savannah's pov +

after the stress of planning ethan's party and then the clean up, it was the next day and i decided to do a little work at home for a calmer environment on monday tomorrow.

but i knew it was a mistake since it meant i could take work calls as if i was in my office, and now every second, i'm taking a new call about this fashion designer, or this error in next week's runway show.

the doorbell rang and a knock followed after that wasn't helping the headache that i was gaining right now.

when i answered, i rolled my eyes at who stood before me.

"sorry to bother you, savannah" max stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets. "how are you?".

"stressed and you're not making it any better" i responded.

he let out a small laugh, "whenever you used to say you were stressed, i could just surprise you with your special latte at starbucks and you'd get the biggest smile on your face - it was adorable".

i frowned at his attempt for us to reminisce, then sternly folded my arms across my chest, "what do you want?".

"oh, uh, my niece - she left her jacket here after ethan's party. jane called you about it" he explained.

i sighed, "yeah, it's—" interrupting my words, my phone rang in my hand, signalling a call from work that i wouldn't be able to handle right now.

i pushed my hair back and groaned lightly.

"if you're busy, i can just go and find it" he offered.

"no, i'll get it" i firmly told him. "you just stay out here".

i made my way upstairs to the guest room where there were a few remaining jackets from the party yesterday. i found the little pink one with flowers embroidered all over it since that's what skylar's mom described it as.

before going downstairs, i decided to check on ethan who was supposed to be playing in his room.

"hey eth—" i paused when i didn't see him playing make beliece in the middle of his room like he usually does.

i entered the room further, looking around it more, "ethan?".

the room was completely empty but my will to panic was being held back because he could have easily wondered around the house.

"ethan? where are you?" i walked along the hallway, calling his name. i had checked every upstairs room, so i hurried downstairs with a small panic in my chest, hoping that he'd be down here.

finally, i heard voices in the living room and walked in to see max crouched down and talking to my son who was showcasing all of his new toys.

i subtly let out the panic i was holding with a deep breath.

"ethan, honey, i thought you were in your room playing" i questioned.

"i'm with max, mommy" he explained.

"yeah, i can see that" i glared straight at max before handing him the jacket. "here".

i guided him out of the room and back towards the front door.

"i thought i told you to stay outside" i heatedly recalled.

"ethan saw me, he just wanted to say hi savannah. that's all".

"where are you going?" ethan followed us and tugged on my leg.

"uh, max has to go now, sweetie" i smoothed down his hair.

ethan dropped his lip and frowned, "but why? you said i could have cake when i cleaned my room, max can have too".

i lightly rolled my eyes at max, exasperated by his influence on my son.

"he told me that you have a bunch of birthday cake left over" max shrugged his shoulders.

i immediately shook my head, "you are not staying - you came for the jacket, you got it and now you can go".

within that moment, my phone rang in my pocket again. the ringtone has started to trigger me from how many times it's rang a day.

i pulled my hands down my face with frustration and let it go to voicemail. max reached over and touched my shoulder, before i instantly nudged him away.

"savannah, you seem really tense, maybe you should take a break from your work" he advised.

"i'm fine".

max sighed and crouched down to ethan's height, "hey, how about all three of us have some cake? it'll make mommy smile".

"yeah!" ethan loudly cheered as max stood up again. "i want you to smile, mommy!".

i chuckled at him adorably hugging my legs, "come on then, let's get your cake".

"and max!" he recalled. i paused, looking at max shrug his shoulders and give me an almost pleading face.

"as soon as we're done, i'll be gone" he assured.

i silently debated it in my head before nervously biting my lip.

"jack will kill me" i whispered.

"he doesn't have to know" max responded.

i took another second to gather my thoughts. max surprised all of us at the party yesterday, even jack. he took time to talk to everyone, get to know them and apologised if needed to.

i looked at the time on my phone to see that jack wouldn't be home for another two hours. it doesn't take that long to eat a single piece of cake, and it's not like i have to talk to him.

