Off the Track Series Book 3
An unexpected twist of fate finds Charlotte spending a late night turned early morning with Max Verstappen. The only catch - He doesn't even touch her, but they do touch each others hearts. After a lifetime of getting it...
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By the time we boarded the flight back to Belgium for the holidays, we've finished unpacking.
It took longer than two hours, but now we even have a crib for little one on the way. Max cried when helping me decide between online options, not that he'll ever admit it. He's such a proud father, never letting me go to an appointment alone.
Max was always unbelievably gentle with me... outside of the bedroom that is. Since being pregnant though he has magnified that a hundred times, never wanting to leave my side or let me lift anything heavier than a glass of water.
Case in point when the man won't let me pour my own tea on the plane.
It can be endearing but it's such a one eighty from Max before the baby I'm a bit surprised. It's nice having the help, still it's hard to accept after being so independent most of my life.
Feels strange.
A good strange I guess. "What are you thinking about?" The dutchman next to me pulls me out of my own thoughts so I'm forced to confess it's him playing on my mind.
"How softly you are treating me." Telling him the truth feel almost second nature.
Truth settles into him under my very eyes, "I know." he say, slumping back into his seat like a weighted man. "Did I ever tell you how my mom finally left my dad?"
Of course he hasn't, the man rarely speaks of either parents, even less ill of them. When I shake my head no, he continues "She went to visit her mom, or so we thought until hours after she should have landed we still couldn't reach her. Not that I blame her for leaving but the way she got on a plane and just went... days without talking to us has probably fucked me up... so my therapist says." Emotion in his voice has my eyes wide, his softening as he fights off the pain of the past.
It makes sense that would fuck him up.
Just hearing that fucked me up a little bit, a part of the trauma that has shaped Max not for the better. Parent's always seem to do that, don't they? I guess they are just people trying for the first time too. Still, tough to let go of the moments that haunt you when sleep is on fleeting.
It's on those fresh dewy mornings, eyes baggy with exhaustion that you barely notice the flowers passing beautiful for the memories that linger in hidden corners.
Before I can say anything, he continues "So, sometimes that's why I worry about everything changing after a plane ride. Afraid another person won't show up." He says with a small shrug.
Damn. "Is that why you always worry about flights?" Asking a question that now feels obvious.
He nods in confirmation reminding me what a soft guy he is underneath his hard exterior, still a boy afraid of rejection. There's no rejction to be had with me and his posture tells me Max is already ready for this conversation to be over, starting to answer his phone again.
