Thursday July 28th, Switzerland.
Seb had left home yesterday evening full of trepidation. He's chosen to fly to Hungary as late as possible for the last race before the summer break and had kissed Holly goodbye with a lot weighing heavily on his mind.
Imogen is still missing and there's been no sightings of her nor any new information on where she could possibly be.
Baby Emilia is still yet to show herself and seems far too happy in Holly's tummy. She's been busy wriggling around and pushing hands, feet, elbows and sometimes her little behind against her mother's belly, giving Seb a delightful display of her limbs sticking up and protruding against Holly's skin, causing large bumps to appear and her whole belly sometimes seeming to move from side to side.
And then there's been the not so small matter of his retirement announcement. Today is the day when it's officially made public.
Holly had stood and watched while he'd recorded his announcement yesterday both in English and in German. He'd found it quite hard to do, having to stop a few times and start again as he'd got emotional. This morning it still feels surreal, like she can't quite believe that she'd been there when Sebastian Vettel had prepared to tell the world that he was leaving Formula One at the end of this season.
There's been rumours for months, only fuelled further as the rumours of his impending fatherhood gained more momentum.
Aston Martin and it's team principal, Mike had tried to quash the rumours by publicly saying how they wanted to Seb to stay and in reality they did want him to stay and had made a final push to tempt him into staying on for at least one more season in Austria but a difficult weekend had only cemented Seb's decision. Despite nearly changing his mind some weeks ago and needing more time to think it over, he was leaving Formula One behind at the end of the season. He had other priorities now and wanted to focus on being a father. He wasn't bringing Emilia into the world to have someone else bringing her up while he continues to race, he doesn't want to feel like a part time dad who's too busy to spend time with his kids and keeps having to frequently say goodbye every race week.
He knows he's sacrificing some of the early months of her life to finish his career, he's decided that he's not prepared to sacrifice any more.
Now there's less than an hour to go before Seb's retirement is officially announced. He's already set off a literal bomb of speculation and excitement by starting his own Instagram account and it's from there that his news will break.
Right now Holly knows he'll be breaking the news to his team, he's been wanting to make sure that they know before they hear it from anyone else. While she's keen to speak to him to find out how it went, she's got something more pressing on her mind, something a little more urgent.
Last night, no more than two hours since Seb had left for Hungary, she'd had a 'show' - when the plug of mucus comes away from the cervix. It means that labour is imminent and for Holly, it means that baby Emilia might well have chosen this weekend to make her entrance into the world.
Holly's yet to tell Seb; he needs to know so that he can be as prepared as possible to return home at what could be short notice but at the same time she doesn't want to worry him. She'll feel bad if he flies home, misses valuable time in the car or even the race and active labour doesn't even start. Though, where she'd first thought that labour could still be days away, the tightenings she's been experiencing this morning are suggesting that it might happen sooner than she thinks.
She's torn, telling Seb is important; it's vital because he doesn't want to miss the birth of his much wanted first daughter but she also doesn't want him rushing home for nothing.
And it's not like she's on her own; Hayley is still here after offering to stay until he returns from Hungary even though her home is now ready for her to move back in to after work was completed ahead of schedule.
The time ticks by and Holly sits on the bed, iPad in hand to watch Seb's retirement announcement go live on Instagram.
The little tightenings are still happening. She's had a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions over the past few weeks and she's experienced enough to know when it's the real deal.
His beautiful face appears on her screen just as another small contraction makes itself felt. It doesn't last long, only as long as it takes Seb to break the hearts of millions of fans around the world with the words, "I hereby announce my retirement from Formula One by the end of the 2022 season."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"My best race? Still to come. I believe in moving forwards and moving on. Time is a one way street and I want to go with the times. Looking back is only going to slow you down. I look forward to race down unknown tracks and I will be finding new challenges. The marks I left on track will stay until time and rain will wash them away. New ones will be put down. Tomorrow belongs to those shaping today. The next corner is in good hands as the new generation has already turned in. I believe there is still a race to win. Farewell and thanks for letting me share the track with you. I loved every bit of it."
By the time he finishes she's in floods of tears and she doesn't really know why.
Is it because he's announced the end of his career? Is it because she knows why he's leaving the sport he loves? Or is it her hormones going crazy as her body readies itself for birth?
