Family (Maxiel)

                                    

                                          
Prompt: "Just take me home"
                          
Couple: Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo
                          
"Woah!" Max barely caught himself on his elbows as he almost landed on top of the small child. The little girl burst into tears as Max pulled himself up and knelt in front of her. "Hey, hey. I'm sorry. Are you ok?" She shook her head as Max took a second to observe her. She couldn't have been older than 4. 
                          
"What's your name?" 
                          
"Emmy," The girl said between sobs.
                          
"Hi Emmy, I'm Max. I'm very sorry for tripping and making us both fall over. Do you think you can tell me who's looking after you?"
                          
"My mum," Emmy sniffled.
                          
"Do you know where she is?" Emmy just shook her head.
                          
"When was the last time you saw her? Was it before we fell over?"
                          
Emmy shrugged before replying, "I don't know. I looked at her and she was gone. I was trying to find her when we fell over. I am lost." Emmy started to cry once more. 
                          
"Shh, shhh. We'll find her, don't worry."
                          
××××
                          
Max and Emmy stood in the same spot for a good 10 minutes, not only so that Max could calm the young girl down, but also to see if Emmy's mum turned up. She did not. And now, Max was stuck looking after a 4-year-old. On race day. The two of them wandered back to the Red Bull garage, Max holding Emmy's hand tight, so she didn't get lost a second time. Once was plenty for the young girl. 
                          
"Hey, there's our superstar! How's it going, Max? And who is this? Is there something I need to know, Mr Verstappen, cause this sure doesn't look like Blue-Jaye to me?" Max should have known he was going to be bombarded with questions, especially by Christian. Not only was his team boss nosy, but also in charge of making sure he wasn't making dumb life choices. Max guessed walking around with an unknown child who definitely wasn't his sister was probably not a great choice.
                          
"This is Emmy. She was lost in the Paddock and I tripped over her. We can't find her mum. I didn't know what to do," Max attempted to explain himself.
                          
"Ok, Vicky can look after Emmy and I will get someone else to run down to the office to try and find her mum. Sound good?" Max was reluctant to give Emmy to his press officer. He trusted Vicky, of course, but in the short time he had known Emmy, he had grown rather attached to her. 
                          
When Vicky reached her arms out for the small child, Emmy tossed her arms around Max's neck, tightly gluing herself to him. "I want Maxie."
                          
"It's alright Vick, I'll keep looking after her. Just try and find her mum, yeah?" Max would never admit it, but he was rather relieved. "Why don't we go see Uncle Danny, hey Em?"
                          
××××
                          
Max let Emmy knock on the door once they finally reached the Australian's room. They were met with Daniel's confused face when the door swung open. But could you blame him? I mean, Daniel was met with the sight of Max Verstappen holding a very unfamiliar child.
                          
"Uhhh, Max? Did I miss something?" Max chuckled. He pushed past Daniel into the room and set Emmy down before attempting to find something that would amuse the girl for a while. When he had found a couple tennis balls that Daniel used to juggle, Max sat down and began to explain the story of Emmy to his still very confused boyfriend. 
                          
"And now we're here."
                          
"And now you're here." Daniel repeated under his breath. "You know, I'm proud of you Maxie. You've really grown up. When we first met, you would have tripped over Emmy and took off again without even looking back."
                          
"Wow, thanks Danny, way to make me feel good."
                          
"No, I'm serious. You've really matured. And it's definitely a good thing." Max simply smiled at Dan before tucking himself against Daniel's chest. Dan breathed a kiss against Max's temple. It wasn't long before they were joined by Emmy, the young girl placing herself right in between them and cuddling in. They were like an Emmy sandwich. 
                          
"We're going to have to go to the driver's parade soon. What's your plan for then?" Max didn't have to think for very long to answer that question.
                          
"Easy. We take her with us."
                          
××××
                          
"Max. Daniel. And special guest?" The interviewer seemed just as confused as everyone else at Emmy's presence on the driver's parade truck.
                          
"This is Emmy. She lost her mum and I found her. So, Emmy's mum, if you're seeing this, don't worry. Emmy is safe with us, but she does miss you. Feel free to come to the Red Bull hospitality and pick her up. Until then we're taking good care of her." Max quickly explained.
                          
"That's really sweet of you guys. You look like a little family, the three of you." Daniel wrapped an arm around Max as the interviewer laughed and moved on. Daniel had seen Max's eyes light up when the interviewer made that comment, and he was determined to make it real. Not with Emmy of course, she had a family, but someone else that would fit right into their weird little family.
                          
××××
                          
"I'm really glad that we found Emmy's mum. And before the race started to. I don't think I could handle racing and worrying about Em." The boys both collapsed onto the couch, seeing the balls that were still on the ground from Emmy earlier.
                          
"Yep, and we got her phone number too so we can see Em again." Max's mouth was already open to say something when Daniel continued speaking. "Yes Max, it is too soon to message."
                          
"Awwwww. I miss her already though."
                          
"Me too but you'll have to deal with me for now." Dan couldn't help but grin at his own joke. The room descended into a comfortable silence, as both Max and Dan let the events of the day sink in.
                          
"I was thinking. I couldn't help but notice how happy you looked when that interviewer said we looked like a family, so... I was thinking, maybe, only if you wanted to, we could look at adopting?"
                          
"Really Danny? You mean it?" Max eyes welled up with tears at the thought of having a child that they could call their own.
                          
"Yeah, of course I mean it. I want nothing more than to start a family with you. You're the love of my life. My soulmate. My ride or die. So yeah, let's do it. Let's have a baby together." Dan wiped away the tears that were slipping down Max's cheeks, before wiping away his own tears. Max kissed Dan softly before muttering out a simple, "For now just take me home."
                          
××××
                          
As the boys held their baby girl in their arms for the first time, they couldn't help but realise just how lucky they were. Due to their celebrity status it hadn't exactly been as hard as other couples had it, but the process still wasn't exactly easy. And now they had their little girl all to themselves.
                          
"What are you going to name her?" The nurse broke the veil of silent happiness that had filled the room. 
                          
"I was thinking maybe Emilia?" Max looked at Dan to see whether he liked the suggestion or not.
                          
"Like Bottas' wife or the Mother of Dragons?"
                          
"Neither, you idiot. Like Emmy. The one who made us realise that we should do this at all."
                          
"Emilia Verstappen-Ricciardo. I love it." Just at that moment, Emilia gave a little smile. "So does she apparently." Daniel sent his gaze over to Max, taking the time to admire just how perfect he looked holding their little sunshine tight to his chest. Daniel knew he was going to take such good care of them. After all, they were his family. 
                          
Author's Note:
                          
Another really cute pairing, but I mean, aren't they all? Thanks for reading! :)