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Schlatt took a deep breath, flopping back onto the couch. He didn’t know why he had bothered with cleaning the apartment. He was going to get judged anyway. High school junior, living in the tiniest fucking one-room apartment, cosleeping on a hide-a-bed with his 4-year-old brother.
The Christmas tree sparkled in his peripherals. The ornaments were very bottom-heavy, placed where Tubbo could reach, but Schlatt had put a few toward the top and the middle, per his insistence. The little paper star Tubbo had made at his daycare was clothespinned to the top.
It was pathetic. It was pathetic, and yet Tubbo had smiled and clapped with glee once the dollar store lights had been plugged in.
The kid had a pretty shit home life.
Schlatt sighed, and grabbed his glass of whiskey, taking a sip as he sunk further into the cushions. He was glad it was winter break. He didn’t think he could deal with homework.
A knock at the door brought him out of his reverie. He groaned, set down his glass, and hoisted himself up, heading to the door. When he opened it, a rather cheerful-looking man was waiting on the other side.
“Hey, are you Tubbo’s dad?”
“Kinda.”
“Ah, great, I got the right apartment then. Thank you so much for letting him come over today, he and Tommy had a blast. They-.” The man was interrupted by Tubbo at his side, yelling out and reaching toward Schlatt. Schlatt hoisted him up and slung him over his shoulder. The kid shrieked in delight.
“Holy shit, you look about Wilbur’s age.” The man muttered, more to himself than Schlatt.
“Soot? He’s in my math class. Cool guy.”
“Yeah, him. I’m glad you think so. I couldn’t have asked for a better son.” The man smiled.
“Ah, so you’re the famous Phil.” Schlatt laughed. “I’d love to continue this conversation, but you’re letting all the cold air in. Wanna come in?”
“I can’t. I’ve got Wilbur and Tommy waiting in the car.”
“They can come in too.”
“Alright.” Phil nodded and walked back to the car. Schlatt closed the door and deposited Tubbo onto the couch. He giggled as he landed.
“Hey, bud. Did you have fun at Tommy’s?” He reached forward and ruffled his hair.
“Yeah!” Tubbo smiled up at him.
“That’s good. I’m friends with his brother. Just never made the connection that his Tommy was your Tommy.”
“Cool! Can I have a sip of your apple juice?” Tubbo reached for his glass.
“Oh, no, don’t drink that. That’s not apple juice. You can have some apple juice though if you’d like?”
“Phil gave me orange juice when I was at his house today.”
“So?”
“Juice is a special treat. And I already had juice today.”
Schlatt tried to hold back his wince at that statement. He knew they were poor, but did the kid really think that juice was a special treat? He was failing his fucking brother.
“Well.” Schlatt tried to smile at him. “It’s almost Christmas. You can have another glass if you want one.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Here, I’ll get it for you now.” Schlatt made his way to the fridge and swung it open, grabbing the juice. He was pouring it into a sippy cup when the door opened again, and Phil walked in, this time with Tommy and Wilbur.
“Tubbo!” Tommy shouted out, running onto the couch and pulling his friend into a hug.
“Hey, guys,” Schlatt said, handing Tubbo his sippy cup. “Welcome to Casa de la Schlatt.” He gestured grandly to the room around him.
“Tubbo, why is your house so small?” Tommy asked.
“Tommy!” Phil scolded. “You can’t say things like that, that’s rude!”
“I don’t mind.” Schlatt laughed. “Wilbur, how you doin’ man?”
“Pretty good, pretty good.” Wilbur nodded. He sat down on the couch.
Phil’s eyes drifted nervously to the glass sitting on the coffee table.
“Oh, shit, sorry, no manners. You want a drink, Phil?”
“Oh, no. Um, I’m good. Thanks.” Phil said, sitting down on the couch as well.
“Wilbur?” Will shot him a glare. “I’d offer you one, but I know you don’t drink.” Schlatt covered.
