"I honestly can't wait for the European races, at least we will be able to use the mobile homes again and we don't have to fly such long distances for a bit." Stevie sighs when they arrive in Miami.
After the race in Baku they immediately got on a plane to Miami so they could get used to the time difference before the weekend starts again. Baku and Miami are back to back races, so no time in between which is always pretty hectic and tough, especially when it's on two different continents.
"It's Canada in between Spain and Austria, but after the Red Bull Ring it's just Silverstone and then we have summer break." Daniel tries to lighten the mood a bit.
"I shouldn't complain, I missed one race already. And being in Miami is pretty damn awesome. I'm just tired I guess." Stevie doesn't want to be whining about it. She's just tired and now Zara isn't content with just sitting on somebody's lap anymore, she's a handful.
As soon as they were in the air they just let Zara crawl through the aisle of the plane for a while. They were in business class with only some other drivers so nobody really minded the little girl.
Zara charmed them all and she even pulled herself up on Lewis' legs which he loved.
"It's ok baby, the flight wasn't as relaxed as it used to be. Our little girl is getting so big and active now. I mean it's her first birthday in a week. She's definitely not a baby anymore." Daniel pushes the stroller with Zara in it. The girl finally fell asleep during the landing and they managed to put her in her stroller without waking her.
"I know. I can't believe she's turning one already. Time is going so fast." Stevie is pushing the cart with their luggage on it while Tina is holding Cole's hand so he can't run off to god knows where in this busy airport.
"I'm sorry we won't be home in time to have her birthday there." Daniel feels a bit guilty that Zara's first real birthday will be celebrated in Miami. The race takes place on the 7th which is a day before her birthday.
"It's ok, we will celebrate it at home once we get back. She won't really remember it, it's more for us I guess. As long as she gets to rip up some gift wrapping she's happy." Stevie puts her hand on his arm for a moment. Making sure he understands it's ok.
"Besides Cole's birthday will be in Hungary. So it's just how it is and it doesn't matter."
Daniel nods. Even if they weren't in a relationship, Stevie would still be working for the team, so she would still be traveling on the birthdays of their kids.
"At least we know Melissa will bake a delicious cake for her." Daniel smiles.
Melissa wouldn't even take no for an answer when she told Stevie and Daniel she would make the cake.
"Yeah she is crazy. She will be working all weekend and bake the cake as well. It's sweet though. The way everybody has just taken Cole and Zara in as part of the team, I mean family. It really warms my heart." They make their way out of the airport to the car park where a lot of fans have gathered to see if they could spot any of their favorite drivers.
While Michael and Blake help Stevie pack up their rental car, Daniel quickly goes over to the fans to give them some attention.
Once they are ready to go he jogs back grinning and shaking his head.
"Really some fans are crazy. Cool, but crazy."
"Why? What happened?" Stevie wants to know.
"This one girl wanted me to draw something on her arm so she could get it tattooed. I did, but you know how good I am at drawing." He looks apologetic.
Stevie starts to laugh.
"Oh please tell me you didn't give the poor girl a stick figure."
"I didn't. I tried to draw a race car. It wasn't pretty, but she loved it."
Daniel is still shaking his head. He almost feels bad for the girl, she will now get his less than impressive artwork tattooed on her body for the rest of her life.
"I'm sure she will love it. For your fans it doesn't have to be pretty. They just want something personal from you."
"I know, but that's something that I still find hard to wrap my head around. I've been doing this for a while now, but the lengths some people go to have something of me. It just blows my mind. I'm just a regular bloke who happens to have a pretty special job." He gets in the car and puts his seatbelt on.
"Well for them you are special. And for me as well of course. But in a different way." Stevie runs her hand through his messy curls. Her fingers gently rubbing his scalp making him relax in the drivers seat.
"That's nice. I love you baby." He sighs with a sweet smile on his face.
"I love you too handsome. How about we head to our accommodation for the weekend and relax a bit. I think Melissa and Seb might come over later."
"Is it ok if I go out with Charles tonight? He wanted to take me out to dinner." Tina asks as she sits between both kids in the back. Blake and Michael have another car.
"Of course you can. You're staying with him right?" Stevie looks back at her friend who is feeling so much better since finding out she isn't pregnant.
"Yeah if that's ok with you."
Tina knows it is, but she still feels the need to confirm.
"Tina you know it's fine. Enjoy your time off. You have two days until Charles has to go do his job, might as well make the most of it. I know we will."
