A Surprise ⇢ Callum Ilott

EPILOGUE

"Do you have the presents?" Callum double-checked when he closed the car door behind him.

Catherine nodded and checked her bag one more time. "Yes," she replied. Let's say Catherine forgot the birthday present of someone a few weeks ago at home. "I don't always forget things," she said.

Callum walked next to Catherine and put his hand on Catherine's lower back. "Good," he chuckled and pressed a kiss on her cheek. Catherine rang the bell of the house. "You look beautiful, love," he whispered in her ear.

"Thanks," she softly said and looked at her boyfriend. "You look handsome too."

He gave her a wink.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too."

The front door opened. "Look who we have here, auntie Cate and uncle Callum," Masha said. The one-year-old on Masha's arm was smiling. "Hey, come on in."

Catherine looked at Masha and smiled. "Congratulations, Mash," she said and gave her two kisses on Masha's cheeks. Catherine looked at Lily-Mae. "Hello, birthday girl. You look beautiful today," she happily said and made room for Callum in the hallway by walking to the garden.

Lily-Mae smiled and looked away from Catherine, deciding to look at Callum, who was congratulating her mum.

"Happy birthday to you," Callum said to Lily-Mae and stroked her cheek. Lily-Mae was looking at him like she was fascinated with him.

It came to Masha's notice when she closed the front door. "She likes you," she smirked. "Or it's love at first sight," she casually said.

A laugh rolled over Callum's lips. "That's young," he said. "How are you?" They together walked to the garden.

"I'm fine. This lady finally can sleep through the night, such a relieve," Masha honestly shared. "Those sleepless nights are horrible."

"I can imagine."

"How are you?" Masha curiously asked. "It's going great with racing; I can't say it more differently."

The corners of his mouth curled up. "Thank you. We finally came to the point everything is going smoothly with the engine. There were some big problems at the beginning of the season."

She nodded. "Vince told me about it... Since you got into F1, it isn't just McLaren or Williams anymore. Most of the time, he's observing you and your car. But don't tell Vince I said it."

"I already suspected it," Callum cheekily said. "Spending awfully a lot of time at my garage," he smirked. Callum also walked to the garden, facing the families of Masha and Vince. He greeted everyone.

Catherine walked over to Masha and Vince. "It's Lil's birthday today, but also your wedding anniversary, so we got you a present as well," she said. "And besides that, you completed your first year as parents, so I honestly think you deserve it a little bit more."

"Awh, Cate, you didn't have to," Masha said and accepted the gift.

"Honestly, Lil will not remember this birthday," Vince admitted. "We decided to celebrate it more for us, parents, than for our daughter. Absolutely no offence to Lil."

Catherine nodded, understandable. "No, no, you're completely right. I hope you like it," she said and pointed at the gift; it was two bottles of wine from France, their favourite, and tableware for Lily-Mae.

"Cate, you didn't have to do it. Do you know how bloody expensive these are?" Masha whispered, perplexed. "Did you really go to France to get these? You shouldn't have to do this..."