The neighbor

1

This one is for you Lily_pad6472 ❤

Louis had stressed picking up his kids from daycare and school after work and he had just landed at home, going straight to the kitchen to start with dinner.

He glanced out the window while he peeled a carrot. A moving truck parked on the sidewalk. He really hoped that no one was moving in next door. The apartment had been empty in the six months that he had lived here, and he would like to keep it that way. The walls were really thin. He had already talked to the old lady next to him to turn down the volume of her TV at night so his kids could sleep.

His oldest, Dominic came into the kitchen.
"When is dinner ready?"

"Give me twenty minutes and please watch your siblings as I asked you to." Louis answered.

"Okay." Dominic said and walked back into the living room.

Louis smiled sadly. Dominic had been forced to grow up too fast. He couldn't believe it had been almost a year since Olivia passed away. He missed her and he knew that their kids missed their mum. Fucking cancer ruined his life. It took his mum and then his wife, leaving him alone with an eleven-year-old, a seven-year-old, and a three-year-old. He was barely hanging on but he had to.

He had sold their house and moved to this apartment. He couldn't live in a house that only reminded him of his wife. He had to move on but he wasn't doing a great job at it. He didn't remember the last time he laughed.

He let out a deep sigh and removed the pasta water after checking that the pasta was cooked.
"Dominic,  Elton, Johannah, dinner's ready." He shouted while he put food on their plates.

The kids came into the kitchen. He helped Johannah into her chair while Dominic and Elton took a seat. He made sure that they had everything they needed before he sat down as well.
"So how was school?"

Dominic and Elton started to talk at the same time and he tried to listen to both of them while he helped Johannah eat.

He cleared the table and helped the boys with their homework before it was time to put Johannah to bed. The sound of a crying baby on the other side of the wall made him furrow his eyebrows. Damn! Someone moved in next door. Someone with a baby. He tried to ignore it. Babies cried once in a while, except this one never stopped.
"Baby sad." Johannah commented while he tried to read her a bedtime story.

"Yes, but the baby's mum and dad will take care of them." Louis tried to explain. He really hoped so.

Johannah took her time falling asleep, asking about the crying baby the whole time. When she finally caved in it was time for Elton to go to bed. He made sure that he brushed his teeth and peed before he tucked him in. Dominic had brushed his teeth as well when he went to check on him and he gave him a good night hug before he could finally land on the sofa. He turned on the TV without really watching it. He could hear the baby cry through the thin walls. He really hoped that the crying didn't wake his own kids. He wasn't heartless, just exhausted.

Taking care of three kids by himself had never been a part of the plan. Olivia had been a stay-at-home mum. That didn't mean that he had been any less of a parent but she had been the super mum that had everything under control. He had been the fun dad who played with them and took them out for fun. He felt ashamed about it now. Of course, he had taken his fair share of woken nights and diaper changes, he wasn't a total loser, but Olivia had been the one who put up boundaries, making sure that the kids had what they needed for daycare and school and fed them. He had been a lousy cook and he had spent the last year watching cooking shows and reading cooking books to be able to make them proper meals. He was getting a hang of it.

It had been a hard adjustment, trying to care for their children while he was grieving at the same time. He had put all of his focus and energy into trying to help them through it. He had lost his wife but they lost their mum. He wished he could take that pain away but he knew how hard it was. He might have been an adult when his own mum died but that didn't mean that it hadn't been devastating. He wished he had her guidance, someone who assured him that he was doing a good job as a parent because half of the time he was questioning himself.

Life would never be the same again. He had never felt more lonely. It wasn't even about being by himself. There was no chance in hell that he would be in a relationship with someone other than his wife. No, it was about having no one to share all the exciting things that happened with the kids. Like when Johannah put together sentences or when Elton won the science fair or when Dominic won a football game. No one was as amazed and proud about it as he was. That was loneliness at its finest. 

He let out a deep sigh and dragged a hand through his hair. He decided to take a quick shower and make an early night. There was no use in sitting here by himself.

He checked on the kids to make sure they were sleeping before he went into his bedroom. He could still hear the baby cry. Did he have to call child services on his new neighbor?

He took a quick shower before getting into bed. The child was still crying but he could also hear someone singing to it, not being able to make out the words through the wall. But that soothed him. The person on the other side cared for his child enough to sing for it. It sounded like a man. His eyelids got heavy and he fell into a restless sleep.