AND HERE I AM
Scene opens in a quiet, softly lit baby room.
Colorful toys are scattered neatly on the shelves. A faint lullaby hums from a music box in the corner. In the center, inside a white crib wrapped in mint-green sheets, lies a newborn — swaddled tightly like a burrito, face still red from birth, tiny strands of dark brown hair glued to his forehead by sweat. His bright green eyes stare up at the ceiling.
"Oh,hi there..
You're staring, aren't you?"
The newborn's eyes blink slowly, lips twitching with sarcasm as if he just saw something unpleasant.
"Didn't notice you watching me until now. Creepy. You're probably wondering how the hell a baby is talking to you, huh?" His voice, of course, is all in his head. But his thoughts are far from normal.
"Relax, I'm not possessed. I'm just… aware. I remember everything. And trust me, I wish I didn't. Anyway, well… welcome to my life. Or… my new life."
The baby sighed, even though he was talking in his head.
"Hmmm..oh yeah you probably wonder how I'm aware right? Well because I've been reincarnated. Yes..I'm an reincarnator. I know — sounds cool, right? Classic isekai.
If You used to be one of those who's
read the manhwa, manga, even those fanfics. Some unlucky soul dies and wakes up in another world with a cheat system, plot armor, and a ticket to easy-mode harem life...you know the classic..it sound like dream come true right?.
But let me tell you right now, IT'S NOT..i repeat Its not!
This ain't that kind of feel-good isekai story. Those lazy, clueless protagonists get everything handed to them — cheat system, OP stats, hot chick as their girlfriend, whatever.
And don't even get me started on the fanfics where they instantly become overpowered with the personality of soggy bread.
But here's the part they never tell you. No one even talk of the beginning. Well let me tell you. Let me walk you through it — since no one ever does.
You ever think about what it feels like to be BORN again?
No? Of course not. They always skip to "I opened my eyes and saw my new mom smiling at me!" Bullshit. You don't just open your eyes. You fight for your damn life getting out of that hellhole.
——————————————————
Flashback: The Birth
A hospital room filled with panic and noise. A blonde woman with pale green eyes lies drenched in sweat, gripping the hospital bed with both hands like she's hanging off a cliff. Her face contorted, her breath erratic, and her voice filled the entire ward:
"AAAAAAGHHHH! IT HURTS!"
Her husband — a man with dark brown hair, fair skin, and a green polo shirt soaked in sweat — holds her trembling hand, trying not to panic.
"Y-you got this, honey! Keep pushing! You're doing great!" he stammers, voice cracking like glass.
The doctor shouts to the nurses:
"Head's crowning! We're almost there! Get the towels ready — pulse check! Let's go!"
Their panic is real. The pain is real. And I — currently being squished like a melon in a hydraulic press — am VERY aware of everything going on.
Inside the womb? Yup that's ,That's where I was — getting squeezed like ground beef in a pressure cooker.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! DAMN IT, THIS HURTS LIKE HELL!"
…Is what I tried to say. But it came out as your typical "WAAAAAAAH!"
Yup. That's right. First words in this life were just your average newborn scream. But in my head? Full grown, cursing like a sailor.
My first scream was more primal than any newborn deserves to have. I wasn't crying because I was a baby — I was crying because I had just been dragged out of the human meat grinder called childbirth. It was the most intensely painful thing in my life, well my new life if I may say so.
Pushed out by a warm, wet wall that tried to squeeze me and push me out, oh my gosh, when I opened my eyes everything was dark, only one white light at the end. Its my way out of here.
"Damm it!"i say but just come out like baby sound. But fortunately the torture I'm experiencing will soon end.
And then—
light.
Cold air. Hands.
Rubber gloves slapping my back. And me, screaming like a banshee.
Because by the time the doctor pulled me free like opening a jammed drawer and held me up. My skin was red, I was shivering, and — most disturbingly — my eyes were wide open showing my green eyes.
AAAAAAAAAAAGH THAT WAS HURTS!! THEY NEVER TELL THIS PART IN THE STORY. AGH I'M GONNA KILL WHOEVER WROTE THOSE ISEKAI MANGA—"i say after come out from my mother womb,well of course the thing that come out from my mouth just "WAAAAAAAAAH" baby cries insted my cursing.
My eyes were blind for second seeing the light of the room before going back normal.
