Take 2, Times 2? Book 1

Part 16 Trader?

Everyone has their secrets, some harder to understand than others. But once you have at least one other person to share yours with, it becomes easier. And if they can truly understand what you're going through, then you can truly be yourself in front of them.

We started to tell Max what we knew about everything. We were interrupted about 5 minutes into our conversation when Husky and Bull came through the door. They were in a panic, but soon calmed as we greeted them. I told them that we were telling Max about everything, and to not hold back on anything that they knew.

We ended up only having to fill in some of the blanks. He already knew almost everything. It only took us about an hour to finish filling him in and then we all just talked amongst ourselves while Max thought about the new information.

There was still more that he had to know, but I couldn't tell him that until Samantha was with us. That information was only known to her and me. Me, because I have gone back in time. And her, because she made this possible. Neither of us were 100% sure about it, but we thought it was true. It was at least the best explanation.

After Husky and Bull were filled in on what Max did, they were surprised just like the rest of us. Husky asked the question that everyone in the room already knew. "So, Max has been big this whole time? And he tricked all of us? Now that's some genius level sh...um...stuff."

"You don't know the half of it. He..." Wolf started to say, but I interrupted him.

"Yes, Max is a smart kid, for a Little. He does like to play games though, so making that one up on the spot like that, yes, I think it was very smart of him."

That comment got some raised eyebrows, but Max popped in before anyone could say a word with what looked like a genuine smile and a happy tone in his voice as he said "Thanks, Dad, I try my best. And I just wanted you guys to be happy too." Then he sat there keeping a smile on his face. Wolf kept his mouth shut, as did Bear and Panther. They had to know something was up when we didn't tell Husky and Bull that Max was an actual genius.

I elbowed Max gently and whispered. "I know that everyone here doesn't mind, but as a dad, I think you might want to get dressed. Why don't you ask Bear for some help?"

He looked down at himself and started to turn a nice shade of pink. Then he jumped up like the couch was on fire and ran to the bedroom. I chuckled and looked at Bear. "Would you mind giving him a hand with that? I think he just remembered what he was wearing. He might need some calming down, and you're good at that."

"Yep, I'm just a lovable, huggable teddy bear." He said with a smile as he got up.

"And Max thinks you're kissable too don't forget." Bull said, which earned him a smack to the back of the head as Bear passed him.

"I also like to maul people too don't forget." We all chuckled as Bear left the room after offering that reminder.
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Bear's POV

After smacking Bull upside of the head for his stupid comment, I went to see how Max was doing, and maybe to get some answers from him, like why he didn't get upset and the comment his dad said. And why they don't want Bull and Husky knowing he's a genius and so many other things that the team and I were being kept in the cold about.

When I got in the room, I was expecting him to be changing, or upset about the things his dad said or even embarrassed about forgetting about only having a diaper on in front of other people, but what I didn't expect was what I saw.

He was standing in the middle of the room crying and holding a knife. He was far enough back that I could go in and shut the door, but not much further than that. I stepped in closing the door behind me. I was confused and worried. I wasn't worried that he might hurt me. I was worried that he might hurt himself. The knife was pointed at me, but that's no problem for me. I could take it away from him with ease, however, I was not about to do something that stupid. Eventually there was a trust issue that we had to deal with first. That's the only reason I could think that he would be doing this.