A random act of kindness [George Russel]

Chapter 9

GEORGE POV:

It's the last race week of the season, and what a season it was. The season in which George struggled with being a single parent, healing from a broken heart, and learning how to open his heart for someone new again. And the season where he is, for the first time in his life, in a tight head-to-head race for the world championship. And that's only the huge things that have happened in such a relatively short period of time. It's mind-blowing to him how much his life changed, and even though it has been challenging, he wouldn't change it for the world.

It's Saturday today, last time this season that he will go to qualifying, and it feels a little weird. He turns around in bed, looking at Rosie's peaceful face while she sleeps. Never in a million years had George expected that he'd be in Abu Dhabi this season, with his daughter and a girlfriend. He smiles when Rosie sighs in her sleep, and he moves closer to press her against his chest. Their alarm will go off soon, but he just wants to enjoy a few more minutes with her before the madness begins for the last time.

They're on their way to the track after getting ready and eating breakfast with the three of them. Luna is babbling to Rosie, who coos at her. George smiles contently while he parks his car. He gets out, making the stroller ready while Rosie is tickling Luna in her arms. She puts the little girl in the stroller while George makes sure that all their things are out of the car. "Do you want daddy to push you? Yeah, you do, don't you? Good girl" he hears Rosie says, and he laughs, "are you seriously asking her who should push?" Rosie looks at him while nodding.

"You're just lazy" he says while pushing the stroller towards the entrance. "I am a little, it's still early babe" she says while putting George's pass on the screen so he can walk through before scanning hers and following him. George pushes the stroller with one hand while his other hand grabs Rosie's and intertwines them. He had asked Rosie if it was okay to her to show more affection in the paddock as well, and she agreed with it. He wanted to be able to hold her hand or kiss her when he wanted to, especially after his win last week where he had refrained from doing so.

"Love?" Rosie hums while looking up at him, "you know Kym Illman, right? Who always takes amazing photos of us and the cars?" she nods, and he continues, "he asked me last week if he was allowed to take pictures of us, and I told him that it was okay because we talked about being more public." Rosie hums again, stopping when George stands still, looking at him confused. "C-can I kiss you in front of the camera now then?" She cocks her head sideways before smiling brightly at him, before stepping towards him. "You can kiss me anytime babe, I thought you knew that already."

He tugs her a little closer while holding onto the stroller with his other hand, smiling down at her before leaning in for a sweet kiss that makes his heart beat faster. They pull away and Rosie smiles at him before pressing another soft kiss on his lips. He looks up when he hears someone whistle and laughs when he sees Lando throwing him a thumbs up. Rosie giggles, intertwining their hands while they continue their way to the garage. Kym stops them before they get in, asking if they're okay with him posting the photo, to which George responds with an excited "yeah sure, but can I see it first?"

ROSIE POV:

George qualified P2 yesterday, which was a good result, but not the one he wanted. The race for the title was so tight, and he wanted to bring it home so badly. Rosie tried to reassure him and help him relax, which was quite a tough challenge, but he finally managed to calm down. They had dinner with Luna, and after that they went to bed quite early. Rosie stayed awake, softly raking her fingers through his hair while stroking his back until she was 100% sure that he fell asleep. Luckily he seemed in a good mood this morning, even though he was very nervous, so that meant that he had slept well at least.