Chapter Text

Anna - England - Before the chapter 18

Without any surprises, it was raining. Anna was pretty certain that the god responsible for choosing British weather was depressed. There was no other explanation as to why it was always – always– raining. Not snowing, no, that would have been too nice. Just cold, muddy rain.

She had been dealing with this for thirteen years, thirteen muddy British winters, and every year, she hated it a bit more than the previous one. She missed the Swiss winter, with the snow everywhere. For once, she wanted white-lasting snow, not the mushy brown stuff the British were calling snow.

She pushed the door of the headquarters of the childcare company she had been working for for the last… four years. Already four years! That was crazy. It seemed it was yesterday that she had called her dad to say she was leaving university to start a formation to be a nanny. But now, it had already been for four years that her dad had refused to talk to her…

Well, four years and a half, but who cares about half except children?

“Anna, it is so nice to see you!” The secretary exclaimed when she saw her. “Happy New Year!”

“Happy New Year, Hollie.” She responded with a smile, peeling her drenched coat off her back. “How were the holidays?”

“Great, great! We spent Christmas in Scottland, right next to Glasgow, with the whole family. The kids loved to spend some time with their cousins. Of course, having so many people…”

Anna was saved by Rebecca, the person she was actually coming to see. She had almost forgotten that if you started to discuss with Hollie, you could easily lose half of your day. And your motivation to live, too. Hollie always had too much enthusiasm and happiness. Nothing seemed to ever be bad in her life…

Yeah, Anna was jealous. But since she had just spent a month and a half alone, in the tiniest, most depressing studio of London, with bad weather the whole way, she felt like she was allowed to be a little bit jealous of Perfect-Life-Hollie and her family holidays in Scottland…

“Oh Anna, you are early! Get in my office, I am just going to get something from the main office, I will be with you in five.” Rebecca told her, saving her.

Anna thanked her with a smile before she entered the bureau. Rebecca was one of the senior managers of the company, responsible for setting nannies with families. She handled most of the ‘Special Placement’, a term that was englobing fifteen kids’ families as well as royalty.

She had been the one to handle Anna's first (last and only) placement, two and a half years earlier. The Anderson were some VIP clients, the father having a pretty robust bank account and the mother being a former model.

Apart from this placement, years ago, when she was just out of nanny school, Anna had only been here once. A month and a half ago, after the Anderson had decided to ‘part way’ with her after two years and a half. Not her best memories…

“How are you, darling?” Rebecca asked as she came back, a folder in her hands. “Do you want some tea?”

Anna declined with a smile. Even after spending more than half her life in England, Anna still didn’t enjoy tea. She could teach a kid to serve it properly without a problem, but she would herself avoid it as much as possible.

“I was surprised to get your call.” She told Rebecca. “I know how this period is usually not big for new placement opportunities…”

Most of the placement happened in the summer months, particularly June to September. Once the summer holidays were to start, the families suddenly remembered that they were going to need to take care of their kids 24/7. That was also the time the new nannies were graduating, so most placements happened then.

“I know, but this one is pretty special.” She said, pointing to the folder she had put on her desk. “Unique, even.”

“Unique. From you, that means something!” Anna exclaimed, intrigued.

Rebecca had been a placement manager for over twenty years. She would often say that she had seen them all. Rumours had that she had even dealt with three royal nanny placements!

“No, really.” Rebecca insisted, looking more serious. “You know how we usually take our time with placement and all of that. We advise the families to wait to be sure to have the right fit. Urgent placements are… rare.”

“Oh…” Anna muttered, loosing her smile.

One of her classmates had taken an urgent placement. A mother of five had just died, leaving the father alone to care for the five kids, one of them being disabled. Most urgent placements looked like that; a tragic change of a situation, where the need for a nanny was immediate. Sometimes, it would even be the state that would put the request.

“Yes. This is a sad one.” Rebecca confirmed. “A little girl, age four, has just lost both of her parents in a car accident, barely two weeks ago.”

“Oh no, poor child.”

“Yes… She was adopted by her godfather, who is a twenty-six-year-old single man, with no prior kids.” She continued.

 Twenty-six. Two years older than her. She tried to imagine some of the boys her age, living a carefree life, suddenly dealing with a four-year-old. She felt that could be a recipe for disaster.

“On top of that, the godfather – I mean, the father now – is a high-profile individual with a time-consuming job…” Rebecca added, looking at Anna who was grimacing more and more as she explained. “He needs someone to be able to take care of the kid for long periods, with high flexibility. The manager also insisted that…”

“The manager?” Anna interrupted. “The manager is the one who put the request in?”

“Yes. But that may not mean…”

“Rebecca, I will stop you right there. I have been dealing with rich-assholes parents who don’t give a fuck about their kids for the last two years, and even they put the request in themselves. This one has just adopted a traumatized kid and it is his manager that is dealing with it!”

“The manager said that the father was very busy and…”

“They are all busy. If they weren’t busy, we wouldn’t have a job.” Anna intervened. “But there is being busy and just not caring about your kid.”

“And nothing can indicate at this state that this is the case.” Rebecca pleaded.

“Rebecca, they aren’t even involved enough to put the request for a nanny themselves. Honestly, in twenty years, did you have the manager contacting you often?”

“This has happened before with high-profile families.”

“And have most of these cases ended up being extremely involved and caring parents?”

“Some have…”

“Some. But most?”

The manager sighed. Anna knew she was right. She had nothing against busy parents. As she had said, most of the parents asking for nannies did so because they were too busy. That was normal, and expected. In their training, they were told that a part of their role was to ensure that the precious parent-child was quality time, and not spent asking kids to do their chores or their homework.

But the two last years had washed out all her illusions. Some parents used nannies to dump their kids and not have to look at them again. The Andersons could spend a week without even seeing their kids. The boys would be so sad because of it. She had spent too many nights with a child crying for their parents to start again…

“I know you have just had a pretty bad experience, Anna.”

“Bad? I was fired because I asked why they didn’t even try to make it to their kid’s birthday.”

That was still hurting. The worst was seeing the boys’ faces when she told them she was going to leave them too.

“This isn’t about the parents, Anna. This kid has lost her family, changed country, home, and even language, and she isn’t five yet. And believe me, she is going to have a crazy life in her new family.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her godfather is extremely high profile. He is a top-level athlete, with huge popularity and a crazy lifestyle. The manager has just sent me the minimal and non-exhaustive – non-exhaustive! – list of travels they are going to take this year. Look at it.” Rebecca said as she gave her a piece of paper.

The top said Locations. Under the ‘main residence’, it was written Monaco. The secondary residence had Italy written. But what was pretty mind-blowing was the Expected Travels box.

“Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, United Arab Emirates, USA, and others.” She read, her eyes growing bigger and bigger as the list went on and on. “What do they mean and others? What others place can they possibly travel to? I mean, are they ever home?”

“Not much.”

“What did you say the father did for a living? An athlete?”

“Yes. I guess that these are his competition’s places.”

“What sport does he do? Because I can’t possibly think of a sport where people need to travel that much. I mean, travel inside one country? Sure. In a continent, for like the Champion’s League? Yeah, of course. But around the world like that? In only one year? That’s…” Anna exclaimed, reading again the list.

“I am not supposed to share any details about that person.” Rebecca said. “That includes the specifics of his profession. The manager was really insistent on the fact that since the adoption hasn’t been publicly announced yet, all of this has to stay strictly secret.”

Anna looked at her with surprise.

“We are under a strict NDA for all of the company clients.” She remarked.

