Chapter 46

Holden

       Work sucked.

       Like always.

       With all the stress I had been going through the past couple days had been causing my memory to not be that great, so I was forgetting a lot of orders and even forgetting to write down orders. Thankfully, my boss did know about my condition so he didn't get mad with me constantly messing up. He just sent me home early and then gave me the next two days off so I could relax a bit.

       I definitely needed it, especially since my little brother was being labeled as a murderer and a liar. Most people honestly didn't care what was happening with the whole Julian-Cassidy-Shaw situation. But there were some people who wouldn't stop talking about him. Saying how he was the most selfish and cruel person living in the village; how he killed someone and was willing to let another person, a father to three kids, go to jail.

       And I really didn't like how people, mostly strangers, were saying this about someone who was so messed up because of the things Cassidy caused. He used to be this happy and cheerful and funny guy. And now he was just quiet and sad.

       It really hurt us Eatons seeing Julian like this.

       I didn't want to just stand off to the side while Julian struggles so I had to do something about it. Well, not really me since I didn't know exactly what he was going through, but someone who could really sympathize with him.

       While I was walking home from work, I pulled out my cell phone and called Shaw. He shortly answered, saying, "Alright, Holden, why are you calling during work? You do remember you can get in trouble from it, right?"

       "Yes, I'm quite aware of that," I said. "To answer your question, I was messing up a lot of orders so I was sent home and I get the next two days off."

       "Is everything okay?" Shaw asked.

       "Yeah, my memory just isn't the greatest right now," I said. "Which is kind of why I'm calling you. I've been so stressed the past couple of days seeing Julian so... broken. Not himself. And out of every single person I know, you're probably the only one who can actually relate to him."

       "So you want me to talk to him and try to get him to go back to his normal self?" Shaw asked.

       "Or at least close to his normal self," I said. "Please?"

       "Yeah, of course I will," Shaw said. "If I had someone talk to me that understood what I was going through at that age, there would be a lot of things I wouldn't have done that I regret so much."

       "Thank you," I said. "You are the..." I stopped both walking and talking when I thought that I heard a certain sound. I listened carefully, and the sound was clearly there in the alleyway I was standing by.

       "Holden?" Shaw asked. "Are you okay?"

       "Uh, yeah, I'm fine," I said as I walked into the alleyway, following the sound. When I found the source, I crouched down in front of it. "Can you meet me at the hospital?"

       "The hosptial? What's going on? Are you sure you're fine?"

       "Shaw, I am fine. It's not for me. Just... Meet me there, okay?"

       "Okay, I'll see you there," he said in a confused tone before hanging up.

       I placed my phone in my pocket, looking in front of me at the crying baby laying in a box with nothing but a blanket wrapped around it. The baby couldn't have been over a week old.

       I carefully took the baby out of the box, gently bouncing it up and done until the crying sofetened a bit. Who would ever want to abandon a little baby like this?

       The hospital wasn't too far from here, so I walked all the way there. Josh was close to the entrance and as soon as he saw me, he walked over. "Holden, who's baby is that?" he asked.

       "That's what I'm hoping you'll tell me," I said. "I just found the baby in a box in the alleyway by The Gold Mine. Is there a way you can identify him if he was born here?"

       "Yeah, I'll do that now," Josh said, so I gently handed the baby over. "And I'll also make sure there aren't any health complications."

       Shortly after he left, Shaw arrived and he walked over to me. "Okay, now can you explain why you're here?" he asked.

       "I found an abandoned baby in the alleyway," I said.

       "Are you serious?" Shaw asked. "Who would abandon a baby?"

       "That's what I want to find out," I said.  "Josh is finding that out right now and making sure the baby's healthy."

       "I'm sorry, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that someone would leave a baby in an alleyway," Shaw said. "How old do you think the baby is?"

       I shrugged. "Didn't look any older than a week."

       "Wow," Shaw said. "That's just... Wow."

       "Yeah, I know."

       We waited a while for Josh to come back and when he did, the baby was in his arms. "So, he's perfectly healthy. He obviously wasn't left alone for too long before you found him. He was only hungry but we do have some formula here I was able to give him. Anyway, his name is Gibson Hale and he was born a week ago from today; on the twentieth. His mom's name is Trish but there wasn't a father's name on Gibson's birth certificate. I tried contacting Trish but her number was disconnected so she obviously doesn't want to be found."

       "So... What's going to happen to Gibson?" I asked.

       "He's probably going to have to go to an orphanage in Vancouver," Josh said.

       "What?" I asked. "No, that's not fair for him. He's just a baby."

       "I know," Josh said. "But he doesn't have any parents."

       I didn't want Gibson to be sent to an orphanage after I found him. Then for me, it would feel like I would be abandoning him. He would be abandoned twice in just a day.

       "Okay, I know what Holden wants, so we'll take him," Shaw said.

       "Are you sure?" Josh asked.

       "Yeah, of course," Shaw said. "We'll be fine keeping him until his mother is found. And even if she isn't, it's not going to be a problem for us raising a fourth kid."

       "And I really don't want to feel like I'm abandoning him after I found him alone in the alleyway," I said.

       Josh smiled softly before handing Gibson back over for me. "And if it takes way too long to find Trish, I'm sure the courts will be fine with you two adopting him. That's if you both want to."

       "Of course we would want to," I said. "He's just an innocent baby. Speaking of, do you have any baby stuff we could have since Celeste probably grew out everything."

       "Uh..."

       Josh only had to say one word and I knew exactly what was going on. "Awe, Cleo's pregnant?" I asked. "Congratulations."

       "How on earth could you tell when all he said was 'uh'?" Shaw asked.

       "Because he obviously still needs the baby stuff," I said.

       "Don't tell Mom and Dad yet," Josh said.

       "Don't worry, I won't," I said. "Are you going to propose to her soon? You're older than me and I'm already married with three, now four, kids."

       "Funny," Josh said. "Speaking of, you should probably go out and by some baby things."

       "Fine, avoid the topic," I said. "Just propose to her already."

       "Just go. And let it go too."

       I wasn't going to let it go.

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yeah josh, holden is already married. step up your game smh.

lol i've been meaning to mention cleo is pregnant again for a while but i kept forgetting ahahaha. ooh and destiny had her baby too. but it's kind of hard to mention it when holden and dan/destiny rarely cross paths. :(

omg now i'm sad because dan was 20 in his book and now he's 28 wtfuuuuudge. OMG THAT MEANS HOLDEN WAS ONLY TEN IN DAN'S BOOK AHAHAHA. and shaw was 17. that's so weird knowing holden was 10 and shaw was 17 and they're married now ahahahahaha.

okay i go to sleep now so i can wake up at a good time to do my sort of job then go to the grocery store i worked at for an hour before being fired. it's closing done soon so there's a lot of sales and sales + food = a happy laeti