Catch and Release
Chapter 24
"Fizzle."
"Puzzle, Carter," Fang mumbled, holding her in his lap as she tried to mash random pieces together. "Fizzle is something sodas do."
"Soda." Carter looked up at her Owl before shaking her head. "Fizzle."
"Don't let her mess up the pieces, Fang," Dr. Martinez told him, taking a sip of her coffee. She was seated across from him at her kitchen table, working on a Christmas puzzle. It was a huge jigsaw and Carter had taken it upon herself to help. The whole reason she and Fang was over was because the vet was making cookies.
"I won't," he mumbled, grasping Carter's hand gently, forcing her to drop the pieces. "Be nice to the puzzle, Carter."
"Fizzle."
"Yeah." He let the top of her head brush his lips. "Fizzle."
After setting her coffee cup down, Valencia kept her vision on the table, but spoke to Fang. "Do you know why I left Arizona, Fang?"
He was shocked for a second that she was speaking to him on something so casual. Typically, their conversations were either deep or nonexistent. Shallow words were never spoken. Until now.
"For Nudge?"
She shook her head. "For Angel and Gasman. Not to mention, Ella. Sebastian's father had just died, after all."
"Do mind…"
"How he died?"
Fang just nodded slightly.
"He was shot. He worked at a gas station. Botched robbery." Valencia shook her head when a piece didn't match the one she wanted it to. "I never really cared for him. He was nice, I suppose, but they were too young. Way too young." Then, looking up, Dr. Martinez smiled at her granddaughter, who was attempting to pop one of Fang's fingers. "Things have been hard on him, Sebastian. I'm glad that the two of you seem to get along now or at least not bother one another."
"Ella is kind of-"
"Overbearing?" The vet went back to her puzzle. "Yes, well, she's just very protective over the kids. Nudge is a little bit too carefree for my taste. Then again, I'm sure you know that, after what they told me you did to her."
So that's the real reason they had been invited over. The conversation that had gone badly with Nudge got leaked back to the vet. Huh. So the Christmas cookies were just a diversion. A delicious diversion, but a diversion none the less.
"Yeah, well," he stuttered lamely. "You know."
"From what I've heard, Fang, you and Max aren't living the most holy lives yourselves."
"That could be one's opinion, maybe."
"No. It is the correct one." She took another sip of coffee after piecing together four pieces in a row. "You've been staying here for awhile now, Fang. Long enough to understand right from wrong again."
He remained silent as Carter finally accomplished her task, his knuckle making a loud noise as it popped in the joint.
"It's high time that you began to go to church on Sundays."
Fang blinked. "I…I watch the kids."
"The kids were fine, before you. They stay in the nursery. Carter's starting to get older too. In a year or two, she'll be able to sit through church, my church at least. The one Ella and Nudge attend has children's church during the real service."
"What…what church does Max go to?"
"When she doesn't have to work on Sunday morning, she'll go with me or sometimes Ella and Nudge. Whichever."
"Aren't you different denominations?"
"I don't require Max to know for sure what she is, I just want her to have some grounding in something solid."
"That seems kind of idiotic, don't you think?"
She finally looked at him. "Excuse me?"
Fang coughed, his courage now broken somewhat. "I just meant…shouldn't you want them to go because they actually believe? Because they actually have their own convictions? Not because you're forcing them to fake beliefs?"
"Ideally, yes. In reality though, they are still all three like children. You would want Carter to know not to bite, yet she still does. So what do you do? You tack on consequences whenever she does. It's the same with you guys. I take care of Ella, Max, and Nudge very well. Not to mention each other their children. Until they can find their own way, I will trade them for going, step by step. Even if it's all just pretend."
Fang wasn't sure what to say to that, but it turned out that he didn't have to speak as Carter jumped out of his lap suddenly.
"Cookie," she whined. "G'anny?"
