After Happily Ever After

Baba Bonding Time : A Catfish Christmas

Erik always wanted to be a father. He didn't seek it out necessarily but in the back of his mind; he saw himself having one or two, three max, with a lady he didn't mind being tied to for the rest of his life.

The birth of his son, N'Jemah changed Erik's entire worldview. His work meant more somehow. He wasn't just helping little boys that had a tough start, little boys like him. Now Erik was helping someone that could be his son in another life. The plight of being Black in America seemed more perilous and immediate when Erik held JK in his arms.

As he grew older, JK turned out to be a sweet, curious little boy. He had Fallon's eyes and Erik's dimples and, like all Udaku's, intelligence that no-one except his Aunt Shuri could rival. Erik wanted to give his son the world, but it wasn't until his sixteenth birthday that JK's dreams went much farther than that.

"Dad, look!" JK pointed at the prototype on his desk, his excited soot-covered face bright and full of joy. Erik couldn't help but cup his son's cheek once he joined him, not at all interested in his latest invention.

"Have you eaten today?" He rubbed a hand against JK's scalp roughly, "You know your mama would kill me if I didn't feed y'all."

JK ducked under Erik's grip and laughed. "I will tell her you left us starving. Now can you look at this."

Since moving to Wakanda, JK often ditched his royal tutors and spent all his time down in Shuri's labs. It was hard for Fallon and Erik to punish him; they didn't want to punish his enthusiasm for technology, but they couldn't leave his education stunted. They worked out a compromise with Shuri soon enough. JK's hours in the lab were now determined by how much of his schoolwork he completed.

That solved that problem easily enough, but Erik and Fallon didn't know what JK did in the labs.

Like most teenagers, he didn't talk to his parents much, and they didn't want to put Shuri in the uncomfortable position of reporting back to them on his activities. As Erik looks over his son's design, a sense of satisfaction washes over him.

"Is that a-"

"Vibranium core? Yes!" JK interjected excitedly. He looked just like his mother when he lit up like that, and Erik looked on with a proud smile as his son broke down his invention and then built it back up again.

"I know we've been having issues protecting women and children from traffickers. And I just thought sending War Dogs in one at a time wasn't maximizing our efforts and resources. This," he gestured at the device, "Will allow the women and children to protect themselves."

"Is it a weapon?" Erik spent his youth playing with vibranium the way some kids play with magnets. He'd helped the crown by designing a vibranium spear that could cauterize while in battle.

JK scoffed, "No," Erik's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Well, excuse me. What is it then, Mr. Man?"

"A cloaking device, modeled after the one we used to shield Wakanda from the outside world." JK moved his prototype aside and used his kimoyo beads to project his blueprints and plans on the surface of the table.

"The traffickers won't stop. They'll always find any camp we create; raid any villages we try to protect. This is both to hide them and send out a distress signal."

Erik studied his son's blueprints. He could see Shuri's work here and there, but everything else was new to him. His son created this? Pride filled Erik's chest.

He grabbed JK and pulled him into a rough hug. "I'm proud of you, N'Jemah. This is amazing."

JK beamed under his father's praise. "Wanna go test it out? I've fixed that bug where it explodes when activated."