After a few nights of camping out under the stars and a few days of walking, the children found an abandoned house. It was a little while away from any sort of town, but it was close enough. Most important, it was shelter. And though it needed some fixing up, it was a stable sanctuary for them. They walked in, and Victor sniffed around, took the linen off the couch and flopped down on it.
"Whadaya think, Jimmy?"
James looked around and nodded. "Looks good." Elizabeth was by this point running around the room squealing happily. Victor picker her up by the back collar of her dress.
"Shut yer mouth already!"
Elizabeth just giggled and squirmed, amazed by being suspended midair. Victor put her down when she started squealing happily again and swatted her backside.
"Listen, kid. Sit down there," He pointed to a corner. "and SHUT. UP." Elizabeth looked at him with puppy eyes, pouting and a few tears running down her face. Victor barred his teeth to her and she reluctantly obeyed. He then turned to James.
"Hey Jimmy, I guess we got ourselves a kid ta take care of. I'll be tha pa and you can be tha ma." He said laughing and flopping back on the couch.
James rolled his eyes and turned a little red. "Why am I the ma?"
"'Cos I say so. I'm older. And the frail'll grow up to be very confused if she has two pas…"
"She's gonna grow up confused anyways… and how areWE supposed to raise her? I'm too young to be a pa!"
"We'll manage. And no ya ain't. Besides, I already said yer tha ma, anyways."
James ignored the last part. "A decent one?"
"Ya don't have to be decent to be a pa, Jimmy…." He said nearly growling. He rolled over on the sofa. "Now go figure out where tha kid's gonna sleep."