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Daniel knocked on the door of the apartment belonging to Charles and Max. It was pretty cold in Monaco given that it was around two weeks until Christmas but the Aussie was still shivering because of the temperature. When the door eventually opened, the first thing that Daniel heard was the sound of a baby giggling and he beamed at Max who held the door open.
“Hey man.” The Aussie greeted.
Max chuckled as his ex teammate leaned forward and wrapped his arms around him, careful of the bag that he was holding which held presents for Harvey. The laughter continued from within the apartment and the two drivers eventually pulled apart.
“So he’s up and about?” Daniel asked happily.
Max rolled his eyes. His son was a chilled and spoilt 7 month old baby who never cried but would whine when he demanded attention. Both Max and Charles were thankful that Harvey could sleep easily during the night and they hadn’t really had many problems in getting him to stay asleep. He was now at the stage where he would grab and pull things within his reach which led to his parents being unable to leave him alone for even a split second.
“Pierre’s here already, come in.” Max explained.
Daniel tried to keep the jealousy away when he heard that little piece of information. He was here to give Harvey his Christmas presents due to the fact that he would be in Australia over the Christmas period. Charles and Max had decided to invite some of the drivers round to see the little baby open his presents seeing as the drivers were like uncles to their son and were close friends with them. Daniel knew that the drivers were as bad as Harvey’s parents in terms of being clingy. He knew that Seb had teasingly threatened to kidnap Harvey because he was so cute and well behaved but others weren’t entirely sure if he was joking. At this rate, poor Harvey was going to be passed around like a present during a game of pass the parcel. Daniel took his shoes off and laughed as Max snorted at his socks. The Aussie was known for his bright coloured socks and it was thanks to Daniel that Harvey had an impressive pair of socks too. Daniel followed Max into the living room and smiled at the sight in front of him. Harvey was sitting on Pierre’s lap who was jiggling his knee up and down which made the baby bounce around. Charles was smiling at him too as he let Harvey grip onto his fingers as the other hand shoved a cuddly toy lion into his mouth. The baby gurgled and dribbled then let a smile come onto his face as he noticed Daniel, dropping his cuddly toy onto the floor. Daniel moved forward and picked up the toy, laughing when Harvey clutched onto it.
“You don’t want to lose that, buddy.” He cooed.
He sat down in the chair across from the sofa that Pierre and Charles were sitting on, putting the bag down to the side. He gazed at the baby lovingly. Harvey was content to sit in Pierre’s arms and given that the French driver was his godfather, Daniel knew that Max and Charles couldn’t have picked a better person to take on the role. Harvey looked so cute in his warm lion king top with his jeans and Daniel beamed as he noticed the little socks that the baby had on his feet. They had little racing cars on them which had been a gift from Daniel himself.
“The kid’s got style.” He said cheekily.
Everyone laughed.
“Yeah well thanks to you and Lewis, he’ll be the cutest and most styled baby in Monaco.” Charles said, smiling.
He smiled down at his son and it grew brighter as Harvey smiled back at him. Daniel laughed as he watched the little baby. He knew that Lewis had sent various presents for the little one since he had been born including a denim jacket, a pair of vans and Levi’s clothes. Yes, Harvey was going to be a cute little model in no time. Suddenly, there was another knock at the door and Max sighed. Charles chuckled as Max gave him the finger then headed towards the door again.
“Your Uncle Seb and Uncle Kimi are here and we’ll be lucky if we can get rid of them.” Charles said to Harvey quietly.
The baby looked up at his papa as he moved Charles’ fingers and waved them around, keeping a tight hold on them. There was the sound of running feet as Seb burst into the room and cooed at Harvey. He raced forward and tickled the baby, laughing as Harvey laughed at his antics. Kimi and Max shook their heads fondly and the Dutchman left to go and grab drinks for everyone. Seb eventually sat down on the sofa with Kimi after the Finn pulled him back so he could greet Charles and Harvey. The baby was now leaning into Pierre’s chest, cuddling his toy as he gazed at the drivers who were sitting in front of him. Daniel quietly thought that the little boy was studying them to determine who would give him the best presents. Max came back into the room and Kimi let a small smile fall onto his face as he noticed that Harvey’s eyes were following his dad around the room. The Dutchman grabbed the bean bag that was in the corner of the room and dragged it so could sit close to Charles as there was no room on the two seater sofa. Harvey laughed and the rest of the drivers laughed and cooed at him.
