All-Star Weekend...
Watched Aaron and Zach go at it, same bounce, same creativity. Except this time? Aaron, Lakers jersey on, walked away with the trophy. Deserved.
You already know, I was captain for the East.
Walking into that locker room and seeing Bron, D-Wade, Melo all suited up with me, and telling myself, I'm the best here, is crazy.
And across the court? The West had KD, Steph, and… yeah, Kobe.
From tip-off, I made sure the vibe was set. I came off a pindown, caught it at the top, pump-faked Harden, took one dribble and banged a three.
"Let's hoop for real." I said loud enough for the West bench to hear.
Bron dapped me up, Melo nodded.
Kobe was cooking too, doing Kobe things , footwork, fadeaways. At one point, he hit a over Bron, then looked at our bench.
"Y'all better bring more than that." He said, calm.
Bron laughed. "You old, man."
Kobe smirked.
It turned into a real game. Dives for loose balls. Help defense. Rotations. The crowd? Losing it.
I caught a lob from Kyrie in transition, windmill, clean.
On the next play, Wade picked Steph's pocket and hit Bron on the break for a dunk. We were up by 6 with two minutes left.
Kobe hit a deep 3. Timeout.
In the huddle, I looked around. "Let's close this out. Lock in. For real."
We finished strong. East wins. I dropped 28 with 7 assists. We gave the fans a real game.
Kobe came over after, sweat on his face, smile slight. "That's how All-Star should be."
Back to the present...
We were at home in Orlando, eating dinner. Parker looked over at me between bites, eyes soft but serious.
"So… you think we should try?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
She nodded, playing with her fork a little. "Yeah. I think we could. It might be worth it, you know? Us… giving it a real shot."
I looked at her for a moment, leaned back in my chair.
"I see where you're coming from. I'm not against it." I said. "But I think we should wait until after the baby's born. Let things settle."
She didn't say anything right away, just gave a slow nod.
"Yeah… I get that. There's a lot going on."
"Exactly." I said. "I just wanna make sure we're both good mentally, emotionally… all that."
She smiled, a little tired but genuine. "That's fair. We'll talk more when the time's right."
"Yeah." I said, reaching for my glass. "One step at a time."
And we left it at that, no rush.
-March 3rd, 2016.
Chicago Bulls coming through.
Game tipped off. By the end of the first quarter, I had 15. Didn't even feel like I was trying yet.
Second quarter, they tried blitzing me, sent a trap at the top.
Stepback three from deep left. "IRISH SPRING GREEN GREEN." Fun to do that honestly.
Then came the iso. One-on-one with Doug McDermott.
"C'mon now, y'all really left him out here with me?" I laughed.
Couple jab steps. Quick burst. Pull-up, midrange, clean.
We went into the half up by 14. I had 22 at the break.
-Third quarter
6:42 left on the clock.
I jogged back on defense, locked in. We were up double digits, and I was cooking.Then I saw him, one of our staff guys. Usually chill, but now he was walking quick down the sideline, straight toward our bench. Whispered something to Coach.
Coach immediately looked my way.
Timeout was called. I walked over, grabbed a towel, wiped my face.
"She's in labor. Water broke like 20 minutes ago. She's on the way to the hospital."
"So it's today" I say to myself.
"She's asking for you. Go." My Coach said. "We'll handle the rest." I stood up instantly.
-Announcers on TV
"Looks like Pres' night might be over early… and this is unusual." One of them said
"He looked fine. He was on fire. Any sign of injury?" The other request.
"None that we saw. Could be something behind the scenes… or maybe he tweaked something we didn't catch."
-Back to Franklin
Camera panned to me walking toward the tunnel, head down.
I grabbed my keys from the locker. Didn't even change. Just threw on my hoodie and headed for the lot.
I hit the road. Parker was having the baby.
A few good minutes later...
Pulled up to the hospital. Didn't park right. Just left the car near the entrance, hazard lights on. Slammed the door and walked in.
Receptionist clocked me instantly.
"Hi… um, can I help—"
"I'm here for Parker McKenna Posey. She's delivering. I'm with her."
Her eyes widened. Took her a second, then she nodded.
"Third floor. Room 302. Elevator's down the hall, to your right."
"She okay?"
"She asked for you. She's doing well. Go."
"Appreciate it."
Didn't wait. Took the elevator. Way too slow. Felt like it took a year to hit that floor. Doors opened. Bright white hallway.
I walked fast. Room 302 at the end of the corridor. Knocked once. Walked in.
Parker was there. Tired, but strong. Hair pulled back, sweat on her forehead, but eyes locked on me like she'd been waiting.
"Frank." she said, her voice low but clear.
"I'm here." I moved to her side, grabbed her hand. "Told you I wouldn't miss it."
"Didn't really believe you."
"And yet—" She squeezed my hand.
"It's happening." I looked at her, then at the nurse prepping nearby. Took a breath.
I stood by her side, hand in hers. Her grip was tight, like she was holding onto me and letting go at the same time.
The doctor came in, calm but focused.
"Alright, Miss. It's time. You're fully dilated. On the next contraction, I want you to push."
Parker looked at me, breathing heavy. I wiped her forehead with a towel.
"You got this." I whispered.
She nodded. Barely. Her face tightened.
Contraction hit.
She screamed, loud. I didn't flinch. "Push, Push!" the doctor said.
She did. All her strength in that one moment.
Then again.
And again.
I kept my voice low, steady.
"One more. Come on." She let out another scream, then silence.
Then the sound.
Crying.
"It's a boy." The nurse held up the baby and moved quick, wrapped the baby in a soft white blanket. Cleaned him up, checked vitals.
The nurse turned, placed the baby on Parker's chest.
She looked down, eyes glassy. Breath catching. No words.
I looked over her shoulder, heart pounding. The baby's tiny hand gripped her gown.
Parker looked up at me, voice barely there.
"He's beautiful." She whispered.