m not being weird.”