“Are you excited for his first Christmas?” Seb asked.
Both Charles and Max nodded.
“He’s going to be so spoilt.” Grinned Charles.
“Yeah, I wonder where he gets it from.” Said Max cheekily.
Charles pouted and reached down to bat his boyfriend on the shoulder and grumbled when he moved out of reach. Harvey gurgled and Max smiled at his son.
“Look, baby, your papa is attacking me.” He cooed.
Harvey frowned and the drivers laughed at the look.
“I don’t know how he puts up with you both.” Pierre said jokingly.
“Yeah, poor kid.” Daniel agreed.
“Shut up!” Max shouted, although he knew they were only teasing.
Harvey wiggled around in Pierre’s arms and reached over to try and climb on Charles’ lap before the Monegasque picked his son up and let him stand on his knees. The baby babbled and jumped around as Charles held him firmly.
“You’ve raised him well, you should be proud of yourselves.” Kimi said softly.
Charles and Max blushed at the kind remarks. They had been told by different people once Harvey had been born that it would be difficult to raise a child with careers like theirs but they had managed so far. It did feel good to know that others thought they were doing a good job. It was difficult raising a child. Charles moved his son so that he was sitting on his lap and cuddled him close as the baby settled down, still clutching onto his toy lion.
“Has Lewis given you presents for Harvey?” Daniel questioned curiously.
The Brit had often informed Daniel about the various gifts he had bought for the baby and Daniel would laugh knowing that at this rate little Harvey would turn into a mini Lewis rather than a mini Max or Charles.
“Yes, he was in Monaco a few days ago. It’s only one thing but it’s massive so I’m concerned about what it is.” Max replied.
“Will you let him open it today?” Seb asked.
“We’ll let him open it on Christmas day.” He’ll open presents from Max’s family on Christmas Eve and we’ll spend Christmas with my family.” Said Charles.
“We did tell him not to go all out but he clearly didn’t listen.” Said Max, rolling his eyes.
“Harvey deserves to be spoilt. He’s such a good baby.” Seb said happily.
Charles and Max smiled. Harvey was getting restless as he moved around in his papa’s arms and tried to reach down to the floor.
“I think it’s time we opened some presents, the little man is getting impatient.” Teased Max.
Charles stood up and kissed Harvey’s temple when his son whined and lowered himself onto the floor beside Max’s bean bag with Harvey still in his arms as he sat crossed legged on the floor and made sure the baby was comfortable. Harvey watched as Max went out of the room to grab the bag that had presents from Pierre inside. When Pierre had arrived, Harvey had tried to grab hold of the bag so Max had taken it and Charles handed the baby over to his godfather to distract him. Max returned with a red, sparkly Christmas bag and sat it down on the floor before flopping down onto the bean bag. He reached into the bag and pulled the first one out. He grinned along with Charles as Harvey refused to take the present, content to sit and cuddle his lion. The baby whimpered when Pierre managed to wrangle it out of his little hands but giggled when the Frenchman pushed the toy forward to tickle his nose. Harvey closed his eyes and reached out to touch his nose.
“You’ve got presents to open, little lion, you’ll get it back in a minute.” Pierre said softly.
The drivers laughed as Harvey huffed and slumped back against Charles’ chest. He let Max place the present on his lap. He babbled as he noticed that the wrapping paper was filled with lion king characters. The baby batted at the paper and whimpered when Max ripped an edge so his son would have better access at opening it. Thankfully, Pierre hadn’t wrapped the present in a whole load of sellotape having previously joked with Charles and Max that he was bad at wrapping, however, his friends had informed him that they weren’t much better.
“You don’t open presents by just batting at them, junior.” Max said gently.
