we can be alright [sidden]

[SIDDA LEE MARSON]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #000000, width: 300px; height: 300px;] suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall Today was one of the rare – but much appreciated – days where Sidda had some time off. Her shift at Dine d’Aphrodite had ended a couple of hours ago and she hadn’t been called in to work at the bar tonight. Granted, it meant Sidda was missing out on some good money tonight, but she was willing to give it up. And why? Because it meant getting to spend some quality time with her little man. Often times, Sidda got to see Gavin for a couple of hours on any given day. She’d wake him up and drop him off at kindergarten before she came back to their apartment and got ready for work. Then Sidda would be at the restaurant way ahead of the lunch crowd and she’d stay there until her boss needed her. He knew that Sidda was always willing to work extra if the opportunity rose. Those were the days the babysitter had to pick Gavin up from kindergarten and Sidda would get to see him for a couple of minutes before she went to work at the bar. On the days she end her shift at its normal time, she got to pick Gavin up and spend a little bit of time with him before the babysitter got there. But every time she got home, she’d kiss Gavin on the forehead, tuck him in again (the kid tended to kick blankets off of him in the middle of the night and turn a weird way) and tell him good night even though he was asleep. She’d always done it and never missed a night. Sidda felt absolutely awful over all the time she missed with Gavin, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. She had to work the two jobs to make sure they had the money of this small, kind of falling apart apartment, bills, and food. Whatever money was left after that (which certainly wasn’t much, mind you) went towards Gavin’s needs. School supplies or clothing or sometimes enough to get him a decent gift for his birthday or Christmas. Still, she hated being away from her little guy as much as she had to be. So when Sidda got a chance to be home, she liked to do things like make a home cooked meal, sit and play toys with him, and then read him a story before putting him to bed. Those were the best nights Sidda had. That was exactly what she planned on doing tonight. She was in the middle of making macaroni and cheese from scratch, one of Gavin’s favorite meals. Sidda wasn’t the greatest cook around, but it was something she enjoyed when she had the opportunity. Gavin was sitting at the table with a toy dinosaur and a couple of cars. Crayons and papers were strewn all over the table from the two of them coloring earlier. Sidda would have to clean that up before she and Gavin ate, but he was so excited to have homemade macaroni and cheese that Sidda wanted to start it right away. Plus, she had splurged a tiny bit at the grocery store last time she shopped and bought ice cream for after dinner. She couldn’t wait to show Gavin; Sidda couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to buy a treat for him and Gavin absolutely loved ice cream. Dinner was just about done. “Hey, Gav, want to set the table, bud?” Sidda asked, pulling plates out of the cabinet and placing them on the counter along with a couple of forks for Gavin to grab. He liked to be a big help and Sidda didn’t think she could appreciate it more. He moved the toys from the table and grabbed the plates while Sidda put crayons back in the box and neatly stacked the papers, moving them to the small room that technically qualified as the living room but was only separated from the kitchen by the table. All ready to go, Sidda was about to sit down with Gavin when a knock sounded on the door. Now that was certainly unexpected. There were rarely knocks on the door; there really weren’t that many people who would visit them. Sidda had pretty much cut her family out of her life and she hadn’t made friends with any of the other tenants in the building or with anyone at work. If anyone ever knocked on their door, it was either the landlord asking Sidda for the rent since she was a couple days late or it was Emma, the babysitter. It couldn’t be either of those people though, since Sidda had called Emma to tell her she didn’t need to babysit tonight and she had paid the rent for this month. So who could it be? Sidda wiped her hands on her jeans, making sure there was nothing on her hands from cooking, and went to open the door. She had to say that she hadn’t been ready for what was on the other side of her door. There were two men standing in the doorway, both in relatively nice suits. The one was most certainly older and had a hard look on his face. At the very least, he was probably quite a gruff individual. The other guy though? He was definitely a different story. Much younger than the other guy and well, if Sidda wanted to be completely honest, quite handsome as well. For a moment or two, she wished she would have looked a little nicer. Instead, she was just standing there with her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, a super oversized t-shirt, and jeans. And then she told herself to stop being ridiculous. Whatever these two were here for, it definitely wasn’t in her favor. “What can I do for you two?” She asked with a polite smile, hoping that whatever it was, it’d be quick. Sidda didn’t want this cutting into her Gavin time. © melly welly at caution 2.0 & LYRICS BY REGINA SPEKTOR OUTFIT & ENOUGH WORDS & AHH FEELS <3

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[HOLDEN GRANT AVERY]

[/style][style=text-align: justify;width:400px; height:60px; background-color: #0B5285; font-family:dorsa; font-size: 20px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing:1px; line-height:110%; color:#000; text-align: center;]
WE COULD BE LOST THEN FOUND

[style=width:350px; height:120; overflow:auto; padding: 5px; text-align:justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size:10px; line-height: 97%; text-transform: lowercase; border-right: 1px dotted #dded82; overflow:auto; color: #000;]Holden hated these trips. The ones where you weren't quite sure what you were going to find and you could only pray that it wasn't that worst case scenario that left you either wanting to murder someone or wondering just what in the hell the world was coming to. The ones where the children were treated worse than animals, starved and abused. Those were the calls he dreaded getting each day though unlike some of his coworkers he didn't necessarily hoped he missed them either. How could he not want to help kids in that sort of trouble if he had the chance after all? Still it didn't make the experience any easier even after everything he'd seen so far on the job. Each time was just as bad as the one before each in their own way. Maybe it was due to the fact that he had always been so close to his own brother but the one thing Holden worked harder to do than anyone was to keep the siblings together. They were already being taken away from the only familiar place they knew and making them go through that alone was not something he liked to see.