“Thanks,” Wilbur said.
“So, Schlatt. Is it just you and Tubbo here, then?” Phil asked.
“Yup, just us. I don’t mind though. He’s a pretty easy kid.” Schlatt glanced at the clock. “Do you guys wanna stay for dinner? I’m about to start cooking, and I don’t mind setting out some extra plates.”
“Well, Techno’s spending the night at Dream’s, and I could use a break from cooking. Wilbur, you down?”
“Yeah, sure!”
“Great. The remotes on the table, you guys can put whatever you want on the TV. Hope you like spaghetti.” Schlatt reached forward, grabbed his glass, and went to start cooking.
“That’s perfect, thank you.” Wilbur smiled at him. Schlatt grabbed a pan and heard the TV turn on. Someone started scrolling through channels, but soon Tommy and Tubbo were chiming in with their recommendations. It was stopped at Home Alone. Schlatt filled the pot with water from the sink and set it on the stove. He turned the knob and lit the burner.
“Hey.” Wilbur came up next to him.
“What’s up?” Schlatt added a pinch of salt to the water.
“I never realized it was just you and Tubbo here. What do you do when you have school?”
“Same thing adults do when they have work. Send ‘im to the daycare.” Schlatt dumped in the box of noodles.
“Well. You know. If you ever need help. Phil would watch him in a heartbeat. I know the daycare’s a little expensive.”
He tried not to grimace at Wilbur. He downed the rest of his glass. “I’ll think about it.”
They stood together in silence for a few minutes before Wilbur spoke again. “It’s gotta be hard, doing this alone.”
“It’s better than the situation we were in before. I’m just glad he doesn’t remember our fuckin’ parents.”
“Were they shitty?”
“Very. Hey, hand me the strainer, would ya?”
“Yeah.” Wilbur reached up to the rack above the sink and pulled down the little plastic strainer, handing it to Schlatt. “Well, my parents were pretty shitty too. The ones before Phil. So. I guess what I’m trying to say is if you wanna talk about it, I’m here.”
“Thanks man. Means a lot.” Schlatt grabbed 5 bowls from the cabinet. He emptied some of the noodles into a separate bowl, before dumping pasta sauce into the pot. “Tubbo doesn’t like marinara sauce.” He explained to Wilbur, even though the boy hadn’t asked.
“Cool.”
“Foods ready!” He turned and called to the boys on the couch. “I don’t know how much everyone wants, so serve yourselves.” He said, before fixing himself up a bowl. He topped off his glass of whiskey and gestured to Tubbo’s bowl with his head. “Hey, Will, could you hand that to the kiddo for me?”
“Yeah, sure man.”
“Thanks.” Schlatt smiled at him, before bringing his food to the couch. Eventually, everyone was situated. Phil leaned over and turned off the TV. Schlatt normally kept it on during meals, but Phil seemed like one of those “Sit around the table and have a conversation during meals” type of people.
“Sorry there’s no table.” Schlatt felt the need to apologize. “Not really enough room, in here.”
“It’s not a problem Schlatt. Thank’s for the food.” Phil smiled at him.
“No worries. Let’s eat!” Schlatt responded.
“Wait!” Tubbo shouted out. “We need to pray!”
“We don’t normally pray at dinner bud,” Schlatt asked, confused.
“We do when people come over!” That part was true. The only guests they ever really had were the old church ladies from the food bank, who would come over and cook them a pity meal after hearing about the poor 16 year old raising his kid brother on his own.
“Phil, do you guys pray at dinner?” Schlatt asked.
“Not really. I don’t mind if you want to, though.”
“Fuck it!” Schlatt set down his glass. “Let’s pray!” He reached over for Wilbur’s hand. Once they had all joined hands, Schlatt closed his eyes and bowed his head.
