From the moment the baby was brought into his apartment, her mother looking so proud of what she made, Jonathan Good was interested. He wanted to know more about the small baby, like her name and what her smile looked like, but their mothers were going a good job of keeping her away from him for fear that he'd mess up and hurt her. Or at least he assumed. But he got his opportunity when they left to go sniff their white powder, he didn't understand what it was then but he didn't really care, in the other room. He then looked to the baby who was sleeping peacefully in the clunky carrier and slowly moved from the chair he was sitting in and moved to sit in front of her on the floor.

She looked so happy just being asleep in the dirty and used carrier, and for a moment he felt bad for her because she had to be here. But he couldn't just watch her sleep. He really liked to touch things, and she looked really soft with her pale skin and dark hair. So, very slowly, he used only his index finger to stroke her tiny balled up fist and froze when her eyes opened slowly.

Bright blue eyes stared into a matching set of blue and Jonathan instantly found himself fearing the repercussions of making the small baby cry. But instead she let out a small yawn and continued to look at him, watching as he wormed his small finger into her tiny fist and smiled. He knew that he was pushing both his limits and hers, but that's what he did. He liked to test people.

"Jonny! What are you doing!?" Her mother shouted, bringing Jonathan's attention from the little baby and to her mother. He didn't like being called Jonny, it didn't feel right to him. Big boys weren't called Jonny, that was for babies. He was Jonathan the big boy. Not a baby. She was a baby.

"I'm sorry. She didn't cry so I thought it was okay."

"Huh. I guess that's fine. You wanna hold her?"

"I can?"

"Of course you can." She smiled, and Jonathan had to think about the first time he had ever been smiled at by his mother's best friend. "On the couch, I'll hand her to you."

Jonathan quickly scrambled to sit on the couch, excited to be able to hold the baby. He heard her mother quietly hush her as she picked her up and carried her over to where Jonathan sat. He saw her smile down at the bundle before handing her down to him. Once she was properly positioned in his arms her mother left and Jonathan smiled down at the bundle. He was surprised when she smiled back up at him and reached up towards his face, but it was then that he knew.

He was attached to the little baby. And he hadn't even learned her name yet. If only he knew then the great lengths he'd go to just to keep her safe and happy.

He didn't notice their moms come back with a camera until he saw the flash of the disposable camera. Then he looked up from the baby to see them smiling.

"Jonny and Isabelle. Maybe they'll get married." His mom suggested before both started cackling hysterically. He didn't like it when they laughed, it sounded scary to him. Eventually they went back to do more bad things and Jonathan looked down to Isabelle to see that she had fallen asleep in his arms.

It became a trend for six year old Jonathan to care for the infant Isabelle, since their moms were often too high to realize that the baby was crying. He'd quickly learned how to feed her, dress her, and change her diapers so that she wasn't suffering while he was home. He felt bad while he was at school, always wondering if she was being properly taken care of.

When she'd started to sit up on her own and held her own bottles, things were a bit easier since his little arms wouldn't have to do as much maneuvering around her body. But at the same time, things got difficult. After she started sitting, she started crawling and he'd have to figure out unique ways of corralling her so that she didn't get into their mother's drugs or get herself hurt on whatever was on the floor on any given day. But once he figured it out, it was smooth sailing from then on.

He just hoped things would always be this easy.