Baby with my best friend (Casualty)

34

Holly knew how Cal had been struggling with the fact Matilda wasn't his child. She felt bad knowing that the little girl was about to be taken away from them.

She knew that part of her wanted to keep her. But she knew Cal didn't want to. He couldn't. It was too painful.

She knew that things were tense between them. And things weren't going well. They had been sleeping in different rooms.

Holly felt like she needed someone to talk to. To help her see sense. She knew that she felt alone. She hadn't had much of a break. She had been looking after both Emilie and Matilda. Born girls were draining. But someone had to.

All she knew was that things were a mess. And she didn't know how much more she could cope with.

Morning came and so Holly walked into the nursery. Matilda was lying there fast asleep. Holly sighed and picked her up. "Come on sweetie. Let's get your nappy changed."

When she had sorted Matilda, she left the bedroom to see Cal sitting there feeding Emilie. "You left her there in a wet nappy?" She asked.

"She's not mine."

Holly rolled her eyes. She looked to him. "Cal. She's still an innocent baby. A baby who needs to be looked after. She hasn't done anything wrong," she said.

Cal looked to her and shrugged. "I'm calling social services today. They can place her in foster care," he told her.

Holly hated seeing Cal acting like this. But she knew how much he was struggling with everything.

***
Holly and Cal went into work. Lexi walked over and smiled. "Hey. Is everything okay?" She asked.

Cal said nothing as he walked off. Holly sighed. "He's struggling with this. He left her in a wet nappy this morning. And now he says he wants to call social services," Holly said.

Lexi looked to her. She nodded. "I could take her for a couple of days? Iain won't mind. I'll look after her," she told her.

"Are you sure?"

Lexi nodded and smiled. "Yeah. Trust me. Bring her stuff over tonight. And we'll keep her for a bit. Just until Cal has sorted his head out," she told her.

"Thank you so much. You don't know how hard things are right now," Holly said.

***
Holly walked over to Cal and sighed. "Lexi is going to watch Matilda for a few days. Just until all of this has been sorted," she told him.

Cal nodded. "Great. Social can take her from there. I'm not being harsh. But I just... I got attached to her. And she isn't mine. I can't watch her everyday and think... I'm not her father."

Holly pulled him close and sighed. "Babe, I know this is hard. But she didn't do anything wrong. All she's done is be born. And I hate the fact that you're struggling," she said.

Cal broke down crying. Holly felt her heart shattering. She hated that things were going crap for them. "It'll be okay. I promise."

Cal looked to her and sighed. But were things going to be okay? Or would it all come crashing down around them?