Oliver Splixson

"Why do people abandon their kids in the forest? Can't they just leave them in the orphanage?" A man with greying brown hair and brown eyes asked no one as he looked at the dark skinned, a fuzz of white haired and green eyed baby in his hand wrapped in brown clothing.

The baby extended its hand towards the man and made baby noises, which caused the man to smile a bit.

Looking at the baby, the man said "I don't know who your parents are and why they left you in this damned forest." Shaking his head the man watched as the baby started to fall asleep in his hands.

"You sleep tight little one. Maybe, Lisa will take a liking to you and adopt you as our son so that my unborn child will have a big brother." Saying that to the baby, he started to walk back to the camp which was only a few metres away from the place he found the baby.

As he reached the camp, he saw the mercenary group that he had hired for the journey back home.

The captain of the mercenaries who had been on guard duty looked at the man and said "I thought you were going to find some metal nearby, but what's with the baby, Mr. Splixson?"

"I did find a metal, it was near this little one." Mr. Splixson said as he sat down in his place and rocked the baby back and forth.

Looking at the guard, Mr. Splixson said "Jack, wake up everyone, we're resuming our travel and I need to reach home as fast as possible."

"Sure, we can reach the city in half a day if we don't take any breaks, but you will have to give us more compensation." Jack said.

Nodding at the mercenary captain, Mr. Splixson said "Sure, I'll give extra money. Just hurry up."

"Sure, sure." Saying so, Jack looked back to his men who were resting and said "You heard the man, it's time to move."

"Come on Cap. Give us five more minutes!" One of the mercenaries said.

"No can do. We need to move now." Jack said and his men understood that their captain was not taking any whining from them.

Within minutes, the mercenary group along with Mr. Splixson and the baby started their journey to the city.

On their way they only encountered travelling groups who were going in the opposite direction of the city that they were heading to.

As they reached the city gates, Mr. Splixson moved to the front with the baby and showed his ID to the guard and said while pointing at the mercenaries "They're my escorts."

The guard nodded at Mr. Splixson while checking the ID and said with a smile "It's good to have you back Henry. Your wife has been coming here from time to time."

Then looking at the baby in the hands of Henry, the guard asked with caution "Who's the little one? It's not your bastard, right?"

Raising his eyebrow at the guard, Henry asked "Do I look like a man that can't think with my head?"

"No." The guard said.

Shaking his head, Henry said "I found him abandoned in the forest, Steve. Couldn't leave him there, so I brought him with me. If Lisa agrees I will raise him as my son, if not, then I will have to give him to the orphanage."

"That's unbelievable. People are leaving babies in the forest now?" Steve said with a frown on his face.

Shaking his head, Henry said "I'll be entering then. Have to find Lisa first."

"You do that. I'll get some guys and search around the forest, maybe we can find some clues." Steve said.

Nodding at Steve, Henry entered the city with his escort mercenaries. After reaching near a large building that had a sign "Mercenary Guild - Esamore City Branch"

Getting inside, Henry went to the receptionist and gave them the receipt and some gold coins. Then he went back to Jack and gave him ten extra gold coins and said "Thank you for your help, have a nice day."

"You're welcome. If ya need any help, you know where to find us." Saying so, Jack and his men went to the receptionist to get their reward for the escort mission.

Henry left the Guild and walked on a paved road to the inner city. Couple of minutes later, he reached his home after greeting the vendors on the way and buying groceries.

*Knock Knock*

Knocking on the door, Henry waited for his wife to open the door. He didn't wait long as he heard footsteps from inside the house and the door was opened by a beautiful lady with brown eyes and black hair.

She opened the door full of smiles, but her smile froze when she saw the baby in Henry's hands. Seeing his wife with a frozen smile, Henry said "Let's get inside first, I'll tell you who this little one is."

His wife, Lisa, moved out of his way as he entered the house and sat down on the couch in the living room carefully, so that he wouldn't wake the sleeping baby.

Patting on the seat next to him Henry said "Come sit here first."

Lisa did as he asked, with tears in her eyes, as she had started to think about worst case scenarios.

As she sat down next to him, Henry said "I found this little one in the forest abandoned."

"What??" Lisa asked wide eyed, as she couldn't believe that someone would abandon a baby in a forest of all places.

Nodding his head, Henry recounted how he found the baby, and after hearing the full story Lisa released a sigh of relief.

As she calmed down, Henry asked her "I was thinking of adopting him as our son, if you agree to adopt him."

Lisa looked at Henry and asked "What was your plan if I didn't agree to adopt the baby?"

"I would have gone to the orphanage and would visit him from time to time." Henry told her honestly.

Shaking her head at Henry, Lisa said "We can adopt him, I'm not against it. I don't want the little one to be abandoned again."

"Are you sure? In seven months our child will be born." Henry said.

Nodding at Henry, Lisa said with a smile "Yes. Let's raise the little one as our son."

Henry smiled at Lisa and kissed on her cheek and said "Then, I will go to the Baron and hash out the documents for the little one."

"Have you decided on a name for him?" Lisa asked Henry.

He shook his head in denial and said "You decide on naming him."

Thinking for a bit, Lisa said "How about Oliver, after your great-grandfather?"

"That's a fitting name." Henry said with a smile and looking at the sleeping baby in his hands, he said "Oliver Splixson."