Something Gained

Chapter Seventy-Nine

"Merry Christmas!" I yelled as I walked through the front door of Grace and Joe's house. It felt normal, like family. Although Daniel looked at me weird as he followed.
"Merry? Who says merry?" Daniel laughed
"English people clearly" I said back before being engulfed in a hug from Grace.
"Darling I'm so glad you're with us. Happy Christmas" she said before kissing both my cheeks
"Thank you for having me" I smiled
"Alex Alex Alex! Santas been!" Issac yelled
"Hey squirt, has he? Show me" I said to the infant holding onto my leg, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the sitting room, I glanced back at Daniel who smiled as he greeted his mum and dad.
"Hey Michelle" I smiled at her before sitting on the floor, Issac sat in my lap and started showing me his new toy, he was such a sweet little kid, definitely a Ricciardo, the whole family were such warm loving people, and so welcoming to. Isabella came running over as well and sat down with us playing.
"Alex, happy Christmas" she smiled and came over and sat with us
"Happy Christmas, or Merry, whatever works" I said joking around
"You can be English, it's just weird" I heard Daniel say, I poked my tongue out at him before turning my attention back to children
"Alex can you play with me?" Issac asked
"Of course, you might have to show me how, you seem like you know what you're doing here" I joked with him, he beamed and got out his toy race cars
"I'll show you! One day I'm going to go faster than uncle Danny"
"That won't be hard squirt" I smiled, glancing at Daniel
"Hey!" He moaned
"You two" Grace said shaking her head and laughing
"Dan did you bring the bag in?" I asked him, he facepalmed
"No, it's in the car"
"I'll go" I smiled. "Who wants to be Santa's little helpers, I've got some extra special presents that Santa left at uncle Danny's house for us" I smiled, Isaac and Isabella jumped up and smiled
"Yes yes yes" they both took my hands and I took the car keys from Daniel before heading out the house to his blue Mclaren in the driveway. I gave Issac a smaller bag and he carried it in, while I carried Isabella on my hip, helping her carry things
"Right, those are for nonna and grampy, so can you take them in for me?" I asked Issac, he nodded and ran inside the house while I locked the car again.

I stood behind Daniel, my hands on his shoulders, as Issac and Isabella did their Santa duties, Daniel kissed one of my hands and I stroked his neck with my thumb.
"Oh Alex you shouldn't have" Grace smiled. Daniel and I had brought them all presents, he would of anyway but we both shopped for them
"It's from Dan as well" I smiled
"There's no way that boy picked this out. It's beautiful sweetie thank you" she smiled and came over to hug me
"You're welcome" I smiled. She gave Dan a hug to and went back to sitting with Joe. Everyone opened their presents before we all sat around laughing and talking.

"Auntie Alex can you draw with me?" Issac asked, he had never called me auntie, Michelle looked over at us and smiled
"Of course, come sit here" I said patting between Daniel and I, he wriggled himself in and we both sat drawing and colouring with him. He was a special little boy, I knew moments like this were what Daniel missed, being with his family. He loved what he did, he loved his job, but it came with a sacrifice, especially for someone as family oriented as him. Issac and Isabella were his absolute world and he was the greatest uncle to them. Issac was massively into cars and loved watching Daniel race where he could, Isabella was the cutest little girl though, girly and dressy. He loved them both. I loved them both, it was hard not to.

For the first time in a while, I had the perfect Christmas. I was happy, well fed, I was seriously considering a workout plan with Michael after Grace's beautiful cooking, we all went for a walk after dinner as well, it was beautiful, we played silly board games and laughed so much, I almost felt like I had a family again, even though it was Daniel's family, it made me feel special. The time in Australia passed by so fast, I was fully settled in Daniel's home with him, we spent so much time with his family, and his friends. I went on a few outings with Chloe, shopping, lunches, even a night out which was less than impressive when we stumbled back to Daniel's house to find a sober group of guys, Daniel and Scott included who laughed at the state of us. I had kept in touch with Hannah on a friendly basis, strictly no work talk and luckily she was okay, bored, but good and her and baby were healthy and happy.

Now it was time to go to Monaco, Lando was obviously home so I would get to see him and give him his Christmas presents. Daniel and I would chill out a bit, Michael was with us already to get him back to preseason fitness, 6 days a week training. I had plenty of work to do ahead of the beginning of the season, setting up all the teams ready to go, we would then be back in England in no time to get ready to unveil the new car, new livery, and do all usual preseason stuff, I couldn't believe I was going into my third year with McLaren, time literally had flown.
"Michael is going to kill meeee" Daniel moaned as he come back in and slumped on the sofa in a sweaty heap, I shuffled my legs out the way and moved my laptop to the table
"You can do it, you know you can" I said to him
"I know, but a few weeks off really makes you regret it" Daniel sighed, although he never completely stopped working out, it got a lot lighter during the winter break, so building back up to full strength drained him. I saw it with Lando last year.
"You'll be fine, stop moaning" I chuckled
"Did you say we had dinner with Lando?" He asked, I nodded
"Yep, and Max, and George, Alex, Charles and Pierre apparently?" I listed the people Lando had invited, getting his weird band back together with some added guests. Lando was hosting a dinner at his house for people, which was quite fun, it was weird to me though that I was being invited to something for drivers? But Lando insisted as I was his friend. Daniel showered and got changed and so did I once I had finished up work, then we left for Lando's house.

"Take your time" Lando yelled as I walked through the door after Daniel.
"Some of us have work to do you know. We can't all sit in a car and do nothing" I jabbed back, I then walked into the room and realised they were all here and looking at me.
"Woah woah woah" Max chuckled "room full of drivers"
"I stand by what I said" I flicked my hair back behind my shoulder and sat down next to Luisinha who was also here
"You have to work during the winter break?" Alex asked
"Duh, someone has to get them ready for preseason" I laughed "not the whole break, just as soon as we got back here" I replied, gesturing to Monaco, where they were currently residing
"That's so annoying" Alex replied
"That what happens when you get promoted twice in one season and get so high up" Lando moaned
"He's grumpy because she won't be with him all the time, just ignore the child" Luisinha commented making me laugh
"Oooh dream team is gone" Pierre laughed
"Absolutely not!" Lando and I yelled at the same time
"The kids I deal with" Daniel shook his head laughing. It was actually nice around these people, after feeling a bit awkward to come here, I was pleasantly surprised
"Still got our car dinners" Lando smiled, slouching down next to Luisinha, he leaned over and fistbumped me
"Sssshh, Jon and Michael will have my head" I laughed back.

They all laughed and we all chatted, ate dinner and the guys played their video games, what a surprise. I was tired though, I spent the day sorting through potential people for Lando and Daniels PR people and there was so many, trying to choose the right person for each of them was crazy, we had the final cut, but it's like you needed someone particular for each of them, I don't know how I managed to get picked for both, I must be the perfect balance, not to make my head any bigger.

Interviews were tomorrow, it was getting tough as we headed to preseason, but I was looking after them until we found the right people. I couldn't tell them, but I'd already had a sneak peak at the livery and new car, perks of the job, and I was excited and ready for the new season.