"Tina oh my god you are amazing!" Stevie hugs the Slovenian girl who has been her hero while traveling with a toddler and an infant.
They just landed in Milan Italy and are now heading towards where they can pick up their luggage.
It wasn't such a long flight, but it was the first time Cole and Zara were on a plane and Stevie was really stressed out.
And then there was Tina who was calm as a cucumber. She had everything under control and made sure Cole was enjoying himself.
Which gave Stevie the possibility to focus more on Zara who luckily fell asleep once they were in the air.
Tina was explaining all the buttons to Cole, he was sitting by the window and they were watching out over Europe below them while Tina, with the help of the flight radar on a tablet, explained him every country they flew over.
She even told him what the countries were known for and what language they spoke there.
Because of that Cole never even had time to start making a fuss about anything.
They have quite a lot of stuff to collect, but Stevie wraps Zara against her chest so she has her hands free to push the luggage trolley.
"There is somebody waiting for us yes?" Tina asks Stevie.
"There should be yeah. Christian told me he would make sure we didn't have to worry about getting a taxi and there was already a car seat for both of these munchkins in the car."
"Ok good." She turns to Cole.
"So you sit on top of the suitcase, then I can't lose you in the crowd."
Tina puts Cole on top of the luggage where he feels like a king on his throne while Tina pushes the second trolly with him on it through the arrivals.
Stevie can't do anything else but smile when she sees him sitting there, his smile so wide you'd think it hurts his jaw. It actually reminds her of somebody she will probably see again this weekend.
"GOOOOO Tinaaaaa!" he shouts trying to spur her on to go faster.
"No my little friend. We stay with mommy and Zara. We will race another time."
Just as promised, there's somebody waiting for them holding a sign with 'Stephanie Dawson' on it.
Their driver, Arthur, loads up the luggage in a van that is also used to drive team members from the hotels to the track during the weekend.
Tina and Stevie make sure the kids are secured safely in the provided car seats.
The drive from the airport to the Monza circuit where they will be staying in the motor homes the team has arranged isn't very long.
About 30 minutes later they drive over a large field with multiple mobile homes. Some look more permanent, but most are caravans that can be moved from one spot to another.
The van drives towards to more permanent mobil ehomes next to each other. One is pretty big and the other just a size smaller.
"Miss Dawson, the one in the right is for you and your children, the other one is for Miss Tina." Their driver explains while he hands them both a set of keys.
"Call me Stephanie please. Miss Dawson is so formal." She says smiling as she accepts the keys.
"Very well Stephanie. You will find your accommodation is fully stocked so you and those two little ones will have everything you might need. Miss Tina that counts for you as well."
He then hands them their passes to get in the paddock. They are green which means they are for people who work for the team. They even made passes for Zara and Cole, so they are also part of the team now. Even though Stevie hasn't even officially accepted the job.
"Let's get settled in. You do your stuff first and then come to us for dinner ok?" Stevie tells Tina.
She already loves the young woman, but she also feels like Tina deserves to have time for herself as well. Right now Stevie isn't working, so Tina should enjoy the time she is here just as much as anybody else.
"Ok I'll be there shortly." Tina opens the door to her mobile home and Stevie can hear her admire the place out loud.
With a smile she unlocks her own home for this weekend and she lets Cole get in first.
"Oh mommy toys!" He shouts and when she steps in she sees they made a small corner for the kids to play with a diversity of toys for both of them.
There's even a play rug for Zara, so she puts her daughter on it while she explores the rest of the place.
It has a small living area with kitchen, but it's big enough to have dinner with the four of them.
She opens the first door and finds a small bathroom with a shower and a baby bath for Zara.
"They really thought about everything." She mumbles. The bathroom is stocked up with shower gel, shampoo and conditioner. She didn't have to bring any toiletries by the looks of the bathroom. She even finds a toothbrush and toothpaste for herself as well as one with dinosaurs for Cole.
Then she finds the master bedroom with a cot next to the double bed, so Zara can sleep in her room.
There's also a separate bedroom for Cole with a single bed, it even has a special side you can put up so he can't fall out.
So far it seems perfect and she is sure they will have a great weekend here.
It's becoming more and more likely that she will become a real Red Bull team member after all.
~~~~~~~~~
Seb looks out the window of his caravan as he sees one of the team rental vans drive past him.
He raises his eyebrows, who could that be? Usually the people who stay in the mobile homes or caravans will drive here themselves.
