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A cold December air swept throughout the town, and Schlatt was holding a swaddled baby. Tears stung at his eyes as he clung the small, frail form underneath him. There was no warning, there was no remorse, he had nobody by his side. He’d cut off his best friend when he found out. The woman he’d hooked up with had gotten pregnant.
Now, he knew it was all his fault, he sure did fuck up this time, but it still shook him to his very core. The woman was pissed, and why wouldn’t she be? He’d gotten her pregnant, she didn’t want to be, and Schlatt sure as hell didn’t want her to be. The guilt overtook him, he thought he would drown in it, as he immediately offered to take the child. And just like that, all of his early adult years, the nice freedom, was ripped away from him and replaced with anxiety, stress, guilt, and depression.
Schlatt took his walk through the parking lot, walking to his car, making sure the kid was alright. He had no money, there wasn’t a way for him to pay for a carseat, so he made up his own. He tucked the kid into some soft piled blankets on the seat, and put a strap over his body, not too tight.
The baby stirred in his sleep, his dark brown hair sticking up in places. Schlatt made sure that the kid would be safe, and hopped into his own seat, starting up the car. He made his way back home, completely silent. He was left alone to his thoughts, and his thoughts alone.
When he pulled into his small driveway, the kid began to cry. Schlatt panicked and said soft comforting words, begging the kid to quiet down. He picked up the brand new baby and rocked him carefully as he brought him inside. His head spun as he questioned what he was going to do, how he was going to feed the kid, where he would sleep.
He barely had enough money to buy hand-me-down clothes as it was.
Finally, the small kid calmed down, falling back asleep in his father’s arms. Schlatt sighed in relief and took a seat on his sofa. He pulled out his phone, and decided to ring the one person he knew could help.
Quackity.
The phone rang, and Schlatt was positive he wouldn’t pick up until, “hello?” The voice of his best friend came to his ear, and it almost brought Schlatt to tears.
“Alex, thank god. I… I know I haven’t spoken to you for a while… I fucked up, man. I-I can’t do this on my own,” his voice began to crack, “I can’t do this Quackity I’m too scared.”
“Woah, woah, man, are you okay? Are you safe?” His friend’s voice was filled with concern.
“I-I hooked up with someone, Quackity, she got pregnant…”
“W-What?! W-When’s the baby due?”
“He’s in my arms right now.”
A silence filled the call for what seemed to be several minutes, before finally, Quackity spoke up. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me for a while? Schlatt, you should’ve told me sooner I could have helped you prepare! I-I-- I’m coming over.”
“I… I don’t know what to do…” Tears fell freely from Schlatt’s face, his body beginning to rack with sobs. He tried his best to be quiet for the kid, as he heard his friend get ready to come over on the other line.
“I’ll be there in an hour, Schlatt. It’s gonna be okay.” Alex managed to comfort him. He eventually hung up after Schlatt was just sniffles, and he held his newborn close, observing the features on his small face.
The boy had fair skin with very light freckles over his tiny nose, and thicker brown hair on his head. He had long, dark eyelashes and a noticeable dimple on his right cheek. He seemed so peaceful, yet his face was scrunched up in a funny way, that couldn’t help but make Schlatt laugh.
Several anxieties plagued Schlatt, as he thought of the different possibilities for his kid’s future. How would he pay for clothes, or for food for the both of them? What about education? He couldn’t just keep the kid home, or homeschool him. Schlatt would need a second job, but he had no clue where he would be able to find one, and before he knew it, he was shaking from the anxiety again.
He just wanted this kid to have a good life.
Schlatt could never be a good dad for his own son.
He wasn’t ready to raise the kid, he couldn’t handle such a big responsibility yet.
He could never be ready for this.
Schlatt peered up at the ongoing fire in the small fireplace, letting more tears form in his eyes. He began to cry again until he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, and was met with a pair of comforting dark eyes.
“Hey J, I’m here for ya, it’s gonna be alright. Let’s figure this out together, shall we?”
Schlatt had to blink a couple times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating that his best friend was in front of him, ready to be there in his worst time. He took the small kid from Schlatt’s hand and handled the baby like a pro. He held him properly, and made sure to keep the baby close to Quackity’s heartbeat, as it was probably a great comfort for a newborn.
“Alex…”
“What’s up?”
“...thank you…”
“It’s no problem Big J, I always got your back. No hard feelings for ghosting me, I know things must’ve been hard to process, but I’m here now.”
The two men sat close while the kid slept, until they found it appropriate to set him on a couch with a pillow close by so that he wouldn’t roll off. They then went into the nearby kitchen where Quackity went through the cabinets to see what they would need to get, and saw what Schlatt had managed to scrap up over the past months.
There were packs of baby food, multiple canisters of formula, some bottles, and plastic silverware and dishes.
“Not a bad start, but we should still get a few things, why don’t we do a bit of online shopping. I’ll pick it up when it’s ready. My treat.” Quackity told him, pulling out his cell phone.
“B-but… I don’t need---”
“Hey, I said it’s my treat, no need to pay me back, J, let me just do this for you.”
Schlatt wanted to argue, but knew there was no use, so he just nodded his head. This seemed to satisfy his friend as the two of them went over a few essential items for the kid. They’d filled the cart quite a bit, and Schlatt still felt bad.
“So, what’s the kid’s name?” Quackity asked.
“His mother gave him the name Toby, but I think I’d like to call him Tubbo,” Schlatt admitted.
“Tubbo, I like it, well, let’s let him know who Dadschlatt and Uncle Quackity are, huh?”
Schlatt playfully punched his friend’s arm as the two of them laughed. He knew that he would never be ready for any of this, but as long as Alex was by his side, everything would be fine. And he was grateful to know that.