It wasn't always possible of course and he couldn't ensure all of them got to stay together. Those were the cases that broke his heart the most. Thankfully the family in question tonight only had one child it would seem. One parent too actually, a single mother. The person who had reported her to them had apparently raised concerns that she was neglecting the little boy, letting him wander off at the park and leaving him alone for extended periods of time. Holden always took anonymous calls like that with a grain of salt, preferring to go in with an objective frame of mind. No point in judging someone before you got a chance to see how things really were. The man with him tonight though, George Donnelson, was less giving and it was clear he already had the young woman painted guilty as charged. Of all the people that he had to get stuck going with it would have to be George although Holden was glad that at least he'd be there to keep him in check if need be, supervisor or not.

The building they pulled up to a few minutes later wasn't ridiculously well kept but it was decent looking enough considering the rent here was not overly high compared to most in the city. "Address says second floor apartment 2C is where we need to go," This came from George and Holden nodded slightly in acknowledgement as they got out of the car. Heading inside Holden noticed there wasn't even a buzzer system where you had to ask anyone to let you in the lobby or anything like most apartment buildings had for security reasons. No wonder the rent was so cheap. Following the other man up the stairs, Holden took a deep sort of breath as they reached the the door they were looking for mentally preparing himself for whatever they might find. George gave a solid knock on the door, his expression all business while Holden had a more neutral and relaxed look on his as foot steps sounded from inside and the knob turned for the door to be swung open promptly.

Behind it stood the young mother in question, or so Holden guessed, a mixture of surprise and wariness in her eyes as she took them both in just then. Though dressed casually she looked neat and clean which was a good sign. She was also rather attractive even put together for a night at home it would seem, asking them politely what she could do for them. "Evening, ma'am. My name is George Donnelson and this is my coworker, Holden Avery. We're with Social Services and are here concerning a call we received today," Both men held up their identification badges for her to see and George continued stiffly, "We'd appreciate your full cooperation in this matter," Holden resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his coworker who seemed to think they were to act more like the FBI than social workers. "It's just a simple, routine check. I promise we won't take much of your time," Holden added in a calmer tone, a polite smile aimed at the young woman. The last thing Holden wanted to do was freak her out which was often the first response from people when social services showed up on their door step.

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TAG: name ! WORD COUNT: enough ! NOTES: fjaisofjiasofjiasojfosai so excited <33 ! CREDIT: NUTTERIE @ CAUTION 2.0

[SIDDA LEE MARSON]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #000000, width: 300px; height: 300px;] suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall Sidda could say she was honestly taken aback by the introduction, social services being her last guess of who would be standing on the other side of her door. Some sort of tax or bill collector? Sidda could have seen that. She was sure she was late on some sort of bill or another. She often was, though not by choice. It just so happened that her paycheck went to the important things first and sometimes bills just didn’t fall under that category. At the very least, Sidda would have thought it could have been her landlord knocking, reminding her that the rent was due on the first of the month and not the middle of it. It wouldn’t have been the first time. But these men in suits who – even if they hadn’t directly said it yet – were coming to basically question how good of a parent she was? Never in a million year would Sidda have thought that she’d see them here. Sure, Sidda knew she couldn’t provide the very best of everything to Gavin because that kind of lifestyle took so much more money than she had, but she gave the best that she could to Gavin. No one who knew Sidda would say that she did anything less for her son. And now these men were practically here to say that when they didn’t know anything about their life. This definitely wasn’t what she wanted to deal with during her night off. Still, they were here and it really wasn’t like Sidda could just send them away. Not only would that not work, it’d just make her look extremely guilty of whatever they were accusing her of. The single mother would just have to roll with it. She figured it was better to seem hospitable than hostile, even if the one who introduced himself as George already seemed sour. There was no need for her to make them dislike her before they even began their investigation or whatever it was. Besides, the other guy – Holden – seemed to be much more level headed, so at the very least she could extend the same treatment. Sidda found herself lightly returning Holden’s smile before she stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come on in,” she invited. Before they made it into the apartment, though, Sidda heard Gavin slide off his chair and head towards the front door, his little feet pattering across the floor. “Mommy!” he called, getting ready to tell Sidda she was taking too long and that he was ready to eat. Oh, great. She hadn’t wanted Gavin to see the two gentlemen until she went and got him from the kitchen and explained to him what was happening. Gavin always got really nervous around people he didn’t know, especially men. And these two standing here looking so very official would only make him more hesitant. Sure enough, Sidda heard Gavin’s footsteps stop short the moment he caught sight of George and Holden. Next thing she knew, he was clinging to her leg with dinosaur in hand, attempting to hide as best as he could behind her. “Come here, baby,” Sidda muttered, detaching Gavin from her leg so she could pick him up. He was starting to get too big to hold, but she knew that would make him feel the safest right now. Gavin had always been a big snuggler and you could say that Sidda definitely wasn’t looking forward to the moment he grew out of that. With her son in her arms, Sidda walked over to the loveseat, sitting down and placing Gavin in her lap. It opened up the two armchairs to the social service men. None of the furniture in her house matched and it was clearly well worn, but Sidda thought it still had a homey feeling. She glanced down at Gavin, who was turning the toy dinosaur over in his hands while taking sneaky glances towards the men. He was curious, she knew, but it was highly unlikely that he’d say anything. Gavin pretty much turned mute around strangers and he’d just end up asking her a billion questions after they left. Other than that though, Sidda didn’t know what to do. She had never run into social services before and she didn’t know how any of this was supposed to start. Did she just wait until they asked her questions? Or was she supposed to ask specifics of the phone call? Unsure, she pulled Gavin a little bit closer to her chest, causing him to rest his head against her shoulder; all the while Gavin’s dark brown eyes watched George and Holden. If there was anything that Sidda could say about her son, it was that he was quite an observant kid. Very smart, too. He wasn’t going to let any of this escape his notice. © melly welly at caution 2.0 & LYRICS BY REGINA SPEKTOR OUTFIT & ENOUGH WORDS & GAH <333

