"𝗦𝗛𝗛, 𝗬𝗢𝗨'𝗥𝗘 𝗢𝗞𝗔𝗬," Joe murmured to the baby as he picked her up out of the crib. "You're okay," he repeated once he had her in his arms.
Joe, now cradling the small child to his chest with one arm, reopened the door to his child's room and stepped out into the hallway before making his way to the kitchen. Turning on the light, he made his way to the fridge to retrieve some milk.
"Wha!" the baby babbled, grabbing onto the fabric of her father's sweatshirt and scrunching it up with her tiny hands.
"Shh. Everyone else is asleep." Joe, having only woken up when the baby began crying, was still rather tired, and couldn't seem to remember how to warm the milk up for his child. "Crap," he murmured, rubbing at his stubble and looking around the kitchen. "How do I even do this?"
"Whaa!" the baby grumbled again, clutching tighter to her father's chest and beginning to cry.
"No, no, no," Joe said, rocking her gently against his chest as he began to walk back towards his own room. "Please don't cry. Please. I'm trying."
"Hello?" another sleepy voice asked as Joe adjusted his baby against his chest. "Joe?"
"Hey. Sorry to call you this late, but I kind of need some help," he said softly into the phone.
"What do you need help with this early in the morning?" the girl asked as she began shuffling around her room.
"She started crying again, but I forgot how to warm the milk up," he admitted. A soft sigh could be heard from the other end of the line.
"I'll be over in a few minutes, alright?" she asked.
"Thanks, Eliza. I'll let you in when you get here," he said, smiling in relief.
"Yeah," she replied.

"𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗛, 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗞 𝗦𝗢𝗢𝗡," Joe whispered sweetly to baby Eleanore as he opened the door. "Hey, Eliza."
     "Hey," she replied as she quietly set her bike down outside the door. After she stepped inside, Joe closed the door behind her and followed her to the kitchen. "So, she needs some milk?"
     "Yeah." Joe sat down in a chair with Elly resting against his chest as he rubbed at his stubble. "I was trying, but I forgot how you said to warm it up."
     "That's fine," his friend whispered as she began working. "I don't mind making it. It doesn't take long, anyways."
     "Thanks." Joe sat at the kitchen table as he rocked and soothed the baby that was quietly crying against his chest. "I'm sorry, Elly. I'm sorry. I tried."
     "Here." Eliza handed her friend the bottle of milk. "You need me to give it to her?"
     "I think that I've got it." He adjusted his child into the crook of his elbow and held the bottle up to her mouth.
     "You're doing good," the girl said as she watched her friend feed his child.
     He laughed quietly. "I don't think so. I couldn't even remember how to warm up milk for a baby."
     "It's okay," she said quietly as she sat down and looked at him. "You'll get it eventually."
     Even with her encouragement, he only shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think so." She saw a tear roll down his cheek.
     "Hey. What's the matter?" Eliza reached over and rubbed his shoulder.
     "I'm an eighteen-year-old dad, Eliza." His voice cracked. "She doesn't have a mom, and I agreed that if we kept the child, I would raise it by myself. That my parents wouldn't help. Jason doesn't know anything, either." He laughed quietly at that. "I don't know what I'm doing. Should I have...Should I have even kept her?"
     "Hey, don't say that," Eliza said. "Here, let me have Elly. I'll burp her and put her back to bed."
     "M'kay." Joe gently passed the child into his friend's arms. He watched as she left the kitchen and disappeared down the hallway. After a few minutes, she came back into the kitchen.
     "She's asleep." Eliza sat back down in the chair beside her friend and faced him. "What's going on, Joe? You haven't brought that up before."
"When Em told me she was pregnant, she said she wanted to get an abortion. I said I would raise it if she would keep the baby, and she did, but then we broke up after..." Joe set his hands firmly against the table as they began to shake. "And my parents agreed to let me keep it, but that they wouldn't help with raising another child..."
"Joe..." Eliza said, reaching over and holding his hands in her own.
"What if she was right? What if I should have let her just get an abortion like she wanted?" Joe began crying again. "I don't want to fail my kid. I barely know how to feed her. What if...What if..."
"Joe, stop it. Come here." She stood and pulled her friend up into a hug. "You did the right thing. You knew an abortion wasn't right. And she's your child. You love her, and you are doing your best to raise her. That's a good thing, alright?"
"Yeah." Joe stood up and nodded, wiping the tears off his face and rubbing at his stubble. "Yeah."
"Call me if you need anything, alright? You know I'll come over." Eliza looked up at him.
"Okay. Thanks."

     "𝗜 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨, 𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗬." Joe smiled down at the little baby as she slept. Giving her a stuffed animal to sleep with, he tucked her back in before quietly closing the door and heading back to his own room.