Hold It Down

Chapter Twenty Nine | Like Father, Like Son

Chapter Twenty Nine | Like Father, Like Son
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I hope you grow up to become that everything you can be

That's all I wanted for you young'n, like Father, like Son

But in the end I hope you only turn out better than me

I hope you know I love you young'n, like Father, like Son

My little man, your day is coming, your day is coming, I tell you

And when it comes, just keep it running, just keep it running, I tell you

They say every time somebody die a child is born

So I thank the nigga who gave his life for the birth of my son- The Game

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Domani

As time passed me by, eight o'clock in the morning rolled around and I was sitting on the sofa that lined one of the walls in Ashanti's hospital room, with no sleep at all. It was quiet in here and the lights were off, but it was calm and peaceful. I looked over to the bed and watched the rise and fall of Ashanti's chest as she slept up there alone. Even from here, she was as beautiful as ever, the shit was crazy. As I watched her, my love for her grew after what she'd done last night. I loved before now, more than loved her, but the shit was intensified after she gave me the dopest gift a man could ever have, the greatest thing on Earth, a baby, a son.

I looked away from Ashanti and down at the blessing that I was granted not long ago. I sat there along the sofa as I held my baby boy in my arms, tightly, never wanting to let him go. This same position had been the same since last night. When Ashanti got tired, I took him off her hands and allowed her to rest. In the midst of that, I held him the whole time, not taking my eyes off of him in fear it would all disappear. The shit was really crazy if I was honest.

At first, having a kid felt like something I might not have been ready for. I was scared, true enough, but I thought the feeling would be way different than how I felt now. Having a son to call my own was priceless to me. It almost felt like I didn't deserve this great of a blessing, but I held onto it, onto him, my very own son like he was a prized possession. He was, actually he was way more than that. I couldn't even put it into words, but he meant the world to me already.

I knew when my mom found out that I'd held him all night, she'd fuss at me about spoiling him, but that was cool too. He was my kid to spoil, so she couldn't tell me a thing. She'd raised both me and Dolani, but it was Ashanti and I's turn to take our shot at raising our own child. I knew we would need all the help we could get, along with tips and shit, but we had to try on our own first and then go from there. Never know, we just might turn out alright as parents by ourselves.

I looked back up at Ashanti for a split second to see her still sleeping. This had been a constant routine for me, all night I alternated watching the two of them sleep, while I didn't. I was tired as shit too, but I put that on the back burner as I just focused on my family. My very own little family that I now had to serve and protect. It's just crazy how things can happen so quickly. Just last year, I was hoeing around, stayed in the streets, lost the girl of my life, but with the new year came new blessings. I got my girl back, I straightened up my life, and now I had a son. Yeah, you couldn't tell me the big man upstairs had given up on me, cause it was clear that he hadn't.