Words: 2k
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"Are you sure you can handle this?"
T'Challa rolled his eyes. "Yes, iplato yetshukela. If I can manage an entire technologically advanced country, I can manage this."
Naomi held Javon close to her bosom and tenderly stroked his face. She knew T'Challa was capable of watching their son, but she still had her apprehensions.
It's been three months since Naomi gave birth to Javon, and Nikki—her best friend since high school and Erik's fiance—insisted that she needed a night out. T'Challa, who didn't like seeing his wife couped in the palace, agreed and promised to watch Javon for the night. Naomi would be fine with the idea if he weren't alone. Queen Ramonda took an impromptu trip to Jamaica a few days ago, Shuri and her boyfriend Efe were in Oakland working at the Science and Information building during the school break, and your big sister requested Erik's help to implement a program he wanted to include at the Social Outreach Center. Besides the Dora and other palace staff, it was only them and Nikki.
To make matters more complicated, Naomi was still trying to transition Javon onto the bottle, which was easier said than done. The first time she tried, he screamed so much that she broke down and breastfed him.
"Maybe I should stay here. I'll ask Nikki if we could rain check."
T'Challa shook his head and gently took Javon from Naomi. "You will do no such thing. Besides, you look lovely tonight, and it'll be a shame if you let it all go to waste."
Naomi rocked a diamond-studded bodycon dress that stopped just above her knees and accentuated her curvaceous backside. She wore white heels to match, and her silk-pressed hair was in a high ponytail while the tresses laid perfectly on her shoulders.
Her cheeks heated up at his compliment. It's incredible how he could still make her feel like a schoolgirl after six years of marriage.
"Okay," Naomi finally gave in. "You know how to contact me if you need me."
"We'll be fine, iplato yetshukela," he reassured before placing a kiss on her lips. "Now, go have fun."
"Alright." She gave him one last kiss before turning on her heels and leaving the nursery.
Once she was gone, T'Challa looked down at his son, his pride and joy, and smiled. "Yes, unyana wam. Everything will be alright."
Except everything wasn't alright.
An hour after Naomi left, Javon began fussing. T'Challa tried everything: holding him, rocking him, and checking his diaper. He even made the mistake of trying to soothe him by singing. After the way Javon screamed in response, T'Challa made a mental note to never do that again.
Trying to feed him was a chore within itself. When T'Challa attempted to get the nipple of the bottle in his mouth, Javon would turn his head away and scream at the top of his lungs. At T'Challa's fifth attempt, Javon knocked the bottle out of his hand, and it hit the floor, creating a puddle of formula.
Fortunately for him, that was the exact moment you entered the nursery. You fashioned your smoothie stand uniform—a medium-length dashiki dress adorned in the colors hot pink, black, scarlet red, forest green, and other intricate colors. Your faux locs were styled in a pin-up bun while a matching pink headwrap protected your edges, and your feet adorned a pair of black sandals.
"Good evening wam kumkani," you greeted T'Challa with a bright smile as if you didn't just see the bottle hit the marble floor.
He returned your smile, despite his growing irritation with the screaming child in his arms. "Good evening, Kya. What brings you here?"
"I was available on this lovely Saturday night, so I thought I'd spend it with my king and his heir."
"That's very generous of you. Now, what's the real reason you're here?" He tilted his head, a clear sign that he didn't believe your explanation. He knew you probably wouldn't want to spend your Saturday night—the one night of the week where you're free to lollygag as you please—with a child, a crying one at that.
"Queen Naomi said if I come over and help, she'll expedite my UCLA application."
"Ah! That makes more sense."
"So, what can I help with?"
"Do you mind holding him while I clean up the formula?"
You nodded and held your arms out for the little prince. "Sure. Besides, it's been a while since I held Prince Javon."
As soon as T'Challa placed him in your arms, Javon's cries increased, and you furrowed your brows. You were sure that Javon would be happy to be held by his Auntie Kya, seeing as how you haven't been around while you finished off your last two months at the university before graduation.
"On second thought," you began and promptly handed him back to T'Challa, "you can hold him while I clean up the formula."
Before he could protest, you walked out of the nursery and headed towards the supply closet for a roll of paper towels. Upon your return, you saw T'Challa futilely trying to feed Javon–who was still fussing up a storm—with another bottle.
"Good thing I didn't have to go through this with Nakia," you mumbled under your breath as you cleaned the formula off the floor.
Unfortunately, you forgot that the heart-shaped herb gave T'Challa enhanced hearing, so your eyes widen when he said, "I'm sure Nakia was much easier to handle."
Once the embarrassment wore off, you sighed and threw the paper towel in the trash can. "Well, Nakia wasn't as fussy, but she was very frustrated. I guess I would be too if I had the mind of a thirty-three-year-old, trapped in the body of a three-year-old."
You decided to drop the subject, you weren't in the mood to relive that stressful time, and decided to focus on the crying Prince Javon. You gently took him and the bottle and attempted to feed him yourself. After the third try, Javon almost knocked the bottle out of your hand. With a defeated sigh, you gave the bottle back to T'Challa.
