Rushing through the paddock you make your way to your building, waving a greeting to your colleagues before you reach your team. "Sorry, sorry, I'm here" you pant, smiling at your grinning colleagues while sitting down. "I guess someone didn't want you to leave his garage?" one of them asks, and you blush while nodding. Charles had dragged you with him this morning, excitedly chatting about how this was his home race, and how he couldn't wait until he was able to go on track. You loved seeing his enthusiasm, even if it meant running through the paddock because you were almost late for work.
"Well, I have a nice surprise for you then" your manager says while walking towards your desk. "You can go to Charles' garage to make an article about it being his home race, observing him and everything that happens. Try to not get too distracted though" she says, winking at you before explaining to the other team members what their duties are for the day. You can't wipe the smile of your face when you make your way back to the Ferrari garage, popping into the hospitality for a coffee and a quick chat with Marie.
"They're letting you do the article on Charles? I love that for you!" she says, smiling brightly at you. "It would've been even more fun if Nell was here to take the photo's" you say, pouting at Marie who nods. "Who says I'm not here to take photo's though?" you hear a familiar voice, turning around to see your heavily pregnant friend smiling at the two of you. "What are you doing here!" you and Marie exclaim in union, rushing towards her to give her a hug. "I was bored, begged Danny to bring me with him and now I escaped Michael's piercing gaze to find you two. Think it won't take long before he's using a megaphone to try and find me though, just had to use the restroom since Bean is killing my bladder" she says, pointing at her belly before walking towards the restroom.
"I don't even know why I thought that she would stay home" you say, looking at Marie who starts laughing. "I know right, as if Daniel could keep her away here" you giggle, waiting until Nell is back to walk her to the McLaren garage. Michael lets out a sigh of relief, grabbing her hand to bring her back to the chair that was hers. "Don't ever do that to me again, Daniel will fucking murder me if something happens! Sofia, tell her that she needs to stay here" he tells you, pointing at Nell. "Please stay seated, I'll pick you up later for lunch" you tell her, waving bye at her when she nods, shifting in the chair while accepting the cookie Michael gives her.
You walk towards Charles' garage, greeting everyone you see on your way, before entering the garage. "Hey! You're back already" one of his mechanics say, and you nod, explaining why you came back. "He's going to love that! Well, you know everything here already so make yourself at home. If you have questions, just come to us" he says, smiling at you before walking back towards one of the screens, chatting to his colleague while they go over some data. You take a seat at the back of the garage, noting down a few things while you observe the team. You smile when you see the photographer for the weekend, waving him over to you so you can see what he took pictures of. "I'll make sure to write a few things that'll go well with the pictures, that way it makes sense in total, you know?" you tell him, and he nods before giving some ideas about text.
"Mon amour! What are you doing here!" you look up when you hear Charles' confused voice while he walks towards you after giving his helmet and baclava to his trainer. "I'm working in your garage, writing the article about you and your home race" you say, giggling when his face brightens up before he leans down to peck your lips. "Wow, I'm so happy!" he says, kissing you again before looking behind him when one of the mechanics calls him over. "Okay, I'm going to do the things I'm being paid for, it makes me feel more relaxed to know that you're here though" he tells you, stroking your cheek while he looks at you with a loving gaze, snapping out of it when he hears his name being called again. "I'll see you in a bit ma chérie."
The rest of the weekend flies by: Charles manages to get pole position, which makes him so happy that he's unable to stop smiling, even in his sleep. Sunday is nerve wrecking for him, flashbacks of the Monaco race where he couldn't even start after getting pole position make him fidgety the whole morning. You manage to calm him down, with some help from the team, and by the time he's in the car he's back in the zone. You write down as much as you can while trying to focus on the race, finger crossing the whole time you have nothing that you want to write down. The moment he crosses the finish line as the first is something that feels like it happened in slow motion. The whole team is silent before the garage erupts in shouts and clapping hands.
"I'm so happy" Charles sighs for the hundredth time while he slumps down on the matrass. You celebrated his win with his family and closest friends. It was a fun evening; everyone was having a blast and even Daniel and Nell popped in quickly to congratulate Charles before they went home so she could sleep. You chuckle when you see a text from Marie, a photo of the four of you laughing about something that happened behind the camera man. "Look babe" you hum, showing him the picture on your phone. "We look good there, I should post that on IG" he mumbles, sitting up a little to grab your waist and pull you towards him. "Let me hug you" he mutters, pressing his face in the crook of your neck while he wraps his arms around you. "I love you so much, I'm so happy you were so close this weekend."
