"So Trudy, did Stephanie get her amazing cooking talent from you?" Daniel asks as he is enjoying an Asian beef with noodle salad.
He laughs when he sees Cole slurp a long noodle into his mouth.
"I can cook a nice meal, but not like my daughter. She has been interested in being in the kitchen since she was a little girl and she always wanted to help me prepare dinner. She's just a lot more creative than I ever was." Trudy tells him.
Peter smiles, "I remember one time Stevie wanted to make a cake all by herself, she must have been about 9 or 10. So she found a recipe in one of Trudy's cookbooks and made the batter. I helped her put it in the oven and it looked amazing when it was done."
Daniel looks at Stephanie who seems to get red when she hears what memory her father is talking about.
"So she decorated it with icing and some sprinkles and stuff and then we of course wanted to try it. The taste was fine, but there were a lot of crunchy bits and pieces in it. I thought it was the sprinkles at first. Until Trudy looked into her slice and found pieces of eggshell in the cake." Peter starts to laugh.
"The recipe said to put a certain amount of eggs in it so I put the entire egg in. Not realizing I had to crack them and chuck the shells away." Stevie finishes the story, making Daniel chuckle.
"Well you were really young. I couldn't bake a cake at that age. But I was more interested in go karting and dirt bikes." Daniel says.
"So it's always been a need for speed then?" Peter asks him.
"Yeah as a kid I couldn't really sit still at all, I was always doing something and getting myself in trouble. Climbing trees, making my own ramps to go off with my bike. I'm sure my parents aged a bit faster when I was a kid. And then I got my first go kart and I knew that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to race."
He gives them a bit of insight into his youth.
Cole forgets how to eat when he hears Daniel talk about go karts and going off ramps with his bike. Stevie can already tell that her son would love nothing more than to do that as well.
"And you had to leave your family behind at quite a young age to move to Europe right? That must have been hard for them and you."
Trudy found it quite difficult to not have Stevie and the kids around that weekend when she was in Monza and she knows it will only become longer periods now the last half of the season has started and they are heading a lot further away.
She still supports her daughter though. This was the right thing to do for her. And it seems it's already paying off. Stevie looks happier, she hasn't even mentioned Mitch the entire time she has been back. All she talks about is Daniel and Sebastian. But a lot more about Daniel that's very obvious.
"It was. I definitely was homesick sometimes, but I had one goal and that was to get into F1. So I knew I had to make sacrifices to get there. And in the end it was worth it. I got where I wanted to go and I'm doing quite well." He takes another bite of the delicious salad.
"You're doing more than quite well. You're fighting for the championship. You could become champion this year. That's pretty freaking awesome." Peter says with admiration in his voice.
"Are you able to go home every now and then?" Trudy can understand how Daniel's mom must feel like, only seeing her son on tv most of the year.
"I'm always in Perth for winter break. Christmas is something I will always celebrate with my family."
Stevie realizes once the season is over she won't see Daniel until he's back for the car reveal and pre season testing. She will probably not see him for at least two months.
Of course she is being silly, but she already knows she will miss him a lot during that time. With him being across the globe spending time with his family he won't have time to talk to her. And he has every right to, it's his family and he barely sees them. She's just a friend and hasn't been a friend for that long yet. So she can't expect him to call her while he's out there.
Daniel senses her mood dropping, but he decides not to address it now. He will wait until they have some time alone without her kids and parents.
Once lunch is over Cole drags Daniel with him to finally show his room, but now for real and not over FaceTime.
After that they hang out in the playroom for a while.
Peter got Cole a toy race track with two cars on it. You need some sort of remote controls to make them drive and he loves it.
With Daniel he does about ten races before Peter decides Stevie and Daniel should have some time together.
She just put Zara down for a nap and Peter tells Cole they are going for a walk and to the playground.
At first the boy doesn't want to go, but after Peter promised him they would get some ice cream Cole went along anyways.
"I would totally understand if you want to go. Cole can be very demanding and I wouldn't blame you if you need some peace and quiet." Stevie tells Daniel when they sit down on the sofa.
"I'm about as hyper as Cole, peace and quiet is boring. If you want me to go I will but otherwise I'd be happy to stay a bit longer."
