Max

Ramona loved her job. Ever since childhood, she had found an immense amount of pleasure from creating beautiful places. It was inevitable that she would end up as an interior designer. What she hadn't anticipated however was how successful she would be on the business side. She knew her creations were pretty good. She just didn't think anyone would pay tons of money for them. Apparently fate had had other plans in that department.

Today however she loved her job more than other days, she was redecorating her son's apartment, a sort of 18th birthday present. The decor, not the apartment. He had been living alone since he was fifteen. Everytime she told anyone that that thought she was crazy, or had more money than sense or a bit of both.

She remembered telling her mother that Jayden was moving out, her response was unforgettable.

"Are you and Justin already tired of raising him? You only have one child Ramona! What sort of parenting is this?"

But Ramona & her husband believed they were right. Their reasoning behind it was an effort to raise their son into a responsible adult and not have him turn out into a spoiled brat born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Between Ramona's flourishing interior design business and Justin's successful IT business, they had made a lot of money in a short space of time. Money which had continued to multiply thanks to some very wise investments. All this had afforded them a very lavish lifestyle. The decision to have Jayden live on his own however had not been imposed on him, he had requested it. It was a few weeks before his fourteenth birthday and Ramona had asked him what he wanted for his birthday. They had resorted to asking him his preferences when it came to gifts when for his ninth birthday they had gotten him the first book from an astronomy series for children, a subject he was quite fond of. He had been very polite about thanking them for the gift before adding that he had actually read the first three from the series and would have loved the fourth and final one because the school library didn't have it.

On that evening, before his fourteenth birthday, he had asked for something they hadn't expected, he wanted his own place. Ramona's first thought had been "my baby!" Justin on the other hand had been very practical. He had reminded his son that his allowance could not cover him supporting himself financially, plus his cooking skills began and ended with omelets. Very good omelets but he never had made anything else. Did he plan on having that for the rest of his life. Jayden had been prepared, he offered to work for one or both of his parents, cut down on his allowance and have them loan him any extra money which he would pay back once he had started working officially. Ramona had not been too keen on the idea. As responsible as she felt her son was, having him live on his own was something she was not yet ready for. Justin on the other hand had not given an outright no. The deal had been if over the next twelve months, Jayden could prove he was responsible enough to live on his own, they would get him is own place for his fifteenth birthday. It had been an interesting twelve months. Ramona had seen her son literally grow up and mature right before her eyes. As much as she didn't want to let him go, deep down she knew he would fare better than some adults she knew.

Twelve months later and he had proven himself and everything was put on paper and he had to sign looking all serious and formal. Ramona smiled at the memory. The arrangement was that he would get an allowance as usual and that was to cover his meals and any minor extras. The rental and the bills for the apartment his parents would cover, no loan. Because he couldn't drive, they would still alternate the school pickups, in the mornings he would take the bus. As for the work, each week his father would assign him a work related task. Every Friday after school, he would spend two hours at his mother's office helping her. Each week, a cleaning lady would come to clean his apartment but on the other six days Jayden had to keep it in a habitable state.

The night before leaving home, Jayden had received Max from his father. He was to keep him safe and unopened until his 18th birthday. Justin also reminded his son that he would know if he did not live up to the end of the bargain. And so the journey had begun.

Ramona looked around her son's apartment. He had thrived. Much more than anyone had expected. This re- decoration of the place was her way of saying "you are now a young man not a boy anymore." She took one last look, her team had done well as always. It didn't hurt knowing "the client" well too. She got her bag then headed out. Jayden had gone on a camping trip with his friends and would be back that evening. His birthday was actually on Monday, but they were going to have the family dinner tomorrow.

A FEW HOURS LATER....

Jayden knew something was different about his apartment even before getting in. He had always been very observant & he immediately knew things had been moved around. His suspicions were confirmed once he got inside. He knew his mother had been here and he loved the new look. He had meant to redo the place, helping out his mother with her business over the last three years had resulted in him picking up skills as well. He however had no objections to his mom doing it for him.

He had just had a shower when he realized he hadn't seen Max since he had returned. He normally kept him in his bedroom but over the last couple of months he had sort of been moving around the place with him. He checked hid bedroom - nothing. He quickly went to the whole place - nothing. Jayden could feel himself starting to panic. This could not be happening. Three years could not just end like this. Jayden got dressed quickly then started searching again. Two hours later, his apartment looked like someone had come in with a bottled whirlwind and opened it right in the center. Jayden felt close to tears. Max had been more than an incentive for good behaviour, he had been a little boys companion when the fear of his solitary existence had decided to hit. He was planning on having a quick dinner but he wasn't hungry anymore. A voice in his head told him to call his mother and check if she had seen Max. But that same voice reminded him that his mother didn't really know about Max. Jayden put his head in his hands and stifled a scream. Above anything he was so frustrated with himself. He should have opened everything when he had the chance. Now he would never know.

It took Jayden nearly three hours to put back everything in order. The excitement he had felt in the run up to this weekend had all but vanished. Once he was done, he remembered that he hadn't spoken to his mother to thank her for her work. With the way he felt, he preferred to send her a message, but he knew she would appreciate a call more. So he called, thanked her and said his goodbyes nut not before she picked up on the misery in his voice. He got away with blaming the camping trip.

"Awww, my poor baby! You get a good night's sleep and we'll see you tomorrow evening"

The following day the first thing Jayden thought of when he woke up was Max. He thought to himself maybe he had not searched properly. So he went over the whole place again, this time making sure not to make a mess. A little while later he was done and still no Max. He couldn't understand how after the redecoration, everything was still there except Max. He didn't believe his mother would have taken him, maybe one of the other people who were helping her with the redecorating had helped themselves. He wished he had more time to maybe search again but he wasn't in luck. Time seemed to have picked that weekend to move extra fast and he realised he had to start getting ready for the dinner with his parents, this would be one of the few times he was not looking forward to meeting his father.

Ramona was at the door to meet her son when he arrived for dinner and she told him his father was waiting for him in his study. There was something he wanted to talk about before dinner. Jayden suppressed a groan as he headed to meet his father, he had been hoping to drag out his confession but then again maybe it would be better to get it out of the way.

"There is something I need to tell you," Jayden said as soon as he entered his fathers study. "It's about Max."

"You opened him?"

" No, he, I mean I lost him."

Justin moved to the side to reveal his desk, and immediately Jayden saw the grey and white stuffed cat that had been his "comfort toy" for the past three years. He felt like running to hug the toy.

"I know you didn't open him, & I am proud of you. You can open him now."

After waiting three years, Jayden suddenly felt hesitant. There had been days when he had toyed with the zipper on the cats' belly but never got the courage to break his promise to his father. He slowly approached the stuffed cat, suddenly it looked small. He opened the zipper and immediately saw a black card folded in half. On it was printed his father's company website but the extension link was something he did not recognise. Justin pointed to the open laptop on his desk and Jayden quickly entered the link. Now that he had begun, his curiosity was aroused and he couldn't wait to find out what was waiting. A page popped up, asking for his email address and a password, the date of his high school graduation. He realised had he opened this earlier, he wouldn't have known this but his father would have probably known he had attempted to access the site. Once more he was glad he had been trustworthy. The following page revealed something Jayden had never thought of. His patents had created a trust fund for him, with more money than he had ever thought he could have before he got to at least 25 and now he had access to it.

At the top of the page was a short note.

"We hope you shall continue to be the responsible young man you've grown to be. Love Mum and Dad."

Jayden got up and realised his mother was also in the room. They had both been in on this. He hugged both his patents.

"Thank you."