Chapter Text
The child wasn't planned at all.
Charles and Max barely got along, they mostly roamed around each other, bickering at each other since they were kids. They grew up together, constantly fighting and trying to be better than the other.
Yes, maybe after Max had presented as an omega, Charles had developed an interest in him that went beyond the simple respect for a very good athlete, but that didn’t mean that Charles had a crush on him.
Then they ended up hooking up after a party and shit - Charles didn’t know Max could still get pregnant even if he wasn't in heat.
He should have paid more attention in biology classes.
And maybe he should have realized sooner what was going on. He could have guessed when Max arrived at the Monza circuit white as sheets, interrupting the drivers meeting twice to rush to the toilet and throw up. Food poisoning, the little shit had said and Charles had believed him.
Then he found Max on the bathroom floor again in a hotel in Baku, clutching his stomach and shaking in sync with violent gags.
“Food poisoning doesn't last two weeks, Max!” Charles said, putting a hand on Max's forehead, steadying him as another wave of nausea hit him.
They acted just like that. They fought, they argued, but they had their own twisted way of always looking around for each other.
“Fuck you,” Max craocked out, always being a little bitch.
Charles rolled his eyes, gently helping him up, holding him by his armpits. “You stink, you can't go back in there,” he said, supporting most of Max's weight. His smell was actually weird, it sounded off , but it wasn’t exactly stinking. Something in the pit of Charles’ stomach didn’t want anyone to smell it, he physically didn’t want Max to go back in a room full of other people.
He guided Max to the sink and helped him splash some cold water on his pale face. Max's legs were buckling, he was breathing hard.
“Hey, Max? You with me?” Charles asked, cupping his cheek, trying to meet his gaze.
Max, dazed and out of breath, spit out a harsh, “I hate you,” and pushed Charles away. He was surprisingly strong considering that he was sick.
Charles let him be, because that was exactly how they were: Max was an omega, but he'd never let Charles act as an alpha around him. He always needed to point out that he didn't need help and Charles loved that about him.
He couldn’t help but worry, though.
Especially when on Thursday morning Max arrived late at the drivers’ interview, looking like an absolute wreck. He was paler than the day before and he looked like he hadn't slept in days.
There were a few questions thrown at him - after all he was a world champion who hadn't won any races in months. Max replied with tight, short sentences and to everyone else it looked like he was sulking. To Charles it was clear that Max was feeling sick. Again.
He planned to confront him, but Max rushed away as soon as the interview ended and Charles couldn’t find him anywhere.
On Friday morning Max skipped the drivers’ interview only to appear at the door of Charles’ hotel room late in the afternoon.
In tears.
“Max? Oh God, what happened to you?” Charles asked confusedly, ushering him inside as quickly as possible.
Max was ghostly pale, he had both hands clutched tightly around his stomach and he was all hunched over.
“Max what happened?” he insisted, feeling the omega’s distressed scent. Whatever it was, it had to be bad if Max was so upset. “Did- did anyone do anything to you?”
Max shook his head. He gave him a look, something that looked like an Are you crazy?
“Do you want me to call someone for you?”
Another head shock. “No. No, I just need to talk to you,” he said quietly, his voice surprisingly steady given his state. “Can I sit down?”
Charles gasped. “Shit, of course. Do you still have a stomachache?” It made sense, he hadn't moved his hands from his stomach. Charles only hoped Max wouldn't puke on the couch.
“I am pregnant.”
I am pregnant.
Pregnant.
Max.
Pregnant.
“What?”
“When we hooked up. Yeah, I- the throwing up wouldn't stop, so Christian told me to see a doctor. Yeah, then the doctor said- I mean, that is all so fucked up.”