This might seem like a throwaway chapter, but I wanted to write a little scene of Maxie being a mom & family woman, something the show really doesn't give us, despite saddling her with 3 kids. I hope you like the update!

Blended 3

It was well past nine when Maxie finally made it home from work. She walked into her apartment to find Mac and her mother chasing James around the living room, trying to wrestle him into his pajamas, as he ran in wild zigzags across the thick carpeting, whooping and hollering the whole way.

Fun times.

Between the three of them, they finally managed to corral James and get him into his blue pj's. Standing in front of his mom as he smirked and tugged on the collar of his tee-shirt, Maxie could see telltale tracks of chocolate sauce on his chin.

"Did Grandpa Mac give you sugar again?" Maxie asked, leaning down to his eye level. She feathered her fingers in the little boy's soft, light brown hair.

"Hey, why do you always assume it was me who did it?" Mac protested.

Maxie gave him a knowing look. "Because you're the easy one. You can't say no when someone sweet talks you with a pleading look on their face."

"Yeah, well, you would know," Mac grumbled. "You still get me with that look."

"So, you are admitting you gave him sugar."

"He did!" James giggled.

"Hey, that was supposed to be our little secret, pal. And it was only a little," Mac said.

"It was a lot," James confided with a mischievous laugh.

"Tattle-tell," Mac rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Can I have some more candy?" James asked.

"I'm afraid not, sweetheart," Felicia said. "It's past your bedtime."

"But you're never going to go to sleep now are you, James? You're too hopped up on candy," Maxie said.

"I don't want to sleep!" James began to leapfrog around the house.

Maxie chuckled in spite of herself. "Yeah, that's what I thought you would say."

"Mac, I told you not to give him so much chocolate," Felicia said. "Do something!"

"Okay, bud, like it or not, it's time to turn in for the night." Mac held out his hand to James. "C'mon. I'll read you a bedtime story."

James continued to jump up and down. "I'm not tired."

"You need your rest, sweetie," Maxie said. "You have school in the morning."

"You sure do. Plus, sleep is so good for you. When you sleep, did you know you grow a little bit each night?" Felicia chimed in. "You'll grow and grow until one day you'll be as big and strong as Mac here."

James slowed his hopping. "Will I have gray hair too?"

The women burst out laughing. "Out of the mouth of babes," Felicia said.

Mac smoothed back his thick curls. "Hey now, there ain't nothing wrong with a little salt and pepper up top."

"Of course, there's not," Felicia said loyally.

"Alright, no more razzing me about my hair. It's bedtime, bud. Let's go choose a story to read," Mac said.

"James likes The Little Engine That Could," Maxie said. "James, what does the engine say?"

"Choo choo!"

"Choo choo!" Maxie echoed. She gave James a hug. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mommy." James waved to Felicia. "Goodnight, Grandma."

Felicia blew the little boy a big kiss. "Goodnight, darling."

Mac led James from the room after saying they had to go brush all the sugar off of his teeth.

Maxie smiled. "Whew! The energy he has is incredible."

"We should bottle it. We'd be rich!"

"I'm already working on that with the chemists at Deception," Maxie joked.

"Good, we can retire in luxury then. We'll never have to work another day in our lives. Maybe we'll go somewhere tropical."

"I love it - even though warmer climates wreak havoc on my hair," Maxie said.

Felicia chuckled. "Okay, so you also need to come up with a no-frizz hair care product. Then -"

"We'll be doubly rich."

"Right."

Maxie smiled. "Thanks for the laugh. I needed that."

"Bad day?"

"Just long and kind of eventful."

"I'm all ears if you want to tell me about it."

"Okay, but first, I want to peek in on Bailey," Maxie said. "Be right back."

Maxie moved down the hall, quietly toeing off her high heels as she went. She reached the end of the hall and carefully pushed back the door of the nursery. Her youngest daughter was asleep in her crib, framed in a pale shaft of moonlight, her thumb tucked in the pocket of her cheek. She looked so sweet and content. Maxie's heart squeezed. Bailey was worth all the pain Maxie had endured to bring her safely into the world. She was worth everything. Maxie felt that way about all of her children.

Maxie backed out of the room, leaving the door partially cracked. Felicia was waiting for her on the sofa in the living room. She held out a steaming mug to Maxie. "I made us some hot cocoa," Felicia said. "Yours has those tiny marshmallows you like so much."

"Thanks, Mom," Maxie replied. She blew on the chocolate brew and then took a slow sip. "Mmm, yum. Georgie's going to be so bummed she missed out on this."

"We'll make it up to her when she returns next week from visiting Spinelli."

Felicia touched her arm. "So, you said you had an eventful day. What happened?"

"Oh, there were wall-to-wall meetings about the launch of Deceptor. There were numbers to crunch, investors to reassure, shipping orders to oversee, distributors to heckle…"

"Sounds hectic."

"Oh my god, it was, so at about three, when I was getting a huge headache from being cooped up around all that chaos and noise, I decided to skip out of the office for a quick walk through the park, and you'll never guess who I ran into."

"I don't know… Anna? Robert? The ghost of Elvis?"

"Haha. No. Think, tight butt."

Felicia laughed. "That's no kind of clue, Maxie."

"It is to me."

"Are you honestly going to make me sit here and guess?"

"No. It was Milo Giambetti."

"I bet it was nice to see Milo."

"It was, but get this. He had a baby girl with him. His baby girl! Milo is a dad!"

"Milo has a baby?" Felicia lifted her eyebrows in disbelief. "You're kidding!"

"Nope. Apparently, he had a forgettable one-night stand with some random chick named Cheyenne, or Snookie, or Simone, or something like that, and she showed up a few nights ago and dropped this adorable little girl off he didn't even know existed, and just ran off leaving him holding the … diaper bag."

Felicia's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"Really. Like, that only happens in the movies, right? The poor guy is freaking out. He's all tangled up about this. I do think it's sweet how he's immediately willing to step up for his child."

"It is sweet," Felicia agreed. "Milo always seemed like a good -"

Maxie's phone started to ring. "Hold that thought, Mom."

Maxie reached for her cell. "Hello?"

"Maxie?" Milo's frantic voice reached her ears. "Hey… You said I could call if I needed your help. Well, I need your help!"