And that damn umbilical cord? When he cut it, I swear I almost passed out from the pain like what the hell man I had just been relieved to come out of my mother's womb from the pain after queezing out through the walls of her womb. And you suddenly cut my umbilical cord when I was calm!? You damn bastard. Zero star i give you that if i could.
Doctor (calm, smiling): "Congratulations. It's a boy!"
He holds me up like I'm Simba from The Lion King and hands me to my very relieved — very emotional — parents.
I could see my (new) dad's face and what he looked like. The first thing I heard from him was (tearing up)"Oh, look at him... Sandra, he's perfect. He's—he's here…" hey say with lot tears.
He handed me to my parents like I was a perfectly normal baby, despite me glaring at him like I'd seen the depths of hell.
I looked up at the woman named Sandra, my (new) mom she look at me i can see how she look like pale after giving birth but glowing weakly, smiles with exhaustion.
Sandra: "He's beautiful… Carl, our son is beautiful. That pain… it was worth it."she say with warm weak smile on her beautiful face. I can see both of them shed tears looking at me.
And me? I'm not crying like a baby… okay maybe I am.
But not because I'm a baby. Because I just survived the most violent intro into life ever. And I deserve to cry, damn it.
They both hold me close, eyes shining with real love and relief. And for the first time, something soft stirs in my chest. I smiled, yes I know it was weird. An newborn smiling like he already knew what was happening, I know it looked weird.
They noticed.
They smiled back like nothing was weird about a newborn making eye contact and smiling seconds after birth.
I couldn't stop showing them with smile. I couldn't help it. These two… they actually cared. This wasn't a cold rebirth into a trashy household or some cliché villain family. These people wanted me.
"…They look like good people. Kind. Real. Not like those half-assed anime parents who die offscreen in episode 2." I said in my own head. I can live with this. No — i think i want to.
———————————————————
The back the nurses in that room whispering and murmuring due to MC's unnatural birth. Because MC was born from his mother's womb with his eyes open something that not normal.
Nurse A (murmuring):
"Did… did that baby just open his eyes?"one whispered, horrified.
Nurse B (confused):
"He is. But that's not normal. They're not supposed to open their eyes yet…are they?"said another, eyes locked on me like I was an alien.
Nurse C (older, unimpressed):
"Ssshh. Let the parents have their moment, newbies. Weird or not, the baby's alive and that's what matters. quit whispering like it's a horror movie. Aaagh newbies."
the oldest nurse said to give them a scolding them to be quiet and not say anything about this.
Thank you, finally someone with sense.
Back at this moment my (new) parents show me their love. 'Maybe... maybe this life might not be so bad...' I thought to myself when I felt very comfortable in the embrace of my (new) mom.
But then — just when I'm finally feeling okay…the doctor opened his damn mouth.
Doctor (removing gloves, smiling):
"Congrats again, Mr. and Mrs. Tennyson. He's healthy. Strong little guy too, opened his eyes right away. Rare to see, but not unheard of!"
Wait… Tennyson?
That words already enough make my soul left my body. My blood went cold.
Tennyson.
He said Tennyson.
My last name is TENNYSON?!
...Wait.
Waitwaitwaitwaitwait.
I look up at my parents, who are too busy smiling to notice my inner meltdown.
'No. No. It's not. It can't be. It's a common name, right? RIGHT?! PLEASE BE COINCIDENCE—'I said in my inner head Panic.
But oh boy...it get worst...and i know I'm fucked up already.
Sandra (smiling weakly):
"What should we name him, Carl?" she say to her husband turned his gaze to his husband for a moment before looking at me again.
Carl:
"Let's use the name we prepared."
Sandra:
"Benjamin… And Kirby. After your favorite comic artist."
Oh no.
No no no no—
Carl (grinning):
"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. That's our boy."
Sandra (looking down at me with her motherly smile)"or Ben...Ben for short,... welcome to the world, Benny."Said my (new) mom. She then kissed my cheeks and then rubbed her cheeks against mine.
'WELCOME?! WELCOME !!!! WHAT YOU MEAN BY THAT WOMEN!'
I am going to pass out.
I've just been reincarnated into the Ben 10
I'm…
I'm Ben.
I'M FREAKING BEN TENNYSON?!
THE Ben.
The dumb, impulsive 10-year-old who gets his hands on the most dangerous watch in the universe and treats it like a goddamn toy.
