**Unexpectedly, Unforeseen**
“Go on, scream all you want! I brought you into this world, and now I’m paying for it!” The slurred voice of the upstairs neighbour pierced through the hallway before Daisy even stepped inside.
“Muuuuum” A childs drawn-out wail followed, and Daisys heart clenched with unbearable pity.
“I told you to shut it! Shut it right now! What more do you want?” Natalie, the neighbour, shrieked again before something heavy crashed onto the floor.
“Muuuuum” The crying resumed.
Daisy hesitated, passing her own door and climbing a few steps up the next flight. Part of her wanted to knock, to offer helpbut she faltered.
…Daisy had married young, at eighteen, believing it was love. But married life was nothing like shed imagined. Within a year, she knew shed made a mistake. Her husband often worked lateor at least claimed tostumbling home at dawn, reeking of whisky.
At first, she endured it, telling herself things would improve. They didnt. One evening, she walked in on him in the bathroom with a blonde stranger, as if lifted from a cheap melodrama.
She didnt argue. Just packed a bag and left. He didnt stop her. Didnt apologise. Daisy wandered the pavement, suitcase in hand, with nowhere to go.
Her mothers place was crampeda tiny two-bed with her stepfather and two half-brothers. No space for her. And she had no close friends.
“Ill get a hotel, find a flat tomorrow,” she muttered.
Headlights swept over her as a car slowed.
“Need a lift, love?” a mans voice called.
She turned. A man in his forties watched her from the drivers seat.
“No, no” Daisy shook her head and quickened her pace.
Rain thickened. No shops were open.
“Get in. Ill take you wherever,” the voice urged.
“Really, Im fine”
“Youll catch your death. Im a doctortrust me.”
Reluctantly, she climbed in, heart hammering.
“Where to?”
“I”
“No idea, eh?” He glanced at her damp bag.
Daisy looked away, cheeks burning.
“How about my place?” He swung the car around.
Her pulse spiked.
“Dont look so terrified. Im on night shiftyoull have the flat to yourself. Im Simon, by the way.”
“Daisy,” she mumbled, hating her own awkwardness.
Soon, she was wrapped in a blanket on his sofa, sipping coffee. Simon was gone, as promised. The flats sparse décor suggested no wife.
She scoured letting ads, messaging a few. One replied instantly. By morning, shed arranged a viewing. Then, she slept.
She woke to the smell of fresh coffee. Simon was back.
“Morning!”
“Sleep well?” He smiled.
“Yes. Ive found a flat.”
“Need help?”
“No, youve done enough.”
“Occupational hazardhelping people.” He grinned. “Coffees getting cold.”
…Daisy took a day off to move into her new placea cosy one-bed near work, affordable. By evening, she was unpacking.
The only downside emerged days later: Natalies rowdy parties, always ending past midnight.
“Did you buy this place?” a neighbor asked once.
“No, just renting.”
“Smart. The woman upstairsNatalie, we call her Nat the Nitproper mess. Four kids, all different dads. Drinks, lives on benefits. The older ones got taken away, but she just had another. Screams all day.”
“Ive heard.”
“Anyway, off to Tesco!” The woman waved dismissively toward Natalies flat.
Daisy approached the door. As she reached for the bell, it swung open.
“What dyou want? Who are you?” Natalie barked.
“Im your neighborjust wondered if you needed help.”
“Help? You from social services?”
“No, I just heard crying”
“That little brat never shuts up. Got twenty quid?”
Daisy handed over the notes.
“Brilliant! Back in a tick!” Natalie slammed the door and clattered downstairs.
Daisy stepped inside. The flat was a wreck. She tiptoed through, finding a small boy curled like a kitten on a chair.
He startled.
“Whore you?”
“Daisy. Your neighbor.”
“Wheres Mum?”
“Gone shopping. Whats your name?”
“Archie.”
“Hungry?”
He nodded. She dashed downstairs, returning with pasta and biscuits. Archie devoured it all.
Through the window, she spotted Natalie returning.
“Your mums back. Id better go.”
Archie just stared with wide grey eyes.
…The next evening, Daisy froze. Ambulances, police carschaos outside.
“What happened?” she asked a woman on a bench.
“Nats finally drunk herself stupid.”
“What about the boy?”
“Care home, I expect. Hell manage.”
Daisy bolted inside. A policeman blocked her.
“Miss, you family?”
“No, his neighbor. Wheres Archie?”
“Some woman from social services has him.”
“Can I see him?”
He shrugged.
Inside, a stern woman in uniform questioned Archie.
“Wheres he going?” Daisy asked.
“Foster care first, then a home. No kin willing to take him.”
“Could I?”
“You family?”
“No, his neighbor.”
“Theoretically, yes. But its a process.”
“Can I visit?”
The woman sighed. “Fine.”
Daisy resolved to adopt him. She visited Archie weekly, bringing sweets. Within months, they were like mother and son.
But adoption wasnt simple. No husband, rented flather application was denied.
Leaving the social workers office, Daisy barely noticed Simon approaching.
“Need help?”
“Oh! Simon, I didnt see you.”
“Spotted you from the café. Im a regular.”
“Me too. Strange weve never crossed paths.”
…They began dating. Simon confessed he couldnt have childrenwhy hed never married. Before their wedding, Daisy told him about Archie. They filed the paperwork, and within months, they brought him home. Archie gained a middle nameSimonand parents who adored him, something hed never had before.
