Lewis had spent the evening before being curious. He had left his talk with Christian the previous day feeling as if he had achieved something, but he wanted to be sure that Max had gotten the crib and that he was feeling happy with it.
Only after he had gone to his room, Lewis realised that Max might have felt anxious about his room suddenly changing, or perhaps even afraid if his dad was going to find out. But it had been too late, and Lewis had just tried to sleep the worry away.
Now it was morning, he couldn't help but being unable to resist the gnawing feeling in his stomach. He realised that it was just his caregiver instincts wanting to know that the little was taken care off correctly, that he finally slept well and safe in the crib, and that the little wouldn't be mad that someone had interfered.
It didn't take long before Lewis realised that the only way he was going to get rid of those feelings was just to go to the Max his room and check it out. Once that was done, he could go on his way, and hope his instincts wouldn't flare up everytime he saw the Red bull driver.
It was already hard enough when Lando was near, and most of the time Daniel was there as well and he knew that the little was doing okay. Unlike Max.
With a sigh, he went to the elevator, waiting the few moments until he reached the right floor, and stepped towards the door. Lewis did hesitate there. He could knock and check it out, but then Max would know it was he who interfered, and what else could he have as a reason to be there.
Lost in his thoughts, he looked at the elevator signal, seeing it go down and then come up, stopping at the same floor and to his surprise it was Charles that stepped out, his eyes widening when he saw the Mercedes driver standing in front of the door, before they narrowed in suspicion.
"What are you doing here?" both of them asked the same time, and for a moment both man could just stare to each other.
"Me?" Lewis asked eventually, and Charles nodded, still looking slightly suspicious when he approached.
"Yeah, what are you doing at Max's door? And at this time?" the man asked. Lewis was thinking of an excuse, not wanting want to betray Max his secret. Not that it was really that big of a secret, but he had a feeling that the little wasn't about to spread it into the world, even though Lewis suspected it was entirely because of Verstappen senior's wish.
"What's that?" Lewis asked, deflecting the question, and pointing at the bag Charles was holding. The Ferrari driver, looked down at it, his eyes big in surprise.
"This, it's... it's nothing," he stuttered, trying to hide it behind him and looking slightly flustered.
"Nothing? Are you planning to play a prank or something?" Lewis asked, his brow furrowed. Charles tried to deny, but he barely uttered a few words before Lewis lunged forward unexpectedly, grabbing the bag out of the other ones hand, wanting to make sure that Charles wasn't about to prank a little Max.
Charles didn't let go off the bag, holding it tightly in his hand and trying to pull it out of Lewis's hand, who had a tight hold on it. The bag almost instantly ripped, spilling its contents on the floor. The little tube of diaper dream fell right next to Lewis's his foot while the powder rolled a little further.
Charles swore in his head when he saw the items lying in front of him. He had only wanted to check up on Max, wanting to make sure the little was all okay and that he got some help with the rash before it got worse. He hadn't counted on the Mercedes driver to give him the third degree and to actually try and grab the bag out of his hands.
"Oh," Lewis said, staring at the stuff lying on the ground while Charles quickly went down to pick them up, flushing slightly. He hadn't meant for anyone to see. He wondered if Verstappen was going to be mad if he needed to tell Lewis about his designation. Charles really didn't want to risk saddening the little, and his mind was going 100 miles a minute trying to find an excuse why he was carrying such items on this floor.
"So, are you coming to check out the baby as well," Lewis said when Charles stood still with the two items in his hands. He threw a knowing glance towards Charles, who froze, looking up in surprise to the older man.
"You know?" Charles asked, licking his lip, "about the little,"
"Yeah, I know that Max is one," Lewis said, "so, want to check if he's all okay?"
"Yeah, of course," Charles said flabbergasted, still surprised that Lewis knew about Max. That meant that the man must have known even knew before Charles did, and he and Max weren't even age mates, like Charles was. A part of him felt slight betrayal, but he put it aside. The more overprotective nature of his caregiver instincts was getting bigger and he didn't want to risk it growing out of control, so he just took out the keycard he had taken the day before.
"Just in case he's still asleep," Charles said, opening the door and ignoring the raised eyebrow of Lewis.
