43. Starting A New Chapter
Chapter forty-three
Starting A New Chapter
Edward
The next day…
I drag my exhausted body out of bed, not at all ready to start the day.
After coming back to my place and staying up late last night to go over the logistics of Drake’s “sentencing,” long after everyone else had fallen asleep, I’d found myself unable to.
Not because I was worried about what would happen to Drake; he seemed to calm down after we convinced him that there were viable solutions for his situation.
But I couldn’t let go of the fact that all it took was one small slip-up on his part to bring his life to this point.
At any second, any of us could make the wrong choice and have it ruin everything we’ve worked for.
Many people do and don’t have a support system around them to help them through it. Drake is one of the lucky ones.
And it makes me worry about my son's future. What mistakes will he make in his lifetime? Will I be there to help him through it, or is he going to push me aside like Drake did and not want any help?
Only five in the morning. I still have some time.
I peer into Alexander’s bedroom through the ajar door and find him sound asleep. Not a care in the world. He has no idea what’s waiting for him in the outside world.
That scares the shit out of me.
Why do I feel like I need a drink right now?
I leave my son to his slumber and make my way into the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee. Stan’s snoring fills the entire living room and leaves my teeth on edge. I’m so glad I made him sleep out here. I’d have gotten even less sleep if I’d given him the spare room.
I wonder if Drake is going to need a lawyer. Could his therapist vouch for him at his hearing?
More questions to add to the pile of stuff I need to take care of today, and it’s not even my problem. But working in the maternity ward, you learn not to leave any stone uncovered. One missed clue, and that could spell the end of everything.
“Didn’t think you’d be awake.”
Drake’s hushed whisper startles me; I believed I’d been alone with my thoughts this whole time.
“When you have a kid, you learn to make your body get up when you need to. Why’re you up?”
“Who said I fell asleep?”
“Drake...” I don’t need him turning into an emotional mess from sleep deprivation.
“Look, I’ll get a nap in today, alright? It’s not as if I can go in for my shift, remember?” He makes his way over to the cupboards and starts rifling through them before pulling out the small bag of coffee grounds.
“Do you want to start looking into that medical article thing today, or do you want the day to decompress? I can have Maria take Alexander out so you can have the whole place to yourself.”
Drake blinks sleepily back at me, his eyes rimmed red.
“I was planning on going back to my apartment.”
“No, no, no, no. I’m not letting you stay in that place by yourself,” I say as I fill up the coffee pot with water. “In fact, I want you to live here. Temporarily, of course. Until everything gets sorted out and you can get back on your feet.”
“Ed, I can’t do that. You have a kid. I’ll get in the way. You don’t need an extra mouth to feed.”
“Drake, you’re one of my best friends. You think I’m not going to help you out when you’ve hit rock bottom? Plus... in your current state, I’m afraid you might start using again if you’re left alone. This way, I can keep an eye on you.”
Anger is the first emotion to wash over his face, but it eventually fades into acceptance.
“I’m not going to take no for an answer, Drake. So you might as well say yes.”
He drags his hands down his face and groans loudly into them. I know I can be stubborn sometimes, but just this once, he knows I’m right.
“It’s not like I don’t have the room. And it would save you money while you're dealing with all of this.”
“Wait, what am I supposed to do with my apartment in the meantime? I can’t just leave it there empty.”
“I was thinking you should sell it.”
“I love that place!”
“I know, Drake, but if you sell it now, you’ll have more money saved up in your account as a safety net. It’s going to be a while before any of those jobs start paying you money, so at least you’ll have some funds to keep you afloat.”
“... that would make the most sense, wouldn’t it?”
“And hey, maybe I’ll even start paying you a bit for babysitting duty while you’re here.”
“Oh, don’t you start, Ed. I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a child.”
“Maria can help show you. It’s a lot easier than you think when the kid isn’t yours.”
“Why? So I can fuck that up too?”
“This defeatist attitude of yours isn’t helping, Drake.” I finally scoop some coffee out of the bag and dump it into the top of the coffee maker before turning it on.
“I was making a joke, Ed.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not a very good one. Come on, I have some questions to go over with you.”
Three weeks later...
“I don’t remember saying that you could have that cookie, Alex.”
“But I put my toys away!”
“I wouldn’t consider shoving your toys under your bed as ‘putting them away.’ Do it right this time.” Drake takes another sip of his coffee, his eyes glued to the screen of his laptop.
Alex groans and mumbles under his breath as he places the cookie back in the jar and stomps back to his room.
“Can the attitude, mister.”
I snort under my breath as I take care of laundry.
Seeing Drake with Alexander has been a surprising experience.
He’s definitely the strictest one out of all of us.
The first week or so was a struggle for him to get started, but once he got going and found a familiar rhythm, he settled in quickly.
His apartment is still up for sale at this point, but he’s had a few married couples and bachelors show some interest.
The work has been trickling in at a steady pace, small ones at first so he can dip his toes in. But I think after the first week, he’s definitely gotten the hang of what these online journals are looking for so he can adapt to their required writing style.
It also means he gets to choose his hours, as long as he finishes before the deadline, leaving him with more free time to spend doing whatever he wants.
He’s taken up walking to the local park and back at least once a day, both for exercise and to clear his head.
He’s learned from therapy that doing exercise whenever you feel helpless or get hit with a “craving” can be a great distraction and retrain your brain to become “addicted” to the exercise instead.
“Isn’t Maria supposed to be here to take Alexander to his kindergarten interview?”
“She had an early medical appointment this morning.”
“Medical? She knows that she’s living with two doctors, right?”
Drake turns slowly in his chair and locks eyes with mine.
“Neither of us is a gynecologist, Ed.”
Oh. That’s fair.
“She hasn’t... shared any issues with you, has she?”
“Nope, not a word,” he replies, sounding a little annoyed. Maybe I should just leave him to his work.
“There’s bagels and chicken salad in the fridge. A plumber is supposed to be by around two to take a look at the garbage disposal. It’s been acting up again.” I pull on my jacket and kiss Alexander on the head. “Are you going to be good for Maria and Uncle Drake?”
“Yeaaah,” he whines. I’m guessing he’s still bitter about not getting that cookie.
“Two o’clock. Got it. Did anyone figure out what we’re doing for dinner?”
“You know what, Drake? Surprise us. I’ll defer to your judgment.”
Giving him small amounts of control here and there has definitely helped his self-esteem. It stops him from spiraling when he has a task to accomplish, especially ones that provide him with choices.
“I’m going to check your room again, Alex, and if I find any toys shoved under your bed...”
“You won’t.”
“Did you shove them into your sock drawer?”
Alex pouts and makes a beeline back to his room. I cough loudly to hide my amused snort.
“You’re not going to let anything slide with that kid, are you?”
“Hey, you wanted me to take charge, I’m taking charge. I’m not going to let him get away with it if he doesn’t do what I ask him to.”
“Running your own little boot camp?” I chuckle. I can just imagine Alex coming back out wearing his own army uniform, “yes sir”ing and “no sir”ing with a perfected salute.
“How is he at peeling potatoes?” Drake shoots me a look with an amused grin on his face. It’s heart-warming to see him act more like himself again.
“Let’s work on learning to tie shoelaces first. Then we can focus on using the potato peeler.”