Maxerica

Persevere

"I bet Chris and Heidi are still asleep," I comment.
I'm laying on my back on the bed next to Maxon, who's sitting up with his computer in his lap.
It's 9:30 AM.
"Probably. The first night is usually one of the hardest," he agrees.
"I heard the baby cry once. I could hardly hear it though. The walls are thick here."
"Which is nice. We got our sleep at least."
"I'm kinda surprised they're back from the hospital already."
"Chris said that a nurse will be here today to check on the baby. They wanted to take her home immediately and not have to deal with any publicity."
"Publicity?"
"Yeah. Since you and I are here a lot of people would probably bug them."
"Oh."
"But it's nothing to worry about."
"I hope we're not bothering them."
"We aren't."
"You don't know that."
"Sure I do. They're our friends."
I look at him.
"Trust me dear, they don't mind at all. They care about us and are happy to have us here."
I smile a bit and nod.
An idea pops into my head.
"Do you think we could make them breakfast and surprise them?" I ask.
"I don't really know how to cook," he replies.
"I'll show you."
"As long as you know what you're doing we can."
"I'm not a great cook, but I know how to make a few things. I'll teach you."
"Alright."
I get up and braid my hair back.
Maxon and I go to the kitchen when both of us are ready.
The maid shows us where everything is.
I thank her and we start cooking.
I have Maxon cut up come fruit.
I find the pancake mix but decide to make it from scratch.
When everything's mixed together I start cooking.
I'm making blueberry and plain pancakes.
Maxon puts all the fruit onto a plate together.
I put the pancakes on two separate plates.
Maxon starts pouring the orange juice and I start placing the eating utensils in their spots at the island when Heidi and Christopher come down with the baby.
Heidi has the baby wrapped in a blanket.
"Good morning," Christopher greets, obviously surprised.
They both have a smile on their faces.
I put everything down.
"Aw let me see," I excited say while going over.
Heidi shows me their little girl.
She has dark blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. She's awake and watching Heidi.
"Awwww she's adorable," I squeal.
"Thank you."
"I'm so happy for you guys."
Heidi smiles at me then looks at her child.
"She's so amazing," Christopher comments.
"She is," Heidi agrees.
"Her eyes are gorgeous."
"She has the blonde hair you were hoping for," I add.
"She does. It's darker than I imagined it though," Heidi notes.
"It's a lot like Chris'."
"Yeah. I bet it will look different longer. Plus it'll change as she gets older."
I nod.
"You guys made breakfast?" Christopher questions.
"Oh, yeah. We know how tiring the first few nights are so we figured we could help out and make some breakfast," Maxon explains.
"Well thank you. That was very thoughtful."
"It's our pleasure. You're our friends. We're glad to help."
Heidi sits at the island.
I sit next to her after putting the rest of the plates and silverware in their spots.
Christopher and Maxon sit with us and we all grab some pancakes.
We listen to Heidi and Christopher as they talk about their first night as parents and how every thing went at the hospital.
It makes me happy seeing how excited they are to be parents.

