As promised Emma arrives at 6 o clock on the dot, with Chinese food and two bottles of wine.

“Why hello there handsome,” Emma says as she walks into the hallway.

“Hello, there pretty,” Maxwell says as he takes the bottles of wine and the food from Emma.

“So how are the boys holding up with the whole situation?”

“Well they are dealing it rather alright; I think. Of course, Zachary is too young to fully understand it. Darryl is understanding it more and more every time we talk about it.”

“Well, luckily for them their dad is a shrink and can help them,” Emma says teasingly.

“That is true. Well, shall we go to the boys? They are in the living room.”

Emma nods and takes the bag of food back from Maxwell and starts walking towards the living room. When she enters the boys look up and when they see who it is, they stand up and run towards her.

“Emma.” they both squeal at the same time.

Emma puts down the bag of food on the table and crouches down to hug both boys.

“Hello darlings, how are you two doing?”

“Good,” Darryl replies

“Hungry,” Zachary says

“I’m glad I took dinner with me then,” Emma chuckles. “Shall we go to the kitchen then we can eat?”

No reply is given while the boys move towards the kitchen, Emma and Maxwell trail behind them.

As soon as both boys are brought to bed Emma opens one of the bottles of wine and pours it in two glasses. Maxwell sits down on one of the kitchen chairs and Emma sits down next to him.

“So, you finally got a new manny.”

“Yes, luckily.”

“When will he start or don’t you know yet?”

“Got to wait till he has his visa and some other papers and some test results. When he got those, I’ll be planning with him when he can start.”

“I see. Anyway, on the phone you mentioned you think he’s struggling with his sexuality. Why is your psychology mind already trying to be a shrink for him?”

“Am not. It’s just the fact he was all like that he wanted something new and what not and that he’s figuring out what he loves. I remember from myself that I had a hard period around that time too.”

“Yeah okay. Just don’t scare him away with being all shrink like on him, promise me.”

“I won’t. Don’t worry. I do need the help and you know that too.”

“That’s why I’m telling you not to act like a shrink around him.”

“Yeah yeah, anyway let’s talk about something else.”

“Nu-uh, let me see that cute boy. Because who knows maybe you might develop a crush on him and of course, I do have to check him out first.” Emma giggles when she says that.

Maxwell just shakes his head at Emma, nonetheless, he still shows her a picture of the boy with a cute face. He’s way too old for an eighteen-year-old, even though he has just turned twenty-eight himself. Which means he’s only ten years older than the boy, which is like only a minor age gap if you compare that of Kate and her new lover.

“Max, hey Max stop dreaming.” The nudge in his ribs wakes him up from his daydream and he watches Emma who just grins at him.

“You’re dreaming of him already. That’s fast even for you boy.”

“Stop Emma, was just letting my mind wander and came on the subject of Kate again. I should stop that. Especially now that she’s moving from the country.”

“Yes, you should. So how about we go out this weekend so you can forget about her. Your mom doesn’t have to babysit, my little sister would love to babysit and earn a few bucks.”

“You sure your sister can handle it?”

“Of course, she is boo, she grew up.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll just leave a long list with numbers and whatnot for her.”

“If that makes you happy then be my guest.”

Their evening stayed slow after that conversation, they enjoyed the whine and the fact that they’ve finally had some time for each other after the long while. Emma even ended up staying the night because she didn’t feel like going home. Surely Maxwell didn’t even mind her staying and sharing the same bed with him. He thought it was nice to finally have someone next to him again for once.

It’s finally Friday and Maxwell is getting himself ready to go out with Emma tonight. Emma won’t tell him where they are going, no matter how much he’s been bugging her to tell him.

Maxwell stands in front of his closet, staring blankly at the clothes that are in there. He lets his eyes wander to the pile of clothes that are gathered around the ground because he has decided not to wear those. He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, wondering if this is a good idea or not. It’s been such a long time since he last went out.

When the doorbell rings, Maxwell still hasn’t decided what he wants to wear so he trails towards the door in his sweatpants. Once he opens the door Emma shakes her head at him. He looks at Emma her outfit, she’s wearing a nice red dress with her cleavage showing a little. She has a tad bit more makeup on than normal and she has her hair curled.