"You're right, Carter. That is the timer, isn't it?" She stood, going to turn off the annoying buzzer. "The cookies are finished."
Fang just sat there, only half watching Carter to make sure she didn't get under the vet's feet as she opened the stove.
Church. Could she really force him to go?
"Owl?"
"Hmmmm?"
Fang looked down to find Carter staring up at him, a curious expression on her face as she held out one of his pill bottles. Fang had sat her up on his dresser while he tied his shoes. They were meeting Max for dinner soon.
"That's my pills," he said, gently prying the bottle out of her hand. "You don't touch those, okay?"
"Owl."
"Okay?"
"Okay." She reached up, patting his nose gently. "Owl."
Grabbing her hand now, Fang kissed it gently, making the little girl squeal.
"Gotcha," he mumbled, lifting her into his arms. "Come on, Holden. We have to go meet Mommy now."
"Mommy. G'anny house."
"Yeah. We had fun at Dr. Martinez's today, huh?"
"Mmmhmm." She nuzzled his neck. "Owl."
"Oh, Owlet, you have to learn to use your words. Can you promise Owl that? That one day you'll learn to speak correctly?"
"Mmmm…No!"
"Yeah. I didn't think so."
By the time they showed up at the restaurant that Max's worked at, she was off as promised, waiting for them. They weren't eating there though, instead going to get fast food before going bowling. Carter really wanted to go and Fang thought it would be a good time to honor that old date he had with Max, the one he had told Carter as a bedtime story once.
"You need a car," Max told Fang as she led them over to her car.
"I can't afford one."
"Maybe you need to start sleeping with an old man too."
"Max," Fang hissed, but Carter wasn't really listening, instead busy holding onto his jeans, not wanting to be left behind. In her other hand was Robbie, who just had to go bowling with them. He just had to.
After bowling, Fang went back to Max's apartment with the girls, though he doubted anything would come of it, relationship wise, as Max had been nursing a headache the whole night.
"Car'er good?"
Fang nodded as he carried the little girl into the bathroom for her bath. "You were very good tonight. Did you like tonight? Going bowling?"
"Yes, Owl." She giggled. "Yes."
"Good, because I liked it too."
Max came in behind them, telling Fang that she would deal with the bath, that he should just go get in bed or leave.
"You want me to leave?"
"No, not really. I don't care if you stay or go. Whichever is fine with me."
"Owl stay," Carter ordered while looking over the edge of the tub, watching as it filled up with water. "Owl stay."
"Alright then," Fang muttered as he headed out of the bathroom and into the living room, collapsing on the couch with a loud groan. Turning on the television, he left it on a football game before shutting his eyes, resting.
"Owl sweat."
Peeking his eyes open, Fang saw that Max had sat the little girl down on his chest as she headed into the kitchen for something.
"What?"
"Owl sweat." Carter patted his forehead. "Nas'y."
"Yeah, Carter," Max agreed as she came back into the room. "That is nasty. Take of your hoodie, Fang. You're over heating."
"Max-"
"Just do it."
Sitting up, he shifted Carter to his lap before pulling his hoodie over his head, making the little girl giggle when he wrapped her up in it instead. After fighting her way out from under the fabric, she was left to stare at Owl's scars once again. His once forbidden arms now shown to her in their full glory.
"Ows. Ows." With that, Carter jumped out of Fang's lap, running to her bedroom. She quickly returned, however, with a stuffed animal.
"Owl," she said, handing off the toy to the man, much like she had that first time, in Nudge's apartment. "Ows. Owl."
"Thank you," Fang whispered as she climbed into his lap also. "Thank you, Carter."
Giggling, she reached out, grasping his right arm in her little hand. "Mommy. Owl no banddie."
"Banddie?"
"A bandage. A Band-Aid," Max explained, watching as Carter poked at his flesh, confused as to why his wounds didn't vanish. "Carter, don't bother Owl."
"She's not bothering me," Fang said as the child began stroking Fang's wrist gently, giggling a little bit. "We're okay."
