Page 3 of When I Thug You Like That

“Shit,” Baby Jay echoed.

“Don’t say that,” we both said at the same time.

I laughed. “Who the dad round here, bruh?”

Justin grinned and shrugged. “I guess you ‘cause you the one that get to cuss.”

“Apparently, I’m the one who gets to pay all the bills too. You wanna do that?”

He shook his head fast. “Nah. I don’t wanna cuss that bad.”

“I bet you don’t. You got cologne on?”

“Yup.”

“Cool. Can you pass me his and some lotion?”

He handed me the items, and Baby Jay held out his hand.

“Want lotion my arms.”

Nodding, I put the bottle in his hands. “Do you, king.”

I watched him walk over to the dresser and set the bottle on the edge of it. I could tell he’d been watching Justin. He struggled with the pump a little bit, but I didn’t step in to assist, just coached him from the bed.

“Push down, Jay. Not too hard or too much will come out.”

“Push,” he said while doing the motion.

“Right. You got it,” I encouraged once I saw the lotion pour out.

Sometimes helping didn’t always mean I had to be hands on. For Baby Jay, it meant coaching from the sidelines and waiting for him to process the instructions. And my boy always got it.

“All done,” he announced once the lotion was on his arms.

I chuckled because it wasn’t fully rubbed into his skin, but it was there. “Good job, man. We gon’ work on how to get it into your skin. One step at a time.”

Making sure that his arms were moisturized, I sprayed him with the cologne and helped him make his bed.

“Aight, to the kitchen for breakfast.”

“Put on shoes,” Baby Jay said, pointing to his sneakers that sat in the box in front of his bed.

“Breakfast first then shoes. You can grab the box and bring it though.”

He nodded and did as I said.

“I need a jacket, Dad?” Justin asked from the closet.

“Nah. It’s nice out. Just throw your hoodie on and bring the matching one to Jay’s sweats for me.”

“Okay.”

“Come on, Jay.”

Heading for the kitchen, I helped Baby Jay into his usual seat on the counter stool at the end of the island. Justin entered a few seconds later with Baby Jay’s iPad and sat to the right of him. I grabbed the ingredients to make pancakes from the cabinet and fridge and set them down on the countertop.

“I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Dad,” I heard Justin say from behind me.