An hour and half, two more g&t's and a whole load of meeting and greeting later, Chloe noticed that Seb had disappeared. She'd been so busy playing with Freya that she hadn't seen him go, but then she noticed that her uncle, dad and her brother had also gone. Picking Freya up, she walked inside and saw her mum in the kitchen. "Did you see where Seb went?" She asked.
"Out the front with your dad, Rich, and Rob." She replied as she loaded the dishwasher.
"Please, dear god don't let them be out there talking about cars." She muttered as she headed through the lounge and then out the front door. She rolled her eyes, the hood of the red BMW was up meaning that they had, indeed, been doing what she'd feared. They weren't with the car though, so she walked out of the drive as far as the pavement, and there across the road was the four of them, all stood talking while looking at the powerful engine of a brand new matte black Ferrari 488, surrounded by a small group of residents from the neighbouring houses. If Seb was hoping for a low key visit, this hadn't been the way to do it as people were snapping away with their phones, taking photos of Seb and the car as well as getting selfies with him. She stepped across the road, holding Freya on her hip, the smile on her face getting bigger as she looked at the car. It was beautiful and she now wished she hadn't been drinking gin otherwise she'd have been having a go in that herself.
"You like it?" Seb gestured to the car while noticing how at home she looked carrying Freya.
"Yeah its gorgeous. It's certainly attracting some attention." She replied.
"Nothing I can't handle." He said, knowing that she was referring to the onlookers. "Want to get in?"
"If you take Freya, sure." She replied.
"Hand her over to me then." He held his hands out and she passed Freya over, who instantly seemed quite happy in his arms, for a one year old she was already quite a sociable little girl and didn't seem at all bothered that she was now being held by someone who was a bit of a stranger to her. Chloe opened the door and eased herself into the drivers seat, letting out an 'oooh' as she relaxed into the leather.
"Suits you Chloe!" David grinned but she couldn't stop herself from looking at the sight of her boyfriend holding her one year old niece. She sighed, this broodiness had to stop.
"It does feel good sitting here, that's for sure." She replied, diverting her attention to the car.
"Maybe you should have one for your birthday." Seb's face lit up at the thought.
"No way are you buying me a Ferrari as a birthday gift Seb, that's way over the top." She quickly replied, there was no way she'd ever expect Seb to give her such an extravagant gift.
"Freya thinks you should have one, don't you?" He spoke to the little girl who was enjoying seeing her own reflection in his sunglasses, he gave her a little tickle and she burst into laughter and wriggled in his hold.
"I don't think her vocabulary includes the word 'Ferrari' yet, or the word 'yes'." Chloe was drawn to the easy way he held and interacted with Freya, it all looked so natural, but then with two of his own, it was.
"I'll have to make sure she says those first then! I still haven't got you a car, Britta's got one so I should really sort you out with one too." He said as he lifted Freya up into the air, making her giggle.
"I don't need one, you've got cars sitting in your garages in Switzerland and Italy that I can use. Don't forget my job is temporary Seb." She said, suddenly reminding herself that she was nearly half way through her year long contract already.
"Your job may be temporary but you certainly are not." He kept lifting Freya up into the air and she was now laughing loudly, she was loving his attention and as Chloe watched them, he seemed to be enjoying Freya's attention just as much. "I'm not letting you go anywhere come December liebe." He smiled at her as David started taking photos of her sitting in the car.
"That's good because I wasn't planning on leaving you." She got out of the car.
"Come on you two, let's have a photo of you both with the car." David waved a hand at them and Richard stepped in to take Freya from Seb until she started to cry.
"I think you might have just gained one of your youngest ever fans there." Richard laughed.
"I don't mind her being in the photo if you don't." Seb didn't want to admit openly that he was actually quite taken with Freya, thinking that the cute little girl reminded him of his own two and how things would be if Freya was his and Chloe's. Maybe that would be something to discuss with her during the winter break at the end of the year.
"Be my guest, she loves you!" As Richard stepped away Freya stopped crying and went back to looking at Seb's sunglasses while he balanced her on his hip and slipped his arm around Chloe's waist to bring her closer to him.
"I hope my uncle wasn't boring you with details about his car was he?" She asked as she smiled while David took photos.
"No, not at all. I've told him he'll have to come to Switzerland and see my cars. I told your dad to bring your mum too, I'd love to have them over at some point." He leant his head towards her a little as he spoke, feeling excited because that wasn't all he'd said to David while she had been out of earshot.
"God, you're just so damn awesome at times." She turned her head to look at him only to find his face remarkably close to hers.
