“I’ll have him dropped off by the end of this week when preparations are done,” said Hugo, standing outside the door as Hana and Logan stood beside him. He had to leave to meet up with a friend, and the teens would be staying by themselves in their newly bought house. “As for the little guy, I’ll bring him over once everything’s official.”

Hana smiled and nodded.

“By the way,” continued Hugo as he pulled out something from his back pocket, “here you go.” It was a black iPhone. He handed it to her.

Logan took it before she could. “Why do you need another one?”

She looked at the phone in her friend’s hand. “I threw my old one away. I don’t want to have anything to do with them anymore. Besides, that phone was so they could keep tabs on me.”

Hugo also handed a familiar item to her. A white envelope.

She asked with a raised brow and accepted it. It had a familiar size and weight. “You’re returning my money?”

Hugo smiled. “Take the phone as a ‘thank you’ from me.’

“I should be thankful, not you.”

Logan nodded, agreeing with her. He looked at his brother. “Yeah, why are you helping us so much?”

Hugo became flustered. “Let’s just say I’m thanking you for being a responsible adult.”

Logan scoffed. “For the last time, that brat ain’t mine.”

Hugo winced with a smile and then walked to his car.

The teens watched the older man drive away before closing the door and then turned around and felt reality hit them.

*

Hugo bit his lip and decided to take a stop at a curb. He reached for his phone and pressed some numbers.

“Grace Hospital,” said a lady on the line. “How can I help you?”

“Uhh, yes, this is Hugo Hart. May I speak with Dr. Kevin Morez? Tell him it’s regarding Lucas.”

“I’ll connect you to him.”

As Hugo waited, he glanced to the thesaurus-sized book in his bag.

Then, the phone line connected again.

“Kevin speaking.”

“Hey, it’s Hugo.”

Kevin chuckled. “I know.”

Hugo paused before mustering the courage to ask, “What have you got so far?”

“I did what you asked me to do, and yeah, he’s in the records. But, Hugo, there’s something I need to tell you.” There were some shuffling noises that accompanied him as he spoke. “This baby… He was checked out moments after birth, and it wasn’t by the birth mother.”

Hugo shifted in his seat with concern.

“And that’s not all. She died after giving birth.”

Hugo sunk into his seat. He felt weak.

“I’m sorry…for your loss.”

Hugo took deep breaths. His eyes moved to the book.

“But, Hugo.”

Hugo averted his attention to the front.

“She died because…”

*

Logan walked down the flight of stairs after not being able to go to sleep.

He and Hana had been in their respective rooms ever since Hugo left. Neither of the two didn’t know exactly what to say to each other, so they could only think of using the excuse of cleaning their new space to keep themselves busy.

He saw the kitchen lights on, so he followed it and saw Hana sitting at the table. “What you doing?” he asked, walking to the counter to pour himself a cup of water.

“Thinking,” she answered him in a soft manner as she looked at something on the table. It was the blank marriage license document Hugo had left behind for them. The teens had been given until the end of the week to decide. “He said we don’t have to do it, but no matter how much I think about it, it is the best and safest for us.”

There was a long pause.

Both teens knew that signing came with protection but also with risks and consequences.

She flinched when he slid the paper closer to them and then clasped his hand in hers. She locked eyes with him, searching for a visual answer and for an explanation of what he planned to do next.

“Then, what more do we need to think about?” he asked with a smile, a very confident smile.

She sat straight.

“I’m going to be here for you. You’re going to be here for me.” He picked up the paper and looked at it. “And we’re gonna be there…for our little one.” He squeezed her hands.

*

“So, how’s the house?” asked Jake, walking over to sit in the seat in front of Logan’s desk.

Logan perked up at the question.

“Think we could come over and throw a house-warming party?”

“I’ll ask Hana. It’s not just my house.”

“For some reason, that sounds like you two are a married couple.”

“Don’t kid me. We’ll never be like that.”

“Fine. I’ll wait ‘til she and Hailey come back from the bathroom.”

Seth came to them after returning a book to the library, and Jake said that there was a party at Logan and Hana’s new place.

Logan made a face at Jake for disregarding what he had said. “I told you I gotta ask her first.”

