Work Text:
June 18th, 2022
“She’s not coming.” Max stands there looking at his friends, shocked and broken-hearted, as a tear streams down his cheek, looking at his friends, their friends, as he stands on the rooftop of New Amsterdam, on what is supposed to be his wedding day. Their wedding day.
“Change of plans.” Max announces as he looks at Elizabeth, Bloom, Gladys, Floyd, Ben and Iggy who are all standing around him with a look of shock on their faces. “I need to get to the airport!”
“What?” Lauren asks, a look of confusion on her face.
“Something’s wrong. Helen wouldn’t do this. Not show up on our wedding day.”
“I’ll drive you.” Floyd offers.
“Thanks, man.”
Max looks back at the rest of his friends and quickly gives them all a wave before following Floyd down the same set of stairs he had just walked up moments ago. The same stairs he was expecting Helen to walk up, moments ago to meet him at the altar.
Anxious to speak with her he tries calling and texting her again after getting into the car with Floyd, as he won’t be able to speak with her once he is on his flight. All he gets is her voicemail and his heart sinks.
Max sighs as he leans back into his seat.
He becomes more worried the longer he doesn’t hear from her. He knows Helen isn’t in a good emotional place to speak to him at the moment and he wants to give her space.
He decides to send her one more text but kept it simple and to just let her know what his plans are. They will talk more in London; at least he is hoping they will.
M: Helen, I’m going to try and get a flight. I will be there as soon as I can. Hope you’re ok. 😘
He waits for the delivered notification to show and once it did he gets out of the texting app and leans back into the front passenger seat. Trying to relax as best as he can.
So many thoughts are going through Max’s mind as he sits in the passenger seat next to Floyd.
Is she having doubts? No, Max couldn’t let his mind go there! He knows something has to be wrong!
“We need to stop by the apartment first. I need to change and grab some things, since I wasn’t anticipating flying to London today.”
“Right. The apartment it is.”
Max opens up his Expedia app on his phone so he can begin searching flights.
He is hoping that if there is something available at 4 pm or after, that will give him enough time to get to the airport since right now it is only 1:20 pm.
There it is! A standby flight out of JFK today at 4pm!
He quickly purchases the ticket on the app and once it goes through, Max breathes a sigh of relief.
M: My flight leaves today at 4 pm. Love you 😍
Shortly after two Max finally arrives at JFK. He gets out of the car with Floyd who hands him his luggage and waves to him before he heading into the building.
June 19th, 7:05 am, London
Max is tired after the six hour flight and the feeling of jet lag was starting to set in. It is early in the morning and during the cab ride to the flat he leans his head against the window and watches as the city passes him by.
He had sent Helen a text while he was waiting for his bags to let her know that he had arrived. He decides to check his messages one more time, while he is still in the cab.
No new messages is the notification he sees on his phone screen but he sees the read receipts. Helen was at least reading his texts. That would have to be good enough for now.
He sighs as he put his phone back in the pocket of his leather jacket.
For a brief moment his mind wanders to Luna. Today is June 19th, Father’s Day. He was supposed to see his little girl, their little girl at their wedding yesterday!
He will message Gwen in a bit to make arrangements for a FaceTime call!
When he stops outside their door he lets go of his luggage he had been pulling behind him and reaches inside the pocket of his leather jacket for his keys.
Once he is inside the flat he puts his jacket on the coat stand and sets his luggage beside it.
He notices Helen’s luggage is still by the door.
He moves about the main living area quietly, not wanting to wake up Helen who he assumed is probably still in bed.
Max sighs as he takes a look around, taking in where he had lived with Helen and Luna for a short time but remembering how much it meant to him and how he loved being in London with his woman!
What if she is having cold feet? Wondering if she will be a good mum to Luna and wife to Max?
Max pushes that thought away along with any negativity or doubt he is currently having. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried but he wanted to believe that Helen’s reason had nothing to do with not wanting to marry him!
Max starts making his way over to the staircase when he hears the sound of footsteps starting to slowly descend the stairs. The morning light was starting to flood the living area making it easy to see Helen as she stood there glancing over at him and holding onto the railing of the stairs. Max notices she is wearing her favourite white silk robe with a floral pattern on it.
“Max?” Helen says in a groggy voice. She descends the stairs the rest of the way and makes her way over to where Max is now standing beside the gray living room couch.