He opened the door to the small apartment, and noticed that the main room was still deserted, the lights still off, but a bit of sun escaping through the slits of the curtains. Charles turned the light on completely, bathing the room in light.
"Maybe he's still asleep," Lewis whispers, going straight to the bedroom without hesitation, passing Charles, who quickly followed behind, not wanting to let the other caregiver be with Max alone. He felt that even though Lewis was all okay, he didn't know how the other man would be with a vulnerable Max.
Lewis opened the door gently, seeing the dark room. The light from the main room fell through the door, revealing Max, asleep in the crib, a paci in his mouth and his stuffy closeby. Lewis smiled, happy that Christian had arranged the crib for Max, who seemed to be sleeping comfortable pressed with his back to one side.
Charles entered just behind Lewis, and looked at Max, who made small noise when the light fell on his face, and moved a little. A frown came to his brow, and he hugged his bunny a bit tighter, pressing his face in it's fur.
"Are we waking up?" Lewis asked, going closer, and leaning over the edge of the crib, looking down at Maxie with a warm smile. It made Charles feel weird to see it on the face, especially aimed at Max, a far cry from last year.
"Wha?" Max asked, looking up confused at Lewis, and then when Charles moved to stand closer by he aimed his sleepy gaze at the other man, giving a suck on his paci.
Max had been asleep very well, and warmly snuggled in his crib, he had felt the bars against his back when he felt something pull him from his sleep. He didn't know if he actually wanted to wake up, his head still feeling fuzzy with all the signals he was receiving, the safety of the crib, the snuggles of his bunny and the paci in his mouth, even though that one's tear had gotten bigger over the night, making it less fun then before but still better than nothing.
But sleep was leaving him, even though his head was still stuck in his headspace, too comfy to be let out already. Normally he always slipped out in the morning when he woke up, but not today.
He opened his eyes and was surprised that he wasn't alone. Even weirder than Lewis being there was the presence of Charles, and for a moment Maxie was thinking it was still yesterday and that Charles just hadn't left.
But when he turned, he felt the thick wet and messy diaper pressing against his bum and pushing his tights apart. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't help the yawn that came to him when he opened his mouth, making a small whining noise when his paci fell out.
"Here it is," Lewis said, leaning over a bit further and picking it up, "oh, there's a hole in it,"
"Is Maxie's," Maxie said, sitting up and grabbing it from Lewis his hands with wide eyes. He quickly put it in in his mouth, hiding the hole from sight, and blinked up at the two caregivers, still a bit confused what they were doing there.
"Here, let's get you out of bed," Charles said, "perhaps a shower, and then I have some diaper cream,"
At those words, Maxie realised that he had a messy diaper on, and there was no way he could get himself clean when he was this small. Of course, he was still not awake enough to force himself out of his headspace, but he guessed that he would be able to if they just gave him an half an hour.
"Uhm, need to wait," Maxie said after he had taken out the paci from his mouth, looking wearily at Charles who was lowering the side of the crib, so Maxie could get out, but the little made no move to do so, not wanting to reveal his messy diaper.
"Wait for what?" Lewis asked, and Charles looked expectantly at Maxie, who felt himself grow red under the attention.
"Until Maxie wakey enough to be big," the little explained, having some difficulties with finding the right words, he nervously fiddled with the paci a little, liking the way how the ring went back and forth with a small noise.
"Don't worry, we can help you with washing," Lewis said, taking Max's hand, and making the little look up at him. He felt the other man pull, and couldn't think about anything else but getting upright.
Once he was standing, he felt the diaper sag a little, his sleeping pants keeping it up, but it was heavy now, having been thoroughly used during the night. And now that he was standing, Maxie felt his bladder release again because of the change of position, and he felt the small stream of pee wetting the diaper more.
In fact, this had been too much for the diaper, which couldn't absorb it quick enough because it was already sodden and started to leak now, making his pants wet at the crotch.
"It seems we caught it a bit too late," Charles said, "let's go wash,"
"No, can't," Maxie said, pulling back a little and biting his lip. He knew he should be able to handle this, but he just wasn't big enough to do what they expected of him, and then he would just make a bigger mess, and everyone would be angry at him.