"Well, I tried."
T'Challa released a sigh of his own. "There has to be an easier way to do this."
An idea came to you just then.
"Take off your robe," you told T'Challa, who gave you a perplexed look.
"What?"
"Trust me," you pleaded with an innocent smile. "Take off your robe."
Reluctantly, he stripped himself of the robe, leaving him in a t-shirt and slacks, and took Javon from you before you walked over to the prince's dresser.
"What are you doing?" T'Challa eyed you suspiciously when he saw you grab a pair of scissors. He released a dramatic gasp as you snipped a hole in the robe. "Why did you do that?! That robe costs more than your college tuition!"
"Why are you walking around wearing my college tuition?" You quipped with a smirk while walking over to him. "Put this back on."
"You still haven't told me the meaning of this," he said as he took the robe from you.
"It's something I saw on an American sitcom. It sounds ridiculous, but it works."
As T'Challa gave Javon back to you so he could put the robe back on, he began considering blocking American shows and movies from Wakanda's free and unlimited streaming services.
You held the bottle out for him to take. "Now, put this inside of your robe and set it to where the nipple is poking out of the hole."
He furrowed his brows at you, but when you flashed him an innocent look, he took the bottle and did as you instructed, mumbling, "This better work."
"It will." Once he secured the nipple in the hole, you gave Javon back to T'Challa.
"Now hold him the way Queen Naomi does when she's breastfeeding him."
T'Challa secured Javon in the position you instructed, and you both observed to see if your plan was going to succeed.
Javon's nose brushed against the nipple, and he instinctively turned his head to latch onto it. When he first tasted the formula, his face formed a frown similar to the one Naomi gives when she wants to smack someone, and you had to hold back your laughter. It took a while, but the young prince eventually smoothed into the motions.
"See?!" You boasted with a triumphant smile. "I told you it would work."
As much as he hated to admit it, your ridiculous idea did come in handy.
After a while, T'Challa transitioned to the rocking chair while you took a spot on the nearby loveseat and played a game on your kimoyo beads.
"Kya?" T'Challa broke the silence in the room. "Exactly which American show did you get this from?"
"It was called Yes, Dear. An early 2000s show full of colonizers. Nothing remotely rememberable, except for that one scene."
"Ah!" He nodded and returned his focus on Javon.
After feeding Javon, you offered to burp and snuggle with him before it was time for a much-needed diaper change. It wasn't long before Javon was fast asleep in the arms of a tired T'Challa while you rested on the loveseat.
The clock striked midnight when Naomi tiptoed into the nursery with her heels in her hand. Her heart gushed at the sight of her sleeping husband holding her son.
She walked over to him and placed a kiss on his forehead and another one on his cheek. "Wake up, kumkani," she whispered in his ear, causing him to stir.
His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled at his beautiful wife. "Hello, iplato yetshukela. How was your evening?"
"Nothing special. All I could think about was my two babies." She reached her hand out and stroked Javon's small afro. "How was he?"
"Once the crying stopped, he was perfect."
Naomi smiled. When she went to pick up Javon, her hand brushed across something hard, and she curiously reached into T'Challa's robe, pulling out the bottle. "T'Challa, what in the world?"
He groaned in embarrassment and tried to hide his face with his free hand. "It was Kya's idea."
Naomi lifted a curious brow before shaking her head. She didn't want to know what craziness you've managed to talk her husband into. "Where is she, by the way?"
As if on cue, you mumbled something in your sleep, catching Naomi's attention.
"Should I wake her?" T'Challa yawned before getting out of the rocking chair so he could put Javon in his crib.
Naomi shook her head and walked over to the linen closet. She grabbed a blanket out of the closet and covered you in it to make sure that you wouldn't get cold. "No, let her rest while she's still allowed to have it."
"What do you mean by that?" He asked after securing Javon for the night.
"Medical school is going to be rough on her. Especially at an institute like UCLA." She didn't bother to hide her grin.
"She's going to be accepted?" T'Challa asked with a grin of his own.
Naomi nodded and walked over to him. "I just got off the phone with the Dean, and informed him how fortunate UCLA's medical program would be to house a wonderful, brilliant, and hard-working student like Kya."
T'Challa wrapped an arm around her and escorted her out of the nursery. He didn't want to run the risk of waking you or Javon. "I guess a personal recommendation from the Queen of Wakanda came in handy."
"That, and I told him it would be good publicity if a Wakandan student attended their school. But don't tell her yet. I want to see her face when she opens the letter."
T'Challa chuckled before wrapping Naomi in his arms and leaning his forehead against hers. "You are the most amazing woman. I'm fortunate to have you as my wife and the mother of my child."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a passion-filled kiss on the lips. "It is me that is the fortunate one, wam kumkani."
They walked the rest of the way to their room in silence before enjoying a peaceful night slumber in each other's arms.
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Translations
iplato yetshukela - sugar plum