𝗦𝗛𝗨𝗧 𝗨𝗣 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘, charles leclerc

𝘽𝙊𝙉𝙐𝙎 𝙏𝙃𝙍𝙀𝙀, more

[ MAY 3RD, 2028 ]

          IT WAS AN EVENING in May when Noura and Charles made the decision to end their time in Formula One. The past years spent in the sport (ten for Charles and nine for Noura) had been nothing short of the best years of their lives. But Noura and Charles were ready for something more.

With three championships each, and more wins than they could ever count, they had satisfied what they wanted in the sport. And there was more they wanted from life.

Charles was 30, and Noura was 28. They'd been together for so long that they couldn't imagine life apart anymore. Together for over eight years, and about to be married for six.

Noura's nephew Amin was eight years old, just as eager about football as his father had been at that age. He never went anywhere without his football.

Noura was outside of Darius and Maya's home, sitting on the patio as they watched little Amin absolutely demolish Charles at football. As much as he claimed otherwise, Charles could not play football to save his life. Darius and Maya were inside, tending to their two year old daughter, Rima, who had woken from her sleep in a fitful state, complaining about spiders in her dreams.

Amin and Charles had been playing for about an hour, the little boy refusing to let his uncle stop playing, no matter how much Charles complained about the amount of times he had tripped over his own feet into the grass, staining his jeans green. Eventually, Noura decided to save her husband from the torment and embarrassment of being beaten by an eight year old.

"Amin!" Noura called across the lawn to the make-shift football pitch Darius had set up. "It's time for bed honey!"

Charles shot his wife a grateful look, letting out a relieved sigh. He had understood her words, even though she spoke Arabic. He had never actually sat down to learn the language, but years around Noura and her family had made it so that he could understand it pretty well if someone spoke it around him. His speaking however was another story.

When Amin ran up to his aunt, dragging a grass-stained Charles behind him, Noura couldn't help the image that shot to the front of her mind. The image of her and Charles's future kid. A kid, maybe with Noura's brown skin, and maybe Charles's green eyes. Maybe with Noura's curly hair, and maybe with Charles's dimples, which were just slightly wider on his cheeks than Noura's.

A mix of them both. With the best of her, as much of Charles as possible (because all of him was the best), and the some of the best of things that neither her nor Charles had.

"Noury." Amin tugged on his aunt's arm, silently telling her to stand. He had become the second person who was allowed to call her that, and Rima becoming the third. "Can you and Charlie help me get ready for bed?"

"Of course we can, Ami." Noura stood, Charles immediately wrapping his arm around her shoulder. She melted into his side, intertwining her fingers with the hand resting by her shoulder, securing her other arm around his waist.

Amin tugged his aunt and uncle into the house, the three of them all slipping off their shoes before stepping inside. Amin led the way up to his room, clambering up the stairs and nearly falling flat on his nose. Noura grabbed his arm before he could manage to topple down the steps.

Unsurprisingly, Amin's room was decorated with a complete football theme. He had football bedsheets, posters of his favorite players (Bellingham and Hakimi) hanging on the walls, and countless football plushies scattered around the room, along with pairs of boots he had grown out of and random jerseys he had been gifted at games Darius had brought him to.