The same kid who fights alien warlords, mad scientists, ghosts, cursed magicians, mutated freaks, soul-sucking clowns, and worse — all before puberty.
This isn't a cartoon anymore.
The colors are real. The pain is real. The blood is real. And if I play this the way he did… I'm gonna die.
Of all the universes… of all the franchises… why this one?! This isn't some goofy cartoon anymore — everything here looks real. The blood, the people, the fear — it's all real.
And that means one thing:
So is the danger.
...ha..hahah I'm going crazy.
Carl(smile warmly):"Look Sandra, look at our Ben laugh, looks like he likes his name."
Sandra (Laughing weakly):"heheh yeah"
——————————————————————————————————————
infant room
Moments after my internal meltdown, I was handed over by my parents to be taken to the infant or nursery room in that hospital. The room was full of newborn babies, weak, small and red like me.Some are in a dome which contains several premature babies. I just looked around the room to double check that none of this was real which ultimately made me realize that all of this was real.
The nurse who took me put me in a crib with a baby, who seemed to be related to me by blood. For several hours I was thinking, still putting my thoughts together, but I ended up spinning my thoughts around in circles.
I couldn't sleep how could I?
I just realized my whole life is a countdown to my demise. For all people why this shit must happen to me. I could only sigh, but the sound of a baby next to me stole my gaze.
I slowly turned my head…And saw her.
A tiny baby, same size as me, sleeping just inches away in her dome bed.
Red hair. Red skin. Soft breathing.
I glanced up at the baby ID above her.
Gwendolyn Tennyson. Born December 27, 1995.
My soul left my body.
Gwen. My cousin or i suppose to say "Ben" cousin.well she..and ben were born 7 seconds apart in canon, but now I'm the who share same birth day and year with her.
...So it's all true....All of it....
This is the Ben 10 universe.
My little body felt weak, I breathed in and out while staring at the ceiling.
Why this franchise, God?
Again...why must this one...
Of all possible worlds, why not some wholesome slice-of-life anime, any silly ahh cartoon?
Nope. I get the one filled with aliens, mutants, cursed magic, bounty hunters, exploding timelines, and warlords with genocide fetishes.
And I'm the idiot who's destined to fight them all..Vilgax,Kevin,Animo,Zombozo,hexside and others dangerous character that could instanly someone. They're all coming....they all would come after me. And I'm supposed to be ten years old when it starts.
I'm screwed.
So screwed.
For a moment, there was only silence except for the sound of the babies sleeping in the room. I opened my eyes, my green eyes showed an expression that I wouldn't back down.
No
I won't die.
I won't go down like canon Ben, who lucked his way through half his battles.
I'm going to prepare.
I'm going to outthink, outplay, and out-survive this world.
Because I'm not some lazy, naive protagonist waiting to get lucky.
I'm me.
And I will live.
———————————————————
SYSTEM?
MC'S POV:
It's been three days since I got yeeted out of my new mother like a slab of screaming meat.
Three long-ass days in this realer-than-real world where everything looks, smells, and feels terrifyingly alive. Not animated. Not cartoonish. No outlines. No exaggerated expressions. No soft physics. Just raw, physical, flesh-and-bone reality.
Three fucking days...since I crawled out of the meat grinder known as childbirth, screamed my baby lungs out, and got officially welcomed into the world as Benjamin Kirby Tennyson.
I've been stuck in this damn crib ever since.
Stuffed animals above me. Cartoon clouds on the ceiling. A damn giraffe plush drooling next to my face. And every time someone enters the room, they look at me like I'm some precious little miracle who just burped for the first time.
I still don't know whether I'm reincarnated or transmigrated. I mean, what's the real difference? Both are equally cursed. One's where your soul hops into a fresh-out-the-oven newborn like me, and the other's where your mind gets yeeted into an already-living body. Either way, it doesn't matter.
While other babies coo and fart themselves to sleep, I've been analyzing this world, grinding through fragments of memories like a malfunctioning processor, trying to piece together anything that could explain why I'm here, what happened, and what the hell I'm supposed to do next.
Because here's the thing...
I know I'm not just some normal baby.
I know I'm not "just born" i've got memories. I've got thoughts. I've got full cognitive reasoning at three days old, all I know is, I used to be someone else someone human a guy from earth hell I don't even remember what the hell my face looked like. Was I'm in 20s? I'm pretty remember enter collage.