"Why can't you?" Charles asked, while Lewis frowned a bit.
"Can't," Maxie repeated, "be big soon,"
"Is it because you're messy?" Lewis asked, making the little look at him with wide eyes.
"Sorry," Maxie said with a sniffle, trying to pull back. His dad always hated every reminder that Maxie couldn't hold himself, but when he was messy, that was the worst.
"It's fine," Lewis said, frowning a bit, but then tried to be encouraging, "here, let's get you cleaned up,"
"Yeah, you can't stay in the messy too long. Your rash will get worse," Charles piped in, glad to find a reason to be involved in the conversation, hating to be in the background when it concerned Max.
"Oh, you have rash? Then we sure need to get you clean," Lewis said gently, and Maxie looked in between Lewis and Charles, surprised by their easy attitude and not really knowing how to react on it. Between the two caregivers, he automatically felt as if they were right, and he nodded shyly, letting them take him to the bathroom, even though his stomach still clenched nervously, waiting until they would start to laugh with him or call him names.
"Here, let's get you out of those dirty trousers," Lewis said, while Charles quickly went to get the wet wipes.
Maxie tried not to blush too hard when he felt Lewis remove his pants, leaving him in the dirty diaper alone, which sagged down a little more, barely holding on.
"Mmh, perhaps it's easier if you laid down", Lewis said, quickly getting a towel and spreading it on the floor. He made it seem like this was a normal occurrence, and his easy acceptance made Maxie not hesitate to lie down, following their signals. His head was feeling confused about it all, and it was just easier to go with the flow of things.
By the time Maxie had laid down, Charles returned with the wet wipes, and kneeled next to Max while Lewis undid the tabs of the diaper, revealing the stinky mess.
"Let's get that bottom cleaned," the Mercedes driver said with a smile, and Maxie blushed again, putting the paci that he was still holding in his hand in his mouth. At least this way no one would expect an answer from him.
It felt weird to have Lewis wipe the bottom. He felt the way the man was making sure he got every nook and cranny of the dirt away, and he was very thorough and caring, but Max had always done it on his own.
"Now, let's get you into the shower," Charles said, while Lewis put the dirty diaper away. Soon they had Maxie naked and in the shower, the paci put to the side. A warm washcloth with soap was run over his body before he was rinsed again with warm water. He hadn't even noticed the way the caregivers had slightly hesitated over his bruised upper legs and rash, and the look they threw each other.
They helped him out of the shower, and told him to lie on the towel again, putting him in a clean diaper and Maxie scrunched up his face when he felt Charles put the sticky cream on the rash, not liking the greasy feel of it, but not knowing if he was allowed to protest.
"Want paci?" Maxie asked softly, wanting something to distract him from the fact that someone was doing his diaper, and the vague realisation that if his dad ever found out, he would be in trouble.
"I don't think you should," Lewis said when he grabbed it and looked at it, "the plastic is coming loose. It's dangerous,"
"No, Maxie's. Want it," he said, sitting upright just when Charles had closed the diaper.
"No, you can choke on it," Lewis said, leaving the room with it, but Maxie didn't want any of that. It was his paci, Lando didn't want it anymore, and he had cleaned it, and if he lost it, he couldn't get another because if his dad was going to find out he was going to be mad. So, he couldn't loose it.
"No," he said loudly, but the time it took him to get up and follow Lewis, Charles in tow, he was just in time to see the man throw it away.
"No, no," he cried out loudly, pushing Lewis away and trying to get it out of the garbage again, but the two caregivers were holding him back, making him cry loudly, for his paci that he just had and already lost.
Daniel had been walking through the hallway when he heard distinctive crying coming from one of the rooms. Curious, he walked to the source of the noise, looking around. It was clearly coming from this door.
He hesitated a moment, thinking it wasn't his business when he heard a voice scream no. It was Max's voice! Daniel was so startled, that he didn't even took a second to think, wanting to help out his former team mate.
Hurriedly, he tried to open the door, and was glad when it swung open, still unlocked.
"What's going on here?" he asked loudly, taking in the scene in front of him in surprise.
Max, naked but for a diaper, being held by Lewis and Charles, tears falling down his face.