“I know. But the manager was really insistent. Apparently, the idea of all of this getting out is really scaring them.”

Sure, Anna wasn’t a big sports fan. But would that really be that big if a player of some sport announced he had a daughter? She guessed that for the very highly watched one, like Messi or… what was the name of the other? Ronaldo, it could be big.

“But we are getting off-track, here. As I was saying, this little girl is going to have a hell of a crazy life. She needs every bit of stability we can get her.”

And of course, she was right. As she looked down at the paper listing all the places this probably traumatized kid was going to be dragged to this year alone, Anna felt bad for her.

“Listen, Anna. They need a nanny as soon as possible. And you are the only one for the moment that mastered English, French, and Italian.”

“They speak the three languages?”

“The kid doesn’t speak Italian, but apparently they are hoping she will learn. But as I said, you are the only one right now speaking the three of them available. I know you are still… shaken up by everything that happened with the Andersons. But I don’t have another solution for that kid.” Rebecca pleaded.

Anna sighed. She had promised herself to only take easy placement, with sure involved parents, for her own sanity. But that kid… She had lost everything. And even if the godfather was a ghost parent, she needed someone.

“Alright. But if I have a problem with that father as well…”

“We will back you up 100%.” Rebecca assured with a big smile appearing on her lips. “Thank you so much, Anna. You are really saving me here.”

“I am doing that for the kid, Rebecca. And let’s dream: maybe her dad is just an extremely busy one who hates paperwork and uses his manager too much…” She responded with a small smile.

“Yes, I am sure this will go great.” Rebecca assured. “Oh, and I haven’t shown you the best part. The salary is… pretty high.” She told her, sliding a piece of paper on the desk. “And that doesn’t include any work-related expenses.”

Anna took the paper, a bit curious. Her previous salary had already been quite high, but she had worked in the UK. Overseas works were always more…

“Holly Molly!” She exclaimed. “Are you sure you didn’t mess up with the zeros?” She asked Rebecca. “Who is the father?”

“Right, I can tell you know. It is Charles Leclerc!”

She looked at her like she expected to immediately jump. But Anna had no idea who that was.

“What sport does he do?” She asked.

“He is a F1 driver. He is like, super famous because of Netflix.”

“Netflix? Don’t tell me there are going to be cameras filming the kid all the time.” She sighed.

“No, not the kid. The Netflix show is about the F1 season, not the drivers’ family. But… you really have never heard of him?”

Anna shook her head. She had never heard that name, but she would for sure be looking at him on the internet. Even if she knew that what she would find wouldn’t tell him if he was a decent man or not. Even a douchebag could look good online. She just hoped he wouldn’t consider his new kid as a burden and try to abandon her with Anna…

Who knows? An involved parent… She was allowed to dream, right?

Chapter Text

Arthur - Italy - Beginning of Chapter 24

Arthur hadn’t planned to be there. He was supposed to go with a friend to the South of France before heading to Maranello for work. But then, Charles asked him if he wanted to come with him and his daughter and what was he supposed to say? No? He had just spent two weeks being jealous of Lorenzo for his times with her.

He had arrived before them, just before Andrea. His brother’s trainer was a good family friend, and Arthur always liked him very much. Just like Lorenzo, he started to talk about Eliza and never shut up about it . It was mind-blowing how these adults talked only about that little kid. Arthur wasn’t sure he completely understood.

Then he met her. That little – very little, he would have guessed her to be three max – girl, with these big blue eyes and round cheeks. She was the definition of adorable. As soon as he saw her, hiding behind Andrea’s legs, he thought that she was the most precious little girl on the planet .

That was the first impression he got. Then he spent a part of the afternoon with her , and he discovered that she was also incredibly smart and funny. Her reflections were always well-thought, never boring , and she had a very communicative laugh. At the end of the day, she was perched on his lap teaching him some hand game kids played in Oslo and he was loving it.

All of that to say he didn’t regret not going to France, not a bit.

As he was walking down the corridor to get to the dining room, he saw the nanny of his niece whom he met yesterday. Anna. She was pretty cute, with brown eyes that were incredibly soft. She was about his age, and if Eliza seemed to hate her with all her heart, she was pretty nice. Arthur didn’t talk much to her, so maybe his niece was right…

Right now, Anna was stopped in the middle of the corridor, looking through the window with a blissful expression. Outside, white snow was falling down , adding to the already comfortable cushion on the floor.

She was so captivated by the scene that she didn’t seem to hear Arthur walking down. He was barely two meters from her when he cleared his throat, making her jump, dramatically putting a hand on her heart.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He immediately said, cracking an apologetic smile.

Anna’s cheeks turned red immediately and Arthur needed a lot of effort not to smile wider when he saw it. People usually considered that Charles had more charm than him, but apparently, Anna wasn’t immune to his smile. That was nice.

“I think I saw that it would stop snowing in less than an hour.” He said, deciding not to play with her.  

“That is sad.” She said, regaining her composure and looking back at the windows.

“People usually like it when the snow stops. To go outside and everything.”

“I know but… There is something so… soothing about falling snow. Not a storm, just nice white snow falling from the sky and staying on the ground.” She murmured with a poetic voice.

“That is… right, I guess.” Arthur said. “I guess that your favourite season is winter then ?”

“It is actually spring.” She corrected him, turning from to window to face him. “But falling snow… It is so nice because you know it is rare.”

“No snow where you are from?”

He saw he eyes lingered a bit outside, a light melancholic expression on her face. Arthur was going to say something else when she finally answered.

“The opposite. I am from Switzerland; we would always get snow. Not as much as here because we lived lower, but still.”

Her speaking Italian and French so well was more understandable if she was Swiss.

“Would you stay by your room watching it fall?”

“No! I would have found that incredibly boring. I actually didn’t like snow very much when I was a kid, found it too annoying because of the layers of clothes you needed to put on before you went outside.” She revealed. “Then in England, I would pray for snow to fall down, real snow. Not the grey mushy thing they have.”

The perfect English was also explained. They started to walk to the dining room, talking nicely.

“By your tone, I guess you don’t like England that much .” He laughed.

“I like England most of the time. But after thirteen years of muddy weather all year around, it gets slightly depressing.”

Arthur could barely imagine what that would look like. He grew up under the sun, next to the sea. They would get rain sometimes, of course, and wind. But not that often. Maybe that was why he was smiling so much; because the weather was always nice around him.

“And the food…” Anna added as they sat down at the table, a basket of bread in the middle of it with hot coffee. “I had almost forgotten what it was like to eat things that have flavours.”

“English food is terrible.” Arthur confirmed. “When we go to Silverstone, there are always some guys to make us eat something typical. Why do British people put so much mint in their dishes?”

“Oh my God! I can’t even smell mint anymore. At the boarding school, they would make us eat mint pudding meatloaf. I have never tasted something as disgraceful in my life!” She exclaimed. “But that doesn’t beat the tomato beans for breakfast. Just smelling it would make me want to throw up.”

“Nothing like a French croissant.” He nodded.

The approving groan Anna did make him laugh a little.

“Why did you stay so long in England if you hate the food and the weather so much?” He asked.

“I got sent there to have a perfect English when I was eleven. Did all my high school years there. And British nannies are well renowned, so I stayed there to get training. Then I got a job as a nanny near Bath.”

He saw her cringe just a little bit as she mentioned that job.

“I would have stayed there if I didn’t get the job with Elizabeth.”

“You should have been thrilled then when you got it.”

