Silver Hammer Max

Chapter Twenty-Nine

April 24, 2001

Maxwell's POV
Frieda was finally five months old and her little sibling was five weeks old- it was exciting, having them at five and five. Benjamin insisted on getting a ton of photos done, so we did it, but nobody could actually tell that I was pregnant just yet- the baby was still too little to be seen. I had a feeling that Frieda knew because she quickly became obsessed with my stomach and I didn't really know how to feel about it.

Terry and Phoebe still hadn't moved out but I enjoyed them there- they were spending a lot of time watching Frieda while I was getting sick in the morning and Terry was trying to help Benjamin find a job. Ben decided that he wanted to help me in supporting the family, so he was out looking for a job he could do at home- I appreciated Terry for all his help, really. It meant a lot to us.

"I'm pregnant." I muttered to Phoebe, stirring my cereal while I stared at the table. "Five weeks today." I continued and he made a little noise.

"And Frieda's five months today." He replied, quietly, while he stirred her rice cereal. "You two got rather busy rather quickly, huh?" He smiled and I made a little noise at him, giggling a bit while peeking up at him. "That face, Max, you always made that face at me when you were little and up to no good." He shook his head, laughing, and I laughed with him while sitting up properly.

"We were excited when he got home." I whispered and Phoebe laughed with a small nod. "And we've always wanted a bunch of kids- Ben wants a son so badly... he just wants one of those shops to give to the kids." I murmured and the older man made a little noise while smiling. "He wants to do something with architecture and building things... I don't know what kind of shop he can make with that." I shrugged and Phoebe shrugged along while he finished feeding the baby. "Oh, big girl, you ate all of your cereal." I smiled, poking her belly with a small hum.

"I mean, they can look for a teaching job for him, at the college. He'd like that- it isn't a shop or anything, but he'd be able to educate other people and he can set up the money to get a shop set up for your kids." Pheebs explained, softly, and I nodded with a small sigh while I watched him wipe Frieda's face. "And congratulations on the second baby, Max." He patted my shoulder as he walked by and I hummed a thanks before taking my daughter out of her chair.

When I sat Frieda onto my lap, she instantly reached for my midsection and she patted it with a small babble. I smiled, rubbing over her head, then she looked up at me with drool all over her face- it was dripping onto my stomach and I couldn't help but giggle at her.

"That's our baby." I told her, softly. "Can you say baby?" I asked and she just smiled, squeaking at me while going back to feeling it. She felt my stomach for a few minutes then she looked up at my chest, the drooling getting more consistent when she realized she could have her milk instead of just sitting there. "Hungry?" I whispered and she made a grunting noise, fisting over my shirt. "I'm going to feed her." I told Phoebe, quietly, and he excused himself before walking out of the room.

I took off my shirt and Frieda wiggled a bit while she tried to get closer to what she wanted. I was worried about her teething because she was drooling so much, but I also thought that it would be just because she was hungry. I was scared of her biting me when she did start teething, right now it was just gummy chewing when she was trying to get more milk out but someday there were going to be teeth and she was going to nip me- I just knew it.

"Don't bite me when you get older." I whispered and she looked up at me, grunting while pushing on my chest in attempt to get more milk out. "It isn't going to be faster if you do that, love. It comes out because you suck on it." I explained and she pulled off for a second, just staring at me.