Chapter Text
David always got off work at ten at night. It was a pretty bad shift, but at least it worked with his schedule. Gwen was typically asleep by then which always left David to sit alone and catch up on homework or eat a much-needed dinner. This night was somewhat special.
David cautiously opened the front door to their apartment. No lights were on, which was a good sign. Gwen wasn’t having one of her late-night existential crises. Which was good for an entirely separate reason; David always hated the fact that Gwen thought such dark things. Regardless, David snuck in as quiet as he could possibly be. He shifted the bundle in his arms to close and lock the door. He gave another cautious look around before tiptoeing to his room. He tried his best to avoid the squeaky floorboards, but the truth was that he never actually snuck around the apartment at night before. David stepped right on the noisiest board he had ever heard. It sliced through the silence like an obnoxious knife.
The bundle in his arms whimpered, causing David to stiffen. He tried to shush it without making too much noise, but the bundle decided to whine louder. David, now slightly panicked, decided to hum to the little bundle. It seemed to work a little bit.
“David, what the fuck are you doing?”
David yelped and the bundle started crying. He sighed in defeat and turned to face Gwen who had now turned on the hall light. She stared at him with perplexedly as well as annoyance. “What is that?” She pointed to the jacket ball in David’s arms.
“Umm,” David couldn’t seem to look Gwen in the eye. “I may have, possibly, found an abandoned child and, maybe, decided the best course of action was to take him home?” He grinned nervously.
Gwen put her fingers to her temples with a grimace. “That’s… incriminating, David.”
“I couldn’t just leave him.” David frowned.
Gwen glared at him. “You could have called the police or something! Jesus, David, don’t you ever think ahead?”
Someone pounded on the wall they shared with the next apartment. “Could you keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep here!”
If Gwen could bust through her skull from pressing so hard on her temples, she probably would have. “We’ll deal with this in the morning. For now --” she pointed at David’s arms. “-- shut him up. I’m going to take some Nyquil.” She left with a shuddering sigh.
David looked down at the baby in his arms. He was so small and helpless. Why would calling the police be the first thing on David’s mind? He just wanted to get the child out of the cold and someplace safe. He didn’t think a police station would be very inviting. But Gwen’s words were finalizing and this baby was going to the police whether David had a say in it or not. Still, David was going to make the most of the one night he had with this child. He was going to make this child have the most comfortable stay here -- even if it meant staying up all night. David walked into his room and shut the door with his foot.
The baby hadn’t stopped his screaming. David frowned for a second before deciding to hum again. The baby didn’t seem affected at first, but he slowly started calming down until only slight whimpers remained. David felt quite accomplished at this. “How ‘bout we go to bed?” He whispered. The baby blinked up at him and David couldn't help but smile.
David set the baby down on his bed before he went over to his closet. The bed needed to be somewhat baby proof so David gathered a bunch of random clothing items and lined them up along one edge of the bed to make a barrier. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be needed, but it was just a safety precaution. David laid down on the bed, careful to move the pillows away from the baby. As David looked over, he couldn’t help but feel attached to the tiny human. “I think I’ll call you Max.” The baby snuggled closer into David’s jacket, causing David to smile again. “Goodnight, Max.”
The next morning Gwen woke up with a headache. One of the first thoughts that crossed her mind was the fact that David basically kidnapped a child and brought him into their fucking apartment . They had to get the kid to the police as soon as possible. It wouldn’t be right on any moral or ethical level to keep the kid here. Maybe he had relatives somewhere. Maybe he would be dumped into foster care -- that was really none of Gwen’s problem. She just wanted the kid gone before she was sent to prison for harboring a child without consent from any legal guardian. If she earned enough money to live on her own this wouldn’t be a problem.
“Good morning, Gwen!” David’s cheery voice was piercing to Gwen’s ears. She always hated how he was a morning person.
Gwen mumbled something that resembled a greeting and headed straight for the coffee machine. As she mulled about the kitchen, her eyes caught sight of David in the living room. The kid was with him. This seemed to drive a spike through her headache; of course David would take the time he had with the kid as bonding time. She sighed in annoyance before deciding to confront David. “David.” She stood in front of him with crossed arms. “You know we’ll have to take him in today.”
David didn’t look up at her, like a child avoiding his mother’s gaze. “I know.”
“And you’ll probably never see him again.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I just want Max to have a good time, even if --”
“Wait, wait,” Gwen cut in. “Did you just say Max?”
David paused. “I may have.”
“Did you… did you fucking name him , David?” Gwen all but hissed at her idiotic friend.
David chuckled nervously. “Maybe?”
Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why did you do that? When you name things, you get attached to them -- and I know how you are when you get attached to things.”
“Sorry.”
What a load of bull shit.