The Race Director's Daughter (Sebastian Vettel)

61. What it All Comes Down To

Seb glanced down at the woman sleeping in his arms. He still couldn't believe that she was his.   He was looking forward to spending some quality time alone with her over the winter break. Everything was so hectic during race weekends, it would be amazing to spend a couple of months being just Seb and Leah.

They would be flying home from Abu Dhabi that evening, the 2022 season was finally over.   He'd ended the last two races in seventh and fifth respectively, sealing his second place finish in the championship behind Max. He had outdone his target for the season, he'd started off aiming for a top eight finish. Next season would be different. He was going for the championship. This season had been about building towards that.

He gently kissed Leah's forehead. He couldn't believe how his life had changed in a year. At the end of last season he'd been single, having fun with Daniel and Elinor. Now here he was, madly in love and ready to spend the rest of his life with one woman. This woman. He smiled as she made a small whimpering noise in her sleep.

She must be exhausted. It was already gone 10am according to his phone. He wasn't surprised though. She'd been up around 6am being sick. She thought it was something she'd ate but Seb was beginning to wonder if there was another reason. She'd been so tired lately. He'd been thinking about how to approach the subject with her. Could she be carrying their child? He knew it was unlikely. She was on the contraceptive injection. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part. He was feeling more and more broody lately. He was beginning to crave a child of their own.

His feelings had intensified when he'd seen her holding Checo and Carola's six month old son, Emilio, on Wednesday evening. Leah would make an amazing mother. And to be honest he couldn't wait to see her swollen with his baby. Was that going to happen sooner than what he'd thought?

He eased his arms from around her, gently lowering her onto her pillow, before swinging his legs out of the bed. He grimaced as his knee twinged again. Instead of getting better, it was slightly worse.

Maybe now he wouldn't be training or racing until January it would have a chance to heal. He limped across to the bathroom, relieving himself, then returning to the bedroom. Leah was still sleeping. He smiled as he watched her. She looked like an angel, her hair fanned out over her pillow like a halo around her head.

He went to his backpack and opened it, looking at the pregnancy test inside. He'd had Britta go and buy it the previous day. He knew he shouldn't have asked her to do that before speaking to Leah but he could hardly go and buy one himself. He'd have been recognised and it would have been all over social media. He just had to know.

A loud ringing sound pierced the silence. Leah's phone. She stirred, sitting up and sleepily rubbing her eyes. Seb picked the phone up from the desk and took it over to her. She smiled and took it off of him. It was Tamara.

"Hey Tamara," she said. Seb sat down on the bed and slid his hand under the sheets, gently rubbing her thigh.

"Hey girl, you sound tired. Did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but I overslept. I needed to wake up anyway. What's up?"

"I wondered if you wanted to meet up for lunch, Seb's welcome too of course. I'm going to ask Jenna if she wants to meet too. There's something I wanted to tell you."

"That sounds intriguing. You're not pregnant are you?" Leah joked. Tamara laughed.

"Definitely not. So, how about it?"

"Umm, well I've not been well so I'll pass on lunch, but I'll meet for a drink."

She thought it would be nice to meet with the girls one more time before winter break. She wouldn't see them much as most of it would be spent in either Switzerland or Germany.