SV5 - One Shots

Back to Imola (Seb & Emily)

A/N: This was first published as a bonus at the end of The Strength Within.

Imola April 2024

Formulino opened his eyes and took in the flurry of activity around him. They were back again. He was getting an old man now and quite frankly could do without everyone patting him on the head trying to get a bit of good luck. Didn't they realise he was just an ordinary cat and they made their own luck?

He had to admit he had a soft spot for some of them. He liked that young Lando Norris who always brought him a treat. His favourite though was surprisingly the one he never used to like. The one who had called him fat.  The one who dressed in green.

He'd never had much time for him before. He'd offered him some halfarsed apology a couple of years ago in the hope of getting some luck. Then last year he'd appeared with a tin of salmon and just sat there next to him with a soppy grin on his face.

He'd eventually started talking and telling Formulino all about his Emily and how she had made him the happiest man in the world by becoming his wife. And how their happiness was now complete with the birth of their daughter Aria the previous week.  Formulino liked to pretend he was hard hearted but the love in the strange ones voice had melted the old cat's heart.

The strange one, Formulino believed his name was Sebastian, returned to see him everyday last year. He had brought him a treat every day and not asked for a single bit of luck in return. Formulino had actually missed him when the Formula 1 circus had moved on.  He was looking forward to seeing him again. Hopefully he'd bring some more salmon.

                                   ***

Aria  Juliet Vettel sat in her pushchair as her father pushed her through the paddock at Imola. She had just turned a year old and looked more and more like her mother every day.  She kept pointing at things that caught her eye.

Seb pushed her with one hand whilst holding his wife's hand in his other.  This was the first race that they had brought Aria to other than Silverstone last year.

She was obviously going to be the centre of attention.

"Tat, tat!" Aria cried , pointing at the grey feline that appeared from between the Mercedes and McLaren motorhomes.

"Hey buddy," Seb said, crouching down and scratching Formulino behind his ears.  He reached into his pocket and brought out a small tub of salmon, taking the lid off and placing it in front of the cat. "I was hoping I'd see you. There's someone very special I'd like you to meet. This here is Aria. I told you about her last year. And you remember Emily don't you?" 

Formulino rubbed up against the one called Emily's legs. She bent down and patted him too.

" Hey fella," she said. "I missed you last year." He liked this one too. She was nice. Eventually they moved on leaving him in peace once again. He returned to his spot in the shade and lay down. Time for another nap.

***

Seb tipped his head back as Lance poured the champagne over his head. He'd finally won at Imola. He stared down at his guys. Joe, Joel, Harry, Niall and all the others. And there sat on top of Joel's shoulders was Emily. The love of his life. He missed her so much when he was on the road. It was great having her at a race again.

Hopefully it would happen more often now. Aria was back at the hotel with his mother, who was having her overnight. Emily was getting more comfortable leaving her now she was older.

He loved being a father but sometimes he wanted his wife to himself. His desire for her never faded, it just became stronger day by day.

Tonight they were going out to celebrate. The gang were back together. He couldn't wait to party with everyone again. Maybe if he played his cards right Emily might be up for a bit of fun after.