Warnings: None

Word Count: 1908

Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

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"Everything that he needs should be in that bag," Marenna said, pointing to the bag she had just set down next to the door. "He'll probably need lunch in about an hour and then he usually falls asleep right after that. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to give one of us a call. Thank you again for doing this for us."

"Of course," you smiled. "We're happy to spend time with him."

"Alright, Ren, we should probably get going."

Marenna gave Max one final kiss on the head and then followed Carter out the door. You and Max both waved at them as they got into their car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Unkie," Max frowned once the door was closed. "Want unkie."

"Unkie Tyler is in the living room. Did you want to go see him?"

Max nodded, so you set him down on the floor and let him take off by himself. You followed close behind, just to make sure he didn't fall or run into anything. Although his walking skills were pretty well developed by now, you didn't want to have to break the news to Carter and Marenna that you had accidentally let Max injure himself.

"Unkie!" Max cheered as he ran into the room.

He made a beeline to Tyler and grabbed his legs. Tyler smiled and grabbed Max, pulling him up onto his lap. Max, being the hugger that he was, quickly wrapped his arms around Tyler.

"Hey, little dude."

"Unkie," Max repeated.

Max finally let go of Tyler and clambered back off the couch, immediately taking off down the hall. You were always surprised by how fast his little legs could carry him all over the place.

He quickly arrived at his destination: the closet in the hall where you kept all the toys that you and Tyler had for your nieces and nephews. Max looked up at you with a huge smile on his face, one hand pressed flat against the closet door. You smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Do you want to play with some toys?"

"Toys," he repeated.

You carefully guided Max out of the way and then opened the closet door, allowing him full view of all his options. His eyes roamed around the space, taking in everything that was available to him, before he spoke.

"Cars," he said, pointing to a couple toy cars on a higher shelf.

"You want to play with some cars?"

"Mhmm."

You grabbed a couple cars, double checking with Max that they were good, and then helped him carry them back out to the living room.

"Unkie!" Max smiled upon seeing him again. "Play."

"Are we going to play with some cars?"

"That's the plan," you chimed in.

Tyler came and sat on the ground next to you and Max, who was carefully passing out cars for each of you. You had been gifted with a bright blue car and a bright red car. Meanwhile, Tyler had been given the important role of manning the police car.

"I'm sorry this is how we have to spend our day off," you said, dropping your voice a little bit. "I know it isn't exactly what we had planned for our break."

Tyler reached out and rubbed your arm, "It's ok. We still get to spend time together and that's the important part. Besides, I really like watching Max. He's a cool little dude."

Your mouth curled up into a smile, "You're right."

"I know."

Tyler leaned over and gave you a quick kiss. Shortly after, Max demanded your attention and together, the three of you started to play with your cars.

"Wee-woo! Wee-woo! Police coming through!" Tyler said, driving his car across the rug and nearly hitting Max's car, making him giggle.

"Ahh!" Max screeched, pulling his car out of the way.

"You're under arrest!"

"No!" Max frowned.

"Oh, sorry, wrong guy. Have a nice day, sir."

Tyler continued to push his car along the rug, whizzing past Max's other cars. He laughed loudly, amused by Tyler's crazy police antics. You mostly sat and watched, enjoying Max's reactions to whatever Tyler decided to do.

This pattern continued for most of the afternoon, although the activities slowly rotated out. At one point you were building block towers, another time Max insisted on a dinosaur puzzle, and you even did some coloring. Eventually, Max started to get grumpy, which was when you realized that it was getting close to when Marenna had said he should eat lunch.

"What do you think, Max? Is it time for lunch?" you asked.

Max nodded and held his arms out to you. You scooped him up and carried him to the kitchen. Tyler followed behind the two of you, quickly typing something out on his phone.

"What do you want to have for lunch? Mac and cheese?"

Max shook his head.

"Some chicken nuggets?"

Another head shake.

"What about sandwiches?"

Max eyes lit up and he began to nod, which you should have expected. Sandwiches were Max's favorite food, after all. Tyler, who had finished whatever caught his interest on his phone, began to grab ingredients so that you wouldn't have to try and do that with one arm. You gave him a kiss on the cheek as thanks.

"Do you want peanut butter and jelly, Maxy?" Tyler asked.

He nodded again. "Peanut bubber."

Tyler turned to look at you and Max, the smile on his face evident.

"What was that?"

Max's eyebrows furrowed in determination. "Peanut bubber."

"Yes, peanut butter," he said, his smile growing even more now.

