Little Maxie

Chapter 26

The thing was, now that George had asked, the cars were bugging him. Well, not the cars, but the lack of anything else to play with. They were F1 drivers, and they were almost always on the move except for a couple of months in the year.

A little only having one thing to play with, it just seemed so...so, minimal? Or perhaps he just changed the thing he took with him each week, and it just happened to be the cars?

"You think we got everything?" Seb asked, looking over the group. He received several shrugs in return, the caregivers not really wanting to accept that they had failed their mission.

"I guess. We didn't find the bunny though," Lewis said out loud what they all were feeling, looking severely bothered by the fact that there was no sign of the plushie, except for a little fluff and the ear that Max had already found, "do you think that Jos took it?"

"Probably. He did take the time to cut the ear off," Seb said, knowing that the only reason he must have done so, was for Max to find it. The thought made his stomach squeeze in a way he didn't like. Tightening his fists, he gave an angry sigh.

"Well, if we see Jos, we might just ask him about it," Lewis said darkly, and George patted him on the shoulder, agreeing but not vocalising it, "let's go bring him his clothes at least,"

"What time is it?" Charles asked, making the other drivers look at him weirdly.

"It's ten thirty," George said, looking on his watch, "why?"

"I think Max will already be asleep," Charles said, "quite sure of it actually,"

"Oh, is he?" Seb asked, looking slightly confused. It wasn't particularly late, and perhaps Max had been too wound up to even try sleeping.

"Yeah. Jos got his bedtime drilled in his head," Charles answered, thinking back at the panicking little who had suddenly realised he had been late for bedtime, "I can bring the stuff in the morning,"

"That's good," "yeah, fine,"

Charles smiled at the affirmations, and took the suitcase with him. Holding it when he went to the elevator, he couldn't help but feel the weight of the item, which was nothing compared to the mental load of realising that Max next to nothing to help him with his headspaces.

Perhaps they should see that Max has a few presents soon.

Maxie woke up with a start, a gasp and a whimper escaped him before he managed to stop himself. Opening his eyes, he looked around wildly, confused about where he was. He was clearly in a bed, instead of the floor or in a crib, but he shouldn't be.

A sudden low snore, and he startled again, looking to the side where it had come from. His sudden movement seemed to have roused the person next to him a little, because the large man moved, and Max felt a hand being slung over his hip, but then the figure settled again.

Realising it was just Brad, Max whimpered again, his heart beating quickly. Trying to keep quiet, he bit his lip, and patted the bed in the hope to find bunny. But he didn't find immediately, and he felt his panic increase.

Shrugging of the arm, he sat on his knees, and in the darkness he patted further down the bed, suddenly feeling the piece of fabric.

A sob of relief left him when he felt the ear and he grabbed it close, pressing his fist in his mouth to stop any noise. He shouldn't wake up Bradley. He was just going to end up angry at Max for being so pathetic.

Carefully stepping out of bed with the ear clutched in his one hand, and his other hand put over his mouth, he went to the bathroom, glad to be alone for a moment.