Little Maxie

Chapter 37

The dinner went well with Bradley slowly feeding Max, guiding the food bite by bite towards his mouth and patiently waiting until Max finished chewing, even though it was slowly and seemingly with some difficulty. Sometimes, a bit managed to leak out of the corners of his mouth, but the bib managed to catch most of the spillage.

Max really was trying his best, but with George and Lewis talking next to him, his attention often slipped and he turned his head towards the two Mercedes driver's just when Brad was about to give him a forkful, which often ended on his cheeks or chin instead of his mouth.

Everyone at the table pretended not to notice the flinch Max gave, or the way he glanced at Bradley, afraid that he was going to get angry.

But Brad never got mad at all.

"Oopsie," he would say, nothing more, and to Max's surprise, the man would do nothing more than to gently wipe away the food on his chin and offer him another bite.

The caregivers stayed so calm that Maxie was starting to feel more and more at ease and stopped overthinking the fact that he was little in public, letting his headspace take over.

At the beginning of the dinner, when Maxie was still feeling nervous, he would duck away in Brad's chest every time someone passed their table, trying to huddle against the caregiver in a bid to not be seen. By now, he was just shyly ignoring every 'hi' aimed at him, and only ducked away when the person talking didn't immediately move away.

"Nearly finished bunny," Maxie said when he noticed his plate was almost empty. Bradley smiled at him and put the forkful in his mouth. By now, Brad was mushing up what was in his plate, making it easier for Maxie to eat.

He waved shyly at Bunny while he was chewing his food, wanting to keep it close to him and hug it, but at least it was within view.

Maxie felt very glad that he could see bunny, even though he still wanted to hug the stuffy, it was nice to know it was nearby. Chewing his food slowly, he put his hands on the little pouch, which was covered by the end of the bib. Swallowing his food, he turned back toward the Mercedes drivers, interrupting their conversation.

"George fix bunny?" Max asked for the third time during the dinner , making the caregivers smile at him, and George pat his head.

"Of course. First you need to be a good boy and finish your plate," George said, his voice trying to sound strict, but the smile on his face betraying his good intentions.

Maxie though, nodded seriously, opening his mouth once again for Brad, who put another forkful in his mouth, and with a big smile, Maxie opened his mouth for the last time, glad that his plate was finally empty.

Now George could get his stuff to fix bunny.

"Well, I'm going to get the stuffing. I don't think it should be more than an hour," George said, sliding his chair backwards, Maxie also standing up, the dirty bib still hanging from his neck.

"Promise?" Maxie said, "George come to fix bunny, promise?"

"I will," George said, "why don't you help keep Lewis company while I'm gone, okay?"

"I will," Maxie said, looking at Lewis and hesitantly going to stand next to Lewis, who was still sitting down. A shy tap on the shoulder, and Lewis looked up at the little.

"Yes?"

"Come play?" Maxie asked, "please?"

"Of course I will," Lewis said, "I quickly have to fetch something from my room, but I'll come over right after,"

"I'll give you our room number," Bradley said, and Max's his attention slid away from the conversation, looking at George leaving.

Suddenly, he felt nervous, scared that George had been lying and he wouldn't return to fix Bunny at all. Grabbing his bunny, Maxie hugged it close.