"Bring the smaller tree to this hole," I tell Maxon.
Maxon and I are helping again to put more trees in.
Christopher decided to stay with Heidi and help with the baby. She's pretty tired so he doesn't want her falling asleep and not hearing the baby or something.
Maxon brings the tree over.
We put it in the hole. I hold it in place while Maxon fills the hole.
We put the last three in.
"Let's do this last section, then we'll be done over here," Maxon tells me.
I nod.
I begin marking the spots in the gap between the new tress and the older ones who survived the attack.
As I mark the last spot I notice something bright under the dirt by an old tree.
I go over and gently brush the dirt off.
I'm surprised to find a bright pink rose. A small rose bush was smashed down under the dirt and somehow survived.
"Maxon," I call.
He comes over.
"What?" he asks.
I show him the flower.
"Oh wow," he reacts.
We both look at this flower for a few minutes.
I get down on my knees and wipe all the dirt off the plant. I help it sit up as much as I can, but it's a little droopy.
"Let's see if we can keep it alive," I say to Maxon.
"Why? It's probably not going to survive," he argues.
"Because it's a very good symbol."
"Of what?"
"Of how this town will persevere through the tragedy that has happened. They won't give up, just like this flower."
"Ok," he replies after a minute of silence.
I look at him.
He smiles.
I smile back.
He goes back to digging the holes.
I pour some of the water from my water bottle on it lightly.
I look at the flower again, then go back to helping Maxon.
We work until a little before six.
We got all of the trees down on this side of the woods and decide to stop for the day.
There's only a few more to put in in some other places, but we'll do that tomorrow and the next day if necessary.
We tell Jeremy we're leaving and how far we got.
He thanks us before we go.
The driver brings us back to the house.
"We got a lot done today," I say to Maxon as he helps me out of the car.
"We did, didn't we?" he agrees.
"Once we got the hang of it it got easier and we started working faster."
"Yeah. It would be even quicker if Chris came though."
"He had a good reason to stay home."
"I know. But I'd appreciate if he came to help with a town he's in charge of."
"I'm sure he'll come tomorrow hon."
"I'll ask him."
I nod.
We go inside.
Heidi and Christopher are in the living room watching a movie. Heidi is holding the baby.
We both go over.
They look at us.
"We're back," I inform them.
"How did it go?" Christopher questions.
"Really good. We finished the area of trees we were working on."
"Awesome. You guys did a lot of work."
"We did our best."
"And that's what's most important."
"Did you guys eat dinner already?"
"Not yet. We were waiting for you guys."
"You didn't have to wait."
"It's the least we can do. You guys are working so hard."
"We're doing our best."
Christopher calls over the maid and says that we're ready for dinner.
He has us sit on the other couch.
The maid brings each of us a chicken pot pie and lemonade.
We all start eating.
"This is fantastic," I judge after the first bite.
He smiles.
I stuff my mouth until it's all gone.
I thank Christopher then get up.
They all look at me as I stretch.
"I'm going to go get my shower," I tell them.
"Do you want anything else to eat first?" Heidi asks.
"No, I'm ok. Thank you though."
"Of course."
I smile at them and go upstairs.
I put my hair tie and necklace on the dresser.
I grab my night gown and go into the bathroom.
I start the water.
Once it's warm enough I get in.
I rub the soap over my arms and legs to wash the dirt and sweat off.
The water is at a perfect temperature and feels great against my skin.
As I grab the shampoo I hear the bathroom door open.
I peek around the curtain.
Maxon had come in.
"Hey," I say.
He looks at me.
"Hey," he replies.
"You do know I'm showering right?"
"I noticed."
"Ok good."
"I was just wondering if I could join you."
He smirks at my slight blush.
"I guess," I answer.
I look away and continue to shower.
He takes a minute to undress then joins me.
I quickly learn his intentions aren't to bathe.

"Did you ask Chris if he's coming with us tomorrow?" I question Maxon.
We're both laying in bed, facing each other, with our pajamas on. He's holding my hand and rubbing circles on it with his thumb.
"Yeah. He said he's going to come as long as Heidi says she can handle the baby alone," he answers.
"Ok. I'm sure she can."
"She might be too tired to do it alone though."
"Right, that's true."
"We'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out."
"Yeah...their baby is so cute."
"She is."
"I can't wait to see our baby."
"A few more months."
"Mhmm. I'm still hardly showing."
"That's ok though."
"Yeah. Trust me, I'm fine with not showing. I don't need a huge belly to make me look fatter."
He smiles at me and kisses my forehead.
"It's late. We should get to bed," he suggests.
"Alright."
I peck his lips.
He kisses my hand then pulls me closer to him by the waist.
"Goodnight. I love you," Maxon gently whispers.
"Goodnight. I love you too," I whisper back.
We smile at each other then go to sleep.