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[HOLDEN GRANT AVERY]

[/style][style=text-align: justify;width:400px; height:60px; background-color: #0B5285; font-family:dorsa; font-size: 20px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing:1px; line-height:110%; color:#000; text-align: center;]
WE COULD BE LOST THEN FOUND

[style=width:350px; height:120; overflow:auto; padding: 5px; text-align:justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size:10px; line-height: 97%; text-transform: lowercase; border-right: 1px dotted #dded82; overflow:auto; color: #000;]This sitiuation was turning out to be not as bad so far as Holden had been fearing. So far the apartment building itself, though a bit shabby was well taken care of it seemed otherwise. Not that the building itself meant nothing was wrong here but a lot of times you learned quite a bit from things before you even talked to the parents themselves. The woman who answered the door was younger than Holden had been expecting for some reason, looking closer to his age it seemed judging from appearances. There was obvious surprise on her face when George announced who they were. It was a look you saw often on these sorts of visits. No one ever thought they would be the ones who had this happen to them. Because you see everyone, even the ones who neglected or beat their children, thought they were perfectly fine parents and that anyone who said otherwise was wrong.

He didn't doubt this mother would be any different but to her credit she didn't say anything disrespectful or refuse to let them in like a lot of people did. A faint smile even touched her lips towards him as he attempted to ease the fear he knew she was likely feeling just then. Holden knew the horror stories when it came to social services taking your children from you with barely a reason and shoving them into foster care. While there were times when the kids did need taken out of a home for their own wellbeing and safety, Holden was one of the ones who made that decision only as a last resort. He knew what it was like after all, having worried more than once if he and Hux were going to be taken away from their mom when they were kids.

She stepped back then and held the door open a little wider, inviting them then. George walked inside and Holden followed, his blue eyes subtle doing a very quick sweep of the inside that was visible. It wasn't large by any stretch of the imagination but despite the slight crowdedness it was neat and clean aside from the random toy here or there. Points in her favor already, at least in Holden's mind. Who knew what George was thinking, his face a study of skepticism as he didn't even attempt to hide that he was giving her place a once over. Intimidation. That's how the older man worked, something Holden wasn't not at all fond of but had no control over either. They were barely in the door before the sound of little feet came pattering quickly from what Holden guessed was the kitchen. A little voice addressing the young woman as 'Mommy' came with the footsteps and a little boy that Holden guessed was the one in question with this whole thing came barreling around the corner. All progress stopped though at the sight of the two men standing there, his big brown eyes looking at them like they had four heads as he veered immediately towards Sidda and clung to her leg.

The look on the young woman's face told Holden she would have rathered he hadn't seen them standing there and it was obvious the little guy was very much not ok with these strangers in his house. He reminded Holden of Hux when he'd been that age, dark hair and big brown eyes. Stooping to pick him up, Sidda headed into the living room then, obviously intending that they follow her which the two men did. Leaving the two chairs open for them to sit, Sidda waited quietly with Gavin nestled in her lap, obviously nervous and who could blame her? Everything Holden was seeing so far seemed to shout that this was a mom who loved her son to death and provided the best she could for him even if they didn't have much money. George, however, didn't seem to be having such thoughts. His face was stoic as ever as he took the seat directly opposite of Sidda. "Miss Marson, we received a phone call this morning with some information that would indicate your son is being less than well cared for by yourself," Never one to sugar coat anything George. "By law we are required to look into any and all tips regardless and is the purpose of my and Mr. Avery's visit tonight,"

With that explanation done, George paused for a moment, not missing the curious looks being shot his way by Gavin. "Perhaps you and I can speak privately for a moment, Miss Marson?" He requested, giving a pointed look at the little boy. Holden could already tell that wasn't going to be a good idea, just from the way the little guy was clinging to his mother but he knew George wasn't really going to care much about that fact either. Wanting to make this as easy as possible on both Sidda and Gavin, he reached down and picked up a couple more of the same sort of dinosaur toys on the floor by his feet, moving over to the love seat in a very non-threatening sort of manner. "Hey buddy, my name's Holden. Are these your dinosaurs too?" He questioned lightly, half doubting the kid would even pay any attention to him or be curious enough to let his mother go talk to George for a minute.

