See if I Care!

Sorry, Didn't See You

A/N: this chapter is shorter than usual, by almost half a page. Sorry. It was a good place to stop. (Normal chapters are always around 8 pages. The number of words vary depending on if it's dialogue-heavy or not, though. I'd rather count pages than words… ;) )

Oh, and to those who wanted the boys as Sims 3 characters: they SHOULD now be available (I haven't had time to check), search for the user "Wynja". I also have Pitch Black and Jack Frost from "Rise of the Guardians", as well as Loki available there.

 

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Chapter 14: Sorry, Didn't See You

"What did the lawyer say?" Mark asked as soon as he came home that evening. He had stayed late and had then taken a cab, knowing Lance would have better things to do than pick him up. Lance, indeed, did. He was reading to Tony. After signing the contract he had made sure everything was ready for the funeral the next day and then taken Tony to his mom's place. She was back home after staying with her sister's and− lo and behold− she was still sober.

She was very glad to see the baby, and Lance had furtively opened the windows to get rid of the worst of the tobacco stench, but he hadn't commented on it so he wouldn't spoil her mood. The smoking around Tony was something he would have to address at a later date, though, but right then and there he decided to try to actually be considerate towards the woman. If she had really given up drinking permanently, that was a huge step.

He told her about the plans with the nanny and then she had offered to babysit instead. Lance wasn't that comfortable yet, though, and declined, claiming that it would be easier for them all to do it like this for now. He told her that if she wanted to, she could babysit Tony once a week or so once it was decided where the boy was going to stay. She had agreed, seemingly content that he didn't shut her out.

Now he was home –well, at the Sanders'− however, and by the look of Mark's face he was about to get the second degree if he didn't answer soon.

"She said she thought I had a chance, but she was worried about the grandparents. Also, I must make sure to be responsible as hell," Lance answered.

"You're screwed," Mark grinned.

"Yes, he is, at least if I have anything to say about it," O'Connor said from the doorway.

"Done working, finally?" the brunet asked.

"Yeah, I'm calling it quits for today. There's something wrong and I can't find it," the redhead frowned to himself, obviously running lines of code through his head as he did. "How about you, Mark? Didn't get robbed on the way home, did you?"

"Did you have to tell everyone?" the blond groaned.

"Sorry, but it's funny! That guy must have thought you were either very, very slow, or the toughest son of a bitch he had ever met."

"Yeah, yeah, I was just lucky he didn't stab me," Mark muttered. "So, did the lawyer say when the hearing was?"

"Yeah, it's coming up. She has been pushing for it to be handled quickly so the Smiths will have less of a chance… so Friday is go-time. She needs to file papers with the court and notify everyone and so on… I'm very glad I don't have to do all that…"

"I hear you," Mark nodded.

"My poor baby," O'Connor cooed and there was one of those wet sounds again.

"Get a room," the blond snorted.

"Hmmm… something just occurred to me…" Andrew smirked.

"I'm a bit scared of the expression on your face," Lance said, "but go ahead… what?"