"Owl's ows." She kissed the scar that ran the length of his arm gently. "Poor Owl."
Fang leaned down, kissing her head gently. Looking up at him, Carter kissed his chin now, giggling some more.
"Tickle." She patted Fang's beard. "Tickle."
"Where am I supposed to sit?" Max asked before taking up the opposite end of the couch, her legs brushing Fang's as they were both laying down. "Over here, I suppose? All alone?"
"Mommy!" Carter moved away from Fang now, scaling his legs and then her mother's so that she could reach the woman. "No lone. No lone."
Fang let out a loud groan, falling back once more. "Well, I guess it's time for story time, huh?"
Max pulled the blanket off the back of the couch down before tossing it towards the middle, it landing in between the two adults. "Then tell us a story, Owl."
He ran one of his feet up Max's right leg, making her kick at him. "What do you want to hear about, Owlet?"
"Mmmm…cow. Moo."
"A cow?" Fang shook his head slight while Max smiled over at him, the light from the television highlighting her features. Reaching over, Fang grasped the remote before turning the game off. "Well, Carter, there's only one story I know about a cow."
"Wha'?" She snuggled under Max's chin, yawning a little bit.
"Well, the cow was a very, very mean cow."
"A mean cow?" Max mumbled, watching Fang now.
"Yeah. Her name was Max…well."
"Fang," Max whispered a warning.
"Maxwell was pretty much a jerk to everybody. I mean everybody. Even the dashingly sexy bull, Frog."
"Frog. There's a bull named Frog."
"Yes. Frog the bull."
Max blinked. "You're an idiot."
"So anyways, Frog was a handsome bull and all the girl cows loved him."
"Especially the red ones, right?"
"Max, you idiot. There's no such thing a red cow."
"You-"
"It was the green ones that liked him the most."
She groaned. "Because green is such a more common cow color."
"So anyways, Maxwell was this real mean cow that used to pretend like she didn't like Frog. But that was all a lie, you know. A big lie."
"Big guy."
"Big lie, Carter. Lie," Fang corrected gently. "So anyways, behind his back, Maxwell was all about Frog. You should've seen, Carter. She wanted nothing more than to let Frog milk her-"
"Fang!"
"But, uh, that's not important." He smirked in the darkness. "So eventually, Maxwell conquered her fears and admitted how she felt. It was all good for awhile. Until Drake showed up."
"Drake?" Max asked.
"Yeah. That stupid duck, Drake."
"You so good at naming characters," Max mused.
"I'm not naming anything, Max. I'm telling a story, a very true story."
"Oh, shut up."
"So anyways, Maxwell got it in her head that her and this…duck could be together. You know, 'cause she's an idiot and all."
Carter yawned. "Duck. Dog. Moo."
Smiling, Max stroked her head gently. "An idiot?"
"An idiot." Fang ran his foot up her leg again. "Back to the story though. So, Carter, Frog had some major competition there, huh? But he won in the end because, you know, he's dashing and hot and all that jazz."
"All that jazz?" Max questioned.
"Would you stop interrupting?" Fang made a face at her before continuing. "Anyhow, Frog won and eventually got to milk Maxwell."
"You're about to get it."
"All depressed and lonely, Dy- I mean Drake, found a new cow to shack up with and it was all good. Until that cow thought she was pregnant. Maxwell flipped out!"
"Uh-oh."
"Yeah. Uh-oh," Fang mimicked back to the little girl. "But then it turned out that that cow wasn't pregnant! It was the crazy bear Egg-for-brains that got someone pregnant. Which was fine and all, but Frog was still mad at Maxwell for getting so upset about it."
Carter gave up on the story with a loud moan before settling out against Max's chest. Owl tells dumb stories these days. Whatever happened to the penguin and the polar bear, huh?
"So what did Frog do?" Max asked as Carter began to snore softly.