“Hey, big man. I know we’re probably not in the best standings right now. Or, ever. But, thank you for providing us with a roof over our heads, and food to eat. Thank you for placing Tommy into Tubbo’s life. For placing Wilbur into mine. I ask that you bless this food, and that Phil, Wilbur, and Tommy have a safe drive home. Amen.” He lifted his head. The group followed suit, and they began eating.
“So, guys, how was your day?” Phil started.
“It was so fun!” Tommy immediately started talking. “Tubbo and I colored matching pictures at daycare today, and then we got to play superheroes at home, and now we have spaghetti! And I love spaghetti!”
“That’s wonderful! Wilbur, what about you?”
“It was alright. I didn’t do much. It’s nice to be able to see Schlatt though. Schlatt, how was your day?”
“Oh. Good, I guess. I dropped Tubbo off at daycare, and there weren’t any idiots at work, which was a nice change of pace. I got to wrap some Christmas presents too, since Tubbo was with Phil.”
“That’s great! I can’t tell you how hard it is to keep any Christmas gift a secret, with 3 boys in the house.” Phil laughed.
“I can imagine,” Schlatt responded.
The conversation continued on from there, but Schlatt kind of zoned out, passively listening as he alternated between his drink and his noodles. He only zoned back in when it was time to take everyone’s dishes to the sink.
“This was a lot of fun. I wished we talked more during dinner, Schlatt.” Tubbo said. Schlatt tried to ignore how that felt like a punch to the gut.
“I know, I’m sorry bud. I’m just normally tired at the end of the day. But I’ll try harder, promise.” He leaned down to lock pinkies with Tubbo.
“Well, I think it’s time we head out.” Phil stood up. “Thank you for having us, Schlatt. It was lovely.”
“Yeah, anytime.” Schlatt leaned forward to shake his hand. “Tubbo, say bye to Tommy.”
“Hey, text me sometime, okay?” Wilbur said, placing a hand on Schlatt’s shoulder. “We can leave the kids with Phil and go do something.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Schlatt flashed a smile at them before leading them outside. He waved bye as they all headed to the car. He slumped to the ground, pulling his cigarettes out of the pack in his front pocket. He lit one and took a hit.
“You shouldn’t smoke. It’s bad for you.” Schlatt hadn’t even noticed Phil come back. The man sat down next to him.
“Yeah, I know.” He took another drag.
“You shouldn’t drink either.”
“Yeah. I know .” He shot a glare at Phil.
“Something’s bothering you,” Phil said, straight to the point. Schlatt wasn’t sure if it was his comforting aura, or the alcohol flowing through his veins, but he had no problem opening up.
“I’m a shitty fucking parental figure. I work so hard and this kid still thinks that juice is a special fucking treat. I can’t even give him a normal family dinner. I’m failing him.”
“I don’t think you’re failing him,” Phil responded.
“You’re crazy.” Schlatt laughed, shaking his head.
“No, seriously. He’s happy . And he thinks the world of you. You should’ve heard him at our house today. That kid adores you. Sure, I don’t approve of the substance abuse, but you gotta be doing something right, to be in a situation like this and still wind up with a happy child.”
The front door creaked open before Schlatt could respond.
“Schlatt? I’m tired but the couch is in couch mode and not bed mode.” Tubbo said.
“Oh, you’re not going to bed yet, kiddo, you still need a bath.” He smiled at him. Tubbo wandered over and sat next to him.
“I’m gonna head back now. But you’re doing great, Schlatt.”
“Thanks, Phil,” Schlatt said, and then the man was walking away. He took another drag of his cigarette.
“You have a fire stick,” Tubbo observed. “Can I have a fire stick?
“No, buddy” Schlatt laughed. “The fire sticks are bad for you.”
“Then why do you have one?”
“You know what? You’re right.” Schlatt put the cigarette out, and set it aside. Tubbo crawled forward and wriggled himself under Schlatt’s arm.
“I love you Schlatt.” Schlatt froze for a second, before responding.
“I love you too kiddo. Now come on, let’s go inside. It’s cold as fuck out here.”