*Evan POV*

WHAT THE HELL DO I DO?!

Despite my panicked state, the eggs kept cracking. I looked around for anything that could help me, but I couldn't just glue the eggshells back together. The babies inside had to come out somehow.

I NEED AN ADULT!

Just as I was about to take action and bring Helputt or Nezha to share my suffering, one of the eggs cracked open. A small girl's head poked out from under the cap-like top of the shell, which was too big for her little head and remained perched on top like a hat. The girl was the most adorable, tiny thing I had ever seen, with black hair and big, blinking dark brown eyes. She looked up at me and rubbed her eyes with her soft, small hands as she adjusted to the light.

As the first egg cracked open to reveal a small girl, the second one hatched simultaneously, revealing another cute little girl. The shell of this egg slid down the girl's head, revealing large cat-like triangle ears with golden fur behind them and white fur peeking out from the open side. The second girl had striking golden hair and beautiful ocean-blue eyes. Her facial features were similar to that of the other girl, so I could only assume that they were twins.

The twin with golden hair also gazed up at me before rubbing her eyes with her tiny hands. Meanwhile, the other twin with black hair had finished rubbing her eyes. To double-check, I removed the eggshell that was resting on her head like a hat and discovered that she also had cat-like ears atop her head.

With their adorable little eyes fixed on me, both girls extended their arms in a gesture that indicated they wanted to be picked up. What took me by surprise, however, was their next word... "Papa!" they exclaimed in unison, their cat-like ears perking up with excitement.

Welp, I guess I'm a father now.

… What the actual hell did I get myself into?!

Well, on the bright side, they're so damn cute that I just want to squish my face into them! By the way, weren’t they born like five seconds ago? How in the hell are they already talking in a language I understand?

…You know what? I’m not gonna think about it. The guide better have answers to all of this. Firstly, I need to get these two dressed up or something.

*A few minutes later*

Annnd There! I thought to myself as I finished putting these two in diapers. They both lay on my bed waving their tiny arms and glancing around with innocent curiosity, occasionally fixing their gaze on me.

It's a good thing the dressing table can magically create clothing because it provided me with diapers for the twins. Also, I have some experience taking care of babies from looking after my younger siblings and cousins, so putting diapers on was second nature to me.

By the way, these little girls also had one fluffy tail each. The golden-haired one had a tail that was golden with a white tip, and the other girl had a black fluffy tail with a white tip. I had to cut a hole in the diapers to accommodate their tails and ensure they were comfortable but I couldn’t help but sigh.

What did I get myself into?

They say curiosity killed the cat, but it made me A FLIPPIN' DAD!!!

I should've known that newly hatched animals imprint on the first person they see as their parents. Let's just pretend I'm their duck parent or something for now so I don’t feel guilty for any reason. Though, I do have to say, these babies are seriously advanced. I mean, they just hatched a few minutes ago and they can already crawl and call me papa. But it seems like they only know that word.

I still tried to speak or converse with them, but all they would do is respond with an adorable "Nya" or purring sounds. And, inexplicably, they always seemed to want to crawl towards me. To satisfy my curiosity, I sat down on the bed to see what they would do. Soon enough, the one with black hair began to climb up my clothes and ended up laying down on top of my head like a hat, purring contentedly. The other one climbed up to my shoulder and joined in with the purring as she rubbed her face with mine. I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the cuteness of it all. It was almost too much for my heart to handle.

With the two little ones on top of me, I started contemplating whether I should raise them secretly or tell everyone about them. Both options have their own pros and cons. If I raise them secretly, then nobody else can take care of them while I’m doing my work, and if I get in trouble... no, I shouldn’t do that. It’s best if I just tell everyone about them now.

I grabbed the golden-haired baby from my shoulder and placed her on my lap before I screamed out, “Mom! Dad!” I realized a second later that I shouldn’t have done that since the baby in my lap and on top of me jolted from fear and looked like they were about to cry. I hugged them both and tried calming them down while waiting for both Helputt and Nezha to come in.

I didn’t have to wait long as the door was slammed open, which made the babies scared even more as they started making whimpering noises. “Evan! What happened!?” said Helputt, who had burst into my room followed by Nezha, who looked equally worried. I guess that they were worried because I never call them like this, so they thought it was an emergency.

Now... how do I tell them?

"Uhhh, I don't quite know how to put this, but... congratulations on becoming grandparents?" I said as I turned around to show them the two frightened babies clinging to my lap.

“Wha-?” Helputt's expression shifted from worry to confusion as the babies in my lap cautiously looked at their grandparents. Meanwhile, Nezha's face was anything but confused - she looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

Suddenly, she let out a high-pitched squeal and charged towards me like a crazed fan, bulldozing right over Helputt, who was in her way. The babies were momentarily startled by the commotion, but Nezha, with hearts in her eyes, gently reached out to pick them up. The golden-haired baby was still scared and clung onto me tightly, but the black-haired one took the gamble and reached out for Nezha's embrace. Nezha gingerly lifted the baby up and squished her face against the baby's chubby cheeks while shrieking in pure joy.