I remember i was manhwa guy, read's Solo Leveling, SSS-Class Revival Hunter, Lookism, Omniscient Reader, all that good crap. Hell, I even remember porn. Can't recall my mom's name, but I remember NNN challenges , any argument i had in Reddit, 4chan and VTuber memes. Heck even tiktok.
Yeah. That's the kind of messed up data my brain clung to when I crossed worlds.
What I don't remember?
My name? nope, My family? Nu-uh, friends?nada,i didn't even remember face of the girl I think I once loved...well if i had one...seem I'm an virgin? Aagh,It's like I was copied and pasted here with only junk data left. The more I dig into it, the more I feel like someone wiped me with the world's strongest amnesia spell.
And you'd think I'd feel some kind of deep existential sadness about it—grieve my old self, my old world? Nope! It doesn't make me sad, weirdly,Just... annoyed, you know that itch you can't reach? That buzzing feeling under your skin? That's what it feels like inside my brain.
And so, for the past three days, I've been lying in this crib—wrapped up like a burrito, arms flailing around like a busted puppet, while pretending to be a normal baby—thinking.
I feel annoyed that whoever or whatever threw me into this hellhole didn't have the decency to give me a proper briefing.
No white void.
No bored-looking God in a tracksuit.
No screen that said "you died, LOL, have fun being a cartoon."No glowing goddess saying "I shall give you a second chance, oh chosen one~"
Just straight into a woman's uterus.
Mid-labor. No warning. No tutorial. No consent. If I ever meet that divine bastard who did this to me, I swear I'll punch their holy nuts off....
What? I've been waiting. Oh, believe me.
I waited.
From the second I got dropped into that hospital crib, to the moment we got home and I was laid gently into this overly soft, blue-silk-lined nightmare of a baby bed. I kept thinking: "Any second now… the system will pop up." Oh you know that one.
No system. No pop-ups. No tutorial AI voice saying "Hello, Host!" or "Welcome to the Omniversal Adaptation Program!"Not even a damn glitch.
NOTHING!
No ding. No blue screen. Again no smug God popping into my crib with a whiskey glass and a grin saying, "My bad, dawg. I forgot to explain the rules."
Just silence.
I mean—seriously? Not even a budget-level stat screen? Heck I will accept bootleg system or those weird system from manhua...but i got nothing.
Not even an AI voice. I spent my first night in this house mentally yelling "Status!" over and over again like a deranged gacha addict, hoping some invisible command prompt would trigger.
I even tried gibberish-babbling it aloud—just in case I had a voice-based interface.
But all it got me was a laugh from my new mom, Sandra tennyson that she thought I was a very talkative, active newborn for a few days. She should have felt a little anxious..well I opened my eyes as a newborn, isn't that weird?
But it seems that logic doesn't apply in this world. She still sees me as a mama's boy, her son who always talks nonsense every night.... seriouslly i were shouted system all night from ontop of my lungs. But anything i say just coo coo gaga of baby noise...sigh I'm pissed.
If there's a God out there who threw me into this madness and didn't give me anything to work with—no powers, no prep time, not even a lousy heads-up—then he's a sadist.
And yet…
That same God left me with one thing.
My mind, knowledge and a hell of a lot of manhwa experience.
And my terrifying understanding of just how screwed I am if I don't plan ahead.
Sigh ...Fine....
No system?
No problem.
I'll build my own survival strategy protocol
I don't need some isekai starter kit.
Because if there's one thing I learned from reading all those manhwas and webnovels…It's that relying on powers you don't understand will get you killed.
I don't need cheats.I need time.Time, planning, information... and maybe some disposable meat shields.
Speaking of which...
——————————————————
2 weeks later...that mean today, I finally met the rest of my new family...well original Ben's family.
Yup. The Tennysons are all here. Even the extended ones. I'm in my crib with a fluffy blue blanket tucked up to my armpits, just watching and absorbing everything.
My brain's doing triple backflips trying to map out the timeline. Because sitting here in this room right now, recovering from childbirth, are two women who just survived bringing future chaos into the world.
My mom, Sandra Tennyson, and my aunt, Natalie "Lili" Tennyson, Gwen's mom.
Both look like they ran a marathon while being mugged by gravity and painkillers.
Wrapped in blankets, chatting in hushed voices, sipping warm tea...while the men drink coffe.
