2020
Max watched and Zoey checked the fridge again. Then went around the room inventorying the laundry baskets. Then she checked the pantry and filled the sanitizer machine on the kitchen counter.
"Once this finishes running you should have enough to last the day," Zoey said as she turned on the now fully loaded sanitizer.
"And if not I do know how to use it," Max smiled at her.
"Oh and her favourite blanket is in our bedroom," Zoey said, thoughtfully counting off on her fingers like she was running over a checklist. "It's just that it might be hard to find. Somehow it ends up in the strangest places-"
"Everything is gonna be fine," Max told her for what was probably the hundredth time that morning.
"You have my lists right?" Zoey said, anxiously. "And mom's number." Max nodded. "And food, and music's set and-" She continued to mumble to herself.
"You said you were ready to go back," Max reminded her.
"I know, I know," Zoey groaned. "And I am, it's just-"
"Hard to leave?" Max finished her sentence for her. Zoey nodded.
He leaned in to kiss her sweetly on the cheek before saying softly. "We will be here when you get back," Max told her lovingly. "And if you find you'd really rather be home we can make that work too."
"Thank you," Zoey smiled at him. "I do really miss work though. I guess I just want to have my cake and eat my cake."
"You know I'd do anything for you, honey, but even I can't arrange a paradox," Max chuckled.
"Just keep your phone on you today, okay?" Zoey said firmly.
"Won't leave my pocket," Max replied. "Promise."
"Okay," Zoey said, taking a deep breath. "I guess I'm going to work."
After another round of kisses for everyone, Zoey put on her coat and left out the front door.
"Just you and me now," Max told the baby in his arms. "But Momma will be back so don't you worry."
His daughter made a squawking noise as if she disagreed with her father's sentiment. Then she began to cry.
"I know I'm not as good as mommy," Max continued to talk over the baby's cries. "But you're stuck with me all day so best to make the most of it. I'm really not that bad you know."
"Waahaaaaaaa," was all the answer he got.
Zoey must have heard because seconds later the door opened and there was mommy, looking worried. The moment her mother came into view, Valerie stopped crying.
"She is never gonna get used to you leaving if you keep coming back?" Max reminded his wife.
"I know," Zoey said, reaching forward to scoop their daughter out of his arms. "I just couldn't leave hearing her crying."
"She's gonna cry when you leave for a while," Max said kindly. "Can't blame the kid either. If I didn't know you were coming back, I'd cry too."
"Haha," Zoey replied, not looking up from the child in her arms.
"Silly mommy thinks I'm joking," Max told his daughter in his recently acquired baby talk voice. He moved closer to them and kissed the top of his daughter's head then his wife's lips.
"It will take time," Max said. "Everytime you leave and come back she will get a little better at knowing that you will come back."
"I know," Zoey sighed. She too kissed the top of Valerie's head, then slowly placed the baby in Max's arms and turned and dashed out the door.
"Shhh," Max tried to sooth his daughter as mommy disappeared from sight. "It's okay. Mommy always comes back." Valerie however cared not for her father's words and screamed at the top of her lungs to protest her mother's departure.
Collecting a sanitized soother from the counter, Max offered it to his daughter, who eventually took it into her mouth and stopped crying.
"Now isn't that better?" Max asked the infant, gently rocking her back and forth in his arms just slightly in an effort to calm her. "It's not so bad being stuck here with daddy is it?"
Max decided to take her lack of screaming as an affirmative. He was trying not to take it personally that his daughter so greatly preferred her mother over him. After all, Valerie hadn't spent nine months inside his body. How was she supposed to know he was her parent too unless he made it clear to her. Since Valerie's birth Max had been doing his best to show her this, but as long as mommy was around his daughter had eyes for no other.
"Then again how can I blame you for that?" Max smiled at his baby girl. "Mommy is rather amazing, isn't she?"
Max began walking back and forth down the hall, rocking the baby as he went. This seemed to be the scenario she liked best. He knew she'd be hungry again in a few hours, but for now it was just about keeping her calm and happy.
Such a simple thing, walking and rocking, and yet it was somehow relaxing. Even today, Max could hardly believe the overwhelming love he'd felt the first time he'd held Valerie. So fragile and helpless and his. She'd instantly taken over his heart, in a way not even her mother ever had.
Max could hardly believe how much she'd grown in the six months since she'd been born. It wasn't like he'd really seen a difference day by day, but thinking back to when they'd first brought her home and looking at her now was quite something. Max liked to think Valerie looked more like her mother than him, even if she had his dark brown hair and eyes. There was something about the way she looked at him with those eyes that reminded Max of his wife.
