Chapter Text
It was 3:02 pm when David got the phone call. It wasn’t unexpected for Gwen to call him randomly, she often needed to vent after a bad day at work and David figured this was just another one of those calls. It was not.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that again, Gwen? I think I misheard you.” David peeped, hands shaking as he held the phone. Gwen let out a sharp laugh before responding, “You heard me right, David. Max got put in the system. I just got off the phone with CPS! They were trying to get me to foster him. Me!”
She continued prattling off about why that was such a terrible, awful, ridiculous idea, but David wasn’t listening anymore. He was staring at the calendar on the wall, at the date that he’d already struck an x through.
August 3rd.
He walked over to it, writing in the small space beneath the big x, ‘Max’s foster day.’ “Uh, David? Are you listening? David. David!” Gwen snapped, and David jolted in response. “O-Oh, yes! Yes I am. Sorry, Gwen!” Gwen sighed in response, before asking, “So? What are we gonna do?”
“I-I’m sorry? What do you mean?” Gwen groaned loudly. “About Max! We can’t just leave him like that! Surely you don’t want to, right?” She asked, tone exasperated and strained. “I can’t take him, but you know damn well if I could I would. And I know you can. Please, David.”
David chuckled nervously. “W-Well, of course I was going to try and foster Max! But– Just fostering. I don’t…I don’t think I’d be able to raise him right. I will do my darndest though! I’m already planning what parenting books to buy…I mean, I have some I use for when the campers get–!” Gwen interrupted quickly, “Okay! Okay, okay. I get it, David.”
There was a moment of silence between the pair before Gwen finally spoke again. “You, uh…do have the means to house him, don’t you? I mean, I figure you go somewhere during the school year.
David glanced around his bare-bones apartment, smiling wearily. “Well, yes I do. It’s just not very appropriate for Max. It’s only a one bedroom apartment, after all. Though there is this old cabin at Camp Campbell…Mr. Campbell said he used to stay there sometimes during the early days!”
Gwen hummed in thought, her voice crackling as the connection on her end lagged. “That– doesn’t sound too bad.” She spoke carefully, though she quickly followed up with; “But I’d suggest trying to find a proper apartment first. Only go for the cabin if you can’t… you gotta remember that Max needs to go to school, and Camp is far from the nearest town.”
David felt his shine dim a bit. “Oh…that’s right…Well, okay. I will go apartment hunting tonight! Or well, right now!” Gwen interrupted quickly, “Aht, aht, aht, not right now! You’ve gotta call the case worker back, like, pronto. You know how they are about these things, if you don’t call soon they’re gonna think you don’t care.” David huffed. “Well I do care! So I will call them right now. Uh…could I have their number, please?” He sheepishly asked. Gwen let out a snort before sending him a text with all the necessary information he’d need.
“Hurry up, David. And call me back when you’re done!” She demanded, and David hastily agreed. They hung up the phone, and David dialed the number with shaky fingers. It rang once, twice, before a lady picked up the phone. “Hello, uhm, I heard there was a case involving uh..” David trailed off, willing away the nauseous spiral in his stomach.
“Maxwell Singh? Case number 25-4967? Gwen may have mentioned me?” The lady hummed in thought, before letting out a noise of faint surprise. “Why yes, she did. We were actually planning to reach out to you this afternoon. Nice to hear from you David, my name is Martha. I am Max’s case worker. You have your own apartment, correct?” She asked.
David began to nod, before remembering she couldn’t see him. “Why yes, I do! I plan to move to a bigger apartment to give Max some room to grow, though.” Martha let out yet another faint hum of surprise, before continuing. “Well, I’d schedule a visit tonight but most of our workers are already out doing inspections right now. How does tomorrow 10 am sound? I believe we have the right address for you on file, granted Gwendolyn knows where you live.”
David agreed hastily, confirming his address. “Great!” Martha replied, her tone seeming genuinely cheerful. “Alright then. We’ll run a preliminary background check and discuss next steps with you tomorrow, David. Thank you for calling.” David stammered out a quick, “No, thank you!” Before hanging up the phone. He stared at the dark screen, flabbergasted at what he’d just done.
Then, he rushed to his bedroom, pulling out a dusty laptop from underneath the bed. It wasn’t that he was inexperienced with technology, quite the opposite, but he was just so used to trying to cut it out from his life during the summer that he found no great use for it during the rest of the year. He grabbed his phone again, quickly scrolling to Gwen’s contact and pressing call.
Gwen, who was apparently waiting by the phone, instantly answered and started rattling off website names and addresses of potential apartments that, as Gwen so eloquently put it, “Max might not wanna kill himself over living in”. David appreciated it. They both stumbled upon a rather decent apartment. “Oh wow, it's on the ground floor and it has a bathtub!” Gwen remarked, shoving her phone at the photo on her own laptop.
David laughed. “Yes, I guess that’s pretty good.” The layout of the apartment was a bit strange. The apartment was rather compact, mostly built around a large open living space. The front door opened directly into the combined living and dining area, with a small L-shaped kitchen tucked into the far right corner.
A short hallway along the back wall led to two bedrooms and a bathroom. The bathroom sat on the far left, and next to it was the larger bedroom—David’s—and at the far right was a slightly smaller second bedroom. Windows lined the back wall of the bedrooms, with one placed in the living room, keeping the apartment from feeling too stuffy.
David couldn’t help but focus on the way the bedrooms were wall-to-wall, though. He would probably be able to hear everything Max did. Everything. He cleared his throat, brushing the thought aside. So what if he was losing privacy? It could be a temporary apartment anyway. He just needed to prove he was capable of housing Max in time to foster him.
They could probably move again right after if Max was dissatisfied, though it would take some paperwork. He began pondering what things Max would like to have in his room. A TV? David wasn’t the biggest fan of that. Maybe a laptop. Gwen’s voice startled him from his thoughts.
“This one seems good, David. It’s got cheap ass rent too, for some reason. I’d say until you can save up for a proper house to rent, this will be your best bet.” David agreed. “I think so too, Gwen!” He stood up, stretching. Their apartment hunting had taken them a few hours, and by now it was 6 pm. “Well, I think I’m going to make myself some dinner now, Gwen. I’ll call you tomorrow after the visit to let you know how it goes!”
Gwen’s only response was an annoyed, “Of course you will, idiot! If you didn’t I’d be pissed!” David laughed, and the pair said their goodbyes before hanging up the phone. David whipped a quick meal—reheated pizza, scandalous—before taking a shower and settling into bed for the night. He was bursting with anticipation, eager to think of what the future held.
He’d always been fond of Max, in ways that may not be very appropriate to most. Max was his favorite camper, favorite child, favorite person— David knew it was wrong to play favorites, very wrong in fact, but he just couldn’t seem to resist when it came to Max. Max was capable of bringing out the best and the worst in David it seemed, and this matter wasn’t any different.
He worried that maybe he was getting too far ahead of himself. He hadn’t even stopped to consider what Max would want! He decided that as soon as Max got here, he’d let him decide on everything regarding his room and their shared living space. It was only fair, considering David was more or less fostering him without his permission.
All Max ever talked about was how much he hated David. The man knew better than to delude himself into thinking Max would suddenly be all sunshine and roses just because he took him in. This was going to take work. Hard work. But since when had David ever backed down from a challenge? The man rolled over, snuggling deeper into his sheets.
Max was his greatest challenge ever, but he’d overcome this! …somehow.