One last Chance

family gathering

*Charles*

At that one moment, I was perhaps the happiest man in the world. I carried my daughter in my arms and she had not even cried. On the contrary, she had hugged me tightly in greeting and my heart had melted. How could such a little person take up so much space in my heart? Her little fingers played with my hair as I carried her toward the cars. She was such a beautiful child.

And then there was the woman who had come here with my child. The woman I just wanted to lay the world at her feet. She looked incredibly tired and exhausted and yet she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was wearing the Ferrari sweater I had had put in her hotel room. I liked it when she wore red. It flattered her hair and skin.

"Carlos, may I introduce you to my daughter, Alyssa?" the Spaniard had already come our way and was smiling now.

"What a sweet little mouse.", he smiled and held out his hand to my daughter.

She pressed against me a little "It's ok Aly, this is Carlos. He's a friend.".

Carlos just smiled understandingly and then looked in Evi's direction "Good to see you Evi."

"Good to see you Carlos." she returned.

My teammate took a few steps closer to her as she wrapped her arms around her body "You look a little exhausted. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just been a busy couple of days." she said as Lance walked along in front of our pit and a smile of such relief crossed her lips that it almost broke my heart.

"Evi." he smiled and she went right over to him.

He wrapped his arms around her and started laughing as she sank trembling into his arms. He stroked her back and held her for a long moment before gently pushing her face up.

The two of them were pretty damn familiar with each other. Aly began to fidget on my arm. I was so distracted by Evi that I let go of Aly. She ran straight to Evi and tugged on her sleeve.

Evi broke away from Lance and squatted in front of her.

"You hurt?" she asked, wiping Evi's face.

Evi shook her head "No, I'm just tired."

"You sleep!" she said, then stretched out her arms so Evi could lift her up.

"Later.", Evi promised and lifted her up.

Lance immediately put his arm around Evi's back again. Aly looked up at him.

"Aly, let me introduce you to my good friend Lance."

"Hey, kiddo. Nice to meet you."

Aly smiled up at Lance. Why did he manage to make her smile and I hadn't when we had first met? Why did he make both my girls smile and I couldn't?

I stood there indecisively for another moment, then walked over to them.

"Hey Lance.", I nodded at him, he nodded back.

"I'll see you in the Aston Martin pit later, right?" he asked, turning to Evi.

"Sure. I promised Seb I'd come over."

"Me too, remember?"

"Of course. How could I not?" she laughed.

"Well, I'll see you later.", he returned her smile, pressed a kiss on her cheek, then waved goodbye and disappeared again.

I looked at Evi quite worried, but she immediately put on a smile again.

"Come on Aly, let's go look at Dad's car," she nodded at me and I took over again.

Still, there was the worry. She wasn't feeling well, but she didn't tell me. She trusted Lance but not me. It felt like shit.

Still, I took Aly back from her and walked with her to my car.

"Dad drive?" asked Aly, I nodded.
"Yes, I drive it."

"Aly drive?"

"Maybe someday," I nodded and put her in the driver's seat.

She reached for the steering wheel and turned it. My heart literally melted. It was the most beautiful moment I had ever experienced. Tears immediately welled up in my eyes again and Evi captured the whole thing on photos.

"Where is our niece?", Arthur came running into my box full of enthusiasm.

A little way behind him, Lorenzo and Mama were also walking in. I wiped the tears from my eyes and took a step back to reveal the view of Aly.

"Charly!", mom gasped and started crying, while my brothers stood completely speechless on the other side of the car, watching this little creature in my driver's seat. I was sure I had never seen the two of them so still.

Aly now looked up from her game. Immediately there was fear on her face.

"Evi, arm!" she held out her arms and waited for Evi to lift her back out of the car.

"It's okay, pumpkin. These are your uncles Lorenzo and Arthur. They're really sweet and this is your grandma, she's sweet too. You don't have to be scared.", Evi assured her as she lifted Aly onto her arm.

Lorenzo was the first to smile at me almost too knowingly. He stepped around the car and stood next to Evi so he could look at Aly.

"Hi. I'm your uncle Lorenzo," he introduced himself quietly.

On Evi's arm, Aly seemed no longer afraid. She rested her chin on Evi's shoulder and looked at Lorenzo closely.

"Sweet?" she asked.

Evi nodded "Very sweet.", she smiled at Lorenz who put his arm around her back.

The two had always gotten along well. I knew that in the beginning he had kept in touch with her after the breakup. He had never told me, but I had known. He had always known where she was and how she was doing. Somewhere along the way, that contact had fallen asleep. I was almost certain she had broken it off.

Aly snuggled even closer to Evi "Tired." she murmured.

"Go on into my driver's compartment. You know your way around.", I smiled "I'll be right there. Just give me a moment.", Evi nodded, then lifted Aly a little higher and scurried with her out of the box towards my driver's compartment.

Silence fell over all of us for a moment, then Arthur began to grin so broadly that the smile almost fell off his face.

"It's nice to see her next to you again," Lorenzo smirked, poking me in the side.

"I didn't know who else to ask for help. And I knew she could help," I muttered.

"You could have asked Mom." grinned Arthur "But you ask your favorite ex-girlfriend, the one you never quite let go of. And of course she comes right to your rescue." he grinned even wider "And your daughter looks like she's the child of you two too. God Charles, I swear if you fuck this up again I'll kill you! You complete moron."

"I agree with Arti.", Lorenzo shrugged "If you don't make it this time, you're a complete idiot!".

"Arthur! Lorenzo!", Mom looked at my brothers punishingly, she put her arm around my back "You really could have asked me for help though. I would have been ready to help right away after all. But I think you asked her, and I have to agree with your brothers now, because you wanted a second chance with her. So make an effort. And most of all, make an effort to raise your daughter. She's such a sweet girl and she's been through so much now. So you better make an effort to make sure she has a good life."

"I will.", I nodded "I'm already looking for a new place. Something bigger. I want her to have a home with me. With us. I want her to be okay. I love Aly so much. It's crazy, I don't even really know her. But man, I love her so much."

"That's what it's like to be a parent," mom smiled "Trust me. It's never going to get better. You'll love her until you drop and you'll always be afraid something will happen to her. But watching her grow up is the greatest happiness you'll ever know. To see what a great person she will become. To see her happy. Believe me Charly, that is worth all the fear, worry and sometimes pain.".