Our Family's Holidays (a SDMN Fanfiction)

Christmas 2017

《The Lerone-Bradley Household: the morning of Monday 18th December 2017》

The pitched ringing of a cell phone broke the man out of his routine. He stumbled over to the countertop it rest upon, glancing quickly at the caller ID. "Lewis" could be read in bold, white letters. The man quickly slid to accept the call and held the phone up to his ear.

"Hey Lewis, could I call you back in a little bit? I'm just about to leave to get Eth to daycare." Said little boy came racing into the main room of the apartment, giggling obnoxiously as another man chased after him. He was calling out the young child's name, a coat outstretched before him. The ginger boy quickly slid behind his father's legs, hiding from the other man.

"I suppose you could, but I think you'll want to know about it as soon as possible," Lewis spoke, his tone solemn and disturbing upset. Lewis was a man to always stay positive, mainly because he always won his cases.

"Lewis, what's wrong? You sound, upset." The small ginger behind his father perked up at the familiar name, asking his dad if Mr. Lewis was on the phone. The other man used this moment of distraction to quickly slide on the jacket, throwing up the zipper and carefully snapping all the buttons into place. He then looked up at his best friend of many years now, not oblivious to the somber tone of the call.

"Well, in all honesty, I am a bit upset, Josh. Ms. Nightingale went to the courts without informing us, and won rights to having Ethan from December 20th to the 24th. You will technically have him on Christmas, if you're willing to show up to her house Christmas morning to take him back home." Silence filled the call momentarily, before the man continued, "I swear, if I had known this was happening, I would have been there in an instant to fight this. But now, unfortunately, we don't have enough time to fight this." Lewis now remained silent, allowing the other man to sort through his thoughts.

"Isn't she required by law to inform us of all court dates?" Josh's words were mumbled, barely audible on either side of the phone. But the other man in the apartment heard, and his heart dropped at what that could insinuate. He locked eyes with the ginger's father, noticing the sadness now pooled within them.

"Yes, she is. And believe me when I say I am going to cause a ruckus about how we were not informed of the court date. But, it won't process fast enough to change the court's decision. I'm so sorry, Joshua. I wish there was more we could do."

"No, no. Please don't blame yourself. It's not anywhere near your fault," Josh's sentence was broken apart by a deep sigh. "I'll call you back later, okay? Once I get on break at work. For now, I gotta get Tobes and Ethan to school."

"Yes, of course. Call me once you have time, and I'll free time to talk to you." Lewis and Josh shared goodbyes, before they both hung up the call. Joshua ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a shaky breath.

"Alright, my little bundle of giggles, let's get you off to school." The ginger boy smiled widely up at his father, opening his arms in a plea to be picked up. The chubby preschooler was airlifted into his father's airs, cheering with delight that his request finally worked. Josh turned to face the other man within the apartment's main room, looking at him with a sad smile. "I'll update you in the car," he said to the younger as he adjusted his son on his hip and set out of their apartment.

《Olatunji-Minter Household: the morning of Monday 18th December 2017》

"Harold! Vikram! If you're not down here by the count of three, I am going to eat all your pancakes!" the young man called up the stairway, listening to the small gasps that followed.

"You couldn't! You'd get a tummy ache!" the younger of the two boys shouted back, his head peeking over the railing atop the stairs.

"I could! I'd purposely give myself a tummy ache, just to make you suffer!" the man responded, earning yet another gasp as little feet began racing around upstairs. "1! 2!"