Max Talbot, Family Man?

*February 11th, 2014*

Finally we were all safely in the Brossard house. We even had all made it to church the day before. Today Max was showing my family around Montreal while I put together the gifts for our attendants. Now this didn't mean I was alone, far from it. Sofia and Vero were both here with their kids to help. "I do not want to know what you got Marc-André. I want to be surprised when he opens it." Vero said firmly.

I laughed. "I'll do that one first so you only see the outside. They're all similar overall though." I pulled everything Max and I had gotten for Marc-André and pulled it to my side of the table. "I will say, however, I can't hide part of it." I put the picnic sets in the middle of the table.

Both Sofia and Vero leaned closer. "Ooh! Those are nice. Where did you get this idea?" I parceled it out for the four attendants we had, keeping Marc-André's for myself.

I chuckled. "Dani and Mon gave us a similar gift for Christmas. I know those two, they were wanting something like this for themselves. This was the start of our ideas." I pulled the blue basket closest to me. "We just kind of expanded it so we could include things they love too." Into the basket I first put the Light My Fire Meal Kit 2.0 we had gotten for them. Sure we had only gotten 2 of the kits for each of them, but only Marc-André and Vero needed more. "What I find really funny is that as we brainstormed we figured out just how similar our friends were."

Sofia laughed as she began putting together Monique's basket. "I think I see how. They have similar needs but you still have brought out their unique personalities as well." She picked up the umbrella I had found for Mon and grinned. "What a happy umbrella."

I smiled. "It's very much Mon. Bright, happy and creative. She's always losing her umbrella so I thought this was perfect." I carefully put the solar charger we had found in the basket. "The armrest table that's in front of you V, Dani loves having a glass of wine after work but forgets it if she sets it on a side or coffee table so that will help her relax more." The Tuffo Blanket went in next as padding. I then put the book we had found for the guys 52 Great Cheap Dates. From there it was easy to put the little things we had found. The only thing that didn't fit was the Micro Table we got for everyone. Those would be tied on the side soon though.

Vero looked at the rest of Dani's gifts with mirth showing in her eyes. "Ok I have to ask. Why the Imperial Logo?" Of course her timing couldn't have been worse as Dani and Mon came in with Gran after having a final fitting with Max's parents for their finery.

Hearing the word imperial Dani piped up with. "Silence Rebel Scum!" I couldn't help but bust out laughing. They came in and sat down. "That's easy. She's a Jedi and a Rebel, I'm a Sith and an Imperial Right Hand and Mon is a bounty hunter."

Gran sighed as she sat down. "Those three would watch those movies every chance they got. Used to drive their folks crazy." With a lot of laughter we finished putting together all of the baskets and got them stashed in our room to keep mother out of them. These were for our friends and not for her to look down on.

Soon enough Max and the rest of my family was back. I heard the kids first of course. They sounded happy and even more excited than yesterday. I was feeding the kids when I was inundated by the 5 of them. "Tante!" It was amazing how quickly they all had adopted the French words for aunt and uncle. "Oncle Max said that we're having a party tonight. I thought you weren't getting married until a few days from now." Oh Ella I loved how quick she was.

I crooked a finger and they all leaned in. "We are having a party for a good reason," I looked around and saw that Max was busy talking to Nate and dad. "Today is Oncle Max's birthday so we are having a party for that with people who can not make our reception due to other plans for that day. Do you remember why them not being here for that day is ok with us?"

Nick snickered. "Cause Oncle Max wants to remember your anniversary so you're getting married on Valentine's Day." I shook my head at his reason.

"Not entirely true Nick. I would remember any day your beloved Tante and I chose to wed. It is just easier to get the kids baptized when they are smaller than waiting until summer. As for why we are having my party tonight I have cousins who had plans they would rather not cancel, even for a family wedding. First Valentines Day is not one you want to introduce your other half to your family on. We love them so we have no problem with this idea. They are the first invitees for our big reception this summer." Damn I had hoped Max hadn't been listening. He leaned over and kissed me briefly to much retching by the boys. "I hope your morning was productive."

I smiled. "Very. We got everything I wanted done finished and they are hidden from prying eyes." He smiled at me and then ruffled Kevin's hair.

"Come on buddy. It might be my birthday but that doesn't excuse me from things. My mama wants me to go to the store so she can cook all my favorites for dinner. I just know that you guys would like to help." Of course they did, it gave them more time to get to know him well.

