A Glimpse into her Present.

The way Amaria melted around this child was something much more new in Hunter’s opinion, exposing such a softer side which he actually appreciated alot more about Mar. He watched the interaction between herself and Maxine with the same smile still on his face. How times had changed.

When Maxine locked the bathroom door the mood in the room swiftly changed as Amaria practically pounced on him with another threat. He looked a little disappointed at her and shook his head, “hey cool it alright i get it” he replied understanding the idea of wanting to protect someone from that life, a life he was still trying to understand having Amaria apart of now. How after all of the incidences she had seen him involved in previously that she would join the brawlers he couldn’t understand but that was a conversation for another time.

While Amaria prepared the takeout and placed settings out on the table, Hunter gave Madeline a small wink and a smile in friendliness as he made his way over to the table, the wafting smell of takeout making his stomach beg for mercy. When at last everything had been organised she tried a gentler approach with her warning and he sighed. “look I understand, you are not the only one whose been in the clutches of the bayside brawlers” he replied, his stomach begging his brain to greedily hunker down and eat. He was about to add to his comment though Maxine’s reappearance shut him up. Instead he grabbed some garlic bread and scooped some pasta onto his dish, trying to be nice and not take too much. The dynamic between the three screamed family values and he thought it was pretty cute for Amaria; no wonder why she had been so damn defensive. He paused eating and swallowed what was in his mouth when Maxine asked him of his injuries and without hesitation he cleared his throat.
“A car actually, I was so focused on working out where I was on my map I didn’t realise the pedestrian crossing had turned red” he outright lied and so comfortably it almost scared him. He gestured to Amaria and smiled.

“I managed to get a hold of Amaria and she was kind enough to come out pick me up.” He added. “what do you do for work?” he asked

Mar's defenses instantly went up as Maxine asked about what had happened to Hunter. She looked at him worried that he may not be able to come up with a convincing story. Fortunately he told a good lie and she wondered if that was just something they had in common or if it was a Brawlers thing.

Maxine looked at Hunter sympathetically and she seemed to believe what Hunter was saying. " Oh my God, you are so lucky Hunter. You could of been killed. " she said genuinely relieved that although he was badly injured, he was alive.

Maddy stuck her fingers into the spaghetti and played with it. More food ending up on her then in her mouth. Mar chuckled a little and helped her by chopping up some of her spaghetti and gave her a spoon to help. Spaghetti sauce was getting everywhere but no one seemed to care as Maddy tried to use her spoon. " poon sgeti " she babbled.

" I'm a pre-school teacher. I spend most of my time with toddlers. " she smiled looking over at Madeline and Mar. " Maddy hunny please try and put the food in your mouth. " she said with a smile helping her put spoon to mouth so she could eat. " So how are Zella and the kids? " she asked wondering why he was here with Mar and Zella was nowhere to be found. As far as she was concerned they were still together as Mar did not know how to explain to Maxsine about her sister's disappearing acts.

The mention of Zella immediately caught her attention. She looked at Hunter and worried that he might say something stupid like he was searching for his missing mate and kids and then Maxsine would wonder why she never mentioned it. " Max honey... " she said hoping to do some damage control before Hunter stepped in. " Hunter and Zella, they are having some difficulties..." she said hoping that Maxsine would get the hint and drop the subject, quick.

" Oh.. oh I'm sorry Hunter. " she said now feeling like she had put her foot in it. " I hope that whatever it is gets resolved. " she said now awkwardly eating away at her food. She felt bad for Hunter. Not only had he been in what looked like a serious car accident but now he was having martial issues. The poor guy.

“nuh, nothing kills me, I have a thick skull and stuff all for brains” Hunter joked in reply when Maxine mentioned how lucky he was. The part about being lucky was something even he couldn’t disagree with. When Maxine told him about what she did for a living it surprised him, far surpassing any preconceptions he held with someone he expected Amaria to date. He smiled and nodded as she explained before she asked about Zella and the kids. It always stung a little too much and his smile dropped as he swallowed half a mouthful of food to stop from not eating it at all. Amaria had been very quick to intercept but Hunter shook his head as he paused to drink.

“No it’s okay really, I honestly don’t know at the moment, things are pretty strained but I can only do so much at a time I guess” he spoke in general terms, not hinting anything in regard to the fact that Zella and the kids were nowhere to be found and that he hadn’t actually seen them in quite a while. He knew it would send their conversation straight into awkwardness so he tried his best in terms of putting on a face and brushing it off.

“So this place looks pretty fancy, been here long?” he asked Amaria, effectively driving the conversation onto something other than his royally screwed situation. He figured Amaria wouldn’t like him asking questions but it was better than having to think of excuses on the spot.

Amaria was relieved when Hunter managed to keep up the ruse regarding her sister and the kids. She had to ignore the pit in her stomach as she was reminded that she not only had no idea where her sister was once again but she had no idea where her nieces and nephews were either.

She seemed to have spaced out for a moment lost in her train of thought until Hunter started quizzing her. If looks could of killed Hunter's body would of been cold where he sat but Mar played along with the happy family facade she had created to live this life.

" Only a few months. " she muttered not wanting to tie herself down to the specifics. The devil was in the detail so Mar refrained from giving them keeping her history and even present life vague. It was easier and safer that way especially with little Maddy to consider. " I like it for now. " she replied.

Apart from her time with Hunter and Zella this had been the longest she had stayed anywhere in her adult life and she liked it. She didn't want her past messing up this life she had made for herself or for Maxsine and Madeline.

Maxsine doted on Maddy and hoped she hadn't caused to much awkwardness for him. She understood relationship break ups could be difficult. She had seen it many times with parents and understood how complicated these things were when children were involved.

She picked up a napkin and handed it to Mar to help clean up Maddy's face. " She is such a mucky pup. " she chuckled and the phrase made Amaria smile as it always did. Given Mar's choice in partners she knew pups would never be in her future. It's why Zella's pups had meant so much to her before she met Maxsine and Madeline. It was them that made her give up on her search for her family to start her own.

" Well if you ever need a babysitter so you and your wife can talk privately me and Mar would be happy to volunteer. " Maxsine added knowing she couldn't do much to help the situation but she would love to meet Mar's sister and her nieces and nephews. Mar glanced back at Hunter knowing the likelihood she would ever get the chance to babysit his pups was slime to none but she couldn't let Max know that without her asking more questions.

" Yeah happy to help. " she said before taking the napkin and cleaning up Maddy a little. " Come here you. " she chuckled as Maddy held up her saucy hands trying to stop Mar from cleaning her face. " No no sgeti sgeti. " she said taking a handful and tossing it their direction. Covering Mar and Max in sauce.

" Madeline! " Max said rather sternly but her face cracked a smile and she chuckled. " Sorry Mar, do you mind? " she rose and pointed to the bathroom. " No go ahead I got this. " she replied and began wiping her own top and then removed the weapon of mass destruction aka the bowl of spaghetti.

When Mar knew Maxsine was out of earshot she looked over at Hunter. " Sorry about all that. I've had to embellish our past for obvious reasons. " she said finally managing to remove most of the sauce from Maddy's face. " and thanks.. for playing along. " she said rather begrudgingly. She realised Hunter didn't have to play along but he did and fort that she was grateful.