Italics: Finnish
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ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : Different kind of beautiful
"Maybe I'm delusional
You're just that kind of beautiful"
Max Verstappen always appeared very careless and cold to the media for several years and to the public for a while. He never cared if he was honest, he wished the media and social media didn't exist at all so listening to what they said never made much sense. In more recent years, he didn't let things get to him and showed more of his humorous personality in public.
He knew Anneli had her playful side and her more vulnerable side, but he never saw either in public. He understood but Anneli didn't seem like the sort of person to pretend to be anyone she wasn't, she was the most honest person he knew. For the most part, Anneli was quiet when they were alone.
Then one day, Max had to know where the name of icecube came from. It had been bugging him since he knew Anneli had a lot of personality he didn't know of it. The conversation started as they made their way through the airport after arriving in Switzerland.
"Neli, where did you get the name icecube?" Max questioned. "Is it just because of your dad?"
"No," Anneli replied. "Felipe and Jack named it me...because of my personality. A few people have used it since because that's all they see of me."
"You're not that cold though," Max shrugged. "Why is it you're like that around track?"
"When I was younger, I used to think that the boys would bully me because I was a girl into cars," Anneli began. "They didn't, I made friends with a lot of them but by that point, I'd already prepared myself for it so the media couldn't use it against me."
"The media will use anything against us," Max admitted.
"I didn't care what they used against me as long as it wasn't the fact I was a female because that is the one thing that wasn't up to me. If they said I was cold, a bad driver or rude, that's that but saying I 'drive like a girl' to insult me...I wasn't letting them," Anneli explained.
"That makes sense," Max agreed. "You shouldn't have to hide who you are to anyone, you know that?"
"I don't hide who I am with you, Max...if that is what you are asking," said Anneli quietly. "I...I don't know what to say about it. I don't purposely try to be emotionless, I just like to be honest and it's sometimes how I come across. I think I did pick a lot up from my dad."
"There's nothing wrong with you, I'm not saying that," Max quickly.
"I know," Anneli assured.
If they were alone, Anneli would have taken Max's hand in hers as they walked but they just couldn't risk it in a busy airport. Besides, in under half an hour, they would be around people who knew about them.
Talking off, Anneli was quite interested to see how Max would be with her family. He was staying with Anneli at the family house while he was in Switzerland, along with helping Anneli find a house she wanted. It turned out that he was really serious about buying her house, though Anneli wasn't sure how she was supposed to accept it with feeling no guilt.
She knew Max had more money than he knew what to do with, she couldn't imagine how much he had just from bonuses from each race win let alone his salary. Even so, Anneli didn't like to take money off people no matter how rich they were.
"Neli!" Kimi called to his daughter.
"Dad," Anneli replied in Finnish as she hugged him. "Please play nice."
"I always play nice," Kimi replied with a smile.
"Liar," Anneli crossed her arms. "This is different. You know Max."
"It will be fine as long as he does not know Finnish," Kimi joked, patting her on the back and realising her from the hug.
Truth be told, Kimi liked Max. Max was honest and made Anneli a lot happier than Elijah ever did. Anneli showed more love to Max in the short time than she ever did to Elijah and that was something that put Kimi at ease.
"I am excited for my racing friend to meet my hometown friend," Anneli commented. "They no nothing about racing so it should be refreshing for you all."
"As long as they're fun, it should be fine," Max said with a grin. "Are they nice?"
"They are very nice, even though they always make me drive," Anneli said in amusement.
"She drives a truck," Kimi added, glancing at Max from the driver's seat.
"Oh?" Max hummed. "I can picture that."
"She's a better race driver than a road driver," Kimi joked as Anneli rolled her eyes.
"If her driving is like when we went rally car driving, I'm terrified—"
"Oi, I'm a great rally car driver!" Anneli whined, hitting Max's shoulder. "I beat you!"
"Barely—"
"I'd like to see you have an ego like that after we go snowboarding," Anneli muttered.
"Oh no, she's taking you snowboarding?" Kimi mumbled. "I am sorry for your loss."
"What?" Max's mouth partner in confusion.
"Snowboarding against me is the one race you cannot win," Anneli smirked. "If you do, I will retire from my racing career, never snowboard again and move to live on a remote island in the middle of nowhere."
