Chapter Text

Chapter 1: A little Kitten in the garden

Nico wants kids. Preferably a baby, but any kid will do.

Nico does not want another dog, or a cat, or any other animal Lewis will try to bring up to avoid the conservation. He wants a child.

A pup born of Lewis and himself. A pup so small and little that Nico can hold and love. Nico wants to build a nest that will provide and protect the child, letting them know they are safe and beloved. Nico can already picture it; A little pup with darker skin and soft brown eyes like Lewis. Maybe Nico’s genetics will kick in and the baby won’t have coiled hair like his mate, but soft and wavy hair like Nico. The sound of gentle laughter and happy babbles pouring out of the pup’s mouth while Nico carefully kisses their tiny hands and feet, fills the omega’s head. But regardless of Nico’s longing for a baby, Lewis doesn’t want a pup.

Lewis isn’t ready to settle down. The man still has the energy and hunger to fight and compete like a new hire, ready to claw his way up to the top.

“Babies are a lot of work and when would we find the time to raise a family. We already have Roscoe. If you want we can get another dog or even a different pet”, his stubborn mate would argue.

Well of course they’re work. Children are people that one is meant to teach and raise, showing them how to survive and become a proper adult.

Nico doesn’t exactly blame Lewis for not being ready. They are still both just under 30. They still have so much time to be young and free. But Nico doesn’t want to be fourty and have a baby. There is no reason for them to have a twenty year old by the time they’re sixty should they have a baby.

Lewis came from a poorer upbringing than Nico, and because of that he didn’t get the freedom and enjoyment of going on trips or just spending money. Now Lewis can do all the crazy and luxurious things that comes with making good money. Lewis likes to travel and do all sorts of fun and chaotic things that comes with the freedom that money brings. That was one of the reasons Nico fell in love with the alpha.

Nico was an omega; and while omega’s aren’t exactly looked down upon in the work force, one has to work harder than most. Lewis just happened to be one of his biggest competitors. A friendly rivalry that blossomed into love. Eventually allowing that love to turn into a marrirage, where the two have now settled down.

But years of working and slowly ageing, Nico has learned to be content with life. He’s traveled the world and enjoyed the years he’s shared with Lewis. He’s already made quite a bit of money to the point that they would be ok for many years. But every time he passes the playground in the park on his walks, Nico’s heart acks. So many pups everywhere just running and laughing, calling out to their parents to watch them do some new trick they learned. Nico wants that. He wants a pup that will call out to him and show Nico all the cool and interesting things they’ve learned.

But parenthood is best done in a partnership. Lewis and Nico are in a partnership in both marriage and life. Nico will not be selfish and disrupt the freedom they have.

So all Nico can do is go on through life and maybe hope that Lewis will think more on the matter and change his mind.

It’s Nico’s off day, meaning he’s gonna clean and relax while Lewis packs. Maybe he’ll be fat and pig out on wine and pasta tonight.

Lewis has to go for a board meeting for a work trip and was pacing back and forth between their bedroom grabbing things.

“Nico have you seen my passport?”

“It’s with your coffee cup in there kitchen”

“Thank you”

“Do you know where my plane-”

“Your plane ticket is with your passport”

“What would I do without you ”

Nico chuckles at his husband's forgetfulness. It was always a sweet aspect of the alpha that Nico loved.

Lewis finally came out of the room ready and packed grabbing the passport and ticket from the table. “I love you so much”, Lewis whispered gently kissing his mate. Nico couldn’t help but beam under the words and affection. “I love you too”. They both just smiled as they stared into each other’s eyes. Both eyes filled with love and warmth, so kind and understanding.

A car horn broke them out of their magic trance, making the two chuckle and hug. “Toto’s going to be mad if you don’t hurry”, Nico said while leaning on their couch. “Well I best hurry than. I’ll call you when I land. I love you.” Lewis then turned to his beloved dog and patted his head, “I love you too Roscoe, make sure to keep Nico out of trouble.” Nico let out a playful scoff but watched his dear husband get up to leave. And just like that Lewis left, leaving Nico and Roscoe the whole entire house for two solid weeks.

“Well it seems like It’s just you and me buddy”, Nico said watching the bulldog who’s eyes just stared out at the door in hopes that Lewis would return. “Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon. It’s only a few weeks.” Roscoe just huffed and Nico looked at all the things he would have to do today. “Let’s do this”.

So Nico got to work.

Nico started his cleaning by opening his windows letting the fresh summer air in. He lit all the candles he could find, making the whole house smell like lemons. Nico broomed and mopped the floors so he wouldn’t have to over the weekend.

Roscoe was just lazyly sleeping under the sun in his dog bed by the window. Nico really tried to make the dog more active and go out to the park everyday, but the bulldog just had no ambition to leave the comfort of his bed. As Nico cleaned, Roscoe suddenly perked up and moved towards the door. Nico assumed the dog just needed to go to the bathroom, opened the back door successfully letting the dog outside.

Nico would join Roscoe outside shortly to work on his garden. He just needed to change his clothes.