The windows are darkened so he can't see inside, but when it parks in front of the two mobile homes about 30 meters from his caravan he still can't see much.
There's one young woman with long, dark brown hair getting out who then disappears in the back of the van, only to come out carrying a little boy with brown curly hair.
He seems about 2 or 3 years of age, but he has never seen this kid before.
Arthur, the driver gets a load of luggage out of the van and then he can see him putting it in front of the mobile home.
Unfortunately from where Seb is sitting he can't see the front door of the mobile home as it's behind the van.
He has no idea who goes in there, he just sees the brown haired woman go into the smaller one.
This time without the child.
Seb isn't really the type to be nosy, but he has no idea who would come here with a kid. He knows the drivers who have kids and he has never seen one who has a little boy that age with that hair.
Maybe one of the trainers has brought his family this weekend, but who? It just doesn't happen very often.
Besides some drivers, there aren't many team members who stay on the camp sites. They are usually in the hotels.
He prefers the peace and quiet here. He can just sit in front of his caravan with a drink without having to go to a hotel bar or stay cooped up in a hotel room.
The rest of the season he won't have this option as they will be in Asia, America and South America. So he will be stuck in hotel rooms for long enough.
Usually it's pretty quiet and peaceful on these camp sites with mostly the same people, but now he's actually curious to find out who is staying in those mobile homes.
He decides to sit outside and see if anybody comes out.
It feels a bit stupid, he's always so obsessed with his privacy and here is is, sitting outside with his book, hoping to find out who the new arrivals are.
He tries to tell himself that he's outside because it's amazing weather and he loves the fresh air, but he knows better.
It takes a while but then he sees the young brown haired women come out of her mobile home, she walks over to the other one and knocks on the door.
It's too far for him to hear anything, but she walks inside and closes the door behind her again.
Only a few moments later she comes back out again with the little boy and some toys for him to play with.
The boy sits down on the grass and starts to play with some toy cars and a toy garage.
Seb smiles when he sees the little man enjoying himself and he feels a bit jealous of whomever is the father of the kid.
He would love to have a family of his own. It wouldn't matter if it was a boy or girl, or both. The idea of being a dad is something that he always loved and he believes he could be a great dad. Especially once he retires and can spend a lot of time with his family.
Unfortunately his ex made that dream a little bit more difficult. Now he has to start the whole dating game again and he doesn't know if he can trust women again.
He trusted his ex, but look how badly she betrayed that trust.
The young women goes up the porch again and he sees somebody handing her something. When she turns around he can see she's holding a little baby, she is wearing a little pink outfit so he assumes it's a girl.
The young woman puts the girl on her stomach on the soft grass and his heart melts when he sees the little boy give the baby a kiss on her head.
The next time he looks up he can't believe his eyes.
Not only is the brunette outside on the porch, holding a tray of drinks, but he sees another woman.
One he has met only a few days ago in Zandvoort when she was struggling to get into her room.
He would recognize her anywhere.
Why is she here? Are those her children? So many questions are racing through his mind. Daniel is going to freak out when he finds out Stephanie is here.
He has been moping about not being able to find her after his media duties were over in Zandvoort. He wanted to ask her number, but she and her father already left.
Should he go to her? Should he tell Daniel?
He decides not to tell Daniel just yet. He has no idea why she is here and Daniel won't be here until later tonight.
It will be a lot more fun to see Daniel's face when he sees her all of a sudden. He will probably come over for a drink tomorrow after media day or maybe they can have dinner together here.
He can already imagine Daniel's reaction when he finds out she is here. It's going to be something he needs to get on video.
He gets up from his chair and walks over to where the young brunette is now sitting in the grass with the two little children.
Stephanie has gone back inside, but she'll probably come out eventually. Especially if those are her kids.
When he approaches the young woman and the kids, the little boy looks up and smiles at him.
Is Daniel sure he has never met Stephanie before? Maybe she was a one night stand a couple of years ago.
This little boy could easily be Daniels kid, but Seb also knows that when this boy was conceived, Daniel was in a committed relationship with his ex and he would never have cheated on her.
"Hello!" The boy shouts and the brunette looks up.
"Hey there. I'm Seb and who are you?"
"I Cole."
The boy looks at him for a bit but then goes back to his cars.
"Hello Mr Vettel." The young woman gets up from the grass.
She looks so familiar, he just can't remember where he knows her from. She's definitely too young for him to ever have had a little adult fun with.
"Hi, I know I've seen you before, but my brain won't tell me where." He says and she laughs.