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TAG: name ! WORD COUNT: enough ! NOTES: fjaisofjiasofjiasojfosai so excited <33 ! CREDIT: NUTTERIE @ CAUTION 2.0

[SIDDA LEE MARSON]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #000000, width: 300px; height: 300px;] suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall The longer Sidda sat with her son curled in her arms, the more anxious she felt. She honestly had no clue what she could’ve done in order to get child services involved. The young mother played back the past couple months as well as she could remember and there was nothing that really stood out in her mind. They were downright normal, in fact. Nothing that should’ve gotten her in trouble with child services. Sure, things weren’t easy for them but Sidda didn’t think it made her a bad mother. She did the best she could for her kid, sacrificing everything she had to make sure he was okay. There were people who did a lot less for their children. Then again, she doubted many people ever thought they were bad parents. Maybe her standards weren’t good enough for the general public and that was why she was going through this now. She hated to think outsiders judging her like that when they really had no idea of the situation, but there were people like that out there. In fact, Sidda had run into one at the grocery store not all that long ago. He had felt that he had the right to instantly categorize her as an awful person and to criticize her until she felt like one, too. She had come home from that interaction feeling more down than she had in awhile. Sidda hadn’t cried, but she had felt as if she could. The only thing that stopped her was knowing Gavin would have been worried if he had seen her like that. It seemed as if Sidda’s prediction hadn’t been too far off based on George’s next words. She nodded as if she understood though in all reality, Sidda was kind of starting to feel numb. Who could’ve reported her? Despite how angry the guy at the grocery store had been, she highly doubted it was him. It seemed like it would be too much effort for something that didn’t affect him. So who else could it have been? And why didn’t they talk to her if they had such a problem instead of getting child services involved? She couldn’t even begin to guess who would’ve gone behind her back like that. She glanced down at Gavin to see if he heard or understood what George had been saying, afraid that he would be upset now. Luckily, Gavin was entirely interested in the other stranger. It was rare that anyone got on his level and talked directly to him like Holden was. Normally, they just glanced at him, smiled, and went about talking to the other adults. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself and instead of making a decision, he buried his face in Sidda’s shoulder. Sidda glanced apologetically at Holden and then turned all her attention back to her son, lightly rubbing his back. “Gavin, sweetie,” Sidda murmured, kissing the top of his head. “I have to go talk to Mr. Donnelson about grown up stuff, okay? Do you think you could play nicely with Mr. Avery?” Gavin shook his head against Sidda’s shoulder, refusing to look up. Sidda knew it was going to be a difficult task to get Gav to cooperate. He had always been a shy kid. It was just in his nature to be cautious around new people. The fact that both social workers were guys made it even more difficult. Gavin wasn’t used to having an older, male presence around and he was never quite sure what to do. And normally, Sidda wouldn’t push the issue. She didn’t think pushing him out of his comfort zone would help him grow out of the shy phase. Typically Sidda would just tell him not to worry and take him with her. But this time it was much, much different. Whatever Mr. Donnelson had to say was not something she wanted Gavin to overhear. He was a smart kid. He’d listen and understand enough of what was going on to worry about it. She wasn’t about to let him have that worry weighing down on him. “Gav, baby,” she started, prying Gavin away from herself so she could meet his eyes. “This is really important for Mommy, okay? I need you to do this, buddy. Look! He even has one of your dinosaurs!” Sidda pointed to the dinosaur in Holden’s hand. Gavin shifted slightly to look at the dinosaur but didn’t do much more than that. After a few seconds, he nodded slowly and slid off of Sidda’s lap. Thank god he wasn’t an argumentative kid. “Thanks, buddy! You’re being a really big help!” Sidda stood up, ruffling Gavin’s hair as he did so. She gave Holden a thankful smile, really unsure of what she’d do if he hadn’t been willing to distract her son. “If he starts to get fidgety or upset or anything, please don’t hesitate to get me,” she instructed before heading into the other room to talk to George. Gavin turned to watch her leave before facing Holden again, holding out his dinosaur to show him it. © melly welly at caution 2.0 & LYRICS BY REGINA SPEKTOR OUTFIT & ENOUGH WORDS & GAH <333

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[HOLDEN GRANT AVERY]

[/style][style=text-align: justify;width:400px; height:60px; background-color: #0B5285; font-family:dorsa; font-size: 20px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing:1px; line-height:110%; color:#000; text-align: center;]
WE COULD BE LOST THEN FOUND

[style=width:350px; height:120; overflow:auto; padding: 5px; text-align:justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size:10px; line-height: 97%; text-transform: lowercase; border-right: 1px dotted #dded82; overflow:auto; color: #000;]Holden was beginning to think this whole 'investigation' was a waste of time. Both for he and George as well as this young woman and her little boy. It might not have been the nicest looking apartment building and there was some obvious wear and tear going on interior wise but over all it was a nicely kept place. One that was clearly taken care of by Sidda as often as was possible which Holden gathered wasn't a lot of time considering how many hours the poor girl put in at her two jobs. On the drive over Holden had been given the basics about Ms. Marson and none of it had seemed to scream child neglector to him. If anything she seemed to be doing everything humanly possible to provide for him aside from going out and robbing a bank. George didn't seem convinced, however, and there was really nothing Holden could do to stop this little visit from happening or even cut it short.