Max looked between Anneli and Kimi, both of whom seemed happy with themselves at Anneli's words. She wasn't joking and Max wasn't sure if he should be scared or amused. Max wasn't even sure what Kimi meant by 'sorry for your loss' but neither seemed to elaborate.
Anneli knew. It was the loss of Max's confidence.
Then again, Max was more scared Felipe was going to push him off the cliff before he even had a chance to race Anneli.
As they pulled up at the house, Anneli let a happy sigh out. She adored being back home, especially when snow littered along the ground since it was her favourite weather. She was also glad to be with her siblings.
"Rianna! Robin!" Anneli yelled as she walked through the door. "Hurry up!"
"Neli! Hi!" The Finnish voice sounded as the little blonde girl came running at Anneli.
Anneli allowed Rianna to wrap her arms around her, hugging her back tightly. Robin soon joined the group and Anneli had to wait a few minutes before her siblings had allowed her to escape the hug. Minttu gave Anneli a smile from the stairs too, holding Grace.
Grace was the newest sibling to Anneli, just over two months old. She was born in June but with her racing career, Anneli hadn't had the chance to spend much time with her little half-sister. Her dad had sent her a lot of pictures.
"I brought Max with me," said Anneli softly. "He's going to stay with us while I am home, okay?"
"Are you going to leave soon?" Rianna asked with a sad voice.
"Not for the next week," Anneli assured.
"She has to go back to driving, Rianna," said Robin with his hands on his hips, sounding like authority. "Don't you, Nel?"
"I do but enough of that," Anneli replied. "Say Hi to Max. He can't speak Finnish so you need to talk English with him."
"Hi," Rianna waved at Max who smiled at her.
"Hey," Max replied.
Anneli immediately made her way towards her step-mum, who was holding baby Grace. Anneli hadn't seen her newest siblings since she'd visited them at the hospital so she wanted to see how adorable she was.
"Do you want to hold her?" Minttu offered.
"Oh I'm not...what if I drop her?" Anneli worried. "I'm not...I..."
"It's alright," Minttu assured as she placed the baby in her arms. "You've got this."
Though she wasn't completely sure she felt like she should be holding a baby, Anneli felt herself staring down with kind eyes. While the Finnish woman had no interest in having children right now or in the near future, her sister Grace was adorable. It gave her a fuzzy feeling in her chest that she couldn't quite place.
Max was looking over at her with fond eyes.
Kimi was glaring at Max.
When Max met eyes with Kimi, he just gave him a small smile. For Max, it was a little strange because he never saw Kimi smile much when he was on the grid and they had never really talked before Max met Anneli. He hoped they would get along.
Max still hadn't brought himself to formally introduce Anneli to any of his family yet. He had plans during the break to introduce her to his mother and sister Victoria...but he wasn't sure about his dad. Anneli would say what she thought and he knew they'd likely argue if Jos said anything about her racing or herself.
"We are thinking about moving to Italy," Minttu commented lightly.
"Why? I thought you love it here?"Anneli questioned sadly.
"Robin's karting is getting serious and it's a lot better for us to be in Italy for it," Minttu replied. "We want to support him the best we can. He's very talented. He had good teachers, didn't he? You and your dad...the genes are strong."
"It makes sense," Anneli agreed. "I think I am going to buy a house near Seb."
"Something tells me that you'll be in Monaco far more than you will be here," Minttu teased as she looked over at Max.
"You think so?"
"I think that man looks at you the way Kimi looked at me," Minttu smiled. "I know I am not your mother, Anneli—"
"You are," Anneli interrupted. "You are my mama just as much as Jenni, no matter how much she hates it. You have raised me since I was nine."
Minttu teared up as she kissed the side of Anneli's head.
"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Anneli," She whispered. "You have made me a very proud mother over the years, I hope you know that."
Okay but Minttu and Anneli have my heart <3
If I were to write a Lando Norris' sister book, she wouldn't be a driver. She'd be around 22 and a professional footballer. I don't want to pair her with someone I've already used. Which pairing would you prefer?Alex AlbonGeorge RussellOscar Piastri(I don't know much about Oscar so I'm leaning towards George?)
Update: This book is now out, it's called Keeper!