“What in the world is happening here?” Helputt groaned, still holding his head while sprawled on the ground.

“HELPUTT! WE'RE GRANDPARENTS NOW! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!” Nezha screeched, her eyes shining with glee. It doesn’t seem like she has any questions about where I got the babies from, where’s my spouse, or anything related to that; she’s just content with having grandchildren.

“Oh. My. God.” Helputt hurried over to Nezha, who was cradling the black-haired baby, and leaned in close to the infant's face. "Well, hello there, little one," he said in a high-pitched, baby voice.

The baby stared at him blankly for a few moments before breaking into a wide grin and saying, "Papa!"

Helputt spluttered in surprise. "N-no, I'm not your father, I'm your grandpa," he corrected her. "Say grandpa, grandpa."

The baby furrowed her brow in concentration, trying to process Helputt's request. After a moment, she reached up with her tiny hands and grabbed onto his nose. "Garnpa!" she exclaimed triumphantly as Helputt looked like he was going to melt away from her adorable actions.

Looks like these babies can also learn or understand really easily too. The guide wasn’t kidding when he said these demi-humans are really strong.

While the grandparents were having the time of their life, Luna rushed into my room after hearing all the commotion.

“Mom! Dad! Evan! Are you alright!? I heard screaming!”

Helputt beamed at Luna and exclaimed, "Luna, check it out! Evan's now a dad!" He stepped back to reveal the baby in Nezha's arms.

Luna's expression froze with shock, and I wondered why, but I quickly realized that her reaction was appropriate for hearing the news that her brother had become a father. There were gasps from behind the door, and suddenly, Luna was knocked over by a stampede of people rushing in to offer their congratulations. It was a déjà vu moment as I remembered what happened to Helputt, but I quickly recognized the mob as Mia, Lucy, and Oswald.

“Congratulations!” they all said in unison. The happiness was short-lived as Luna pried her face away from the floorboards and quickly yelled out,

“Wait!” We all turned to look at Luna as she demanded to know, "Evan! Who's the mother?" Her tone was angry and urgent, but I had no answer to give her except a shrug.

“No clue.”

Everyone looked at me with confusion and disbelief, so I quickly clarified, "These two hatched from those abandoned eggs I found." I pointed to the eggshells scattered on the floor. "After hatching, they started calling me 'papa' annnnd that's pretty much the whole story."

Luna stood up and quickly asked, her voice devoid of anger now, “S-So, you’re saying that these aren’t your kids?”

“Well, you can say that.” I made a helpless expression. “I did search around for their parents, but I couldn’t find them. And they call me papa, so I guess I have to take care of them now.”

Luna let out a sigh of relief and clutched her chest, but I decided to ignore that odd gesture and focus on the baby in my lap who started smacking my chest and parroting the word “Papa”.

Helputt approached me and reached out to grab the baby in my lap. The baby gazed at him expressionlessly for a moment before eventually surrendering and raising her arms to be lifted up.

I finally had no baggage on my lap, so I could finally stand up and ask the main question that had been on my mind for a while now: What do they eat? For babies, it would typically be mother's milk, which we don't have. But maybe they can eat Mana like Tania and the guild master?

Well, there’s only one person who can help me out here.

Jeff!

“Guys, you all keep on playing, I’ll be right back.” I waved goodbye and rushed outside before anyone could stop me and made a straight bee-line towards the NPC’s house where Jeff usually is.

Luckily, I remembered that Jeff usually hangs out near my house, so I didn't have to go far. In fact, I had made him stand outside my house for no apparent reason, almost like a gatekeeper.

…Okay, it wasn’t for no reason, it’s just because I don’t like him.

I had a quick chat with him and, thankfully, my main problem was solved. The babies can eat mana, so a couple of my mana balls should do the trick for now. I wanted to talk to him more about how they just know the English language, but that can wait. I don’t want the babies to just randomly die due to starvation.

As I returned to my room, I noticed Luna sitting in a corner with a glum expression while the others were engrossed in playing with the babies. I asked Mia what was wrong with her, and she said, “Well, Sis tried to make the babies call her mama, but the babies only shook their heads and said, ‘Not Mama.’ We all just guessed that they didn’t like her that much.”

That… kind of makes sense.

"Alright, everyone," I called for their attention. "It's time to feed the babies, so please put them on the bed."

They looked at me with confusion, probably thinking that there was no mother to feed them mother's milk. But they placed the babies on the bed nonetheless. I conjured up two 20Mp mana balls and gently placed them in front of the babies. The balls were bigger than the babies themselves, but they eagerly grabbed them with their tiny hands and feet, their eyes lighting up at the sight of the blue, translucent mana balls. They were slow at first, but soon they were fully engrossed in their meal, their little tongues licking the mana balls with delight. I'm pretty sure all of us couldn't help but smile at how adorable they looked while eating.

A few seconds later, Jeff walked in and picked up the eggshells left behind by the babies. He said he needed them for research to learn more about their species, so I agreed to let him have them. Gradually, the others started to leave because they had things to do until it was just me, the babies, and Helputt and Nezha. We all sat there, watching the babies eat their fill, completely captivated by their adorable little faces.