Helen walks over to him and pulls him in for a hug. She instantly starts to sob; still feeling overwhelmed and exhausted from the events of the previous day
“Hey beautiful.” Max whispers quietly into her ear as he hugs her and breathes in the scent of sun and jasmine he always loves to inhale whenever he is close to her. “I’m here.”
Max holds her in his arms, wanting to make her feel supported and cared for. There was nowhere else he’d rather be at the moment than in London with his woman!
“Come on. Let’s go sit down.” Max suggests after kissing Helen on the forehead and he takes her hand leading her towards the couch.
When they sit down Max immediately notices that Helen looks restless. For a second Max searches her eyes.
“You don’t look so good, Helen. I’m worried. Ever since that phone call ended, I’ve been worried and nervous. Whatever’s going on, we can get through it together. Just talk to me!
Helen is silent for a couple minutes.
”Look Max, I know you deserve an explanation. I feel awful for doing that to you…but I had to go to the hospital.”
The hospital?
”Oh my god Helen! Is everything alright?” Max asks, with a look of concern on his face.
“Yes.” Helen says quietly.
Max pulls her closer to him and wraps his arms around her.
“Um, I was about to board the plane when I started feeling nauseous. A security person at the airport called 911 and I was taken to the hospital because I fainted. I’m….I’m pregnant.”
Helen looks at Max who looks shocked but a smile quickly spreads across his face.
“You’re pregnant?” Max repeats.
Helen nods her head and smiles.
“Yes! The doctor did some tests. After telling her about my symptoms, light pinkish spotting…nausea. I told her about my flight back on May 16th and how the bleeding started on the 17th. She ran some tests and determined it was actually implantation bleeding.”
“How many weeks?”
“Well we were last intimate on May 3rd.” Max watches as Helen looks at her phone and scrolls through something. “After looking at the period tracker on my phone and determining that the first day of my last period was April 20th…it’s been about eight and a half weeks with this little one.” Helen says as she puts a hand on her stomach and gently rubs it. “The nausea has been awful and before you arrived, I was throwing up in the bathroom. I haven’t been sleeping well either. Partly, because I miss sleeping next to you and the added fatigue because of the pregnancy.”
Max squeezes Helen’s hand gently and looks into her eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes he always found himself getting lost in.
“Well that changes now. I mean the not being able to sleep. You’ll be sleeping better from here on out, with me next to you every night.”
Helen is quiet for a moment but Max notices a smile spread across her face. The first one he had seen since he arrived.
“I was so busy planning a wedding, dealing with stress from my mum, stress at work. I didn’t think it was possible to get pregnant naturally, given my history.”
“Helen, you have nothing to be sorry about. You were dealing with a lot. Also, you’re not the first woman to ignore the signs and symptoms of pregnancy. I don’t have to tell you, that a lot of woman who can’t get pregnant naturally, ignore symptoms when they’ve been told it’s practically impossible to get pregnant the old fashioned way. Don’t be so hard on yourself!
Max notices that Helen wasn’t taking his advice so he thinks of the one thing to say that usually helped one of them to open up.
“Burden me.”
Helen looks up at him as a tear starts streaming down her face. Max hands her a tissue from the box on the table beside the couch.
“I…I had some red wine a couple of times…before I knew. Not a lot. But after the doctor came back into the room after running the tests to tell me I’m pregnant, I immediately felt guilty. I kinda still do.”
Max pulls her in for a hug wanting to comfort her, and feels Helen immediately relax in his arms. It broke his heart that she was dealing with so much when he wasn’t around!
“You know how much I’ve longed for a baby, Max! What if this is my miracle baby, our miracle baby and I screwed it up by having a bit of wine? I know it seems silly. We’re doctors and if someone doesn’t know they’re pregnant, they might consume some alcohol and it doesn’t harm the baby…so the doctor did an ultrasound just to make sure everything is alright. When I mentioned the wine consumption, she told me not to worry.”
“You did the right thing Helen. I’m not mad.”
“I know you’re not. I just wanted you to be there with me.”
“I’ll be there at the next one and for all the moments to come!”
Wait a minute! They still haven’t discussed one very important thing.
Helen notices the look on Max’s face and he realizes she knows what he’s thinking when she speaks and gives him a reassuring look.
“I still want to marry you, Max! That hasn’t changed.”
”I knew that! Ok I admit I was worried. However, I knew something had to be wrong!”
“There’s more.”
“Ok.”
“Shortly after I got to the hospital they called my mum.”