"Well I have an awesomely beautiful girlfriend so I need to keep my game up." He closed the gap between them and lightly brushed his lips over hers, Freya was quick to pat both hands on his neck as if she was trying to tell them to stop kissing.
"I think she's getting jealous." Chloe gave him a quick peck on his cheek.
"Erm....Chloe...does she need changing? I think I can smell something?" He chuckled and held her out at arms length. "You smell her?"
"Jesus fuck!" Chloe had a quick sniff and pulled a face. "How can someone so small and cute make a smell like that?"
"Problems guys?" Richard watched the exchange between them.
"She needs changing." Chloe giggled as Seb was still holding Freya out at arms length.
"Come on then Freya." Richard took her from Seb, she immediately began to cry again.
"I'm sorry Freya, you're cute but I'm not changing nappies." He stroked her little cheek before Richard carried her away.
"Didn't you change any of Mia or Leonie's nappies?" She took hold of his hand and they began to walk back to the driveway, stopping once for Seb to sign autographs for a group of boys who had turned up on bikes.
"Of course I did, just not so many of the shitty ones." He grinned as he signed someone's t-shirt. Chloe looked down the road to see a couple of men with large lenses on their camera's.
"We need to go in Seb." She tugged gently on his hand. "Paps." She added. His eyes flickered up to see the two men a short distance down the road, he nodded to her and they quickly made their way inside.
~*~
"Honestly Sebastian, how do you do it?" Michelle looked at the sight of her daughter sleeping peacefully on Seb's chest with her head on his shoulder. "We have a fight on our hands to get her to sleep sometimes and here she is out for the count with you."
"I haven't done anything special, she just fell asleep on me." He replied quietly, not wanting to wake her.
"Well I'll round up Richard and we'll get this tired little monkey home." She grinned.
"I have Chloe for company, I'll be fine for a while." He glanced at his girlfriend who was perfectly relaxed next to him on the sofa and was almost asleep herself. "Well, she's with me, she might not be any company though." Not that he minded, little Freya had kind of stolen his heart today and he'd been more than content sitting here with her sleeping on his chest and Chloe beside him. It was like a small glimpse into the future, what life could possibly be like if they had kids.
"I won't be long. I expect you two will be wanting some time alone." She looked at her half asleep sister-in-law.
"I admit I'm looking forward to getting her all to myself, yeah." He watched as Michelle left the room. "I was hoping to steal you away for some time alone liebe." He picked up Chloe's hand and raised it to his lips.
"I was rather hoping you would." She replied. "I've had enough of sharing you with everyone else now." She sat up and looked at him, the sight of him with the toddler fast asleep was pulling on all her emotions, and Seb could clearly see it.
"You wish that pregnancy test was positive don't you?" He murmured quietly, searching her eyes for the answer.
"What makes you say that?" She asked, wondering where his question had come from.
"Because at times it looks as though it's written across your face whenever you see me with Mia or Leonie or someone else's child." He answered.
"I've always been the last person that my family expects to get pregnant, the least broody one, the career minded one." She sighed and reached out to trail her thumb over his cheek.
"That's not answering my question." He took hold of her hand.
"Because maybe I'm not going to give you the answer that you want to hear." She looked at Freya who fidgeted in her sleep and nestled herself against his neck. "God, she's even more adorable when she's like this."
"How do you know what I want to hear?" He asked.
"I could feel the relief in your body in Barcelona, I could see it in your face. That's how." She looked up at the ceiling. "But yes, right now I do wish that the test was positive, and I know its crazy to feel like this because we've not even been together for six months but that's how I feel."
"I do want this with you. Can you wait until the winter break? We could make it happen if you still feel the same by then. Maybe we could plan so you have the baby during the summer break next year?" He squeezed her hand, he really wanted her to agree to waiting for a while.
"Yeah." She smiled, releasing his hand she stretched her arms up and yawned. She was tired but at the same time trying hide her disappointment at having to settle for waiting. "You're right, let's wait." She noticed him frown, maybe she wasn't convincing enough with her response.
"I've just noticed your arm." He rubbed his fingers over the small plaster and some bruising on her arm. "I'd forgotten you were having your implant removed. Did it hurt?"
"Oh." She realised it was her plaster and bruise making him frown and not her response. "It did feel uncomfortable at the time but it's ok now, I can take the plaster off tomorrow." She giggled as his fingers tickled her skin.
"What have you replaced it with?" He asked. She was just about to answer when Richard walked in followed by Michelle.
"If you want to come and babysit, you'll be more than welcome." He stood for a moment taking in the sight.
