Thirteen-year-old David Garcia stood on the porch, holding onto a machete tightly, hacking at the wooden posts, face appearing like a livid tomato trying to bench-press two-hundred pounds.
"I studied so FUCKING hard for FUCKING exam! How could I FUCKING FAIL it?" David bellowed, the machete going back and forth, wooden shards going all over the front porch and yard like water droplets. A man who was walking his dog that afternoon paused in front of the Garcia house, wondering what all the fuss was about; when he saw the machete in David's hand, though, he fled, refusing to be David's second target.
A moment later, a pale blue car rolled into the Garcia household's driveway, near David. From the driver's door emerged a concerned looking Salvador Garcia, who was looking at his son with intense eyes.
"David!" Salvador bellowed, stomping one foot onto the ground. David suddenly froze, eyes widening, before unconsciously dropping the machete onto the ground. Salvador demanded, "What have you done, mijo?"
Beside him, was his dear wife, Elena, who was holding onto her pearls, while her other arm tightly held a pale blue bundle against her chest.
Slowly, David turned to face the music, at least one tear falling down his face. "Pa… I failed my exam. I passed all of my practice-exams, but I failed the actual one."
Salvador walked up to David before he tenderly and paternally held onto David's shoulders, "David–we all have failures in life; what matters is that we atone for what we did wrong in life."
Elena emerged, looking at her son with love-and-concern laden eyes. "Pa is correct, mijo; in fact, we have something more important on our hands." Elena pulled the bundle from her chest and carefully showcased the tiny life sleeping inside to David. A single tuft of dark hair sat on his head, his skin was as smooth as silk, and his face looked more peaceful than butterflies in a spring meadow.
Javier.
David slowly took Javier's sleeping body from his mother's arms, the tear on his face finally falling down to the ground. David muttered, lovingly gazing at Javier's form. "I can't believe it…" David looked at his parents with a wonder-kinged face, caringly holding little Javier against his chest. "Javier's finally here."
Salvador's voice broke through David's awe-struck state. "David, promise us that you will guard Javier with your life. Protect him, be there for him, and never let anything harm him."
David looked up at his father, determination shining in his eyes as at least two more tears fell from his eyes. "I promise, Pa. I will protect Javier with everything I have. Nothing will ever happen to him as long as I'm around."
Salvador clapped David's left shoulder, encouragingly. Elena and Salvador wrapped their arms around their sons, love dripping from their hearts for them.