I would've loved to have stayed in Australia a little longer to celebrate but I knew that I had more important places to be. Turns out, halfway through the race, Kudzai went into full blown labour and was sent straight to the hospital. I obviously didn't find out until Damien came rushing over when I was doing an interview for Channel 4, which was abruptly cut short. Damien and I were booked onto the first available flight to the East Midlands out of Melbourne. Thankfully everyone who would be effected by my absence was super kind and understanding about me cutting everything short.
"I wish you could've stayed longer," Victoria told me over the phone before letting out a heavy exhale. "Why did Kudzai have to have her baby when I'm actually working on the opposite side of the world?"
I chuckled softly, adjusting my phone on my ear as I sat down in the terminal with my carry-on bag. There wasn't enough to pack up all of my belongings so I left mine and D's hotel keys with Lizzie so that she could bring it back with the rest of the team. I brought the valuables with me and a spare change of clothes. Damien was on the phone to Esteban at the opposite end of my bench. "I'll make sure to tell both Kudz and her baby off when I land."
"Yeah, one sec-" her voice suddenly became quiet and I guessed that she had moved the phone away from her ear. It sounded as if she was talking to somebody else, however I couldn't quite make out what she was saying. There was a rustling noise before her clear voice sounded through once again. "Daniel was looking for you."
"What, Ricciardo?" I furrowed my brows.
"What other Daniel do you know?"
"True."
"Should I put him on the line?" Vic asked, however I doubt I was going to get much choice as my 'yes' seemed to just fade on the other line, along with her voice.
A few short moments later, a deeper voice spoke through the line. "Hello?" Something I'd never tell him is how much I love his accent. Whenever I hear it, I can't help but smile.
"Hey, Danny boy, is everything okay?" I asked, tugging my bottom lip between my teeth as I brought my legs up onto the empty space next to me. I brought my knees up to my chest despite the aching pain from today's earlier race, wrapping my free arm underneath my thighs.
"I-I didn't get a chance to find you after the race. I'm really sorry for crashing into you, Lys. It was completely my fault, but also an accident. My steering locked and I-"
"My team told me what happened," I interrupted his rambling, the corners of my lips tugging upwards even though he couldn't see me. "I'm not annoyed at you or anything. I might not have won if you hadn't hit me," I added with a laugh.
"Congratulations, by the way," his voice was filled with sincerity as he spoke and I wished that he was with me in person so that I could give him a hug. "You're actually leading the championship."
"Is that you finally admitting I'm the better driver, Ricciardo?" I teased in an attempt to prove that I had no resentment.
Daniel laughed. "That'll never happen, doll, because it isn't true."
"You chat a lot of shit for a Renault driver."
"I see Lewis's arrogance is rubbing off on you," Daniel retorted.
"Nah, I'm just in a lot of pain because of yesterday's crash," I replied, not bothering to try and argue his comment about Lewis being arrogant. "Having some twat in a yellow car crash into me today during the race didn't help."
"That overtake would've been so sexy if it'd worked out."
"Sexy?" I raised an amused eyebrow even though Daniel couldn't see me. "Not the word I would've used."
"That's because you're boring," I could hear his teasing tone in his voice. "All my moves are sexy enough that if they were women, I would definitely ask Mila if I could sleep with them."
I exhaled through my nose. "I don't doubt you would, you whore."
"Whore? You can't talk."
"I'll have you know my love life is drier than that wine you got me for Christmas."
Daniel 'aww'd. "I thought you and Max would've got back together by now, or you and Charles, or you and Lan-"
"Lys, boarding is open." I drew my attention away from Daniel's voice to look at Damien. He had ended his phone call and was pointing to the large screen where our flight number was finally at the top with a green 'open' to the right of it.
"Hey, Dan, boarding for my flight is open now so I'm going to have to go," I told him. He grumbled on the other line. "Tell Vic I'll call her when I land, and also relay that message to Max so he doesn't start spamming my inbox."