So far she was doing a good job of staying calm, especially in front of her little boy, but Holden could see the fear lurking just behind that neutral expression. He'd seen it on his own mom's face years ago when the very same thing had happened and two men in suits had shown up threatening to take he and Huxley away. Although he was older than this particular boy at the time it was obvious the kid knew something was up and the way he was clinging to Sidda told Holden he wasn't going to make it easy for her to step away even for a few moments. Not that he could really blame the little guy either. Holden wasn't a small guy and George, though smaller built was still taller and the stern expression on his face was scary enough as it was. To the five year old they both probably seemed like two very intimidating presences in his otherwise happy world.

However, Holden knew George wasn't going to wait long for the boy to let his mother talk for a moment out of earshot and hoping to spare them both from more upset figured he'd do his best to distract him even for a tiny bit. These were the moments that having grown up playing a parent came in handy. Gaving, though, was proving not quite ready to warm up to this stranger, dinosaurs involved or not. Holden met Sidda's apologetic smile with an understanding look, hating that they were even putting these two through this whole mess right then. The boy clearly adored his mother and she very obviously loved him. In his mind they had no right to further interrupt what had appeared to be a special night for the pair. Waiting quietly as she attempted to talk her son into letting her go for a moment to talk to George, Holden could help but be reminded of Hux. He'd been a shy kid too. The type who hid behind their mother's legs when strangers came around which wasn't often. Maybe it was that resemblance that had Holden feeling a sort of soft spot for the boy and his mother but he felt his resolve harden to make sure their little family unit wasn't broken.

Still refusing to move from his mother's lap, Holden heard George clear his throat slightly in impatience, earning him a bit of an annoyed look from Holden. That was certainly not going to help things. Being a little more firm this time but never raising her voice or even grabbing him aside from prying him away enough to look him in the face her request was met with a reluctant look but he nodded and slid off her lap all the same. The relief in her voice was obvious as she got up then, aiming another smile at him in appreciatation for his willingness to keep and eye on the little boy. Smiling back in return he gave a brief nod at her last words. "Here that? You can get your mom if I get too fidgety ok?" He addressed Gavin, turning the words around as if it was the little guy in charge instead. Watching as his mom left, the five year old turned back towards Holden and held out the dinosaur in his hands. "So is that one your favorite? I've always been a T-Rex guy myself," The lightly given words were punctuated by him holding up the dinosaur he'd just named as his personal favorite.

In the other room George wasn't going to mince words it seemed. "I'm going to be frank with you, Ms. Marson, getting a call like this isn't out of the ordinary and a lot of them amount to a misunderstanding but we do take all of them very seriously. I'll be writing up a full report on our visit tonight and for the next few weeks my colleage, Mr. Avery, is going to be coming to do a weekly check up visit and meeting with the both of you," Pausing for a moment to let that sink in, he continued in his overly stoic tone, "If he were to find anything that doesn't seem to be in the best interest of the child then further action will be taken from there. Any other questions?"

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TAG: kel ! WORD COUNT: enough ! NOTES: fjaisofjiasofjiasojfosai so excited <33 ! CREDIT: NUTTERIE @ CAUTION 2.0

[SIDDA LEE MARSON]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #000000, width: 300px; height: 300px;] suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall The young mother really hadn’t wanted to leave Gavin with another stranger, not when she had the night off to spend with him. It took forever for him to be comfortable around strangers and it didn’t help that he was already stressed out about having scary people in suits in his space. Besides, Sidda knew Gavin was picking up on how anxious she was about everything. But she figured if she had to choose between leaving Gavin with Holden or George, Holden was definitely the better option. He seemed to like kids, or at least was comfortable enough around them to act like it. And Holden really had helped to ease at least some of Sidda’s worries when she heard him turn her words around to give Gavin the control of the situation instead of himself. There weren’t a lot of people who did that. People typically thought that because they were the adults they needed to be in complete charge. Maybe that worked with kids who were more of a handful and like to challenge authority, but Gav wasn’t one of those kids. Authority figures – and ones he didn’t know well especially – always made him a nervous little boy. At least, made him more nervous than he already was. For Holden to know not to do that told Sidda that he really did know how to handle himself around kids. It probably meant he had his own family that consisted of young kids, a fact that Sidda really shouldn’t be disappointed about even though she was. At least she didn’t have long to feel stupid about thinking that. The moment Sidda and George were mostly out of earshot, George started firing words at her. There had been very few times where the mother had felt more victimized than she did in that moment. Despite the lack of accusatory words, it was clear the sentiment was behind everything he said. It didn’t matter if Sidda was a good mother or not; this man had already made his judgment of her. Nothing she said or did would prove him otherwise. She was already a bad mother simply because he had to come check up on her and her son. Sidda could feel her anger beginning to grow towards this man. What was the point of him even bothering with all these formalities? Acting like this whole process was fair when any misstep Sidda made, regardless of the severity, would be counted against her? She wanted nothing more than to direct George towards the door and lock him out for good, but that wouldn’t help matters. It’d just be another bad mark for her. One thing did make the young mother feel a little bit better though. At least Holden would be doing the check up and not George. Sidda had the feeling (and she really hoped she wasn’t wrong) that Holden would be more reasonable than George with the evaluation. “No. No questions,” she answered, leaning out of the doorway and glancing over her shoulder to see how Gavin was fairing. Seeing that he was okay, she looked back at George. “Is that all?” Meanwhile, Gavin was actually doing much better with Holden that Sidda had thought he would. The five year old was a bit apprehensive at first, seeing as how he had never really met anyone who talked to him like he was a person and not just some little child other than his kindergarten teacher or his Aunt Rue. But any other stranger? It was always baby talk even though Gavin had really outgrown that stage. So he had ended up staring blankly at Mr. Avery for a few moments after the man had stated that the T-rex was his favorite and asked Gavin what his was. Eventually though, Gavin decided that he could trust the nice man in the suit enough to interact slightly. Gavin shook his head no, still not ready to actually talk to Mr. Avery. He somehow believed a stegosaurus could be Gavin’s favorite. What a silly man. Everybody knew they were hardly the coolest dinosaurs out there. Placing the stegosaurus near Mr. Avery, Gavin slid off the couch and headed towards the basket that his mommy always told him to put his toys in when cleaning up. It took a few minutes for Gav to dig around in his toys, trying to find exactly what he wanted. The search was successful though and Gavin managed to find his triceratops and his longneck dinosaur (he could never remember the name of it). Both were tied for his favorite and Gav always found it hard to choose between them when his mommy said he could only take one along to where ever they were going. He displayed both for Mr. Avery, hoping that the nice man would like his choices. © melly welly at caution 2.0 & LYRICS BY REGINA SPEKTOR OUTFIT & ENOUGH WORDS & GAH <333