"Don't forget to cut off the crusts, love. He doesn't like them."

"No crusts. Got it. Did you want a sandwich too?"

"Yes, please. Hey, Max, do you want some juice?" He nodded. "Ty, can you watch him for a second while I go grab a juice from the bag?"

"Yeah, I'll take him."

You passed Max into Tyler's arms and then quickly made your way to the living room to grab one of Max's juice boxes. It always surprised you how much juice his little tummy was able to consume. When you returned, you were met with the sight of Tyler expertly holding Max in one arm and spreading peanut butter onto bread with the other. You took a moment to stand and admire the two of them. Max was completely content watching Tyler make sandwiches, and Tyler was doing such a good job with him.

Is this what things would be like when you had your own family?

You shook the thought from your head. Those days were still a long way off and you were far from in a rush to start your own family. Babysitting Max was more than enough for your schedule right now.

"Alright, Max, I have your juice. Do you want to come drink it?"

"Unkie," he frowned, leaning further into Tyler.

"Ty? Is that ok?" you asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. I just might need some help."

"I've got it."

You helped Tyler finish up making lunch and then carried it all to the table. It was a bit of a struggle to get Max to stay still in his high chair, but with a bit of teamwork you managed to get it done. He happily sipped on his juice once you and Tyler finally settled down and joined him at the table.

"How is your sandwich, Max?" Tyler asked.

"Yum."

"Better than Carter's sandwiches?"

Max paused for a moment, then shook his head. Tyler's face fell.

"I told you, Carter makes the best sandwiches," you chimed in.

"You two are biased, you're both related to him."

"Are you really trying to tell me that you don't think Carter makes the best sandwiches?"

"Ok, maybe he does, but one day I'll find someone who thinks I'm better than him."

You reached over and gave Tyler a reassuring pat on the back, "I'm sure you will, love."

"Auntie," Max said. "Juice."

He held his juice box up high for you to see. You looked at it and nodded.

"Yes, Maxy, that is your juice."

"Yum."

After displaying his juice for awhile longer, he took another long sip. His face was already covered in a mix of peanut butter and jelly, despite the fact that he hadn't eaten more than a quarter of his sandwich. You weren't looking forward to having to clean him up later.

The rest of your lunch was spent having quiet conversation with Tyler, occasionally pausing to listen to Max make an announcement or clean a particularly large glob of peanut butter off of his face. He took his sweet time finishing his sandwich. You stayed behind to sit with him while Tyler began to clean up the dishes.

When he was finally done, you carried him into the kitchen and grabbed a wet rag to clean all the food off of his face. Tyler rinsed off his plate, stuck it in the dishwasher, and disappeared from the room. Max pulled away from you when you started to clean his face, but his tiredness started to settle in and he became more compliant.

"Are you feeling tired, Max?" you asked. He nodded slowly. "Do you want to watch some TV?"

"Movie," he smiled.

"Ok, we can watch a movie."

You wiped the last bit of food off his face, took off his bib, and scooped him up into your arms. He immediately rested his head against your shoulder and slung an arm lazily around yours. Tyler smiled at the two of you as you walked into the room.

"Someone is tired," he grinned.

"I know, he's like a tiny sack of potatoes."

"Do you want me to hold him?"

"Unkie," Max mumbled into your shoulder.

"I guess that's our answer," you laughed quietly.

Tyler gently took Max from your arms, helping him get settled against his chest. You took a moment to stretch out your own muscles that had grown tired after holding him. Max barely even budged as Tyler carefully leaned further back into the couch, giving him a little more room to lay down.

"Do you need anything before I get comfortable?" you asked.

"Could you grab me a Red Bull from the fridge? I meant to grab one and forgot."

"Yeah, no problem."

After getting a drink for you and Tyler from the kitchen, you finally got comfortable on the couch and pulled a nearby blanket around your shoulders. Although you had only spent a couple hours taking care of Max, you were wiped out after chasing him around the house.

You started playing a movie off of Netflix that you knew Max liked and sank back into the cushions. It was hard to keep your eyes open between the warm blanket and having Tyler nearby, but you fought the sleep away. At least one of you needed to stay awake in case Max needed something, and based on the way that Tyler's eyes were already fluttering closed, it wasn't going to be him.

Shortly into the movie, both Tyler and Max were asleep and snoring. You looked over at the two of them, watching how both of their chests were rising and falling steadily. Tyler had one arm wrapped protectively around Max's back, holding him in place. It was hard to keep the smile off of your face.

This hadn't been such a bad way to spend a day off, after all.