Little Maxie

Chapter 57

Brad had been sleeping deeply when he suddenly startled awake. It took him a moment to realise it was just the door to their hospital room opening and a moment after his realisation, the dimmed lights were put on. Not really alert yet, he turned over to see a nurse entering the room.

"Need to come and check if Mr. Verstappen is still coherent," the woman said apologetically when she noticed that he was awake. Brad nodded, rubbing his hand over his face to try and wake up a little more.

He tried to move, but Maxie was still lying curled up against Brad's chest, his bunny held loosely in his arms and the paci barely moving in the mouth.

A glance towards the other bed showed that Charles was still asleep as well, and Brad felt a wave of affection overcome him when he saw the softly rising chest of Ferrari driver. They had talked for a few minutes after Max had fallen asleep and he had crawled in the crib with him.

Even though the caregiver had almost no experiences with littles, the man had been very gentle with Max, and it had quickly became clear that Charles had no idea how to properly hold a little while he fed them a bottle.

Brad was glad he hadn't been angry at the help offered, and just had let him guide Charles his arms to hold Max securely.

Their conversation had been rather brief, seeing that they all were exhausted after a long race and the events afterwards, and they soon had fallen asleep, Charles turning off the light seeing that Brad was in the crib and Max had plastered himself to his side.

Now, he was looking at the nurse lowering the bar, and gently shaking Max, who moaned and tried to snuggle closer to Brad.

"He's still in headspace," Brad said apologetically.

"That's to be expected," the nurse said, looking almost amused at the caregiver lying with Maxie in the crib, "can you turn him over a little, I just need to check his pupil dilation,"

Brad nodded, turning Maxie on his back, which made the little wriggle a little, but it was only when the nurse lifted an eyelid and shone light in there that he truly woke up.

It had taken Charles a little while to fall asleep, even though he was dead tired. At least he felt a bit better, his body getting its necessary dose of hormones after finally letting himself take care of a little.

The feeling of Max lying in his arms had been special, and even though he was insecure, and slightly distracted by Brad sitting so close to him, the moment that Max had drunk from the bottle, his stomach had squeezed and he had almost felt tears prick in his eyes.

And when they had all settled in bed, and he had turned off the lights, he couldn't help but stare at the crib, just visible in all the light that still filtered through. Taking care of Max had been lovely, and even now, he felt a warm feeling overcome him when he saw the little asleep.

And then there was Brad.

It was difficult for Charles to admit, even to himself, what exactly he had felt when Brad touched him so tenderly, even if it was just to help Max out.

The big man was funny and gentle, and Charles actually barely knew him. So why did his heart beat just that little quicker when he saw Brad smile at him, or hold him.

The fact that he knew that Brad was bi wasn't helping the thoughts that ran into his head and it took a while before they all calmed down and he managed to settle in a fitful rest.

Only to have it interrupted just a half an hour later.

He must have jumped up quite high when the sudden wail filled the room. Even now, he barely managed to stay on the bed while he tried to locate the source of it, only to see someone bending over Max.