After they were gone I sighed in relief. "Oh thank god. I had no idea how I was going to get him out of here before his cake came."

Sofia laughed. "You haven't told me what his cake even looks like. I know it's from Joli Gáteau but that's all." I smiled like the cat who ate the canary and mimed zipping my mouth shut. I had worked hard to keep this cake a secret, it had to stay that way until it got here.

Then the doorbell rang. I passed the bottles off to people and went to answer it. "Mme Talbot? Je suis ici à partir Joli gâteau avec le premier gâteau de la semaine pour vous. (Madame Talbot? I am here from Joli Gáteau with the first cake of the week for you.)" I smiled and let the man in.

"Nous vous remercions de les livrer, à la fois aujourd'hui et vendredi. Se il vous plaît, entrer et je vais vérifier celui-ci et signer sur elle. (Thank you for delivering both today and Friday. Please, come in and I'll check it out and sign on it.)" I lead him to the kitchen where he put down the box.

I opened it carefully and could not keep the smile off my face. It was perfect! "Ce est la perfection! Je suis convaincu que mon mari va adorer. (This is perfection! I am convinced that my husband will love it.)" I moved it out of the way so it was not as obvious. I then signed off on the delivery slip and added a big smiley face. He nodded to me and wished us a good day. After closing the door I came back in to many expectant eyes. "Fine. I'll show you, but don't tell anyone not here!" They quickly moved around the island and I brought the box back over.

Unopened the box to gasps of surprise and delight. "Oh my goodness it _is_ perfect! It is clearly the two major sides of his year." Inside the box was a cake that was half a golf course and half an ice rink. In the center was written Joyeux Anniversaire Maxime! Then I dug it the sparkling candles I would be placing on the cake, the numbers 3 and 0. Lucie chuckled. "I didn't want them to write it on the cake. But these were too good to pass up."

Lucie smiled. "He sparkles so they are perfect. Even the cake is completely Maxime. Now put it away so he does not ruin the surprise." I listened to her wise words, putting the cake in the fridge on the lowest shelf. I then went and opened the decorations in the den to keep them more of a secret. It wasn't a lot of things for his birthday party but there were a few things. We stuck with a similar color theme to the wedding. Of course I had spoken to Bruno and Marc-André about this and their idea was to honor his career and his birthday. So waiting I had 4 sets of NHL birthday party supplies 3 in the teams he had been on and 1 generic NHL.

Right now Sofia was accepting a delivery of tables and stuff from the place she used. We had done a lot of heavy lifting, well the boys had, I had done the directing. The Family Room was 98% clear of things for the wedding. I was not going to make anyone older than Max sit on the floor so we had our dinette set for those adults who couldn't get on the floor. The rest of us would be on the floor on giant pillows. We would use the tables that were being delivered for the buffet Lucie was creating.

Sofia directed the delivery while I once again tried to help Lucie. "How can I help Lucie? You shouldn't have to cook everything by yourself." She just smiled at me and kept working. I didn't see any recipes so I couldn't figure how to help that way. "Seriously please let me help."

She sighed and put down the knife she had in her hand. "My darling daughter, I will not be cooking everything myself the family is bringing things as well. The best way you can help is to stay out of my way and keep those babies happy." She smiled and went back to work.

I turned defeated and found Max looking at me. Walking over he drew me close. "Relax mon amour. Mama knows what she is doing. It really is a compliment that she took over the kitchen. She only does that to people she thinks need a break from it."

I started trying to sputter out something when Sofia came over and laid a hand on my shoulder. "She's trying to take care of you the way you do for Max and the kids. He is right it is a great compliment. Now, come help me decorate while your bebes sleep." She took me out of the Family Room and into the den. Max of course followed and gasped when he saw what I had. Sofia just smiled. "I do not know how you came up with this idea but it is parfait."

Max looked at me like a fish out of water. "You... This is my whole career!" He kissed me passionately which we heard about as the kiddos found us all. A chorus of EW made Sofia chuckle and Max break our kiss. He looked over and found them covering their eyes. "Oh come now. You must know that I love her by now. Come see how she loves me." He showed off the decorations and even had Ella and Jeanne pull out the plates, utensils and napkins to form a pattern with them. The girls loved that direction and ran with it. I had one more surprise in our room so I snuck up there and grabbed it.

