No More Mistakes

Chapter 10

It had been two days since Alice and FP had brought their little boy home. They had had very little sleep and parenthood had already taken a toll on them, but despite it all they couldn't be happier. They had the support of his father and their friends around which was more than enough for them, the Topaz's even donated a lot of their baby gear including a Moses basket and pushchair so they didn't have to worry about finding the money to afford everything the infant needs.

Alice was in kitchen making a coffee while FP was sat at the couch watching the new-born and slowly rocking him to sleep. Alice watched on as the water boiled. She admired how much FP loved rocking him to sleep, he had done it all weekend, giving her time to relax and heal.

As he then placed the sleeping infant in the Moses basket, he heard a knock on the trailer door.

"I'll get it." He said to Alice before getting up and walking over. He looked through the window and was pleased but stunned to see who was behind it.

"Hey man, what's up?" He greeted the young man on the other side.

"Hey. You weren't at school today, so I thought I'd come by." Fred looked his best friend up and down and couldn't help but be alarmed by the bags under his eyes and the teens rough appearance

"Damn, you look rough." He finally admitted as he walked past FP at the door and stepped into the living room

"Nice to see you too." FP expressed sarcastically as he shut the door behind him. He walked towards Fred who was glaring at the Moses basket on top of the coffee table.

"Is that a baby?" Fred asked confused tilting his head getting closer to the table and peering right into the crib

"No. It's a rare artefact. Of course it's a baby dude." FP rebutted before sitting back into his father's recliner. He loved Fred but damn the guy was naïve.

"Who's baby? Oh shit, who did you knock up dude?" Fred asked as he held a fist up to his mouth trying to stifle the laughter.

"Hey Fred." Alice greeted as she stepped into the room and leaned against the door frame with a mug of coffee in her hands.

Fred jumped and turned around, surprised to see the teen here at FP's trailer. He walked over to the couch on the opposite side

"Alice? What are you......oh! Is that why?" Fred questioned. "Damn, what a twist." He finished as he watched Alice walk towards the recliner FP was sat on and rested on the side. FP wrapped his arm around her waist and sat forward a little

"Look, it's a long story Freddy but yes, I was pregnant, and I never told FP and now he knows as well as everybody else, and yes we're back together." She said with a smile resting her hand on his thigh and turning to face him before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, and I'm happy for you both." Fred said pleased.

"Thank you." She replied as she leaned into FP.

"So what's his name?" Fred asked peering into the basket. FP and Alice looked to each other and narrowed their eyes. "Actually, we haven't named him yet." Alice explained.

"How come?" Fred asked the both of them

"Well to be fair that hasn't been a priority, keeping our eyes open has." FP answered back

"Well here's an idea, name him after your amazing best bud." Fred suggested before FP responded with a snicker.

"In your dreams Freddy boy!" Alice responded before taking another sip

"Plus, Alfred Jones just doesn't sit right with me." FP confessed to them both, which was rewarded by a faux hand to heart by Fred and a raised eyebrow from Alice.

"Smith-Jones!" She corrected looking at him.

"Right, sorry baby." He responded resting his arm higher on her leg. "But seriously, we need to come up with a name, Forsythe the third sounds good." He suggested with a sly smile. He would never admit it but he desperately wanted the baby named after him. Having a long line of Forsythe's in his family just sounded cute to him and he wanted to continue the tradition.

"I'm not naming my son Forsythe. Nice try." Alice snapped back

"Oh come on Al! It's a family name." FP expressed, his voice and facial expression practically begging her to change her mind.

"Well, speaking of family names, I think I want to name him after my Grandfather. He died when I was 5 but the times I remember having with him were still the best. He was always there for me and I kind of wanna honour him." Alice admits with a soft smile looking down as she places her hand in FP's palm. He squeezed her hand back.

"What was his name?" Fred asked out of curiosity.

"Charles Smith, but I'd call him Charlie for short." Alice said to the both of them.

"Charlie Forsythe Smith-Jones? It sounds perfect." FP finished before kissing Alice in the cheek.