"Zoe, I'm off. I'll see you later at work." Max called as he left a few hours early for his late shift. Zoe had been upstairs in their new house as she heard him shout from downstairs and for a moment had to glance at the clock.
"You do know what time it is, don't you Max?" Zoe called to him as she sat up in bed, having just woken up, from downstairs she heard banging around telling her that Max hadn't left yet and it was moments before she heard the sound of him climbing up the stairs and walking to towards their bedroom.
"I know I'm early but I have stuff to do." Max told her before leaning down to kiss her.
"What stuff? Zoe asked curiously as Max left, and smiled as she watched Max peak his head back around the door.
"Never you mind, now I'm off and I'll see you at work later." Max spoke and then ran back down the stairs, it was a couple of minutes before she heard the door close. She crawled out of their bed and then headed downstairs, nothing looked out of place in their new home which made her increasingly curious as to why Max had disappeared off early.
Max walked out of the house and took out his phone to look for the directions to the address that he had, he knew that what he was doing wasn't much but at the same time he hoped that it'd be enough to show Zoe how serious he was. The ring around her finger was only step one of his plan and this was step two, a step that he'd never planned but had been essential after Zoe's recent news. He continued to walk towards the address that he had, with the GPS on his phone helping him to get there, he walked past his old house that he'd shared with Robyn and continued walking for a few more streets before he arrived at his destination. The house that now stood in front of him was smaller than the old student house and looked a lot rougher, the car on the drive was small and battered looking but it was enough. For a moment he stood looking at it, wondering whether if this was a stupid decision on his part, it didn't really match up to Zoe's beloved convertible but it was the thought that counted.
"Hi, is it Max?" A middle aged man asked as he walked out of the front door in shorts and a tank top.
"Yeah, you must be Keith." Max replied as he walked towards the man and shook his hand.
"Yeah, so you're here to pick up this old thing?" Keith asked.
"Yeah, I've got the money for it here too." Max told him and saw the man smile.
"So what's a young medical worker like you wanting with a car like this?" Keith asked.
"I'm just a porter, pay isn't brilliant. My fiancé is a consultant though and she's just told me she's pregnant, she has a convertible so I thought I'd buy something that is big enough for all of us to show her that I was serious about it all." Max explained, smiling from ear to ear at just the thought of his family.
"The world needs more men like you." Keith told him and then handed over the keys to the car.
"Thanks." Max replied as he passed an envelope with the money for the car and then got into it and started it up.
Looking at the clock he noticed that he was still an hour early so he text Zoe to tell her to be ready for him coming home.
"Zo, are you ready?" He called as he unlocked the front door, she appeared at the door to the kitchen with a bar of chocolate in her hand. "Really?"
"Well I'm eating for two now." She told him smiling.
"Hardly, I may not be a doctor but I do know what you are technically not eating for two when you're pregnant." Max explained, taking her in his arms.
"Shh you, you're ruining it." Zoe told him, reaching up to kiss him. "Anyway, where have you been?"
"Ahh well, I would say that it's a surprise but you're going to find out in a few minutes."
"What would you say if I said that I didn't like surprises?" Zoe asked, grabbing her bag and coat and slipping her heels on as she realised that it was time to go.
"I'd tell you to get used to it." Max replied quickly and then saw that his fiancé was ready to go. "Now you, I need you to pass me your car keys and then close your eyes and trust me." He told her and for a moment she stood still and studied his face, trying to work out whether or not he was serious. Having decided that he was, she passed him her car keys and then closed her eyes and placed her hand in his. He led her gently out of the front door and left her briefly to lock it, he soon returned and took her hand and opened the car door, for a second she wondered what on earth the surprise was. "Get in." He told her and she got into the car, her eyes still closed.
"Max, what are we doing?" She asked now that they were both sat in the car.
"Open your eyes." He told her, watching her as she did and realised that she was not in her own car. The car looked old and not something that she'd usually be seen dead in, turning around she noticed a baby car seat in the back, before she turned her head back to look at Max.
"What's this?" She asked, unsure as to what to think.
"It's a car." He replied simply.
"I know that, why are we sat in it?"
"It's our new car, yours wasn't big enough for all of us now so I thought I'd get us a new one to show you how dedicated I am to our family. I know it's not new and expensive like you would have bought, but it's a family car for our family."
"Max." She said quietly, feeling all choked up but finding herself only able to say his name.
"We can sell it on if you hate it." He told her, suddenly feeling nervous about his purchase.
"I don't care if it's not new or expensive, I care about the motives behind it. I love that you're already thinking about our family and I love you, however I'd rather you take that baby seat out before we go to work. I'm not ready for anyone else to know yet."
"I think I can manage that." He told her as she snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to kiss him.
"I love you Max."
"I love you too Zo." He replied as he got out of the car and carried the baby seat inside the house.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Sorry that I've been quiet recently, I'm in the middle of my AS exams, luckily I have a few days break at the moment so I thought I'd write. This is a prequel to my fic Meet The Walkers and comes after another one of my fics, which isn't finished yet so I can't tell you which one.
Beth x