He ripped another edge of the present before Harvey happily grabbed at the present and ripped little pieces off of it. Seb could be heard mumbling under his breath something along the lines of the baby getting a paper cut. Kimi snorted and batted Seb round the back of the head and Daniel laughed loudly. The baby managed to unwrap the present with Max’s help to reveal a teddy bear in a red t-shirt. On the front read ‘Jules 17’ and on the back was printed ‘Anthoine 19’. Tears gathered in Charles’ eyes as he watched his son clutch onto the teddy tightly.
“Oh Pierre.” He murmured.
He turned to look up at his friend who had a sad smile on his face, tears in his own eyes. He turned back to look at Max who placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it in comfort as he leaned in to place a soft kiss on his temple. The young driver cuddled his son closer to him and kissed his cheek.
“You would have loved your Uncle Jules and Uncle Anthoine, Harvey.” Said Charles, sadly.
“They’ll be watching over him.” Said Max, firmly.
Charles smiled at his boyfriend as he lifted a hand to wipe over his face. Max removed his hand and gazed down at his son. The drivers turned to look at Daniel who let out a sniffle.
“Come on, it should be a happy time for the little one, he doesn’t want to see us ballin our eyes out. Carry on.” He said jokingly.
Max grabbed another present from the bag and handed it to Harvey. The baby looked between the teddy in his hands and the present in his dad’s hand. He pushed the present away as the other drivers laughed.
“Suppose I’ll just have to open it myself, huh?” Max asked although he knew he wouldn’t get a reply.
The Dutchman unwrapped the present which was a Simba cuddly toy. Seb and Daniel cooed at the toy as Max held it out to his son. The baby looked at it before taking it in one hand so that he was now holding onto two cuddly toys. Charles chuckled at him.
“He just can’t get enough.” He cooed.
Harvey, even at the young age of 7 months, was a big fan of Disney, especially The Lion King, which would be Max’s fault as Charles often teased. Max took out the final present from the bag and unwrapped it, groaning when he noticed that it was a baby drum kit. Daniel chuckled.
“Little drummer boy.” He murmured softly.
Max scoffed.
“I liked your other presents better, Pierre.” He grumbled.
The Frenchman laughed and struggled to stop as Harvey dropped the cuddly toys onto the floor to reach out for the drum kit.
“You can play with that later, bud.” Max stated.
He placed the drum kit back into the bag, taking out the Christmas card for Harvey and pushed the wrapping paper to the side. He took the card out of the envelope and laughed as he saw a polar bear in the middle of the card with ‘Merry Christmas Harvey’ spread over the front of it.
“Look, how cute is this?”
He held up the card to show Charles and Harvey. His boyfriend smiled but the baby wasn’t all that impressed. Harvey began to whine and wriggle around as he wasn’t allowed to open anything. Daniel quickly grabbed his bag and pushed it in Max’s direction.
“Here, something else to preoccupy him.” He offered.
Max nodded his head in thanks. He briefly looked at the bag which was covered in little snowmen and laughed. He took out the first present and handed it to his son, noticing that the wrapping paper was also covered in snowmen. The baby settled down now that he had something to rip. He slowly made his way through the paper, Charles helping him to uncover the present. He laughed when his son frowned at the cuddly toy. It was a honey badger but Harvey wouldn’t know that. Daniel laughed at the look on the baby’s face as he looked unsure about the toy.
“Give it time. He’ll be my little honey badger in no time.” He joked.
Max scoffed.
“Daniel, he’s always going to be your little honey badger, he won’t reach your height with mine and Charles’ genes.”
The Aussie chuckled. Max looked into the bag and took out another present. He carefully handed it to Harvey as it felt heavy. The little boy clutched at the present and scrunched the paper in his hands before pulling at it harshly. When he got most of the paper off, he babbled as a pile of socks fell onto his lap. Charles lifted a hand to cover his mouth to stifle the laughs that threatened to come out. Daniel was seemingly determined to arrange Harvey’s sock collection as much as Lewis was apparently in charge of Harvey’s collection of stylish clothes. There were at least four pairs of socks. One covered in brussel sprouts, another in toy story characters, then there was a pair with koala bears on them and finally a bright yellow pair covered in little helmets.
“Daniel, this is amazing.” Charles said as he recovered from his initial reaction.