"Frog forgave her. But only because Frog loves her so much."
"Does he though? Love her?"
Nodding slightly, Fang turned his vision back up at the ceiling. "Yeah. He does."
"…Even if she's not green?"
"Even if she's not green."
"Stew?"
Max nodded. "All you have to do is chop up some vegetables, put it in the pot, add broth, and then add meat. Easy."
Fang sighed, staring at the pot. "Max…are you sure you can make that though? Not that I don't have full faith in you and everything-"
"Shut up, Fang. It's what's for dinner," she told him before turning back to the counter, where she was peeling potatoes. "So you and Carter don't eat a heavy lunch, huh? What are the two of you doing today anyways?"
"You told us to get out of the apartment, right? To not bother you on your off day?"
"Right."
"Then don't bother us either. What we do is our business. You just concentrate on this stupid stew."
"Snupit snew," Carter mimicked, coming into the kitchen now that she had her little backpack full of her toys. "Owl. Go, Owl."
"You're ready to go, huh?" Fang smiled at Max. "We're headed out then. Better tell your daughter bye."
"Bye-bye," Carter said, rushing over to her mother and hugging her leg. "Bye-bye."
"I'll see you when you and Owl get back, okay?"
"Yes. Yes, Mommy." With that, Carter rushed off, over to the door. "Owl!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming. You're more demanding than your mom," he grumbled after giving Max a gentle kiss. "See you later, Max."
"Shut up, Frog."
He just smiled before heading out, Carter in tow. It wasn't until they were down the street from the apartment that Fang finally spoke to her.
"So what's on the agenda for today, Carter? Huh? What do you want to do?"
"Mmmm…Doggie."
"You wanna see dogs?" Fang scratched the back of his head. "Uh, I don't think-"
"Doggies!"
"Fine. Come on. Let's go see if Dr. Martinez is working today, huh?"
"Yeah!" Carter giggled, holding onto his jeans. "Go see G'anny and doggies."
When they arrived at the vet's office, that annoying receptionist was there, talking on the phone. Carter just waved at her before marching off towards the back.
"Carter," Fang hissed, rushing after her.
"G'anny," she called as she rushed down the hall behind the door. "Evan?"
"Ah, Carter."
Fang frowned as a man stepped out of one of the rooms, smiling at the little girl. He was of average height and build, an all around normal guy. Or so Fang assumed. Still, something about his dark, ominous eyes and easy smile made Fang nervous. Not to mention his too perfect hair for a guy his age, what with how gelled it was yet didn't appear so. Still, Fang wasn't even sure who he was yet, so he decided to give the guy a better chance.
"Hi," she greeted him before looking around the guy's legs. "G'anny?"
"She's operating currently."
"G'anny?" Carter repeated, confused.
"She's taking care of a sick doggie," the man said before nodding at Fang. "Ah! Al, I presume? Carter's talked so much about you."
Fang coughed. "Owl. Like the bird."
"Oh." He got a weird look for that one, but Fang wasn't offended. It was a pretty out there nickname. Clearing his throat, the guy nodded at Fang, his thick black glasses sliding down his nose slightly. "Well. As I just said, the vet is currently very busy. Perhaps you can come back another-"
"Oh, yeah, sure. I'm sorry. I just ran back her to catch her."
"She is a fast one, isn't she?" The guy smiled blankly at Fang before stepping around them. "I'll tell that doctor that you called for her when she finishes."
"That's not…you really don't…we'll just be leaving," Fang finally finished lamely, leading Carter from the back area. "Thank you though, Mr.…?"
"Oh, yes, I almost forgot." Now, outstretching his hand, the man waited for Fang to do the same. "Dr. Lawrence."
"Nice to meet you," Fang mumbled, shaking the man's hand. Though his smile didn't reach his eyes, Dr. Lawrence couldn't be convinced of this and kept up his ruse of happiness. "We'll be going, I guess. Say goodbye, Carter. And sorry."
