A story I haven't seen at all anywhere is a future family for Max and Nikki. I've seen fanart, but not stories, and that makes the shipper in me very sad.
That's what this is. Here's what you guys should know for this story.
Max was adopted by David and Gwen after his summer at Camp Campbell ended. He ended up going to school with a lot of his friends from camp, including Nikki and Neil. Candy and Carl (Nikki's mom and Neil's dad) got married a couple years later. When the main three kids were in high school, Max and Nikki started dating during their junior year. They stayed together all through college and moved in with David and Gwen after graduation to save money for them to start a life together.
Got it? Good.
Let's do this!
When you're with someone a long time, you tend to know them inside and out. You know how they act in all different circumstances, and most of the time, you can pick up on when something is wrong. If they're acting differently, you try and figure out what's wrong if you care about the relationship.
That was what was going on with Max and Nikki. After dating for seven years, they knew how to read each other. Nikki knew sometimes, Max would get really depressed and just need a support system to get through the day—a product of the shitty parents and home life he'd had for the first decade of his existence. Max knew how to help Nikki through her time of the month and to stave off calls from her mom and dad.
For the past couple weeks, things had been weird. Nikki had been sick on and off, for starters, and to add to that, she'd been acting the way she did on her period—cravings, mood swings, and the works. However, she hadn't had the monster cramps that he'd come to know from that time of the month. He knew that his longtime girlfriend had boundless energy on a daily basis, but now she was sleeping even longer than him and Gwen.
He'd learned in the past to be careful treading topics, and this was no exception.
"Hey, babe?"
Nikki looked up from her nature guidebook.
"I was wondering… have you figured out what's wrong?"
"What are you talking about?" she asked, marking her page and setting the book down on her nightstand.
"I mean, you've been sick, and things have just been… kinda weird." He refrained from his normal speech pattern to avoid setting her off. "I'm worried about you."
"I'm fine, Max. Trust me." She gave him an odd look. "What do you mean by 'weird'?"
"I mean, you've been acting like you're on your period for two weeks. I'm not a gynecologist or a woman, but I'm pretty sure a period doesn't last longer than a week. And yours only last five days, usually." Nikki felt a little touched that Max paid attention that much, then something occurred to her.
"I haven't been on my period," she realized.
"What?"
"I'm late, Max. My period's late." He knit his eyebrows together, still not getting it. "Max, if my period is late—especially because it's been over a week late—there's a huge possibility that I'm pregnant."
"What?!"
"I can find out if you want."
"Yeah, please do."
"I'll take a test tomorrow." She kissed Max on the cheek and reached for the lamp. "Good night, Max."
She curled up on her side of the bed in the darkness, leaving her boyfriend alone in his thoughts.
The next morning, the alarm went off and Max switched it off. He'd gotten very little sleep the night before, lying awake for most of the night and thinking about the possibility of becoming a parent. Exhausted, he got out of bed and trudged downstairs, where he found Gwen drinking her morning coffee.
"Morning, Max," she greeted him.
"Morning, Gwen," he sighed, pouring himself a mug.
"What's wrong? You look fucking exhausted."
"I am fucking exhausted. Nikki just dropped a bomb on me last night, and I was awake most of the night thinking about it."
"What was it?"
"Um…" Max scratched the back of his head. "There's the slight possibility that I might have gotten her pregnant."
"Goddammit, Max." Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "What have I told you about using protection?"
"We were. Nikki's on birth control."
"How often are you guys—"
"I do not want to discuss my sex life with my former counselor and adoptive mother."
"Fine, I get it. But still, don't tell David. He'll get all hyped up and if it turns out to be nothing, it'll crush him."
"I know! Nikki said she'd take a test today, though, so we'll find out by the end of the day."
They sat there in silence while Max drank his coffee before Nikki joined them.
"Morning, Max!" she greeted him. "I've gotta go to work. Bye, Gwen!" She and Max shared a quick kiss before she grabbed her purse. "Love you, Max!"
"Love you, too, Nik!"
And she was out the door.
"Good morning, family!" the ray of sunshine in the family announced, coming down the stairs. "How are we this fine day?"
"Fine, David," Max sighed.
"Did Nikki already leave?"
"Yeah, and I'm leaving in an hour."
"Aw!" David gave him a hug.
"I've gotta get ready." Max shrugged off the hug and put his mug in the sink. "See you guys."
David watched his adoptive son head upstairs and smiled proudly.
"What's got you happier than usual?" Gwen asked.
"I overheard Max and Nikki talking last night, and…" He smiled excitedly. "There's a possibility we might be grandparents, soon!" Gwen raised her eyebrows.
Well, so much for not telling David…
"Okay," Nikki breathed, sitting down on the bed. She had the pregnancy test in her hand and Max sitting next to her. "This is it."
"Yep," Max agreed. She put her other hand over his.
"Max, promise me you'll stay no matter what the results are."
"Nikki, I've been with you for seven years. If I was going to leave, I would've done it by now. It would also be a massive dick move if I left you while you were pregnant."
"I think it was a massive dick move that got us in this situation in the first place." Max snickered.
"Thanks, babe." The timer Nikki had set up went off and they looked down at the test.
Two pink lines.
"What… does that mean?" Max inquired.
"That means positive." She smiled. "I'm pregnant, Max!"
"Great!"
Inside, Max was terrified. His childhood had been completely shitty and he had no idea how to be a good father. He could try to be like David, but he knew being that ridiculously happy for even a few hours would probably kill him. Hell, he might even kill the kid by accident and he'd go to prison.
"Should we tell Gwen and David?" Nikki asked, kicking her feet.
"Yeah. I let it slip to Gwen this morning that there's a possibility that she'll be a grandmother soon and she bitched at me about using protection."
"Ha!" Nikki set down the test.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
"Max, Nikki, can we come in?" David's cheerful voice came through the door.
"Sure," Max sighed. His adoptive parents entered the bedroom, David looking like he was about to blast off from excitement.
"He overheard you guys last night," Gwen explained with a deadpan expression. "Tell us the results so he can get it out of his system."
"Positive!" Nikki declared, holding up the test. David clapped his hands excitedly and jumped up and down.
"I'm gonna be a grandpa!" he cheered, hugging his family.
"Yeah, it's great!" Gwen laughed. Max chuckled, too.
His family was about to get a bit bigger.
So, real quick before I sign off for the night (last published thing until tomorrow).
Whenever I envision Max becoming a dad—or in this case, finding out he's going to be a dad—I always see him being more worried about it than anybody else, no matter who he's shipped with. Given the shitty upbringing he's hinted at having (no, that they beat into our emotions with a chair like David did to Jacob in that one episode), it's my opinion that he wouldn't see himself as father material. He has no idea how to act around a baby or how to parent one. In this story, he has David, Gwen, Nikki, and even Neil to help him out, but these fears are internal. He's even more scared than Nikki, who's the one carrying the damn baby, because he's afraid he's going to fuck it up. However, this Max has had over thirteen years away from his shitty birth parents and with David and Gwen as his adoptive parents. He knows his life is pretty damn good, and he's not going to take that for granted. That will become apparent later on.
Done!
So long and thanks for all the fish!