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[HOLDEN GRANT AVERY]

[/style][style=text-align: justify;width:400px; height:60px; background-color: #0B5285; font-family:dorsa; font-size: 20px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing:1px; line-height:110%; color:#000; text-align: center;]
WE COULD BE LOST THEN FOUND

[style=width:350px; height:120; overflow:auto; padding: 5px; text-align:justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size:10px; line-height: 97%; text-transform: lowercase; border-right: 1px dotted #dded82; overflow:auto; color: #000;]Despite the reputation that most social workers tended to receive as home wreckers Holden really, really hated having to split any family up. Whether it was one child or five tearing them away from their home, their siblings, their parents he simply hated it. Only the extreme cases where the parents or parent were abusing them and it was necessary for their safety to take them away did he not mind as much. But even then it still made him cringe inside, seeing the fear on the child's face wondering where they were going to be taken even if it was better than where they were living currently. He'd been praying this situation wasn't going to require anything of that sort happening and so far it didn't seem as if there was anything to worry about on that account.

Small as it was the little apartment was well kept and it was fairy clear at least to Holden that Sidda Marson loved her little boy very much and the feeling was mutual as far as Gavin was concerned. To him that didn't suggest that anything other than a well meaning (or not so well meaning as the case might have been) but mistaken individual had phoned in a false report and he and George would soon be on their way. Clearly George was taking this much more seriously and as per usual felt a bit too important for his own good in Holden's opinion. He couldn't quite hear everything the older man was saying to the poor young woman but he had heard that same speech enough times to have a pretty good idea and it irritated him to say the least.

Trying not to let that show in front of the already nervous little boy though, Holden focused his attention on the dinosaurs in Gavin's hands, figuring it was a safe enough subject to continue with for now. At first he wasn't even sure if the little guy was gonna do more than just sit there and stare at him suspiciously but apparently he passed whatever test was being silently given because his question was met with a quick shake of his head indicating that wasn't definitely not his favorite nope. Watching with some amusement as the boy placed the stegosaurus closer to where he sat on the couch, Holden followed his movements to the small basket of toys on the floor. Clearly looking for something in particular it took him a couple of minutes before he was hopping back up and over to the couch and in his hands this time were two more dinosaurs. Grinning at the sight of them Holden was clearly very impressed with those choices. "Ohhh yeah those are two of the coolest dinosaurs. My little brother always liked Triceratops too which means you must be as awesome as he is,"

Just inside the next room, George was still not quite sure this young woman was taking his words quite as seriously as he was meaning them to be and the frown on his face only grew deeper. So far she hadn't said much aside from a nod here or there as he'd been talking and when he'd asked if she'd had any questions it had been a rather quick no she did not in reply. Which either meant she actually did understand the seriousness and realized nothing she could say would likely help or change the situation or she didn't really care which in George's mind was always the likely scenario. His lips set in a thin line he eyed her coolly. "Very well then, Miss Marson, if you have nothing else to say then neither do I but I strongly recommend you prepare yourself for future visits from my office and not just from Mr. Avery mind you," It was a way of saying you were being watched now and he liked the way it made most people squirm uncomfortably at the thought.

