We Didn't Agree To This

I don't care

Lindsey hadn't heard from Carol for a whole week. He didn't check on her and the baby either, thinking that she was handling it well enough and she didn't need anything from him. However, he knew she wasn't in the best situation; her finances and living conditions were poor. 

In search for Stevie, Lindsey wandered around the house, finally locating her in the nursery, which wasn't surprising at all. "What are you doing?" He asked, sitting down on the floor beside her. 

"Just sorting some things. I don't know why I bought this." She said, holding up a onsie, she had previously loved. "And this." She pointed at another one.

"Well, maybe I could take them and give to Carol?" Lindsey asked, somewhat carefully. "I'm sure she could use them."

Shrugging her shoulders, Stevie nodded. "Sure, why not." 

They didn't speak about it, but Lindsey felt that something had changed. Maybe it was the fact they now knew the baby wasn't Lindsey's, so she had no reason to despise Carol anymore. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to question it.

"I thought, I'd buy some food, too. She doesn't have a job. Not that she could work at the moment. I mean-"

"You're rambling, Linds. It's okay." Stevie stopped for a minute, taking a look at him, so he knew she was being sincere. "You're a good man."

Smiling weakly and reaching up to give her a kiss, Lindsey then got up on his feet and gathered what Stevie didn't want anymore in his arms. Putting it all in a bag, he got in his car and drove to a grocery store, before making his way to Carol's.

Once he arrived, Lindsey came to her door and knocked, instead of ringing the bell, in case the boy was asleep. Although, he soon understood the baby was very much awake, as he heard crying on the other side. Now choosing to ring the doorbell, Lindsey waited and waited, but clearly, Carol wasn't about to let him in. So, he tried to turn the knob and the door opened. 

A rancid smell hit him, when he entered the mess Carol called her apartment. Putting what he brought on the ground, Lindsey checked the kitchen, before going to the bedroom, since there wasn't anywhere else she could be. 

"Jesus, Carol! He's screaming at the top of his lungs!" Lindsey went over to the crib, bending over to pick the baby up in his arms. Swaying on his feet, Lindsey rocked the boy gently, but it was no use. "I think he might be hungry." But Carol was paying no attention. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Cradling the baby longer, Lindsey managed to calm him down some, as the screaming stopped. Now getting a better look at Carol, sprawled across the bed, he frowned. "Are you fucking high right now?!" That was the only explanation. Laying the baby down in the crib again, Lindsey then grabbed Carol by the arm and pulled her upright. "First, you're going to feed your son, then we're going to have a talk."

"There's baby formula in the kitchen." She mumbled, staring ahead of herself. 

"What makes you think I have any idea how to use it?"

"Stop yelling at me, my head hurts." 

"I'm not even close to yelling." Lindsey said, helping her stand up. "Please, go make a bottle for your baby."

"Jamie. I've named him." Carol said, sounding very monotone. Thankfully, she did do as asked, coming back with a bottle, handing it to Lindsey.

"Carol, I-"

"I'm no better at this than you are. Here, take it. You think he's hungry, you feed him." 

Taking a few deep breaths, Lindsey mentally counted to ten. Once again lifting Jamie out of his crib, as Lindsey himself sat down and was about to feed the boy, when he stopped. "It feels too hot." Carol just shrugged, driving Lindsey mad at how completely indifferent she was. Deciding to wait a bit, he looked down at Jamie, who was staring up at him. Suddenly, he wished he was this boy's father, because God knows, he needed one. 

Having fed the baby, Lindsey soothed Jamie for a while in his arms, until his little eyes were shut, as he then put the baby in the crib and left the bedroom, taking Carol with him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He tried his best not to shout. "I haven't been around for a week and you've completely fallen apart! My God, Carol, that poor child needs you. Don't you understood that he can't do anything for himself? That's why he has you - his mother! You're supposed to take care of him!"

"Well, I don't want to." She spat, crossing her arms. "All he does is fucking scream. I can't sleep, I look like shit because of him, I have no job, I have no money, I don't have anything!"

"You should have thought about all that before you sat on someone's dick, no? Of course he's going to scream if you don't feed him, if you don't change him, if... if you don't love him."

"I don't. I should have had an abortion." 

Lindsey's mouth was agape, as he stared at her in disbelief. "Carol, he's a human being. You carried him for nine months."

"And I wish I haven't! I don't want him. Honestly, I prayed you were the father, so I wouldn't have to take care of him. I'm too young to be mother. I can barely take care of myself!"

"That's true." Lindsey nodded. "Apparently, you're just a kid yourself."

"I wasn't such a kid every time you had me bent over." She glared at him.

"That's besides the point, Carol. I'm trying to tell you that it's time for you to grow up, because just a week ago, you gave birth to Jamie and he's helpless without you. You're his mother, please act like one." Surprisingly, Lindsey was talking calmly. "I've brought you some food and clothes for the boy."

"I don't want it, any of it. I don't want him."

"How am I supposed to leave right now, huh?" Again, Lindsey was getting frustrated. "Because when I do, I know you will continue not looking after him."

"Take him with you if you care so much, because I don't." With that Carol returned to her bedroom, sitting down on the bed, searching for a certain little bag. 

Back at the house, Stevie was beginning to feel uneasy. She didn't expect Lindsey to be gone for so long. She needed his assistance, climbing the stairs up, because she had gotten tired. She wasn't going to risk and do it by herself, deciding to try and make herself comfortable on the couch in the living room. 

Turning the TV on, she clicked through channels, not really concentrating on anything, as she then heard the front door, instant relief washed over her, knowing Lindsey was back. She looked over her shoulder, expecting to see him walking in soon. What she didn't expect was for him to come in with a baby.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, seeing clear shock on Stevie's face. "Steph, I had to..."