Halt rode away from the countryside where the baby's parents were killed. He glanced, not for the first time at the sleeping boy, swaddled in his lap and then to the rising sun bordering the horizon, scattering hues of pink and orange across the sky. If they made time well, they should make it to Araluen today and hopefully Halt could sleep in a proper bed and not on the hard dry ground. The baby made a gurgling noise and Halt lowered his gaze to watch as he scrunched up his eyes and moved both fists up to rub at them before Halt gently stopped him, he wanted Will to sleep as long as he could before they reached the castle and rubbing his eyes would definitely interrupt his slumber. He watched as he fidgeted a bit, Halt holding him gently in his lap to avoid him falling off Abelard altogether, sighing as he settled down and returned to his dreams. This boy would be the death of him. After a couple days with Will, Halt already found himself paranoid around the baby's activities, sure he was only around 6 months old but whenever he cried, it was hard to ignore the wriggling of doubt and worry that stirred within him.
By lunchtime the tall turrets of Castle Araluen were in sight and Halt had to smile at the sight of them, he knew where he was going first. Halt slid gracefully off Abelard and retrieved Will from where he was still surprisingly resting on the saddle. A stable boy scrambled up uncertainly to him, seeing the green and grey cloak, marking him as a ranger and not to mention he had a small sleeping baby wrapped up in white cloth, bundled in his arms, which must have made for a weird sight. After some persuasion, Halt begrudgingly passed over his horse's reins and went to climb the stairs up to the commandments office.
He didn't knock on the door, he never did, but this time he did close it more carefully than usual to not wake a still sleeping Will. Crowley looked up and studied him for a moment, he opened his mouth then shut it again, seemingly too confused to form a coherent sentence. Halt slumped down in a chair opposite him, still holding Will in his arms. "So..." his friend trailed off.
"So?" he asked.
"So you go off to search for a man's family who saved your life and return with a baby." he raised and eyebrow at him.
"Yes well I suppose that's fair. Daniel had a wife who died fighting off bandits, I was too late to save her but this is her son, Will." He maneuvered Will slightly so Crowley could get a good look at him, holding him more upright against his chest before returning him to his original position.
"Aw he's so cute Halt, but what are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, with Will, are you going to keep him or give him to a family?"
"I don't know," Halt looked down at the little face and scrunched up nose. He watched, lost in thought as Will's long eyelashes fluttered open and his warm brown eyes stared into Halt's darker ones. "Here," he passed Will over to Crowley while he stretched his arms, "I don't have anything to carry him in, so I've been practically holding him the whole day." Crowley nodded and looked down at Will, a small smile breaking out across his lips. "Why are you making that face?" Halt asked sarcastically and Crowley rolled his eyes.
"It's called smiling Halt, normal people do it a lot, you should try it." It was then Will started to wriggle and his eyes filled with tears and he started to cry. The commandment started to panic. "Halt, do something he's crying! Is he sick? I know babies cry a lot. Is he hungry?" Halt chuckled slightly and held his arms out, letting Crowley pass Will back to him. Immediately, he stopped crying as much as Halt rocked him and wiped the tears from his cheeks. Crowley saw Halt smile at the sight and he laughed. "You're going to try and keep him aren't you?" He looked at his friend knowingly.
"If I can," Halt responded. "But it's going to be hard, I'm sure Pauline will look after him, when I go away, if I ask but... what if we both go on missions at the same time?" his smile turned into a frown.
"I'll look after him." Crowley stated simply, "Being Commandment basically involves a lot of paperwork and I don't need to be here to do that." he gestured to his study walls.
"Really?" Halt asked.
"Really."
"Thank you Crowley." Halt stood to leave, anxious to get some good nights rest.
"Your welcome Halt. Bye Will." he waved at Will who was now looking around at the new environment when he spotted Crowley and reached a hand out, fingers spread wide, from beneath the warmth of his blanket. "Hey look, he's waving goodbye." Crowley chided and smiled at Halt who smiled back and closed the door behind him, with a click.