The taller driver grinned with pride. Max lifted out the last two gifts which were shaped roughly the same and both as heavy as the socks that had been wrapped together. He frowned as he gently placed one on Harvey’s lap as Charles held his hands underneath it for support. Again, Harvey took his time to unwrap the present which was apparently a stark contrast to when Max and Charles had their birthdays and let Harvey open their presents with them. He would rip the paper up into millions of pieces then quickly move onto the next gift. Probably because he knew they weren’t for him. The baby unwrapped the present to unveil a boxed Red Bull remote control car. Max laughed at Daniel whilst Charles glared at him. The couple often playfully argued over who Harvey should support.
“The other present is similar to that one.” Said Daniel.
Max unwrapped the other present himself, rolling his eyes when he saw it was another remote control, however, this time it was a Ferrari. He held the box in his hands as he leaned down closer to his son.
“I think your papa and I will have fun with these, sunshine, you’re a bit too young.” He teased as he leaned in to kiss his son’s forehead.
The baby grumbled at the fact that his dad had opened his present but let him lift the car away as he turned to look at the honey badger toy that was now sitting beside his papa. He felt a finger running down his nose and he frowned, trying to grip the hand to move it away. Max smiled now that he had his son’s attention.
“Look at your cute Christmas card, Harvey.” He said softly.
It was an elf hugging a candy cane with the words ‘to a special little boy on his first Christmas’. The baby tried to grab the card but Max moved it away as he didn’t want it to get ruined. The Dutchman happily took the bag that Kimi handed over. It was covered in little Christmas trees and presents. The first present that Max brought out felt soft as he handed it to his son. Harvey slowly unwrapped it to show a red Christmas jumper with a gingerbread man in the middle and little ones on the sleeves. Max and Charles smiled gently at the jumper.
“Oh Kimi, that’s so cute.” Charles said in awe as he stroked over the gingerbread men. Max grabbed the top so that he could hold it up in front of Harvey.
“He can wear it on Christmas Eve, we’ve got him a Christmas onesie.” He said.
Seb cooed and Kimi rolled his eyes. His friend was like a little child again, so excited over Christmas. They both watched as Harvey opened up the next gift which was a grey hat with a pom pom as well as a grey snood. Charles awed at the hat and picked it up before gently trying to put it on his son’s head. The little boy wasn’t entirely sure about the object on his head as he tried to grab it.
“He’s not sure about that.” Daniel said softly.
“Well he has to stay warm and he knows it.” Charles stated as he ran a hand through his son’s hair after he pulled the hat off.
Max gave Harvey another present and snorted when it was another hat, this time it was a lion hat. He beamed as he placed it on his son’s head who tried to look up at it.
“Now you’re a real lion.” He said happily.
He tickled his son’s tummy and laughed as the little one giggled. When he pulled away, Harvey was slumped against Charles’ chest. Max removed the hat and smoothed a hand over his son’s hair.
“Daddy thinks he’s funny.” Said Charles as he tightened his grip on Harvey.
Max shoved at his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“Daddy is funny.” He shot back cheekily.
“Debatable.” Daniel coughed.
Max glared at his friend as he reached into the bag for the final present. Again, the present felt soft as Harvey was let loose on the unwrapping. He babbled as the paper fell away to reveal a toy penguin. He clutched it to his chest and giggled at the soft touch. Seb giggled at the little boy.
“Is that because people joked that you were a penguin in your big rain coat?” He asked Kimi teasingly.
“Shut up.” Muttered Kimi.
He tried to look grumpy but it didn’t last long as he watched the little boy cuddle into the soft toy. Max opened up the card that had been in the bag as Harvey hadn’t really been interested in them and couldn’t read them anyway. The card had a picture of Santa on the front. As Max was reading the card, he was interrupted by Seb coming forward and dropping a bag themed with frozen characters in front of him.
“My turn!”