"come on then" i took ethan's hand and entered the kitchen with max following behind us.

whilst eating the cake, ethan insisted that i help him colour in his crayon pictures that he's always so talented at.

"and the butterfly?" i questioned.

"umm" ethan hesitated. "...purple and yellow!".

i did as told and began colouring the image, "what about the pig? green?".

ethan let out an adorable laugh, "pigs aren't green, mommy!".

"but we can't find the pink one" i chuckled, looking through his large pack of crayons.

"oh" max chimed in. "here it is".

he bent down to pick it up from the floor then went to the other side of ethan to start colouring in the image of the pigs.

"looks pretty good already, doesn't it?" he cracked a wink at ethan.

"yeah it does!" he exclaimed at the praise.

max glanced over at me, continuing to fill in the butterfly and let out a warm smile that happened to snap me back into reality.

i cleared my throat, "okay sweetie, max has to go now and we need to get your toys cleared up before daddy gets home from work".

"does max have to go?" ethan complained.

"yes, he does" sternly, i said to him whilst looking at max to say the same.

"yeah, i have to get going little man" he rustled ethan's hair. "thanks for the cake".

as i gathered up the scattered crayons and the plates that had no crumb of cake left, the front door quickly opened and closed.

"hey, i'm back!" jack called out, making me curse under my breath.

as he entered the kitchen, the smile on his face disappeared and held a look that i knew would explode with anger very soon.

"daddy!" ethan climbed down from his chair and ran to hug his father.

"hey jack" max greeted, which only made the stressed vein on jack's forehead to pop even more.

"h-hey ethan, those toys in the living room, how about you take them back up to your room?" i advised him.

"okay".

jack took ethan's hand, "i'll help you, buddy".

"jack," i stepped forward. "i can explain–".

his piercing eyes travelled from me, then to max, "you, get out of my house. now".

max promptly grabbed his jacket and the one he came for, "thanks for today, savannah. see you, ethan".

once max was out the house with the door shut, jack glared back at me without another word before taking ethan to help tidy his toys.

i decided to give him a little space to calm down so i cleared the kitchen and washed the dishes that were used today.

once i was done, i headed upstairs to watch jack help our son organise his toys onto his shelf and into his toy chest without acknowledging my presence at all.

jack brushed past me to leave when they had finished, without saying anything once again and headed into our own room.

"i'll be right back, sweetie" i explained to ethan before following his father to sort this out.

i quietly entered the room and closed the door. i stood against it watching jack take off his suit jacket, shoes and then his tie whilst ignoring me completely.

"he just came here to collect his niece's jacket" i began to explain.

jack let out a scoff, followed by a small laugh, "are you really that stupid?".

"ethan wanted him to stay and—".

"so this is our five year old son's fault?" he chuckled again, unbuttoning his shirt.

"no, max came for the jacket and then i was stressed so i took a break from work. we all had some cake and he just spoke to ethan most of the time".

"do you hear yourself right now?!" jack's voice finally snapped. "you let max into our house and sat and played happy families with him all because of what? our son said so? you know that this is what he does! he plays nicey-nice and gets into your head until he's wormed his way in and you can't even see sense anymore".

guilty, i looked down, "i know".

"no, you don't know! because you wouldn't have let him into the house if you did".

"you even said yesterday that max surprised you with how normal he was acting" i mentioned.

"that does not mean that i trust him now" jack pointed his finger at me.

"what was i supposed to do? i didn't want to cause a scene in front of ethan".

"well it's about time he learns that that psycho isn't our friend" he retorted, wrapped a towel around himself to go to our bathroom.

i quickly went over before he could close the door behind him.

"babe, i was just having a break from work, i didn't mean for him to stay" i explained. "i'm sorry".

he looked at me with his anger now lost and more disappointment within his eyes.

i was expecting him to say something with how his lips moved, but he just shook his head a little and continued into the bathroom with the door shutting behind him.

-

and i oop— aka savannah's reaction when jack came home early

max is a dick but i missed him lmao

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