“You look nice.”

“Well, and you look like a hobo. Why aren’t you dressed, Maxwell? Also, where is your shirt, hello my little sister is here also she doesn’t have to see you like this.” she rattles on.

“Oops, uhm sorry,” Maxwell says with a sheepish grin on his face and hastily grabs a jacket from the coat rack and pulls it on. “Anyways come in. To answer your question why I’m not dressed yet. It’s because I don’t know what to wear so if you’ll kindly help me with that.”

“Of course, dear I’ll help you with that,” Emma says as she steps in, her little sister follows her with a small blush on her face.

Maxwell remembers that when they were younger that Sanna used to have a crush on him. Luckily, she grew out of it and what Maxwell understood from Emma is that she’s into a relation. He just chuckles at the blush on her face.

“Hello Sanna, the boys are in the living room. They’ve already had a shower and are in their jammies. Once your sister is done with dressing me, I’ll fill you in on the rest.”

“Okay, now go before Em gets mad at you.”

Maxwell nods and makes his way towards his bedroom as fast as he can.

After what felt like hours, but what was only thirty minutes Maxwell is finally dressed and Emma is satisfied by how he looks. He’s wearing his boots, with extra skinny-legged pants, a white V-neck, and his leather jacket. Emma also fixed his hair, but she made it look like he just came out of bed. She also said that if he would touch it to straighten it, she would kick him hard in the nuts.

When Sanna has the list with emergency numbers and had a whole list of rules and whatnot Emma drags Maxwell with her towards the door to leave.

“Bye boys, dad loves you,” Maxwell yells before Emma closes the door.

“Our uber is here within a few minutes.” She announced.

When they enter the uber, Emma gets into the front seat. Instead of telling the location, she shows it on her phone. Maxwell tries to look at the screen but he can’t see what’s on the screen so he just has to wait till they have arrived to see where Emma is taking him.

Maxwell can’t believe his eyes the moment they stop in front of the club. It’s one of the biggest gay clubs in England and there is a line with a bouncer in front of the door. Maxwell gets out and follows Emma towards the bouncer.

“Hello, I’m on the list of the DJ playing tonight. The name is Emma Walker.”

The bouncer checks the list and after a few seconds, he steps aside to let them in. Maxwell’s jaw drops as Emma drags him inside.

“How, what, how?” Maxwell can’t form a sentence. His mind too flabbergasted by this whole situation.

“Remember that ex of mine, Paul? He was into music, right? Through him I got to know Elijah, he is a frequent DJ here. So, I send him a text message to see if he could get me on the list and he could.”

Maxwell lets it just sink in as his eyes scan the crowd. Before he got together with Kate, he never really got out like this, yeah once or twice maybe but it wasn’t something regular. Now he has kids and he can’t just leave them with his parents to go out, but he’s happy that Emma got this done for him.

“I’m getting us some drinks; you go loosen up,” Emma says and she disappears before he knows it.

Awkwardly Maxwell moves himself a bit more towards the dancefloor, swaying his hips along with the beat of the music as his eyes still scan the room. He feels a tap on his shoulder and he turns around, looking straight into the bluest eyes he has ever seen.

“Hello there handsome, would you like a dance.” The male says in a low voice.

Maxwell nods and lets himself be turned around again, warm hands are placed on his hips and a body is pressed against his. Their hips swaying on the beat, stubbles tickling his neck.

He honestly thinks it feels weird, but he slightly shrugs his shoulders and gets that thought out of his head. Emma is right, he needs to loosen up. There is nothing wrong to dance with a male, he’s single and maybe ready to mingle. He doesn’t know yet. He just needs to find the right person, not only for himself but also for Darryl and Zachary. So, it’s not like he would easily let himself be dragged into some hook up at a night club.

And because of his two kids that he loves dearly, he did not let himself get allured into some hookup, no matter how handsome and charming the male was. He wants the best for the boys and thus also for himself. A hook up at a club isn’t defined as the best for himself. It didn’t withhold him to have a fun night with Emma though. He is thankful that she dragged his ass out of the house.