“Well…”

“You weren’t thrilled.” He guessed immediately by her hesitation. “Don’t you like your job?”

“I do now! Elizabeth is a very entertaining kid, and your brother has been extremely nice to me since I arrived.”

“I don’t think Charles can be anything but nice with people.” Arthur revealed. “But why weren’t you thrilled before?”

She hesitated for a second, looking at the door as to see if someone was going to enter the room.

“I won’t tell him.” Arthur promised.

“I thought he was one of these rich parents that get a nanny not to have to care about their kids. But I couldn’t be more wrong! It is obvious how much your brother loves Elizabeth. He spends as much time as possible with her.”

Arthur nodded. Seeing his brother with Eliza… Already in the restaurant, he had seen Charles’ eyes get all animated when he was talking about her. Every time he ley his eyes on her, his face would crack the biggest most genuine smile Arthur had ever remembered seeing. Even when he wasn’t smiling, the softness in his green eyes was a complete giveaway.

“Eliza seems to like him just as much, right?”

“Oh yes! Every time he walks into a room, it is like the sun has finally risen after then years of obscurity.” Anna confirmed. “She hates every single second when he is not around.”

“Making your life harder, right? I got the impression she didn’t like you very much…” Arthur remarked.

“She hates me with all her guts.” Anna said with a little laugh. “But that is ok. I have time to win her over after all.”

Arthur remembered Charles telling him that Anna was supposed to stay for at least until the summer break, so six months. She would travel to every race with them , Charles even got her a flat in Maranello. She was going to be around all the time…

“What is the one thing that you missed the most while in England?” He asked, deciding that since she would stick around, he should at least get to know her.

Chapter Text

Andrea – Italy – During Chapter 26

Andrea was getting his bag downstairs when Eliza bumped into him, almost making him fall backwards.

“Slow down, Principessa ! You are going to…”

He stopped right in his tracks when Eliza wrapped her little arms around his legs and he heard the loud sobs that she was generating. Immediately, his heart accelerated. Why was his adorable princess crying? Did she get hurt? Did someone hurt her?  It was crazy how the mere idea of her being hurt was making him feel sick.

“What is going on? Are you ok?” He asked as he scooted her up in his arms, letting his bag fall on the floor not caring at all for the computer in it.

Eliza’s face was covered in tears and her magnific blue eyes were circled with red. But she didn’t seem hurt, at least he couldn’t see any traces on her.

“Why are you cry…”

He didn’t finish his sentence because the child wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face there.

“I don’t want you to leave me!” She cried loudly.

The combination of her little face against his shoulder and her words made Andrea’s heart completely melt.

At thirty-eight, he didn’t have any kids or nieces or nephews – he was an only child – so he never was around kids before her. When Charles had told him he was going to adopt a four-year-old, he was a bit scared about how that was going to work. At first, when she was clinging to Charles as her life depended on it, crying all the time, his fears were confirmed.

Then she had called him Zio Drea and he knew at that second that he was fucked. He loved that kid way too much for his own sanity…

“I am not leaving you, Eliza.” He promised her.

She looked back from his neck, her little face all twisted because of her tears.

“C’ali said you weren’t coming with us.”

“Not today, but I will be back in…”

“So, you are leaving me!” She interrupted him, crying more.

Sure, it was heartbreaking to see her cry and he hated it, but deep down, it was strangely warm to see her care about him being around that much. He knew she liked him, of course, but to the point she was crying because he was leaving? He wasn’t sure before.

“I am not leaving you, Elizabeth.” He insisted, making sure to look directly in his eyes. “I am visiting my parents. I will be back with you in four little days.”

“I don’t want you to be gone for four days.”

“I know, I don’t want to not see you for four days either. But I need to visit my parents. I miss them, and they miss me.” Andrea pleaded, slowly stroking her back to help her calm down.

“Do… Do you have not seen them in a long time?” She asked.

“Almost a month. I last saw them at Christmas.”

He was expecting her to tell him that it wasn’t that bad or that long, that she wanted him to stay anyway, but no.

“That is very, very, very long. You must miss them very, very, very much.” She responded.

“Yes, I do.” He nodded, a bit surprised but proud that she understood so well.

“It is longer than me not seeing Mummy and Daddy. And I miss them more than a lot.” She added.

The pride disappeared immediately, replaced by an overweight guilt. How could he have been stupid enough to complain about not seeing his parents for a while to a child who had lost both of them?

“I… I…”

“Did you draw pictures for your Mummy and Daddy?” She asked him.

“What?”

“One time, I didn’t see Mummy and Daddy for four days because they were on holiday together. I was staying with Sigrid. And I draw one picture every night for them to know what I did during the day. I gave the pictures to them when I saw them again.” She explained.

“Oh… Well, no, I didn’t draw them pictures.”

“How will they know what you did during the days you didn’t see them?” She asked as this was the biggest problem on earth. “I don’t need to draw pictures anymore, because Mummy and Daddy are watching me from the sky, so they know what I do.”

Andrea was a sportsman. He was used to making big efforts, ones that would leave him panting on the floor. But all of them seemed like nothing next to the effort he was doing right now not to cry.

“I… I will show them photos.” He finally managed to say.

“That is a good idea!” Eliza nodded. “Do you think I will be in some of the photos?”

“Yes, Principessa. You will definitively be on the photos.” He insisted. “I will tell them all about the amazing little girl that you are.”

She smiled at him and it was like a nice, warm sunray had dawned on his heart.

“Don’t tell them about the sledge incident, or they won’t want you to come back.”

Andrea laughed, amazed that he was able to do so after having his heart literally torn a minute ago.

“I promise you: I will be back.”

“In how many sleeps?”

“Five sleeps.”

She took a big breath and Andrea clearly saw that she was trying to keep her tears for herself. That made him want to cry again.

“That is long. But that is nice that you can see your Mummy and Daddy and not miss them as much.”

Andrea could hear her add ‘I wish I could too’, even if she didn’t say it. He kissed her forehead, slowly understanding that this little girl would be his downfall…  

Chapter Text

Carlos – Italy – During Chapter 27

The sun is already down when Carlos opens the garage with his remote, vaguely hoping he is back in Madrid, with a warm sun above him and his family not far. It is crazy that he already misses his family; it is not like he isn’t used to spending most of the year far away from them. But right now… He wished he wasn’t alone.

That feeling isn’t helped by the disappearance of his teammate. Since last season ended, Charles and him have barely talked. Not that they are the kind of people to spend hours talking every day, sharing every detail of their life. They often send messages or memes to the other ones, talk about sports or how the team is doing, that is all.

But since New Year? It is like Charles has suddenly forgotten where his conversation with Carlos was. He barely reacted to the congratulations message Carlos sent him after the announcement of his new contract was made. He didn’t send anything, shortly answering Carlos’ messages but that was it. They were supposed to have their training camp in the same Italian village, but Charles had cancelled his training camp without explanation. He didn’t send a message to congratulate Carlos’ dad for his victory in Dakkar. The Spaniard didn’t understand what was happening.

Then, Fred called him during the weekend to tell him about Lewis coming to Ferrari. Not the best news to receive, even if he understood Ferrari. After all, when the driver with the most wins knocks at your door, you let him in. Shit, if he had been in Fred’s shoes, Carlos would probably have chosen Lewis too.