It was for a boy but seeing that some of the other gifts I had were on the older side, this was a nice balance. I also had to put the gifts from the kids and myself into bags. I had gotten him 2 shirts I knew he would find funny and wear, a mug that the guys would find funny that proclaimed him a Trophy Husband and then some odds and ends he needed for the road. I then turned my attention to the ones from the kids. I went with things Max could use and play with them with. I had gotten two little golf sets for babies they would each be giving him a set and either an on the go cold brew mug or a book on Experimenting with Babies. I attached tags of 'Let's play papa!' to them and called it good.

Bringing everything down I found that we had gained some people. Specifically people I didn't know on sight, so I guessed they were some of the cousins. Max pulled me over to the dinette and introduced me to his Gran-Pere Paul-Émile. "Grand-Pere, this is your new granddaughter Jassmine."

The man smiled and took both of my hands. "Regardez comment vous êtes belle. Je sais maintenant pourquoi Maxime vous aime tant. Maxime, où sont ces bébés? Je veux les rencontrer maintenant se il vous plaît. (Look how beautiful you are. Now I know why Maxime loves you so much. Maxime, where are these babies? I want to meet now please.)" Max smiled, kissed my temple and went to gather Jax and Nikki. He came back quickly with them still asleep. Grand-Pere teared up and patted my arm lightly. "Vous faites de beaux bébés. Je les aime déjà. Quels sont leurs noms à nouveau? (You make beautiful babies. I already love. What are their names again?)"

I placed a kiss on his cheek and answered him. "Jaxson et Danique. Ils sont notre Miracles de Noël. (Jaxson and Danique. They are our Miracles of Christmas.)" He held them each alone and carefully. I excused myself when Kim and Ang needed me.

We went upstairs where they showed me the bottle holders Ang had finished. "We need to get these to you before someone finds them." I snickered and motioned them to follow me.

Inside our room I showed them what no one but Max and I knew about. We had decided to do picnic baskets for the kids as well. "Help me put these together. Only Jax and Nikki's won't be given out at the reception." I laid out the monogrammed mini market bags we got for the kids and then went hunting for the Light My Fire Lunch Kits we also got. "Go ahead and put the bottle holders on the baskets. The Kleen Kanteens are in a box in here and the surprises we got."

I heard them ohh and ahh over the baskets as they went around the bed. I stifled a giggle and then heard a couple more voices. "Is Jass in here? Oh what are these?" It was Cath.

I came out of our closet holding the box with everything else in it. "They are gifts for the children we love." I set the box down and began looking for the ID bands. "We thought that they deserved something to always know how much we love them, even when we are far away." I found the bands and began putting them on the 18 ounce Kleen Kanteens we got them all. Once Kim had seen me do a couple she took over by way of taking it out of my hands and making me laugh. "We decided that they needed a picnic lunch set. So they all get a mini market tote basket with their name, a Kleen Kanteen with an ID band of their name and," I pulled out a fuschia Lunch Kit. "A reusable lunch kit in their color of choice." I put the one in my hand on Jeanne's basket.

Ang then piped up. "I made the adjustable bottle holders in fabrics Jass and Max chose and even figured out a tag for their names on the inside." She showed off her handiwork, to much appreciative moms.

I put all of the lunch kits on the baskets and stood back to admire the work I put into these special gifts for our niece and nephews. They were each as unique as the child receiving the gift. "I think only Marion and Jeanne might argue over whose stuff is who's, but that's only because I had a limited selection of the Lunch Kits. We tried to make each one classic and yet completely them."

Sofia smiled. "I had no idea you were so thoughtful. I think they will not mind so much sitting through everything when they all see these." She felt the fabric of Charlie's bottle carrier. "This is Charlie's favorite color and Axel loves dinosaurs and the color green, but neither will be ashamed of them when they are older either." She looked at me and sincerely smiled. "Thank you Jassmine. You have made this celebration a joy to work and made sure everyone should go home happy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later we were all hip deep in our celebration when I heard a voice that froze me. "Dear god! What the hell is going on here?" Oh goodie, mother was crashing the party...

Max looked up from talking to one of his cousins and plastered on his show smile. "Ann, how nice of you to show up at my birthday party." I heard the tension in his voice. I softly asked Vero to take over feeding Nikki which she did seamlessly. I stood up and went to support Max as we faced my uninvited mother.

Of course she looked around and was critical. "This can't be a party, you're on the floor." Parties to her were well dressed affairs not a gathering of loved ones having actual fun. She looked around silently judging everyone.