"That's ok. I was Mr Horner's nanny the last year. I came to two races."
He nods, of course now he remembers. He barely spoke to her, but he did see her around with Christian's kids.
"Of course. I'm sorry I didn't remember you. I'm afraid I never got your name though."
"It's Tina. Nice to officially meet you Mr Vettel." She sits back down with the little girl who starts to fuss a bit and takes her on her lap with a rattler in her hand.
"Please call me Sebastian."
The baby looks up towards the sound of his voice and he is struck by her bright blue eyes. That's definitely Stephanie's baby.
Inside the mobile home Stephanie quickly changes into a pair of shorts and a top. It's still pretty warm and her travel clothes were definitely way too hot for this weather.
On her way outside she grabs a apple and a knife to cut it for Cole.
"Tina do you want an apple as well?" She asks when she walks out.
"Yes please."
She grabs two more and with her hands full she steps out on the deck around the mobile home.
"Do you want me to cut......" she looks up and freezes.
Standing next to Cole, Tina and Zara is Sebastian. He looks at her smiling, but she feels her heart skip a few beats.
She wasn't exactly planning on letting people know she had her two kids here. She didn't even want to tell anybody she has them. But now Seb knows and he is definitely going to tell Daniel who will then never talk to her again.
Why does she even care so much? Yes Daniel is very handsome and really nice, but she isn't looking for anything. The only thing she might like, is to be friends with him, but he won't want that once he knows she's a mom, a single mom.
"Hey Stephanie. What a nice surprise."
He looks at her with those ocean blue eyes of his, she thought he would be judging, but he doesn't seem to be at all. He's just smiling and looking friendly.
Surprised yes, but pleasantly.
"Hi ehm Sebastian. I didn't expect to see you here."
She should have though. Christian told her that he was usually with his caravan if they had races in Europe he could drive to. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that he is here at all.
"I could say the same thing. What brings you here this weekend? Did Christian invite you again?" He asks curious.
"You could say that yes. Do you want to sit down?"
Just when she wants to get a chair, Seb sits down on the grass next to Cole who is busy playing.
"Hi Cole, how old are you?" He asks her son who promptly sticks up two fingers.
"Two? Wow you're a big boy already. And are you going to watch the race cars this weekend?"
He's not even focused on Stephanie who starts to slice the apple for Cole, somehow Seb makes her feel less anxious. He's not putting her through some interrogation about why she is here or about her kids, which is nice.
"Yeah, and you?" Cole asks the blonde man.
"Well I'll be watching, but I am also driving."
This pulls Cole's attention away from his cars and garage and he looks at Seb with his big eyes.
"You race car driver?"
Seb nods.
"I sure am. I race for Red Bull, do you know that team?"
"Yes! I have bed Red Bull."
Seb raises his eyebrow and looks at Stephanie.
She smiles lovingly at her son and hands him a slice of apple.
"My dad made him a race car bed and gave it the Red Bull colors."
She holds out a piece of apple to Sebastian who gladly accepts it.
"That's cool. I wish I had a bed like that."
Cole goes back to his toys and Seb looks at the little baby girl who looks so much like her mother.
"And who is this beauty?" He asks rubbing his finger over her cheek.
"That's Zara. She's 4 months now." Stevie answers.
"You can definitely tell who she got her beauty from. She looks a lot like you Stephanie." He says and it makes her blush. She focuses back on cutting the apples, not able to look at Seb.
She thinks she looks fine, but she would never call herself beautiful.
Seb sees her blush and look away. Does she really not see that she is one of the most beautiful women he has ever laid eyes on? Of course he knows Daniel has a bit of a crush on her, but that doesn't mean he can't admire a gorgeous woman when he sees one.
"Where do you know Christian from" he asks her, deciding to change the subject.
"Ehm, from work I guess." She answers, handing Cole another piece of apple.
"What kind of work do you do?"
He's trying to think about how she could know Christian, what kind of work would bring them together.
"I'm a chef. Christian had dinner at the restaurant I used to work."
"You're a chef? Well if you ever want to test out some dishes I'm more than willing to be your guinea pig." He is pretty impressed. He knows she's 25 and now he hears she is a chef. And she is raising two kids. Most 25 year olds are far from where she is in life.
The only thing he is a bit curious about is where the father of these two cuties are.
He knows it's not any of his business, maybe he is just working so he couldn't be with his kids. Maybe he's in the army and deployed. Maybe he's dead.
