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Charles didn’t believe it at first. He thought that his team were playing a joke on him, but they wasn’t. Lewis was really coming to Ferrari, and Carlos is leaving him. First it was Seb, and now it’s Carlos. He’s not sure which is worse.
When he arrives back at his apartment, he sees Carlos on the sofa on a call. He goes straight into his bedroom and Changes into comfier clothes, he can’t help but feel angry at Carlos. Why wouldn’t he tell him?
He hears Carlos ending the call and then footsteps coming towards the bedroom, Charles turns onto his side and looks away from the door.
“Hi, Charlie. Are you okay Cariño?” Carlos says happily, sitting on the edge of the bed. Charles sniffles and hides his face into his arms.
“No” He says quietly, Carlos frowns and rests a hand on the Monegasques back.
“What’s wrong, Darling?” Carlos asks softly, Charles whines and shifts further away from his boyfriend.
“Papa you lied” Charles mutters, Carlos moves closer and runs his fingers through Charles hair gently.
“When did Papa lie to you, baby?” Carlos asks nervously, although he’s pretty sure he knows where this conversation is going.
“Papa say we together or nothing, Papa is leaving me. So now we nothing” Charles voice cracks as he speaks and tears roll down his face, Carlos feels his heart break as he pulls Charles to sit up.
“Sweetie, i’m sorry. There isn’t anything i can do, i don’t want to have a new teammate. But i’ll still be here for you, Papa isn’t leaving you” Carlos tries to explain, Charles just sobs and shakes his head.
“No! Papa will no see me anymore, uncle Seb went bye-byes too!” Charles cries, Carlos wipes the boys tears away and kisses the top of his head.
“This is not the same as uncle Seb, Honey. We live together, and i’ll still be on the grid with you. Uncle Seb is in Switzerland, remember?” Carlos says, Charles wiggles out of his grasp and turns away.
“No! Papa is leaving me, i don’t want you! I want uncle Maxy” Charles shouts, Carlos feels tears in his eyes as his little tries to get as far away from him as possible.
“Baby-“
“No, Papa!” Charles screams, Carlos sighs and grabs the pacifier from the bedside table. He places it in Charles mouth before walking back into the living room to grab his phone and call Max.
“Hey, Mate” Max voice rings out once he picks up the call.
“Hi Max, are you free right now?” Carlos asks, Max hums in response.
“Yeah, I’m just in my flat. Why is everything okay?” Max questions, Carlos runs a hand through his hair and sighs.
“Not really, Charles is little and he knows i’m leaving Ferrari. He, uh, doesn’t want to see me right now. He wants you, could you look after him for the night?” Carlos mumbles, Max winces on the other side of the phone but agrees.
“Yeah, Mate. You can bring him over here, don’t take it to heart. He’ll just be upset, but i’m sure he’ll want you in a few hours” Max says, Carlos shrugs but thanks him and tells him they will be over soon.
He packs a bag for Charles and Changes him before taking the younger boy down to Max’s apartment. Charles is silent on the walk and keeps his head down.
“Hey, thanks for doing this” Carlos smiles once Max opens the door, Max nods and opens his arms for Charles to jump into.
“It’s no problem, we will have fun together right buddy?” Max lifts Charles onto his hip and the younger latches onto him happily.
“I’ll come and pick him up in the morning..” Carlos mutters, handing Charles’ bag over. He presses a kiss to Charles’ cheek before turning around and walking back to their flat.
Max places Charles down on the Sofa and turns on the TV, he can tell by the look on Charles’ face he isn’t in the mood for playing with his toys. Max rummages through the bag and pulls out a paw patrol colouring book.
“Do you want to colour, Charlie?” Charles shrugs and takes the book out of his hands, Max hands over the pens and watches the boy colour slowly.
“Maxy, why is Papa leaving me?” Charles questions, Max looks at him sadly and places a hand on his knee.
“Papa isn’t leaving you, Char. He’s going to a new team, and you will have a new teammate. But that doesn’t mean he’s leaving you in general, you’ll still live together and see each other all the time” Max explains, Charles whimpers and sucks on his pacifier for comfort.
“But Uncle Seb left” Max nods and wipes the boys tears away gently.
“That’s because Uncle Seb lives in Switzerland so he can’t see you as much anymore. But Papa will be living here, and you’ll see him all the time. Because you love eachother, Char. He wouldn’t leave you” Max promises, Charles just shrugs and rubs his eyes.
“Maxy, sleepy” He mutters, Max stands up and ruffles the boys hair before walking into the kitchen and preparing a bottle.
Charles is asleep within ten minutes so Max carries him to the guest room and lets him sleep. An hour later he hears crying from the bedroom and jumps up immediately.
“Oh Charlie” He says sadly once he sees the Monegasque sobbing and gasping for breath.
“Maxy!” Charles lifts his arms up and makes grabby hands, the Dutchman rushes over and picks the boy up. Pacing around the bedroom to try and settle him.
“Papa” Charles sobs, Max nods and shushes him gently.
“Shh, Schat. I will take you to Papa, but first you need a change okay?” Max responds, Charles nods and leans on Max’s’ shoulder.
“Maxy sleepover?” Charles looks at him with puppy eyes, Max thinks for a moment but nods happily.
“Let’s go and surprise Papa then, hey?” He asks, Charles nods excitedly so Max grabs their bags and carries the little to Carlos.
Charles weakly knocks on the door and Carlos opens it after a few moments waiting. He looks up and his eyes widen when he sees Charles.
“Charlie?” He questions, Charles leans forward and tries to reach for his Caregiver.
“Papa!” Carlos immediately pulls the boy into his arms and rocks him slowly.
“Guess who’s having a sleepover!” Max shouts as he walks into the apartment. Carlos just shakes his head with a smile and closes the door behind him.
“Uncle Max is staying over huh?” He asks his little, Charles giggles and nods.
“Uncle Maxy is the best!”
“Yeah, he really is” Carlos smiles as he watches his friend walk around the living room.
“M’ sorry i was mean to you Papa. I love you” Charles presses his pacifier against Carlos’ cheek multiple times in apology. Carlos chuckles and pulls him closer.
“It’s okay, Cariño. I know you were upset, i love you too baby” Carlos says, He walks into the living room and sees Max on the sofa flicking through the TV.
“Hey Charlie, do you want to watch Cars with me?” Max asks, Charles jumps up and shrieks, nodding rapidly. Carlos places him down and watches fondly as the boy cuddles into Max’s side.
Max was really the best uncle.