That didn’t mean he was happy, or that he was feeling great about it. It was still a shitty news. That was one of the reasons why he was missing Madrid and his family so much. But the worst? Charles didn’t text him. Carlos knew that he knew about Lewis, and probably also that Fred had told him about it. He would have liked a message, a sign that Charles had not become a complete asshole during the holidays. Well, guess what? Apparently, he did become an asshole…

Carlos grunted when he saw Charles’ car parked just beside his own spot. Fred had told him that he was going to be in for work the next day, but he managed to forget during the day. That was going to be a great day tomorrow… Photoshoot with the man who had apparently lost his phone number. Great!

The good part was that, at least, he wouldn’t normally see him that evening. They would sometimes eat with each other, or play a game of chess, but most of the time they stay at their own place. Carlos was definitely not going to go knock on his door, and with some luck, Charles wouldn’t even know he was back.

As he exited the car, lost in his thoughts about how much he wished that his new girlfriend, Rebecca, was here, he suddenly heard a noise from the door of the garage.

“Someone there?” He asked in Italian, looking at the place.

Maybe Mario, the concierge, was down to get something. Or Davide, who had been sick today, was getting something from his car. But no one answered.

“Hello? Anyone?” He repeated, frowning.

He stopped for a second, listening, but heard nothing. It was probably just his mind playing games with him after a long day. He started to move towards the door, not noticing the child car seat in Charles’ car beside him, something that would have maybe prepared him for later.

As he was arriving at the door, he heard a muffled "ouch” and stopped right there. Fuck, this wasn’t his imagination or a bird. There was a human in the garage, ready to mess up his evening. He was really in no mood to deal with some crazy fans that had managed to pass security and get in… 

“Who is there?” He asked with a hard tone, looking around without results. “You are not allowed to be down here!”

There were only four cars in the garage; his one and Charles’, where he knew no one was hidden, and Mario’s and Davide’s cars, both next to the entrance. He walked up to Mario’s, already taking his phone out to find the local police’s number.

“You are going to get into big trouble. I am calling the authorities.” He warned as he looked around Mario’s car without success. “Playing hide and seek won’t help you!”

He walked up to Davide’s car, more and more annoyed by the second, and as his finger was leaning for the call button, tears erupted from the very front of the car. He stopped dead in his tracks.

The tears sounded… young. Very young.

And indeed, when he leaned over the hood of the car, it wasn’t a thirty-crazy fan who was looking at him. It was a tiny kid, in an orange wool jumper, looking not much older than three and more importantly, she seemed completely terrified. When the little girl blue’s eyes met Carlos’, the tears doubled in intensity.

Carlos could hear his mother’s voice scolding him for threatening a probably lost kid with the police.

“I am sorry.” He told the kid, looking around desperately to find the adult who the kid was belonging to. “I… Did you get lost? Did you…”

The little girl just started to cry even louder, looking more terrified by the second. Her eyes were wide open with fear and tears in them. She was not answering his questions…

“I am not dangerous. Look, I am nice!” Carlos tried, showing a big smile that had the opposite effect, making him look like a complete sociopath. “Look, I step back. I am nice.”

He took three big steps back, keeping the kid in his view but hoping the three meters would make her feel less scared. That didn’t have the desired effect, but that did make the kid react. She jumped on her feet and started to run for the other end of the garage, where Carlos’ and Charles’ cars were parked.

“No, don’t run!” He exclaimed, running to her and praying that the other drivers, still at the factory, wouldn’t choose that moment to get in.

The kid managed to get to Charles’ car before him, trying to open the doors while screaming like a crazy person.

Having a child scraping his very expensive car under Carlos’ watch wasn’t going to help his relationship with Charles, that was for sure. But Carlos felt like if he tried to grab the kid to get her away, that was going to freak her out even more.

“Calm down.” He pleaded, feeling completely stupid. “I will help you get your mummy and daddy.” He tried and the kid seemed to scream less so he repeated, still in Italian. “Tua mamma e tuo papa?”

The kid responded something, but with her sobs, it didn’t sound very much like Italian.

“Amico.” Carlos tried, pointing at him. “I will help you find your mummy and daddy if you calm down.”

The girl, who still looked completely terrified, didn’t respond. No, instead she took advantage of the fact he was two meters from her and threw herself on the floor, quickly crawling under Charles’ car.

“Mierda!” Carlos cursed in his mother tongue, immediately getting down on the floor.

Charles’ car wasn’t that low, meaning he could – if needed – crawl under it too. But he didn’t, because he felt like all athletic he was, the kid would crawl faster.

“Get out of there. It is dangerous to be under cars.” Carlos tried, but the kid was not listening to him, just crying and calling for someone.

Carlos would have wanted to get someone, Mario or anyone – even Charles for god’s sake! – but leaving the kid alone in the parking lot seemed way too dangerous.

“I just want to help you. I promise I am a good guy.” He pleaded again.

No reaction. The tears seemed to get less noisy as if the girl was feeling safe under the 300.000 € car.

“Please. Can you get out? I will get your mummy, I promise.” Carlos begged.

He tried to remember how his mum would get his young cousins to do what she wanted and pathetically tried.

“I will get you ice cream?”

“I don’t speak Pasta!” The kid suddenly screamed.

Well, this time, what she said was perfectly clear. And the girl didn’t even start to cry again, which was nice. She just looked at Carlos with her big blue eyes, looking still terrified but finally silent.

“You don’t speak Italian.” Carlos repeated, feeling utterly stupid.

“Just… Just ‘Scaldacollo’” She said, sniffing.

Carlos looked at her for a second, completely speechless.

“You speak English?” The girl tried again, wiping her cheek with the sleeve of her orange jumper.

“Yes. Yes, I speak English.” Carlos finally answered, trying to get a hold of his nerves. “I am Carlos, I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to…”

“You are Carlos? The driver?” The little girl repeated, her eyes suddenly lightening up.

“Yes, I am.” He nodded, feeling better now that the kid wasn’t screaming. “Do… Do your parents have told you about me?”

“C’ali did. He said you were driving the same car as him. But you didn’t drive the SF90. Did you?”

Carlos was completely and utterly lost at that point.

“I… I didn’t drive the SF90, no.” He confirmed. “But…”

“That is sad. C’ali won with SF90!”

“What?”

“C’ali. He won with the SF90. He won Belgium.”

Carlos’ poor brain was trying to catch up with the situation, but it wasn’t working that well.

“Can… Can you let me go back to C’ali? And not tell him I was in the garage? I was waiting for Litto but…” The kid asked again.

“What?”

It was the only thing he would manage to say as he was still furiously trying to understand the situation, with very little success. Thankfully, his poor brain cells got saved as the door opened and his teammate busted into the garage.

“Eliza!” Charles yelled.

“C’ali isn’t happy…” The kid sighed, still under the car.

Carlos decided to pinch himself because there was no way this wasn’t a dream…

Chapter Text

Arthur – Italy – During Chapter 33

The knock on the door resonated in the whole corridor, making Arthur wince a bit. He wasn’t exactly supposed to be there; not at all actually. The doorman had let him in because the Leclerc name was pretty popular in Maranello, but even like that, he insisted for ten minutes that if there was the smallest problem, he would call Fred immediately. That had annoyed Arthur a bit; it had made him feel like a kid that was threatened to be send to the headmaster. He was sure no one was telling Charles they would call Fred if he did something bad…

Anyway! Just as he was about to knock a second time, the door opened on a very pale Anna, wearing sweatpants and a big hoodie that looked at least ten years old.

“Shit, you look sick!” Arthur exclaimed with a grimace.

Anna looked at him with a mix of surprise and exasperation.

