peridot | lando norris

39|bristol|

lando pov.

christmas wasn't over just yet.

arriving at my parents' house after three days on the yacht, with everyone piled into the car and niamh already half-asleep, i can't help but feel a wave of nostalgia hit me. 

this was the house i grew up in, the house where everything was so simple. it was a stark contrast to the open sea we'd just spent days on, battling chilly winds and freezing waters on the coast of europe. though honestly, as soon as my feet touched the carpet of my childhood home, i could feel every ounce of tension just melting away. 

i love being home, but mum would argue that i don't do it enough to show it. i just don't want that special feeling to become a norm, keep it precious.

"home sweet home," i mumble, turning to see maeve helping niamh out of the car. niamh's still groggy, but her excitement flickers to life the moment she sees grandma standing in the doorway.

"well, don't just stand there!" mum calls out, arms wide open, her smile as warm as the house she keeps. dad's standing next to her, looking just as excited, though he's playing it cool as always. one hug after another, my parents wrap everyone up in their embrace—siblings, mila and theo ofcourse. even maeve gets pulled into a hug from mum, something i know she wasn't expecting, but she melts into it anyway. i noticed how she held on a little longer and mum gave her back a slight rub. 

the last we'd all been here together wasn't all that long ago, it was my birthday then bbut today it felt different, cozier, if i must say.

"you all look like you've been through the wars!" dad laughs, clapping me on the shoulder.

"three days at sea in the dead of winter will do that to you, and jumping into the freezing ocean" oliver adds, rolling his shoulders. mila tugs at his sleeve, already missing the waves and begging for another trip next year. i can't help but grin at how much of a beach girl she's becoming, niamh's  enthusiasm had clearly rubbed off on her and something told me oliver would be bringing her to monaco more often now.

but as much as we enjoyed the yacht, there's something about being back here, surrounded by the smell of mum's cooking and the warmth of the fireplace, maeve being my girlfriend again, that just feels... right.

lando norris, formula 1 world champion and maeve's clarke's boyfriend. it sounded a little too cool in my head as i day dreamed about it for a moment until my mum's voice broke my trance.

"right, into the jumpers!" mum says, clapping her hands together. she's got that gleam in her eye-the one she gets every christmas. 

and just as we'd thought, sure enough, she'd laid out matching red-and-green christmas sweaters for all of us, a tradition that never dies in this family. niamh grins when she sees hers, immediately pulling it on over her head. i do the same, the fabric scratchy but familiar. 

niamh and mila had blue ones with a reindeer whilst oliver and i had snowmen on our green ones; sav and maeve had white sweaters with holly berries, or mybe mistletoe, i wasn't too sure to be honest. cisca and flo had red ones with snowflakes, while marcell and arthur had green ones with little elves on them. mum always went all out and definitely had the guys get the uglier ones this year, probably because  dad lost a bet. it was a clasic norris tradition.

niamh tugged at her sweater, looking down to see what it looked like on before looking into the direction of the kitchen with a slight sparkle in her eye that made maeve chuckle and ruffle her hair.

"and don't you all think you're getting hot chocolate without a family prayer first," mum adds, as if she's reading all our minds.  or niamh's atleast.