“Dude, it’s Hana. She’s gonna let.” He grabbed Logan’s pencil and started drawing on Logan’s worksheet. “Speaking of Hana, didn’t you go after her during your bachelor days?”

“I’m still a bachelor. And no, I never went after her. Who’d want to?”

Seth nodded, thinking to himself. “I remember something like that. Wasn’t she the only girl who didn’t respond to your cheesy pickup lines from the nineties?”

Logan looked at Seth. “Why are you going along with his story? I can accept flirting with her, but definitely not liking her.” He smirked, sat back, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Girls make me sin.”

“What about girls?” asked Hailey from behind Jake. She went straight to her boyfriend, passing by Jake and purposely stepping on his feet and ruffling Logan’s hair.

Hana laughed and went to sit on the empty desk beside Logan. “If you’re talking smack about me, you’re cooking tonight.”

“Let the couple fight begin,” teased Jake.

Logan and Hana glared at Jake. “We’re not a couple,” they said in the same deadpan voice.

Logan nudged Hana. “He said that when we met, I liked you and went after you. I so didn’t, didn’t I? I mean, seriously, me? Liking you? You’re so not in my league.”

An invisible vein popped from Hana’s forehead. “No, that’s right.” It was a lie. She wasn’t going to take the insult, so she changed what he could remember.

Logan gasped in disbelief.

“But I never responded to your pursuit because I’m not interested in little boys.” She stuck out her tongue at him. “Even years later, you’re still the same little boy that hasn’t grown up.”

Hailey laughed along with her friend until a certain detail caught her attention. “Hey, he kinda did grow up. For, what, the last two-three years, he hasn’t gone after anyone. I think it was sometime after Seth and I started dating.”

Jake jumped up with excitement. He looked back and forth between Logan and Hana. “So, our little guy has had a crush on Hana since then!”

Logan and Hana squirmed and pushed Jake to the side.

“Eww, no!” exclaimed Logan.

“That’s my line!” Hana immediately added, slapping a hand at Logan’s chest.

“It’s impossible. I met Hana in sixth grade, and I, for sure, know I didn’t like the ugliest girl in the world.” He made a straight face. “And I still don’t.”

Hana nodded once. “The feeling’s mutual.”

They shook hands.

Hailey gasped. “Hana! At least defend yourself. He called you ugly.”

Hana swatted the air. ‘Ehh, that’s his problem. Who cares?”

Logan smiled and wrapped an arm over a nonchalant Hana as he looked back at Hailey. “Don’t worry, Hailey. She’s ugly, but she’s got a special place in my heart.” He then pinched Hana’s nose, and a small fight ensued between them because he had pinched her too hard.

Seth sighed and shook his head. “This is why I’m glad she doesn’t think much when he says such things.”

Hailey made a face. “True that. If I were her, ooh, that boy wouldn’t live this long.”

Logan heard and turned around. He pulled Hana in close. “That’s ‘cause we’ll never misunderstand each other.”

*

“Hailey,” Logan called out to his friend.

It was after school, and the gang was waiting in the library for Hana to come back from the office. They were sitting at a round table.

“I was wondering…how much you know about Hana’s family and the babysitting problem.”

Seth looked up from his homework, and Jake looked up from the game on his phone—he even paused it.

“Oh, I know them really well,” said Hailey, sarcastically. “So well that all the exaggerations I’ve made won’t even measure up to it.”

Jake laughed and pointed at her. “Well, duh. You’re the Queen of exaggeration.”

Hailey ignored Jake and answered Logan’s question. “Wanna know why any of you couldn’t be mentioned to her family or be known to them at all?”

The boys nodded. For as long as they had been with Hana, she had always forbidden them like crazy to not be together if she had a feeling her parents were picking her up from school.

“She’s never had a problem making friends,” continued Hailey, “but one day, from what she told me, she overheard her parents argued about enrolling her into an all-girls private school or something to be far from the wolves.”

“Wolves?” the boys asked innocently.

“‘Boys.’” Hailey sighed. “That argument changed her life. She didn’t want to move and make new friends, so she decided to cut ties with all her guy friends. She thought they’d understand even if she didn’t tell them.”