Despite Zoey's reluctance to leave, Max knew they'd made the right decision about who went back to work. Zoey had always been move motivated, more ambitious than him and these long months stuck at home had been hard on Zoe. She'd done stir crazy at least once and started coding in the living room while breastfeeding. The thought made Max chuckle. Zoey had actually been working part time from home for a few weeks now, though Max could easily see how much she missed her leadership role back at the office.
For this and the simple reason that she made more money than him, it had been obvious who would stay home with Valerie once their family leave was over. Max loved spending time with his daughter. Even when she was crying with snot coming out of her nose, Valerie was still beautiful. Max hoped one day to talk Zoey into a second child, hopefully this time one with their mother's beautiful red hair, not that he had any control over that. And appearance wasn't everything. Max could already see his wife's spirit behind the eyes of their six month old and guessed that as she grew up he'd be able to pick out more and more ways she was like his Zoey.
Just then the phone rang and Valerie decided this wasn't a good thing. She pushed her soother out and began to cry. Wishing he'd put his phone on silent mode, Max reached into his pocket to answer it.
"Everything is fine," he said to whoever it was on the other side as he'd been too occupied with the crying infant to bother checking the caller ID.
"Then why is the baby crying?" Maggie's voice yelled back over Valerie's screams.
"She didn't like the phone ringing," Max replied loudly. "But I promise she was perfectly happy before. Give me one second." And he put the phone down to focus on the baby.
"Shhhh, it's okay Val," Max tried to sooth her. "Shhhhh, silly grandma didn't mean to interrupt your quiet time and foolish daddy is gonna put his phone on vibrate only from now on. Shhhh shhhhh."
After a little more rocking and gentle bouncing, Max had her screams down to sniffles. Picking up the soother and putting it back in her mouth had the effect of completely settling the baby back into his arms. Valerie now lay face down against his shoulder, looking out at the world behind him, as she sucked on her now less than sanitized soother.
"Okay sorry about that Maggie," Max said as he picked up the phone again. "What's up?"
"Just wanted to check and see how you were doing," Maggie replied.
"Did Zoey put you up to this?" Max asked, suspiciously.
"Nope all me, promise," Maggie replied, in a cheerful voice.
"Well that's good at least."
"I was just worried you'd be, well, I don't know, resentful- no that isn't the right word- bored? Unhappy?" Maggie kept trying to find what she meant to say. "Or something similar about being stuck at home all day."
"We've had this conversation before," Max sighed at his mother-in-law, though he was smiling, not that she could see his expression through the phone.
"I know," Maggie answered quickly. "I just wanted to make sure reality matched up with your expectation."
"My expectations were to grow old watching the woman I love with another man," Max said cheerfully. He was messing with her even if this had actually been true at one time, it wasn't like he ever thought about it anymore.
"Now don't you get cheeky with me," Maggie replied, sounding annoying but Max could only chuckle. "You know what I meant."
"Yeah yeah," Max answered, as he gently stroked his daughter's back to keep her calm. "You got nothing to worry about." There was a pause in which Max could sense Maggie didn't quite believe him. "Really! I love being home with Valerie."
"Alright," Maggie sighed. "But if you change your mind my offer still stands."
"Oh I see what this is really about," Max grinned. "You want to banish me to work and have baby Val all to yourself."
"I'm just saying retired people really don't have much else to do," Maggie added. "Mitch is getting so big he'd rather be with his new school friends than his grandma."
"You make it sound like he's a teenager or something," Max laughed. "Mitch is only six." Maggie mumbled something back that Max couldn't quite understand, but he got the gust. Grandma was being neglected.
"How about this?" Max offered. "Once Zoey is settled and sure she wants to be back at work, we'll talk about maybe me joining her part time."
"Leaving me to watch the baby?" Maggie confirmed, hopefully.
"Of course," Max smiled, trying to put the smile on his face into his voice.
Max was very fond of his mother-in-law. Having been part of his life for as long as Max could remember, in many ways Maggie felt more like a second mother to him than an in-law.
Just then Val started wiggling and Max had to say goodbye and hang up the phone to use two hands to hold her.
"What's got you so excited all of a sudden?" Max asked his infant daughter who of course didn't reply. "I know just the solution for wiggles. It's tummy time!"
Walking over to her play area, Max gently placed Valerie face down on her mat. Max lay down beside her as he watched her use the muscles in her neck and limbs to wiggle around on her stomach. Max jingled and jangled interesting looking and sounding toys in her line of sight as she got her exercise for the day. He loved watching her expressions as she moved, her smiles and squeezes of glee captivated Max's attention. He couldn't help talking to her as well though he knew she couldn't answer yet. It was strange but somehow impossible to stop. MAx couldn't help but wonder why adults felt so compelled to talk to babies who can't reply.
It was during tummy time that Zoey texted him to check how things were. Max replied in great detail, explaining what they'd done so far today and how Valerie was doing. He knew that was what Zoe wanted more than a quick 'everything's fine' text reply.
