Snow and the Delinquent Eleven

Chapter 8

Sorry for the delay guys. School was catching up to me. Anyways, here's an updated chapter. Enjoy :)

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Chapter 8

Harry was beautiful.

There was no other way to put it. He was past the stage of being simply cute. All Snow wanted to do was cry. Cry because she was holding the most precious little thing on earth.

"Hi Harry." Snow slowly stroked the bridge of his tiny nose with her index finger. It was past one o'clock and the rest of the house were fast asleep. Snow was beyond exhausted but she couldn't sleep. Not when she was still holding Baby Harry.

The lights were off and the only the way she could see the room was thanks to the luminous light of the full moon. The baby was peacefully dozing off into the land of where all babies as cute as this little one went...or at least that's what Snow was told.

His eyes closed and his mouth were slightly open as his lips made a small oval shape. Snow couldn't help but grin at his small nose as it flared every time he breathed. For a moment, she panicked. What if the baby wasn't really asleep? What if...what if he drifted off towards his death? That was before Blake calmly reassured her that newborn babies spend at least 80% of their days snoozing.

Snow sighed in relief and frustration. Relief because Harry was okay, and frustration because a boy, non other than a sixteen year old had more knowledge about babies than she did.

Returning from her thoughts, Snow rapidly blinked. She peered down at a moving Harry. His eyes remained closed but his body was fidgeting. At first she thought he was only snuggling further into the blanket, but that was soon crossed of the list when she saw that his forehead crease and his tiny arms flap.

It's when a loud wail escaped his lips that Snows heart picked up.

Immediately she stood up from her bed and circled around the room as she tried rocking him back to sleep.

"Hey," she groaned. "Please don't cry." Walking around the room and bouncing him gently was a piece of work. Snow tried so hard not to burst out in a loud cry herself.

Harry wailed on and on and on. He didn't stop until she gave up and sat down staring at his crying form.

Snow sighed and hummed. It was a small haunting harmony, she remembered her mother used to sing it when she witnessed her crying around the house.

Snow didn't recall the entire lyric, but she did catch her mother reciting this over and over again during the song.

"Gentle Maiden Thief. Gentle Maiden Thief. Gentle Maiden Thief. Gentle Maiden Thief. Come and steal my beef. The villages are approaching. Be hasty on your feet, they're grooming the merciless chief.

Gentle Maiden Thief. Gentle Maiden Thief. Gentle Maiden Thief. Gentle Maiden Thief. You shield your heart using your poisonous darts. The villagers are fuelled. Hurry, run and get a head start.

Gentle Maiden Thief. Gentle Maiden Thief. Gentle Maiden Thief-"

"What are you singing?"

Snows head snapped up only to see a groggy Derek blocking the doorway. It was pitch black, but she was still able to see the outline of his messy hair and his tall form.

Yawning he staggered inside.

"Shhh." She hushed. "Harry woke up, I'm trying to put him to sleep."

"He's already asleep."

Surprised, Snow peeked down to find that Derek was right. Harry's eyes were sealed shut and his tiny hands weren't flapping anymore.

A second later, she heard the sound of footsteps until she felt something heavy sit next to her.

"Give him to me."

Snow hesitated. Breathing out slowly she carefully passed Harry over to Derek.

Of course, she wasn't entirely relieved that a different person was taking over. She was more astonished to discover how disappointed she felt.

Derek simply held Harry.

After that, there's was a complete and utter silence. The only sound they heard was the crickets from outside and the owls hooting in this lonely night. Neither felt like saying anything. Snow only watched Derek hold onto Harry like he never wanted to let go.

"Harry wasn't adopted you know."

Snows head snapped to Derek's. "What?"

Derek nodded. He stood and placed Harry gently back into his crib. Using the blue blanket he covered Harry's body.

Sighing, he returned to sit next to Snow. "One night, Dad was drunk...I don't know...I think some business plan went wrong."

"Drunk?" She gasped. The father she knew would have never gotten drunk. Composed and polished Adrian always felt allergic towards alcohol. He thought of them as "the poison to my thorns."

Derek chuckled. "It wasn't a regular thing. He only did it when it was getting too much for him."

Snow nodded for him to carry on.

"Like I said. Business plan went wrong which led to him drinking too much in his office. He sometimes keeps a stash of liquor in one of his locked cabinets."

"Let me guess." Snow rested her chin on her palm. "You used to sneak in and take a quick taste?"

Derek turned to her as if she was a toy that was forever lost. "You did that too?"

She shrugged playfully. A small knowing grin on her lips.

He snorted and looked back ahead. "I guess we are related."

"Go on."

"What made it worse was he left drunk -and returned the same way." He thumbed backwards like Carressa was standing all primped up behind them. "The bitch he calls "wife" was home acting concerned and shit -but he just moved right by her as if she wasn't even there."

"What happened?"

She could see Derek's eyes glaze over as he told her this story. Reliving the past must have not been easy. He didn't look like the type to tell camp fire tales.

"Around...I'm not sure, I think 8 months later? A heavily pregnant woman appeared at our doorstep claiming the baby was Dads." Derek scratched his head. "Of course Dad being a noble man, his only answer was to let her stay. That's only after he found out that the baby was really his."

"What's her name?"

"Her name is Melissa. She was a college student.
Around your age now."

Melissa? She sounded so fam...

"When Harry was born. Melly was gone, along the with the money she received during her pregnancy."

Snow eyes widened. "Sh...she left? As soon as she gave birth? Wha...wha-"

Derek glared. "If she was going to leave. Leave." He shook his head and stood up to walk to the door. Before he opened the door, he paused. "But to have the nerve to take the money the second your child is born is one of the lowest blows you could throw at anyone."

Snow couldn't wipe the sympathetic expression she held on her face. Even with the moonlight being concealed by the smoky clouds for the meantime, she could still sense how tense Derek was. What Melissa pulled must've hurt him the worst.

"Anyway." He started. "I'm only here to give you a warning. Don't stick around if you're going to disappoint. It's bad as it is that we've been spat out by the system. Being somebody else's trash never has it's advantages."

Derek opened the door and was about to leave.

Snow was stunned by his words. Abandonment was obviously not new to him.

"Derek?" She called out quietly, careful not to wake the baby, she walked over to where he froze.

He didn't need to respond, with his back to her, she focused her eyes on the back of his head.

"You're not trash. None of you are."

Derek left after she said what needed to say.