"Alright, have a safe flight."
"I'll ask the pilot to fly safe," I joked. "Love you, Danny."
"Love you, too, Lys."
***
I could hardly contain my excitement on the connecting flight from Dubai. During the surprisingly short interval between the two flights, Damien received the text that Kudzai had started pushing. Unfortunately we couldn't stand around and wait to hear whether the baby was there or not, but it was pretty much guaranteed to be out in the world when our plane finally touches down. The labour was lasting ages for Kudz and I felt sympathetic; she's probably exhausted after so many hours in pain. I hoped that Esteban hadn't been much of a nuisance during the delivery and that he didn't faint.
As the clouds cleared and the green fields and narrow roads of the United Kingdom got larger as the plane descended, everything suddenly became very real. My best friend is sitting in the hospital right now, Esteban and Marcus by her side, clutching a small, beautiful girl. If the baby got any percentage of Kudzai's genes, she is going to be gorgeous.
At the first touchdown of the plane's wheels on the grey tarmac of East Midlands airport, I switched my phone off of airplane mode. Immediately, the notifications came pinging it at a rate which I was unable to read. The time was currently half past seven in the afternoon and Kudzai had started pushing over eleven hours ago. As my finger drummed against the side of my phone and Damien peered over my shoulder for updates, I found the important text:
'Libby Monet Damia Marcia Anthoinette Ocon-Bandera, born at 21:31 on Monday, 15th of March 2021, weighing 8lb 10oz. Mother and baby are both healthy. I couldn't be more proud of Kudzai.
- Esteban'
"She's been born!" I happily cheered, feeling my eyes welling with tears as I looked to Damien. I ignored the funny glances from other passengers who were half-standing in anticipation of getting off the plane. Attached to the text was a picture of Kudzai cradling a small baby to her chest. The infant had a slightly lighter brown skin tone Kudzai, but definitely had her lips. Her nose was identical to Esteban's, only in a much smaller form. She was absolutely beautiful, and to hear that both Kudzai and the little one are healthy just made me even more happy.
'Dude I'm crying on the plane. Just touched down and will be heading your way ASAP. Congratulations to the both of you from me and D. Libby is absolutely perfect.
-Lys'
Damien pulled our carry-on luggage from the overhead compartments at the first moment that the seatbelt lights switched off. He used his physique to his advantage and practically barged people out of our way so that we could rush straight through security to the taxi stand. I was glad I didn't bring my main suitcase back with me or else we'd be waiting another twenty minutes at the baggage claim. I was also still aching significantly from the crash I had in qualifying, antagonised by the many hours spent travelling. My body, despite this, didn't want to slow down until I was at the hospital with the newest addition to the family in my arms. I called first dibs on cuddles over Damien.
My leg didn't stop bouncing for the taxi journey as I tried my hardest to hold back the tears. I hadn't been this emotional about something that brought this much happiness since my first formula one win - this isn't even my child! My history with Kudzai meant so much to me and I'll be cherishing it until the day I die. The woman deserves all the elation in the world, and she found it in Esteban and now her new baby.
"Oh my gosh, we're actually about to go meet Kudzai's baby," I squealed, clutching tightly onto Damien's arm with my free one. My bag was slung loosely over my shoulder as we rushed into the reception area of the maternity hospital. "Okay, floor three, room nine."
Upon reaching the ward, both Damien and I were given visitor passes to wear and greeted by an excited Esteban. I have never seen his smile so wide. I didn't hesitate to wrap him into a tight sandwich hug between D and I, unable to hold back my noises of excitement.
"How're you all doing?" I asked, biting my lips together in fear of bursting with excitement. My gaze drifted down the large corridor in anticipation.
"Kudzai is doing well, I'm so proud of her. She's going to be kept in for a couple of days for monitoring but it's just routine. And Libby..." Esteban trailed off, a whimsical look swimming in his eyes, "she's the most perfect baby I could've asked for."