“But why would they do that to her?” asked Jake. He had turned off his phone and placed it down in front of him.

“They thought she’d be like her siblings. You know, getting married so early and all that. But I think they were afraid she’d drop out of school after marriage like her sisters. They thought keeping an eye on her was the best, but in a way, it slowly ate her, you know. It got to the point where her siblings started assigning her to babysit their kids, so their parents never said anything because they knew she wouldn’t be anywhere but within arms’ reach.”

Seth raised his brows with a subtle nod. “So that explains why she was so distant from us back then.”

Jake looked at Seth. “I thought she didn’t like us ‘cause you were dating her friend and Logan was harassing her.”

“It’s also the reason why our girlfriends left her,” said Hailey. “They thought she was using the excuse of babysitting to not spend time with us.” She looked away and pouted. “I too had committed the same crime.”

“What did you do?” asked Seth to his girlfriend.

“This isn’t justification for what I did, but hearing the same excuse from her over and over again, I ditched her because I thought so too.”

“Whoa,” said Jake, excitedly. “When did this happen?”

Seth and Hailey gave him a look.

Hailey let out a soft laugh. “It was about two months after Seth and I started dating.” She paused. “I thought maybe she was jealous that I got a boyfriend before she did, but of course, it was nothing like that. Then one night, running away from home, I saw her at some store and there she was, babysitting, like I had heard her said earlier that day.” Her tears fell to the table, and she wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks. “The diligent thirteen-year-old Hana was multi-tasking with five freakin’ wild monkeys, and had a grocery list as long as a meter stick.” She began to sob, and Seth got up to comfort her.

Hailey spoke through the hug. “She handled everything well though. She stayed cool when one of the monkeys tried to get into someone’s cart. The other monkeys ran around about, and even I was losing my temper from watching. That was when I realized she was telling the truth all along. I told her about it the next day, and we’ve been better friends since.”

“Poor Hana.” Jake frowned. He placed his arms over each other on the table and propped his chin on them. “She’s been a mommy a long time ago.”

Hailey pulled away from the hug and scoffed. “It’s thanks to those fast-producing siblings of hers!”

Jake sat straight again. “Honestly, I don’t see how keeping him will help in any way with her baby-loving problem. It’s back to square one except it doesn’t belong to any of her siblings.”

Logan, who had been quiet throughout the entire story time, finally spoke. “‘Lucas,’ not ‘it.’”

“I thought Hana would be the only who’d get worked up over that. Why you too?”

“Because he’s ours now.”

“Ours?” the friends repeated, surprised.

Logan was surprised too but acted like he wasn't. He ignored their question and said to Hailey, “Don’t worry, Hailey. Back then, it was her handling five brats. Now, she’s got me in the mix.”

Hailey frowned. “I honestly don’t know if I feel relieved or worried.”

The friends laughed.

*

Hana came back from the office and grouped up with her friends, and the gang walked out of the school building.

“Wanna know the best part of today?” asked an overly excited Hailey as she walked backward facing her friends.

Seth was worried for her and had his hands out ready to catch her.

“This girl ain’t babysittin’ no more!” shouted Hailey, celebrating by throwing her hands in the air and then running to hug and squeeze Hana.

“Umm, Hailey.” It was from Jake. He leaned close to the girls and whispered, “You spoke too soon.”

“Why?”

He pointed to in front of them.

She shifted her attention. “Oh.” She rolled her eyes.

It was Yvonne. “Hey, Hana.” She stood by the school gate.

Logan immediately held Hana’s hand and whispered to her ear, “Don’t worry. You have a new home now.”

Yvonne walked to the group with an awkward smile. “We found out that you’re back at school, so I came to get you, and it’s not to babysit.” She laughed nervously. “Just to go home. Everyone wants to talk to you.”

Hana thought to herself. She didn’t want to step foot there again, but if she went, she’d be getting closure.

“She’ll go if I can go,” offered Logan, surprising everyone.

Hana blinked at her friend and wondered why he’d say such a thing.

His answer came in the form of him squeezing her hand, telling her that she’d be fine because she had him with her.