Hana and Logan had picked up Lucas from the daycare center and were walking home. She had Lucas in her arms, and Logan had his duffel bag. He was also being the loud idiot on the street because he was celebrating the team victory from the baseball game.

“Let’s hope you guys will have the same luck for the actual game,” said Hana.

“We will. We’ll win this year’s games like the years before.”

She smiled. It was this kind of confidence and optimism she loved about him.

“Wanna know why we won today?”

“Teamwork.”

He shook his head, smiling.

“Strength?”

He shook his head again. His smile got wider.

“Your training?”

He flashed his teeth. “Nope! ‘cause of this!” He swiped out his cap, the cap she bought for him, from the duffel bag. “Thanks to this cap, I made five home runs.”

“I don’t think so,” she said, laughing. She stopped walking, and he did too. She looked around and then said, “It’s not the cap. It’s something else.”

“What?” He challenged.

She one-handedly unfolded the top of her pants down to show him something she was wearing underneath. It wasn’t her underwear, however. It was black stockings.

He became red, realizing he had peeked at a site of her body. More so than that, it was because she wore the stockings he had bought for her.

“I wanted to wear it for the first game, but I was too impatient, so I’m wearing it today.”

He didn’t look at her.

“What’s wrong?”

He cleared his throat. “They aren’t pretty on you like they were on the mannequin.”

“As if you looked as good as a professional baseball player.” She walked away, slightly angry although knowing that he was messing with her.

He caught up to her and wrapped a hand over her shoulders. “Hey, don’t get mad. All I said was the truth.”

She growled at him.

He laughed louder. “Fine. I’ll admit it. You look good in it.”

“There you go again. Your sweet words won’t work on me.”

“They’re honest words.”

They continued to bicker even when they got home.

Hana put Lucas on the bouncer and scurried to the kitchen to make a bottle for the baby. A realization came to her. “What about Lucas?”

Logan, who had sat down already heard her. “He’s here.”

“No, I mean, what about Lucas when we help Coach this weekend?”

Logan stood up, grasping the situation. “Shoot. We can’t take him. But we also can’t leave him. We can’t drop him off at daycare because we won’t come back in time for him.”

“I’ll stay behind,” suggested Hana. “Coach said it’s your training.”

“But I need you! I need to boss you once a day.”

She rolled her eyes in a playful manner and walked back to him. “Well, we can’t take him unless we tell Coach, and I don’t think Coach will like our story. Or worse, everything could fall apart if we do.” She looked at her son. “I also don’t want to lie to Coach too.” She looked back at Logan with a soft smile. “You go, okay?”

He thought to himself. “Maybe my brother can do something for us.” He pulled out his phone and called his brother.

“Wait. Logan—”

He moved away, not letting her stop him.

She smiled, giving up.

*

Upstairs, Hana had taken a bath and had gotten dressed. She walked out of her bedroom and headed downstairs and heard a crashing sound of the plates. She skipped down the stairs to the kitchen and saw Logan hiss at himself.

Lucas was in his bouncer playing with a cup.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I was cleaning, but they slipped out of my hands.” Logan gathered all the dishes, even the one from Lucas, so Lucas cried. Logan froze and panted because he had made the baby bawl.

Hana came and picked up the baby and rocked him back and forth.

Logan was relieved. “Thanks.”

“You know, he’s not gonna attack you when he cries, and it’s not always going to be because of you. What happens if I’m not there, and he starts crying? What are you going to do?”

He snickered. “Ha, that’s never gonna happen. We’ll never be alone.”

Hana played with Lucas and spoke to him in a baby voice. “Aww, little fella. Your daddy’s scared of you.”

Logan frowned. “Seriously, don’t speak to him like that. It creeps him out.”

“You mean it creeps you out.”

“Not me. Lucas.”

A loud hissing sound from a kettle at the stove got their attention.

“Oh, it’s ready,” said a happy Logan, running to turn the stove off.

“What’re you making?”

