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Max was annoyed, which wasn't the most unusual thing. He knew he was quite vulnerable to changes in his emotions and sometimes to overreacting.
But Max also knew his relationship with Pierre. He knew he loved the Frenchman and how they worked best together. They had been together long enough now for Max to not get worked up over little things, to not cause any unnecessary drama. Really, it only cost energy they didn't have.
Over time they learned each other's insecurities and how to communicate about them, to express their thoughts on problems and things they had trouble with.
This, however, was something unexpected. Hell, Max hadn't even known that it had been an insecurity of him, how would he have been able to talk about it with Pierre?
Because here he was, annoyed since he was jealous. Jealous over Charles Leclerc out of all people, it felt so childish it took him more time to admit it than he was proud of. Jealous because he saw Pierre be so close, so intimate with Charles holding a baby. They were at a party to celebrate some achievement of Ferrari.
Max wasn't even sure whose baby it was, probably part of Charles' family. But he and Charles had put an end to their unnecessary rivalry quite a few seasons ago so it took him a while to understand why he was so jealous. Because Max knew too that Charles had absolutely no interest in dating Pierre - that was a fight they had already gone through and they wouldn't have to deal with again.
So he withdrew himself from the party. He had seen balconies earlier and some fresh air seemed necessary. It felt suffocating, this realization of his feelings. Even more so when he didn't know what caused them. Max sat down on one of the benches, trying to remember what he and his therapist went over.
Jealous because of insecurity he didn't know he had. Related to babies.
Because he wanted to be a dad too. Not just a dad, he wanted to be a good dad. A dad that could make his child smile, that would actually leave a good impact. One that could hold small, sweet and oh-so-breakable babies the way Charles could.
The air was getting colder and his suit wasn't as warm as he thought it would be but a warm hand on his shoulder startled him out of his thinking. Looking up he saw Charles holding a sleeping baby.
Great, just what he needed. But he didn't truly feel angry, there was some spark of hope within him. Maybe he could do better. Maybe he didn't need a breakdown, didn't need to avoid his love to talk about the fact that he wanted children too, to start their own family.
And the first step could be to talk to Charles, who seemed to have read him better than he expected. So Max watched as Charles settled down next to him, silent before he started the conversation.
"I think I was jealous, or insecure," he admitted.
Charles, letting the baby rest against his chest to put his arm around him, replied without missing a beat. "About the baby?"
He hummed, surprised and at the same time not that Charles knew how he felt. In the past, it had caused quite a few fights because Max never wanted to admit that Charles was right. He had been too focussed on the fact that he felt powerless when he didn't know himself while Charles seemed to do so.
"Yes," he said, "Well maybe not the baby but being able to handle them so well? I saw Pierre so happy, so close in that happy bubble and I realized that I might not be able to do that because I have no experience on how it should be done."
Charles looked at him with understanding eyes but rather than giving advice he asked Max, "Well, what do you want me to do?"
It's not the rude kind it could be seen as, this was Charles leaving the choice to Max, leaving the power to him. "Maybe sent in Pierre? But before that," Max hesitated and looked down at the baby, "Could I hold him? Just for a second, to know that feeling -"
"Of course," Charles interrupted him, "Let's do this."
Max watched Charles change his hold on the baby and felt so clumsy trying to take the baby from his friend. But somehow he managed to do it, managed to not panic when she woke up and started fussing. Instead, he calmed her down and watched as she seemed to relax.
"Would you like to hold her for a while until I get Pierre here?" Charles proposed and he felt his heart stop for a second. The idea of being alone with a baby that isn't his was scary, but maybe it would help him.
"I wouldn't mind," he said in the end, "Though would his mother be alright with you leaving him with me?"
Charles just chuckled, "Don't worry about that."
Time was vague while he was so focused on the baby. It could have been 5 minutes or half an hour before Pierre returned but all Max knew was that he felt comfortable like this.
Charles didn't say much while he took the baby from him and he immediately missed the small bundle of joy in his arms, yearning to have her back in his arms. But Pierre took his attention then, sitting as close to him as possible before Max got pulled into his arms.
"I heard you had a talk with Charles?" Pierre started and he nodded. "Yeah, realized something."
They sat like that for a while before Max could get the courage to tell his love the full story. "I saw you around the baby and you looked so happy and I got insecure. I realized I wanted to be a good father and that I had no idea how one would be. But most of all," this would take some courage, "I'd like to have a family with you."
Pierre seemed to glow at that admission and Max felt like he could fall in love with his boyfriend over and over again just looking at him like this. "Are you sure?" the Frenchmen asked and he felt proud when he surely could say yes.
"It might not go perfectly and I would have a lot to learn. But I would do it with you and having our own family sounds like all I could ever ask for."