I stepped in front of Max and spoke. "Hello mother, I see you are assuming things again. This is the party Max wanted, having those over who have unchangeable plans for Friday. Having them help us setup for the reception and decorate, so they are still there if only in spirit." His family was quiet as we faced off.

She sighed, put upon. "Well I guess I can slum it for one night. Where am I sleeping Jassmine?" Max laid a hand on the small of my back and I took a deep breath and counted to ten, twice.

When I felt calm enough I opened my eyes and straight at her. "Mother we do not have room for anyone else to stay here. We already have 8 people staying here with us." I could not believe her audacity. She actually thought she had a right to stay here.

A hand softly landed on my shoulder. "She's right mother. We have our 3 kids in one room while Gran, Ang and I all have the rest of the private rooms. Besides didn't you get a hotel room in the Old Town?" She tried pouting at Nate to get her way but he wasn't having it. For once my brother saw what I had always seen, our manipulative mother. "In fact I thought you had even confirmed those reservations too."

She sighed dramatically. "Of course I did but my baby will only get married once. I should be here to help!" I saw Gran roll her eyes behind mother. I think mother hadn't noticed her which was a plus. I watched as she stood and began to slow clap. Mother spun and saw Gran. "Marion!"

Max's young niece looked up which made him ruffle her hair. "Not you, Tante's Grand-méré." She flashed a smile and went back to eating. Gran just chuckled.

"Bonjour Ann. Nate is right, the house is filled with the rest of us. We were invited by Maxime and Jassmine to stay here. I think it was a very wonderful gesture on their part. Max showed us around Montreal this morning while Jass and Sofia attended to some needed things. It was so nice to get such a personalized tour. Makes me want to come back to explore some places we saw." Gran smiled.

Mother was sputtering when the doorbell rang. I excused myself and found dad on the other side. "Hi dad. I didn't expect you until tomorrow." He came in, toed off his shoes and followed me into the Living Room.

He laughed as he saw the face off happening, and turning to me spoke. "Oh honey. I thought I told you I was coming, I'm sorry. Max made this sound so much fun I had to see it for myself." He shook Max's hand and hugged everyone else he knew before he got to my mother. "Ann, I see you are still trying to get your way. I trust you will behave."

Mother huffed loudly, whirled and left the house, slamming the front door as she left. The tension flooded out of the room. Lucie was the first of Max's family to speak. "I understand now. Jassmine, we would never do that to you. Let us move onto more fun things and not let this unpleasantness mar this happy day."

This had everyone kind of scrambling until Sofia spoke up. "Why don't we let him open gifts so we can enjoy that." She sat Max back down and moved me to get the gifts from myself and the kids. "Jass you go first so you can get that final surprise ready after."

Max perked up at that word. I grabbed the bags from us and gave him mine first. "Here start with this one," I said handing him mine.

Pulling the bag open he started pulling everything out of it. The first thing he got a good look at was the sound machine. "Oh yes! Now I won't have to steal the one from our room." That got a few chuckles. What, it made it easier to sleep. We could still hear the baby monitor over it. Then he picked up the cord keepers and grinned. "You know me too well babe. What's this?" He picked up the small box and looked at it. "A humidifier for on the road. How does it work?"

I chuckled. "It's a USB one. With the cords and such you have I figured that was the smartest. It uses tap water so you can put it on the nightstand or just nearby. No more scratchy morning road throat." He pulled me in for a quick kiss. "You still have some more from the bag."

He moved and found the mug wrapped in the two shirts. Unwrapping it he laughed as he saw the mug. "Really babe?" I responded by holding up the blue shirt which says 'With great beard comes great responsibility'. That got him to look at the white one. "Holy!" He changed into it right then and there. It made sense too. It said 'Keep calm I'm not 30 I'm 18 with 12 years experience'. It was such a Maxime shirt. "I love it babe."

I smiled. "Good, now open these from the kids." He tore into the first one and barked out a laugh. He pulled out the My First Golf Course play set.

"C'est incroyable! Où avez-vous trouvé ça? (This is incredible! Where did you get that?)" I just smiled. In truth I had done quite a bit of scouring for this set. The kids could use it even before they could sit up. Then he found the book. "What's this?" He saw the title and grinned. "I hope this is not what the title assumes." He read the back of the book and his smile got wider. "You get me so many good ways to bond and play with these two."

Dad saw the title and laughed. "You deserve them Max. Time with your kids is precious. I've learned this the hard way."