Helen feels Max’s grip on her hand tighten as he knew this would be difficult for her to talk about, given her tough past relationship with her mum.
“She’s my emergency contact, since you were in New York. Lucky me.” Helen says with sarcasm in her voice. “Anyway, she was worried when she arrived and came rushing into the hospital room. I told her about everything that had gone on…She said….she said if I was stressing out this much about my life, ignoring the signs and symptoms of pregnancy, then maybe I’m not cut out to be a mum, much less a wife to someone. Maybe it’s all too much for me to handle. So when I got home from the hospital shortly after six pm, that’s when I texted you and called.” Helen takes a deep breath before continuing,“I’m so sorry, Max. I panicked.”
Max shutters at the memory of that phone call.
“Helen, you have nothing to apologize for. I love you. I’m just glad you’re ok! You have nothing to be sorry about. You were dealing with a lot and you didn’t have the best support close by. Your mum only filled your head with doubt and negativity. In a way, I don’t blame you for panicking. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that alone and that you’ve been here by yourself while you’re not feeling well.”
Max watches as Helen takes his hand and guides it to her flat stomach. He begins rubbing her belly. He can hardly believe there’s a baby in there! A little Max or Helen! He is over the moon!
When Max looks up he notices a tear falling down one of her cheeks. He takes his other hand and wipes it away.
“We’re having a baby.” Helen whispers. “I’m so happy.” A smile spreads across her face again as she takes Max’s hand and holds it against her face, feeling those butterflies in her stomach return that she often feels when she’s around him.
“Yes we are.” Max replies as he lifts up her light pink silk cami, exposing her skin so he can kiss it. There was nowhere he’d rather be right now than with Helen! He didn’t think it was possible to love her anymore than he already did, however, this news of her being pregnant with his child made his love grow for her alot more! Something he didn’t think was possible!
Max knew they also had to discuss the wedding since it was something they both still wanted and their future in London but he didn’t want to pressure Helen about that at the moment. For now, he was at peace with the fact that she was ok and still wanted to marry him! They would discuss everything else when she was ready.
New York or London?
Max didn’t really care.
As long as he gets to spend the rest of his life with Helen. The woman he had been waiting for forever.
4:15 pm
Max is sitting on the couch with a cup of English Breakfast tea, awaiting his scheduled FaceTime call with Gwen and Luna since today is Father’s Day.
He had spent most of the afternoon relaxing after having spent the morning talking and comforting Helen. It had been about two hours now since he had returned from the market to pick up some items Helen had requested such as prenatal vitamins and some foods she was craving such as avocados. However, making sure he bought items like Greek yogurt, ginger and peppermint tea, broccoli, blueberries, high fibre bread. Since he didn’t know how long they would be in London Max also wanted to make sure they were stocked up a bit anyway, as he had noticed the fridge was running low on some items.
Helen had gone upstairs to the master bedroom just as he was heading out to the store and when he returned he had gone upstairs to check on her and rest with her for a bit. He set an alarm for 4:20 to make sure he was downstairs on time for his schedule FaceTime call.
All of a sudden Max’s iPhone is ringing and he picks it up from the table beside the couch, where he just placed his empty mug.
“Hi Luna bug!” Max says, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of his little girl who is sitting on her grandma’s lap.
“We just finished lunch. But she didn’t want to leave for the park, without saying Happy Father’s Day to her daddy!”
“Sweetheart that’s a beautiful card.” Max looks at the card and can make out the drawing of a stick family on the front.
“That’s me, you and there’s mum.”
Luna points to everyone in the picture and Max smiles as he admires the adorable art work on the card.
“I love it!”
“Wuv you daddy!”
Max chats with Luna a bit longer and promises to make arrangements for another FaceTime call again soon!
A couple minutes later Max hears Helen coming down the stairs. He gets up and walks towards her. When he reaches her he takes her hand and starts singing 🎵You, you are my universe and I just want to put you first🎵 Max starts singing.
Helen let’s out a little chuckle.
“Are you laughing at my singing?” Max asks her. By his tone Helen can tell he’s not joking.
“No. I’m not laughing at your singing. You just never cease to amaze me with how sweet you are and how much you lift me up just when I need it!”
“You’re my universe!”
Helen smiles at him and pulls him in for a hug and kisses him on the cheek. When they pull apart, she takes Max’s hand and let’s him lead her over to the couch where they both sit down.
“Did you get enough rest?” Max asks with a look of concern on his face. He knows for the duration of Helen’s pregnancy he won’t stop making sure he does his very best for her!