The German leaned closer to his teammate’s son and stroked over his cheek. The little boy took a moment to look up from cuddling his toy to smile at Seb. He got a smile in return as the German giddily sat back down beside Kimi. The Finn shook his head fondly. Max grinned as he noticed that the wrapping paper was Disney themed. He handed the first gift to Charles rather than to Harvey as it was heavy. The Monegasque helped his son open the gift to unveil multiple books. Some were miniature Disney stories and the others were nursery rhymes. Daniel and Kimi rolled their eyes at the books. Trust Seb to be practical. The next gift was opened which held a little red ferrari polo top to which Max glared at.
“That will go to the back of the wardrobe.” He grumbled.
Charles laughed as the top was playfully chucked into the bag and the remaining gift was brought out. Charles helped Harvey to open it to find a soft looking green top inside. The young driver smiled at the softness as he left his fingers run over the top.
“Thought I would buy something that was impartial.” Seb grinned.
Charles grinned back at him as Max folded the top neatly and placed it into the bag then pulled the card out. He snorted when he saw it was covered in reindeers. Max tidied up the presents, putting most of them back in the bags but left the cuddly toys out for Harvey. He put the bags to the side before placing the cards up on the worktop by the TV then gathered the wrapping paper up and headed out of the room to bin it. He slumped back down onto the bean bag when he returned and glanced down at his son.
“You’re a very lucky boy.” He cooed.
Harvey giggled and made grabby hands towards Max as the Dutchman picked him up and cuddled him close, letting the little baby rest his head on his shoulder.
“Thank you guys so much, Harvey is very lucky to have you all. It’s too much.” Charles insisted as he gazed at his son.
Seb, Kimi and Daniel all smiled.
“He deserves it, he’s a special boy.” Daniel said firmly.
Charles and Max both smiled as they looked at one another. They were very lucky. Harvey was so much like his parents. He had his dad’s eyes but his papa’s dark brown hair. Daniel was sure that he also had features of Jules in his blood but he knew that as Harvey had been growing up, Charles had told him stories about Jules, wanting him to be part of his life even when they would never meet. He was Charles’ godfather and so he was important to Harvey too.
The drivers chuckled as Harvey let out a little yawn. Charles smiled and leaned over to rub a hand over his son’s back.
“I suppose we should get going so the little one can have a nap.” Kimi murmured.
The other drivers agreed and got up out of their seats. Charles and Max both got up slowly, the Dutchman trying to be careful as he held onto his son. They all exchanged hugs with Charles as they headed to the door. Seb and Kimi were the first to leave. Kimi rested a hand on Max’s back as he watched Seb stroke his finger over Harvey’s cheek and leaned down to kiss his forehead, receiving a babble in response.
“Goodbye, little one. Have a great Christmas. We’ll see you soon.” Whispered Seb.
Kimi kissed Harvey’s forehead when Seb moved away.
“You are so lucky to have Charles and Max as your parents.” Murmured Kimi.
The young couple smiled softly at the older driver. The Finn patted Max on the back before he looked up at the pair.
“We’ll keep in touch.” He told them softly.
Charles and Max nodded before letting Seb and Kimi head out of the apartment. Daniel immediately wrapped his arms around Charles again. He reluctantly let go to give Max a careful hug, mindful of the baby in his arms. He rubbed a hand up and down Harvey’s arm as he smiled, watching as the little boy cuddled into his dad’s chest.
“Merry Christmas, Harvey.” He said gently.
He smiled as the little one looked up at him sleepily. He smiled at the baby’s parents.
“Merry Christmas, guys.” He said softly.
Charles and Max smiled.
“Merry Christmas, Daniel.” They both said.
“Thank you so much for his presents.” Charles added.
Daniel nodded and moved away so Pierre could kiss the baby’s forehead. He, like Daniel, wrapped his arms carefully around Max before hugging Charles tightly.
“Merry Christmas, Charles.”
“Merry Christmas, Pierre.”
They eventually pulled apart and smiled at one another. Pierre stroked Harvey's cheek like Seb had done not long ago. The little baby grumbled as he was close to falling asleep.
“Merry Christmas, Harvey. You deserve everything and more.” Whispered Pierre.
He smiled at the couple one last time before following Daniel as they left the apartment together. Charles stood behind Max as he wrapped his arms around him and rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. He tilted his head to gaze at his baby boy.
“Pierre’s right. You deserve the world and more. You have no idea how lucky you are.”