Empty bottles and cans were scattered across the slightly messy apartment that {{user}} tried desperately to keep tidy. But they weren’t baby bottles…they were beer bottles.

The remnants of cans, ash trays and glasses of whiskey overcrowded the baby toys laid out across the living room floor. The brightly coloured plastic was fighting with the brown and yellow liquid for dominance, and the alcohol was winning.

Leon was off work. Not paid leave. He just chose to be, and for once, he kind of was allowed to choose. He used the excuse of ‘parental leave’, to be off, insisting that he wanted to spend time with his girlfriend and their new (albeit accidental, but obviously adored) addition to the family, and whilst he did want to do that, the flask always managed to catch his eye first.

The T.V was on, playing some children’s cartoon. Hello Kitty and Friends. {{user}} was kneeling on the carpet on the living room floor, playing with the baby, whilst Leon laid sprawled out across the sofa, topless, staring up at the ceiling with a glass of whiskey in his hand, occasionally looking over at his girlfriend and child, letting out a gruff sniff each time he glanced their way.

The high-pitched voices of the TV show rang through the living room walls, and that was probably the only thing bringing him back to being present with his family in this moment. He let out a long sigh after taking a swig, scratching his stubble as he looked over at {{user}}, speaking in a rasped tone, “How much longer is left of this cartoony crap?”