Hold my hand.

~3~

[WARNING: the content of this chapter might upset some readers.]

[Monday.]

'Shoes off and straight to do your homework please.'
'But mummy... I want to watch Power Rangers!'
Blake took his shoes off and left them in the middle of the room. Perrie sighed as she picked them up and put them next to the coat rack.
'You can watch Power Rangers for half an hour before bed tonight, but you'll have to be really good!'
Blake let out an excited squeal and immediately took his workbook out of his school bag.
Whilst helping her son's with his spelling, Perrie kept to look at the clock, nervously.
She knew the social worker would turn up at her door any minute. She spent all weekend cleaning and tidying up, trying to make sure they couldn't find anything wrong with her apartment.
As the clock kept ticking though, a lot of other worries came to her mind: will the say that the knife block on the counter is a danger for Blake, or that the food she has in the cupboards is not healthy enough? Or will they have something to say about that same sofa bed that already caused her so many trouble?
The doorbell brought Perrie to reality.
'Who is it mummy? Is it auntie Leigh-Anne?'
Perrie felt her mouth go really dry. 'No, baby. Someone else is coming to see us today.'
The girl opened the door to a tall man, who immediately smiled at her. He had dark skin and curly hair and was dressed very smart, despite not wearing a suit.
'Miss Edwards?'
'Ehm... yes?'
'It's Alexander Oxlade-Chamberlain. We spoke yesterday on the phone.'
'The social worker, sure.'
Perrie didn't know why, but he didn't look like an average social worker. She felt even more intimidated by him.
She invited him in and he immediately introduced himself to Blake.
'Hey buddy, I'm Alex. You must be Blake.'
Blake looked at him and at his mum, not sure about what was going on.
'Sorry, he's always shy around new people. Say hello, darling.'
'It's okay, we're in no rush, are we?' Alex looked back at Perrie. 'Is there somewhere we can talk for a bit?'
Perrie looked around as to show him how small the apartment was. 'Not exactly a lot of privacy in here, sorry.'
'I get it. No worries.'
Perrie quickly typed something on her laptop and put it in front of Blake. 'Guess what, it's your lucky day! You can watch Power Rangers whilst mummy talks to Mr. Chamberlain.'
Blake put his mum's headphones on before almost shouting 'Mummy, you're the best mummy in the world!'
Perrie kissed her son on the head and went to sit at the dinner table where Alex was waiting for her.
'Tea, coffe, Mr. Chamberlain?'
'Call me Alex, please. And a glass of water would be just fine, thanks.'
The two settled down and Alex began to ask Perrie a few questions.
'Can I have yours and your son's full name and date of birth, please?'
'Perrie Louise Edwards, tenth of July, 1998. My son's legal name is Lucas Johnathan Beckett, born on the ninth of August, 2015. He goes by the name of Blake Edwards since December 2017.'
'Can I ask why?'
'Because of his dad.' Perrie decided to give him the whole story before he could ask any more questions. 'I got pregnant when I was seventeen and stupidly believed I found true love in Blake's dad. Things began to escalate pretty quickly after we had the baby and after a couple of years I decided to leave Newcastle, where I lived with my mum, to come back to London, where I was born.'
'I'm sorry Miss Edwards, but I need to know exactly what happened.'
'He was always very controlling. By that point, I wasn't allowed to go out at all or call anyone. Then a couple of weeks before we left, he started to bring guns and other stuff home. We got in a really big fight one night and I called the police. Theo, Blake's dad, was arrested. Turned out he stole a few cars and assaulted someone. I left that same night. I didn't know for how long he would've been in jail so and I didn't want anything to do with him ever again. The last thing he shouted at me was that he would get back to me and take his son back.'
Alex noticed Perrie became really upset telling him that story. 'I'm sorry, I know it's upsetting, but we need to know all the background.'
'Social services got involved back then, but because Theo got arrested they immediately closed the case.'
'How was life after that?'
'It was okay. I mean... as you can see, we don't exactly live a lavish life. But we're happy, we've got each other and that's all the matters to us. I used to work three jobs up until a couple of weeks ago. Then I finally find a good job for an accountant company. We still have lots of debts but I'm working on it. I love my child, I'm working really hard to give him a decent life. I know I'm not perfect but...' her voice started to shake, So Alex reached out to hold her hand.
'Miss Edwards, it's okay. No one is trying to say that you don't love your child and I can see you're trying your best. We just want to help find better solutions for you and Blake.'
'The school's complaints are nonsense.'
'I'm sure, Miss Edwards. Is it okay if have a chat with Blake?'
'Sure.'
Perrie felt better after talking to Alex. He seemed very understanding and friendly.
'Blake, Mr. Chamberlain would like to talk to you for a moment.' Perrie took Blake's headphones off, causing the little boy to sighed loudly.
'But why, mummy?'
'I promise you it won't take long, mate.' Alex winked at Blake. He then continued. 'I see you've got a football, do you want to go and play for a bit?'
Blake was now thrilled at the idea. He put his jumper on and lead Alex to the communal garden of the block of flats they lived in. Perrie watched them playing for about fifteen minutes from the small balcony.

'Mummy, did you watch me?'
'Yes baby, you were so good! It's almost dinner time, why don't you go and wait for me in the bathroom to have a shower?'
Alex waited for Blake to leave the room. 'He's a great kid. You should be proud of him.'
Perrie smiled without saying anything.
'I had to ask him a few questions, but to be honest with you, I'm not concerned in the slightest about Blake or his relationship with you. He thinks you're super-mum and has nothing but love for you. I'm just worried about you're overall situation. This place...' he looked around the room '...you guys need better. I know money wise you can't afford anything else at the moment, but I'll see what I can do with the council and we'll try and find you a better place.'
'Oh my God.. that would be... a dream... but, I mean...'
'It's my job. I promise you, you and Blake will be just fine. The only issues is...'
There it was. Perrie knew there had to be something else.
'...I can't close the case until we sort your situation out. That means you'll have to have visits every four weeks until the case is closed. I'll be your case worker so it will be me visiting and it will only be to make sure everything is still alright with you two, nothing serious.'
'It's okay then.'
'Great. I'll email to you a copy of the report I'm gonna do about the case and I'll see you in about a month.'
'Thank you, Mr. Chamberlain.'
'Call me Alex. And it was a pleasure meeting you.'

[Good morning everyone :) I keep on waking up later and later, but that's what time off work is for lol how are you all? Are you all coping? xxx
I get so excited every time I post a new chapter of a meeting book lol I hope you guys are enjoying it by far and finding it interesting, so let me know what you think ;)
And now that Alex finally arrived, the story gets much better haha
Thank you to everyone who's taking an interest in this new book, much appreciated xxx stay safe everyone 💞]