He tilted the kettle’s spout to a mug. “Hot chocolate.” When he was finished, he grabbed the mug and a coaster and placed them together at the table. “It was cold today, and I forgot to give you my jacket.” He poured himself one and then escorted her with Lucas to the table. He pulled out the chair for her to sit. He told her to put Lucas in the bouncer, and she did.

“Actually, thanks to your stockings, I was quite warm.” She showed him the other pair that she was wearing under her shorts. This time, she could show him how she actually looked with the stockings because she wasn’t wearing it under some long pants.

He choked on his breath. “Can we not talk about that now?”

She raised her brows in an innocent manner even though she knew that he was embarrassed. “Why can’t we talk about it?” She stood up, walked to his side, and strutted around the kitchen. “Are they too sexy on me?” She lifted a foot up and put her hands at her chest and batted her eyes.

Logan, who watched everything while trying to casually sip his drink, coughed again and almost spilled his drink and burned his tongue and legs. He didn’t think she’d ever say those words. He questioned himself, “Why did I buy them for you?”

“‘cause you knew they’d be pretty on me.”

He became redder, proving her words to be true.

She got what she wanted—his cute reaction—so she was satisfied. “Fine. I won’t say anything anymore, big baby. Take Lucas, and you guys go watch TV or something. I’m gonna make lunch for us tomorrow.”

He looked at the baby in the bouncer. “I-I have the drink. I can’t take him.”

She sighed at her scaredy-cat friend. She decided to do the job for him. She picked up the bouncer with Lucas and put him in the living room. “I did that for you, so go watch him out there.”

Logan smiled, pleased. He took her by the waist and said, “I didn’t get to eat anything you made today, so you have to make a lot for me tomorrow.”

“You might get a stomachache,” she teased.

“It’s worth it.”

“Okay. Not my fault if anything happens.”

He shot his fists into the air, then he turned serious. “Go, my slave. Make food for your master.”

She shoved him, and they went to do their own thing.

Logan sat down at the couch and was about to turn on the TV but saw her reflection. The warm fuzzy feeling of them being a real family kicked in. He watched the reflection from the TV set of her putting on the apron, tying her hair into a ponytail, taking out a knife, and doing her business. Watching her was better than watching anything on the TV.

He watched her with much concentration.

And adoration.

So much that he felt aroused.

He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts and finally turned on the TV.

As for Hana, she stood in front of the opened fridge, deciding what to make for them tomorrow. As she thought to herself, a reminder for her to cook for an extra person—Victor—made her stiff.

She couldn’t tell if she was excited or afraid.

*

It was the next morning, and Logan went without Hana and Lucas. Today was a Thursday, and Thursday and Friday meant no morning practice, so he could walk with Hana and Lucas, but he chose not to. He had rushed out the door and didn’t bother to bid her goodbye properly.

He couldn’t do so, not after his thoughts about her last night.

He had thought it was a joke his mind was playing on him, but the throb from below proved him wrong. Luckily, it didn’t get to the point where he needed to relieve himself privately in the bathroom.

“She knows something’s up!” he groaned. “What am I gonna say to her when she asks me?” He crouched to the ground in the middle of the sidewalk and had his hands at his head. “Why in the freakin’ world did I think that?!”

*

Hana got to school and found it a surprise that Logan hadn’t arrived first since she couldn’t spot him anywhere. She asked their friends.

“No, he’s not here,” said Hailey. “Thought today was your guys’ day to walk together.”

Hana shook her head. “No, he went first.”

“Oh, speak of the devil,” said Hailey, “he’s here now.” She pointed to the gate.

Hana looked and saw him enter as slow as a tortoise. “Logan.”

He perked up at his name and locked eyes with her and then looked away.

She scowled, disappointed that she had been rejected.

*

Hugo stepped out of T-Mobile with a new phone in hand. His old one had dropped into a pond of mud, so he had to find transportation to the nearest city. It took him almost a week to find someone available because no one in the countryside had time to help a stranger when they had ranches or farms to work on. Fortunately, a young boy opted to help him and had requested the help of his grandpa to take them to the city.