Stevie quickly shakes her head.
"No it's nice to spend some time with you away from the raceweekend."
"I couldn't agree more. I know we haven't known each other that long, but I like having you as a friend. I'm sorry for leaving a drunk Seb outside for you to take care of. It was just a stupid joke, but I never wanted to bother you with it." Daniel apologizes for that Sunday evening.
"Oh well I've gotten to know Seb a lot better. Saw things I didn't really needed to see, but I also learned some things. And besides you helped when we needed to put some clothes on him."
Stevie really isn't mad about that at all. She and Melissa had a good laugh and it made her understand Mitch really had a tiny willy.
"You learned something? What did you learn from a naked, drunk Seb?"
Daniel can't imagine Seb having any wise lessons in the state that he was in.
"Well apparently Seb thinks I'm hot." Stevie says shaking her head laughing.
Daniel feels a little bit of jealousy come up, but he quickly pushes that away. Everybody can see she is hot as fuck and Seb was so drunk he just told her.
"I can only confirm that is indeed true. You are very beautiful."
His compliment makes Stevie blush. Somehow Daniel makes her blush a lot.
"Was that all you learned from our drunk friend?"
Stevie shakes her head.
"I can't tell you the second thing. It's awkward."
"Oh come on, now I'm really curious. You can tell me anything. I would never judge or make fun of you."
"Thanks, but it wasn't about me."
Stevie isn't sure what Daniel would think about her if she starts talking about penis sizes. And maybe he has a small one as well and she will insult him.
"Come on Stevie, tell me!" Daniel begs. Pouting, which makes him look irresistibly cute.
"Ok, ok. So ehm I've learned that my ex apparently had a really small... ehm... you know."
It's so weird to talk about stuff like this with Daniel.
"A small what? Brain? Yeah I already guessed that. Judging by his actions he can't be a very smart guy."
Stevie shakes her head again.
"No it's not that. Or well, he also had a small brain, that's true. But I mean his equipment. You know his."
She points at her crotch area.
That's a body part Daniel may or may not have touched, licked and fucked a couple of times in his dreams. Hers of course.
"He has a small dick?" He grins.
Stevie's face is crimson red when she nods.
"It's fine. Having a small one isn't something to be embarrassed about of course." She quickly says, hoping she didn't say anything wrong.
"Not if you know what to do with it. But somehow I highly doubt your ex had a clue. I'm going to be really forward here and you don't have to answer me of course." Daniel starts, instantly getting Stevie curious to what he wants to know.
"I'll be fine, just ask." She encourages him.
"Have you only ever been with him, like in an intimate way?" Daniel asks, hoping this wasn't too forward.
"Yeah unfortunately I have. Maybe if I knew better and had some experience before him, I would have known how crappy he was in bed."
So she doesn't have much sexual experience, only her piece of shit ex. He wouldn't even be surprised if she never had an orgasm with that knob, but that might be a bit too personal for today.
"I'm sorry that he couldn't show you how it should be. But I'm sure you will get that amazing experience. Hopefully real soon."
And hopefully I'll be the one giving you that experience, Daniel thinks, but doesn't say out loud.
"Probably not, but that's ok. I'm not the type of girl who wants to have one night stands. For me it's important to have a deeper connection, there have to be feelings other than lust involved. And that's not that easy to find. Especially not if you are afraid to trust someone again."
Daniel feels gutted for her, she is still so young. Maybe too young for him, but when they spend time together he doesn't even think about that. She is so mature and he isn't as mature as he maybe should be at his age. So they just get along amazingly.
"I'm sure you didn't expect to be a single mom at 25. But you are not meant to stay single. I'm sure of it."
"What about you? I know you had a really long relationship, why did that end?" Stevie doesn't really want to hear about the girls Daniel once loved, or maybe still loves.
"My ex and I were never the right ones for each other. We were friends first and then because it felt like it should evolve, we got together. But that wasn't the right step to take. We only stayed together for so long because I was never home and she didn't care enough for the sport to come with me sometimes to support me."
He knows he never really loved his ex, at least not the way you should love your partner.