"No!" Carter jerked out of his before running off again, though this time it was back towards the front. Leaving Fang with nothing else to do other than apologize, which he did, the man quickly headed after his little friend.
"Carter, stop running off," he complained as he came back into the waiting room. The little girl was now behind the counter, attempting to get the receptionist to reward her with candy from the bowl up there.
"I dunno, Carter," Linda was saying now. "Have you really been that good?"
"Yes," she whined. "Car'er good. Me good. Good, Owl? Me?"
He just shook his head, not saying anything. Of course, in the end, Carter was given her candy. After making Carter thank the woman, Fang led her back out of the vet's office.
"Don't run away from me like that, Carter. You hear me? Huh?"
"Yes, O- Danny!"
The man in question, who hardly looked that, glanced over from the parking lot of the pound next door. He looked to be about nineteen, shorter than Fang, but not by much. He was clearly dressed for work, as he had a shirt advertising the pound. Fang groaned, grasping Carter's hand before leading her over there.
"Hi," she called out her greeting, giggling as the boy, no man, laid his dark hand on her head. "Danny. Owl. Owlwet."
"Don't spit on me," Fang warned her before turning his gaze back to the boy in front of him.
"Oh. Owl. You must be Fang, eh? Max's new boyfriend?" The guy held his hand out, waiting for Fang to grasp it. "I've heard much about you. Well, only when I'm around Carter. Which is rare now that you're around. I'm Daniel. I used to watch Carter. When she came to work with Dr. Valencia. Before you, that is. Seems like you're the only one that does the watching now, eh? Jon Snow, were you?"
Fang looked him in the eyes. "You watch Game of Thrones?"
"Watch it? I read the books. Quite the series, eh?"
And just like that, Danny was in.
"-even have read two of the same book series, are both reading a current one, and watch three of the same shows. Not to mention our views on which baseball team is the best. You know, the Tigers aren't what they once were, but neither on the Diamond-"
"Okay, Fang, you have a hard-on for some boy that works at the pound." Max would have rolled her eyes, had they been opened. "I'm trying to sleep."
Fang made a face. "I do not. I just…you're my only friend, currently. It's nice to have another."
"You do not have another friend in this boy-"
"He is not a boy. He's over eighteen."
"Nope." Max finally opened her eyes with a loud sigh. "Still a boy."
"Have you even met him before?"
"Nope. I've heard of him. A lot. Carter likes it when she sees him because she gets to see dogs. She wants a dog, you know."
"Yeah. She's mentioned it."
Currently, Fang and his girlfriend were lounging in her bed, her attempting to sneak in a nap and him trying to get her to have a conversation with him. Still, she wouldn't budge. Ugh. That's why he enjoyed Daniel so much. At least they liked the same things.
"I don't like pets. Not after the Total fiasco."
"Total died, saving the person he loved. That's honorable."
"True. At the same time, he was a douche." Max shook her head slightly. "No, I think being a no pet family is the best option for Carter and me currently."
"Carter and I."
"No, Fang, it would be Carter and me. Idiots like you that don't know when to use I and when not to should just keep their mouths shut and never attempt to correction someone else. Ever."
What? "Why am I an idiot?"
"I don't know. Ask God."
Fang rolled his eyes, though he quickly remembered something. "Your mother wants me to start going to church."
"Yeah, I figured that would start up soon." Max shut her eyes again. "FYI, Nudge and Ella's church is way more interesting."
"Why?"
"It's not all old people. And it's not as creepy as Mom's. Hers is all strict and stuff. And dark, to me."
"What is she?"
"Heck if I know."
"Hn." Fang shook his head slightly. "Carter's nap should be over soon."
Max just groaned. "Don't bring her in here. Please. I seriously did want a nap before I had to go to work. Night shifts suck."
"I thought that you didn't have to work? Remember? Big day off and all that?"