Sighing you turn on your side, padding across the matrass with your hand to find it empty and cold. You frown, opening your eyes slightly to see that Charles is not next to you anymore. You shrug, thinking that he's probably out for training, before sitting up a little and grabbing your phone. You smile when you see that Lisa texted you a video of your dog who is still in Portugal. You thought about bringing him with you when you moved in with Charles, but his health wasn't that good anymore since he was old, so you decided to not take the risk. That didn't take away the fact that you were very upset about it though. You reply to your texts, scrolling through social media a bit before stretching your stiff limbs and stepping out of bed.
You walk towards the open living space, making your way towards the kitchen to make yourself some breakfast and coffee. You let out a squeal when you suddenly feel two arms around your waist, cursing when you hear Charles chuckle. "Sorry mon ange, I thought you heard me walking towards you" he says, laughing while pressing his face against your back. "Don't ever do that to me again" you tell him, shuffling through the kitchen while he moves with you. "I have a surprise for you after breakfast" he mumbles, kissing your shoulder and neck when you hum. "But let's eat first" he says, stepping away from you to help you with setting the table.
After getting dressed and ready you let Charles lead you towards his car, smiling at him when he sits down next to you and buckles his seatbelt. "Are you going to tell me what the surprise is now?" you ask him, leaning your face against the headrest while looking at him. He rolls his eyes before shaking his head, "no of course not, it's not a surprise when I tell you now mon amour." You pout before looking out of the window to try and guess where he's taking you. "Your parents called me this morning" he says, putting his hand on your thigh before turning it around so you can intertwine your fingers. You hum, looking at him again to see that he's already smiling at you. "They were so happy; it was really cute. Telling me that they had told everyone they saw at work that their son-in law won the Monaco GP" he tells you, smiling even broader when you let out a giggle. "That sounds like them, yeah."
You look at Charles confused when you arrive at an animal shelter. "I don't think I understand what we're doing here?" you say, waiting for him to explain his plan. "I've seen how you miss having your dog around, but since it's not the safest idea to bring him home to us, I figured we try and find one ourselves?" he says, slightly unsure of himself. You look at him with your mouth slightly widened before you lean towards him, grabbing his face to press a kiss on his lips. "You want to adopt a dog with me?" you ask him, smiling brightly while he looks at you with a loving gaze. "Of course, we talked about that so much already. I feel like it's a good moment now. Mom wants to take him or her in when we're away for work" he explains, stroking your cheeks before kissing you again. "Come mon coeur, let's see if we can find our dog."
A few hours later you're home again, cradling a small puppy into your house. "I can't believe they let us bring her home immediately" you say for the 5th time, setting the small dog down while she explores the room. "I know, we still need to go to the veterinarian to have him checked up, shall I make an appointment for today or tomorrow?" he asks, and you hum before lying down on the floor to play with the puppy. "Babe, we also need to get a dog bed and everything today" you say, leaning your head on your arm while ruffling the small dog behind his ears. "Surprise" Charles says, walking into the room with a bag full of dog stuff. "I asked if I could come this morning very early to pick it all up. If you want to change anything we can do that, but I felt like I know your style enough to pick some things out." He sits down next to you, putting the puppy on his lap before stroking her fur while he looks at you with a soft gaze. "We still need a name though" he says.
You hum, thinking for a moment before answering him. "I've always said that when I have a female dog that I'll name her Penny, do you like that name?" you ask Charles, looking at him while leaning your head against his shoulder. "I love that name, let's name her Penny" he answers, stroking Penny's fur while looking at you with a smile. "Charles, Sofia and Penny. I like the sound of that" he says softly, leaning towards your face to kiss you softly.
It's later in the evening when you and Charles sit on the couch while you're binge-watching one of your new obsessions on Netflix. Penny is sleeping on your lap, snoring softly while you stroke her fur. Charles grabs your left hand suddenly, playing with your fingers while he's staring at you. You look at him after a few minutes with a raised eyebrow, "what's wrong? You're missing all the good stuff" you say, pointing to the screen with your free hand. He hums, "you know" he starts, stroking your fingers before he looks into your eyes, "I'm going to put a ring on this finger one day."