Little Big Fan | Max Verstappen

13. Little Big Sleepover

Isabella smiled, pleased that you understood her better than she did herself. Wrapping her arms around you, she mumbled, "okay, mama."

You hugged her a little tighter than you usually do. "I promise nothing will change between us, it's just that mama likes Maxy a lot and wants to be with him too," you explained and felt her nod against you.

You didn't let go until she did first, and she looked at you with a mix of confusion and mischief, "so like the three of us together?" Wiping away her drying tears, you were surprised by the significant change in her mood but was also glad that she was no longer crying.

"Yes, what do you think?" You prompted again, back to square one but this time you received a much more positive reaction. "Mama, Maxy, and me, I like that."

Then she giggled, "Maxy, you can come in now," she spoke, looking at the door that was left ajar. Hearing her words, Max entered her room with a tightlipped smile, not liking the fact that he was caught.

"I didn't mean to stand there, I was just worried about you." Although he entered the room, he still stood by the door. He heard your entire conversation and knew that Isabella would be fine with your relationship, but she just needed time to adjust. However, he was still wary on her opinion of him.

Isabella wiggled off your lap and stepped closer to Max. She gestured with her hand, asking him crouch down so she could be at eye-level with him. "My mama likes you, do you like her?"

"I like her a lot," he answered after a split second of hesitation because he was about to say the wrong L word, but he didn't want to overwhelm Isabella, or you for that matter. Even though deep down he knew you returned the sentiment, it just wasn't said out loud yet.

He knew that you would prefer to know Isabella's thoughts on your relationship before it goes any further, and he was totally okay with that.

"Are you going to take car of her?" Isabella asked with her hands on her hips, attempting to look slightly intimidating. Max didn't have the strength to tell her that she looked more cute than intimidating. "Always."

Dropping her "intimidating" stance, she smiled and glanced at both of you. "Then, I'm okay." While Isabella's gaze remained on Max, his was on you and he noticed as you let out a sigh in relief.

Shuffling closer to Max, Isabella hugged him just like she usually did and that's when Max could finally let out a sigh of relief. She turned to look at you, "can I go play?"

"Of course, sweetheart." You waited until she left the room to invite Max to sit next to you, which he obliged to immediately. His hand quickly found your thigh, an action that brought comfort to both of you. "We still need to be careful around her," you stated, and turned your head to look at him.

"Yeah, that's okay, we'll give her time," he agreed and then he asked a question that has been bothering him for a while. "Would you have ended our relationship if she wasn't okay with it?"

"I'm going to be very honest, I didn't even think of that as a possibility." The corner of his lip turned up in a half smile, "so you knew everything would be fine?"

You shook your head, "Deep down I knew that she was comfortable around you but I also didn't really want to think about leaving you if she wasn't. I wanted the best of both worlds."