One day, I heart Josh’ footsteps, but they sounded heavier than usual.
“Mom, come quick. You need to see this!” he yelled from the front door.
I had no idea what was going on and got scared for a moment, and then I saw Josh carrying two babies in his arms. They were newborn twins, barely days old.
“Josh! Whose babies are these? And why do you have them?”
“Mom, they are daddy’s twins… let me explain everything.”
You see, our place is near Mercy General Hospital, and Josh went there to check on his friend Marcus who fell from his bike and injured his knee when he saw Dereck after years of not having any contact with him. He was angry and yelling before he stormed out the hospital.
Josh then learned that Dereck’s girlfriend Sylvia went into labor and wasn’t doing well. She was suffering from a severe infection, but Dereck left her, telling her he didn’t want to do anything with the babies.
“But Josh, how did you even got the babies. And how is this our problem?”
“Sylvia signed a temporary release form,” he explained. “She knew who I was. I showed my ID. Mrs. Chen, our neighbor who works at the hospital vouched for me.”
The babies were so tiny and fragile. I felt sorry for them, but they weren’t ours to care. Honestly, I didn’t want to have anything with Dereck’s babies, but Josh said, “Mom, do you realize these babies are my siblings?”
I took the babies and returned to the hospital. I demanded to see Sylvia, and Mrs. Chen warned me that she wasn’t doing well.
And she was right. Sylvia was barely breathing with the infection spreading faster than doctors hoped to.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t know what else to do. I’m alone—Derek left.”
“I know,” I replied.
“He didn’t want to be involved,” she said, looking at the twins. “When he learned about them and my complications, he walked away. I don’t even know if I’ll survive. What happens to them if I don’t?”
Josh stepped forward. “We’ll take them,” he said.
My chest tightened. “Josh…”
“They need us, Mom.”
“Why is this our responsibility?”
“Because no one else will take it,” he cried. “If we don’t, they’ll be split up in foster care. Is that what you want?”
I couldn’t answer, and just I looked at the babies, my son and the woman fighting for her life.
“I need to make a call.”
Then I phoned Derek from the parking lot. He answered, irritated.
“What?”
“It’s Jennifer. We need to talk about Sylvia and the twins.”
Silence. “How do you know?”
“Josh saw you leave. What’s wrong with you?”
“I didn’t ask for this. She said she was on birth control. It’s a mess.”
“They’re your children.”
“They’re a mistake,” he said flatly. “I’ll sign whatever you need. Don’t expect help.”
I hung up.
An hour later, Derek arrived with a lawyer. He signed temporary guardianship papers without looking at the babies. “They’re not my problem anymore,” he said, and left.
Josh watched. “I’ll never be like him,” he whispered.
That night, we brought the twins home. Lila and Mason. Josh set up a small space for them with a secondhand crib.
The first week was exhausting. Crying, diapers, no sleep, but Josh handled most of it.
Five days later, Sylvia died. She had named Josh and me permanent guardians. Her note read: Josh showed me what family means. Please care for my babies.
A year later, our home is loud and chaotic.
Josh, now seventeen, gave up football and his teenage freedom. “They’re not a sacrifice,” he says. “They’re my family.”
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Bored Daddy
Love and Peace