"Change of plans. Feed Carter the stew, huh? We'll have leftovers for tomorrow too." Max shook her head. "I still hate the night shift though."
"What? Nonsense. I love working the graveyard shift."
"You work totally different hours than me. Yours isn't a night shift. It's a before dawn shift. Not to mention, your job is a lot easier than mine."
"Oh, is it?"
"Considering the fact that I did the exact same job for a long time, when we were fourteen? Yeah, I think so."
Fang rolled his eyes. "I could be a waiter, no problem."
"Oh, whatever. You nearly piss yourself when you have to speak to someone you don't know."
"I do not! I spoke to Daniel today, didn't I?"
"Yeah, because you've got such a boner for him."
He frowned at her. "You should really stop saying that."
"It's a joke." Max pushed his arm gently before rolling over, giving him her back to stare at now. "I'm seriously going to sleep. Don't wake me, alright? I set my phone to go off when I need to go. I won't get off tonight until midnight. If you don't want Carter, take her to-"
"No need to say anything," he said, watching her for a moment. "I'll always want her."
"Fin'ers. Fin'ers." Carter wiggled her fingers in Fang's face, giggling when he grabbed her wrists, quickly pressing a kiss to each of her the ten limbs. "Fin'ers!"
"Hmmm." Fang smiled, laying his head against hers. "You're so silly."
"Owl silly." She patted his face before looking around. The two of them were at his apartment, waiting around for Max to show up. It was way past Carter's bedtime, but she had woken up around eleven and refused to fall back asleep. So, as he wasn't that tired either, Fang took her with him into the living room, where they were now sitting on his couch, just chilling.
Chilling. Fang had been reduced to 'chilling' with a toddler. Nice.
"Sorry, I'm late," Max called out softly into the apartment a few minutes later, apparently attempting to not awaken anyone who might be sleeping behind the front door. When she found her daughter and boyfriend still up though, lounging on the couch, she just shook her head. "Is she sick?"
"No, but-"
Max held up on hand as she closed the door with the other. "Then I don't want to hear it."
Sighing, he kissed Carter's head. "Come on, Owlet. Back to bed now."
"No, Owl," she whined. "No."
"Yes." He kissed her head again, something that Max was starting to notice happening more and more. "Let's all go, huh?"
"In a second," Max mumbled as she went into the kitchen for something. Fang just shrugged before carrying Carter back to his bedroom, where he gently tossed her down on the bed next to a few of her stuffed animals.
"Owl."
"Owlet."
She just giggled a she laid down. "Owl."
"Holden."
More giggles.
"Owl."
"Carter." Fang ran a hand down her face. "See how annoying it is when someone only answers you with one word? That's why people learn to use their words."
"No." Carter snuggled into her pillow. "No."
"Yes. Yes." He looked up as Max came into the room with a sandwich. "You were hungry? I'd have made you-"
"I'm fine," she mumbled as she sat down on the end of the bed, setting the sandwich next to her on a napkin. Then she began to take off her shoes. "You feeling warm, Fang? Where's your hoodie?"
"Carter doesn't mind my scars much."
Max was gracious enough not to throw down a 'Told you so'. How nice of her. "Well, once summer rolls around, at least you'll be able to wear shorts around the house."
Carter let out a long yawn before snuggling under the blankets. "Mommy."
Sighing, Max lifted up her work shirt and pulled it off, leaving her in an undershirt. "Well, Fang, I'm hot."
"Sorry."
"It's not your fault," she said as she gathered her hair up, slipping it into a ponytail. "Hey, Fang, what do you feel about me dyeing my hair?"
"To what color?"
"I don't know. I'm just tired of this," she mumbled as she crawled up the bed with her sandwich, on the other side of Carter. Opening her mouth, Carter began to whine until Max let her take a bite of her food. "What time you work tonight, Mr. Security Guard?"
Fang made a face before shaking his head. "Two."
"Ooh. That's soon. You better start getting ready."