"You really named her Libby?" I sniffled, hastily wiping the tears as they formed in the corners of my eyes. Esteban let out a breathy chuckle but smiled nonetheless as he nodded his head.
"Libby for your mother, because Kudzai considered her as close as her own. Monet because of you, Lys, Damia because of you, D, Marcia for Marcus, and Anthoinette because of Anthoine Hubert," I swallowed the lump in my throat as Esteban finished. His eyes seemed a little glossy as he mentioned his late friend who tragically passed when I was taking part in my second season of formula two. Despite not knowing him very well, it still left a hole in my chest whenever I saw his name. Tributing him in this way, as well as my mother, was so considerate of the couple and will honour them both. "We didn't want to straight up call our kid 'Alyssa' so I hope Monet is alright."
"Gosh, it's more than okay."
"Poor kid has a lot of middle names," Damien said with a laugh.
"Kudzai had at least six others planned. Apparently everyone in her family has at least four middle names, and as many as sixteen... it's crazy." Esteban shook his head in disbelief, but also had a look of relief. "Managed to convince her to save some names for our next baby, however she punched me and told me that if I ever make her go through labour again she's going to 'rip off my penis and put it in the blender',"
"Would you expect any less?" I asked with a hint of amusement in my words. Esteban let out a small laugh and once again shook his head.
"You're right. Now, would you like to meet the newest addition to our famille?"
My grin stretched from ear to ear as I hastily nodded my head.
"Nah, don't think I will. Just travelled for almost twenty four hours for the banter, mate," Damien joked sarcastically, over-exaggerating his British accent. I laughed and slapped his arm gently with the back of my hand. "Of course we want to meet her."
I found myself taking lighter steps on the tips of my toes as we approached the room. My breathing got heavier as my excitement built but I tried to keep it as quiet as possible by holding my hand in front of my face. The door was closed with the blinds closed over the small rectangular pane of glass, most likely for privacy reasons. A large number nine was written on a laminated sheet and stuck to the wall beside the door.
The moment Esteban pushed down on the handle and opened the door, everything hit me. The small baby cradled in Kudzai's arms was suddenly very real. A year ago, I wouldn't have even thought that we'd ever be here, but we are. My best friend is going to be the best mother this little baby could ever ask for.
Kudzai's eyes flicked up as the door opened and the smile on her face grew. I was biting my lips tightly together to try and stop the tears of happiness from slipping down my cheeks. My legs moved towards her without my brain completely registering it and I gently wrapped her into a hug. Libby let out a small groan as Kudzai moved to hug me back, but then quickly resumed the sleep she had been having.
"She looks so much like you, Kudz," I commented, my thumb lightly grazing over Libby's soft cheek. My voice naturally seemed to go quieter. I could barely see through the blur when I looked back up at my best friend. "She's perfect. I'm so proud of you."
Damien walked around the other side of the bed and pressed a kiss to Kudzai's temple. "I may not be the centre of attention right now but I'm not mad."
"Do you guys want to hold her?" Kudzai asked, her gaze switching between D and I.
Wordlessly, I nodded my head, gratefully reaching out to take Libby from her arms. The small infant was so much smaller than I had imagined despite being quite heavy for a newborn. I sniffled and blinked back any tears as I cradled Libby close to my own chest, favouring my left arm over my right. I stood up straight and began to gently rock from side to side, not quite comprehending the entire situation. Libby seemed so fragile, as if I were to move too quickly she would break in my arms so I made sure to be as gentle in my movements as possible.
"So this is baby fever," I joked, letting out a shaky exhale before cooing at the baby. I couldn't help but picture how much more special this moment would feel if it was my own baby, but I knew it wouldn't be able to happen for a while. Damien walked back around to my side of the bed so he could stand beside me and interact with Libby. She was half-awake, and thankfully not crying. Kudzai took the opportunity to grab her phone from the bedside table and snap a few pictures of the three of us.
