A place to belong

Chapter three: Baby problems

After that weird moment Paul wasn't having his head thinking straight, he went through a lot of weird moments and all, but that one in particular felt specially weird to him even when it's probably not a big deal in other person's eyes, but the fact that an unknown boy went from asking him for the ice-cream to end up introducing himself... ok, maybe this was just a normal thing after all, probably, or just the fact that it was pretty late and his sleeping schedule has been a complete mess (like the rest of his life), probably that was what made everything feel weird. Patryk wasn't something he was ready to happen in the store at night, actually, he seemed too normal-good for staying around this place at such hours,  or maybe it was just like people say "the ones with pretty faces are the ones you should fear the most" or something like that, also, in which moment he even thought the boy was pretty? Hm, there was no doubt that this Patryk boy had some nice features and all..........

The crying echoed loudly in his ears, apparently he was so lost in thought that the whole way back from the store he wasn't noticing the little boy crying desperately for getting water all over his head, if only Paul weren't so distracted he could have at least covered him properly after leaving the convenience store. Nothing he could do right now.

"Come on, stop that... sleep, go to sleep again" Paul told him as they finally got inside the apartment building once more, the crying resounding around the hallway and stairs as he walked up to his place, it was then that he felt something warm against him and after a few seconds of realization he knew.
"TORD, NO! OH GOD" said as he proceeded to quickly leave the bag with the groceries to a side and open his jacket to hold Tord away from his chest, apparently the little boy just peed over him and the small towel he was wrapped in. "WHAT NOW?" Asked Paul to himself looking down at the dark stain on his old sweater and then to the once white towel, he was actually feeling so lost, what was he supposed to do now?

Of course this right here and right now got him static for a moment, rethinking his life choices, reminding himself once more why was he even putting up with this, and how was he going to make it. Suddenly, just like a thunder, it got to his head the memory of a young girl with two little kids living there at the fourth floor, maybe she could lend him something. Or not. Not that they talked much, in reality they just crossed some small words when they found each other going up or down inside the building, he even lend her some cigarettes once or twice. It was worth a shot.

After grabbing the bag and holding the sobbing baby against his chest once more he hurried up to the fourth floor, taking a few seconds as he watched the different doors to try and remember which one was hers, apparently a bit of luck was reserved for him in that moment as he saw the first door he picked to call open slowly, behind it a blonde girl that was probably younger than him. It was her...

"The hell...? What do you want at this hours...?" her sleepy voice stopped the moment she saw Tord crying against Paul's chest, immediately getting an idea of what he might want.

"I might be or not in need of some help"

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Once he got out of her house Tord was finally asleep against him, a diaper well wrapped on him and a pastel colored onesie covering his small body, Paul was able to get the help he needed along with a few more diapers and even a few small tips she decided to share, maybe now he won't feel so lost about taking care of the little baby for the next couple of days... hours.

"Thank you" Paul was simple with his words, the only ones he shared since he came inside her house and watched her do like the expert mother she seemed to be.

"No problem, if you ever need some help just come here and I'll see what I can do"
The boy nodded and looked down at the small bundle, he was calm once more now that he was taken proper care of, he hoped to not hear his cries in the nest few hours at least.

"Can I ask you something?" She spoke after doing the same as him, her eyes moving at Paul now. "I don't know where the baby came from or how it got to your hands... but... you sure you can do this?" Her expression turned worried, of course she wasn't attempting to be mean, actually, she just knew how things worked with the people of this place, for example, in the first floor (exactly A-5) lived a man that has been arrested at least four times since the month started because of his problematic alcoholic behavior, then at the fifth floor (E-7) you had woman that made her living out of her body, then it was this girl on the fourth floor, taking care of two kids all alone and not being able to resume her studies, also at the second floor (B-3) there was a boy that sold drugs. Then it was him, Paul Van Vliet, with his own problematic traits and stories behind his back. The combination of all those different stories and he rest of the neighbors ended up with some troubled nights in which the police ended up making an intervention. And all of those were just little examples of the kind of people that surrounded this area of the city, but if he managed to be on his own for so long how can things get worse with a small kid? Maybe he was tempting his poor luck with that thought.
He shrugged and looked away.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll have major trouble than this kind of... baby stuff. Now, good night" his worths were kinda fast, he didn't like the idea of getting to chat for longer and remember how life threw him around until he ended up there.

Soon he was back at his place, he locked the front door and walked with the sleeping kid to his room, the sunblind rolled up letting the street light to illuminate the place enough for Paul to walk around the messy place, careful enough to not trip and fall, until he reached the bed kneeling over it when another thought got him. Where was Tord supposed to sleep? The idea of sleeping with him over his chest was scary, what if he turned in the middle of night and crushed him?

A horrifying thought indeed.

Enough to get him more awake than asleep the whole night as he held the baby over his chest with both hands.

//Well, this one was shorter, but I'm sure I'm making progress with this hahaha.
Me being able to update every day is a rare thing, so better enjoy this while it lasts x'D for now i have part of the story planed in my head, though I still have some major holes here and there that I hope to fill in time as the story progresses.
Probably next chapter would be about how small Tord actually acts around. Little devil.
Thank you for reading my story, I appreciate it lots!! ;v;