[b]Chapter 26[/b]
Max stepped into the busy restaurant unsure of what he was doing. He held the note in his hand, half proud of what he had done, half scared of what Liz's reaction would be.
It had been three weeks since Max's discovery of their situation. One week until Hannah's surgery. She was currently at the Valenti's where he and Liz were going to pick her up to go out for ice cream.
Liz caught his eye, she smiled warily unsure of what to make of him. He had made it a point to see Hannah every weekend and Hannah seemed to be growing comfortable with him. They had never been left alone together—yet—and Liz wasn't in a hurry to see that that happen.
There was a large group with about two children to every adult and Liz had to swerve multiple times so the empty plates she carried wouldn't end up on a child.
Her hips swiveled perfectly avoiding the small child who danced in front of her. Max smiled noticing how at home she looked surrounded by the children. She squatted down to tell a little boy something. He immediately started laughing and ran off to tell his friends.
She stood and made her way though the jungle of chairs, children, and laughing mothers.
"How many, sir?" The peppy young high school hostess asked.
"Just one."
"All alone today?" She picked up a menu and smiled at him. She turned and took him in the opposite direction of Liz's section.
"Can I sit over there?" He asked.
"Ummm, with all those children?" She asked looking at the little demons dancing circles around Liz as she brought out cake.
"They look like they're almost through, and I really don't mind children." He shrugged. "Plus I know the waitress." He had been unsure whether or not to add that last bit but decided to.
Liz glanced up and smiled at him again.
The hostess looked at Max and gasped. "You're Hannah's father, aren't you?"
"Yes." He said after a moment.
"We all adore Hannah here, she's such a sweetheart, you know that don't you?" She started babbling about his little girl. "I'll sit at her favorite booth. She sits here so she can see Liz perfectly when she comes to work with her." She beamed. "I think Liz likes it too because she can see her whether she's out here or in the kitchen."
"Thank you." Max nodded and slid into the booth.
"You're here an hour early, Max." Liz stood beside the table.
He felt her skirt was entirely too short and was about to tell her so before thinking better of it.
"When's your next break?" He asked abruptly.
"Soon as this group leaves, than I get off, they're letting me go early."
"I'll just wait here." Watching you.
She could feel him watching her every move. Her section of the restaurant was now empty. She felt the tension leave her body as the last of the children filed out the door.
"Alright." She slid her foot out of her shoe under the table and wiggled her toes. "What is it?" She could tell it was something serious and she wondered how it affected her.
"Well...I...my mom sort of told me that you have a...um...hard time paying for Hannah's surgery and keeping up the rent, and other financial needs." He stammered. It would be an insult to her pride and he knew it. He wanted to proceed carefully. "And then I heard that your trust fund had been frozen. Because I thought it was odd that you were having...problems...when your trust fund was significantly larger than mine. Here." He passed the folder across the table.
"What is this?"
"I...sort of...figured out how to unfreeze your accounts." He didn't feel very guilty lying to her about it; it was for the good of their daughter.
"H—how?" She asked staring down at the paperwork her eyes wide.
"My mom did it. She's more into that part of law." He shrugged looking down.
She studied the paperwork carefully and when she looked up again there were tears in her eyes. "You don't know what this means to me, Max."
He did. He could read it in her eyes. He only felt slightly guilty about how she would feel for him after she discovered that it was in fact not her money at all.
"I've wanted to go to college for some time now, Max. I haven't been able to even begin to afford it at this point!"
"You can do a lot more, love." He said shyly. He'd gladly give her anything she wanted. She gave him a daughter.
"We better go get Hannah. She watches the clock on Friday nights." Liz said glowing. Her heart lifted.
"We'll go get her then." Max was happy to see the smile on her face.
"Hold on." She took off her apron and went back into the kitchen. She came out a few minutes later tucking her tips into her pocket for safe keeping. "Alright, let's go."
Liz ran in quickly to retrieve Hannah while Max waited in the car.
They were having a very intense conversation when Liz buckled Hannah into her seat. "Natalie's mommy is going to have a baby soon." Hannah informed Liz. "Her daddy picked her up today."
