Blood Roots

02. Tiny bacteria

"Seems like someone is very playful today, hm?", He asked as he nuzzled his nose against her soft, chubby cheek. The tiny girl, let out a babyish when he did so, liking that gesture from her dad.

"Let's get you cleaned first, shall we?", Jay asked her softly as he kissed the baby's cheek.

He securely held her wee figure in his arms before standing up and making his way towards the bathroom.

Holding her protectively with one arm, he checked the temperature of the water in her baby bathtub with the other hand.

Once, he made sure that it was neither too hot nor too cold, he crouched down with his knees touching the floor as he made Ae-Cha sit on his thigh.

He securely held her while taking off her clothes and after doing so, he placed her in the small bathtub. Ae-Cha, however, let out a cry when her body came in contact with the water. Well, that kid didn't like bathing. So, Jay had to struggle to get her cleaned.

Jay softly patted her head with one hand while the other one securely held her so that she doesn't drown in the shallow tub by any chance.

"It's okay, my tiny bacteria. It will be over soon. No crying till then, okay?" Jay spoke as he cupped his free hand. Filling some water in it, he poured that on her head, making sure that he didn't do it too harshly.

The baby, eventually calmed down when Jay applied some baby shampoo on her head and started massaging it. She didn't mind that as she was busy examining his tattooed arm.

She placed both of her hands on his tattooed wrist as she softly rubbed her hand over it with a fascinated face.

Jay chuckled after seeing this as he spoke, " My baby likes it, right? You know what? I am thinking of getting 'Ae-Cha' tattooed on my arm. What do you think?"

Ae-Cha, obviously, didn't understand anything else in the sentence due to the lack of vocabulary but a babyish giggle escaped her lips when she succeeded in understanding that he had just said her name.

After almost fifteen minutes of talking to Ae-Cha and keeping her busy so that she doesn't cry, Jay finally succeeded in bathing her. He wrapped her in her baby pink towel and held her close to his chest so that she doesn't feel cold as
he made his way towards the room.

Jay made sure that the heater was on and the windows were closed so that the baby doesn't catch a cold. After doing so, he laid the baby on the bed and placed pillows on her right and left sides so that she doesn't roll over, before making his way towards his closet where he had kept her clothes.

He took out a royal blue romper and made his way towards the bed, where the baby who was looking like a pink caterpillar because of being wrapped inside the towel, was looking around eagerly with doe eyes, probably searching for her dad.