With their conversation at an end he turned along with her as they both walked back into the living room, evening where Holden had stationed himself next to Gavin, looking rather relaxed and not at all as intimidating as George would have preferred. "Thank you for your time, Miss Marson. You can expect Mr. Avery every Friday morning and Tuesday evening at 9am and 6pm respectively. After a month if he feels things are acceptable then we will no longer need to stay in contact," Giving Holden a pointed look, he added sourly, "Until then keep yourself available,"

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TAG: kel ! WORD COUNT: enough ! NOTES: fjaisofjiasofjiasojfosai so excited <33 ! CREDIT: NUTTERIE @ CAUTION 2.0

[SIDDA LEE MARSON]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #000000, width: 300px; height: 300px;] suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall Gavin was starting to think this man could actually be a pretty cool guy. He had actually called the triceratops by its real name instead of the “three horned dinosaur.” There were so many big people who thought Gavin was too little for the real dinosaur names and decided to use cute little names like that instead. But Gavin was five. He was old enough to know the real names of dinosaurs. His mommy had taught him with a picture book and even though he couldn’t read the stories himself, he had heard it enough times to know exactly what was what. Or well, most of them. Some of the names were really hard, Gavin had to admit. But he’d learn them and would never have to use the silly nicknames people gave them. What was even cooler about Mr. Avery was that he had a little brother. All the little brothers that Gavin had ever met had been his classmates’ siblings, seeing as how Gav didn’t have his own. His mommy and Aunt Rue often said Leo mind as well be his brother, but Gavin didn’t really get what that meant since they weren’t brothers. But the little brothers Gavin had met were poopy, drooly things. Babies. They could be cute until they started to cry and then Gavin wanted nothing to do with them. It was how Gav ended up picturing Mr. Avery’s little brother; poopy, drooly, and crying. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about being compared to a baby, but if Mr. Avery said it like a good thing, it had to be a good thing, right? Besides, if his little brother liked the triceratops, then he had to be a pretty okay baby. Only a cool baby would like the triceratops. So Gavin nodded as if this was suddenly a concrete fact because in his mind it was. He held the dinosaur back out to Mr. Avery. “Gif this to your little brother,” he said, still holding the dinosaur out with hopes that Mr. Avery would take it. Gav might not have a lot of toys, but he wasn’t one that ever hesitated to give away them. His mommy had taught him it was good to share and to be kind and the kid had sucked up the lesson like a sponge. He wanted the awesome baby to have it. Meanwhile, Sidda wasn’t getting along with George as well as Gavin was getting along with Holden. All this talk with this pompous asshole was giving Sidda the worst desire to want to mock him. She wouldn’t, because she was a grown up, responsible adult and mother, but it didn’t mean she didn’t want to. It’d only hurt her in front of George and somehow prove his point though, so Sidda pushed the urge away. There was no need in giving the guy the satisfaction of thinking he was right about her. Of course, Sidda would end up giving Rue all the details of this interaction with as much exaggeration as possible on George’s character the next time the two saw each other. It was just what best friends did. She had to resist the urge to roll her eyes too, when George thanked her for her time. Sidda had no doubt that it wasn’t a genuine thanks at all, nor did she appreciate having to give up her time. At least it had to mean that all of this was going to be over soon and Gavin and her could get back to their little family dinner, right? He still seemed to feel the need to add in that her schedule was now going to have to revolve around this though, which was going to be a huge inconvenience. “Got it,” she said. George hadn’t even given her the option to work with them, though it wasn’t like she was really surprised. She’d just have to make sure she could get off work those hours for the next couple of weeks. At least her bosses were pretty understanding. With this all done, Sidda added just a tiny bit of snark. If George seemed to think he was so important, then he probably had other places he needed to be right now. “I’ll see you to the door. I’m sure you have other people to go check up on.” She had almost said “other people to harass,” but she had enough self-control to not. Sidda walked out of the room without waiting for George and walked over to her son. “How are you doing, baby?” she asked, stooping down to kiss the top of Gav’s head before looking over at Holden. “He didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?” © melly welly at caution 2.0 & LYRICS BY REGINA SPEKTOR OUTFIT & ENOUGH WORDS & GAH <333

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[HOLDEN GRANT AVERY]

[/style][style=text-align: justify;width:400px; height:60px; background-color: #0B5285; font-family:dorsa; font-size: 20px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing:1px; line-height:110%; color:#000; text-align: center;]
WE COULD BE LOST THEN FOUND

[style=width:350px; height:120; overflow:auto; padding: 5px; text-align:justify; font-family: tahoma; font-size:10px; line-height: 97%; text-transform: lowercase; border-right: 1px dotted #dded82; overflow:auto; color: #000;]If there was one thing Holden had come to learn in the years he'd been doing this job it was that most of these kids were mature beyond what their years suggested. Some out of necessity due to legitimate parental neglect and if they didn't take care of themselves or their siblings no one would. Others such as little Gavin here simply had learned from a young age that life could be tough no matter how good of a mother or father they had. Holden could understand that well seeing as he'd been there himself as a child. While all the other kids were talking about how they hoped they got this or that for Christmas or birthdays he had never expected gifts or parties. It wasn't that he thought he and Hux's mom didn't care but they both knew there just wasn't the money for that sort of thing and asking his mother to get him something they couldn't afford would mean making her work even harder to make up for it.

Just the few moments he'd seen Gavin interact with Sidda so far it was pretty clear the boy adored her and no doubt would likely defend his mommy against the anonymous tip saying she didn't take care of him. He didn't have a lot of toys but he clearly loved the ones he did have and Holden was actually pretty impressed with how well he could say and even knew the correct names of the dinosaurs they were currently talking about. The boy seemed rather fascinated to hear about Holden's little brother, although it would seem he was taking the term quite literally and picturing Hux as a little kid too because he suddenly held the triceratops out before sweetly offering the toy for Holden to give to him.

