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His mother frowned. “Are you sure this friend of yours didn’t just abandon these children?”

“...He’d die before doing that.”

She raised a doubtful eyebrow. She put her hand up to the baby girl, who grabbed it. Smirking, she looked at Hector again. “Where are the supplies?”

“What?”

“The baby supplies. Surely, your friend gave you a bag. Bottles? Powder? Diapers, at least?”

“Uh... um...”

“Ugh, wow. Okay. Looks like I’m making a trip to the store tonight.”

Hector blinked. “Ah--I-I’ll take care of it... It’s my responsibility.”

“Pfft,” said Vanessa. “What does a sixteen-year-old know about taking care of a baby?” She grabbed her coat by the door. “I’ll go get the essentials. Back in a jiffy.” She kissed her husband and was out the door.

“I’ll make some little beds for them,” his father said. “Won’t exactly be a crib, but it should suffice for the time being.”

“Uh, but--you don’t have to do that--”

“Oh, they’re still sleeping in your room. Don’t you worry about that. You can handle the midnight crying and feeding, thanks.”

Hector followed him to a hallway closet, where the man retrieved a set of fresh blankets. And with a pair of large laundry baskets, the beds were complete.

“This cop friend of yours must trust you a lot.”

“Y-yeah.”

“There’s really no one else, huh?”

“No...”

In his room, they found a nice spot by the foot of the bed. And as they placed the children in their new beds, Hector saw a gentler expression on his father’s face than he could ever recall.

“...Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Um... w-what was I like? As a baby, I mean.”

“Oh, you were horrible,” he said. “Cried all the time. Couldn’t take you anywhere without making a scene. Really picky eater, too. Annoyed the hell out of your mother.”

“Oh... s-sorry.”