Once Nico changed his clothes and grabbed his tools from the garage, Nico made his way to the garden. For the past few days, Nico’s strawberries were looking better and better, and Nico was sure today they were finally ripe. The omega was craving something sweet for the past few days and couldn’t wait to make some fresh strawberry shortcake. But when Nico stepped outside, he was surprised to hear the bulldog panting somewhere near his vegetable garden. Nico knows for a fact that even if Roscoe was a dog, that lazy dog did not have the energy or motivation to chase after squarrels or rabbits that made their way into the backyard. ‘So what was wrong’.

“Roscoe you good buddy” Nico called out, making his way to the vegetable garden to check on the dog. The bulldog just barked calling out to Nico, asking him to come. And when Nico found the dog, he was shocked.

There in Nico’s garden was a pup, happily munching on his ripe strawberries that he planned on picking today. Roscoe didn’t seem to mind the new stranger and was happily wagging his tail, begging the toddler for the attention.

Nico just stared at the tiny pup with blonde hair. The pup was so little, his scent was milky like all children's scents were before presenting. Nico knew the pup had to only be around 3 or 4 years old. ‘Where did he come from’, Nico wondered with a bit of worry.

The little boy looked at Roscoe, patting the dog with his sticky hands full of strawberry juice, trying to share the fruit with the bulldog; All before he noticed Nico and dropped the strawberry he was eating.

‘Oh he looks so scared’.

Nico didn’t exactly know what to do in this instant. Nico may have wanted a pup but that doesn’t mean he knew how to actually deal with them. Neither him nor Lewis actually knew what to do with kids in general.

The blonde toddler looked up at Nico in fear and tried to hide behind Roscoe as if the bulldog would protect him.

Nico just stared in disbelief, so confused and baffled at the tiny intruder. Nico for one couldn’t understand where the toddler had come from. First of all, the house had a fence wrapping around the property, and even if the gate was low enough for someone to get in, the latch would certainly be too high for the little pup to get in. The pup didn’t even reach Nico’s hips, maybe near his knees, but definitely not tall enough to get through the gate.

Nico couldn’t help but wonder in there was a hole that the toddler had crawled through because the pup just looked so dirty. His shirt was a plain white that was longer than his legs, full of stains and dirt. His hair was matted and he looked as if he hadn’t had a bath in a while.

Nico cleared his throat, gently placing down his gardening supplies as he moved to sit on his knees to be at the same level as the boy. The pup looked like he was ready to bolt, only staying planted where he was because his little hands were clinging to Roscoe in fear of the adult in front of him.

“Hi”, Nico said trying to keep his voice low and calm as to not frighten the kid. “Where did you come from little one?”

The pup was quiet, his eyes focused on Nico’s every move.

“I’m Nico”, the omega said hoping it would help the pup open up. “What’s your name?”

The pup shifted a bit as if he was in discomfort. The pup said something but it was too quiet to hear. “I’m sorry but I couldn’t hear you”

The toddler’s lips wobbled a little but he spoke up answering Nico’s question. “I’m Max.”

“Well it’s very nice to meet you Max”, Nico said smiling as warmly as he could despite his confusion. “Did you like the strawberries?”

Max looked a little confused at the question till Nico motioned to the red fruits the toddler was eating. Max’s eyes widened as he nodded his head, plucked another strawberry before plopping it into his mouth. Nico could feel a headache coming on. There was a random child in his garden and he was eating all of Nico’s strawberries. But he needed to stay calm, they were just berries after all. The back of Nico’s mind grumbled a bit at the idea that he wasn’t going to get to eat his cake to satisfy his sweet tooth.

But Max then grabbed another strawberry before hesitantly walking over to Nico, making sure Roscoe was by his side the closer he got to the adult. Max held out the strawberry. “Try?”, Max asked, as if it was an apology.

Nico was hesitant to accept the offering. The pup was dirty and already had strawberry juice all over his face and hands. Well it’s not like Nico had to eat it.

Nico gratefully accepted the gift and watched as the pup, Max, quickly ran back to hit beside Roscoe. Nico wanted to snort at the pup's actions, how Max thought Roscoe would defend him from Nico, but he needed to be the bigger person and a responsible adult.

“Max, how did you get here?”, Nico tried to say sternly without scaring off the pup.

Max just looked down at the ground, avoiding Nico’s face, as he just clung to Roscoe. Nico let out a sigh. ‘Parents being irresponsible and letting their kids go missing’.

“Ok. Max can you tell me where you live so I can take you back to your mom”

Max’s eyes widened as if Nico was doing the imposible. “M-mama!”.

The way Max said the word made Nico actually feel bad. What if Max just wondered away on accident and couldn’t find a way back to his home. Could Nico really blame the parents when Nico did the same thing at the pup’s age.

It happened all the time with Nico. Nico made his mother and father a victim of that when he was younger. Always just wandering around, climbing in trees and trying to hide for his parents to come and find him.

So Nico did the next best thing. He called the police.

