Little Maxie

Chapter 71

Charles smiled at Max eating, resisting the urge to start feeding him, knowing full well his mind wasn't little at the moment.

Still, the small dribble of yoghurt leaking down Max's chin made the urge even larger.

"So, summer break soon," he said, turning to the table in the hope he would be able to resist from helping Max too much.

"Yeah, looking forward to it man," Lewis said, sighing, "the car really isn't where it should be."

Before Charles could answer, a loud thud was heard, and they all turned to Max, who was lying on the floor, the yoghurt spilled all over his bib and the floor.

"Oh, sweetheart," Brad said, getting up from where he had been sitting next to Charles.

The Ferrari driver instantly felt bad. It had been him that was seated next to Max, not Brad. They knew he was having trouble, and now he had fallen from the floor.

"I'm fine, "Max said, his cheeks red, and wincing when Brad lifted him. The man put him on the chair again and kneeled in front of him.

"Did you get hurt somewhere?" Brad asked, full of worry, holding Max's hands.

The little frowned, shook his head minutely and didn't look up. By now, they attracted quite a few curious gazes, and it was clear that Max was everything but comfortable to be in the centre of the attention.

"You sure?" Charles asked, having stood up the moment Max had fallen. His face was whiter then Max's, as if he'd be the one that was hurt.

"I'm fine," Max said, glancing with a small look of annoyance to Charles, and then his eyes widened at the way the man looked, "are you?"

"Me?" Charles said, looking at the man with an incredulous look, "I'm not the one who fell. Are you hurt somewhere, Maxie? You know you can tell us right?"

Max stared at Charles, the way he desperately seemed to stare at Max, the tense body posture. Glancing back at Brad, he saw that the caregiver had noticed it too.

"Brad?" Max asked, and the man smiled at him, patting his knee.

"It's okay Maxie, you can tell us if it's hurting somewhere, right? Me and Charles just want to help you," the man said, and Max suddenly understood what was going on with Charles. Right, the deprivation.

"Oh, uhm, it doesn't really hurt," the little said, shifting in the chair, and almost managing to fall off again when he shifted too far, but this time both Charles and Brad were near enough to react immediately and steady him.

"Alright, but perhaps we'll need to make it a little safer," Brad said, "Charles, could you move your chair closer to Maxie's?"

"Yes, of course," the caregiver said, sounding relieved to be doing something; His put his chair right next to Max's, so that the little was blocked from that side.

Brad moved his chair as well, doing the same to Max's other side.

"That's better," Charles said with a smile, taking a tissue and wiping Max's face, "perhaps we should take of the bib too. So much yoghurt."

"But then I'll dirty my clothes," Max whined a little.

"Here, let me help you," Charles said, taking a yoghurt pot and holding up a spoon for Max.

The Red bull driver looked at it with wide eyes, before glancing at the Mercedes driver's, who were seemingly forgotten in the chaos.

"Well, like I was saying, the car really is shit," Lewis said, and George agreed, jumpstarting the conversation again. Max glanced back at Charles and saw the tight smile and knew that it was now up to him to help the man.