Oh, How Lovely~ Lams

26.

"Thank you for helping me, lil sis." John said as he unlocked his apartment door. He hadn't been spending much time there recently, usually at his moms.

"Don't worry about it." Marty assured. She was out of classes for the summer so she was happy to be here to support her brother.

John opened up and allowed his sister in before shutting the door. "I gotta get this place ready for CPS. I think they're gonna come tomorrow morning."

Marty nodded. "Well, the biggest ting is drugs. Everything needs to go."

"I only have weed." John said. That was all he did after Philip was born, with the exception of when Martha came and drug him to parties.

"Okay, but that should go too." Marty stated. She was in college for social work. She had only taken a couple classes for that major but they knew she would help most.

John nodded, going to the closet, grabbing his box from the top shelf. He never kept those things in reach of Philip, despite Martha's testimony.

Marty began to look around John's room, making sure there was nothing. She opened the bedside table.

"John! You said you didn't have anything harder-" Marty stated, gasping at the sight.

"I don't!" John said, walking over to her. "What the fuck-" He muttered, grabbing the items from the drawer.

"Jesus fucking Christ Martha is such a bitch-"

-

John sat with Philip, watching something on his phone. They were eating popcorn and they were both half awake, despite it being 11:30 in morning. Philip was definitely like John in the sense he would sleep forever if he could. Before Philip, John could sleep all day and all night if allowed to. Of course, he was heavily sleep deprived now because he was a father.

John kissed Philip's head before there was a knock at the door. John took an anxious deep breath. He paused the movie and stood up, picking Philip up with him and rubbing his back. he put his Phone in his pocket as he walked to the door before opening it.

"Johnathan Laurens? I'm Dolley Todd, I'm here with Child Protective Services." The lady, Dolley, stated as she showed her work ID. "We have a court order to inspect this apartment." She explained.

John nodded nervously, moving to allow her in. He was nervous, even if he cleaned everything out. "Lil man, I'm gonna put you back on the couch. You can finish the movie, okay?" He said to Philip, who tiredly nodded in response. John sat him on the couch while the lady inspected the kitchen, resuming the movie for him.

John got back up and went into the kitchen with Dolley. He watched as she went through the cabinets, checked the floor, went through the fridge. He was trying not to visibly be nervous, though he really wasn't hiding it well.

Dolley made a sound, kind of like a hum but it wasn't really one of approval as she wrote notes in a file. She walked to the living room, checking behind a couple pictures that were there and in drawers.

"I need to search in the couch cushions." Ms. Todd informed John.

"Oh- Oh aight." John said, picking Philip back up while she searched in the couch. It took about two minutes before Philip could return to his spot and resume the movie.

John followed her to the bedroom and the same thing happened, notes were written and John just grew more worried. She was searching every inch of the apartment and John was anxious that she would find something he missed or something Martha had put there.

She wrote and went to the restroom, which was small so John didn't walk in, just watched from the door.

The whole process, with everyone took almost an hour before she walked to the door and stopped.

Dolley cleared her throat and opened the folder. "This door is broken and needs replacing. It also needs at least one more look at the top to prevent the child from opening it. In the kitchen, the floor tiles are coming up, which is a hazard. The cabinets need baby proofed, especially the one under the sink with chemicals. Some of them did not have caps on, which is not good. The fridge also needs a lock, as well as the liquor that is on the counter. The exposed wires from the broken outlit need to be taken care of, as well as the exposed nails all over the border."

John nodded, writing this down on an old envelope from off of the counter.

"The living room was alright, except you shouldn't have him sitting alone like that. There are some small pieces on the coffee table that need to be taken care of. The sides of the tables need to be baby proofed. The fire escape window needs to remain closed at all times. Again, exposed wires in the bedroom. There was a lighter that needs to be put away, it can't be left out. In the restroom, the mirror needs to be taken off. It's too much exposed glass. The prescription pills in the medicine cabinet need caps and expired need to be disposed of immediately. The razors and pills on the sink need to be put away and child proofed."

"That is all that I can say for now. This information will presented in court and you will have frequent visits throughout the trial." Dolley finished, closing the folder.

John nodded, gulping softly. "Thank you." He said, getting a nod before she left.

John let out a sigh of relief, only partially relieved. He didn't expect to have so much wrong.