Just Him ❤

66. Absence makes the heart grow (alot) fonder.

Feeling mystified by her parent's sudden decision for a family barbecue Chloe pulled up at the kerb outside their home. She had been hoping to be on a plane back to Maranello by now but couldn't get on a flight until this evening. Already the drive was full of cars, she recognised her uncle's private number plate on a bright red BMW 3 Series immediately as well as the familiar sight of her older brother's black Range Rover Evoque complete with its sun shade in the back window and a baby on board sticker in the rear windscreen. Getting out of the car her eyes widened at the amount of cars parked either side of the road, it seemed that the family barbecue might be a bigger occasion than she first thought.
"Here she is!" Chrissie came running out of the front door.

"Hi mum." Chloe gave her a mum a brief hug.

"How are you Chloe?" Chrissie ushered her daughter down the drive.

"The same as when you saw me on Tuesday." Chloe replied, wondering why her mum seemed to be in such a rush.

"Not heard from that driver of yours then? I thought you might have brought him along with you." She said, shutting the front door.

"Mum, that driver does have a name, you can use it." Chloe rolled her eyes. "Like I told you on Tuesday, he's busy with work." She thought back to the photos she'd seen of him online late last night, looking sexy in a dark grey suit. She suddenly stopped in her tracks at the sight of the living room all decked out in balloons and bunting as well as gifts and a pile of cards.

"Happy birthday darling." Chrissie gave her daughter's shoulders an affectionate squeeze.

"Mum, you didn't have to do all this." She turned around and gave her mum a hug. "It's not my birthday until next month."

"Technically it's only ten days away but as you'll be in Canada we thought it'd be nice to celebrate it while you're here." She smiled. "Come on, everyones in the garden." She picked up the pile of cards and handed them to Chloe and together they went through the kitchen and out into the garden where she was swamped by people that she hadn't seen for ages.

"Bet you wasn't expecting all this hey." David stopped setting up the barbecue to give his daughter a hug. "Happy birthday."

"I definitely wasn't expecting the whole family to be here, no. Thanks dad." She smiled.

"Well we wanted to make the most of seeing you before you head back to Sebastian. How is he?" He asked.

"He's good, he's in Italy, probably sitting in the simulator as we speak knowing him." She replied as she looked around, smiling, at all the faces. Unusually she hadn't heard from Seb since last night but then he had a fairly packed schedule at the moment and no doubt Antti had been putting him through his paces this morning before he headed to the simulator.

"We'll have to meet him soon, I need to check that he's good enough for my princess." David took a swig from his bottle of beer.

"Dad I'm nearly thirty-six, not sixteen." She giggled.

"Hey little sis." Chloe's brother, Richard, sauntered over and put his arm around her shoulders. "Good to see you, even it's only for a flying visit."

"Hi Rich, good to see you too." She smiled and her eyes quickly noticed the one year old girl he was holding. "Oh my god! Freya look at you! Can I?" She held her hands out, wanting to hold the little girl.

"Sure." Richard smiled and handed the little girl over.

"Hello Freya, you've grown so much!" She looked at Freya as she held her on her hip. "Rich, she's changed so much, where has that six month old baby gone?!" It hit her just how much she had missed out on by being away for so long. "I wish I could get home more often but it's so hard finding the time." She sighed.