“Sorry.” He apologises, offering her a smile. “Since you are sick, I guess you deserve to look sick.”

“Good to know you think I deserve to look sick.” She groaned. “What are oy doing here?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing, be sure you had not died alone in your apartment.”

That remark got him a tiny, exhausted smile. At that moment, the doorman appeared behind Arthur.

“Is everything ok, Miss? He said you wouldn’t mind but if you do, I can show him out. He isn’t on your list…” He told Anna, throwing Arthur a suspicious side look.

Arthur opened his mouth, scandalized, but Anna intervened, smiling nicely at the doorman.

“You did well to let him in. And you can add him to my list, thank you.” She responded nicely, before finally letting Arthur in.

Her apartment was smaller than his, with nothing personal in it. That was to be expected since she had just arrived yesterday and that she spent the day sick in her bed. Even her suitcase is still unpacked, opened on the floor in the living room.

“Excuse the mess.” Anna moaned before she fell on the couch, pinching the bridge on her nose, closing her eyes.

“If you call that a mess, never come in my room, you will have an heart attack.” He immediately responded.

“Your niece is the same. It is like she is allergic to tidying.”

Arthur felt a warm feeling in his chest when he heard her calling Eliza his niece. That what she was, of course, but no one had called her that yet.

“Yes, Charles has been saying that.” He nodded.

“Do you know how today went?” She asked, her eyes still closed with a painful expression on her face.

“Well, it wasn’t all bad.” Arthur carefully responded. “Some parts were, but not all of it.”

He explained to her the fit Eliza had thrown in the garage in the morning, then what had happened during the meeting. He wasn’t there but it seemed that everybody else was; everyone was talking about it in the factory.

“I should have been there. I am the worst nanny on that.” Anna sighed.

“I am pretty sure that nannies are humans and humans get sick.” Arthur remarked nicely. “And things got better after that, you know. Look.”

He showed her the pictures he took of Eliza earlier, in the SIM control place.

“Does she has any idea what is happening on the screen?” Anna asked.

“Yes, she does. Juan, the engineer right there, is amazing with kids. She loved it so much she refused to leave the place with me. She stayed there, playing the analyst for more than two hours.”

“That is…”

Anna stopped in the middle of her sentence, putting her hand on her mouth before running to the bathroom. Arthur stood in the middle of the living room, not knowing what he was supposed to say as he heard the noise of Anna emptying her stomach in the bathroom.

“Do you need help?” He finally asked, taking a step towards the bathroom.

The door was opened and he felt bad when he saw Anna panting on the floor, looking exhausted as she was breathing heavily in front of the toilet.

“Sorry.” She apologised again.

“Human.” He only reminded her, looking around.

There was a big pile of bed sheets on the floor of the bathroom.

“I had a fever during the night; they were drenched. I need to take them down to wash them, but I haven’t had the strength yet.” Anna told him.

“I will do it.” He immediately offered.

“No, no! I will do it tomorrow.”

“But I really don’t mind.” He insisted, walking to the pile of sheet and taking them. “Do you have another set for tonight?”

Anna stayed silent for a second, hesitating, then she shook her head.

“I will sleep on the couch, that is ok.”

“Nonsense. Once I put these in the washing machine, I’ll go fetch you some.” Arthur offered. “Will you be okay alone for ten minutes?”

Anna looked at him like he was completely mad.

“I have been alone the whole day. I think I can manage”

Of course, the Leclerc boy didn’t really hear that.

******

Twenty minutes later, he was back in her apartment, putting new sheets on her bed while some soup was in the microwave.

“I can’t believe you haven’t eaten since yesterday! How are you supposed to get better if you are on an empty stomach?” He kept commenting as he was fighting with the duvet to make it get in the bright red sheet he brought.

“You sound like my grandmother.” Anna chuckled. “You should put the sheet inside out, it is easier.”

“She would be right. What would your family said if they learnt that my brother let you rot alone while you are dying from sickness?” Arthur sighed, ignoring Anna’s advice and continuing to struggle with the duvet his way.

When Anna didn’t answer for a few seconds, he turned around, scared she had fainted or something. But no, she was still sitting on the couch, looking like a zombie but conscious. Her lips were pursed together very close, her forehead all wrinkled.

“You’re going to throw up again?” He asked, checking if the bathroom door was already open.

“No, I am not. And I am not dying from sickness, I just have the stomach flu. With some luck, it will be gone tomorrow and I will be able to do my work.” Anna responded, shaking her head a bit.

“There is no way my overly protective brother lets you near her when you look like that. You are probably contagious.”

“And you are not scared to get it?” She asked him.

“Nah, I am solid.” He affirmed with pride. “My mum always said I am the strongest.”

Anna couldn’t resist a little laugh at the way he said it. Since it was apparently exactly what he was hoping to do, he smiled even more proudly.

“You don’t look so terrible when you laugh. Still bad, but not terrible.”

“I hope you get it. We will see then if you look better when your body is emptying itself constantly.”

“Oh, I will look terrible. I am a horrible sick person. When I got chickenpox, I was so bad that my mum dumped me with my grandparents. She was sick of hearing me whine, apparently.”

Anna smiled, imagining a little Arthur covered with spots. She had no trouble imagining him whining pitifully for hours; one of the kid she cared for before was the same. A little cold and it was like they were going to die. She was certain that Eliza would be the opposite; running around even if she had forty of temperature.

“Is your mother not very patient?” She asked him, before she even thought about what she was asking.

If she had not been sick, she would never have asked him that. It was incredibly unprofessional to ask such personal questions to a family member of her employer.

“No, she was good. But she worked two jobs when we were growing up, so I guess a whining kid was a bit much. But she was always pretty patient with all of our stupidities. Guess you need to be when you have three boys!” He smiled, happy to talk about her apparently.

He laughed a little, apparently remembering something funny.

“She always said she would have loved to have a girl because she was always outnumbered by us. Once, I heard her say that, so I decided to pretend to be a girl for a week. I was five or something like that. I even asked them to call me Louise.”

“Why Louise?”

“My second name is Louis. And since Arthurette isn’t very common… Anyway, it got to the point that my teacher wanted me to see a psychiatrist or something. Charles and Lorenzo still make fun of me for it.”

“You really liked your mother to do that.”

“I do. We all do.” He nodded.

Since Arthur didn’t seem to mind her asking him personal questions, she decided to pry a bit.

“May I ask why she doesn’t want to see Eliza? Charles just said she didn’t want anything to do with her but…”

Arthur sighed loudly. He hated the current family situation, with Charles refusing to talk to his mum and him and Lorenzo stuck in the middle.

“When Charles first told us he was going to adopt Eliza, she told him it was stupid because he had no idea how to care for a child, that he was still a child himself, that kind of things.”

“He is twenty-six, travelling around the world and a world-known athlete, but she thinks he is still a child?” Anna repeated.

“You know how mothers are. I am sure yours still see you like a child.”

Once more, Anna winced a little, but she didn’t say anything. This time, Arthur didn’t miss it. Apparently, Anna didn’t like to speak of her family.

“Anyway. Charles got pissed and stormed out of the room. He refuses to talk to her and she doesn’t want to apologise. But Lorenzo and I send her pictures and news of Eliza every day.”

“Really? Does Charles know?”

“Nope. And don’t tell him! I am just back into his good graces, don’t want to go back!”He asked her.

Anna looked at him intensely for a second, then she smiled.

“Don’t worry. I won’t. But only if you let me help you with the duvet; you look like you will still be there in ten days!”

