Ricardo had never had an easy relationship with Father's Day. Either as a child, with just his mother and sister, or as a young man going through various struggles, wishing he had more of a positive male role model in his life just to help him find his path through all that had been thrown at him and continued to be thrown at him.

That begins to slowly change, however, with first Andre and now the twins. He sets aside the pain and resentment from his younger years and faces the day for what it is- a day for his children to mark his presence in their lives, to remind him how loved he is.

When Andre beams at him early Sunday morning, slapping syrup-y hands together, Alicia giggling helplessly over the pancakes they'd cooked together before bringing Ricardo a tray for breakfast, with the pancakes, toast, orange juice, coffee, orange juice, and a wild mix of condiments that Andre seemed to think would be needed to make Ricardo's meal sufficiently palatable.

When the twins wake, one at a time, and Alicia patiently places them in his arms, first Clara, then Mariana, until Ricardo is surrounded by all three of his children, Andre leaning against his side and staring at his sisters with a look of awe on his face. "Daddy," he says, lip starting to poke out in a small pout.

"Yeah, mi hijo?"

"Will Mariana and Clara ever be big enough to play with?" he asks. "I feel like I've been waiting forever."

Ricardo laughs helplessly. "Si, of course," he says fondly, wishing he had a third hand to tease his son, ruffle his hair, hug him close to kiss the top of his head. "But they are only a few months old as of now. Give them a little more time, once they start walking and talking, you'll get it."

"I'll probably be an adult by then," Andre muses, flopping over at his father's knee and dramatically dropping an arm over his eyes, as he's seen his mother do many times.

Ricardo barks out another laugh and nudges his son lightly. "Such a cruel fate," he teases him as Alicia bustles in with bottles, swapping Clara for the bottle that Ricardo begins trying to get Mariana to take.

"Mama, can I help?" Andre asks, scrambling up onto his hands and knees to hover over Clara, eyes wide and all thoughts about age and his sisters being too small to be fun disappearing as quickly as they'd come. As Alicia helps him steady his hands, holding onto the bottle as his sister slowly drains it, Ricardo watches them with a loving smile.

Yeah, life- and Father's Day- is, all and all, pretty damn sweet now.