CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

It had been nearly a week since Max was dispatched home. He had been on his road to recovery ever since. Some of his wounds were still healing but he was doing well so far. My working schedule was shorter, less hours to be able to be home early and help him with Mia. Max had insisted on leaving Mia with him instead of taking her to my parents' house like every other morning. I didn't want to since he was supposed to be resting and Mia was quite active and playful around him. After a whole lot of disagreement, I eventually caved. He wanted father and daughter time with her and that was something I couldn't deny.

I had just arrived home from work when I entered our room. Max and Mia were on the bed. He had his laptop on his lap and Mia was laying on her back next to him, giggling at Max as he tickled her feet. Since Max couldn't go to the offices of his company yet, he replied to emails and worked from home.

"Hey," I said as I walked to the edge of his bedside, leaning to kiss him, my fingers touching the stubble in his jaw. Not long after our lips connected, Max grunted into the kiss. I pulled away, thinking it had been me who had hurt him. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"I'm fine. This little firecracker was the one who kicked me" He replied, turning to Mia and setting his open mouth in her belly before blowing into it causing a funny sound. Max's ribs were still slightly bruised from the accident, Mia's kick had hurt him.

I shook my head at their silliness as I held a smile.

I was lying in bed with my head on Max's chest. I had tried to decline, not wanting to hurt him after Mia did and since his bruises were still fainting. After removing my work clothes and getting comfy, I made lunch for the three of us. We were now resting. Mia was in her nursery, taking her afternoon nap. Max stroke my back, his fingers caressing me, going from my shoulder blades to the small of my back and up again. It was soothing and relaxing.

He brought me closer to him, pulling one of my legs between his. He brought his other hand to my thigh, keeping the other one in my back and enveloping me with his arms.

"Do you want to go for a walk around the park later?" I spoke in almost a whisper.

"Maybe" He nuzzled my hair before continuing, "Or we can stay here and do something better" He suggested. I could feel him grinning.

"Don't even think about it. You're still healing" I said, peering up at him.

"I promise, I'll be fine" Max pouted as he practically whined, adding puppy eyes to the act.

"No. I won't change my mind" I laughed.

"I can try" He grinned, becoming cocky.

My lips met his as we kissed. Max's tongue started to ask for entrance which soon turned into begging when his hand went to my nape, deepening the kiss. I pulled away before he continued pushing things further.

"It's settle, then. We're going to the park" I said against his lips.

"Tease" He playfully snarled at me.

Max knew I had kissed him to either feed his desire more or calm it down a bit until he healed. Clearly, I had fed it.

***

Mia was on her stroller as we walked around the city. We were headed to Central Park. This was something I did often with my parents when I was younger. Several weekends we found ourselves taking a train to Grand Central Station and walking around the city until late at night. After going away for college and being not so close to it anymore, my visits became more uncommon. Work and Mia had limited my time and whenever I was free, I just wanted to rest. I barely walked around the city once a month.

Thankfully, Max enjoyed walking around downtown and midtown Manhattan as much as I did. He walked beside me, holding my hand as I pushed Mia's stroller with the other. Birds chirped around us, their sound barely hearable between the traffic chaos and noises that surrounded us. A warm breeze hit our skin from time to time as we walked. It was late afternoon so the sun wasn't blazing out. I always liked walking during sunset, especially in the city where you can see the sun setting between the skyscrapers as you walk.

***

Max and I were in bed. Mia had fell asleep on our way back home. As soon as we arrived, I removed her clothes and got her into her small pajamas. Max had done the same while I changed Mia. By the time I was done changing myself, Max was waiting for me in bed. I had gotten into my side of the bed, leaving space between us - like I had done since he arrived home from the hospital, afraid I might hurt him in my sleep. Max - being the stubborn person that he is - brought me closer to him. I nuzzled his neck and kissed it, a comfortable silence surrounding us.

"Can I... Can I go with you to your next doctor's appointment?" Max stammered as we held each other. I could hear the rumbling of his voice against my ear as he spoke.

"Yeah" I replied against his throat.

He had missed my appointments with Mia and the excitement, nervousness and anxiousness most soon-to-be fathers felt as they accompanied the mother of their child. I had also missed what it felt to have the father of your child next to you as you heard the heartbeat of your baby for the first time together, the contentment most mothers felt by sharing that important moment with them. We both wanted what we didn't have the first time.

He kissed my forehead and snuggled me closer to his still damaged body before we fell asleep.

***

I was in our room giving Mia her usual bottle of formula like every morning. Max was in the bathroom when his phone rang and vibrated against the nightstand.

"Babe! Can you get that for me, please?" Max shouted, seeming to have heard his ringtone from the shower.

"Got it!" I shouted back as I took his phone and noticed the caller's name before pressing the green button. My eyes narrowed at the screen, surprised I still wasn't sending daggers into it. Incoming Call: Ava Ford. This should be good, I thought as I answered. "How can I help you?" I snarled without offering a greeting, half intentionally and half unintentionally. Or maybe more intentionally, than unintentionally.

"Excuse me?" Ava replied in an over dramatic, offended tone of voice. I rolled my eyes at her act. "Who am I speaking to? Put Max on the phone" She rudely demanded.

"It's Ella Daniels, Max's girlfriend" I so desperately wanted to emphasize 'girlfriend' after not being able to send my message across thoroughly the last time I caught her on Max's office but I wasn't going to lower myself to her and start a cat fight.

I was never the evil witch of the story but Ava was pushing my buttons to the very end and as far as she could. The first time I met her, I noticed she was attracted to him but c'mon what woman isn't attracted to a man like Max? It didn't feel as a threat. I mean, I had to admit Ava was beautiful and at times her beauty could be intimidating, however, I didn't feel threaten by her beauty (but not because I was cocky over my appearance). She started to go overboard. Ava knew Max was in a relationship with me yet she kept demanding his attention in ways that made him look like a manwhore and vulnerable and tempted by other women. I could only take her game to a certain extent.

"Oh but look who it is" I could have bet she had devilish grin on her face as she spoke. "I would love to chat but really, I called to talk to Max not you"

"Unfortunately, his unavailable at the moment. You will have to call him later or tell me what you say to him and I'll deliver the message" Although, my voice sounded polite, you could hear a slight edge to it.

"Well, please tell him I can't wait to fuck him in his office when he comes back" She paused, the line going silent for a moment "That's all. It was nice talking to you, Ella. Have a good day, hopefully we can hang out someday and I don't know, maybe we can discuss how good Max fucks." The audacity Ava had didn't surprise me. She had no filter.

"Thank you but sorry, I don't want you to share your latest hook ups with me. I'm really not interested on that sort of life style, you know, like waking up every night on a different bed, different man. And as special as I feel that you would want to share such personal details with me, I don't what those images ingrained in my brain. Also, I like to settle and keep what's mine. You should try it, it may work out for you, I bet there's a couple single men out there that you can fetch." I paused just like she did before continuing. I could hear her and envision her fuming on the other line. "It was nice talking to you, Ava. Maybe we'll talk soon again, hopefully by that time you would have considered my tip and taken action. Have a good day, bye" I hung up before she could reply. I placed Max's phone back in the nightstand, returning my complete attention to Mia.

"Who was it, babe? What did they say?" Max questioned as he finished in the bathroom and came back to the room. His hair was damp from the shower, his skin glistening and his pajama bottoms low on his hips.

"Ava. Nothing you should be aware of"

He would eventually want to know what she said but I was too annoyed to actually tell him at the moment.