Being in Miami for the first time, Stevie wants to enjoy the city a bit. They are planning to go to Star Island and probably spend some time at the beach as well. Tomorrow they will probably go to the beach to just have a bit of a relaxing day and Wednesday they could go visit Star Island.
The team arranged for an AirBnB for Daniel, Stevie and the kids, so at least they don't have to be in a hotel this week. This way Seb and Melissa can come over for dinner tonight without them having to be stuck in a hotel room when the kids are in bed. The AirBnB even has a little backyard so they can enjoy the Miami evening outside.
Blake and Michael did choose to stay at a hotel which can cause some frustrated fans. They always figure out in which hotel the drivers are staying and if they see Blake and Michael come out they will expect Daniel to be there as well. So they will probably be a bit disappointed when they realize he isn't there.
"Do you want us to drop you off somewhere or will Charles come to pick you up?" Daniel asks Tina.
"He will come get me later. His plane will land in about an hour and he told me not to wait at the airport for him. So I'll just help you guys get settled and then he will be there soon." Tina replies as she looks out of the window where the city of Miami is passing them by.
There's palm trees everywhere, a lot of tall buildings and when she looks through some of the spaces between the buildings she sees the clear blue water of the Atlantic Ocean. She hopes her and Charles will be able to spend some time on the beach as well. Hopefully without being disturbed by fans the entire time.
"So the place was already fully stocked right?" Stevie asks Daniel as a confirmation.
"Yeah the team asked the owner to get the supplies you asked for. It's all been taken care off." Daniel loves driving through this place. He loves the States all together, they even call him a honorary American. Just like Valtteri is an honorary Aussie with his mullet.
Stevie leans back, at least she will be able to cook herself this week. It's her job, but she still loves to cook at home as well. Having to eat out in hotel restaurants gets boring sometimes even though they are always in very good hotels so the food is pretty good. She just prefers to cook herself.
According to the GPS they have almost reached their destination and very soon Daniel parks the car in front of a little house right on the edge of the beach.
"Really? We are staying here? At the beach?" Stevie is amazed. She expected an apartment somewhere in the center.
"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you. Surprise!" He looks at his fiancé whose eyes are about to pop out of their sockets.
"Oh wow! So we can just walk out of the bedroom straight onto the beach?"
Stevie unbuckles herself and opens the car door so she can get out.
She is absolutely taken aback by the view. She can hear the rush of the ocean as the waves wash on the shore. There's laughter of little children playing on the beach, dogs barking as their owners throw balls or sticks.
As she takes a deep breath she can smell the salty sea air and it makes her exhaustion evaporate.
"Mommy look the sea!" Cole is suddenly standing right next to year, excited to be so close to the ocean.
"I know it's awesome right? First we will quickly unpack and then we will take a walk on the beach ok?"
She feels his little hand in hers as they both enjoy the view for a moment.
Daniel gets Zara out of the car seat and walks over to where Cole and Stevie are standing.
"Look Zara, there's the ocean." He tells her as he points to the blue water.
The girl is bouncing in his arms, just as excited as her brother, her little arms reaching out to the beach.
"Yeah yeah we will go there soon. You're an inpatient little one aren't you?" Daniel grins.
Zara turns her face to his and starts to squeeze his nose.
"I know it's a big nose, you don't have to point it out."
"Dadda." Zara suddenly says looking at him and squeezing his nose.
"Did you.... Did she....? Baby did she just call me daddy?" Daniel almost explodes with love and excitement.
He isn't sure if he heard it right so he is afraid to believe it.
"I think she did. Oh my god I think she did!" Stevie gasps.
"Dadda." Zara says again, loud and clear.
"She did! She called me dadda! Oooh my sweet baby girl I am so proud of you. Yes I am daddy. I'm your daddy."
He thought his heart couldn't be filled with more love than it already is, but hearing Zara call him this is almost too much for him. When Cole said it, it was awesome. But Zara just said her first real word and it was for him. She knows he is her dad and it's just such a beautiful feeling. It's something he can't even put under words. There's even tears forming in his eyes.
He never thought one little word coming from this little girl would mean so much to him. He was already so proud of Cole calling him daddy, but now both of them do.
"Daddy you cry? You sad?" Cole asks looking up to him.
"I'm not sad buddy. I'm very, very happy. Sometimes people cry a bit because they are so happy." Daniel explains to him hugging Zara.
