He nodded his head. "Alright. He'll tell you all about how his dad won't push him ridiculously high because he's a worry wart, huh Brock?" He tried to make himself feel lighter about this. Why was he disappointed? Stop. That inappropriate. Entirely inappropriate. Although Finn's smile just made him want to smile, made him want to be happy, even then it was selfish anyway. "And next time, definitely. Brock'll see you tomorrow in class and I will be there like usual, at eight-ish I think. I'll call if something happens. Hope you heal up and feel better. Bye." He didn't know how to properly hang up the phone. One part of him wanted to just say goodbye because that was normal, and the other wanted to say 'Chris out' because then it would be very much like everyone interesting in all the TV shows and movies that shaped his generation.<br/><br/>Chris did have a fun time with Brock, and he didn't push Brock as high as he wanted because he was honestly scared of him flipping over the top rail and then getting hurt. He really did worry about things like that, and he hoped that one day, Brock would worry about things, but not to the degree of near-anxiety like himself. He needed to work on that and teach by example, but he just didn't know how. He couldn't lose Brock and anytime he got more than typical rug-rat, hooligan scratches, he really did silently panic and get extremely calm to try and handle whatever could have happened.<br/><br/>He took Brock home and sent him to the shower because he had worked up a sweat running around and playing, and after he was out of the shower he made them something to eat that maybe Finn would approve of (did macaroni and cheese from a box okay, because that was the best he could do), but then he saw that like Finn said, he had done the laundry and he hadn't noticed it, but his clothes were actually in his dressers. He had gone to them like it was normal earlier, but it hadn't been normal and now it was. He read to Brock and then he fell asleep. Honestly, Chris was tired too, almost drifting to sleep on the floor beside Brock's bed, but he got up, put the book away and took a hot shower where he relaxed and released. He couldn't remember having such a wonderful time with Brock before. Not when he was old enough to really run around. He felt terrible that he had been so distant, but he was glad he could be around more, or could at least have the illusion of being around more. He also liked being able to sleep in his bed.<br/><br/>The morning was similar, and he went through the routine, but after packing Brock's lunch and dropping him off to school, he stopped to get gas on his way to work and got a call from Edith. He answered and with only a few words she sent his day spiraling.<br/><br/>"I want to see him."<br/><br/>"Uh, what?" he asked, feeling unsure.<br/><br/>"I want to see Brock. I didn't realize how much I'd miss him and it's only been five days," she said. "I'm with Jimmy, and we can watch him after school. Nothing bad's happening--"<br/><br/>"Absolutely not." He practically hissed into the phone. He took a deep breath. "I don't want him anywhere near that place. You can come to the house to visit but he's not going with you, he's definitely not meeting<i>Jimmy</i>. You walked out, you said you didn't want it, you never did, you can't just come back and try to take him to the worst place in the entire world."<br/><br/>"It's where you grew up."<br/><br/>"<i>Exactly</i>."<br/><br/>She was silent and he heard Jimmy's voice saying something he didn't really want to process off to the side. He put the pump back and twisted the cap shut before flipping the plate over the side and getting back to his car. He sat there for a moment.<br/><br/>"I'm still his mother. I am allowed to see him whenever, wherever I want."<br/><br/>"Please, don't take him there."<br/><br/>"I'm living here now, if it's good enough for his mother then it's good enough for him. I'll be picking him up from school today."<br/><br/>"No!" he tried to tell her, but she hung up on him. He looked down at his phone and lowered his forehead against the steering wheel. It had been a rough five days, and now she was trying to take that turbulence and shake it twice as hard. She was a walking wreck and he was lost. He didn't know what to do, but he knew that he had to tell Finn about this. He didn't want to call during class though, so he pulled up the daily schedule and planned to call him during lunch.<br/><br/>After filing away new papers, he took a moment to step out and dial Finn. He didn't know how to tell him, or how to hide his anxiety, his fear.<br/><br/>"Finn? I don't know what to do. Edith wants to take him to her new place, but I can't let him go there. I can't let him go to that place. I don't want him to have to be a part of that, and I don't know what to do. I have nobody else to call, I have<i>nobody</i>but you and Brock now. Oh my god, I'm a horrible father, but he can't go back there." He was in public, so his voice was as calm as he could get it, despite being semi-private in the area off to the corner of the building exterior. He also refused to cry about this, even though he knew that it made him feel better after the fact, it was horrifying and pathetic in the moment. "I'm sorry for dropping this on you, but how do I tell her that I don't want this? She won't listen to me. I've known her for so long and it's like I don't matter just because... just because she didn't get what she wanted and abandoned us."