Chapter Text

Carlos – Italy – During Chapter 35

Carlos was making himself some coffee, lazily scrolling on his phone, when he received a text.

[From: Lorenzo Leclerc

Hello Carlos. Hope you are good. Are you at your Maranello’s apartment right now?]

He stayed immobile for a few seconds, pretty surprised. Sure, he had Lorenzo’s number saved, but only because of the number of times Charles would forget to charge his own phone. His teammate’s brother had only texted him one, to ask for the number of Coco, his manager. That was all.

He took so long to stare stupidly at the text that a second came in.

[From: Lorenzo Leclerc

My brothers are sick and they don’t answer their phones]

Oh. So, Charles was ill as well. The Leclerc clan was dropping like flies! The nanny, Arthur and now Charles.

Because he was a good teammate, Carlos pressed the call button and almost before the first ring, Lorenzo picked up.

“*Carlos, I am sorry to bother you… I hope you are not at the factory yet?*” Lorenzo’s voice immediately said on the other end.

He had spoken with him a few times during race weekends, not enough to really know him, but even like that, he could hear the stress in his voice. Apparently, the oldest Leclerc was really concerned for his brothers.

“Hi, Lorenzo. No, I have an off day today.” Carlos reassured him, taking a sip of his Italian coffee.

He was going to miss Italian coffee next year. He was pretty sure that wherever he would end up, they wouldn’t have coffee that good…

“*Oh, so you are at your apartment? *”

“Yes, I am. You want me to go check on Arthur and Charles?”

He did tell Charles that if his brother needed anything yesterday, he would gladly help him. And even if it was the kind of offer Carlos always made, because he was polite, he didn’t really mind.

“*Don’t bother with Arthur. He probably is still sleeping.*” Lorenzo groaned. “*But if you could check and Charles and Eliza… I can’t stop to imagine that he has fainted or something and that she is alone and petrified and…*”

The kid. Carlos kept forgetting about her, only remembering when he was seeing her. And every time, it was as much shock as the first time. Maybe not as much; the first time was quite the show. But every time he saw her in Charles’ arms, playing around or just existing, he was a bit startled. And yesterday, she had called him by his name, with so much joy… He had no idea she even knew his name!

“I am sure he is fine. Probably forgot to charge his phone.”

“*Yes, maybe. But I was talking to him by text and he just stopped to answer. With Eliza…*”

“Is she sick too?” Carlos asked as he was putting his shoes on to go out.

Charles’ kid was so small, delicate, and fragile. Imagine her being sick was terrifying. Such small things weren’t supposed to be sick.

“*No, she is fine. Charles doesn’t know why since she spent more time with Arthur than him. Maybe kids are more resilient. I have called her paediatrician to ask him but he hasn’t called me back yet.*”

“I’ll go there and I call you back, ok?” He told the Monegasque, getting out on the landing.

“*Thank you, really. You are saving me.*”

The Spaniard didn’t know that Lorenzo was so dramatic. But after all, Carlos would probably be dramatic too if a child was in the mix.

He decided to text Charles to tell him he was at the door before he knocked. After all, for all he knew maybe Charles was just fed up with Lorenzo. But of course, his text stayed unread.

He knocked a second time, then a third, without any answer. He could hear some noise, but barely. He frowned. What if Lorenzo had been right? What if Charles had fainted or something and the kid was alone, terrified? Or worse, hurt?

“Hello?” He called, knocking loudly on the door. “Is anyone there?”

No more answers. He tried to call Charles, but it didn’t work. He was starting to get more and more worried. About Charles, of course, but mainly about the kid. As it was said, the small blond girl seemed so fragile.

He repeated the action two more times before he decided to get down to see if Mario, the concierge, had a spare. As he was walking away, more worried than ever, he heard a little voice.

“Who is there?”

He got back to the door in a heartbeat.

“Hey, someone there?” He asked, wanting to be sure it wasn’t an illusion.

There was a small pause, then a small “Yes.” It was definitely not Charles’ voice. This was the kid.

Of course, it was the kid. Carlos couldn’t be lucky enough for it to be Charles.  

“It is Carlos. Your… Charles’ teammate.” He responded, not certain that she would remember him even if she did yesterday.

A new pause, and then he heard the key slowly turning in the lock. The door opened slowly and the kid’s face appeared. As soon as she saw Carlos, she jumped at him.

The poor Spaniard got completely frozen then slowly, very slowly, some warm seemed to travel from the places where the kid’s little arms were squeezing his legs. The little girl was shaking a little bit, sniffing loudly as if she was almost crying. Hesitantly, he patted the top of her head.

“Are you ok?” He asked her.

She took a step back, looking up at him with her giant blue eyes. People were always beaming at Charles’ eyes; they weren’t ready for hers.

“C’ali got sick. The pill he took; it didn’t work straight away. But I don’t think it worked later either. He has pain when there is noise. And I didn’t want to hurt him, so I couldn’t wake him up. And he…”

“Slow down.” He interrupted him, her rushed and childlike English was way too hard for him to understand. “Where is Charles?”

She took his hand, or more precisely she took two of his fingers and with a surprising strength, she pulled him inside.

He had been in Charles’ apartment here numerous times. But as he looked around while being rushed to his room, he couldn’t resist watching around with big eyes. It was the same, but completely different. His piano was there, but with drawings scotched on it. A big picture of Charles and the kid had replaced the photo of his car he had there before. There were toys almost everywhere.

“He is sleeping.” The kid repeated as they arrived in front of Charles’ room, the door slightly open.

For an awfully long second, Carlos wondered if Charles was asleep or dead. A child wouldn’t really see the difference, would she? But as he thought that, Charles snorted softly.

“You need to be quiet.” The kid whispered to him. “Noise hurts him.”

He looked down at her. She was still holding his fingers, looking at him like you would look up to some superhero.

“Let’s go back to the living room.” He decided.

She didn’t let go of his fingers. Curiously, that wasn’t as bad as Carlos would have expected it to be. He took her back into the main room and saw on the couch at least ten teddies and other toys sitting there.

“We were watching a movie.” The kid told him, pointing at the TV with her free hand.

Carlos immediately recognised the Carsimages.

“Eustache preferred the first one, but I like both.”

“Who?” Carlos asked, perplexed.

Was someone else here? Lorenzo hadn’t said so, but maybe someone had managed to come in and…

“Eustache.” The kid repeated, reaching for the informed teddy bear that he gave her two days ago when she was crying in the factory.

He had found the toy strange that day, but seeing it in the middle of all the nicest, cutest toys on earth, it was even stranger.

“Is C’ali ok?” She asked him, looking very concerned.

“Yes, he just has the flu.” He assured her.

“Because he saw Litto who has the flu.” She repeated, trying to make sense of everything.  

“Why am I not sick if I saw Litto too?”

Carlos shrugged, not knowing what he was supposed to tell her. How could a kit that young understands the principle of viruses and everything? And even if she could, he didn’t understand why she was not sick. She should be.

“Aren’t you going to be sick if you are here?” She asked again, concerned for him this time.

“No, I won’t get the flu. I got the vaccine.”

“What is a vaccine?”

“It is… it is a special shot and it protects you from an illness.”

“Oh, I got a vaccine too!” She exclaimed. “My doctor in Oslo, he gave me shots for me to not get sick. It was before, with Daddy and Mummy.”

Carlos had no idea how he was supposed to react. Thank god for him, his phone lit up with a text from Lorenzo, asking him if he managed to see Charles. He quickly responded, telling him about the situation.