His best race is still to come? Yes and it will be bringing up his daughter, watching her grow, being there for important milestones, picking her up after she's fallen over, reading her bedtime stories and showering her with unconditional love.
And more importantly for him, it means not having to goodbye and explain why he's always away.
Her mobile rings almost as soon as the video has ended and it's no surprise to see his name on her screen.
The lump in her throat is so big that it aches and she can only cry down the phone when she answers it.
"You've watched it then," Seb's voice breaks as he speaks, he's feeling emotional too and her crying is on the edge of breaking him.
"Yeah," she croaks, pushing the iPad further away from her.
"It came across ok?" he asks.
"Yeah," is all she can manage.
"Holly, you'll make me cry too in a minute," he tries to joke and lighten the mood.
She takes a few deep breaths to try and calm herself, her tummy tightens and aches with another small contraction and she puts her hand on it to feel how it's gone rock hard. It's not really painful, no more so than a dull ache, a bit like a period cramp.
"Well, the news is out now," Seb says, filling the silence that's fallen between them.
"It is," she finally manages to speak, "how do you feel?"
"Relieved in a way," he replies, "I feel like I've been building up to this moment for a while."
"And the team, how did they take it?"
"I think they knew what was coming, thanks to all the rumours and stuff that's been in the media they've worked out that you're having my baby without me having to say a word and the longer time went without me signing another contract, the more it fuelled the rumours too. They're sad, there was a few tears but they'll be ok, they've already got another driver lined up for next year and it'll be announced tomorrow."
This is a shock, she hadn't expected Aston Martin to move so fast, "already?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know who?" she's curious to know if he knows who his replacement will be, not that it will make a difference to anything.
He doesn't hesitate in his answer, he was told during a phone call a few weeks ago who was keen to take his place if he didn't sign on for next season and a contract with the new driver was secretly signed last night, "it'll be Fernando, Mike told me earlier."
"Alonso?"
"There's only one," he chuckled and then changed the subject, "enough about me, how are you? How's Emilia?"
She hesitates, it's only for a second but it's enough for her observant boyfriend to notice it.
"Holly?"
She can't hide it from him, if things suddenly progress and she's given him no warning and it leads to him missing the birth then she'd never forgive herself. "I've lost my plug," she admits.
She hears him gasp, "you've what?" He's clued up enough to know exactly what she means. "When?"
"Last night, less than two hours after you'd left," she confesses, bracing herself for him to ask why she hadn't phoned him last night.
It comes quickly but he doesn't yell at her, "why didn't you call me, we'd have just got to the airport? I could have come straight back home. Any contractions yet?"
"I felt nothing last night..."
He cuts her off, "and now?"
"Just minor ones, everything tightens up and my belly goes hard, a bit like light period cramps," she rubs her belly as she talks.
"Jesus," there's frustration in his voice now and she grimaces at his tone.
"Sorry. At least you're only a short flight away," she tries to offer him some reassurance but it's useless.
"Then I'm two hours drive away," he raises his voice, "it'll take me about four hours to get to you, you should have called me last night."
"And you could have come back and nothing will happen," she counters, "I've told you how long things can take."
His mind is quickly made up. As a rule he no longer uses private jets, preferring to take commercial flights instead but for the last race and this one, he's using a private jet so he knows he can make it home quicker if he has to. And he's going to leave to come home now, he's not risking missing the birth. He says an abrupt, "I'll see you soon, I'm on my way, call me if anything changes," and hangs up, leaving her in no doubt that he'll be up in the air as soon as he physically can be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't you think you should ring the hospital?" Hayley suggests as they sit side by side in the kitchen, "or maybe we should head there and tell Seb we'll meet him there? It's a long drive to get there, especially if you're in labour."
"Nothings really happening," Holly stirs her mug of tea and watches the liquid swirl round when she takes her spoon out, "things are still the same as they were this morning, I could be like this for ages, days even. Seb's going to miss this race for nothing."
"He'll be more concerned about being here with you than he will be missing the race," Hayley replies, watching with concern as Holly shifts on her stool, "and they've got Nico filling in for him so it's not like they'll only be running one car."
"I know but with his announcement this morning it was important for him to be there, now poor Britta will be fending off more rumours and questions because he's suddenly disappeared," she winces a little as she feels a sharp pain in her back.