As Nico waited for the operator to pick up, Max just watched with interest. He kept patting Roscoe and saying Mama with hopeful eyes. It was an endearing sight and Nico just hoped Max’s mother wasn’t worrying herself to death since her son was missing.

“Hello 911, what’s the emergency” The operator said.

“Hi hello, my name is Nico Rosberg-Hamiltion. I have a lost toddler in my backyard and I think he’s to young to know where he lives”

“Can you tell me the child’s age and name?”

Nico glanced up at Max calling him over. “Max schatz, can you come here. The policemen are on the phone and need to know your name and how old are you.”

Max quickly walked over to Nico and Nico put the phone on speaker mode. The pup looked a bit confused but Nico just gave a gentle smile.

“It’s ok Max just tell them your name and age” Nico reassured him.

Max just nodded, now seeming to have understood what was expected of him. “ H-hello mister policeman, can you hear me”, Max said a little loud but clear enough to get the message across.

“We can hear you loud and clear”, the operator said

“My name is Max Verstappen, I’m 4 years old” Max proudly said with a lot more confidence than when talking with Nico.

“Ok Max, I’m going to send over one of my friends to you and mister Nico to help get you back home. Mr.Rosbreg-Hamiltion are you ok looking after the child until someone comes?” The operator asked.

“Yes of course”, Nico said without hesitation. Quickly giving the address, the operator hung up leaving Nico to care for the pup until the authorities came to help.

“Well Max, do you want any water or anything to eat” Nico asked hoping to keep the pup comfortable time he was safely returned home.

Max’s blue eyes just locked into Nico’s blue eyes and the pup turned back the ripe strawberries still hanging from Nico’s plants. “Aardbei”, Max said excitedly.

It took Nico a minute before realizing that the toddler wasn’t speaking in English but Dutch. Nico wasn’t the best a dutch but German shared similer words with the other launage so hopeful their wouldn’t a huge launage barriare, and the pup seemed to understand enough English to get by.

“Ya lets eat some strawberries.” Nico said warmly to the toddler.

So what if Nico’s plan of strawberry cake was gonna go down the drain. Pups came first.

By the time the police arrived to claim Max; So did an angry and smelly man.

Max quickly hit behind Nico’s leg as the angry man got closer. Nico only heard the faint word of “Papa” from Max’s lips beneath the angry man yelling at the police.

“Where is that little brat!”, The man yelled still not noticing Max hiding behind Nico, using the man like a shield.

The officers tried to calm Max’s “papa” down but his voice wasn’t getting any calmer. It wasn’t until Max’s papa’s eyes locked in with Nico’s, that the angry father looked down to see Max hiding behind the German.

“Max!”, the man said loudly, “Get over here”.

Oh Nico almost stuttered at the tone. Nico remembers his own father using that tone when he was in trouble.

Nico looked down to Max, hoping to reassure the toddler that it would be ok. But what Nico saw made his heart ack. Max’s blue eyes were filling up with tears and the boy looked conflicted. Max looked up to Nico as if begging him to help. But Nico was a stranger in this situation, and Nico had no right to tell a parent how to behave.

“You’ll be ok Schantz, your papa is here. He’s angry but it will be ok, he’s just worried that you disappeared.”

Max just nodded his head before walking over to his papa, a twitch in every step as he got closer to his father.

Max’s dad roughly grabbed Max’s arm when the boy was close enough. “You are gonna get it when we get home. I have to work late and leave early, and this is the shit you pull.”

Nico was angry and looked over to the officer hoping that they would step in. But they just looked annoyed that they had to be dealing with the situation, not even caring that a pup was getting yelled at and harassed like this.

Nico decided maybe he did need to step in.

“Hi I’m Nico, the one who found Max.” Nico said trying to introduce himself. “I’m sure it was an accident, the pup probably didn’t mean to wander away. I-”

“Who the fuck do you think you are getting involved”, the man hissed.

Nico just raised his eyes.

It was one thing for an angry parent to use a loud tone on their kids, but to shout and swear without any regaurde to their child was pushing it. Everyone raises their kids differently but surely parents should have some limit.

“Mr. Rosberg-Hamiltion, thank you for you help, but the pup has been returned. You may leave now”, the officer said as if trying to quickly dismiss Nico. Then he faced Max and his papa. “Mr. Verstappen, we’ll let you go but please be away this is on ground of child neglect.”

Mr. Verstappen grumbled a bit, waiting for the officer to leave. As soon as the police left the street, the man yelled louder at the boy before dragging a crying Max away.

Nico watched as the pair left into a house a few spots down. The worry and fear began to build up in Nico’s stomach. Max was so little and his dad was being so… aggressive.

Oh Nico hoped that Max would be ok. Maybe Nico should go over later and offer a bit of cake to the Verstappen family. Max didn’t eat to many berries and Nico really should not be eating so many desserts.

So Nico continued with his day. Dreed still filled his stomach but the omega just pushed it down.

It would be ok.

Max was probably just getting punished for going missing, a very normal reason to punish a child. But still….

A pup so little crying made Nico fear the worst.