"Really?" Liz asked.
"He said her mommy's going to have it maybe tomorrow."
"We'll have to go get her a gift then." Liz said.
"Yes!" Hannah clapped her hands and then noticed Max was sitting in the driver seat and the seat she was sitting in wasn't the one in her mother's car. "Hi."
"Hi, Hannah." Max said looking at her through the rear view mirror.
"Natalie's mommy going to have a baby."
"I heard." Max smiled.
"I want a little sister too." She looked out the window as Max started to back out. "Can I have one?"
"Not anytime soon, Hannah bean." Liz said looking out the window as well.
"Please?"
"No." Liz shook her head. "Sorry, Hannah." You need two people to have a baby, Liz thought silently to herself.
"Alright. Can we go to the beach?"
Liz looked at Max, since she was in a happy mood she wouldn't mind the half hour drive it would take to drive down there. "Are you up for it?"
"Sure, why not?" Max shrugged, "You'll have to tell me how to get there though."
"That's fine."
Pulling up to the beach and looking at the throngs of teenagers swarming the pier and Main St. Max looked at Liz a little skeptically.
"Are you sure you want to come here?" He asked.
"Yes, it's crowded, but fun. Lots of shops and things, there's an ice cream parlor on the corner there." Liz said as she set Hannah onto the street and took her hand. "There's a Ruby's on the end of the pier as well."
"Well, let's go find some ice cream." Max nodded.
He felt a little over dressed as he watched the girls sporting bikinis trying to impress the topless surfer boys.
Hannah walked alongside Liz trying to take in everything. She loved being among the crowd. "Mommy, when I'm a teenager I'm going to come here ok?"
"I don't think so." Max answered for Liz who just laughed. To think of Hannah walking around in a bikini was a little much.
Hannah just pouted at him, in a picture that was completely Liz when she was upset with him.
Hannah ran happily into the ice cream parlor and waited for Max and Liz to join her. She once again took Liz's hand.
Hannah talked the entire time about school and what she had done over the week. "It's Natalie's turn to take home Mr. Bear." Hannah explained. "He go in alph...alt... what is the word, Mommy?"
"Alphabetical?" Liz supplied.
"Yeah, Alphabetical order, by our last name. Natalie's is Barkley, I'm not till we come back because I'm Parker."
Max and Liz's eyes met over her head. She could very well be an Evans.
"I have my surgery Friday." Hannah said suddenly.
"Yes, you do." Liz nodded silently. Tomorrow the tests would begin and the hellish week before surgery would start.
"You know what's wrong with my heart?" Hannah turned to Max.
"Not exactly." Max shook his head. He needed to talk to Liz about that to understand what was going on with his baby.
"Put your lips together like this." She showed him. "Now breathe out."
He did. "Good, now breathe in."
He tried but his lips came together preventing the air from getting though. "See, it stopped, that's what your heart does."
"Now, put your lips together, but open a little bit." Hannah demonstrated with her own. "Like that." She told Max.
"When you breathe in air can still come, yeah?" She asked as Max did it.
"Yes." He answered in all seriousness.
Liz smiled because this is the same exact explanation Kyle had given to Hannah.
"That's my heart. The doctor has to fix it so it don't do that no more."
"I understand." And to Max's astonishment, he really did. His daughter was a genius.
"Are you all finished and ready to go, Hannah?" Liz asked.
"Yes." Her eyes were drooping and she looked thoroughly pleased.
Her steps were slower, and she stopped often to pause for breath. Liz stopped to pick her up and felt her heart beating frantically.
Max drove them home and wasn't surprised to find Hannah already asleep. Liz bent to pick her up, but Max offered to instead.
"I don't know if she'll let you."
"May I try?" Max asked looking at his sleeping daughter.
"Sure." Liz stepped out of the way.
Max carefully picked her up and put her against his shoulder. She shifted and he held his breath. She just moved and rested her head in the crook of his neck, her breath feathering his skin.
Max walked up the stairs and felt when she awoke. Her body stiffened and he was prepared to set her down or hand her to Liz.