When the wiggles were all out of her, and Valerie laid her head to rest on the mat, Max knew she would be hungry. Keeping an eye on her from the kitchen, Max got a bottle ready. Zoey in her over-preparedness had pumped more breast milk than one baby could drink in a day and there was back up formula as well. Valerie greatly preferred the beast milk however and that was what Max brought her. He heated it up gently in warm water and tested the temperature on the inside of his wrist before returning to offer it to his daughter. When he returned Valerie was starting to get cranky. Max lifted her up into his strong arms and offered her the bottle. She took it and instantly focused all her attention on eating, crying and wiggling forgotten.
As she ate, Max walked over to the folded pile of clean laundry Zoey had left in the corner. He collected a burping cloth then sat down on the couch and watched Valerie finish eating.
"You were hungry weren't you?" Max smiled at her, as she finished the bottle.
Throwing the cloth over his shoulder, Max laid Valerie there as well, gently tapping her back until she burped. By the time she did so, Valerie's eyes were starting to close.
Lifting her slowly and carefully so as not to alarm her, Max carried his daughter to his bedroom and placed her in the crib beside his bed. By the time he laid her down, she was already fast asleep.
This would usually be a good time to clean up or do laundry, but thanks to his wife's flustered preparations these last few days before she went to work again, there really wasn't anything that needed to be done around the house. Max went to make himself a sandwich for lunch, then returned to eat it in his bedroom, as he watched his daughter sleep. He wasn't sure why it was so wonderful to watch her navigate dreamland and yet from the first day they'd brought her home, Max had not been able to stop himself. He studied her face, and watched to make sure she was breathing evenly. Time would pass and he wouldn't worry.
When Zoey got home that night, Valerie had just woken up from her second nap of the day. Before even greeting her husband, Zoey ran right to her daughter and scooped the baby into her arms.
"Oh I missed, missed, missed you," Zoey giggled, burying her face in her daughter tummy.
"And how was work?" Max asked, smiling at his family.
"Really great," Zoey said, with genuine happiness as she turned to look at him. "I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it."
"Ah but you didn't miss, miss, miss it correct?" Max read between the lines. "So does that mean you've decided you'd rather be at home."
"No," Zoey said firmly. "I figured out, I wanna work. I just love coming home to my family after work is over."
"That's fair," Max smiled at her, moving closer to put his arm around Zoe and kissed the top of Valerie's head.
"How was your afternoon with her?" Zoey asked. She already knew exactly how the morning had gone, from their mid-day texting.
"Perfect," Max smiled. "Oh one thing I didn't tell you earlier, I think your mother wants more time with Val." Max chuckled. "She's got baby withdrawals since Mitch started school."
"Noted," Zoey laughed. "We'll find some time for her to come over and get in some cuddles."
"Actually," Max smiled. "I was thinking of asking my boss if she wanted me to work a couple days a week with her, you know to give grandma some baby minding time."
"Oh were you now?" Zoey chuckled.
"So what does my boss say?" Max asked, leaning in to kiss his wife before she could answer.
"I think that sounds like a good idea," Zoey mumbled, her eyes still closed as Max pulled away.
"Maggie will be so happy," Max laughed.
"And what about you?" Zoey asked, her eyes open again and looking curiously at him.
"I will admit I miss work a little," Max replied. "Though not enough to go back full time. This actually works out perfectly."
"You haven't once mentioned missing work this whole time!" Zoey accused him. "I know that isn't it."
"Okay okay," Max surrendered. "Maybe I miss working with my wife." Zoey seemed much more satisfied with this answer.
Max couldn't keep a smile off his face as he enjoyed the evening with his family. Zoey told him all about her day at work and how their new project was doing. Max made spaghetti for dinner and they all watched a movie though very quietly once Valerie fell asleep in his arms.
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Fin.
Thanks for reading my Max/Zoey story! I hope you enjoyed it.
Even though the date here is set for 2020 I didn't want to include any covid-19 plots in this chapter as it is the end. Let's just say they self-isolated, coded from home and weren't negatively affected by the pandemic. ^_^
I never really mentioned where this story takes place, but as I live in Canada I tend to set all my stories there, mostly because I know nothing about what living in America would be like and it would just turn out funny. :)
If you liked this story I'll encourage you to try some of my other stories. I mostly write in the fandom 'The Mortal Instruments' aka Shadowhunters, but I also have Glee stories, one for Vampire Diaries and others. My stories do have one thing in common though; they are all romances. So if you like the way I write romance, check out my profile and see if there's another story that interests you. All but a couple of my really early stories are AUs and can be enjoyed without knowing the canon.
*Super crazy excited for the Season 2 premiere January 5th!*