Page 29 of After the Knockout
“I got him,” he said.
“KO . . .” I hesitated. This still didn’t sit right with me.
“He good,” he said firmly, like his decision was final. His words stung in my chest as the realization that I wasn’t the only one making decisions for Dae-Dae anymore hit me. I wasn’t used to that. I wasn’t used to sharing my son. I wasn’t used to him having anybody but me and sometimes Nia. Before I could say anything else, he straightened and nodded toward the hallway. “Come on.”
Jaylen gave Dae-Dae a little nudge. “Okay, Nephew, you like boxing?”
Dae-Dae glanced back at me for reassurance, and I forced a small nod before turning to follow Nurse Nikki. She led us into the same room as before, shut the door behind us, and walked over to the desk.
“All right,” she said, picking up the folder. “Do y’all want me to read it, or y’all wanna read it yourselves?”
“I’ll read it,” KO said. She nodded and handed him the paper. I watched him take it, watched his eyes move over the page, watched the shift hit his face before he said anything at all. His jaw tightened at first. Then his eyes dropped back to the paper like maybe he needed to make sure it was saying what he thought it said. He didn’t look shocked, not really—more like something he had already started believing had just been proven.
I stood there quietly, already knowing what the results said. There had never been a doubt in my mind that KO was the father. He was the only man I’d had sex with since the day we’d met.
“You want to see?” KO exhaled through his nose, then handed me the paper. I looked down at it just to see, and sure enough, the paper confirmed what I already knew to be true.
Probability of Paternity: 99.99%
Conclusion: Dakota Knox cannot be excluded as the biological father of Dakoda Knox.
I exhaled a deep breath because there it was, confirmation.
“Yo, how accurate are these rapids?” KO asked as he swiped a hand down his face.
“These rapid tests are highly accurate,” she said. “If y’all want a second test done through a different lab later, that’s always an option. But this one is pretty solid.”
KO didn’t say anything. He just took the extra copy she held out, folded it once in his hand, and took off out of the room. I stood there for a second longer before I followed, forcing myself to move.
“Thank you,” I said, a little awkward, glancing back.
“No problem,” she replied as I turned to walk away, but I felt her hand lightly catch my wrist.
“Girl,” she said quietly, like we were besties. “You done trapped you one.” I blinked at her, and she smiled like she was proud of me. “KO is fine and rich. And you got his first seed. Yeah . . . city girls up.”
I stared at her for a second in disbelief that she’d even said that to me. “This ain’t that.” I rolled my eyes and pulled my hand back. She gave me a look like she didn’t believe a word of that.
“Mhm. That’s what they all say.”
I shook my head, already turning toward the door. She was saying out loud what everybody was going to think. I trapped him. If anything . . . I’d lost him. And now I had to figure out what it meant to share a child with him. I blew out a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway after KO. By the time I reached the front, he had Dae-Dae in his arms. The two of them were wrapped up in their own little moment, like nobody else mattered.
“So.” Jaylen looked between us. “We fighting, or we celebrating? ’Cause I can do either.” KO didn’t even answer him, just tightened his hold on Dae-Dae. “Okay. Guess that answers that. Guess I should get you a celebratory drink or something.”
“My daddy don’t drink.” Dae-Dae lifted his head from KO’s chest.
“That’s right.” KO looked down at Dae-Dae with a huge smirk on his face. “Your daddy don’t drink.” Dae-Dae nodded like that made perfect sense. I just stood off to the side for a second, not really sure where I fit into their little moment. It was sweet. Itwas heavy. It was new. And though I was watching something I had wanted for so long finally happen right in front of me, I hurt to know that I still didn’t know what it meant for me.
I reached into my bag and pulled out my phone just to have something to do. To my surprise, there was a signal. Finally. As soon as I swiped across the screen, it lit up almost immediately with missed calls, texts, and notifications from Nia. I stared at the screen for a second, then opened my messages just to make sure I could actually get one out. Nia probably already had the coast guard looking for us by now. Before I could type anything, KO’s voice cut in.
“You good?” I looked up to see him watching me. I glanced around the room, trying to figure out where Dae-Dae had gone that fast. I smiled when I spotted Dae-Dae and Jaylen over at the front desk, getting a lollipop. “You good?” KO asked again.
“Yeah.” I locked my phone screen. “I’m just trying to figure out how we finna get home. I don’t even know if we still have a home.”
“I’ll take y’all.” He said it like it was that simple. “We can assess the damage and figure something out.”
“No, it’s okay. The roads are probably crazy. We’re six hours out, probably more with all this flooding.” I shook my head. “I’ll figure it out.”
“We not driving.”