"I will, I will," he assured her before smiling at Carter. "Once the Owlet falls asleep."
Then, Carter decided, she would never sleep so Owl would never leave.
"Mmmm." Once Max finished her sandwich, she tossed the napkin on the ground before shutting her eyes. "You should throw that away, when you get up."
Even though she was the one that used it? Still, Fang just nodded before leaning over Carter to kiss Max's head.
"Sure."
"Mmmm. Come here, baby." Max wrapped her arms around Carter. "Did you miss me while I was gone?"
"Yes. Yes, Mommy." Carter looked back at Fang. "Owl?"
"Yeah, I missed her too," he mumbled, yawning a little. "Go to sleep, Holden. If you go to sleep now, when I get off work, we can go somewhere."
"Go where?" Max asked.
"I dunno yet. Are you off, Max?"
"Yeah."
"From everything?"
"Yes, Fang."
He opened his wings. "Let's go to the city."
"The city?" She crinkled her nose. "Which city?"
"I dunno. The big city."
"What big city?"
"Normally when people live in small, little towns, when someone says they want to go to the city, everyone gets excited."
Max blinked, staring at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was the 50s."
She got a glare for that. "I just meant let's go to a mall or something, okay? I assumed that there would be a big mall in a bigger city."
"Hmmm." Max looked down at Carter. "The mall, huh? We could do a little Christmas shopping, I suppose."
"Santa."
"Well, sure, Carter," Fang agreed. "Santa brings some gifts, but not all. We've got to buy some for each other too."
"Owl p'esent? Car'er get?"
"You wanna buy me a present? Sure!" Fang smiled at her. "Of course. You don't have to though, you know. I…I like when you buy me things. It's one of the ways that you show me you care. You don't have to though. You know that, right, Carter?"
She smiled. "Love Owl."
Max kissed her head. "We know you do. Now go to sleep."
She snuggled into Max's breasts, giggling for a moment or two before getting quiet. In ten minutes, she was asleep.
"I have to go get ready," Fang whispered then before getting up. "I'll see you guys when I get home, okay?"
"We'll probably be over at my places by the time you get off. Come back here, shower, and when you're ready, come over. But only when you're ready to head out to the big city."
He came around the side of the bed, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple. "Shut up."
Giggling herself, Max buried her head in her daughter's hair, shaking her head slightly. Fang just stood there for awhile, watching the two of them, before finally having to leave to go get ready.
"Ooh," Carter cooed, rushing over to a display window. "Waindew."
"Reindeer," Fang corrected, watching as the little girl as she pressed her face against the glass. "It's Ralph."
"Rudolph," Max corrected.
"Whatever," Fang waved her off. Then, reaching out, he grasped Carter's hand before pulling her along. "Come on, Carter."
"Waindew!" She waved goodbye to the cardboard cut out before setting her sights on another window. "'no'men!"
"Snowman," Fang corrected. "It's probably Frank."
"Frosty."
"Would you stop correcting me, Max?" Fang gave her a look before looking down at Carter, who was now waving at the snowman in the window.
"Ciss miss," Carter said excitedly, squeezing Fang's hand gently. "Owl!"
"Yeah, I know. Christmas."
"Snow."
"Yeah, it did snow yesterday, huh?" Fang finally lifted her up, setting the little girl on his shoulders. "Maybe it'll snow again tomorrow. I wouldn't know. I haven't seen the news yet today. Or at all this week, I don't think."
"So uninformed," Max said with a disapproving tone.
"You're really getting to me today."
She just wrapped her arm around his, linking them. "You know, Fang, the funny thing is that you're getting to me too."
"Is that funny?" He smiled as Carter patted out a beat on his head. 'I figured that'd be annoying."
"It could be bother annoying and funny."
"Annoying and funny? Hmmm. I'm not sure that exists."
Max just took a long glance at the girl seated on his shoulders. "I am."