It was moments like this that reminded Holden why he'd chosen this profession. It really was amazing how selfless a young child could be even when they barely had anything of their own either. That was probably a credit to his mother for raising him right in the first place although Holden had seen the same thing from kids who had literally no proper instruction from any adult figure in their life. A soft smile spread his lips and he took the little plastic toy from Gavin's hand, looking at it for a moment before meeting the expectant gaze across from him. "Wow, buddy that's really awesome of you to do! I'll make sure he gets it and let him know it's from a really cool kid named Gavin," Tucking the dinosaur in the inner pocket of his suit jacket he felt slightly guilty for taking one of the few toys this kid had but he'd also learned that kids didn't understand when you refused them. If they wanted to do something nice why would you tell them not to?

It was doubtful George would have been as touched by the action had he seen it though he was far more concerned with the mother at the moment to bother glancing that direction. So far she was being rather quiet but it was easy to see she was not at all happy with what he saying though she was polite enough. Quite a few parents went absolutely ballistic at not only the accusations but the disruption in their schedule to make room for a visit they most certainly didn't want. So it was to her credit that she didn't so much as protest after he had informed her of the days and times she could expect his colleague to show up. Simply confirmed it and seemed to accept that fact for what it was.

Just as done with this conversation as she was, George pursed his lips and nodded, not missing the slightly sharper tone she used to end things before leaving him standing there to go back into the living room. Holden glanced up as she came over, by this point very much convinced that there was no reason for them to even be here, a point proven again as she kissed Gavin's head affectionately. Unfortunately he had no authority or power to tell his superiors otherwise except if he went through with the visits. At her question he quickly shook his head as he stood up. "None at all. Did a good job of keeping me in line," He aimed a half smile at the little boy who was looking up at him with a much less shy gaze by this point. George had come back out into the living room by that point and was moving towards the door. "We're done here for now, Mr. Avery," That was all he bothered to say before letting himself out much as Sidda had told him to do a few moments ago.

Glancing in the older man's direction as he headed back out towards their car, Holden reached inside his jacket to pull out a rectangular business card and a pen. Scribbling on it he held it out to Sidda. "My card. If you need to get in touch with me at all or if those days George set up for me to come over don't work out just give me call. I put my personal cell number on there just in case you can't reach me at the office," Tucking the pen back into his pocket, he added with a small smile, "I'm a bit more flexible than he is," Looking back down at Gavin, he added lightly, "Sorry we interrupted your supper, buddy. Smells pretty good you better go enjoy it before it gets too cold," Returning his gaze to Sidda he started to turn for the door as well. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, Miss Marson,"

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TAG: kel ! WORD COUNT: enough ! NOTES: fjaisofjiasofjiasojfosai so excited <33 ! CREDIT: NUTTERIE @ CAUTION 2.0

[SIDDA LEE MARSON]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: #000000, width: 300px; height: 300px;] suppose I kept on singing love songs just to break my own fall Sidda was ready for all of this to be over at this point. Yeah, it was just about done and everything, but it was taking just about all of the mother’s willpower to not push the two out of the door. Or really, George at this point. Holden seemed like a good guy, at least from the bits and pieces of conversation she had caught between him and Gavin. And Gavin himself seemed to have enjoyed it, or at least felt comfortable enough around Holden to not be his typical “hide in his room until company leaves” self. She was surprised, actually, considering how much Gavin really did dislike strangers and usually went out of his way to avoid them if he could. But this wasn’t the case this time and Sidda couldn’t help but think that Gav wouldn’t mind talking to him again. At least as long as Sidda had to deal with Holden instead of George, this thing wouldn’t be too bad. She was sure she’d have to talk to George again as some sort of follow up at some point or something, But Holden was the one who’d do the visits, which mean she’d have more face to face time with him and in this situation, he was definitely the lesser of two evils. He seemed a lot more understanding than George, who was pretty much just a straight up asshole. As if he had heard her thoughts, Holden handed Sidda his business card, telling her that he’d be willing to work with her. And clearly, he knew how uncompromising his partner could be. She couldn’t help but think that Holden probably did have his own wife and kids, seeing as how he seemed to understand how chaotic family life could be. It disappointed her much more than it should’ve. “Thanks,” Sidda said, glancing at the card for a few seconds before slipping it into her back pocket. She was about to scoop Gavin up and walk Holden to the door when Holden turned his attention to Gav and apologized for interrupting his evening. This guy couldn’t be real. Sidda rarely saw any adult give a kid any sort of consideration when they invaded the kid’s personal space. Honestly, Holden would basically be Sidda’s dream guy if they hadn’t met because of a situation like this. Well, that, and if Sidda hadn’t sworn off of dating. It was too much to put Gavin through. She scooped Gav up once Holden finished apologizing to him and walked with Holden to the door. Once he was out, she closed it behind him and locked everything up. “How about some mac and cheese, bud? You’ve waited too long. I can practically feel you wasting away,” Sidda teased, tickling Gavin’s tummy as they walked to the kitchen and he giggled up a storm. © melly welly at caution 2.0 & LYRICS BY REGINA SPEKTOR OUTFIT & ENOUGH WORDS & GAH <333

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