Chapter Text
An obnoxious ringing woke Henry from his deep sleep, clutching his head in pain as he groaned and stood up, marching across the bedroom and nearly falling over one of the many piles of dirty clothes in the process. He picked up the telephone, holding it to his ear, though before he could even utter a single word, he was interrupted,
“Henry, get over here right this minute!…there’s…an emergency..”
Well, that certainly woke Henry up. He immediately began digging through his clothes drawers, pulling out a pair of jeans. “Jesus, Joey, what happened?! Are you okay?!”
“Look, Hen’, it’s difficult to explain, alright?! I’m fine, just.. hurry up!” Henry huffed, the phone receiver awkwardly pressed between his shoulder and jaw as he struggled to pull a pair of trousers on.
“Joey, please- just, tell me what's going on! I won’t be mad, I promise, just tell me-“
Joey went silent for a moment, and Henry, in turn, held his breath. Eventually, Joey sighed and murmured, “I found..a baby-…on my doorstep.”
Henry, for the first time in a while, was genuinely caught off guard and speechless about Joey’s antics. He shook his head, grunting softly as he pulled a shoe on. “Alright, alright, I’ll be there in a few.”
The drive to Joey’s apartment, although no longer than ten minutes, felt like an eternity. Henry let out a sigh of relief as he parked outside of the doors and stepped out, immediately spotting Joey standing inside the apartment’s lobby, pacing back and forth and clutching what was presumably a baby but was obscured by a blanket.
Henry took a deep breath before heading in, subtly admiring the way Joey’s face lit up upon noticing him. The two of them stood before each other, panting softly, until eventually, Henry offered his arms in a cradle shape. Joey got the hint and handed him the baby. Henry stared down at the little thing with a slightly dazed expression, following Joey, who was beginning to head to the elevator.
“You see, I heard a knock at the door, opened it, and there she was!” Joey explained to Henry, who was only half listening as they stepped inside the elevator and began ascending. “She came with a note, as well. Apparently she’s my daughter and her mother got sick of her.”
The elevator doors opened with a “ping!”, and they stepped out, walking along the long hallway to reach Joey’s apartment. The baby in Henry’s arms began to stir and wriggle, so he awkwardly bounced her a bit in a (successful) attempt to calm her.
“Right…what are you gonna do with her?” Henry mumbled as Joey unlocked the door and stepped inside.
It had been a good few years since Henry had even stepped foot in the apartment, and for good reason. It smelt just as much like cigars as he remembered. He could never stand the things, they always made him feel short of breath. But maybe that was just his asthma.
Still, he didn’t complain. Instead, he followed Joey into the kitchen and sat down at the counter, clutching onto the baby like she was the only thing keeping him alive. Joey filled the teapot with water, placing it down beside him as he turned to face Henry, finally answering his queries.
“I think I might like to keep her. Money’s certainly no issue, I’ve got a spare bedroom and I need something to do all day.” Joey huffed, leaning over the counter to get a good look at the baby.
“Joey-..look, you know I’m always on your side, but…” Henry hesitated, unsure of how to word this gently. “Are you insane? What about work? Someone needs to run the studio!”
Joey scoffed, turning back to focus on the teapot, making them both tea. “I barely do anything all day at that studio! I’ll just bring her in with me!”
“What if you have an important meeting or something?!” Henry huffed, bouncing the baby nervously.
“Well, then her lovely uncle Henry will have to look after her, won’t he?” Joey grinned, placing a mug of warm tea in front of Henry, who eyed it suspiciously.
They sat there quietly for a while, the silence only broken by the occasional baby sounds.
Eventually, Joey spoke. “What do you say?”
Henry thought for a long moment, before nodding. “Okay. What are you gonna call her?”
Joey flashed a smirk, shrugging and taking a sip of his tea. “I might name her after my mother.”
When Henry raised an eyebrow expectantly, Joey continued, “Audrey. Audrey Drew has a nice ring to it, don’t ya think?”
Henry hummed in response, and the two of them sat there awkwardly for a while, occasionally sipping their drinks. After a while, Henry groaned.
“Hungover, ey?” Joey raised an eyebrow, gently patting his pal’s back. “How you holding up, bud?”
Henry chuckled, rolling his eyes and looking affectionately down at Audrey. “To be honest, not great. It still feels weird living alone for the first time..ever.”
“Maybe you should get a roommate. You have got an empty room. You know, I heard Sammy was lookin’ for a place to stay-“ Joey was cut off by Henry placing a finger to his lips before he could even finish that thought.
“Joey, I’m already known as the creepy homosexual on my street, I don’t think living with a man would really help that.” Henry grinned, rolling his eyes mischievously.
It was a bit strange really. He wasn’t gay. At least, not fully. Of course, he’d never admit that. Strangers always assumed he was gay because he was friendly to men, lost his wife to a divorce, and wasn’t scared of emotions. As far as he knew, his close friends always assumed he was straight, and just a bit quirky.
Henry was snapped out of his thoughts by the horrific sound of a baby’s screams. He was so startled by it, he nearly dropped Audrey, barely stopping himself in time. Joey, noticing that Henry was beginning to look a bit agitated, took the baby from him, awkwardly patting her on the back and attempting to soothe her. After a while of that failing, Henry found that her screaming was nearly too much to bear, and was making him feel all overwhelmed. He thought about his little knowledge of babies, before suddenly exclaiming,
“Milk!”
The sudden yell made Joey jump slightly, staring at Henry in mild shock for a second, before his eyes lit up in understanding. “Hen’, you’re a genius! There’s milk in the fridge!”
Henry walked to open the fridge, but hesitated before grabbing the handle. “Hang on, I don’t think babies can have cow's milk.”
Joey let out a loud groan, hunching over in disbelief as he continued gently patting Audrey’s back.
The pair thought long and hard about it, before Henry suddenly jumped up and sprinted out of the front door with no explanation. Joey stood there in disbelief, staring down at Audrey in confusion for a while. A few minutes passed, and thankfully, Henry returned, carrying a few tubs of baby formula.
He began studying the box for instructions, whilst Joey idly questioned his whereabouts, to which Henry simply replied, “I went to the little shop down the road, the one on the corner.”
Joey smirked slightly, sitting himself up on the counter and watching carefully as Henry mixed a bottle of formula, before handing it to Joey and allowing him to carefully feed Audrey.
Almost immediately, it shut her up, and the two men considered it a victory.
“You know,” Henry muttered eventually, “I kinda like her already.”