★
"And you just hold him like this."
Anastasia looked intently as Max held the sleeping toddler in his arms. It really hadn’t been Anastasia’s idea to get the child, but Cyrus liked children, so she thought she would try to like them a little more. But first, she needed to learn how to handle them, and Max and Lyle had some she could learn to use. So now she and Max were in his home, trying to learn how to be a mother.
Max offered the child to Anastasia and she took the child carefully. Max watched with sharp eyes as she took the child. Anastasia thought that the child was oddly shaped and its weight was awkward.
Anastasia looked up to Max with wide eyes and he smiled back at her. He leaned over and adjusted her hands. “Yeah, like that, you’re learning pretty well.”
Max taught her every way to take care of a child from feeding them to putting them to bed to changing their diapers to playing with them. Anastasia had to admit that it was easier just taking care of them than actually interacting with them. Though none of his children seemed to have any problems with her, thought to her, they all seemed largely indifferent.
It wasn’t until she interacted with one of his more shy children that she began to change her thoughts on the matter. This one seemed to be different than the others. She was more shy and reserved, much like Anastasia was. With this small child, she finally clicked and decided that, perhaps, having one of her own might not be so bad.









