Sunday September 13th.
A pleasant chill ran down Chloe's spine and goosebumps made the fine hairs on her arm stand up as the F2004 came to stop. Although she hadn't been working for Michael when he'd driven that particular Ferrari F1 car in 2004, it was still magical to see it and hear it. Watching the young man as he emerged from the cockpit, anyone could have been mistaken in thinking that perhaps they'd travelled back in time and was now witnessing the great man himself. Certainly Chloe felt like that right now and his distinctive race helmet made it seem all the more real. But this wasn't 2004 and it wasn't Michael. Mick Schumacher had just completed a couple of laps in his father's championship winning Formula One car, a car that she knew that her husband would have loved the chance to drive himself. Who knows, if he'd that car this year instead of his current nightmare, the SF1000, he might have even been leading the championship and finishing his career at Ferrari on a high instead of the constant low he was stuck in right now. Maybe he'd have been treated better by Mattia as a result. Mesmerised by the beautiful, red F2004, she kept staring at it, taking in every little detail she could see from the distance she was at. She found herself wondering why Michael wasn't here, why it hadn't been him driving that car instead of Mick on Ferrari's 1000th Grand Prix weekend but then he'd scarcely been seen in public since the trial in Norway, since his wife had been in-prisoned. She knew that Mick was looking her way without her breaking her gaze on the car, she could feel his eyes boring holes into her skin with a glare that was still full of hate. Across the width of the track, she shifted her focus briefly to him and for a moment she felt like Michael was staring back at her until his face changed into the hostile glare of his son.
Then a strong pair of arms wrapped themselves around her front, literally appearing from nowhere, making her jump and swear with fright.
Seb chuckled, it always amused him when he startled her and he kissed her head twice by way of an apology. "I should've guessed you'd be out here."
She spun round in his embrace, feeling like he'd caught her doing something that she shouldn't be. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist the chance to see it. Please don't think that I'm out here because of Michael."
"It's fine liebe, really. It's a beautiful car, if I could I'd have one of those sitting in the garage back home."
"Why haven't you then?" She smiled as he toyed with her long hair, brushing it back behind shoulders to try and stop the breeze from blowing it across her face.
"Too expensive."
"Really?!" She found that very hard to believe, this was Sebastian Vettel, the man who could afford to buy anything his heart desired.
"Believe it or not, yes. There's not many of them around but there's a couple so I keep my eye on the prices."
"You should ask if you can race that instead of the Lada you've got to drive today."
"Hey there's nothing wrong with a Lada." He laughed at her disgusted expression.
"I hope you're joking." She replied, she knew he liked classic cars but that was scraping the bottom of the barrel.
"Of course I'm joking." He booped her nose with his finger through her mask before his expression turned more serious and he frowned at her. "You look tired, you didn't sleep much again last night did you."
"I just couldn't seem to drift off." She admitted with a yawn at the end, brought on by him reminding her how she tired she felt.
"You need to stop worrying about Viviana." He said as he took her hand and started to lead her back to the garage. In an instant a photographer was on them, photos of Seb with his wife were quite rare nowadays and this guy was snapping away, greedily trying to have his fill despite all the opportunities that the media had had on Thursday. Seb quickly got annoyed, his protective instinct towards his wife kicking in. "That's quite enough." He rose his voice to the man, his firm, clipped tone making his displeasure obvious. "So, as I was saying...." He continued once the man had scurried away, no doubt to sell his images to the highest bidder. "....you need to stop worrying about Viviana. She's not worth losing sleep over."
"You weren't the one who threatened to break her neck."
"Chloe, this was three days ago. If she was going to report you she'd have done it by now and she's stayed away from us so it obviously worked."
"Yeah but it's not like me, I'm not a violent person. I couldn't break anyone's finger never mind their neck. It makes me feel sick just thinking about it." She shivered, feeling an icy chill at the thought even though it was 30c outside.
"She'd wound you up, you were protecting what's yours."
She looked down the ground as they walked, delicately hopping over cables, pipes and bits of pit equipment as they entered his garage. "Yeah she wound me up but to threaten her like I did, it was extreme for me."
"I find it quite a turn on actually." He smirked, glancing at her because Viviana wasn't too far away and was snapping away at his car with the new camera she'd been given.
"You find anything to do with me a turn on, you're a sex addict." Chloe joked as he continued to pull her along. She daren't even look at the Italian woman who was now staring intensely at her.
"It's very rare you turn me down so I'd say you're just as bad as me." He grinned, upping his pace to dart across the paddock as they exited the rear of his garage.
She ran to keep up with him, she didn't have much choice really and she knew that he was only doing that to try and make it more difficult for people to take photos.
Once they got into the Ferrari motorhome, they stopped. The doors swept closed behind them, closing them into their own private little world where Britta was sat, holding Luis in one arm and typing on the iPad with her free hand. He seemed quite content and appeared to be watching her working or maybe the lit up screen just attracted his attention.