"I'm sorry I missed the race, Lys. Daniel crashing into you started the whole labour process so I only got up to that point before 'steban and I were rushing to the hospital."
"He'll be glad to hear that he helped." I smiled and briefly looked up at Kudzai. She looked apologetic however she had absolutely no reason to be. "You missed all the best bits, though."
"Really? Who won?"
I found myself letting out an exhale of disbelief. The past twenty four hours had been so hectic that I didn't get a chance to fully appreciate the fact that I won my debut race for Mercedes. I quickly regained composure and gently shrugged as to not disturb Libby. "I did."
"What?" Both her and Esteban exclaimed in disbelief. I playfully shushed them before biting my bottom lip.
"Yeah, it got crazy," I dismissed as nonchalant as possible, not wanting to take anything away from the special moment I was having with D and Libby. "Carlos got a podium for McLaren, too."
"Lys! Oh my God! Esteban, go pay for the channels on the fucking TV now so I can watch the race highlights." He didn't need to be told twice by his fiancée and hastily left the room. Kudzai's lips seemed to be permanently parted as she looked at me in disbelief. "You couldn't have told me in a text?"
"I'm surprised it isn't in the news," Damien commented. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't been there."
"And Force India didn't score a single point," I added, mostly just to gloat that the team who did me dirty were suffering. Seeing me win must've been torture for them, or at least I hope it was. "Sorry, Racing Point." It was impossible for me to say their name without adding the mocking tone.
"I think Robert could've, but something broke on his car so he retired."
"Shh!" Kudzai made a zipping motion over her lips. "Don't spoil anything else. I can't believe I missed the race..."
"If it makes you feel any better, Victoria told me to tell you that she's pissed at you for going into labour when she is working over in Australia."
"She sent me a text saying the same thing," Kudzai said with a small laugh.
"Time's up, Archer. Let me hold Libby." I didn't argue verbally however pouted to show him that I didn't want to hand over the baby. Rather reluctantly, I passed Libby over to Damien and returned my arms to their previous folded position.
"Do you mind if I call Max?" I asked Kudzai, pointing to the door to show her that I was going to head into the hallway to take it. She just smiled and shook her head and I gratefully grinned at her in response.
As soon as the door closed behind me, I hit dial on his name. I pressed the phone to my ear, hoping that he'd pick up. After just one dial tone, the line crackled and his voice spoke. "Hello?" I knew it wasn't too late over there which was why I wanted to call him now rather than later.
"Hey, Max. It's just me," I absentmindedly tugged my bottom lip between my teeth as I leaned against the wall.
"Hey. How's Kudzai and the baby?"
I smiled even though he couldn't see me. "Both are healthy, but Kudz has to stay in for a few more days for routine checks. She named the baby after my mum..." I trailed off, feeling myself getting emotional again. "And little Libby also has my middle name as one of her own."
"I saw the text," he said. "It was so sweet of them."
"I doubt Esteban had much choice, to be honest." I let out a breathy laugh.
"No, definitely not, but with Anthoinette... both Pierre and Leclerc cried when they saw it. "
I swallowed hard. "Anthoine meant a lot to them, and still does."
"You were in that race, but you've never mentioned his death before." I knew where he was heading but couldn't find the voice to get him to stop. "I never brought it up because I didn't know how you'd react."
"I won't lie and say that Anthoine and I were close, but we shared the same dreams and passions so it hit me hard. We raced with the same determination around the track and I looked up to him. We somehow never shared a podium together so he didn't know who I was, but I still dedicated every win for the rest of that season to him. It still hurts, but I try and push the pain away. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it was for his friends and family..."
"Schatje, I'm sorry."
"No," I shook my head, sniffling. "It's alright. I look back and have happy racing memories with Anthoine. Libby has a lot of names to live up to, though, the poor kid."
"Especially with that many names," Max exhaled loudly, "I don't even know how to spell half of them! Our kid is sticking to just the one, okay? I don't trust myself to remember any more than that."