"But you do have quite some experience in the bedroom area right? I mean I am not one to gossip, but I did overhear some women in hospitality talk about how you apparently picked up different women every week. It's non of my business of course, but you just don't seem like the type who just sleeps around."
Stevie doesn't even know if she really wants the answer to this. What if Daniel is like that, screwing around every weekend? Would that change how she feels about him? It would definitely make it harder to trust him and believe that the words he said in Monza were not just to get her in bed.
"I'm not going to lie to you. No I haven't been on my best behavior for a while. Seb and I both became single and he was truly hurt when his ex cheated on him. I guess we were just blowing off some steam. But I've never betrayed anybody in my life. Even with my ex, while we were together I never cheated on her, no matter how long we were separated."
He really wants her to believe him, he is telling the truth. He would never cheat on anybody.
"The girls I hooked up with knew in advance it was just for that one night and I also know, not to sound cocky, that they had a really good night. I didn't use them, I made sure they had multiple orgasms before I even thought about muself.
I'm not some selfish prick, but I do enjoy sex, a lot."
Stevie swallows hearing him being very honest and open about it. She can't really blame him for enjoying his single life. She can't judge him for it either. She might not be like that and now with her scars she will never become that person either, but sometimes she regrets not having some more sexual partners. Knowing Mitch might very well be her last and only is pretty sad.
"I never had unsafe sex either. I'm really not the man whore people believe I am. And neither is Seb."
Daniel looks at her, anxiously waiting for her response.
"I won't judge. I guess I can't blame those girls for wanting to hook up with the two of you. Both you and Seb are very attractive men and probably some of the most eligible bachelors around."
She can just see Daniel's shoulders relax after hearing her say that. She does actually believe him, even though trusting men isn't easy for her, he looked straight into her eyes when he told her and it was obvious he was being completely honest.
"Isn't it risky though? I mean you both are pretty private, people talk and I bet plenty of girls would love to tell everybody they shagged Daniel Ricciardo or Sebastian Vettel." She would be so worried about that. People are mean and can be so cruel. Some won't hesitate to bring somebody else down and for Seb and Daniel that could have some serious consequences.
"Yeah I have to admit, in hindsight it wasn't very smart. We have given Britta and Charlotte some headaches I'm sure. But I'm not like that anymore. I rather be in a committed relationship with a woman I am in love with and want to start a family with."
That does sound more like the Daniel she is getting to know. The Daniel who is amazing with her kids and who seems like the fatherly type.
Before they can continue their conversation Cole comes back inside. All sticky from his ice cream.
"So ehm Daniel would you like to stay for dinner?" Stephanie asks him when Cole has gone to clean his face a bit.
"I would love to, but only if I can help you cook."
This is new for Stevie. Mitch would never even offer to help or set the table, or pretty much do anything. She really has to remind herself that Daniel is not Mitch, he is a thousand times better. You can't even put those two in one sentence together, because Mitch is nothing compared to Daniel.
In the kitchen Stevie tells her parents Daniel is staying for dinner.
"That's really nice because your dad and I are going out for dinner." Trudy mentions.
"Are we?" Peter asks clueless.
"Yes, we are. Get your shoes. We're leaving."
Daniel grins while Stevie rolls her eyes. Her mom is as tactical as a door knob and it's very clear to see what she is doing here.
After her parents leave she puts Zara in her bouncer chair in the kitchen and Cole is playing with some blocks on the floor next to his sister.
"Ok what can I do?" Daniel asks her and she hands him some vegetables to cut.
When she gives him a knife their hands touch and they look at each other, both feeling those sparks, but both not saying anything about it.
Daniel watches as Stevie's slender hands pour a pile of flour on the counter, she makes a little dent in the middle and cracks some eggs in the dent. Then she starts to mix the eggs and flour together and he admires her as she kneads the dough.
She looks so petite and even a bit fragile, but her hands are strong as she is kneading the dough until it's the perfect consistency.
After resting it a while she puts it through a pasta maker and creates perfect tagliatelle.
Somehow, with just a couple of ingredients and fresh herbs she manages to put together a delicious meal and he is almost disappointed when it's all gone.
