"You're Miabella Norris, right?"
Lando was the first to look up from his plate.
Mia was busy trying to get Levi to eat with his spoon when she heard her name.
Seeking help, she looked at Lando, who immediately jumped in and started to help Levi.
Mia turned her gaze to the person who had addressed her and began to smile broadly.
"Yess, yess I am. And you're Bianca. So nice to finally meet you."
The little family sat outside and as Bianca walked past she just had to say a quick word to Mia.
"I am such a big fan," Bianca said with a grin, wiping her long brown hair from her face.
The young Filipina was the first woman to race in Formula 1 in a long time.
Bianca has been in the sport since she was five years old and was in the F1 Academy with Prema Racing from 2023.
"Fan of me? Darling, I'm a fan of yours. I've been following your journey since 2023."
Bianca started to grin even more and then her eyes fell on Levi, who was by now eating with a spoon.
"Oh, this is Levi, Lando's and my son."
Bianca pulled up a chair, sat down and gently stroked Levi's head.
"He's adorable. By the way, hey Lando."
"Bianca," the Brit replied, nodding politely at her.
The two didn't really know each other yet. They had met when Carlos, the two of them and Arthur had invited them to a little tennis match.
"Audi against McLaren", or so the spaniard said.
Mia gave Lando a prompting look. The young Swiss woman sensed how nervous Bianca was and was sure that another driver could help her.
"You nervous?", Lando finally asked.
Bianca nodded slowly and rubbed her hands on her trousers.
She had made it, her dream had always been to drive in Formula 1 one day, however everything was much bigger and the nervousness was rising more and more.
Bianca would start P15, which was not her desired result, however Carlos had reassured her.
"I felt the same way when I had my first race back in 2019, so just enjoy this race, no one expects a win from you", Lando said.
The Filipina frowned, "but if I don't perform, I won't have a seat next year."
"Bianca, you're a very good driver. Otherwise you wouldn't be here, so trust the process, push yourself to the limits, but don't do something stupid."
"You're right, I just want to be perfect."
Mia stroked the young woman's arm sympathetically. She was there when Oscar had his first race.
However, she didn't really know him yet and still you could feel his nervousness.
"You have Carlos as your teammate, you couldn't have a better chance to be great. He will help you."
Lando smiled encouragingly at the young racer and she nodded gratefully.
The Briton could still remember the first time he had driven for McLaren.
That was nine years ago now and a lot had really changed since then.
"Oh shit!", Bianca suddenly cursed and stood up hastily, "I have to be at the garage in one minute."
"We're coming with you, I want to catch up with Carlos anyways," Mia said and looked briefly at Lando who nodded in agreement.
Miabella had actually planned to invite her friends from the paddock to her home.
But something always came up and she hadn't seen most of them for 4 years.
Except Pierre, Kika, Max and Kelly. Miabella went out a lot with the four of them, as long as there was a break and no one had to race.
Bianca stepped impatiently from one foot to the other and was just too polite to just run off.
Lando sensed the young woman's restlessness and smiled slightly to himself. When Mia looked at him questioningly, he just shook his head with a grin.
The four of them made their way to the Audi garage where Carlos was already waiting for Bianca.
Bianca ran the rest of the way towards the Spaniard and started to apologise.
Carlos had a stony expression on his face and every now and then shook his head in bewilderment.
However, he started to grin when he saw Lando, Mia and Levi coming towards him.
"So you're still doing it?" asked Lando with a laugh.
Bianca and Mia both looked at each other in irritation, while Carlos laughed out loud and answered Lando's question in the affirmative.
"I'm sorry, what is he still doing?"
Carlos looked at Miabella smiling, "Everytime I have a rookie as teammate, I'm telling them they should be here in one minute and everytime they are to late."
"He did it to me as well and I thought I got fired immediatly. Turns out, it was all just a bad joke," Lando explained.
Bianca looked at her teammate indignantly, "are you kidding me?"
"Yes, I actually am."
"Oh, you are so going to get that back, trust me."
The young Filipina rubbed her hands together with a mischievous grin and Miabella knew the two of them were going to have a very fun year.
Bianca said goodbye to them and yet was already going to her garage to get ready.
The Driver's parade would start soon and then the drivers had to be mostly ready.
"Mia, tell me, what have you been up to the past four years?", Carlos asked, while Lando and Levi were looking at something on the floor.
"Well, I'm a full time mom, so that's what I've been doing."
"How come you're name is Norris?"
Mia nodded, she had promised Carlos that she would explain this to him at a later date and apparently, that time was now.
"Lando and I decided that Levi should grow up with the Norris Family Name. His Dad then suggested that I also take their Name, so that Levi would grow up with the same Name as his mother and Father."
Carlos thought for a moment, "why didn't you just get married?"
"Because we're not in love."
"But you have a son together?"
"I'm Aware."
"You won't Elaborate right?"
Miabella shook her head and the Spaniard shrugged his shoulders in surrender.
That was something Mia appreciated extremely about Carlos.
No matter how curious Carlos was, he would never force anyone to tell him anything. If he realised that no satisfactory answer would come, he would stop asking.
But Miabella had rejoiced too soon, because Carlos looked at the young Swiss woman with narrowed eyes.
"You're not telling the truth."
"What?"
Carlos leaned a little closer to Miabella, "I did the math. He can't be Lando's."
Mia swallowed and looked seriously into the Spaniard's eyes.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Look, I get that you won't tell a soul. I won't either, so don't stress about it, alright?"
Lando looked up and gave Mia a worried look. He hadn't seen that stressed expression on her face for a while.
Levi, on the other hand, noticed none of this and traced a pattern on the floor with his finger, which was apparently only visible to him.
"Carlos, you're making up stories," Mia finally said.
"Alright, alright. I won't ask you again. See you on the track Lando."
With those words, Carlos turned and disappeared into the garage.
Lando looked at his best friend questioningly, "you alright?"
"He knows."
"He knows what exactly?"
"He knows about you and Levi."