Helen nods her head and smiles.
“Finally. I’m so relieved. I feel better than I have in days!”
Hearing this is music to Max’s ears!
“I just got off a FaceTime call with Gwen and Luna. Luna called to say happy Father’s Day and show me the card she made for me. Also, Gwen didn’t say this in the call, but she and Calvin hope you’re feeling better. I uh, texted them to say we had an emergency after you called me yesterday. Then after our talk this morning, I said it was a medical emergency. But I didn’t elaborate.”
“Thanks, luv.”
Helen is grateful for the fact that Max didn’t share too much with Gwen and Calvin. However, hearing Luna’s name really makes her miss her little girl! She can hardly wait to see her again to giver her some long overdue hugs and kisses!
“How about I go make you some ginger tea I picked up at the store today?”
Helen nods and Max makes his way over to the kitchen. A few minutes later he is joining her on the couch again. Helen takes a few sips of her tea and puts it down on the table beside her. Max watches as she takes something out of the pocket of her robe.
“I realized when I was getting ready to come back downstairs, that I forgot to show you something. Do you want to see our baby?”
Max nods his head and smiles. Helen doesn’t have to ask him that question twice!
Helen hands him the three ultrasound photos that were given to her at the hospital yesterday.
Helen notices tears in Max’s eyes as she watches him look at the photos.
“Wow. Look at that!”
Max stares at the photos of an embryo that is around one inches long. The tiny life he created with Helen! It makes his heart burst with love for her and their little bundle of joy! It makes him so happy to know that he is going to make Helen’s wish of having a baby of her own and being a mum finally come true! Of course, he knows Helen loves Luna but he knows it means so much for her to have her own baby!
All of the sudden Max is lifting up Helen’s shirt “How are you doing peanut?” Max leans down to kiss her flat stomach, causing her to giggle. A sound he loves.
“Peanut? Is that the name you’re using to refer to our unborn child?” Helen asks, raising one of her eyebrows.
“Until we know what we’re having.”
Max continues placing kisses on her belly and thinks of what he wants to say to their little peanut.
Max clears his throat and begins speaking as he stares down at Helen’s belly.
“Peanut, you don’t know us yet but I’m your daddy Max and your mum Helen is the kindest, selfless, smartest, and most beautiful person I have ever met inside and out. She’s already an amazing mum to your big sister Luna. By the way, I know Luna can hardly wait to have a little brother or sister to play with!”
Helen starts to cry happy tears. Seeing this man giving all this love to their unborn child. Taking care of her when she needs it. She feels very lucky !
When Max finishes he sits up and notices it looks like Helen is about to speak.
“Um hi peanut.” Helen looks up at Max smiling as she scrunches her nose and thinks of what she wants to say.
“Me and your dad, as well as your big sister Luna love you very much! Your dad Max is one of the most caring people I have ever met in my life. He has always been there for me when I needed it. He makes me laugh. One of the things I love most about him, would have to be his optimism. Whenever I'm feeling down he always knows how to lift me up. You have the best dad in the world and I can’t wait for you to meet him!”
Max’s eyes fill with tears and he pulls Helen close to him so he can whisper, “I love you so much.” into her ear.
“I love you more.”
“Not possible.”
They are both quiet for a moment before Helen speaks again.
“I’m going to call Roderick tomorrow and resign.”
“You sure?” Max asks, as he rubs Helen’s back.
Helen nods.
“London doesn’t feel like home anymore. It hasn’t been everything I thought it would be.”
“How so?”
“I thought coming home was the right thing. Having boxed up that part of my life I felt I was running away from, to become a whole new person and move to a city I didn’t know. With people I didn’t know. However, now after being here for a few months and not being able to make things better with my mum, not really having you here…I know I told you to stay and fight for New Amsterdam, and I don’t regret that. But being away from you and Luna isn’t working anymore.”
“If you’re absolutely sure. No pressure.”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything! London is my past, you and Luna are my future. I don’t want to spend another minute not being married to you! I can hardly wait to call you my husband!”
“Ok woman. We have a wedding to plan!”
“We have a wedding to plan!” Helen want to scream from the rooftops that she is marrying this man! The man of her dreams!
Helen moves closer to Max so she can cuddle with him. She missed him so much these past several weeks!
They enjoy relaxing for a while like this until they’re both fast asleep and lying down, Helen lying down on top of Max with her arms wrapped around him and never wanting to let go!