"If I go back to the garage and get the screens put across, will you bring Luis there in a couple of minutes?" Seb asked, suddenly having the idea to do something he'd been wanting to do for a while.
Chloe smiled and pulled him close, removing her mask and his to a place light but lingering kiss on his lips, knowing exactly what he wanted to do. "I'll bring him in two minutes, don't make yourself late with your race prep though."
"This will be my race prep." He stepped back and re-hooked his mask behind his ear where his wife had removed it. "Two minutes."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It felt like a cloak and dagger operation just to get Luis across the paddock but with Heikki accompanying her, walking close to her side while holding a muslin cloth lightly over the tot's head, they made it without anyone getting a glimpse of Luis' face - exactly as Seb would have wanted. As she'd expected, the team had pulled the screens across the front of his garage to ensure the family's privacy and even Viviana had been booted out.
Seb, who'd removed his mask for the purpose of having a few photos taken, leant in to kiss her cheek. "I've been wanting to do this ever since you were pregnant and we found out you were having a boy."
"Wouldn't you have done this if we'd had a daughter then?" She asked, about to tease him for being sexist.
"Yeah, of course I would but you know....having a son, it's different." He went over to the car and soon got in, looking to the screens to check that no one had managed to peek in. It looked all clear and he waved his wife over. "Pass him here, I want him to see daddy's office."
She didn't hesitate in passing Luis over to his father, this was one of those moments that kind of felt like a milestone. For Seb it probably was; despite the problems with the car the love for Ferrari was still there, all the shit they'd thrown his way, all the heartache they'd caused him and he was still proud to drive a Ferrari Formula One car and even prouder to introduce his son to it.
"When you've done being all misty eyed, can you take some photos?" He teased, holding his phone up to her.
"Of course." She took it, unlocked it and immediately opened the camera app while an engineer stepped in front of her to attach the steering wheel. Seb wanted his young son to experience as much as possible even though he'd probably never remember it being just seven weeks old. She stood back a bit, trying to get the perfect shot while listening to him talking quietly to Luis in German, pointing things out to him such as the car's name where it was stickered on the left side of the cockpit, then he was taking hold of a part of the harness and placing the strong material in Luis' little hands, watching how grasped onto it. It was just too cute for words. Sitting in the car, with his son leant back against his chest to help support his head, Seb had literally come alive, his face alight with happiness, loving every second. With joint input from the engineer and Seb himself, the steering wheel came to life with the small display in the centre lighting up and the row of little LED's at the top flashing. She could see that Luis was instantly captivated and again Seb was pointing to dials and buttons, going through a few settings to make the small screen's display change. It was then when Chloe witnessed something for the very first time and she lowered Seb's phone down to see it with her own eyes. She could feel herself tearing up with pride and happiness, Luis had just smiled.
"We're making mummy cry again." Seb grinned, to him Chloe wouldn't be Chloe unless she was crying at something.
"He just smiled!" She quickly wiped away a tear. "He actually smiled!"
His eyes darted to the small child in his hold. "What? Really? Are you sure it wasn't just wind?"
"Positive, look....." She quickly brought up the photos she'd taken on his phone and showed him the last one she'd got.
Sure enough Luis was actually smiling, Seb could see it in his little blue eyes. He lifted his gaze to meet his wife's, their smiles equally as wide as each other's. "Wow...." He breathed.
"You agree? He's definitely smiling, right?"
"Yeah, that looks like a smile to me." He sat there for a moment, feeling a bit dazed and then briefly disappointed because he hadn't seen Luis' smile with his own eyes even though he had his son his arms. He'd missed little milestones like this with his two daughters because he'd always been away racing and wanted so badly to witness them with his third child.
As they both digested the fact that their baby boy had just given them his first smile, they shared a lingering look and Chloe could see the range of emotions in her husband's face. "Don't Seb."
"Don't what?" He frowned, confused.
"Don't feel bad because you missed out on the early months of your girls. You were achieving your dream, providing for them and giving them a fantastic life."
He broke out into a smile, she always knew what to say to make him feel better. Slowly he turned Luis around to face him, hoping that he could see his son smile for himself and not just through a photo on his phone. "Hey Luis, wirst du für Papa lächeln?" (Hey Luis, will you smile for daddy?)
Luis just looked back at his dad, obviously not having a clue what was being said to him, reaching out his little hand as if to grab at his father's sunglasses which were perched on top of his head.
"Hast du ein Lächeln für Papa?" (Do you have a smile for daddy?) Seb asked again, pulling a funny face in the hope that it'd amuse his son enough to make him smile.
"Try singing to him, I sometimes do when I'm bathing him, he seems to like it." Chloe suggested.
Seb looked at her as though she'd lost the plot.
"Ah, don't want to sing to your son in front of your team huh? Don't worry, they're aware of how terrible you sound already!" She pointed and wiggled her finger at him jokingly.
"No! I'm not afraid to sing to him with everyone around." He shot back, glancing at the people he could see to his left and right. "What should I sing to him?" He asked, turning his attention back to Luis who was looking back at him as if he was waiting for him to do something.
