Little Maxie

Chapter 17

Charles quickly typed in a message in the chat, while Maxie looked at him curiously, not really understanding what was going on.

He remembered Charles from the previous time he had spent in headspace when they had played cars. So far, Charles had been the only caregiver that had played with him when he was little, and Maxie wanted to do that again. Of course, if he was in trouble now, he shouldn't really play.

But Charles hadn't been there when he was being noisy and annoying, and the time with the cars, the caregiver had kind off suggested to play with Maxie, so perhaps he actually liked playing.

Contemplating his changes, Maxie shifted from his bum to his knees and pulled on Charles his shirt, wanting to grab his attention, and hoping that he wasn't going to get shouted at for interrupting.

"Yes?" Charles asked when he felt the soft tug, putting the phone away and crouched down in front of Maxie. The little smiled at him shyly, looking away when he spoke.

"Play?" Maxie asked softly, the words a bit distorted because of his headspace. Charles looked at him for a moment, processing the word.

Maxie looked at him with big eyes when he didn't answer and repeated the word again, with a big look of disappointment on his face, but then Charles understood what he said, and nodded with a big smile.

"Yes, we can do that, what do you want to play?" Charles asked, and Maxie smiled brightly, glad that the caregiver said yes.

"Play!" Maxie said loudly, gesturing with his hands, losing balance and falling over from where he had been sitting on his knees. He shifted easily enough to his bum again, and looked up expectingly at Charles. The caregiver looked back, wondering what he could do with Maxie now that he was this small, and they were stuck in here.

"Uhm, peek-a-boo?" Charles suggested over some thinking, and Maxie tilted his head, not understanding what Charles meant.

"Boo?" Maxie asked, a frown on his face, and Charles smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, peek-a- boo," he repeated, hiding his face in his hands, and wondering if the little was going to be amused with this or not. At the last family party he had, it had been a great hit with the one year old, but children weren't exactly the same as littles.

Maxie frowned when Charles buried his face in his hands, feeling a slightly nervous feeling in his stomach, and wondering if he had said something wrong. Feeling a bit worried, he tugged Charles arm, wondering why he was hiding.

Charles, who hadn't seen Maxie's facial expression, felt the tug on his arm and smiled behind his arms. Suddenly he removed them.

"Boo," he said loudly, making Maxie pull back startled and he sat back for a moment, trying to process what was happened. For a moment Charles was thinking he had done the wrong thing, but then he heard the laughter and Maxie sat back on his knees, looking expectingly at Charles.

"'gain," he said, bouncing a eagerly and Charles smiled indulgently, sitting on the floor and once again hiding in his hands, waiting until Maxie came to check him out before shouting Boo again.

The game seemed to be perfect for Maxie, who was easily entertained with it, and the smiles and laughter from Maxie were enough incentive to keep on going on for Charles, even though he was slightly regretting having chose the game and was wondering if Maxie would cry if he said to stop.

Luckily, a knock sounded at the door, and Charles was happy Bradley walked in, smiling at the two of them, and easily taking the lead away from the less experienced caregiver.

"Hi there, how are we doing?" Bradley asked, looking down at the little who was laughing. Maxie looked up at him with a mischievous smile, and then hid behind his own hands.