“Who are you texting?” The kid asked again.

It seemed that asking questions was her favourite activity.

“Lorenzo, Charles’ brother. He…”

“You speak to Uncle Lorzo?! Can I speak to him too?” She interrupted him with excitement, finally letting go of his hand.

Carlos looked at her for a second, a bit destabilized. How was it that kids changed topics and emotions that quickly?

“I need to talk to him first. But after, if he has the time…”

Surprisingly, the kid seemed to understand perfectly well. She sat down on the couch, the strange bear in her hands, and just stared at him, waiting impatiently for him to be done. For Carlos, this was more uncomfortable than having three cameras on your face, and that was something!  

“*Did you get in? Is he ok?*” Lorenzo asked quicker than ever.

“The kid opened the door. He took a pill and he is sleeping. I haven’t woke him up but…”

“*He took and pill and left Eliza alone?*” Lorenzo exclaimed, apparently completely shocked.

“She was watching Cars with her toys in the living room. He is just next door.” Carlos tried to reassure him.

He felt a strange need to defend the poor Charles.

“*That isn’t ok. She needs someone watching her constantly. It is very dangerous otherwise!*” Lorenzo insisted.

“Well… The nanny and Arthur are both sick too. There aren’t a lot of people left. He didn’t really have a choice.” Carlos reminded him, not liking to hear him criticize Charles.

What was his teammate supposed to do?

“*Of course, I know, I am looking for a solution.*” Lorenzo told him, sounding a bit apologetic. “*But at the same time, we need someone to look after her.*”

There was a pause. Carlos didn’t say anything, he just looked at the very small kid, looking up at him with her big blue eyes, so innocent…

“I can look after her for a bit.” He finally proposed.

He had a weird feeling that he was going to regret that…

Chapter Text

Carlos – Italy – Before Chapter 36

The kid was still speaking with her uncle on the phone when Carlos returned to the living room. But as soon as he stepped in, she looked up to him. She said something to the phone, with his name on it, and then she handed it to him.

“Uncle Lorzo wants to talk to you again.”

Carlos took the phone and spent the next five minutes assuring Lorenzo that yes, Charles was still alive, and that yes, he was going to make sure that the kid stayed alive too.

“*Do not let her eat peanuts, kids can choke on them. And she must not get close to the cooking hatch, she can get burnt. And…*”

Carlos felt more and more panicked as Lorenzo was going on and on about all the ways the kid could die. Did he chew on something bigger than him? He knew how to drive a very fast car, could take care of a dog, but a kid? This was way beyond his classic abilities…

After making sure that Carlos knew he could call him for anything, Lorenzo finally hung up and Carlos got left all alone, in front of the kid.

“I am not going to choke on peanuts.” She immediately told him. “I did once, but I was way more little than I am now. It was in the summer.”

Carlos didn’t know if that made him feel better or not…

“I promise I will be nice.” The kid continued, starting to recite a list of things she had probably just promised her uncle. “I won’t make noise. I won’t get things dirty. I won’t disturb you if you try to work. I won’t disobey you. I won’t run away. I…”

“Ok!” Carlos interrupted her, not wanting to hear all the things she could do.

He was close enough to call Fred to beg him to send someone as it was.

“We… We should go to my apartment. So your… So we don’t wake Charles up.” He told her, trying to stay calm and in control.

“But what if he needs us?” She asked, looking anxious.

“Well, if he needs us, he can call us.” Carlos responded, showing his phone.

She seemed to think about it for a second before she nodded and stood up from the couch, her teddy bear in one hand. Instead of taking Carlos’s hand like before, she raised her arms. Sure, Carlos hadn’t interacted with many kids before – his sisters didn’t have any children yet –, but he knew enough to know it meant she wanted him to carry her. He hesitated for a second, not sure how you were supposed to carry a child.

“I am not heavy. I am little.” She assured him with a big smile.

“That wasn’t… Yeah.”

He picked her up and immediately, she reached around his neck and put her legs around his waist. She knew this way better than him.

“C’ali can carry heavy things.” She told him as he got out, making sure to take the keys before closing the door behind him. “When he does sport with Zio Drea, he lifts very, very heavy things. Not the heaviest, because there are heavier things in the gym, but heavy enough. That is because he doesn’t need to lift too heavy things, he just drives the car.”

Carlos had seen how chatty she could be two days ago at the factory. She basically didn’t stop talking for the whole lunch. But he had thought that it was just because she had been forced to stay silent for too long during the meeting. Apparently not. She was just that chatty.

“Do you do sports in the gym?” She asked him as he was opening the door, while holding her enough to be sure she wasn’t going to fall down.

“Yes, I do the same sport as Charles.” He confirmed, getting inside. “But I lift heavier things than him.” He added, just because he could.

He had no idea if it was true. Formula One driver’s training didn’t involve a lot of lifting, to be honest.

She stopped talking for a few seconds as they got inside. He put her down on the couch, thinking that he should have tidied the place before she came. Not that it was messy; he wasn’t the kind of person to let his apartment get messy. But he could see at least ten things with which the kid could try to die lying around.

“Stay here, ok?” He instructed her, turning around to grab the candles on the table.

Sure, the candles were not lit, but the recipient was in glass and he was sure Lorenzo said something about glass behind dangerous. Just like the coffee that was on the countertop. Sure, it wasn’t extremely hot anymore but still.

He was unplugging the different cooking appliances, because who knows if a kid could be burnt with a toaster, when she started to ask questions again.

“Who is she?” She asked, pointing at a picture.

He looked from the corner of his eyes. It was a polaroid of him and Rebecca.

“This is my girlfriend.”

Officially, they weren’t really together yet. Everyone knew they were together; people always knew everything. But even if nobody knew; it wasn’t like the kid could tell people.

Right?

“You have a girlfriend?” She exclaimed with interest, suddenly jumping on the couch to get on her knees.

Maybe he shouldn’t have said that…

“Yes…”

“Do you guys hold hands? Do you kiss? Do your parents know?”

Carlos felt his cheek getting red, as they would have in a real interview for the television. This was completely stupid. The kid was four, why would she be asking these questions? Was he supposed to answer them? Maybe Charles was going to be mad at him if he did.

“My parents know her, yes.”

“Do C’ali know her?”

“He met her, yes.” Carlos confirmed.

“Is she nice?”

“Yes, she is very nice.”

“Does she speak funny like you?”

Carlos stopped to look at her with a frown. What did she mean to speak funny? He asked her and she looked hesitant.

“I didn’t want to be mean.” She started to say. “But you speak funny. You say words funny. Everyone here speaks English funny. C’ali does too. But he sounds more like Daddy.”

“Oh, does she have an accent?” He finally understood. “Well, English is her first language.”

“What is that?”

“The language she spoke when she was a kid. Like, I spoke Spanish when I was a kid.”

She looked at him with big, shocked eyes, so much so that he stopped.

“What did I say?”

“How can you speak spinach?”

“No, not spinach. Spanish.” He corrected her.

“What is it?”

“It is a language. Like English, or French, or Italian…”

“I don’t know Italian. Like Norwegian. I can’t speak Norwegian.” She confessed.

Carlos had stopped going around to secure the apartment, all focused on this discussion that was starting to get harder and harder by the second.

“Ok. I don’t speak Norwegian either.” He responded, not sure why Norwegian was even part of the discussion.

“Do you speak Italian? It is the language of the pasta.”

