Flashback:

Tyson walked back and forth with T.J. in the kitchen as he waited for the baby's bottle to warm up on the countertop. I don't think he had caught up on much sleep since we got married as he always beat me to tending to the baby. It was so surreal to see Tyson as a dad. It seemed like just yesterday we were teens hanging out at the arcade eating pizza with each other, having sleepovers, crying on each other's shoulders when we were upset about something, or simply being in the presence of one another. Now we were married with a baby. We were now parents caring for our child, staying up late or early with him since he's teething now, and spending this time with Tyson made these very moments memorable.

"I know your teeth are hurting you but you need them so you can eat more than just milk and applesauce," Tyson told T.J. "When you get your teeth, the first thing I'm going to feed you is pizza." He checked the bottle in the heater to see if it was warm and fed it to T.J. who became content once he started to eat.

I had been lingering at the entrance of the kitchen and finally walked in to give Tyson a kiss on his cheek.

"I know you like watching me with T.J.," he said.

"It's cute," I said. "How are you feeling?"

"Whenever T.J. cries and acts up I become worried because there's nothing I can do to stop the pain of teething. I feel helpless."

"Don't feel helpless, Tyson. The baby will be just fine and you're doing a great job."

Tyson sat down at the table as I made tea for us, grabbed some grapes from our fridge, and brought them to the table for us to eat.

"Thank you," Tyson said. "I appreciate that."

"You're welcome, baby. I love you."

"Love you, too."


Present:

K.O. One point for me. K.O. again. Another point for me. K.O.

K.O.

K.O.

Tyson wasn't impressed by my winning streak as he accused me of cheating as there's no way I could constantly win with Sakura but I assured him that I won fair and square because I am awesome like that. Tyson leaned back on the couch in disbelief at my winning streak but grinned at me when he perked back up, gently slapped me on my knee, then selected his main Alex and actually won one round against me but lost in the final round we played against each other. I had selected Rose and he STILL lost.

But all was well because we both shared a banana split with each other on the couch as we watched a horror flick on Netflix. We ended up eating two bowls of it because it was that damn good and burnt it off playing DDR where Tyson actually beat me in a few rounds but that's only because he got lucky because I had ended up with two left feet and missed some steps. I knew there were certain songs he knew he could beat me at but I ended up winning in the last round we played as I selected a song I had practiced quite often when I had the time to do so. He was shocked that I beat him at his own game but I did what I had to do. Cheater is what I was called because according to my husband there was no damn way that I would be able to beat him at his own game but I did because I'm a winner. It was time for me to shower as I had to be at the theater in the morning for my rehearsal but I didn't want to shower alone.

Tyson washed my hair for me and even my back which I greatly appreciated because I didn't feel like reaching to wash my backside. I ended up getting the best damn treatment as Tyson dried my hair for me, oiled my scalp, and combed out my hair for me as I watched him carefully tend to my locks. His strong hands were gentle on my hair that he told me needed to be protected at all costs and no one should ever touch my hair unless it was me, him, the kids, or a family member. I really, really appreciated my husband tending to me so I decided to tend to him for the night and massaged his feet for him then proceeded to massage his back. Poor thing had a bruised kidney from a street fight on AEW that was borderline brutal but I'm glad that he didn't get hurt too badly from his match. His shoulder still bothered him but he managed to relax on his stomach in the bed as my hands covered every inch of the areas that needed the most loving, care, and attention because I knew he needed to finally relax after a long day. Not only did our video gaming session wear us out but the kids sure did as they ran around the house after dinner like the little speedsters they are but they finally tired themselves out and now we were tending to each other. We finally were catching some z's in our sleep once we were both nice and relaxed for the night.


Tyson woke me up out of my sleep gently so that I wasn't alarmed and told me that he had made me some breakfast to start off my day. He picked out my outfit for me for the day and got the kids ready as well but ended up running after the Tyra, T.J., and Timmy because the kids and the cat decided they were going to play around after breakfast. Tyson ended up tripping over his own two feet as he chased the kids and cat down the hallway which made the kids laugh but they also checked on their papa to make sure he was okay.

"Daddy, get up," T.J. said. "UP!"

Tyson continued to lay on the floor as a way to the mess with the kids who were now concerned about why papa wasn't getting up because he was lying still on the ground on his back. He suddenly popped up to scare the kids and while T.J. jumped but laughed, Tyra wasn't having it and began to cry out loud because she was genuinely scared. She latched onto my leg when she saw me standing at the end of the hallway that led into the kitchen.

"What's the matter?" I asked her, trying not to laugh myself.

"PAPA MEAN!" she screamed.

Tyson got up to comfort Tyra who had big crocodile tears streaming down her cheeks when he picked her up and apologized for scaring her but told her to not yell either.

"I know I scared you but you're screaming like I stepped on your toe or something," he said. "Now, let's go and drop Mommy off at the theater so she can rehearse."

"I want you to stay with me," I said to Tyson. "I need you to stay with me…well…"

"Tia, is something wrong?"

"No…I just want you to stay with me is all. Please?"

"Of course."

"Thank you. I don't want you to think I'm dragging you to what I'm doing-"

"It's no problem, hun. You're not dragging me anywhere." Tyson scooped up T.J. in his other free arm and followed me into the kitchen. "I was wondering when you'd invite me to see you rehearse. I thought you didn't want me to."

"I thought you never wanted to see me do anything in regards to the play I'm in."

"I do want to see my wife happy so I'm going with you and so are the kids, even if Tyra is having a dramatic meltdown."

"Eh?" Tyra said as she looked up at her father.

"I said what I said and it's time for us to get ready."