Page 48 of Crown: Phase 4

Crown sat stretched out on the couch with Nyla in his arms while Nivéa moved around the kitchen preparing dinner. The smell of baked chicken and seasoned vegetables filled the house, mixing with the sweet scent of Nyla’s baby lotion that lingered on his shirt from holding her.

Nyla had been fighting her bottle for a while with Nivéa. Nivéa had finally given up and handed her over to Crown so she could get started on dinner. They had company coming over soon, and she wanted everything prepared before Smoky and Tanya arrived.

“Yeah, you just wanted daddy to feed you, huh, baby girl?” Crown said, watching Nyla gulp down her bottle with no problem now that he had it.

Nyla released the nipple, answered with a small coo, and kicked one sock-covered foot against his stomach.

Crown chuckled, shaking his head. “Ma, she been in here playing with you.” He called toward the kitchen. “She drinking just fine.”

“Tell me about it. If she ain’t getting these breasts, she ain’t worried about me.” Nivéa replied.

“Facts,”

Nyla’s small hand opened and closed against Crown’s shirt before she returned to drinking, her feet still moving as if she had somewhere to be. He smiled at her, noticing how much she loved doing that. She was always moving and making some kind of noise. Seeing her little face and hearing her noises were the highlight of his day. It was hard to remember what his days felt like before her. Their bond grew stronger with each passing moment. She already recognized his voice and settled differently whenever he held her against his chest.

“You just making a mess now. You done.” He told her when milk escaped the corner of her mouth, and she made no attempt to stop it.

Crown wiped it away with the cloth draped over his shoulder before lifting her against his chest to burp her. He gently patted her back, waiting patiently. For several seconds, Nyla remained quiet. Then she released a burp loud enough to make him pull his head back.

“Damn, baby girl.”

Nivéa laughed from the kitchen. “She’s something else.”

“Yep,” Crown grinned and kissed the side of Nyla’s head. “Too pretty to be making noises like that.”

Nyla shifted against him before starting to squirm harder. Crown’s nose wrinkled a moment later. “Oh, nah.”

“What?” Nivéa asked, though the amusement in her voice told him she already knew.

“She took a shit.”

“Then change her.”

“Say what?”

“You heard me, Daddy. You gotta do that too. Go ahead. I showed you how.”

Crown looked down at Nyla, raising one of his brows. “I don’t know about this, baby girl.”

Nivéa turned from the stove and pointed the spoon in his direction. “I do. Go ahead.”

“I’m going.”

Shaking his head, Crown stood with Nyla, held carefully against his chest, and carried her to the extra changing table they kept in the living room. He laid her down and stared at the snaps beneath her sleeper.

“Why they put all these damn buttons on baby clothes?”

With a toothless grin, Nyla kicked her legs while he worked them loose.

“You think this funny?”

She stared back at him and pooted, causing more poop to come out.

“Shit,” Crown whispered, trying not to breathe too deeply as he remembered each step through the smell.

This whole thing was still crazy to him. He never expected fatherhood to happen this way. He never expected a woman with a small infant to walk into his life and make him want both of them permanently. But Nyla never felt like a responsibility that came with Nivéa. Crown loved her separately and completely. So, he did what a father was supposed to do and changed his kid.

Carefully, he removed her diaper and immediately leaned back. “Aw, hell nah.” Nyla’s legs kicked harder. “Ain’t no way something that bad came out of somebody this little.”