Their voices are tired, but there's laughter — the soft, relieved kind that only comes after escaping death. Poor lazy wincing every time her stomach muscles pull too hard from the post-labor tension.
Meanwhile, I'm in a baby crib, eyes wide open, trying to process the Tennyson Family Lore unfolding around me.
Uncle Frank Tennyson is here — Gwen's dad. And sitting in the middle of the room, drinking black coffee while rested in one of the armchair here and looking way too casual to be a retiree, is none other than Max F-ing Tennyson himself. The legend himself. Magister Max Tennyson, the ex-Plumber the RV-driving, world-saving grandpa with a red Hawaiian shirt and a past that could fill a war journal.
He's laughing, sipping coffee, talking with one of his son and a woman I almost didn't recognize at first glance: Vera Tennyson, his sister the cheek-pinching queen of the early episodes.
I watch as she's already grabbed someone else's cheeks—
Poor Ken—Gwen's older brother.
Yeah, Ken Tennyson. That threw me for a loop of headache because if recalled
(Future) Ben named his son also Ken,is he named his own after this Ken in the future? Is this the same kid? Alternate timeline stuff?Uuugh....headache material.
Vera (pinching Ken's cheeks): "Oh my GOSH, look at those widdle cheeks~ You're growing up so FAST! Come give Auntie Vera another PINCH!"
Ken (wriggling): "Nuh-uh! Stop iiiit! I'm not a baby anymore!"
Oof poor kid,that gonna left a trauma
Speaking about Gwen..here is she
Sweet baby gwen My "cousin."
The same age as me. Technically seven seconds older than me if canon is still playing fair. Eyes wide and blinking as she watches me with this weird little curiosity her tiny fingers suddenly reach out and wrap around mine.
Just like that.
I flinch for a moment.
Then sigh...Honestly?
It's… cute... extremely adorable..look she already open her eyes...
I hate to admit it. But yeah… baby Gwen's kinda cute. Not in a weird way—calm down.
Just in that way where you look at a baby and think,
She and I were placed next to each other in the same crib for a "playdate" because apparently, that's what newborns do in this world...playdate,because these adult already assume that a newborn baby is a toddler...what nonsese is that? Heck this can't be called playdate..this more like laydate, why? Maybe because WE STILL INFANT AND LAY DOWN ALL THE TIME??
'Sigh... it useless even i say it out loud they wouldn't understand me' i look back at gwen and studies her.
I look at her little scrunched-up face. Her blinking eyes. Her messy red hair that somehow already has personality.
This is the same kid who'll one day become a mana-wielding badass mage with barrier spells, martial arts, and snark to rival Deadpool.
And right now? she's my cribmate, my playdate partner, and someone that suppose fight with me 24 hours..we later on.
But she doesn't know anything yet.
Just like me except… I remember what she becomes. I remember everything.
.....
.....
And suddenly, it hits me.
....
DING!
Not a system notification.
A mental one.
A plan.
A piece of the puzzle slides into place and my baby-face smirks—an actual smirk.
'why I'm not think of that sooner!' i say said it out loud of course all come out from my mouth just infant sound.
If I'm going to survive this damm universe…
I'm going to need allies.
I'm going to need tools.
And what better tool than a future magical prodigy who's already family? Hahahahahaha!
That's right.
I'll raise her well for me to used in future.
I'll nurture her, bond with her, become the one she trusts most and when the time comes? she won't question me she'll follow me.
She'll fight beside me, not against me.
Not like in canon.
Not with constant bickering and arguments.
This time… Gwen will be mine to direct. My shield and my sword.
In that moment, I remembered one of my favorite Manhwa:"The World's Best Engineer."
The MC, Lloyd Frontera.
That guy face like an ugly potato—but he used his brain, planning, and tongue to manipulate everyone around him.
He built alliances, won favors, controlled people through wit and strategy alone.
He made elve, nobles, knights, and king kneel— not with strength, but with smarts hell even the original protagonist under his hand. Yes he had system but that not effect his intelegent.
If he could do it?
So can I.
"I'm not the original Ben."
But the Omnitrix may still fall onto my wrist years from now…but when it does? I'll already be ready.
This time…
I'm gonna survive ni matter...what because
I'm Ben tennyson.
And I'll do whatever it takes to survive.
———————————————————
———————————————————
———————————————————
———————————————————
OMAKE
Grandpa Lil firecraker
Tennyson family living room, post-birth family gathering. Ben and Gwen lying side by side in a twin baby crib. Max, Carl, Sandra, Natalie, Frank, Vera, and toddler Ken are all present.
