Mark finally met his daughter. She didn't like him one bit, but he seemed happy. Leah insisted that she be there when it happened. so naturally Lando and Daniel both came as well.
They went to a very public beach in Monaco where Mark would visit for two hours. He tried to argue for more time, but Cassidy said that was enough for Elizabeth today. Cassidy also had a conversation with him about boundaries.
He promised he would respect them. He also apologized for laying a hand on her. He said that he had gotten into drugs and it made him different, so he wanted her to know that he was going to try and be better for their kid. Cassidy didn't believe one word of that. Leah also made sure that Daniel didn't hold Elizabeth while Mark was around. If he knew how close Elizabeth was to Daniel, he would be in trouble. They were in a dangerous situation but were trying to handle it without it getting messy since the police wouldn't help them.
Cisca had messaged Lando asking if he wanted to fly back to London for a little day with their family. Lando couldn't go he had to fly to go to Mclaren for their car reveal with Oscar. Leah had agreed to go though, so she was on a plane to London. She was going to be staying the night with them. Leah didn't mind Lando's family. They were very welcoming. Cissy, that's what Leah liked to call little Cisca since her mother and she had the same name. Leah had also sent them at Christmas.
Lando had taken Leah back to London to spend the holiday with his family. It was a nice day and Leah enjoyed herself. after though was a little sad. She went back to her house alone to visit her family's graves. She still didn't want Lando to go.
Leah was picked up from the airport by Cisca. So when she arrived she saw her there waving as she made a little sign with flowers. Leah smiled as she came over and hugged the older woman.
"Aww Leah," Cisca sighed as she put a hand to the back of Leah's head holding her in a long embrace. She looked at the sign Cisca had made for her. It said Leah's here, yay! Leah laughed. "The girls made it for you." Cisca smiled as she handed Leah the flowers.
"Aww Cisca," Leah smiled and sniffed them. She gave her another little hug. Around a few people realized who Leah was and started recording. "Thank you so much I love them." Cisca nodded and rolled up the sign as they walked out to the car.
"How have you been?" She asked as she slid into the driver's seat. Leah got in and sighed.
"I know Lando is your son, but I really need to get some things off my chest," Leah sighed as she looked over at Cisca. "They aren't anything bad, it's just," Cisca put her hand on Leah's giving her a reassuring grip.
"My dear, I know you love my son, I do not doubt that, I will always be here for you, so go ahead, I will listen to you. And if you want some of my input I will give it to you," She offered. Leah smiled up at the woman. She felt guilty thinking that she wanted Cisca to be her real mother. She wished her mom would have been more understanding and concerned. Kathleen wasn't like that though, she wasn't raised that way.
"Okay," Leah smiled at her but let out a long breath as she sat back in the seat. "We always make jokes about kids because of Elizabeth and Alejandro being around all the time. Lando doesn't pressure me in any way to have kids, but we talk about it a lot now. I just wanted your opinion on if you think I'm being selfish if I don't want to have kids just yet because I'm in the high of my career," Leah blurted out. She leaned back and covered her face with her hands. "God that sounds so bad." The car was quiet which scared Leah so she quickly pulled her knees to her chest and looked out the window. Just like when she was little as she tried not to cry.
"Leah, you are fine," Cisca laughed a little. Leah looked over surprised.
"You promise," Leah asked as her eyes watered. She wanted Cisca to be proud of her, she never wanted her to be mad at her. Cisca smiled and took her hand again as she focused on the road.
"You and Lando are still so young, you've married young, which isn't a bad thing especially when you've found your person. And you have," Cisca smiled as she gripped her hand tighter. "I know that one day you both will know when you are both ready to have kids. If you want to have a conversation with him, that would be fine, but honey, don't worry about that right now. You both need to be focusing on your careers. Yours just started and you're already making so much progress for women in motorsport. He understands that." Leah took a deep breath as she looked out at the road.
"So I'm not being selfish by choosing myself," Leah asked. Cisca laughed once again as she patted Leah's hand before returning both of hers to the steering wheel.
"Leah I want you to know that sometimes it's alright to choose yourself, that doesn't mean you're selfish. It just means you are finally taking the time to choose yourself. If you have to ask if choosing yourself is selfish it's not. A selfish person wouldn't ask," Cisca explained as she gave Leah a soft smile. Leah nodded. She still felt guilty about her views, but she knew Cisca was right. She wouldn't lie to her.
"I know, but it's just, everyone keeps trying to say that we need to have kids and I just-," Leah groaned softly as she rubbed her forehead.
"Leah, that's not up to anyone else, but you and Lando. You will know when you're ready," Cisca offered. Leah nodded and wrung her hands out as she slid her feet back down to the floorboards. "I know you let the media influence you a little bit, but Leah you need to figure out who you are without that influence. They can't dictate your life."
"It's just no matter what I do someone is always unhappy about it, I feel like I'm gaining more haters than I had when I started. I hate this feeling," She sighed as she looked over at the older woman. She smiled a little. Leah realized Cisca had a smile like her son. The same one. Lando would make if he was trying not to laugh or someone was laughing at him.
"Well someone seems to always be unhappy so you do what you want then, none of them are going to matter because with fame comes hate. There will always be someone who is going to be jealous of what you have. How you look, what you say, how many wins you have, someone will always be there to say something rude. You are going to have to find a way to live with that, your real fans would never turn against you. Know that, you still have people on the internet that defend you against everything. You have people who would be there to support you through it all," Cisca took a deep breath as she turned onto a busy street. Leah smiled at her. Apparently, she just needed someone to give her a little help.
"Thank you Cisca," Leah muttered as she looked back out the window.
"Of course, now you are going to be sleeping in Lando's room. The girls each wanted you to sleep in their rooms so I chose for you, sorry, but it was Lando's room or the couch," She explained. Leah laughed a little at her words.
"Aw we would have been able to have a little sleepover," She smiled. Cisca turned the radio on a low volume.
"Well it is just a girl's night, Adam is away on a business trip, so we could build a blanket fort," Cisca added. Leah smiled and sat up a little.
"I doubt C and Flo would be game, they are pretty old now," Leah offered as he narrowed her eyes at Cisca. She shrugged.
"They would do it if you would," Cisca laughed as Leah clapped her hands together.
"Yes, I've never actually built one," Leah smiled as she covered her mouth. Cisca thought it was funny how childish she could be, but she thought it was sweet. It was clear that Leah really liked to show her childish side with people she was comfortable with. The first time they met she was all serious and professional. Now they were going to make blanket forts with her family.