Little Did You Know

Chapter 11: Ze Glimmen

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The next race weekend starts with trouble...

As media day unfolded at the Emilia Romagna GP, the presence of little Max Verstappen added an unexpected bout of chaos to the usual Formula 1 proceedings. Christian Horner, who was meant to be watching over his de-aged kid, found himself facing a surprisingly agile and elusive child.

The first escape took everyone by surprise. 

Christian, in his office at the Red Bull hospitality, was momentarily distracted by a conversation, and came to realize with a start that Max had slipped away from the room where he had been playing with some replica RBs on the floor. Panic ensued as the frantic search began, the paddock temporarily transformed into a scene of concern and urgency. 

The relief was palpable when Max was eventually found not far from the Energy Station by one of the team's mechanics who managed to grab a hold of the miniaturized world champion who had a small pout on his face, and was seemingly uncaring by the attention his impromptu adventure had garnered and more put off by the fact he got caught before he managed to reach his objective.

The second escape, however, raised the stakes, not just for the team who had to run off to find their escapee de-aged driver but also for Max having to sneak away with Papa watching closer. The paddock, now on high alert, witnessed a repeat performance as Max, determined to fulfill a self-imposed secret mission to find his Checo, managed to slip away once again. The frantic search intensified, hearts racing until, with a sigh of frustration and relief, Christian saw Max was running into one of the media pens slipping through security and hugging himself to Checo's leg.

"Max! ¿Que haces aquí chamaco?" (What are you doing here brat?) Checo asks startled looking down at the child brushing the blond locks on top of the small head, "Weren't you supposed to stay with Papa, Max?" The toddler nods looking guilty biting on his lip. 

"Checo!" Max just hugged himself to the leg clad in tan pants.

"Good lord Max Emilian Verstappen, you can't go off running like that!" Christian huffed, he hadn't raised his voice but, Max, hearing his full name flinched and his joy from accomplishing his mission faded quickly being replaced by fear of being yelled at, "This is the second time he escapes me today, I think it'll be better if he stays with you, Checo," The Brit says as he catches up to the duo, the anxiety and fear still lingering in his voice, "Do you think you can manage?"

"We'll try," Sergio replied looking at a now confused and scared Max with a small smile trying to  lighten the mood, "won't we Max?"

"Ja," Max's response muffled by the plush yellow duck he was hugging tight to his small frame with the hand that didn't have Checo's pants in a death grip.

"Alright, I'll leave him with you," Chris sighed shaking his head, "Call if you need anything," The Brit waved at them before leaving back to his office to continue with his work and try to shake off the fright that had taken a hold of him.

Checo exhaled and picked Max up into his arms, taking him away from prying eyes, "You know you could've asked Chris to bring you with me, right?" he asked the child, and continued without waiting for an answer, "Papa is right, you can't go running away like that Max, what if you got lost, hm?" Max looked down chastized and small tears dropped from ocean blues.

"Sorry..." The blond's lip trembled, he had been bad and now papa was mad and his Checo was mad and it was his fault, "mad?"

"No Maxie, I'm not mad, and neither is papa, okay?" Sergio assured caressing the child's rosy cheeks clean from the salty drops, "he was scared because he couldn't find you, can you promise not to escape again?" Max nodded sniffling, "And if you want to see me you'll ask?"

"Pw," sniffle, "Pwomise."

"Alright," Checo hugged Max rubbing his back as the child slowly settled, "Ay, mi amor, ¿qué vamos a hacer contigo, eh?" (Oh, my love, what are we going to do with you, hm?)

And so, Checo, with his media obligations looming, took charge of the situation. The sight of the Mexican racer attending interviews and media dynamics with a small Max on his hip added an endearing layer to the typically formal proceedings.

Most noticeable was his presence at the FIA opening panel, Checo had been scheduled for the first session along with Fernando, Valtteri, Lewis, and Alex, and he was running late due to Max's little escapade.

The panel had already started when Sergio walked into the room with little Max in his arms, the amount of flashes going off when they were spotted had the Mexican walk quickly with a sheepish and apologetic expression drawn on his face to his designated spot in the middle of the long white couch and settling Max on his lap.

"Sergio, how nice of you to join us, and little Max Verstappen," The moderator greeted them as Checo fumbled with his assigned microphone while Max cuddled against his chest getting comfortable apparently unbothered by all the attention.

"Hi, yeah, sorry," The Mexican apologized, "this guy here wanted to tag along."

"And we are happy to have you both," The man smiled tightly clearly hoping the child wouldn't make a fuss, "In fact why don't we come to you now? How hard has it been, with Max de-aged, having to deal with a new teammate so early in the season? And how have you been getting along with Daniel?"

"Eh... yeah well, it certainly was not something we were expecting, obviously, eh... I've always gotten along with Danny, I think, and uh... I think we're both adapting as well as we can." When Checo started speaking Max looked up at him with a smile, he liked hearing his Checo's voice but as questions and answers continued the blond started looking around and studying the other pilots, he was particularly fascinated by all of Lewis's bling.

Hamilton who was sitting next to Checo noticed this and with the focus being now on Valtteri for the moment he closed in to talk to the kid quietly, "You like my chains little man?"

"Yeah, shni," Max said but frowned, no that was not the word, "shini," he tried again and shook his head to himself, no that's not it either, "Mjin Checo?" Max turned to his Checo who was watching the interaction amused.

"¿Qué pasó, Max?" (What is it, Max?) asks the Red Bull encouraging the child.

"Ze glimmen?" Checo pulled out his phone and typed the word as best he could in the translator, thank God for the internet, this had been their saviour when communicating so far.

"They shine," The Mexican supplied.

"Oh, you like they shine?" Lewis asks Max who nods happy he wasn't so far off the right word. "Here," Hamilton continued removing one of the lighter chains around his neck and putting it around Max's head with a wink, "now you shine too." 

"What do we say, Max?" Checo nudged the toddler that was fascinated by the pretty chain hanging from his neck.

"Oh, um...Gracias." Max said to Lewis and looked at his Checo to corroborate he was right and gave a huge smile when he received a nod.

Everyone in the room was aware of the exchange if not the words spoken through it, and it was of course recorded for the world to see, but only as a backdrop to Valtteri's very long answer about Alpha Romeo's many problems they experienced on the last race and their plans for this weekend or something like that.

During the whole duration of the panel, Max was happy to lay against Checo and play with his new chain or Pato quietly, ignoring basically everyone in the room after waving at the other drivers when they caught his eye, giving the general impression he was a very well behaved child rather than the impish kid who ran away from his papa twice that very morning.

For the rest of the day, as the Tapatío engaged with the media, little Max became an unwitting star of the show. Journalists and photographers, initially focused on Formula 1's standard fare, found themselves captivated by the adorable presence of the de-aged Max Verstappen. The child's limited but charming interactions, sprinkled with occasional Dutch words, became a highlight of media day.

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Hellooo :}