Holly
I’m not sure how much sleep I got last night. At one point I don’t know if I was asleep or awake. Roman and Wolf seem to set each other off but I don’t have the heart to separate them. When one wakes, nine times out of ten, the other wakes too. Wolf has no parents, and he’ll know I’m not his mom. Him being close to Roman is the closest I can think of that will give him constant comfort.
It doesn’t seem to help today. He’s been fed and his diaper is clean and dry. He doesn’t have a temperature, he’s not sick.
Harper is holding a sleeping Roman while I struggle to settle Wolf. He's been crying since sunrise and nothing I’ve done has managed to settle him. I wonder if he’s missing his dad. He would have known his smell and recognised the feel of him and the sound of his voice. Now he’s with strangers, he must feel it. And what about his mom? Surely if she knew about Shane, she’d come back for her son.
“Are you okay with Roman if I pop over to Shane’s house real quick?”
“Sure.”
Wolf’s cries settle as I step out of the house, and I soak in the silence. Shane's front door is unlocked, and I let myself in. Wolf’s cries start up again and I block it out as I move around the house, opening drawers and cupboards looking for anything that will help me find Annie. She left so quickly, she couldn’t have packed all of her stuff.
A number of items have been dumped on the kitchen table, and I find a phone. Turning it on, I scroll through the contacts and come across, Uncle Cain. This has to be Annie’s cell. Sliding it into my back pocket, I wander around while I’m here and make a note to have Leo come over and pick up more of Wolf’s things. There is no cot or clothes for him as he grows older. There aren’t even any photos of him. I remind myself that they wouldn’t have had time to get any printed. Shane spent most of his time at the hospital and was killed on Wolf’s first night home. I backtrack around the house and find Shane’s phone with his keys and a bloodied pack of cigarettes on the living room coffee table. This must be what was in his pockets when he died. I take his phone and slide it into my other back pocket. Loaded with what I came here for, I close up behind me.
Back at the house, Harper lays Roman in his bassinet and takes Wolf from me. I step outside and close the door to shut in his cries.
Leo mentioned something about an uncle showing up and paying off Shane, I'm hoping it’s this Cain in her contacts.
It rings and I prepare to leave a message when a deep voice answers sharply.
“Yes?”
Taken back by his abruptness, I manage to say, “Hi, I'm Holly Jackson. I'm a friend of Shane, the father of your niece’s son.”
It takes a hot minute but I eventually hear, “Yes?”
“I was hoping you could put me in touch with Annie. I really must speak with her.”
Curtly, he tells me, “That isn’t going to happen.”
“It’s important that I talk to her.”
“Shane and I had an arrangement...”
“Shane died. It's why I'm trying to get in contact with Annie. If you could please give me her number, I can leave you in peace.”
“Like I said, that isn’t going to happen.”
“Her son needs her. Shane isn’t here anymore, and he needs...”
“Annie doesn’t have a son.”
His coldness could knock me over, this is a child we’re talking about. I push on, “What should I do with him then?”
“It’s not my concern. Call CPS and hand him over to the authorities.”
I gasp. The man has no heart. Who in their right mind could be so cold and distant from their own blood.
“Is there no reasoning with you? If I hand him over to CPS, he’ll grow up alone.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, he’s a baby, they are snapped up fast.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. People look down on my husband because of his lifestyle, but this man, he’s the one who should be looked down on.
Without thinking it through, I blurt out, “What if my husband and I take him in? We're good people, he would be safe and well looked after with us. We have two children he’ll grow up with.”
“Like I said, do whatever. We’ll make it official as soon as possible.”
