I Will Always Love You - A Phanfiction

The Child (Part 1/3)

DAN P.O.V

Phil and I clamber out of Martyn's car, while he and Cornelia wait in the front. It's a cold and typically musky day in the outskirts of London, however the sky couldn't seem brighter and I couldn't be happier. We tell Cornelia and Martyn that we might take up to half an hour so they can get comfortable. We step away from the car and brace ourselves for the worst.
"Are you ready Dan?" Phil asks, squeezing my hand.
"More ready than I'll ever be." I reply, trying to sound casual and completely confident. The complete opposite as to what I am now. "I am actually on the verge of a nervous breakdown but whatever, I'm sure they'll be nice." I blurt out repulsively. I smile at Phil and he laughs at my honesty. We walk towards large iron gates followed by a tall black brick wall on either side. We push open the gates and they make a loud screeching noise and a loud bang. Inside there is a beautiful garden with willow trees and fountains and grass that's actually green. We walk towards a manor with large wooden doors and a sign that reads 'The father, The son and the Holy Spirit' making it clear that this is a Christian home. We exchange glances and finally knock on the doors with iron door knockers (A/N: Idk what they're called).

PHIL P.O.V

The anticipation while waiting for someone to answer the door is almost killing me. The wind blows and rain starts to fall when finally someone opens the door.
"Hello!" She says cheerfully, "You must be Mr and Mr Howell-Lester, am I right?" She smiles.
"Yes." Dan says.
"I'm Mother Sorrella, it's nice to meet you." She almost shouts in joy. "Now follow me I'll show you the children!" She smiles again and we walk through the front door. I grab Dan's hand and he gives it a tight squeeze to comfort me."

We walk through the house until we get to a room around the same size as our lounge room. In that room are 15, maybe 20 kids ranging from babies to children who would be starting school this year. There are also two other nuns who introduce themselves as Sister Maria and Sister Celeste.
"Now children these two lovely men have come to adopt, please be nice to them." Mother Sorrella says. Some of the children smile, and others look at us in disgust.
"Hi I'm Dan." Dan says to the kids and smiles.
"And I'm Phil." I say and wave.
"Hello Dan and Phil." The kids say in sync. We go and talk to the kids, and the ones who can't talk we play with. One little girl who's probably not even one year old named Charlotte particularly grabs my attention. Dan grows fond of a boy named Rory. After we have spent some time with every child each we talk about who we want to adopt. I tell him about how much I loved Charlotte and he agrees that she's a very cute girl. We both loved her.
"Guys this was such a hard decision you know. If we could we would take you all home with us but unfortunately we can't." Dan says with a warm, comforting voice.
"Yeah we loved you all and think you guys are amazing." I say like I'm talking to the camera.
"But we've decided to take home little Charlotte as our daughter!" We say together.
"We're really sorry we can't take you all home." Dan says sympathetically. We say goodbye to all the other kids and Sister Celeste and Sister Maria get Charlotte's things.
"Would you like to hold her?" Sister Maria says to Dan and I as she cradles the baby. We nod and she passes Dan the baby. Charlotte opens her eyes which are a bright blue and looks at me. I smile and she laughs, reaching her hands up to pull my nose. Mother Sorrella walks in and makes up sign some papers which legalises Charlotte as our daughter. We then walk back to Martyn's car with Charlotte in a baby carrier. We strap her seat in and introduce Martyn and Cornelia to Charlotte.  I stare through the window when suddenly it starts snowing.
"Dan look it's snowing!" I exclaim and he looks outside the window in awe.

DAN P.O.V

We arrive home to see a surprise party, thrown by our friends and immediate family. Louise comes over to us.
"Hi guys!" She says while Darcy hugs us.
"Hey Louise, hi Darcy" I say
"Have you met Charlotte yet?" Phil asks trying to show off our baby.
"Phil, we just got her today, she's probably sleeping anyway." I protest, I feel overprotective and I want to make sure she has the childhood I wanted. "But in all fairness she's a very cute baby and I couldn't be happier." I give in.

The time I spend surrounded by friends and family with Charlotte is the best I could imagine. Of course I already love my child but I can't help feel bad for all the kids who looked so excited to be adopted, who we simply brushed aside. I really did love Rory, he was by far my favourite, and I've always wanted a little boy. I look out the window and notice that it's still snowing from when we came to pick Charlotte up. I guess she's our snow angel.

PHIL P.O.V

I still don't know how to feel. I haven't ever had something so small to look after. She's very precious and I love her very much.
"Dan?" I ask. He's zoned out, staring out the window.
"Hmmm?" He replies, unfazed by my voice. Okay, maybe he wasn't zoned out, but he wasn't talking.
"Um, Charlotte's crying. Should we check-" I begin to say, but I'm soon cut off by Dan standing up.
"She's crying? Oh god oh god what do I do. Why didn't I ask mum oh fuck." Dan says really quickly. You can see the worry in his eyes.
"Hey babe, don't worry, it'll be fine." I say in an attempt to calm him down. I hate seeing him like this. He looks so helpless, and he won't listen to anyone who tries to help. "Dan?" I ask again but he simply ignores me. He strides up the stairs into Charlottes room, which was once his.
"Phil, just leave me to do this." He says strongly, pushing me away from Charlotte.
'Well Dan, you know she's my kid too! Let me help." I say, uh oh, it wouldn't be good to fight in front of the baby.
"PHIL LEAVE ME ALONE." He shouts, but instantly regrets it. "Phil, I didn't mean. I, I, I'm sorry." I stammer out.
"I can't do this." I say and walk off in tears. Dan tries to follow but stops when I slam the door.

I hear the baby cries stop, and Dan's calming voice, the 'shhh' from the other room. I'm just about done with him. Charlotte is legally my child too, and Dan's forgetting that. I'm even older than him. Shouldn't we both equal share of looking after her? I hear Dan open the door to what used to be his bedroom, and knock on mine.
"Phil? I'm sorry, I understand if you want me to move out for a while. You probably hate me." He says.
"Dan I- Ugh come on in." I reply and open up the bedroom door.

He looks fine, but slight guilt sets his face. He really does realise he's done wrong and I do want to forgive him.
"Dan, I underst-" I'm cut off by Dan.
"No, Phil. I'm sorry for being a control freak. You were right, she's your baby too. I just, panicked I guess. Only a little though I'm fine," he adds when he sees my face. "The truth is, I didn't know what to do. So I just zoned out, and when you were trying to talk to me and help me, I got upset, which I shouldn't have. I'm honestly so so sorry." He looks up at me as a sign that he's done, and that it's my turn to talk.
"It's fine." I mumble out. Dan looks at me with a look of confusion on his face, probably because he didn't hear me. I try again louder. "It's fine."
"REALLY?" Dan definitely hears me now.
"Yeah, really really." I can't help but smile. Yes, he hurt my feelings a little but, he really is sorry for it.
"Phil, thank you for this." He pauses before adding something else. "I love you."
"I love you too" I reply as I feel my face burning up.