For Cole that's enough explanation and enough time wasted just standing here. He wants to go to the beach, but he knows he can't go there alone.
"Mommy we go beach now?"
He pulls on Stevie's hand.
"We will go soon. First we have to go inside to put our stuff away and then we can go to the beach."
Cole let's go of her hand and walks to the car where Tina I just getting her suitcase out of the booth.
"Tina where my case?" He asks his nanny.
"Right here. Why?" She takes it out of the car and Cole pulls out the handle. He then drags it to the front door, but it's still locked.
"Mommy! Daddy! Door open!" He shouts making it very clear they'd better get a move on.
"The key is under that pot there." Daniel tells Stevie. At least that's what they wrote in the email after the team booked this place for them.
Stevie lifts up the pot and indeed there is the key.
After unlocking the door Cole barges in with his little suitcase behind him.
It's a really nice beach house, with light colors and plenty of space. The kitchen has a large counter top, a double oven and a huge fridge with an ice cube maker in the door.
Stevie quickly checks if it is indeed filled and it is. There's plenty of drinks, fresh fruit and veggies, eggs and products to make breakfast tomorrow morning.
In the cupboards she finds more, so she knows they won't starve for a while.
Daniel puts Zara on a rug with some toys, but she quickly starts to crawl to the couch to pull herself up. Holding on to the couch she enjoys herself taking little steps around it.
"I don't think she will take long before she is walking around all on her own." Tina says as she is looking at the almost one year old.
"No I don't think so either. It could be any day now." Stevie confirms.
"I will bet that she is going to give us all a run around. That girl just wants to explore and be adventurous. As soon as she is walking, we will only have peace when she is asleep."
Tina knows she will have her hands full, but she is already looking forward to it. She has been with Zara since she was about four months and she was such a little baby back then. Now she's almost a year old and she has changed so much.
She still has the dark hair and light eyes like her mother, but her hair is also slightly curly. Not as curly as Cole's, but not as straight as Stevie's hair.
Tina doesn't have to unpack here so she watches the kids while Daniel and Stevie quickly put their stuff away as well as the little ones.
They have three bedrooms, so Cole and Zara both have their own. The house also has two bathrooms, but they don't really need two. Especially now Tina isn't going to stay here.
"Too bad we didn't bring any toys for on the beach." Stevie realizes.
Daniel opens up a closet in the hallway which is filled with toys.
"I think that problem is solved." He simply states. This house is very well accommodated for kids.
Going through it he finds a set of small buckets, molds and other things they might need to build the best sand castle.
Not much later they are ready and head out to the beach.
They find a quiet spot, hoping to have some privacy while they just have some fun out here.
Cole and Daniel are soon completely focused on building the biggest sand castle while Zara is just scooping sand in some molds and tossing them over again.
Stevie has her toes buried in the warm sand. The weather truly is amazing out here today. About 28 degrees with a nice breeze. Both Cole and Zara have plenty of sunscreen on their skin. Zara is wearing the cutest bathing suit with a unicorn on it and Cole has his Cars swimming trunks on.
"Mamma." Zara suddenly says as she is holding up her little see shell shaped mold.
"Yes momma! I'm momma." Stevie tries to contain her enthusiasm to not startle her daughter.
First she called Daniel dadda and now she says mamma.
"Daniel did you hear her?" Stevie asks Daniel. Her heart pounding. She heard right, didn't she?
"I sure did baby. My god our girl is starting to talk now. Why is she growing up so fast? Can we hit pause at some point?" He says smiling proudly at his little family.
"Sometimes I wish we could. Cole will be three in a couple of months. She is turning one next week. I wish I could just freeze moments like this to make sure they will never pass." Stevie strokes her daughters soft hair feeling a bit sentimental. She knows every moment that passes won't come back. The kids will learn so much in this period in their lives. They will grow and they will get more independent, until one day they won't need her anymore.
She doesn't really want them to grow up yet, but she also knows she can't stop it. On the other side she is so curious to see how they will be when they are teenagers or young adults. What will their hopes be, their dreams?
Only time will tell, but time is going by too fast.
Just like the time they spend on the beach. Before they know it the afternoon is coming to an end and they have to get back to the house so she can get started on dinner.
"Do you mind watching these two for a moment. I'd like to take a shower to wash off the sand. Or maybe I should take Zara with me so she can go to bed clean." Stevie is thinking out loud.
"Sure go ahead. I'll take Cole with me when I go. Do you want me to start in the kitchen?" Daniel asks her.