A small smile appeared on my face through the tears. "And who says that we're going to have a kid?"
"Fate, Lys, I already told you."
"Not gonna lie, baby fever is hitting me really hard right now. I've already had cuddles with Libby and just pictured myself with my own baby."
"See?" I could picture him raising his eyebrows. "That's fate."
"I want kids, but I want a world championship first," I told him.
"Well, you're technically leading the championship so..." Max trailed off, his voice portraying his cheek.
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not going to sleep with you."
"Our future children would say otherwise."
"I'd want the donor to have a couple more brain cells than you, Max. Maybe I'll give Lando a call," I teased.
"Have you met Lando? He has the same amount of sense as me, maybe even less." That's true. I heard a small yell of protest on the other end of the line which sounded just like Lando. I couldn't hold back the laugh. "Deal with it, mate," Max said, however it wasn't directed to me. It didn't surprise me that they were together. They had probably been playing on some sort of game console when I called.
"Tell Lando I said 'hi' and that I'm really happy for Carlos."
I focused my listening to the background noise as Max relayed my message, hearing a definitive 'that should've been me'. In his defence, his car just seemed to lack the pace that Carlos's had when I watched the race highlights on the plane journey home. Some of his overtakes had been spectacular and I was very proud when I watched him, however I could never tell him that. He'll have to figure it out for himself through my constant teasing like everybody else.
"When will you be flying out to Bahrain?" Max queried.
"It'll probably be Wednesday at this rate. I promised my brother I'd go visit him and I can't break that. The team are luckily quite lenient with it all however I've got a full day of press and media on Thursday." I heard Max groan on the other line. "I wish I could come sooner but I can't."
"I get it," he said, sounding genuine. "You'll still call though, won't you? I mean, I know we haven't been together for a while but I really miss when we used to talk everyday."
My chest filled with an indescribable emotion, however it left me feeling warm. I smiled even though he couldn't see me. "Yeah, of course. I miss it, too."
"Oh, and Lando told me to tell you to call him every day so that you don't show a clear favouritism amongst drivers, even though we both know that I'm your favourite."
Of course, I sarcastically thought to myself. "I have clear favourites and it's Mick and Seb. Sorry boys." Once their voices loudly started to reply on the other end, I pulled the phone away from my ear and ended the call. The timing seemed to be good as when I looked back up, Esteban was approaching the room.
"You okay?" He asked, gesturing to his cheeks. I knew he meant that it was obvious I had been crying so I just smiled.
"They're happy tears, I promise. I was just talking to Max about Libby, saying how adorable she is and all that. He loved the names, by the way, and apparently you made Charles and Pierre cry."
Esteban nodded his head knowingly. "Anthoine?" He reached out and took my hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "C'mon. Let's watch the race, yeah? You can gloat as much as you want."
"Really?"
"No, you're limited to three brags and then you're out."
~***~
over 4000 words long
what do you think of the baby's name?
i'm tempted to put max and alyssa back together as a couple again but idk 😐 i want to keep her single for a while but i also love max with all my heart and want them together now lmao
after writing the above paragraph, a plot point cane to mind that kind of fits. it'll deal with some pretty heavy issues (mainly personal ones) and idk whether you'd want to read them (the bad stuff won't be happening for quite a while since i want to pace the book)
i'm not going to go into much detail about the recent election however i'm enraged. my future, my friends' future, everyone who doesn't bathe in the bath of privilege every night's future - it's all compromised. this isn't the end of the fight because that'll be like saying they've won. they haven't. not when we're as riled as ever.
a strong 'fuck you' if you voted for conservatives, the party who want to sell of the nhs, make the poor more poor, cut help to mental health services (and many other vital ones), and many more disaster outs things for the working class. essentially, you're screwed if you're not a rich and privileged.
qotc: what's on top of your christmas list?
aotc: a new pair of jeans because my good pair was accidentally put in the drier and now they're wayyyyyy to short.