The Brothers

It's a normal morning in mid-September for the Newton family. Cam and Kai are usually up together getting the boys ready for school.

"Kris, you're birthday is coming quickly, and you still haven't told is what you want."

"The new Black Ops game. The one that CJ has."

"Black Ops? Honey you're turning 5, not 15. No way."

"Well you asked."

"Don't be smart Kristopher." Cam says. "You two go get your backpacks so I can take you to school."

"Yes sir." They both say. Cam and Kai watch them walk away.

"What are we gonna do with those two." Kai says.

"I have no idea."

"You gonna head to the club when you drop them off?"

"Yeah, just for a little bit. Let me know when you plan on going to lunch, I'll take you out somewhere." Cam says pulling her in close.

"Mmm that sounds good."

He plants a passionate kiss on her lips. "Great. I'll see you soon." They exchange another kiss before Cam heads to the staircase to call the boys down. "Jayden...Kristopher, let's go, we sent you upstairs for backpacks....shouldn't take this long."

They come running down the stairs. "Sorry dad. Had to make sure I looked good." Jayden says.

"Yeah dad. Had to make sure we looked good." Kristopher says, agreeing with his older brother.

Cam smiled and looked his two handsome boys over.

"Alright you two, lets go." Cam drops the boys off and heads to the club.

---------------

"Jr, baby wake up, time for school."

"Mmmmm" he groans.

"Unh huh. I told you not to stay up all night on that damn game." He puts his pillow over his head. "Five more minutes."

"K." Five minutes turn into ten when he finally gets out of bed. After getting dressed, he heads downstairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning ma." He says giving Aaliyah a kiss on the cheek.

"Morning baby. Breakfast is on the table."

"Cool."

"Here, I forgot to give this to you yesterday." She says placing a letter from Colin by his cup of orange juice.

"I've been waiting on it."

"Oh yeah? You ever gonna tell me what these letters are about?" She asks.

"No...they're between me and pops."

"What are they about...girls?"

"Oh my god." He says quietly, putting his head down. "We talk about a lot of things."

"Okay...you don't have to tell me. Hurry up and eat so I can get you to school and I get to work."

"Yes ma'am." On the way to school,  CJ reads the letter Colin sent him.

Junior,

I miss you, son. More than you could imagine. I should get out of here real soon and when I do, I promise to make up for the lost time. But let's get into the good stuff. The letter you sent about the girl Ariella, were you able to work that Kaepernick charm or not?"

CJ smiles to himself.

Also, does your mama know about her, if not, I can only imagine how she'd react to her baby boy trying to get a girlfriend, but I hope everything works out with her. Cam told me you're doing great at the club and staying out of trouble. Pretty soon, you'll be able to do a lot more than just sweep the floors and clean the place for us....maybe even get you a nice suit or two. But not to worry about that yet. Also, how are the grades lookin so far? I know it's only your sophomore year, but you gotta make sure those grades stay in great shape. Your old man got an academic scholarship because I always kept my head in a book, and I still do to this day. Reading's good for the mind. Don't let nobody convince you otherwise. The more you know, the more steps you'll be ahead everyone else. There are advantages to that.

I know I say this a lot, but I truly am sorry for my actions. It's the reason I've had to spend six, almost seven years away from you and your mother. I promise to make that up to you both. I miss you baby boy and I love you. See you soon.

Dad

"What'd he say?" Aaliyah says glancing over at CJ who's folding the letter and putting it back in the envelope.

"He misses and loves us...he also says he'll see us soon."

"I hope soon is actually soon. Like a couple to few months soon. I miss him and six years has gone by already."

"I miss him too." He says putting the letter in his bag. "So my birthday's in two months..."

"I know your birthday's in two months. What do you want, I know that's why you're telling me now."

"A tattoo."

"No."

"What, why?"

"It's simple, you're turning 16. Not 18. And I don't want you getting any tattoos."

"Pops got a lot of tattoos."

"Yeah, and pops waited until he was out of his mother's house till he got his tattoos."

"Ma come on. These days tattoos don't have age requirements. Scottie and Justin have some."

"Yeah, well you ain't Scottie or Justin. And I know those have been your bestfriends since we moved here, but it's clear that y'all have grown up with different mindsets. And it doesn't help that their parents let them do whatever."

"No, their parents just don't have a tight leash around their neck like you do me."

"Watch yourself."

"I'm just sayin mom."

That was kind of true. Aaliyah wanted to make sure CJ stayed out of trouble, and that meant she was a little over-bearing.

"...and I'm just sayin. No tattoos until you're at least 18. That's two more years. You can wait."

"Uggghh I guess."

They pull up to the school and CJ gets out and grabs his gym bag from the backseat.

"I'll be back to get you after practice."

"Okay, I love you."

"I love you too."

-------------------

Around 12:30, Cam heads over to Kai's office. He takes her out to Jimmy'z, one of the best sandwich shops in Miami. Over lunch they discuss kristopher's birthday plans and just some club things. After lunch, they both return to work.

Kai and Aaliyah made plans to go to the grocery store after Kai got off of work, and after Aaliyah picked up CJ from practice. They both get to the store around the same time.

"I'm gonna go get some snacks." CJ says as Kai and Aaliyah grab shopping carts. "I'll text you to see what aisle you're on when I'm done."

"Okay."

Kai and Aaliyah make their way down the aisle, engaging in small talk.

"You wanna know what CJ told me this morning?"

"What?"

"He said I have a leash around his neck...a tight one."

"You just want to make sure he doesn't get in any trouble. There's nothing wrong with that. It's called being a mother."

"Thank you. My thoughts exactly."

"Any word on when Colin will get out. I know that'll make things a lot easier when he does."

"I actually talked to him today and he says a couple more months. Maybe in time for CJ's 16th, but I won't tell him. I'll let it be a surprise."

CJ meets back up with them, they do their shopping and head for check out. CJ sees Ariella behind the register and leads the ladies to her line.they don't know about her, so he can't make it painfully obvious that he has a crush on her.

"Hey CJ." She says as he's the first to appear in her line.

"Hey." He says with a smile. He unloads Aaliyah's basket first and then helps Kai unload hers.

"Thank you sweetie."

"You're welcome auntie Kai." Aaliyah and Kai takes note of the two making googly eyes at each other the entire time. "See you around." He says before they leave her line.

"Bye CJ." He smiles before walking off.

"You see what I did?" Kai asks Aaliyah quietly.

"I did."

"She's cute. I approve." Kai says.

"There's more to it than just looks."

"Well, maybe CJ pulls the trigger and brings her home one day."

In Aaliyah's mind, she wasn't ready, but she knew it'd happen at some point. After they load their cars up they both part ways and go to their homes.