Hannah awoke and looked around and noticed she was in Max's arms. She contemplated getting down or staying in his arms. They were comfortable enough and she knew he wouldn't drop her. Deciding quickly she laid her head back down and threw her arms around his neck.
Max relaxed and continued up to their apartment.
"Evening, Alex." Liz said startled to see him standing outside his doorway.
"Hello, beauties." Alex said to both Liz and Hannah. "Did you have fun tonight?" He asked walking closer to Hannah.
With a lazy arm around Max's neck she answered. "We went to the beach."
"Was that fun, did you get ice cream?"
"Yeah," She said tiredly resting her head back on Max's shoulder.
"I'm Alex, by the way." He said to Max looking at him.
"So you're Alex, the one my sister fancies herself half in love with."
"That'd be me." He said proudly before his face paled. "Did you say that your sister is in love with me?"
"I might have mentioned that, but I'm not so sure about that." Max smiled at the other man's face. "I'm Max."
"Nice to meet you, finally." Alex said.
"Thanks, same here." He nodded. "I'm gonna go lay her down."
"Just bring her right here." Liz stated as she opened the door to her bedroom. "I'll change her clothes in a minute, Hannah say goodbye."
"Bye!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him again.
"Bye." He couldn't resist kissing her cheek.
"You're coming with me to my surgery?" She wanted to know, still with her hands around him.
"I don't know yet, little girl." He told her honestly.
"Please?" She asked.
"I'll see what I can do, ok?"
She nodded her consent and climbed onto the bed and laid down.
"I'll be right back, Hannah bean, take your shoes off and get in your jamies and I'll come lay by you."
Liz led Max out to the front door. "Thank you, Max."
"No problem, Liz." He stated. "Um...about her surgery. Do you mind if I'm there?"
"I would like you to be there, it means so much to Hannah that you go."
"Alright." He nodded. "Are there any preps or anything?"
"Well, this whole week is full of tests and prep stuff but you don't need to be there for those, they're just little half hour appointments. Her surgery is at noon on Friday." She took hold of his arm. "Please be there for her."
"I plan to be."
[b]TBC[/b]
Max stepped into the busy restaurant unsure of what he was doing. He held the note in his hand, half proud of what he had done, half scared of what Liz's reaction would be.
It had been three weeks since Max's discovery of their situation. One week until Hannah's surgery. She was currently at the Valenti's where he and Liz were going to pick her up to go out for ice cream.
Liz caught his eye, she smiled warily unsure of what to make of him. He had made it a point to see Hannah every weekend and Hannah seemed to be growing comfortable with him. They had never been left alone together—yet—and Liz wasn't in a hurry to see that that happen.
There was a large group with about two children to every adult and Liz had to swerve multiple times so the empty plates she carried wouldn't end up on a child.
Her hips swiveled perfectly avoiding the small child who danced in front of her. Max smiled noticing how at home she looked surrounded by the children. She squatted down to tell a little boy something. He immediately started laughing and ran off to tell his friends.
She stood and made her way though the jungle of chairs, children, and laughing mothers.
"How many, sir?" The peppy young high school hostess asked.
"Just one."
"All alone today?" She picked up a menu and smiled at him. She turned and took him in the opposite direction of Liz's section.
"Can I sit over there?" He asked.
"Ummm, with all those children?" She asked looking at the little demons dancing circles around Liz as she brought out cake.
"They look like they're almost through, and I really don't mind children." He shrugged. "Plus I know the waitress." He had been unsure whether or not to add that last bit but decided to.
Liz glanced up and smiled at him again.
The hostess looked at Max and gasped. "You're Hannah's father, aren't you?"
"Yes." He said after a moment.
"We all adore Hannah here, she's such a sweetheart, you know that don't you?" She started babbling about his little girl. "I'll sit at her favorite booth. She sits here so she can see Liz perfectly when she comes to work with her." She beamed. "I think Liz likes it too because she can see her whether she's out here or in the kitchen."
"Thank you." Max nodded and slid into the booth.
"You're here an hour early, Max." Liz stood beside the table.
He felt her skirt was entirely too short and was about to tell her so before thinking better of it.