“Everything okay?” asked the young boy, who was waiting outside the shop.

Hugo nodded. “Yes. Thanks for the ride.”

They walked to the silver truck parked at the side, which the grandpa had been waiting for them from inside.

“No problem. Glad to help a fellow city boy. Besides, we don’t get many city folks here often ‘cause it’s usually just a bunch of land and cattle. So, what’s a guy like you doing here in the countryside? Definitely not for work, right, ‘cause you ain’t got the build, man.”

The older man smiled. He didn’t want to say much because the last time he mentioned that he was here on a search for someone, one of the locals assumed he was a person with bad intentions to the person he wanted to find. He knew best to stay quiet since then because the locals were protective of their own small community.

They entered the truck.

The young boy asked, “So, where you stayin’ at?”

“At this inn, but that was miles away. I took a bus here, but I had to get off because it was the last stop before it did a round trip. Do you know of any close inns or motels around here?”

“The closest one’s back that way,” said the grandpa. “Probably the same one you were at.”

Hugo looked out the window. The sun was setting already.

“You can spend the night at our place.”

“May I?”

“Sure, you can. We’d love to have a guest like you. It’s been quite some time since we had company.”

“Thank you. I’ll take your offer.” Hugo then turned on his new phone and synced his old information onto it. He saw that he had six missed calls, nine text messages, and eighteen e-mails. He checked them all and came upon his brother’s texts, asking him for a favor regarding Lucas. Once he read them all, he responded.

*

It was lunchtime, and Hana’s heart throbbed like crazy.

The time was here.

The time to give Victor her prepared lunch.

Throughout the entire day, she had imagined countless ways of how to give him the lunch she made. She unzipped her backpack to take out his lunch but saw Logan’s on top. She grabbed and looked at Logan. She was about to call him, but he had walked out of the room. She gave it to Hailey. “Can you give this to the big brat when he returns?”

“Oh, yeah. Today’s your lunch date with Victor.”

“I’m only dropping it off. It’s not a lunch date.”

“He said he wanted to eat with you.”

“No, he said he’d like for me to make him lunch.”

Hailey sighed. “So, you’re gonna come back to join us?”

Hana nodded. She was determined to follow through.

*

Logan entered the bathroom and went to the sink. He splashed cold water at his face. He grabbed the paper towels and dried his face. He headed to the door but stepped to the side when Victor came in.

“Hey, man,” said Logan.

“Hey.”

Logan was about to go, but Victor stopped him with a question.

“Is Hana here today?”

“Yeah. Need her or something?”

“No, I thought she might’ve flaked out on me.”

“On what?”

“I told her to make me lunch, and I think she wasn’t ready for that.”

“Whoa, when did this happen?”

“At the practice game.” Victor inhaled. “I’m not getting in the way, right?”

“Of?”

“You and her…”

“No, man.” Logan shook his head. “We-we’re not like that. Did Coach say something about us again?”

Victor laughed. “No, even if Coach or anyone didn’t say anything about you guys, anybody would think you two were a couple.”

Logan pretended to vomit. “She’s a good girl to hang around with, but she’s not girlfriend material.”

“You think so, but I don’t think so.”

Logan was taken aback.

“She’s cheerful, thoughtful, and careful. She has this way of making the people around her feel comfortable.”

“You praised her too much.”

Victor walked to him. “I know you guys say that you two won’t have a relationship other than being friends, but every time I see you with her, there’s this thing that tells me you two are more than that.”

“Maybe it’s ‘cause I’ve known her since middle school, and we’ve been close ever since.”

“But she’s more of herself when she’s with you than when she’s with anyone.” He pursed his lips and sighed. “I want her to be like that around me.”

Logan didn’t know what to say.

“See you.” Victor left the bathroom.

Logan waited for a few seconds before leaving. When he did, he saw Victor walk from the adjacent hallway with Hana holding a lunchbox in her hand. He pressed himself onto the wall so that they wouldn’t see him as they walked by. “She made him lunch.” He took a breather. “As if I care.”