One Night (Max Verstappen)

Chapter 11 - The Decision

Alicia found herself letting out a sigh of relief that morning as she noticed sunlight finally starting to creep through the small gap in her closed hospital room curtains, the night having been a long one and Alicia knowing that she wouldn't have gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep as she tossed and turned, this enormous decision which herself and Max had to make weighing on her mind. The Dutchman was also experiencing these kinds of emotions, rushing to get ready and get to the hospital, aiming to arrive the moment that visitors were allowed. He may have found himself almost breaking out into a run as he made his way into the hospital, but once he had reached the corridor where Alicia's room was, he found his feet dragging along the floor, suddenly feeling a lot heavier as his nerves began to build that they would have reached completely opposite decisions.

"Hey," Max spoke up softly once he was standing in her doorway, leaning against the doorframe as he nervous bit down onto his bottom lip.

The edges of Alicia's lips not only curled up into a small smile at the sight of Max, but also at the sight of how shy he had suddenly become, it being an unusual sight for her, but one which melted her heart because his concern proved that he cared and that he had been taking things just as seriously as she had.

"You can come closer, you know. I won't bite," she replied with a small giggle as she held her hand out for Max to take.

Max hesitantly made his way over to the chair beside her bed, taking her hand in his and entwining their fingers once he was sitting down. The two of them then fell into an uncomfortable silence, taking shaky deep breaths as the faint ticking of the clock on the wall filled their ears, both of them thinking the exact same thing, thinking that they would want different things and that this would ruin everything between them.

"Can I be completely honest with you?" Alicia began quietly as she lowered her eyes away from Max, causing him to clutch her hand just a little bit tighter since her words filled him with dread. "I've been awake all night thinking about this, thinking about what the three of us would be like as a family. I can see it so clearly in my mind and I would love it if that fantasy could be a reality. If I can't get my seat back afterwards then so be it because family is everything to me and I would never put my career above it. What do you say? Should we do this? Should we keep this baby and raise them together?" 

Alicia's heart began to pound against her chest as she waited for Max's response, fearing that he would feel as though he wasn't at a stage in his career where he could put his time, love and attention into raising a child, but she let out a sigh of relief as he beamed at her, Alicia returning the enormous smile at the sight of his own.

"If we're by each other's sides, I know we'll do an amazing job raising this baby," began Max warmly as he reached over to take Alicia's free hand in his own. "Like you said, family is the most important thing. As for my career, I won't be any less motivated to win more championships, it'll be the exact opposite because I want our baby to be proud of me and everything I've achieved." 

Max and Alicia then flung their arms tightly around each other with excitement, their bodies tingling  as them melted into the embrace. However, it was amidst it, during a much more blissful silence when their smiles started to fade, both of them thinking the exact same thing as they realised exactly how the feeling of the other's touch was causing them to feel.

"Now it's my turn to be completely honest with you," Max began nervously as they held each other at arms length. "I want us to do more than just co-parent this child, I want the three of us to be a family too. I can see all of us together so clearly as well and in what I'm seeing, you're mine. I might have said that it's nothing more than just sex between us, but the truth is, I never wanted that. I just didn't think there could be anything more than that between us because of how close our families are, how close we were as kids. You were supposed to be like my little sister, so I thought it would be wrong if I ever thought of you as more than that, but our baby has made me realise that I can't be without you, either of you." 

Alicia clapped a hand tightly over her mouth as tears began to form in her eyes because of how overwhelmed with emotion she felt, being unable to remember the last time she felt so joyful. 

"That's exactly what I want too. I feel the same, I can't be without either of you," she began with elation, both of their cheeks quickly starting to ache due to smiling too much. "I've wanted this for the past few years. You're the only one I've ever been able to see myself having a future with and I think our families will be supportive. Your family already love me, mine love you and they'll know we've finally both found someone who has genuine feelings and who we won't get hurt by." 

"I can't wait for our future together," added Max with affection as he cupped Alicia's cheeks in his hands, briefly pressing their lips together, before he continued to speak. "This is the best day of my life, the first day of the rest of our lives. I'm both nervous and excited about you getting out of here and us going back to Monaco so we can tell our families about all of our good news."