"When's your next break?" He asked abruptly.
"Soon as this group leaves, than I get off, they're letting me go early."
"I'll just wait here." Watching you.
She could feel him watching her every move. Her section of the restaurant was now empty. She felt the tension leave her body as the last of the children filed out the door.
"Alright." She slid her foot out of her shoe under the table and wiggled her toes. "What is it?" She could tell it was something serious and she wondered how it affected her.
"Well...I...my mom sort of told me that you have a...um...hard time paying for Hannah's surgery and keeping up the rent, and other financial needs." He stammered. It would be an insult to her pride and he knew it. He wanted to proceed carefully. "And then I heard that your trust fund had been frozen. Because I thought it was odd that you were having...problems...when your trust fund was significantly larger than mine. Here." He passed the folder across the table.
"What is this?"
"I...sort of...figured out how to unfreeze your accounts." He didn't feel very guilty lying to her about it; it was for the good of their daughter.
"H—how?" She asked staring down at the paperwork her eyes wide.
"My mom did it. She's more into that part of law." He shrugged looking down.
She studied the paperwork carefully and when she looked up again there were tears in her eyes. "You don't know what this means to me, Max."
He did. He could read it in her eyes. He only felt slightly guilty about how she would feel for him after she discovered that it was in fact not her money at all.
"I've wanted to go to college for some time now, Max. I haven't been able to even begin to afford it at this point!"
"You can do a lot more, love." He said shyly. He'd gladly give her anything she wanted. She gave him a daughter.
"We better go get Hannah. She watches the clock on Friday nights." Liz said glowing. Her heart lifted.
"We'll go get her then." Max was happy to see the smile on her face.
"Hold on." She took off her apron and went back into the kitchen. She came out a few minutes later tucking her tips into her pocket for safe keeping. "Alright, let's go."
Liz ran in quickly to retrieve Hannah while Max waited in the car.
They were having a very intense conversation when Liz buckled Hannah into her seat. "Natalie's mommy is going to have a baby soon." Hannah informed Liz. "Her daddy picked her up today."
"Really?" Liz asked.
"He said her mommy's going to have it maybe tomorrow."
"We'll have to go get her a gift then." Liz said.
"Yes!" Hannah clapped her hands and then noticed Max was sitting in the driver seat and the seat she was sitting in wasn't the one in her mother's car. "Hi."
"Hi, Hannah." Max said looking at her through the rear view mirror.
"Natalie's mommy going to have a baby."
"I heard." Max smiled.
"I want a little sister too." She looked out the window as Max started to back out. "Can I have one?"
"Not anytime soon, Hannah bean." Liz said looking out the window as well.
"Please?"
"No." Liz shook her head. "Sorry, Hannah." You need two people to have a baby, Liz thought silently to herself.
"Alright. Can we go to the beach?"
Liz looked at Max, since she was in a happy mood she wouldn't mind the half hour drive it would take to drive down there. "Are you up for it?"
"Sure, why not?" Max shrugged, "You'll have to tell me how to get there though."
"That's fine."
Pulling up to the beach and looking at the throngs of teenagers swarming the pier and Main St. Max looked at Liz a little skeptically.
"Are you sure you want to come here?" He asked.
"Yes, it's crowded, but fun. Lots of shops and things, there's an ice cream parlor on the corner there." Liz said as she set Hannah onto the street and took her hand. "There's a Ruby's on the end of the pier as well."
"Well, let's go find some ice cream." Max nodded.
He felt a little over dressed as he watched the girls sporting bikinis trying to impress the topless surfer boys.
Hannah walked alongside Liz trying to take in everything. She loved being among the crowd. "Mommy, when I'm a teenager I'm going to come here ok?"
"I don't think so." Max answered for Liz who just laughed. To think of Hannah walking around in a bikini was a little much.
Hannah just pouted at him, in a picture that was completely Liz when she was upset with him.
Hannah ran happily into the ice cream parlor and waited for Max and Liz to join her. She once again took Liz's hand.
Hannah talked the entire time about school and what she had done over the week. "It's Natalie's turn to take home Mr. Bear." Hannah explained. "He go in alph...alt... what is the word, Mommy?"