"They're going to say it's a family emergency when people ask, which is kinda true. And it's more important to Seb to be here than it is for him to be answering the same questions over and over," Hayley smiles and lifts her mug to her lips, she's actually quite excited about the birth, more than she expected or wanted to be considering that Seb is her ex and her biggest regret is letting him go when they split up.
The tea isn't going down well for Holly, she's too nervous and it's making her feel nauseous. Any time soon she'll have this baby in her arms and it feels like it will be crunch time, it will be sink or swim.
"Seb won't be angry with you," Hayley says, thinking that Holly's nerves are because she's worried about the fact that she didn't tell him what had happened last night until this morning. She puts her mug down and looks at her watch, "he'll probably have landed by now, was he going to text you?"
"My phone is upstairs," she replies, imagining Seb getting even more annoyed and panicked because she's not answered his calls or replied to his messages, if he's sent any. Though Hayley has her phone with her and he's not tried that so it's likely he's not called at all.
"I'll go and get it for you," Hayley offers, "you don't want poor Seb panicking if he can't get hold of you."
"It's ok, I'll get it," she gets off of the stool, "it'll be good for me to keep moving."
She slowly wanders off, though it's more of a waddle than a wander. She feels heavy, the weight of her bump making her muscles ache but she also feels a little pressure inside herself.
Hayley stays where she is, her back now to Holly and she slowly sips her tea until she hears something spill on the floor.
It's not a gush, more of a steady trickle but she spins round on her stool to see Holly stood there with a puddle forming at her feet.
She stays calm, puts her mug down and quietly says, "I'll call Seb and then grab some towels, you stay there, don't move."
Holly looks down, she can't see her feet but she can see the puddle forming around her. Her waters have broken, soaking her black leggings, it looks like Emilia might arrive quicker than she thought.
Behind her she hears Hayley start leaving a message for Seb on his voicemail, telling him that Holly's waters have just gone and that he's to stay calm and not to drive like a maniac when he lands. Then she casually walks past and disappears to head upstairs.
It's all so calm and Holly's unbelievably grateful for it, she's dealt with panicked parents in the past and it's made her feel panicked too.
"Here we go," Hayley returns with an arm full of towels and offers one to Holly to wrap around her waist before starting to deal with the mess on the floor. "It's a good job it's not carpeted in this part of the house, not that it would bother Seb," she says as she mops up around Holly's feet, "how are you feeling?"
"Apart from embarrassed? I'm ok," Holly replies, still able to feel amniotic fluid running down the inside of her legs. "It's Seb I'm worried about."
"Don't you worry about him, he'll be fine once he gets here. He'll go straight into overprotective dad mode but he'll be ok," Hayley looks up at her and smiles, then she suggests, "maybe now is the time to ring the hospital?"
Suddenly her phones rings and she springs up and rushes to answer it, putting it on loudspeaker so that can Seb can speak to Holly.
"Her waters have gone?" He doesn't even say hello, his voice is already laced with panic.
"It's ok, I'm not even having full blown contractions yet," Holly says as Hayley brings the phone over to her.
"Holly," he sighs, "why didn't you call me last night, I could have been there with you now."
"You won't miss the birth, I think she'll be ages yet, she probably won't even be born until tomorrow," she gives Hayley a grateful smile as she hands the phone to her, runs back to where they were sitting and then returns with a stool for her to sit on. Considering the fact that Hayley is Seb's ex and that she wasn't at all happy about her staying here at first, Hayley has become a good friend, especially over the past few weeks.
"I really hope I don't miss it, birth can unpredictable," he says.
"You've watched too many YouTube videos," she chuckles, "trust me, you won't miss it and once I've phoned the hospital you'll find out that they won't even want me to go in for hours yet."
She can hear chatter and noise in the background from the airport and Mark offering to drive when they get to the car. Seb thankfully sounds more reassured as he softly tells her that he loves her and that he can't wait to meet Emilia.
They end the call with him a lot calmer than when he'd first called and Holly gets off of the stool, wanting to go upstairs and get herself cleaned up and into some dry clothes.
But it seems that little Emilia is determined to make a mockery out of everything that her mother has told Seb when the first proper contraction hits out of nowhere.
She leans on the stool, gripping Hayley's phone in her hand, groaning in pain and for the first time, poor Hayley looks panicked.
She doesn't know what to do. Is now the time to head to the hospital and meet Seb there? Will they even get there before the baby comes? Will Seb get to see his first child's birth?