The most enjoyable part of Max’s day was going home. He liked to be able to tidy his desk, put the caps back on his pens. Put the pens in his drawer and power off his PC. It was the same ritual five days a week. After he had powered off the PC he would loosen his tie and grab his jacket from the back of his chair and put it on. His work day was done.
It didn’t bother him how busy the traffic might be as he was driving home or if there was construction being done on the road which would make the journey home even longer. That never bothered Max. All that was important to him was getting home to his family. And family for Max was his wife Joan and his two twin girls Cheryl and Kristen both aged five. They were all that mattered to Max when he was stuck in traffic.
If getting home was taking longer than usual Max would look at the picture he had of his three girls, which was hidden behind the sun visor. The picture had been taken in the back garden the previous summer when the girls celebrated their fourth birthday. Unlike a lot of twins, Joan and Max never dressed either Cheryl or Kristen the same. They allowed them to be their own little person.
It also didn’t matter to Max what Joan might have prepared for dinner. What was more important to him was the fact that all four of them would be sitting down together as a family. The food was secondary to Max. It was more important to be around his family rather than contemplating whether he was having fish or chicken..
He also liked doing the washing up with Cheryl and Kristen after dinner. Max would clear the table and Cheryl would wash the dishes while Kristen would dry them and Max would then put them away. As far as Max was concerned not only was it fun to do the dishes with his two girls but it also helped them to realise that everybody needs somebody.
That it’s okay to need or get help from another person and things don’t always have to be done alone. Max wanted both Cheryl and Kristen to know that they were there for each other. That by working together they could get things done.
After dinner Max also liked to help both girls with their homework. He liked to see them practice their hand writing and even had a copy of both Cheryl’s and Kristen’s five year old signature in his wallet. Even though the girls didn’t like doing their homework, preferring to look at cartoons on TV. Max insisted that before they were allowed to look at TV the girls had to do their spelling homework. Even if they didn’t see the importance of spelling there, their or they’re correctly.
The reason Max took the girls homework so serious was because he could recall when he was growing up that there was no one around to help him. His father worked nights and his older siblings never took the time to help him with his homework preferring instead to spend their time playing outside or with their friends.
Despite the passing of time, supporting someone wasn’t lost on Max. He mightn’t have gotten the support he needed due to his family circumstances but he was going to make sure that he was always there for Cheryl and Kristen, no matter how long it took to drive home.
