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Marc sits alone in his motorhome, taking deep breaths to try and calm his nerves. He had been to a million press conferences before but this was going to be the most nerve racking in his entire life.

Marc takes a look at his phone one last time before he has to get ready and plays one of the several hundred videos Jorge has sent to him since their daughter Isabella was born. In this video Jorge had figured out a way to make Isabella laugh uncontrollably by pulling a variety of silly faces.

"Isabella! Look at Daddy. Can you show your Papa your beautiful laugh?" Jorge smiled whilst sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes. Isabella giggles and her tiny arms and legs wiggle with glee, cute enough to make anyone's heart melt. 

This was just one of the many little moments that Marc had missed due to being on track or being thousands of miles away from his family. Jorge had been trying to bring Isabella to as many races as possible but both of them agreed at the start of the season that coming to every single race is too much travelling for their baby girl right now.

 

Watching the video again was the final thing that Marc needed to confirm that he was making the right choice. Watching your child grow up and discover the world through a screen is not exactly every parents dream.

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Nearing the end of the press conference, all of the predictable questions had been asked by the journalists and the less predictable questions had been asked from the fans on social media. "Now before we finish, I think Marc has an announcement for us?" Nick turned to Marc.

Marc had to take a few deep breaths again to calm himself and remembered all of the love and support Jorge had given him over the weeks leading up to this moment. Having retired 2 years ago himself the older man knew exactly what Marc was going through. The start of their relationship was tough with all of the hate and criticism from the media, so much so that they almost broke up, but now Marc could not imagine life without the love of his life.

"This- this has not been an easy decision for me," Marc stammered. "Racing has always been my priority and the only thing that I've been trained to do since I was three years old... but this year my priorities have changed. My daughter was born 8 months ago today and I regret every moment that I have missed with her and my family. Which is why I have made the decision to retire at the end of this season."

 

The room turns into a flurry of camera flashes and questions but Marc turns calm in the mist of everyone else's shock. His secret is out - he no longer has to hide anything, he no longer has to question his decision. It's final now and nothing has ever felt so right. Despite all of the trophies and world titles under his name, Marc knows nothing will ever give him as much pride as when he's looking at his daughter. Nothing will give him as much happiness as waking up next to his husband every morning.

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Marc returns to his motorhome to find a beautiful bouquet of red roses on his desk and can't stop himself from getting emotional. Tears brim in his eyes as he reads the note on them – "We are so incredibly proud of you. We know this wasn't an easy choice to make but we're so glad we'll get to spend more time with you xx"

"Even when he can't make it to a race weekend he still finds ways to leave me speechless" Marc utters to himself.

"Who said we couldn't make it?"  Jorge beams as he walks into the living room area of the motorhome, carrying a tiny sleeping bundle in his arms.

Taken by surprise, Marc loses the ability to say or do anything apart from leap into Jorge's arms. The family of three stay in a tight embrace, none of them saying a word because they don't need to. They know what this moment means and will hold it dearly in their hearts forever. The silence is only broken when Isabella starts gurgling and grasps Marc's finger with her tiny hand.

"This is all I'm ever going to need," Marc whispers, as he scrunches his face up at Isabella and makes her giggle just as she did in the video. It's so much better in real life. "Apart from maybe a few more children in the future?"

Jorge looks into the shorter mans' eyes, the same beautiful eyes he fell in love with all those years ago. "We're going to have our own team of world champions, babychamp."