Brad wanted to ease Maxie on the changing pad, but the little had made a scared noise, and just clung on tighter to Brad.
"Braddy, no," Maxie shouted when Brad tried for a second time, his legs clenching tightly around Brad's waist.
"You need to have a clean diaper," Brad said, standing up again, and looking a little bit put-out with the fact that Max wasn't cooperating.
"Braddy stay," Maxie said, his voice upset.
"I'll stay, but you need a clean diaper," Brad said again, and tried to put Maxie down again, making the little give a panicked shout and cling as tight as he could.
"Braddy no," Maxie shouted again, "Maxie good,"
"Yeah, I know," Brad said, frowning at the little who say the look aimed at him and sniffled, tears starting to appear in his eyes.
"So, what do we do now?" Charles asked, seeing the situation slightly escalate.
"I'm not sure," Brad said, starting to bounce Maxie a little, hoping that the movement would calm Maxie down again, "he needs a clean diaper though, otherwise he'll get a rash, and he hates the salve,"
"Can I try to help?" Charles asked.
"Be my guest," Brad answered, glad to see the tears already disappearing from Maxie's eyes once the little understood he wasn't going to be put down
"Hey Maxie," Charles said, approaching the little, and smiling at him. Maxie looked at Charles, but pulled close to Brad.
"Charlie," Maxie said.
"Yeah, that's me," Charles said with a smile, before patting Brad's arm, "and this is Brad,"
"Braddy," Maxie agreed, "like Braddy,"
"Brad is nice, yes," Charles said, "Are you scared that Brad will go?"
"Braddy stay," Maxie answered, "Maxie be good,"
"Ah, that's good," Charles said with a grin, "can Braddy put you down? He'll keep on holding your hand,"
"Down?" Maxie asked, his face frowning hard.
"Yes. Maxie down, but hold hands," Charles said, simplifying his words, "see, Braddy will keep holding your hand,"
"Braddy, stay?" Maxie asked.
"Yes, I will," Brad answered, and after a few moments, Maxie nodded. Brad carefully and slowly put him down on the table, the mess in the diaper squishing a little. By now, it was starting to show at the edges.
Before Brad let go of Maxie completely, he took one hand in his and stood to the side, smiling down at Maxie.
"Good boy, that was very brave," Brad said, and Maxie flushed in happiness at the tone, and shyly looked at the floor, "can you lay down now? Charles, can you help with the diaper. I don't think Max will let go,"
Maxie had moved to a lying down position, and Charles could see the way he was squeezing the caregivers hand very hard, but Brad wasn't complaining. It was clear that the little needed the reassurance.
"Sure, tell me what I need to do," Charles said. Surprisingly, he didn't feel apprehensive about this part at all. One would think that changing a poopy diaper would leave him disgusted, but it didn't make him feel like that. Instead, it felt nice that Max could rely on him to help him with this, nice that Brad trusted him to do this.
"First, take out the wipes and put a clean diaper ready," Brad started to explain, and Charles took the bag and zipped it open.
"Bunny!" Maxie said, sitting back up and with one hand making grabbing motions towards the bag. Charles took out the stuffy, and handed it to Maxie, who held it close with one arm, still not letting go of Brad.
"Do you want the other two as well?" Charles asked, but Maxie shook his head, holding bunny close. Now he just wanted his trusted stuffy close by, nothing new. Charles shrugged and put the stuffies back in the bag.
"Now, let's lay down again," Brad said, softly pushing Max down, he let himself easily go, holding bunny and taking comfort in the presence of the plushie.
"So, what now?" Charles asked once Maxie was laying down on his back, an ear of bunny making it in his mouth.
"Well, I got a paci in the bag as well," Brad said, and Charles took it out and gave it to Brad, who held it to Max's mouth.
The little easily accepted it, and was now feeling nice and warm and safe with both bunny and Brad nearby. Sucking the paci, he hummed slightly, starting to feel a little tired, but grew alert when he felt Brad move again, his hand tightening.
"Don't worry, I'm not going," Brad said gently, patting Maxie's hair, before talking to Charles again, "now you need to lift the gown a little so you can access the diaper,"
"Okay," Charles said, following the instruction, soon untabbing the diaper and carefully wiping as much mess as he could before wanting to remove the messy diaper, "uhm, how do I get it from under him?"
"Maxie, can you lift your hips?" Brad asked. Maxie made a soft and sleepy sounding noise, but didn't comply with what Brad had asked. The caregiver sighed, and moved a little, "can you hand me his ankles?"
"His ankles?" Charles asked, and Brad nodded. Charles took Max's his ankles and lifted them up so Brad could hold them. The little made a small grunt at the change of position, and sucked his paci a few times, but didn't react much more than that.
"Let's lift up that bum," Brad said, and lifted the ankles a little higher, glad that his hand was big enough to hold both ankles. The bum lifted up and Max made a noise of surprise, growing a little more alerted and looking at Brad curiously.
"That's easy," Charles said, taking the dirty diaper away, and wiping away the rest of the mess from Max's bottom, frowning when he saw some lingering old bruises on it. He knew better then to ask though, seeing that the cause was clear.
"Good, now a fresh one, unfold it and fluff it up a little," Brad instructed and Charles did his best to do what the man said, before sliding it under Max's bum. Brad gently lowered the ankles, his arm straining from the weird position and the added weight.
