The Dracosius twins sat on either side of a large, shady tree near a streambank with their eyes closed, enjoying the peaceful sound of the gurgling stream. Not too far behind them was their campsite with a tent, a cold fire pit, and their weapons laid out in such a way as to be easily and quickly grabbed, but also not in the pathway. For the moment, the boys had the camp to themselves. Their sister had gone off armed with her bow and arrows to do some light hunting. Their parents were back home, presumably enjoying some time to themselves without teenagers hanging around.

Suddenly, the idyllic afternoon was ripped a part by a loud, piercing wail. Aiden & Zevernus snapped awake and looked around.

“What the hell!?”

In the absence of his sister and mother, AJ let his language slip frequently. His eyes darted around the small clearing in which they’d set up camp. On the far side, the undergrowth rustled as if a person had just darted past.

As the wailing continued, the boys got to their feet and went to investigate. On the ground beside the fire pit sat a small, moving, wailing bundle of cloth. ZJ approached the bundle first. Bending down on his knees, he gently moved the cloth.

“It’s a baby!”

“A baby?”

“Yes! A baby!”

“Well, what are we supposed to do with a baby?”

Panic edged AJ’s 15-year-old voice. The boys had of course seen babies, but neither had ever held one or had to take care of one. The teenager looked at the place he’d seen the underbrush moving and wondered if the baby’s mother had gone that way.

Zevernus carefully picked up the still wailing baby, awkwardly laying the child against his chest and patting the baby’s back. This did not seem to help. Then, he noticed the folded piece of paper that had fallen out of the blanket the baby had been wrapped in.

“AJ, come read this note. Maybe it’ll tell us what’s going on.”

AJ did as he was asked and began reading the tear stained note, “Dear Dracosius family,” he paused, “They know who we are? But-”

“Just keep reading Aiden!”

“Alright, alright! Dear Dracosius family, I am sorry to do this to you, but I am not able to care for my little girl. Please, don’t look for me. I know your family is made of good people, please take care of her. Her name is Grace. She is 3 months old. Thank you.”

ZJ held Grace out at arms length. “Grace, then, huh? Well, Grace, could you tone it down? We’re trying!”

Grace, of course, did not understand and did not stop crying.

“Well, now what?” AJ asked.

Zevernus was silent for a moment, trying to think through the baby girl’s wailing. “Maybe she’s hungry? Look through the blankets. Maybe whoever dropped her off left something for her to eat.” While his brother did that, ZJ pulled Grace back to his chest and began to gently sway as he’d seen his mother do with other people’s babies.

Aiden picked the blanket up and gently shook it. Fortunately for the boys, a bottle full of milk fell out, along with a few extra diapering cloths. “Here we go!” he announced triumphantly.

ZJ shifted Grace in his arms and sat down on the ground with his legs crossed. On seeing the bottle Grace reached for it and cried louder. “Okay, okay! Geez!” the teen boy said as he helped her hold the bottle. Grace immediately began to suck down the milk greedily. Both boys sighed in relief at the welcome drop in noise.

ZJ looked at AJ, “We really gotta figure something out here. We’re not heading back to the city for several days yet. We don’t have anything else to feed her other than this one bottle. And we don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby!”

AJ looked at the baby in his brother’s arms. She had curly hair as black as their mother’s and grey eyes. Now that she wasn’t screaming at the top of her lungs, he thought she was kind of cute in the way most babies are cute.

“I could try to follow the mother’s trail and get her to take the baby to someone else,” AJ offered.

“She asked us not to,” ZJ reminded his younger twin. “She asked us to take care of her because of who we are. She didn’t choose us at random. Though why she brought Grace to us out here instead of the palace or the estate house, I have no idea.”

The boys fell silent as they watched the tiny girl in ZJ’s arms. She finished her bottle and promptly fell asleep.

“Now what?”

AJ looked around and gathered their blankets, along with Grace’s blanket, and made a nest of sorts. “Here, I made a bed for her.”

“Thanks!” Zervernus carefully placed the sleeping baby on the pile of blankets. “Maybe Siela will have an idea about what to do.”

“Do about what?”

The twins turned at the sound of their sister’s voice. She set down the spoils of her hunt and approached her brothers. In a moment, she answered her own question. “Where did that baby come from?”

“We don’t know. We were dozing under that tree over there when all of a sudden we heard crying. By the time we got up and over here, someone had left this baby and disappeared back into the woods. Her name is Grace.”

Siela knelt beside the baby and smoothed back a stray lock of black hair. “She’s adorable.”

“And LOUD” the boys said in unison. ZJ continued, “Whomever left her left a bottle, which she already had, and a note telling us her name and asking us not to find them. Apparently, whatever is going on her parents think she’ll be better off with us.”

“Pack up camp.”

AJ looked at her confusion, “What?”

“Pack up camp. We don’t have anything to feed her. She’s too little for solid food and we only had one bottle. We need to get back home with her, or when she wakes up we’re going to have a very upset baby with nothing to feed her.”

The boys looked at each other for a moment, then the realization of how the rest of the night would go when the baby woke up fully dawned on them. “Right! Let’s go.”

Quickly, the three teens packed up their sleeping mats and tents. Siela used Grace’s blanket to make a sling and carefully tied it and baby around herself. In a few minutes the only trace left that anyone had been there was the very muddy spot where a fire had once been. Fortunately, the group was only a day away from the capital city.

A few hours later, the teens were back at the royal palace. They’d found out from a servant that their parents were relaxing with their uncle, the king, and his wife. They knocked on the door and waited to be let in.

“What do you think they’ll do?” whispered AJ as they waited.

“I don’t know, find someone to adopt her, I guess.” ZJ answered.

A moment later and a servant opened the door with a surprised look. “Oh, umm, your Majesties, it’s your nephews and niece. And.. is that a baby?”

Queen Melody was the first to react, “A baby? Come in, come in! Let me see!”

The skirt of her dress rustled softly on the carpet as she crossed the opulent room to meet the teens half-way. Siela wordlessly pulled Grace from the sling and held her out to Melody.

“Ohh, she’s precious,” the queen said as she moved quietly back to her seat, cooing at the tiny girl. “Jorsten, go to the kitchen and tell them we need a bottle of milk.”

Jorsten looked confused, but started toward the door. AJ helpfully handed the servant the empty bottle from earlier.

“So how did you kids manage to find a baby?” King Eric asked.

“Well, it’s a little odd,” ZJ began and quickly related how the baby had come to be in their camp. He gave his mother the note that had been left.

“So when Siela got back, we headed straight here.”

While the boys related the brief story of how they’d come to be the caretakers of this tiny girl, Jorsten returned with a bottle just as Grace started waking up. She fussed for a few minutes as she didn’t see her mother or anything else familiar, but soon settled down with her bottle.

“Welcome to the family, Princess Grace,” Melody murmured, as she rocked the baby.

“Wait, what? Don’t I get a say?” asked Eric, “you can’t just go adopting a random baby Melody.”

“She isn’t random, Dear. She was abandoned to the care of our family. You know I’ve always wanted another, this is our chance.”

“But, but-”

“Let it be, Eric,” Jasmine interjected, “You’re not going to win this one. Congratulations on your new daughter.”

The king spluttered a moment more then through his hands up in defeat. He moved to stand behind Melody and gaze on the newest addition to the royal family.

“So… do we go back to our camping trip now?” AJ asked, innocently.