Max nodded and opened the last bag. He knew how hard Dad was working to build a relationship with me. This time he pulled out the cold brew infusion bottle. "You got me a travel mug?"

I shook my head. "No, I got you a cold brew bottle for when you're away. We thought you deserved to have good coffee on the road too."

He eyed me. "We huh? What about you?" He pulled out the last half of the gift and shook his head. "Are you trying to jinx us?"

Lucie laughed along with everyone else. "Maybe she is trying to give them two ways to play your second favorite game, to stop fighting over the same toy."

I kissed his cheek and went to prepare his cake. I still thought it was perfect and by his reaction I knew he would love it. I listened while everyone else gave him gifts that made everyone laugh. I was standing so he couldn't see the cake and so I wasn't watching. When I heard that he was all done I lit the sparkling candles and sang a dual language version of Happy Birthday. Everyone joined in and I watched him start to blush. I made sure he saw the candles and what was on the cake.

After it was cut and passed out talk turned to decorating. MarcAndre's only girl squealed when we started talking about lights around the room. "Cousin Max! Fairy Lights!" We all looked at her oddly as she huffed and commandeered her dad's phone. "Like these!" She showed us some lights hung up from other events.

I leaned over. "I bet we could find bright white lights if we looked. That would give us light in the correct color. We could do curtains across the windows to give us some privacy after dark. We could even soften the light by hanging some fabric between us and it." I motioned to the wall of windows we had in the family room as I spoke.

I was pulled to my feet and hustled into my coat by Sofia. "I think they can handle setting up the tables as I gave Lucie my diagram. Let's go find those lights." We left without another word.

An hour later we came back in with 3 bags full of cool white holiday lights in several styles. Unloading everything I noticed a lack for children's voices. "In the back yard or asleep." Frank said as I looked around. That made sense. "In fact why don't you go rest and let us deal with these, we'll wake you when we're ready for you to see everything."

Instead of resting, I went up and finished off the personal notes for our gifts. I saw that Max had already done his share when I put mine into the baskets. This gave me an idea and I started writing down as many little things he did everyday that I needed to thank him for. As I looked at the list I decided that now was the time to write my wedding day letter to him. After that was done and put with my dress I checked on my two. I found Max passed out on the floor with them. I decided to let sleeping babies and daddies lie.

I snuck downstairs, found the makings for good hot chocolate and started making that. It wasn't until it was ready that I was caught. Phillips cleared his throat loudly and I cringed. "You should be resting. You have a busy few days."

I looked up at him and grinned. "Max did tell you guys I was a workaholic right? It's hard for me to rest when there is something I can be doing to make life better." I stirred the mixture before me.

He rolled his eyes as the older kids came streaming back in. They were divesting themselves of their outdoor gear when one of them took a deep sniff. "Chocolat!" That moved them all quicker towards the kitchen. When Will came into the family room after the kids, he whistled. It was hard not to look up at him but I was trying to keep what they did a surprise.

I made sure all of the snow kids got something to warm them up, even the taller ones who had day jobs, and then it was time for the full unveiling. I got moved onto the dance floor with my eyes covered and then they were uncovered. It hardly looked like my family room. The tables were laid according the the diagram and they had everything but the dishware and such on them already. The silver chairs were in place and had navy blue bows on the backs but nothing trailing to the floor so no one tripped.

Stepping up to the table I saw the navy table cloths and the silver swirl runners were perfectly aligned. The tea light votives were all over the table but far enough back that little hands couldn't get to them. The napkins already had the tag we had made thanking everyone for being here tied onto them, all we had to do was slip in the silverware. As I rounded the end I noticed the kids playpen was behind two seats and went to take a closer look. Those chairs had mommy and daddy tags on them, in our colors. Then the overhead lights went out and the fairy lights came on. I gasped, it was wonderful! It felt as if I had been whisked away into a fairy tale. All I could do was whisper, "I love it."

There was a soft chuckle from behind me, I turned and found Max there. "Il est aussi belle que vous. Je ne peux pas attendre pour danser sur ce plancher avec vous. (It is as beautiful as you. I can not wait to dance on the floor with you.)" He pulled me to his chest and hugged me close. "Trois jours bien-aimée. Trois jours et nous sommes un. (Three days beloved. Three days and we are one.)"

Everyone who wasn't staying here bid us all a good night and left. Max said it all, Three Days.