Closing the diaper carefully, Charles did his best to align the tabs like Brad said he should, before running his fingers through the legholes and make sure the guards were up.
"I got a sleeper in the bag," Brad said, and Charles took it out, "see Max, a new sleeper,"
"For Maxie?" Max asked, sitting up and looking at it curiously. Without thinking, he let go of Brad's hand, and reached out for it, "pretty,"
"It is," Brad said, sitting next to Maxie, "want to put it on?"
The little nodded, and let Brad help him out of the gown and into the sleeper, smiling when it was zipped up and seemed to fit him perfectly.
"Soft," Maxie said, leaning against Brad, and yawning a little. His head was still hurting, and he was feeling tired. The race has exhausted him, and the little nap hadn't been enough to settle him.
"Mmh, perhaps an early bedtime would be good," Brad said, "it's going to be a long night, seeing that the doctor's want to wake him up every other hour,"
"I'm sure that Maxie will not like that," Charles said, sitting down on Max's other side, and patting the little, who didn't seem to mind Charles being there, "uhm, he hasn't eaten much,"
"No?" Brad asked, feeling his concern rise.
"No, he didn't like the food. Only the pudding," Charles said, and Brad nodded in understanding. Max hadn't seemed to like any hard foods either when he had stayed with Lando.
"Perhaps a big bottle," Brad said, and Max perked up.
"Bottle!" the little said, a smile appearing behind the paci, even though he was squinting a little, the light in the room making his headache worse.
"Yes. Let's call a nurse to warm one," Brad said, pushing the button. In the meanwhile he went to sit on the bed next to Charles, Maxie perched in between them and leaning against Brad's shoulder, firmly holding bunny with him.
Charles could see the little shyly peeking at him, and smiled at Maxie, leaning very close himself.
"Hello there," Charles said in a whisper.
"Hi," Maxie whispered back, suddenly feeling even shyer, even though he had known Charles for a very long time already.
"You okay?" Charles asked, and Maxie shrugged, used to hiding his hurts.
"Are you hurting?" Braddy asked, making Max turn his attention towards the big man. He blinked up at him, wondering if he should speak the truth or lie.
"Maxie fine," he decided to say, because he was fine enough, leaning against Braddy with bunny in his arms, "Charlie owie?"
"No, I'm not owie," the Ferrari driver said, "not really,"
"Charles is a bit sick," Braddy said, "that's why he's going to stay with us for a while,"
"Charlie sick?" Maxie asked, sitting up a bit straighter and looking worried.
"Yes, we talked about it a little in the ambulance. Charles is a caregiver who hasn't been with littles a lot,"
"Like Maxie but topsy turvy," Maxie stated, making Brad laugh at the term.
"Yes, topsy turvy," Braddy repeated, suddenly feeling Max wriggle until his feet touched the ground, "what are you doing sweetheart,"
"Charlie sick," Maxie said, waddling towards the bag Brad had taken with him. He swayed a little, and the way he held his head told about the headache he was experiencing.
The two caregivers looked at the little crouching next to it, bunny held tightly pressed against his body with his elbow, while he dug around in the bag, and made a happy exclamation when he found his two other stuffies.
Turning around, he waddled back to the bed, and laid them in Charles arms.
"Here," Maxie said, looking proud of himself. Charles smiled, taking the two stuffies in his hands and looking at them.
"Don't you need them?" Charles asked, offering them back to Maxie, who shook his head.
"Maxie got bunny," Maxie said, "Charly can borrow lion and bit. Make you feel better,"
"They will?" Charles asked amused.
Maxie nodded seriously, yawning and leaning against Brad again, the big man lifting him on his lap, softly patting the diapered bum while Max curled up a little, holding bunny close.
Someone soon came with a warm bottle, and Maxie made noise of discontent when he was moved, and suddenly found himself in Charles arms. The Ferrari driver looked even more startled than Max, but soon Brad was sitting behind Charles, which made his face suddenly go red.
Maxie frowned at the blushing face, but he saw Brad support Charles arm, which supported Max's back, and then the bigger caregiver guided Charles hand with the bottle towards Max's mouth. The little wasted no time latching on, by now having gotten better at drinking the milk.
Only a few drops spilled from his mouth, but they were quickly wiped.
At first Charles had some trouble focusing on Max, the large warm body behind him making him feel something he had long surprised. The muscled arm supporting his and the larger hand holding his wrist where he held the bottle was making him feel things he had never experienced before.
Taking a deep breath, he concentrated on Maxie and the bottle, and felt a strange feeling in his chest, almost like a knot in a muscle that finally loosened.
Maxie drunk a steady rhythm, the bottle soon gone. Brad helped him shift Max in a way the man laid comfortable against Charles, something their sizes was making difficult, but they managed.
A burp later and then Maxie was put in the crib, whining when Brad moved away, trying to grab the caregiver.
He heard him and Charles exchange some words, but then he tried to move away again, which prompted Max to start crying.
"He really doesn't want you to go," Charles said, looking at the crying Max who was holding up his arms towards his caregiver, soft 'Braddy, Braddy stay,' coming from behind the pacifier.
"Don't you cry, sweet thing," Brad said, "here I'll come with you,"
And suddenly the caregiver was in the crib with him, spooning him from behind while Charles gave a remark, grinning at the caregiver in the bed, but by then Max was already falling asleep.