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Charles couldn’t wait to get back to playing his piano once Harvey was born. He had been able to play during the early months of his pregnancy but he found that as his bump grew bigger, he struggled to reach the keys to play. There was also the fact that he had to keep going to the toilet all the time so he couldn’t sit down to play for long periods of time. Max had spent the latter months of Charles’ pregnancy dealing with his upset boyfriend because he couldn’t play the piano.
A few weeks after Harvey was born, Charles had sat down in an attempt to play the piano. Max had immediately scolded him and insisted that he couldn’t play it now because he would disturb harvey. Charles pouted then sighed as he closed the lid and walked away from the piano.
The first time Charles was able to play the piano after Harvey’s birth was during the early hours in the beginning of summer when Harvey refused to settle down to go to sleep. At just two months old, the baby had cried but refused to take a bottle and didn’t need his nappy changed. It meant that both his parents were up trying to work out what was wrong. They hadn’t anticipated the start of their summer break going like this. Max was pacing around the apartment with Harvey in his arms. Charles slumped down on the stool at his piano as he contemplated calling his mum. He then had an idea and placed the phone to one side and lifted up the lid of the piano. He ran a hand over the keys gently before he began to play. Harvey was still crying in Max’s arms but as the music filtered through the apartment, he began to calm down as Max continued to rock him gently. Max headed through to the living room and smiled as he watched his boyfriend play. Charles wasn’t even aware that Harvey had stopped crying until he had finished the piece of music and turned around to see Max standing not too far away. They both smiled at one another. Harvey then wriggled unhappily in Max’s arms and began to cry again before Max looked up at Charles, frantically.
“Keep playing.” He insisted.
Charles was forced to carry on playing until Harvey fell asleep. Max sighed in relief and let his son sleep as he listened to Charles. When the Monegasque was finished, he turned around and looked over at Harvey and Max. He smiled softly at the sight of his son sleeping.
“Should we risk putting him down?” Asked Charles.
When Max had tried to put Harvey down earlier, the baby’s cries seemed to grow louder, only decreasing in volume when Max picked him up.
“Yeah, because my arms are about to fall off.” Joked Max.
Charles chuckled softly then placed the lid of the piano down before he followed Max through to Harvey’s room. The Dutchman gently placed his son in the crib and held his breath as the baby moved. Max and Charles watched on as Harvey stayed asleep and Max tiredly leaned against his boyfriend.
“Come on, let’s go back to bed.” Suggested Charles.
He made a mental note to apologise to his neighbours the next day in case he had woken them up due to the piano.
Max and Charles found that the piano was a good way of settling Harvey when they couldn’t get him settled to sleep or when he was ill. Charles would sit and play the piano whilst Max would sit with Harvey cradled in his arms, the fluffy toy lion was always close by.
When Harvey was placed in his bouncer and Charles was playing the piano, he would always bounce around even more. Sometimes the song was a bit too slow but Harvey seemed to enjoy listening to it. He would always whine when Charles stopped playing which resulted in the Monegasque chuckling and stroking his son’s cheek.
“I can’t play forever, baby. My fingers would be sore all the time.”
By the time Harvey was able to sit up on his own, Charles began to sit him on his lap as he played the piano. The first time he sat down with Harvey to play, he let his son place his fingers on the key. Harvey seemed startled when he pressed down on a low key.
“Are you playing, bubba?”
Harvey paid no attention to his papa as he continued to press down on the keys. He watched with interest as Charles began to play and it wasn’t long before he was pressing random keys. Max chuckled causing Charles to turn around whilst keeping an arm around Harvey.
“He’s going to end up being a professional pianist before he turns one.” Said Max.
Charles laughed and shook his head fondly as Harvey gurgled and continued to play with the keys. Max moved forward and kissed Charles before leaning down to kiss Harvey’s head.
“I’m going out for a run, don’t cause too much chaos.”
“Harvey will be on his best behaviour.” Promised Charles.
“I wasn’t talking about him.” Teased Max.
Charles just stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend who laughed and left the apartment. He continued to play the piano until it was time for Harvey’s nap, the baby whining as Charles lifted him up and left the living room.
By the time Harvey was seven months old, he was moving around so much and he refused to sit still half the time. Charles couldn’t play the piano and hold onto his son at the same time as Harvey insisted on trying to sit on top of the keys.
“This isn’t going to work, bub.”
As it drew nearer to Christmas, Charles was attempting to learn some Christmas songs. He spent a few nights playing to Max and Harvey in an attempt to help their son settle down. His boyfriend would sit next to him on the stool and held Harvey on his lap. The couple would laugh anytime Harvey hit a key, clearly trying to be helpful.
Charles occasionally tried to wind up his boyfriend by playing Coldplay songs on the piano.
“You are going to be the death of me.” Insisted Max.
It resulted in Max humming the occasional Coldplay song in the paddock, quietly cursing his boyfriend’s obsession with the band.
When the world was hit with the pandemic, Charles found the excuse to sit and play the piano all day in an attempt to stay away from the virtual racing and games he played on the sim. One day, he was playing a song and it had been the first time in a few months since he had played. Harvey had been sitting watching a Disney film on his dad’s lap when he heard the music. He wiggled in Max’s lap until the Dutchman placed him on the ground. Harvey crawled over to the piano and sat down by Charles’ feet. He gurgled and batted at his papa’s leg to get his attention. Max laughed at the sight. Charles stopped playing and looked down at his son.
“Hey, baby.”
He picked up his son and kissed his forehead as he let him sit in his lap. He carried on playing and Harvey watched his hands move. Max kept looking over at his son and boyfriend then would look back at the TV. When the movie was finished, Max headed over to Charles who was just finishing his song. They smiled at one another before Max saw that Harvey was sleeping, curled up in Charles’ lap.
“He’s so adorable when he’s sleeping.” Murmured Max.
Charles hummed. He leaned down to kiss his son’s forehead then looked up at Max. He was surprised when his boyfriend sat down and played about with the keys. As Harvey continued to sleep in Charles’ arms, Max and Charles were quietly giggling at one another as Charles tried to teach Max how to play.
The first few weeks of lockdown were hard but the couple were happy to spend some time with Harvey. It got even more tough when Harvey began teething which meant he wasn’t sleeping at night. Charles would play the piano and Max would pace around the apartment with Harvey in his arms, his son chewing on a teething ring as they tried to get the baby to sleep. They were both reminded of the early days when they used to do this to help Harvey sleep but their son was no longer a newborn baby.
Max enjoyed seeing Charles and Harvey playing on the piano. He knew that it was important for his boyfriend to play and he knew that the Monegasque would be secretly hoping that he could teach Harvey to play as he grew older. It was a common occurrence at night to see Charles playing the piano in order to help Harvey sleep. In the mornings, it became a habit whereby Max would sometimes wake up later and would find Charles playing the piano with Harvey sitting on his lap. He enjoyed sitting next to his boyfriend and Harvey would crawl onto his lap. Sometimes his son would cuddle into him and other times he would hit random keys.
He knew that the piano was going to feature a lot in Harvey’s life and he knew that Charles was definitely going to teach their son to play.