After ten more minutes of that discussion, Carlos decided that speaking to a kid was like speaking to someone completely drunk. There was no mean theme, every time they opened their mouth it was to say something completely random, and they seemed to never stop. That particular discussion was only interrupted by Carlos receiving a text from Charles to ask if the nanny was fine.

“We need to go see your nanny.” He told the kid.

“No! I don’t want to go with Anna!” The kid immediately protested. “C’ali said she is sick, I can’t stay with her!”

“No, not stay with her. See if she is ok.” He explained.

“And I won’t stay with her? Even if she is ok?”

“No, she is still sick. You are staying with me until your uncle finds someone.”

In Carlos’ dreams, that was before lunch. Luckily even before that. He got his coat and started to look for his hat because he knew that it was cold outside.

“Ok, so we can…” He started, turning back to the kid with the red hat on his head, but stopped when he realised that she was barefoot and only wearing her pyjama. “Where are your shoes? And why don’t you wear clothes?”

“I don’t wear shoes in my pyjama. Pyjama is to go to sleep, Spinach.”

“My name is Carlos.” He corrected her, without even thinking about how she called him. “We need to get you shoes. And get you dressed.”

“I prefer my pyjamas. Look, they have Bluey. Do you like Bluey?”

This time, Carlos didn’t answer. Starting to answer was setting the machine back into action and he didn’t have time for another underacid-discussion.

****

Twenty minutes later, the kid was dressed – she kept her pyjama top but she had put on jeans – and had shoes.

“Wait Spinach! We need the masks!” She exclaimed as he was going to close the door behind them.

“What mask?”

“The one to make me a superhero. We can’t forget them or C’ali will be mad.”

Carlos had no idea what she meant, but he didn’t want to get Charles angry. So they went back inside.

****

In total, it took them forty minutes to finally get ready to just get to the nanny’s door. The kid was wearing a medical mask that was coloured orange and purple, and Carlos felt like he had been looking after her for ten days at least.

The nanny opened the door after a few seconds. She didn’t look good, at all. She had grey skin, and very small eyes that were betraying her condition. She looked surprised to see Carlos with the kid in his arms.

“Charles asked me to check on you to be sure you were ok.”

“Oh… I am ok. The fever is slightly down.” She responded. “But why are you with Elizabeth?”

“C’ali is sick, like you and Litto. So, it is Carlos who is watching me. But I am being very nice. Right, Spinach?”

“Spinach?” The nanny repeated, apparently just as lost as Carlos.

“That is what he speaks.”

“Oh, Spanish.” She finally understood. “Right…”

“Anyway! Do you need something? Some food or…”

“No, that is very nice. Arthur brought me food yesterday morning.”

Carlos was going to ask something else but the kid interrupted him by clapping happily in her hands.

“Bye Anna!”

The nanny rolled her eyes and turned to Carlos, switching to Italian.

“I am sure she is very happy that I am sick. She hates it when I am the one to watch after her.”

“He doesn’t speak Pasta, he speaks Spinach!” The kid immediately stopped her.

“I speak Italian too.” Carlos told her.

“Really? You could speak to Pasta then!”

“Pasta is one of her teddy bears.” The nanny explained, pinching her nose probably because being up so long was hurting her head. “He is Italian so he only speaks Italian.”

“He is a zebra.” The kid added.

Carlos was starting to get a headache too…

*****

“You are riding a bike!” The kid exclaimed, pointing at a picture on the wall.

“Yes.”

After two hours of nonstop questions, Carlos realised that the smaller the answer, the better the result. One word was perfect because it was quick and didn’t take him much time.

“Do you ride well?”

“Yes.”

“Can you ride a moto too or only a bike?”

“Only a bike.”

“And horses?”

“Only bikes.”

“So, you can’t ride scooters?”

“No, I can.”

“But you said only bikes.”

“Bikes and scooters.”

“What about skateboard?”

*****

“What are you doing?”

Carlos looked up from his computer. The kid was looking up at him with her big eyes, her teddy bear glued to her hand. He glanced at the television. The movie, Cars II, was finished this time. That only meant the calm was finished too…

“I am working.”

“Are you checking data? Because I am really good at it. I could help you.”

“Really? You can check data?” He smiled.

“Yes, Juan explained them to me.” She confirmed with a very proud smile. “I didn’t do the numbers data, because they were too hard. But the lines ones were fun!”

“Then you wouldn’t like these data sets. They are only numbers.” He told her, showing his screen.

He wasn’t checking racing data, but some numbers from his burger’s place. He liked the off-season for this kind of thing; it allowed him to do stuff like that. He knew Charles was in the process of making an ice cream brand last year. He didn’t know if that was still on with the kid.

“I know numbers, but only when there are only two of them. Like, did you know 4 and 6 is forty-six?”

He pretended to be impressed by the fact, hoping it would stop her, but she immediately started to tell him about every other combination possible. The instant regret was high.

“Are you hungry?” He interrupted her, looking at the clock.

It was half past twelve, after all. The kid immediately stopped her talking and smiled widely. It was like the idea of eating was the best idea she had ever heard. Carlos was sure it was only because it would keep her busy for a bit.

“Yes, I am!”

He closed his laptop, starting to think about how to feed the kid. He was leaving the next day, so his fridge was empty with the exception of his meal for the day and for the evening.

“Do you like carrots and…” He started, looking at the evening meal.

He could give it to her and get some other food for this evening. After all, his meals were very healthy, so a kid could eat them.

“I can’t have carrots.” The kid interrupted him immediately, looking almost terrified, even taking a step back.

Carlos almost dropped the meal box because of her reaction. The kid was looking at it like it was some kind of poisonous food.

“What do you mean, you can’t have carrots? Do you have an allergy?” He asked, very scared too now.

“I don’t know. But I can’t have carrots. Never.” She insisted.

Carlos decided to safely put the meal back into the fridge. He wasn’t going to eat anything that the kid could be allergic to near her. And to be sure, he took her back into the living room.

“You don’t know how to cook?” She asked him with curiosity. “Does your Mummy cook for you usually?”

The Spaniard didn’t respond, too occupied thinking about a solution other than calling Lorenzo to beg him to save him. Where was the help promised?

In a last attempt, he googled ‘What do kids like to eat’. When he saw the third response, he smiled. Maybe this wasn’t a lost cause after all.

“Do you like pancakes?”

*****

“What is that?”

“Honey. Stay on the chair, please.”

“You know, I am a big girl. I can help.” The kid sighed but sat back on the chair.

There was no way Carlos was letting a kid help cook when Lorenzo had spent so long telling him how kids could die with anything. So he had seated her on a chair at the back of his kitchen, where he could see her, and where she could still ask thousands of questions.

“You know, we need to keep the secret.”

“What secret?” He asked as he was mixing in the fluffy white eggs in the rest.

“That we ate pancakes.”

“Why? Are you not supposed to have pancakes either? Are you allergic to it too?” Carlos suddenly asked, looking up so quick that he almost broke his neck.

“I can have them. But the diletatian won’t like that we have pancakes for lunch. Zio Drea, he says that sugary things like that are for the morning. And he only allows me to have one piece.” She explained, pouting a bit.

Carlos sighted. If it was only dietetic considerations, he didn’t care. Even athletes knew that a cheat day never killed anyone. And if Charles or anyone had anything to say about it, he would tell them to go to hell.

****

 One hour and a half after that, when the kid is lying on the couch with a pained face, a hand on her stomach, Carlos now knows that limiting the quantity to which a kid can eat pancakes may be a smart thing…