"I'll do the dishes, you've cooked dinner already." Daniel says when he's leaning back, that was an amazing meal and he understands why Christian wanted Stevie to work for them so badly.
"We have a dishwasher. So you don't have to. Besides you helped prepare dinner as well. I just have to put these two in bed and then I'll clean everything up." Stevie isn't used to a man who wants to help cleaning stuff up, so for her it's normal to do everything herself.
"I will clean the kitchen and load the dishwasher. Unless you have a specific way of loading it, then I'd be more than happy to take Zara and Cole upstairs to get them ready for bed. Then you can take over when you're done." He suggests, sounding like it's the most normal thing in the world.
"You want to take care of them? Like get them ready for bed? Why would you do that?" She asks, then lowering her voice so Cole can't hear her.
"Their own father didn't even do that."
Daniel feels anger boiling up inside of him.
"Because he was a selfish twat, who didn't see what an amazing family he had. I'm not like him Stevie." Daniel whispers.
His words are so true and they make some buried emotions come back up inside Stevie.
She knows this. It's not like she didn't remind herself of that several times today already.
The pain of realizing how terrible her choice was for the man who would become the father of her children just hits her hard sometimes.
Now she's getting to know Daniel better and seeing how he interacts with both her kids, she knows she should have done better. She shouldn't have settled for Mitch, but she just didn't know what a piece of shit he would become.
Now she knows and her longing to find love again for herself and for her kids has been woken up. If only she could find a way to trust her heart won't get broken again. Also in a relationship you will need to have a physical relationship as well. She just is so scared to see that same disgust on another man's face when he sees her scars. How will she ever be able to get passed that?
"Mommy can Daniel take me upstairs?" Cole asks which surprises her. He really loves their little moment before he goes to sleep, but he really likes Daniel so she can also imagine how badly he wants Daniel to do it.
"Yeah sure. If Daniel wants to."
"I do. Let's go Cole."
Daniel gets Zara from her bouncing chair where Stevie just put her in again after feeding her a bottle.
He takes both kids upstairs and leaves Stevie completely gobsmacked.
He barely knows her but still he acts as if he has known both kids since birth. And now he is even taking them upstairs to get them ready for bed.
She quickly starts to clean up the table to put everything in the dishwasher. It's only a few minutes work until the kitchen is cleaned up again.
She decides to go check how Daniel is coping with her two kids and very quietly goes up the stairs.
"Alright little missy, let's get that nappy changed and your pj's on. Cole my man where is everything hidden?" She hears Daniel talk to her kids.
There's some rustling and she carefully peeks around the corner to see Cole helping Daniel getting a clean nappy for Zara and her pyjama's.
He seems so comfortable changing her and dressing her for the night.
He then puts her in bed and Cole shows him how to turn on the night light with the music.
"There you go cutie. Sweet dreams little princess." Daniel whispers as he runs his finger over the soft chubby baby cheek.
When he turns around he finds Stevie looking at him, her eyes are filled with warmth and they even seem a bit glossy as if she is going to cry.
"She's all done. Now I'll go brush this little man's teeth." Daniel says and as he walks by Stevie he takes her hand in his and slightly squeezes it.
She walks into the nursery where Zara is already nodding off.
Daniel is healing her heart faster than she expected and she realizes she is falling for him. Something that fills her with mixed emotions. It's an amazing feeling to realize her heart is still capable of it, but it's scary to know that if she lets him in, he could easily break her heart and she doesn't know if she could cope if it happens again.
Once both kids are in bed and sleeping they both head back downstairs.
"So I brought something for us." Daniel mentions.
He quickly runs to his car and comes back with two bottles of his own wine.
"How about a glass?" He asks and Stevie decides one glass is perfectly fine.
She goes into the kitchen and takes two glasses out of the cupboard.
Daniel opens the bottle of red wine and pours some in the glasses.
"Cheers to us and our growing friendship." He says lifting his glass. Stevie gently taps his glass with hers before they take a small sip.
"Oh this is really good. So besides an amazing race car driver, you also have your own wine brand?"
"Yeah and clothing. The Enchante brand." He says.
"I'm impressed. Lets move to the sofa, that's more comfortable." She suggests and Daniel takes the bottles with him.