The living room was filled with the cozy chaos only new babies could bring.
Blankets draped over armrests, half-empty mugs of coffee scattered on side tables, and the gentle hum of chatter between family members created a warm atmosphere that made even the most hardened hearts soften.
They were all here. The whole family.
Two new lives had just entered the world.
And right in the center of the room, nestled side-by-side in a shared baby crib, were those two miracles—Gwen and Ben.
———————————————————
Max Tennyson sat on the edge of the couch, a hot cup of black coffee in his hand. The smell of cinnamon rolls and baby lotion floated through the air as family chatter filled the living room. His weathered eyes—eyes that had once faced off against alien warlords—were now fixed on something much simpler his granchild.
Ben had his fists balled up like he was mid-protest, kicking slightly, his face animated as if telling a grand tale to an audience only he could see. Gwen lay calmly beside him, blinking with interest and holding onto one of his fingers and blanket like it was the most precious thing in the world.
Max chuckled low, belly bouncing beneath his Hawaiian shirt.
Max (leaning forward, voice gentle):
"Would you look at that? Three days old and already talkin' like he's been through boot camp. Hahaha… my little firecracker."
Carl, standing nearby with his arm gently wrapped around Sandra, looked up and grinned sheepishly.
Carl:"He's been like that since the hospital, Dad. The nurse nearly dropped her clipboard when he opened his eyes the second he came out."
Max (chuckling and suprise):"No kiddin'? Already tryin' to see the world before his first breath."
Sandra (laughing softly, tired but glowing):
"Oh, you don't even know. This little guy talks more than he cries. I swear he's trying to hold a conversation in baby gibberish. First night we come back from hospital? He was having full-blown monologues. Carl and I just sat there listening behind the door. Like... what is he even saying?"
Carl (scratching the back of his head):
"Yeah, we don't know if we should be proud or creeped out. One time he stopped mid-gibberish, turned his head like he heard something, and just stared like a grumpy old man who smelled taxes."
Max leaned back and let out a hearty laugh, cheeks rosy from delight.
Max:"Hahahaha, sounds like he takes after someone I know. Tennyson blood's runnin' hot in that one, for sure. He's got your stubborn face already, Carl."
Carl could only smile while scratching the back of his neck a little embarrassedly by his dad word.Then another Max son frank's joined the conversation.
Frank (chiming in from the armchair, bouncing toddler Ken on his lap):
"Tell me about it. Gwen's been just as intense. She's got a death grip on Ben's blanket—like she's guarding treasure. She's not letting anyone get near her cousin." he said while joining the conversation
Vera (laughing while pinching Ken's cheek):
"Ken was like that too, remember? Except instead of protecting blankets, he tried to eat his. Isn't that right, sweetheart?"
Lili laughing seeing the look on her son's face, feeling annoyed because Vera pinched her.
Ken (wriggling):"I was a BABY then, Aunt Vera!"Ken said while pouting after his aunt pinched his cheek.
Max (grinning):"Yeah, but this little guy's something else entirely. Look at him go…"
Ben, oblivious to all of it, let out a long string of baby noises. His tiny brow furrowed in frustration, his green eyes shining as if trying to explain something grand—maybe a universal truth or a just baby thing that they didn't understand but they found it cute.
Sandra (amused):"Honestly, he only cries if he's hungry or needs a change. The rest of the time, he's… trying to talk. We've been calling him 'Professor Goo-Ga.' because he's talk too much like collage Professor."she said with chuckle in the end.
Carl:"Or 'Mister Midnight Mumbler.'"
Everyone laughed.
Max (smiling warmly, eyes still locked on Ben):"No doubt about it. He's our little firecracker. Probably already plannin' world domination in that tiny head, what do you know?"
He leaned forward, setting his coffee aside, and gently reached into the crib to let Ben grab his finger.
The moment their hands touched, Ben's eyes flicked up and locked onto Max's weathered face he didn't cry, he didn't flinch, he just stared.
Curious. Observing.
Quietly burning with something deep behind those green eyes.
Max (softly):
"…Yeah. You're gonna be somethin' else, kiddo."
Ben blinked. Gripped his finger tighter.
And for a brief moment, Max could've sworn he saw a smirk on that baby's face.
Continue...