The cutes!
Edward smiled to himself as he walked down the alleyway to his and Harvey's apartment, knowing Harvey would be at home already, probably setting the table. He loved what Fridays had become; he worked from 9 till 4, and Harvey worked from 9 to 2, so, for about an hour and a half Harvey had the apartment to himself, and he used that time to make a lovely home-cooked meal for them both. Edward would come home to find the lights dimmed slightly, candles lit, the scent of cooked food flowing through the apartment.
They would share a romantic dinner together, then they would watch an old film, well, half of an old film; by the second half they always became bored and began 'canoodling' on the sofa, the sort of amorous kissing and touching that would bring any good man to the point of frustration. Then, when the film ended and they could take no more; their faces red and voices broken, they would move to the bedroom, and would not re-emerge until midway through Saturday afternoon.
That was their routine, and had been so for the past 5 months, so, Edward was eager to get home, so, nothing could distract him from his path.
So he thought.
But, when he heard a high pitched squeal come from bin, he couldn't help stopping, and turning to look.
He frowned at the bin, wondering if it had been his imagination. He jumped when the noise came to him again.
"What the fuck…?" he asked gently, walking to the bin, his frown deepening.
He threw the lid off the bin, jumping back as he did in case it happened to be some wild animal. When no such animal appeared he approached the bin, and his frown fell into a blank look of confusion, "Wha-I…" he gasped with a tiny laugh.
Inside the bin, on top of a pile of blankets, lay a tiny baby, which looked no more than 4 months old, clad in pink.
"Hello," he said to the baby, looking down at it, unsure of what to do. The thing had obviously been abandoned… What should he do?
He hooked his arm around the baby and pulled it to his chest, holding its head gently, "Hello…" he cooed again, "What irresponsible piece of shit put you in a bin, huh?"
The baby whimpered in his arms, and he began bobbing it gently, "Yeah? Oh it's ok, I know what it feels like to be abandoned too…"
Silently he decided to himself that he would take the baby home with him; what else could he do after all? Leave the poor thing?
He walked the 3 minutes to the apartment block, clutching the baby to his chest and shushing every noise it made. He wondered how Harvey would react to this… most odd of situations.
He held the baby's head under his chin, and pressed the tiny boy to his chest, feeling it breath against him, he unlocked the door, and ascended the stairs quickly.
He opened the door to the apartment, smiling gently at the expected dimmed lights and wonderful smell before he turned his attention back to the baby.
"Harvey," he said quietly, frowning desperately, "Harvey, come here, quick."
"One second Edward," Harvey called happily from the living-room, "I'm just pouring the wine…"
"Harvey," Edward snapped suddenly, "I am serious. You get your fantastic arse here right now."
"What?" Harvey asked from the other room, "Edward you sound like you seen-" he appeared in the doorway, his voice instantly weakening, "…seen a ghost…"
He stood, still, his mouth agape, "Eddie… what is that," he gasped gently, his face turning white.
"…She was abandoned, Harvey, I couldn't just leave her, it's gunna freeze tonight."
Harvey held a hand to his face, "…oh fuck…" he whispered. "Edward you can't keep her, you know that."
"I know," Edward said quickly, "I don't want to keep her, I-I… We'll give her to an adoption agency. B-but they'll all be closed till Monday…"
"So we're looking after some bastard kid for a weekend?" Harvey said with a growl.
"Yes," Edward said indignantly, "It's just one weekend, why are you freaking out?"
"Coz it's a fucking baby!" Harvey shouted, "I'm not ready for that!"
Edward's eyes jumped down to the baby, who had started to squeak and squall at the loud noise, "Oh… hey, hey baby, it's ok, he didn't mean to shout, he's just a big grumpy bum isn't he," he looked up and smirked at the larger man as he spoke, bouncing the baby gently.
Harvey sighed gently, walking to Edward's side and looking down at the bundle of pink.
Couldn't Edward have dragged home a puppy? Or a baby bird? Anything else…
…She was kind of cute.
Edward turned the baby in his arms so she faced outward, towards Harvey, "This grumpy man says he doesn't want you to stay. Harvey," he said, looking up into his pale blue eyes, "You look in her eyes and tell her."