Who knows, he might find out at some point. There must be a reason she is here for the second time and she even has Christian's nanny with her.
There's a lot of mystery around her and he's eager to find out more.
"Well you never know. I might be cooking for you very soon." She says, not giving much away
"Why is that? Are you asking me on a date?"
He means it as a joke, but it didn't come across like that by the looks of her.
Her smile disappeared and she completely tenses up.
"I... no... I mean, I'm not. Did you..."
He puts his hand on her arm.
"It was a joke. I would never date somebody who is already taken."
He thought he made it better by this, but it seems he only made it worse.
Her blue eyes turn even brighter as her anger and hurt bubbles up.
She knows it's not Sebs fault. He has no idea what she's been through.
His innocent comment just made her think about Mitch and how she will never be with anybody again.
She quickly gets up to throw away the apple cores and take the knife inside.
Seb jumps up and follows her inside where he finds her vigorously washing off the knife.
"Hey I didn't mean to say something to offend or hurt you. Me and my big mouth sometimes. I'm really sorry if I said something wrong. I just want to be your friend. Don't worry, I'm not looking for a relationship right now. My cheating ex made sure I now have trust issues."
Stevie looks up from her sink and turns off the tap.
"Your girlfriend cheated on you?"
Why would anybody cheat on Sebastian Vettel. He's extremely attractive, seems very nice and is just sex on legs honestly.
"Yeah she did. With her best friend who I thought was gay. You can imagine my surprise when I walked in my bedroom and the first thing I saw was his naked, hairy ass while he was balls deep inside my girlfriend." He tries to make it sound like it's funny, but Stevie can hear the hurt in his voice.
She immediately feels a connection with him. He has been through the same heartbreak as her and he is also just looking for friendship.
"I'm really sorry to hear that. That is awful."
She puts the knife on a kitchen towel to dry before drying her hands on her shorts. She should have grabbed a towel, but she couldn't be bothered.
"Yeah it was. But at least now you know that even though I think you are really stunning, I'm definitely not looking for a relationship. I would really like to be your friend though. You look like you could use one, just like me."
She nods.
"Yeah I'd like that. I ... I know how you feel."
Even though she doesn't really like to talk about it, it feels only fair after he opened up to her that she does the same.
If she wants to be friends with him she should be honest with him as well.
"Yeah I kinda thought you did after your reaction on my date joke. So he cheated on you?"
She nods, swallowing back the lump in her throat. So far she only told Christian and Tina about this. Seb is still pretty much a stranger, but he feels safe. He feels like the kind of guy who can listen and not judge.
"Bastard. Is he the father of Cole and Zara?"
"He is. Or well I call him their sperm donor now. Father isn't a word he deserves." She sounds bitter and Sebs heart aches for her and those two precious children who are still playing outside.
"Did he hurt them? Or you?"
"Oh no, not physically. He was just never around. Too busy with his 'career' in music. Living off my paycheck while he said his record deal was just around the corner. Except it never was, it was just his blonde, 20 year old Barbie who was around the corner. He left me and the kids and hasn't even tried to contact me about them ever since."
Seb shakes his head. Too stunned to react.
How could anybody just walk away from not just his amazing girlfriend, but his kids as well. They are his flesh and blood.
If he would have had kids with his ex, no matter how much she hurt him, he would still be there for his children.
"It's his loss you know. We barely know each other, but I think you are an awesome woman and you seem like an amazing mother. He was an idiot for walking away from the three of you."
She smiles a bit weak, she knows Seb is right. It is Mitch his loss, but unfortunately he doesn't see it like that. He seems very happy to be rid of them and enjoying his life with that Tiffany. Making stupid videos together, while she is taking care of her little family and healing from surgery at the same time.
"Thanks. Please don't tell anybody about what I told you. I told you this hoping that you can keep it to yourself. It's nobody's business and I don't want people to feel sorry for me."
"Of course not. That goes both ways. I am usually not that open about my personal life but I think I can trust you with this. So whatever we talk about stays between the two of us. Pinky swear?"
He raises his hand and sticks up his little finger.
Stevie laughs and does the same.
They hook their little fingers around each others in a promise to keep each others secrets safe.
As they head back outside the atmosphere is light and more relaxed.
"So you still haven't told me why exactly you are here. Except for the fact that you know Christian and he invited you again."
She smiles as they both sit down on the grass, Tina hands Zara to Stevie and she cradles her little girl against her chest.
"Well, apparently you guys need a new chef."