17. Lyrius
“Nia, you do realize you didn’t have to come babysit, right?
” I asked as I stood in front of my bedroom mirror, putting my earrings in for the third time because my nerves had my hands betraying me.
KO had been super secretive all week about our date, which was probably why I’d changed outfits three times already.
I finally settled on a fitted black dress that hugged my curves without trying too hard and a pair of heels I immediately regretted putting on the second I stood up.
Every time I asked where we were going, he either changed the subject or told me to mind my business.
The only thing I knew for sure was that Pops, Jaylen, and apparently Nia were coming over to watch Jaylen, which felt like a bit much.
It didn’t take three adults to watch one child.
“You right.” Nia sat at the edge of my bed, legs crossed in a crop top legging set, smiling, lip gloss popping.
“So why are you here?” I turned to look at her.
“Because I heard KO’s brother was fine, and the girls on Picsgram say he got a big dick.”
“Girl.” I blinked at her through the mirror before laughter spilled out of me. “You plays.”
“What?” she asked, standing up like she had made a reasonable point in a business meeting. “I like to verify information before I spread this ass. You can’t be the only one getting fucked into oblivion. I’m trying to be fair.”
“You’re trying to be fast.”
“That too.” She laughed, and I shook my head before grabbing my purse off the dresser and heading down the hallway with Nia right on my tail.
The closer we got to the living room, the louder it became.
For a second, I thought Dakoda had invited his whole kindergarten class over without telling me.
But it was just Jaylen, Pops, KO, and apparently every toy ever created for a five-year-old boy.
My eyes darted around my living room. It looked like Christmas, a birthday party, and a Foot Locker shipment had all crashed into each other.
There were boxes on the couch, bags on the floor, a dinosaur racetrack stretched halfway across the carpet, and three pairs of little Jordans lined up on my coffee table.
“What in the world?” I stopped in the doorway.
“Mama! Look!” Dakoda popped up from behind one of the boxes.
“I’m looking.” My eyes moved over everything before landing on the bright blue bicycle leaning against my wall. “Why is there a whole bike in my living room?”
“Don’t look at me. That one was Jaylen,” Pops said from my accent chair, lifting both hands in the air.
“Why I gotta take all the blame?” Jaylen looked up from where he was helping Dakoda put plastic track pieces together.
“Because you brought a U-Haul to babysit,” KO muttered.
I looked over at KO. He looked entirely too good sitting on the couch, helping Dakoda open his toys.
Damn. My eyes drifted over the black button-down he had on, the sleeves pushed up his forearms just enough to show off the tattoos on his arms. His lineup was crisp, and his chain caught the light every time he moved.
Lord. There was no way this date wouldn’t end with me sitting on his dick.
“It was not a U-Haul.” Jaylen pointed a track piece at him. “It was a trailer.”
“Same difference.”
“Y’all lucky I ain’t bring an eighteen-wheeler to this bitch.”
“Y’all know he’s only five, right?” I asked, stepping further into the room. “Where is all this supposed to go?”
“Wherever his stuff goes,” Jaylen said.
“We missed a lot, baby girl.” Pops looked over at me. “This the first time I’m meeting my grandkid. Pops had to step now.”
I sighed. “He already has too many toys.”
“Not from us.” Jaylen stood up and brushed his hands off. “This is five years’ worth of gifts I owe my nephew.”
“Ooh.” Nia stepped around me slowly, her eyes landing on Jaylen like she had just discovered the prize.
“Ooh?” Jaylen’s head lifted immediately.
“The report was accurate.” Nia nodded at me, and I covered my mouth to keep from laughing.
“What report?” Jaylen sat back on his heels, suddenly looking way too interested.
“The one that said you was fine.”
Pops let out a loud laugh while KO closed his eyes, like he was already tired of everybody in the room. I just shook my head. Nia had always been the one to say whatever was on her mind.
“That so?” Jaylen grinned.
“I came for my nephew, but I appreciate a pleasant view.”
“Your nephew?” Jaylen asked.
“I’m Nia, Lyrius’s best friend. Dakoda’s honorary aunt.” She extended her hand toward Jaylen, and he took it and laid a soft kiss on it.
“Oh Lord.” KO barked out a laugh.
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “I know, right?”
“Don’t start your shit.” Pops tossed a piece of toy wrapper at Jaylen. “We here to babysit. No hanky panky.”
“And you must be pops.” Nia moved closer to pops, eyes narrowing like she was studying him now too.
“That’s what they call me.”
“Mhm.” She nodded. “I see where they get it from.”
“Get what?”
“All that fine.”
I gasped. “Nia!”
“What?” She threw both hands up. “Respectfully.”
“Girl, you trouble.” Pops laughed and shook his head.
“I’ve been told.”
“See, I like her.” Jaylen pointed at her.
“You ready?” KO asked, stepping closer to me. My stomach fluttered because, apparently, I had no shame, no backbone, and no control over my internal organs when it came to this man.
“I’m ready.”
“Where y’all going?” Dakoda’s head snapped up.
“Out,” KO answered.
“Like a date?”
I opened my mouth and quickly closed it. We hadn’t told Dakoda about us yet. Everything was still new, and we didn’t want to get his hopes up too soon.
“Nah, like two friends hanging out.”
“Y’all better not kiss.” Nia covered her mouth, and Pops looked away. “I know what kissing makes. Kissing makes babies.”
