Little Maxie

Chapter 64

"Dinner's ready everyone," Brad said, looking at the small group. Max was practically lying on Charles, who had his arm wrapped around his back, while Lando was leaning forward eagerly, taking advantage of his bigger headspace and beating Max in the game.

"You heard him, to the table," Charles said, pushing Max a little more upright, even though the little whined at the movement.

He had been perfectly comfortable where he was, lying against the caregiver.

"Come on Maxie, race you," Lando said, already taking off.

"Hey, not fair," Maxie shouted, standing up, and suddenly Charles felt himself being pulled with Max and he had barely any choice but to run after the two, Max not letting go of his hand.

"I won," Lando crowed, grinning widely.

"No, you cheated!" Maxie shouted, looking upset.

"No, I didn't. Charles said to the table," Lando said, sticking out his tongue towards Maxie, "sore loser."

"Am not," Maxie said, stomping his foot and feeling upset about it.

"Hey, hey, no fighting. It wasn't really fair to make it a race without asking it first," Brad said, coming to stand in between the two littles before the fight escalated, "so, no one won or lost."

"But I wanted to win," Lando said with a pout, even while Brad put his hand on his back and guided him to the table.

"No, don't do that. You can win when you play a game fairly," Brad said firmly, pulling the chair back and letting Lando sit, before turning to Maxie, who was still holding Charles hand, looking at Brad, still having an upset look on his face.

Brad thought that Max was upset about 'losing', but he hadn't noticed the way Maxie had stared at him guiding Lando to his chair, and he couldn't help but suddenly fear that the caregiver was going to notice that Lando was a much better little than Maxie was.

"Do you want to sit next to me or Charles, Maxie?" Brad asked, looking at his face, and Maxie blinked t him at the question.

"Braddy," the little answered holding up his arms towards Brad, still not noticing that he was holding Charles' hand.

"Alright," Brad said, smiling at Maxie and lifting the little up, "I do think you'll need to let go of Charles now."

"Oh, sorry," Maxie said, finally letting go of the hand, and immediately wrapping it around Brad's neck, trying his best not to frown. He also wanted to sit next to Charles, but the caregiver was already going to the seat next to Lando.

He kept on staring at the other two, even while Brad was manoeuvring him on his chair, and gently grasped his hand so he would let go of Brad's neck.

"Let's get a bib on you," Brad said, "can you do Lando's bib, Charles?"

"Sure thing," Charles said with an easy smile, and Maxie frowned, putting his fingers in his mouth while he saw the easy way that Charles put the bib around Lando's neck.

Brad smiled down at Max, and manoeuvred the bib around his neck, so he didn't disturb the fingers he was thoughtfully sucking, staring at Lando and Charles. Maxie was probably thinking about playing some more with the other two.

"So, we got our wonderful chicken with veggies," Brad said, putting the plates in front of everyone, both Lando's and Max already cut to bite sizes.

"Ah, thank you for cooking," Charles said, even while Lando was poking a veggie before reluctantly putting it in his mouth.

"What a good boy you are, starting on your veggies," Brad praised, knowing that it could be difficult for littles when they were in their headspaces to stick to their diet. Lando grinned at Brad, and promptly put another piece in his mouth.