"Well he likes that song, You Are My Sunshine and he loves Baby Shark."
"Baby shark? Really?" He looked at her to see if she was being serious.
"Well if he's been crying, he sometimes goes quiet if I play it on my phone or the iPad. Worried it'll dent your fearsome reputation as a four times world champion driver?" She giggled, she'd give anything to hear Seb singing Baby Shark.
"As if!" He scoffed in reply.
"Go on then." She egged him on, knowing that he hadn't seen Britta walk in behind the car.
He looked back at Luis who was now starting to either run out of patience while waiting for his father to do something or was just getting bored. "Ich liebe dich so sehr, Kleiner. Du weißt, ich werde alles für dich tun, aber willst du wirklich, dass ich Baby Shark singe?" (I love you so much little one. You know I'll do anything for you, but do you really want me to sing Baby Shark?) He asked, as if he was going to get an answer. Luis' bottom lip began to tremble, his loud cries would soon fill the garage and would probably be audible outside too, giving away the fact that he was in the garage to the media vultures who were probably wondering why the screens were across. He cleared his throat, resigned to the fact that he was going to have to sing Baby Shark in front of his mechanics and engineers. "Ok, ok Luis, I'll sing it."
"In English." Chloe added smugly, she was going to enjoy this and she shot a mischievous glance towards Britta who was now hovering nearby with her phone at the ready.
"For fucks sake." Seb muttered under his breath, already feeling embarrassed before he'd sung a single word.
"That's not how it goes." Chloe pointed out, smirking.
With a deep breath in he began. "Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Baby shark." It seemed to be working, Luis was instantly a captive audience of one, suddenly screaming the garage down no longer seemed to be on his little agenda.
"See, he loves it, despite how flat you sound." Chloe smiled, finding Seb sitting in a Formula One car, singing to their baby boy the most adorable thing she'd ever witnessed.
"Thanks for the encouragement." He shot back sarcastically.
"Keep going, don't stop!" She added, able to see from Luis' little expression that he was waiting for more. "Mommy shark is next."
"Mommy shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo....." He began to sing, encouraged by how mesmerised his baby now looked. "Mommy shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Mommy shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Mommy shark." Suddenly aware that Britta was there and was filming it on her phone, he stopped.
"No, don't stop, keep going! Daddy shark!" Chloe urged him on, sure that she'd just seen a hint of a smile on Luis' face.
Seb couldn't help but feel ridiculous, if this ever got out into the public domain he'd probably never hear the end of it but he carried on. "Daddy shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Daddy shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo...." Then it happened, he got his reward for his embarrassment as Luis smiled. His small features lit up like a sunbeam, his whole face seemed to smile.
"There you go!!" Chloe pressed her hands together, so pleased for her husband to witness Luis smile for himself. "Keep going!"
Feeling pleased with himself and totally in love with his son's smiling face he continued. Right there and then he decided that he'd sing anything if it meant getting smiles like that! Nursery rhymes, musical numbers, the lot! "Grandma shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Grandma shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo......"
Luis' face beamed once more. There was definitely nothing better than that little smile! Seb was now smiling so widely so that he was finding it difficult to sing the words.
Unfortunately Luis' song time with daddy was about to be brought to an abrupt end. "Erm...I hate to break things up but we need to start running through our checks."
Seb tore his eyes away from his adorable son's smiling face to look up at Noel, one of his engineers. "Sure." He replied, trying not to sound disappointed at having to stop.
Chloe leant over to lift Luis from the car, enabling Seb to extract himself from the cockpit.
He gave the car and then Luis one more lingering look, he'd loved every single second of the time he'd just spent with his son.
"Don't worry, you can do this again and just think...next year you'll have a different car to show Luis." She said, leaning over to kiss Seb's shoulder through his t-shirt. "Come on, let's go and leave these guys to finish their work."
"Oh, Seb?" Noel called him just before they turned to leave.
"Is something wrong?" He asked, half expecting Noel to have found something on the car.
"No, nothing's wrong. It's just that a few of us are having drinks in the hotel tonight to celebrate the 1000th grands prix and I wondered if you'd like to join us?"
"Uhm...I..." He hesitated, he hadn't expected this at all. Drinks out with his garage and pit crew were quite rare occasions, even more so now with the pandemic going on.
Chloe could see his indecision, he never had nights out without her anymore apart from last night at a celebratory event in Florence, though he'd classed that as work. "If you want to go, I won't mind, I'll be ok at the hotel on my own, Heikki and Britta will still be here and we don't fly to Switzerland until late tomorrow afternoon." She said, trying to help him make up his mind.
He stood thinking about it. A night with the lads would be a good and with the prospect of another difficult race this afternoon, they'd probably all want the chance to let off some steam and relax with a few drinks. "Are you sure?" He asked, turning to his wife.
"You don't need my permission, if you want to go, then go." She smiled.
"Ok then, I'll be there." Seb grinned, looking forward to the end of the day already.