“Oh my God!” I gasped, and Jaylen fell backward onto the wall laughing while Nia screamed into her hand.
“Go play with your toys!” KO barked, and Dakoda ran back over to the couch and grabbed his dinosaurs. “Don’t buy him shit else.” KO looked between Jaylen and Pops.
“And don’t let him stay up too late,” I added.
“We got this. If I can raise these two knuckleheads, I can handle one night with my grandson.” Pops waved us off, and I nodded.
“Good night, Dae-Dae.” I blew him a kiss as KO opened the door.
“Don’t make another baby!” Dakoda yelled behind us, and I damn near choked on my spit.
“Good night, Dakoda!” KO shut the apartment door, shaking his head. “Your son is grown.”
“Our son,” I corrected him.
“Whatever. Come on. We got places to be.” He led me down the hallway.
An hour later, and I was convinced KO had lured me out in the middle of nowhere to finally get rid of me.
The more darker roads we turned down, the more nervous I became.
No matter how nosy I had been, this man hadn’t answered a single question since picking me up.
Every time I asked where we were going, he’d either change the subject, turn the music up, or tell me to be patient.
“You gon’ tell me where we at now?” I asked as he parked the car.
“Nope.”
“KO.”
“You’ll see in a minute.”
“You annoying.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
I rolled my eyes and reached for the door handle, but it didn’t budge. My head immediately snapped toward KO, who was sitting there hitting the locks.
“Really?” I questioned.
“Sit your impatient ass there and wait for a nigga to open the door.”
“Why are you like this?” I sighed dramatically and dropped back against the seat as he opened his door and climbed out of the car. I watched through the windshield as he walked around the front of the SUV, looking fine as fuck. The closer he got, the bigger my smile became.
“Come on.” He opened my door before holding out his hand, and I slipped my hand into his. The second my heels hit the pavement, I looked around. We weren’t in any of the typical date places. I figured we were going to dinner, maybe a movie, but this was neither.
“Wait.” I paused for a second. “The botanical gardens?” I stared at the lit-up sign in front of us. “I didn’t know they were open this late.”
“Most things open when you have enough money.”
“Is that right?” I laughed as he led me toward the entrance.
The front doors opened before we reached them, and a staff member immediately greeted us.
“Good evening, Mr. Knox.”
“Evening.”
“Everything is prepared. Just continue straight through the conservatory.”
“’Preciate it.”
“Everything is prepared?” My eyes widened the second the employee disappeared. “Are we the only people here?”
“Maybe.” KO shrugged, like renting out an entire botanical garden happened every day.
“You rented out the botanical gardens for our date?”
“Bad, you asking too many questions,” he said as we stepped inside, and my mouth immediately dropped open.
It was so beautiful. String lights wrapped around the trees and hanging vines, and hundreds of flowers surrounded us.
There were white roses, blue hydrangeas, lilies, orchids, and a bunch of flowers I couldn’t even name.
The entire space looked magical, like something straight out of a movie.
“Oh my God.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“It’s nice, right?” KO looked entirely too proud of himself.
“Nice . . . This is beautiful.” My words trailed off as small, framed photographs of us came into view. I glanced at them as I walked. They were our memories. Pieces of us I’d buried in the back of my brain or the back of my closet. I slowed, then my steps stopped completely.
“Wait.” My eyes landed on the first one. A picture of KO and me inside my old apartment, back before everything fell apart. “Oh my God.” I picked it up carefully. I hadn’t seen this picture in forever. “Where did you get this?”
“Nia.”
“You went through my closet?” My mouth dropped open.
“Nia went through your closet.”
“You sent her.”
“It was for a good cause.” He shrugged, and I kept walking, stopping to look at all the pictures of us. Every memory was there. Our first concert. My first sleepover at his place. Random selfies I’d forgotten existed.
“KO. This is . . .” My voice cracked with emotion, because this wasn’t just flowers. This wasn’t money. This wasn’t even a date. This was effort, the kind of effort that nobody, not even my mother, had given me.
“Keep walking.” His fingers slipped through mine, and we kept moving down the path until we reached a small sitting area in the center.
“Good evening.” I turned to see a bald man standing nearby, holding a notebook. I looked at him and then back at KO, confused. “Hello. I’m Dr. Sy.”
“I got us a therapist,” KO said. He didn’t even let me ask.
“A therapist?” I repeated.
“Yeah.”
I looked back at him and then at Dr. Sy. I was still trying to process it. A therapist.
“If we’re gonna try this shit, I wanna do it right.”
“KO—”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “Hear me out.”
“We got too much history. We got too much hurt.” The tears started burning immediately.
“And if we’re getting a fresh start, I don’t wanna drag a bunch of old shit into it.
” For a second, I couldn’t say anything.
Out of everything this man could’ve done tonight .
. . this was what he chose. Healing. Maybe that was what healing was—picking up the pieces and deciding what deserved to stay.
And for the first time in a long time, I wanted to believe that KO and I deserved to heal.
“We start fresh. We start healed.”
My eyes immediately dropped to the ground because if I kept looking at him, I was definitely going to ugly cry.
“You good with that?”
“Yeah.” I nodded before I trusted myself to speak. “Yeah, I’m good with that.”
A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “Alright.”
“Why don’t we sit?” Dr. Sy smiled knowingly before gesturing deeper into the garden. I glanced around for the first time. KO held out his hand, and I slipped my fingers into his. And together, we followed Dr. Sy deeper into the garden.