"Could you cut the chicken and the vegetables? I'll take over as soon as I am done." Stevie picks up Zara to take her to the bathroom.
"Alright princess, let's get that sand washed off." She quickly takes off her own clothes before getting Zara undressed. Then she places a special seat for infants on the shower floor where Zara can sit safely while she showers.
Zara loves being under the warm spray, she slaps her little hands on the floor, splashing up the water that rains down on here.
Stevie kneels down to wash her daughter first.
"There missy, that's better." She says after rinsing her off. She also washed her hair because Zara has been throwing sand all over her, so she almost makes the shower floor a mid slide when all the sand is rinsed out.
Stevie smiles, Zara almost brought the entire beach back with her. It's a good thing she took her bathing suit off here in the shower, otherwise there would be sand all over the place.
"Alright now it's mummy's turn." She gives Zara a little bath toy to play with while she gets herself cleaned up.
She starts with washing her hair, massaging the shampoo in her long locks until it feels clean again. On her scalp she can feel the scrubbing of the sand Zara threw over her, but after a good rinse that's all taken care off.
She puts in the conditioner and leaves it for a bit while she starts soaping up her body.
Usually she showers with Daniel. He will wash her back and she will wash his. More often than once it will end up in them getting turned on and having sex either in the shower or as soon as they get out and in bed.
She smiles in herself when she thinks about it. Daniel is insatiable and so is she when it comes to him. Every time he makes her feel so good, so satisfied and desired. She feels a bit stupid that she never knew that before, she thought what she and Mitch did was normal, but now she knows better. So much better.
She lets her hands roam over her skin. First her arms and shoulders, then her stomach and legs. She moves her hands up until they reach her breasts. Under her fingers she feels the scars of her surgery. They don't bother her as much anymore. Daniel made sure she is able to feel beautiful even with those scars. She is now seeing them as he sees them. They are a reminder of how cancer tried to make her sick, but it didn't win.
As she lets her hand soap up her breasts she suddenly stops.
Her heart also seems to skip a beat.
Did she just....
She rinses off the soap and feels around the soft tissue of her breasts trying to determine if she really felt something or she was only imagining it.
With a little pressure her fingers feel and touch, there's nothing. Until she suddenly feels it again.
She swallows, her mouth feels dry and now her heart is racing.
The fear that creeps up on her makes the blood in her veins run cold.
This can't be happening. She must be imagining things.
Again she feels on the spot where she just felt something and again she notices there's something. It feels lumpy, like there's something in there again.
Trying not to panic she breaths in through her nose and blows out through her mouth.
She can feel her hands starting to shake and her heart is pounding out of her chest.
"Oh please let me be mistaken. Please don't do this to me again."
She looks down at her daughter who is still sitting there, enjoying herself with the water and her toy, Stevie's vision getting blurry by the tears that are threatening to spill from her eyes.
"I must be wrong. Surely there's nothing there." She tries to convince herself.
"DANIEL! Daniel please can you come here!" She shouts.
Seconds later Daniel walks in, a confused look on his face which changes into worry when he sees Stevie clearly in distress.
"What's wrong baby? Do you want me to take Zara and get her dressed?" He asks.
He can see Stevie's hand on her breasts and usually that would turn him on, but now he can see she is about to freak out.
"Can you feel my breast please?" She asks him.
"As if I would ever say no to that. Sure I'll feel, but why?" He is afraid he already knows the answer. The way she is pressing her fingers on one spot in her breast and her pale, panicking face makes him feel sick. It's as if his body already knows what his mind doesn't want to know or believe.
"Just feel here please. And tell me that I'm wrong. Tell me there's nothing there." She pleads and he swallows back the lump in his throat.
Stevie takes his hand and puts it right where she just had hers.
"You have to put some pressure on it. Tell me what you feel." She says holding her breath.
She has to hold her breath or she will go into a full on panic attack.
He doesn't want to, he doesn't want to put pressure there and feel what she thinks she is feeling. He wants to deny it and tell her there's nothing there. But her bright blue eyes beg him to do it so he carefully pushes his fingers into her soft breast.
She guides him over the tissue and then he understands what she means. He closes his eyes for a brief moment before looking at her.
He watches as all hope fade from her eyes when she sees the way he looks at her, tears start to run down her face and she shakes her head.
"No, no, no please. I don't want to do this again." She begs him, but he can't deny it.
"I'm so sorry baby, but I can feel it too. I can feel the lumps."