"Alphabetical?" Liz supplied.
"Yeah, Alphabetical order, by our last name. Natalie's is Barkley, I'm not till we come back because I'm Parker."
Max and Liz's eyes met over her head. She could very well be an Evans.
"I have my surgery Friday." Hannah said suddenly.
"Yes, you do." Liz nodded silently. Tomorrow the tests would begin and the hellish week before surgery would start.
"You know what's wrong with my heart?" Hannah turned to Max.
"Not exactly." Max shook his head. He needed to talk to Liz about that to understand what was going on with his baby.
"Put your lips together like this." She showed him. "Now breathe out."
He did. "Good, now breathe in."
He tried but his lips came together preventing the air from getting though. "See, it stopped, that's what your heart does."
"Now, put your lips together, but open a little bit." Hannah demonstrated with her own. "Like that." She told Max.
"When you breathe in air can still come, yeah?" She asked as Max did it.
"Yes." He answered in all seriousness.
Liz smiled because this is the same exact explanation Kyle had given to Hannah.
"That's my heart. The doctor has to fix it so it don't do that no more."
"I understand." And to Max's astonishment, he really did. His daughter was a genius.
"Are you all finished and ready to go, Hannah?" Liz asked.
"Yes." Her eyes were drooping and she looked thoroughly pleased.
Her steps were slower, and she stopped often to pause for breath. Liz stopped to pick her up and felt her heart beating frantically.
Max drove them home and wasn't surprised to find Hannah already asleep. Liz bent to pick her up, but Max offered to instead.
"I don't know if she'll let you."
"May I try?" Max asked looking at his sleeping daughter.
"Sure." Liz stepped out of the way.
Max carefully picked her up and put her against his shoulder. She shifted and he held his breath. She just moved and rested her head in the crook of his neck, her breath feathering his skin.
Max walked up the stairs and felt when she awoke. Her body stiffened and he was prepared to set her down or hand her to Liz.
Hannah awoke and looked around and noticed she was in Max's arms. She contemplated getting down or staying in his arms. They were comfortable enough and she knew he wouldn't drop her. Deciding quickly she laid her head back down and threw her arms around his neck.
Max relaxed and continued up to their apartment.
"Evening, Alex." Liz said startled to see him standing outside his doorway.
"Hello, beauties." Alex said to both Liz and Hannah. "Did you have fun tonight?" He asked walking closer to Hannah.
With a lazy arm around Max's neck she answered. "We went to the beach."
"Was that fun, did you get ice cream?"
"Yeah," She said tiredly resting her head back on Max's shoulder.
"I'm Alex, by the way." He said to Max looking at him.
"So you're Alex, the one my sister fancies herself half in love with."
"That'd be me." He said proudly before his face paled. "Did you say that your sister is in love with me?"
"I might have mentioned that, but I'm not so sure about that." Max smiled at the other man's face. "I'm Max."
"Nice to meet you, finally." Alex said.
"Thanks, same here." He nodded. "I'm gonna go lay her down."
"Just bring her right here." Liz stated as she opened the door to her bedroom. "I'll change her clothes in a minute, Hannah say goodbye."
"Bye!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him again.
"Bye." He couldn't resist kissing her cheek.
"You're coming with me to my surgery?" She wanted to know, still with her hands around him.
"I don't know yet, little girl." He told her honestly.
"Please?" She asked.
"I'll see what I can do, ok?"
She nodded her consent and climbed onto the bed and laid down.
"I'll be right back, Hannah bean, take your shoes off and get in your jamies and I'll come lay by you."
Liz led Max out to the front door. "Thank you, Max."
"No problem, Liz." He stated. "Um...about her surgery. Do you mind if I'm there?"
"I would like you to be there, it means so much to Hannah that you go."
"Alright." He nodded. "Are there any preps or anything?"
"Well, this whole week is full of tests and prep stuff but you don't need to be there for those, they're just little half hour appointments. Her surgery is at noon on Friday." She took hold of his arm. "Please be there for her."
"I plan to be."
[b]TBC[/b]