Harvey looked between her and his boyfriend, and smiled softly, "…If it's just for the weekend."
Edward smiled up at him, his eyes full of triumph. "Um… could you pop out and get some nappies, and powder-milk please?"
Harvey frowned gently, "What?"
"Well I could go and get them but I can't take her… you could look after her while I go…?"
Harvey frowned, reaching out to grab his coat, "No, no, you… make her comfortable. I'll go."
"Thank you," Edward sang, he let Harvey out the apartment and walked into the living-room, smiling at the arrangement of lovely food that sat on the table in the corner; steak and chips, Edward's favourite.
He sat on the sofa and turned on the TV, holding the baby on his lap, he cooed at the child and bounced her slightly, stroking her black hair back. She looked quite a lot like Harvey really; same hair and eye colour, "Same cute 'iddle face…" he squeaked happily.
He smiled and watched the baby squirm on his lap, "You are so cute, how could anyone not want you?"
He reached out to poke the baby's nose, making kissy faces at her, chuckling to himself as her eyes followed his finger, "Who's a good baby?" he said sweetly.
He looked over his shoulder, his eyes falling on the tumble dryer; one of the sofa-throws was in there, black and fluffy.
He got to his feet, bringing the baby with him, and he pulled the throw out of the machine. He folded it one handed and arranged the cushions to create a barrier so she wouldn't roll off. He placed the baby on the blanket and stared down at her, "Little darlin'…" he said gently, "…I wonder what your name is… My name's Edward. Edward Nigma. Can you say 'Edward Nigma'?" He waited for a second and watched the baby coo, "…No? Of course not…" he smiled at the small thing, "You don't even know where you are do you…?"
He sat next to the baby and watched her for a minute, lifting his head when he heard Harvey come through the door.
"I asked the guy in the shop," he heard Harvey say, "and I got all the stuff he said we needed."
"There was a lot?" Edward asked.
"Yeah," Harvey chuckled, "$50 for one weekend… Nappies, wipes, milk, that... powder shit that you put on 'em."
"Wow," Edward called, "Good thing you're rich!" Harvey chuckled and walked in, holding three bags of shopping.
"She's doing alright?" Harvey asked, looking at her from over the back of the sofa, smiling gently.
Edward nodded, "Yeah she's fine …I think I want to call her Stephanie."
"You can't name her, she's only staying here for the weekend."
"I can," Edward moaned, "If I tell them that's her name then they'll keep it. It'll be her name forever."
"Edward," Harvey said sternly, "You know they won't let us keep her."
Edward nodded, putting his hand to the baby and letting her hold it, "…Yeah, but… maybe when she's older she'll wanna know who found her and…"
"Edward, no," Harvey said, rejecting the emotion in the man's voice, "You can't go wishing things like that, it won't happen. She won't care about us, she'll want to know her real parents, who ever found her isn't important."
Edward frowned, looking down at the small thing, "…Fine, you're right… I'm still gunna call her Stephanie though, she needs a proper name, I'm not going to go all weekend calling her 'she'."
Harvey sighed, turning to put the baby-items into one of the unused cupboards, "Just don't get too attached."
"She's a human being, not a cat… I can't help it if I get attached…" Edward said, letting the baby chew his finger, "Just look at her…"
Harvey looked down at the child and smiled gently, "They won't let us keep her… We're not even allowed to leave this state, let alone adopt a child."
Edward looked up at him and hummed gently, "I know. But I can still ask right?"
Harvey ran his fingers through Edward's hair, "Asking for the impossible? Yeah, typical Eddie…" Harvey took a seat next to Edward, watching as he tickled the baby's tummy, and she squealed and cooed with joy.
He would have been an amazing father, under different circumstances Harvey was sure he would have.
Harvey leant in and buried a kiss into the man's ginger hair, "Don't let that rub off on her, I want her growing up level headed."
Edward turned and wrapped his arm around the larger man's waist, he nuzzled into the man's chest and hummed happily, "You're not gunna moan too much about her are you?"
Harvey shook his head, his eyes fixed on the small baby, he reached out his free hand and let her grab at his finger, squeezing it tightly, he smiled and sighed, "No.. but… you feed her during the night ok?"
Edward chuckled, "Yeah, deal…"
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