"I might just take you up on that." Seb smiled as Richard bent down and removed the sleeping child from him, thankfully she stayed asleep but Seb could already feel the empty space where Freya had been laying on him and absent mindedly put his hand there. He was going to miss that little girl.
"Missing her already?" Chloe stroked the back of his neck affectionately.
"We can always leave Freya with you two for tonight." Michelle said teasingly.
"That's ok, I wouldn't want Chloe to get jealous." He rested his head on her shoulder.
"Oh my goodness, has Freya made you broody Sebastian?" Michelle pressed her hands togther in excitement.
"Well.....erm...." He lifted his head to look at Chloe.
"Maybe we should head back to mine and practice first." She grinned and relished the look he gave her as her words sunk in.
~*~
Seb glanced at her as he drove and shook his head in amusement, only Chloe could fall asleep while being driven in a Ferrari. It was a good thing she had put the post code for her apartment into the sat nav before they left her parents house otherwise he'd either have got lost or had to keep waking her for directions. Stopping at a set of traffic lights at a busy junction he looked to his right out of the window as two lads drew up beside him in a black Subaru Impreza. The driver revved the engine impatiently and their not so subtle glances told him they fancied their chances of beating him away from the lights. He glanced at Chloe and a wry smile formed across his lips as he revved the engine in response to the Impreza. The black car rolled forward a few inches so Seb did the same, he was going to enjoy this.
"Seb, what are you playing at?" The noise of the Ferrari's powerful engine had woken her.
"You'll see." He hit a button in the centre console and revved the engine some more.
"Don't even think about it, you'll get a ticket." Chloe sat forward and glanced at the car next to them.
"Too late." He said as the lights flashed amber and he floored the accelerator, the engine roared behind her and she felt herself being pushed back into the seat as he unleashed the cars power while flicking up through the gears using the paddle behind the steering wheel. He laughed as they left the Impreza behind them and patted her thigh. "God that was good!" He slowed the car down and the Impreza quickly caught them up and then passed them, beeping its horn at them and flashing it's lights just before he turned the car off the road and down another one towards the small apartment block where Chloe's home address was. Turning in to a private carpark he soon had the car parked up and switched off the engine. "What?!" He laughed as he looked at her bemused expression. "There were no police about."
"It's a good job that I love you Sebastian Vettel." Her face broke out into a grin. "Makes the fact that you're a chav alot easier to deal with."
"Let's head inside, this chav...." He pointed to himself. ".....is so glad to have you all to himself now...." He reached over, placed his hand under her chin and leant over to kiss her. "......and I'm really needing to be inside you." He murmured before brushing his tongue over her lips, he pulled away satisfied with the visible effect he'd quickly had on her.
"What are we still sitting here for then?" She released her seatbelt and literally jumped out of the car. Seb followed suit, stopping to lock the car, and they ran inside where Chloe hammered impatiently on the call button for the lift. As soon as the doors opened they stepped in and she hit the button for her floor. A middle aged man opened the front door of his ground floor flat, he stepped outside ready to walk his dog. The last thing he saw as the lift doors closed was Seb lifting Chloe from the ground and her legs wrapping around his waist as they kissed passionately.
~*~
Seb lay on the sofa feeling hot and a little sweaty. Moments like these he treasured, the post sex calm after the passionate storm that was their love making. He could feel Chloe's body relaxing and going limp on him as she started to fall asleep while he trailed his fingers softly up and down the top of her arm from her shoulder. He smiled to himself, the living room was as far as they'd got once she'd shut the door. Their clothes were scattered in a trail from the door to the sofa where they lay now. The fan that was blowing gently on them gave him a little relief from the heat and he closed his eyes while listening to the sound it made. He heard her phone go off again with another message, it was probably another media outlet trying to get in contact with her, tomorrow morning they'd be flying back to Bologna airport and from there they'd head straight to Maranello. It would be back to work for both of them, no doubt she'd have alot to catch up on as he knew she'd be filling his schedules for pretty much every race up to the summer break. He opened his eyes, the room was just about dark now and he pressed a few kisses to her head as he thought about getting her on to the private jet he'd hired. The idea of spending most of the flight time in a bed up in the sky making love to her started to arouse him again.
"My sexy lady." He murmured as he ran his fingers along her spine as far as he could reach.
"Mmm?" She lifted her head, feeling dozy.
"Kiss me." He kept running his fingers up and down her spine until he felt her move and she was sitting on top of him. She lowered herself down and pressed her lips to his, giving him a soft, yet loving kiss before gently pulling on his bottom lip, making him groan.
"You and your permanent hard on." She smiled against his lips as he wrapped his arms around her.