They spend the rest of the night talking and drinking Daniel's wine.
Even though Stevie planned to only have one glass, after a while they open up the second bottle.
They are both getting a lot more relaxed and really enjoy each others company.
Daniel suddenly reaches his hand out and puts a strand of long black hair behind her ear.
"God your hair is so soft." He says, but Stevie can only feel his fingers touching the edge of her ear.
That simple touch is enough to make her breathe a bit shaky and her temperature to go up a bit.
If she didn't have those ugly scars she would maybe be brave enough to kiss him.
But he hasn't made a move and he hasn't mentioned anything about the things he told her in Monza, so she is t even sure if she is reading this right.
Taking a deep breath she decides to just ask him about it.
"So ehm, what do you remember from that Sunday in Monza?"
He smiles, knowing exactly what she is hinting at.
"I remember everything. Yes I was drunk, but not drunk enough to forget that I told you how badly I wanted to kiss you but wouldn't because I want you to believe that I didn't want to kiss you because I was drunk. And I still mean that."
His eyes find hers and she can't look away no matter how much she wants to.
"I...I thought you forgot about that."
He shakes his head, moving a bit closer towards her.
"I would never forget something like that. Besides I still want to kiss you. And I might have been drinking some wine, but I'm far from drunk."
His face is so close to hers now, she can see the gold specks in his eyes, the tiny freckles on his beautiful nose and his full, plump lips that are so close to hers.
"If you don't want this please tell me now." He sighs and she swallows.
Then her tongue slips out and moistens her lips which is an subconscious sign of her body saying yes.
He comes closer and his lips brush over hers, they barely touch but it's enough to make her entire body come to life.
She sighs and closes her eyes. His hand is still on the side of her face, his fingers buried in her hair as he deepens the kiss.
Her hands automatically go to the back of his head where she feels his soft curls against her skin.
She feels his tongue against the seam of her lips and she opens them to let him in.
He finds her tongue and they dance around each other exploring and seducing.
Never before has she been kissed like this, never before has her body come to life like this with a man's lips on hers.
Daniel takes his time. He makes sure she isn't rushed, putting no pressure on her so she can back off whenever she wants to.
She doesn't though and he couldn't be more thrilled, her kisses are exploring, a bit insecure and she even feels a bit inexperienced. Apparently that's what you get from being with a guy who has no clue for years. Well he is going to show her exactly how it's done. He's not arrogant, but he knows he's not a bad kisser and he also knows he is pretty good in the intimacy area.
But that's not for tonight. He knows she's not ready for that yet even though he is, more than ready even. His pants are tight around his growing bulge, but he ignores that. He will have to take things slow with her, if he doesn't he will only push her away.
For a brief moment he breaks their kiss up, their noses still pressed against each other, both panting as they try to catch their breaths.
"Don't be afraid, I'm just going to position you so it's more comfortable for both of us." He softly says.
She nods, putting her tiny shred of trust in him.
He pulls her leg over his lap and then pulls her over him so she is now straddling him.
Ok this might not have been the smartest move, now her warm womanhood is directly on top of his rock hard cock and that's not going to help him get it down.
Her face tells him that she feels it and he can see the worry in her eyes.
"Ignore that. We're not doing anything you are not ready for. I just wanted to make this easier."
He puts his lips on hers again and gone is her fear for him going too far.
She knows he won't, he could have done that already, but he respects her and seems to feel what her boundaries are.
His hands are on her waist and move further to the back, he runs them over her spine which causes her to shiver with pleasure.
Then his hands go lower until they rest in the small of her back, not sure if she would allow him to go further.
As their tongues are still dancing this sensual tango with each other he decides to go for it. She can always stop him if she doesn't want it.
His hands move slowly down over the roundness of her bum and he pulls her even closer against him.
When her jeans clad womanhood slides over his groin he sucks in some air, it's taking all of his restraint not to lay her on her back on the sofa and give her all the pleasure he knows he can give her.
"Fuck Stevie you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I know you aren't ready for anything yet, but I can wait. I'll wait as long as you need me to. But I have to admit I'm falling for you. I'm falling for you hard."