stumbling into line (sidemen ff)

Chapter 26: 'He's Simon Jr.'

The room they sat in was grey and dull.  It exuded professionalism in every aspect from the potted plants in the corner to the floor to ceiling window that made up two of the walls and looked out over the city of London. 

They sat at a large table, probably too big for the meeting that was going to be held, but, nevertheless, they sat there on one side with a man in a grey suit, Greg, Simon's solicitor, and on the other side was another man in a grey suit.  Grey seemed to be a common colour in these settings and both Simon and Ethan felt out of place.  Ethan was wearing a black jacket and jeans whereas Simon was wearing a Sidemen tee and a pair of joggers, which, coincidentally, also happened to be what he slept in last night.  Next to the man in the grey suit, the one that wasn't called Greg, well he could be called Greg but they didn't know of his name and it would be unlikely his name was Greg, anyway, next to him was a familiar red head, wearing a women's grey, again, work suit, which just made Simon feel more out of place and he felt as if his attire made a bad impression on Greg2.

"Okay, we understand that the original offer of eight hundred pounds a month is not a possibility for you?  Could you explain why?" Greg2 asked, his face stone cold and it made Simon feel uncomfortable as he squirmed in his chair and sat up straighter, attempting at a more professional look, which probably made him look more common.

"I don't earn enough money for that.  Plus, my job isn't that stable.  I could go a full month without earning money." Simons declares, glaring at Greg2 and trying to pierce through his stoney look.

"That's highly unlikely Mr. Minter.  As you so kindly presented us with your bank statements, I have noticed that you get an income well over the average and I see no reason as to why five hundred pound a week would be a problem never mind two hundred." Greg2 calmly replies, he's good, Simon'll give him that but he came prepared.

"I earn an average of twenty grand a month, if I'm lucky and that sounds like a lot but after taxes, rent, food, anything I need for my job like expensive tech and sending money to help my parents and family it soon whittles down to barely anything.  I do have money but I don't have enough spare!" Simon rants back, breathing heavily by the time he has finished.  Ethan sits next to him, just watching with a glint of pride in his eyes.

"Fine.  If you are certain you can't pay financial aid then the only other option is joint custody.  Suzie already informed me before this meeting that she would be fine with joint custody and that you will be able to work out a plan if you agree." Greg2 straightens his papers on the table, crossing his legs and looking up to Simon expectantly because according to the way everyone is looking at him, he's supposed to be able to give an answer straight away.

"Fine." He groans, "But I can't do Tuesdays, Fridays or Sundays."

"Nah," Ethan chimes in, "He can do them days."

Simon glares back at him but he just gives a cheekily encouraging smile and a wink.  Across the table, Suzie breathes a sigh of relief.

"Okay, that's great.  I think it would be best to do this on a weekly basis and because, Mr. Minter, you work from home, I suggest you do Monday through Friday and, Suzie, you do Saturday through Sunday because you work during the week." Greg2 looks to Simon, to see if that is okay, to which Simon nods but soon realises that Greg hasn't been much help this entire meeting.  That was a waste of money.

"Can we please stop talking about my son like he is an object that we can just throw around?" Suzie asks, folding her arms defensively over her chest.  That's when Simon finally realises what is happening.

He's a dad.  How did that happen?  Well, he knows how it happened but how did he let it happen?  He was careful, always but now he had an eight month old son that he had to look after during the week.  He didn't know how to care for another human.

His chest starts to feel tight as he feels his heart drop, fear running though his veins.  He remembers the time Ethan had left his sea monkeys in Simon's care because he 'cba' to take them home after secret Santa, they were dead within hours and now Simon was to be trusted with a child, a small, innocent, vulnerable child.

"Hey, it's okay.  I can help you, I'm good with kids, I think." Ethan reassures, sitting forward and rubbing a hand up and down Simon's back in a soothing motion.  It doesn't make Simon feel better but he appreciates the action as he runs a hand over his face with a sigh.

"Can you bring him round tomorrow or something?  So I can actually meet him and he can get to know me before he spends a week with me." Simon asks with a shaky and uncertain voice and Suzie nods with a little, sympathetic smile on his face.

"Um, I have a list of things you'll need and things he likes.  The top half is essentials, the bottom half is things he enjoys and on the back is ways to calm him down and get him to sleep, his favourite toy, etcetera." Suzie hands over the small slip of paper and Simon quickly skims through it, "I can also send you a few places where they are cheaper and some websites that could help, if you want?  I could even stay and help you the first night, just to make sure he is settled.  If not, that's fine, I just want to help." She rushes, a worried look on her features.

"I'm not incompetent.  I'm sure I'll be fine and I have my friends and Ethan to help me." Simon speaks, more to himself than anyone else.

Rosie nods her head rapidly, "Okay.  You'll be fine, he'll be fine."

"He will.  He's Simon Jr., he's a tough cookie." Simon jokes, starting to feel more relaxed as Suzie laughs.

"If you call him that again, I will personally order you a one way ticket to west Africa."

Ethan's laughs fill the room as he sputters something about 'liking this girl'.

"I'm not gonna call him Cal, am I?  There's too many fucking Cal's in this world."

"Who said you had to call him Cal?  Call him Caleb or some weird ass nickname, just don't call him Simon Jr.  It makes me feel a little queasy."

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OOO!  You guys were right, congratumalationals!

Plus, I still have vote and comment goals for these chapters but I'm not gonna tell you, to make it fun :-)

Did you enjoy it?  What was your favourite part?

So, I had a really shit morning.  Normally my mornings consist of shouting, panic attacks, more shouting, crying, more shouting and this morning was no different but I find it hard to wake up every morning and have to live as someone I'm not.

It's like freaky Friday except I don't have anything interesting to do and it's permanent, it's fucking horrible.

It may be hard for you guys to understand what it feels like, but, I read this news article once about a little girl, only around seven, who was so unhappy with her body, that she tried to cut off her penis with a pair of nail clippers.

Imagine feeling like you need to do that.

Actually, no, a feeling everyone feels is like they need to change something about their body and that's what I feel but a million times worse.

It hurts, a lot, and what makes it worse is that my mum brushes under the carpet like it's nothing and expects me to be fucking wonder women.  It's bullshit and I hate it.

I'm just having one of those days/week/month/years where I hate my life... no biggie.

Chapter 27 sneak peek:

‘ "What is happening?  Why is Ethan here?  He doesn't live here." Freya retorts, her eyebrows knitting together and her confusion growing immensely by the second.

"You don't live here!" Simon defends.

"Yeah, but my boyf-" Simon raises an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face, "Oh, shut up and explain." '