Now the hard part... I have to name them.

I suck with names, but I might as well try. If my names suck, I can just make Helputt or Nezha name them. Now then... Let's see...

Goldelius and Blackalicious?

No, sounds racist for some reason.

Ebony and Ivory?

Nah, sounds weird.

Devola and Popola?

Nope, sounds wrong for some reason.

Retinazer and Spazmatism?

No, those are just the twins bosses you face later on in Terraria.

Mario and Luigi?

I'm not even trying at this point.

...AHHHH! I can't think up a good twin name!

Maybe Hope and Faith!

...Wait, that's actually not a bad name. Alright, it's settled then.

"Alright, I guess I should give you both names now," I said. As soon as I said that, the babies stopped licking the mana balls and looked up at me with expectant eyes. To my surprise, they seemed to understand what I was saying. Even Helputt and Nezha were watching them with interest. I looked over to the black-haired baby and said, "Your name is Faith." Then, I turned to the other baby and said, "And your name will be Hope."

The babies both smiled and let out a happy "Nyaa." I guess they liked their new names.

"Faith and Hope, huh. Those are great names," Helputt commented as the duo went back to eating their fill.

Anyhow, I sat next to the babies and discreetly took out a magic skill book from my inventory. Since Helputt and Nezha refused to leave my room, I might as well make myself comfortable. Also, I'm not reading the magic skill book just 'cause I'm curious or anything. It's because I usually learn something new about the skill which helps every now and then and sometimes even pitches me new ideas or hidden skills. A prime example of this is how I accidentally found out the attack characteristic of Mana Ball because I read a random book that explained how you could theoretically increase your mana spell damage with your emotions. It's helpful regardless, so I might as well read.

I later glanced over at the bed and saw that Helputt and Nezha were still playing with the babies, even after they had finished eating their mana balls. It's quite hard to believe that they were born just an hour ago. It looks like Jeff wasn’t lying when he called them one of the strongest races in existence. Eventually, the babies grew tired and curled up into little balls on the bed, covering their faces with their tails, and eventually sleeping, purring softly.

Helputt and Nezha noticed that the babies were getting sleepy, so they nodded at each other and gently got up from the bed. Nezha then turned to me and asked, "Evan, where did you find these adorable little ones? I have no idea what kind of creatures they are." I could hear a hint of concern in her voice.

While one of my hands was busy holding the book, I raised my other hand to reassure her. “Don’t worry, I searched all over the place for their parents, but I couldn’t find anything.” I then placed the book down and started talking seriously. “I asked Jeff before if he knew anything about their races, and what he told me was shocking.”

Both of their eyes narrowed as I continued, “Their race was one of the most powerful races in existence thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, some kind of calamity happened, and their races went extinct. Jeff doesn’t know precisely what happened, so it's just bits and pieces. Other than that, the only reason he can figure out how these two survived was because of some kind of curse that made them never hatch for the rest of thousands of years, until now. I guess my presence somehow broke that curse, but I don’t know the main reason. It could be just because I’m a Hero.”

Helputt lowered his gaze, lost in thought. "Completely extinct? That doesn't make sense. It can’t be the Cultists who caused it; otherwise, they would have taken over the world by now."

I shrugged my shoulders, “Well, either way, we don’t want to wake the girls up, so let’s talk about this some other time when I get some more info about them, or if Jeff finds something out.”

With a heavy heart, Helputt and Nezha exchanged a final glance with the babies before leaving the room. The door closed softly behind them as their footsteps faded away down the hallway. I gazed out of the window and saw the orange glow of the sun slipping behind the horizon. The night time was near, and I had to get back to my nightly grind, which I kept a secret from my other family members. But this time, there’s a problem.

Turning back to the sleeping babies, I couldn't help but smile at the sight before me. Faith and Hope were snuggled up together, using their fluffy tails as makeshift blankets. Their tiny chests were rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern as they purred softly in their slumber. It was a precious and heart-warming moment, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth spreading through me as I watched over them.

In any case, I knew I had to leave the room silently to seek out Emma the Nurse. Luckily, I found her sitting in her room and was able to speak to her without drawing any attention. "Master Evan, what brings you here?" Her face remained as expressionless as ever as she greeted me.

“Emma,” I said quietly, “Did you know I have kids now?”

“Congratulations, Master Evan.” Her face remained devoid of any expression, just like a bot.

"Thanks, but I've got a favor to ask of you. Can you take care of them whenever I go out?"

She nodded her head. "Of course."

"Awesome! Because I need to leave immediately." Emma stood up from her wooden chair. As a precautionary measure, I summoned a couple of 20mp Mana balls and handed them over to her, emphasizing the importance of only giving them to the babies and not Tania the dryad. I have tested the Mana balls' lifetime, and they don’t seem to expire, but Tania tends to chew them up when I'm not looking. So, at best, I can only assure a few hours of life expectancy for the Mana balls. After that, it's a matter of hoping they don't expire.

Now that that's done, I guess it's time to leave the house.