My Best Mates Sister

54.

Rosie

The wedding feels like months ago, we are back in the F1 paddock after summer break. It feels surreal that we are in Spa, we lost Anthonie here last year, and I remember the fact that me and Charles weren't on speaking terms. Now look where we are, married! I am here as Rosie Leclerc as a genuine part of his family. We head towards Ferrari and I can feel the media's presence "you okay?" Charles asks from beside me "Yeah, are you?" He grins "I'm getting to show my wife off to the world, I'm the luckiest man" he says and I know he will try to fully focus on the positives. I grin back at him and he takes my hand "lets get this bread" I tell him and he looks super confused "Dont worry, lets make this day a good one" he nods and we walk into the back of the garage together "CONGRATULATIONS" everyone cheers and I can see balloons on my desk and sat in the cockpit of Charles' car. Jake and Adam are first to hug us "Did you do this?" I ask Jake and he grins "Of course, we are allowed to celebrate our teammates!" He tells me and I am lucky to have him as my best friend. I see Ted Kravitz hanging out of the front of the garage and I nudge Charles who knows what I'm suggesting and he walks over to Ted.

Charles

"Seems like congratulation are in order!" He tells me as I walk over "yeah, the team weren't exactly discreet with the balloons" he laughs "Not really, So we now have three Leclerc's as part of the Ferrari family?" Ted asks and I nod "Luckily for me she went through with marrying me" I say with a laugh "Well I'm sure many people would argue that she is the lucky one" Ted tells me and I know he is referencing the fans "Well I do have the best fans!" I say and Ted nods " We also now have brothers in two big teams, George is family now! I take it that the wedding had many people from the paddock?" He asks and I nod "Yeah, marrying Rosie meant that I gained another brother! We kept it small, family and close friends but in this job a lot of our close friends are what others would view as celebrities I suppose" Ted nods "Well I'm made up for you both, tell Rosie congratulations from me!" He says as he keeps heading down the pit lane. I walk back into the garage and see Rosie with the nose buried in data and I know that she wont leave this garage without a fight. I wander into my media meeting spotting Antonio who congratulates me and I thank him.

Mattia calls me over once I return to the garage "you free for a moment?" I nod and we go into his office. I sit down and Mattia gives me a serious look "i heard about Rosie passing out at the wedding, does need to help her more in the garage?" He asks and I nod "she just needs shorter hours, I know she will still work from the hotels but being in a fast paced environment is exhausting her" He nods "absolutely, we need to take care of them both" he says and I'm pleased that he is acknowledging her pregnancy too "She will put on a brave face but Roberto needs to keep a close eye on her" He nods "Also, these came for her over summer break" he passes me some size up team kit that say R.Leclerc on them and I cant help the possessive side of me feeling pleased that everyone will know she is mine. "Thanks, I will give these to her, I will also keep you updated as I'm sure she will play everything down" he nods "Perfect" I walk out of his office with Rosie's new team kit and see her still hunched over her paperwork with Roberto asking her questions. Having my wife as my engineer is something I wasn't sure about at first but now I know that my car is in the safest hands. I place my hands on her shoulders and she jumps slightly "Hey mon amour" I say and she relaxes into my touch "Hey! Good day?" I nod and place her new kit on the desk "These are for you from the team" she immediately sees the name patch and I see the grin that crosses her features "We really are team Leclerc now" She laughs and I realise that this is all I have ever wanted, and I really don't want this to end.

"Can you try mode 6?" Rosie asks me over the radio during FP2 "sure thing, what's the best time we have set?" I ask her "You are P3 at the moment but the Mercedes haven't set times yet, this is what we expected" I really wanted to win again, for Anthonie "Copy, is it looking like rain tomorrow?" I ask Rosie "Yeah, for Quali and the race, not too much we can do to prepare" She comments and I know what she means, none of this data means anything if it rains, we cant run any wet tires today because it isn't wet! Tomorrow is going to be difficult "Well, tomorrow is a new day Rosie, we will do what we can" I say attempting to continue to be positive this weekend. I am struggling that its been a year since we lost him, here, and I won for him last year, I wanted to do the same on Sunday. I let out a sigh into my helmet as I focus on Eau Rouge. I finish my lap, and head back to the pit lane under Rosie's orders. She is stood up when I jump out of the car "Thanks for focusing on that, there are a few areas I think you could improve, we an discuss them in our meeting" I nod and let out a small laugh at how professional my wife is with me when it is go time. She has strong focus, she is part of what pushes us forwards.

Rosie

I feel absolutely exhausted after running those two sessions, I know it would be better if Roberto took over for practise sessions but I don't want that yet. I'm getting worse, I can feel it in my hip and with how few steps I take before I get breathless. I want to do as much as I can for as long as I can. I stretch my arms above my head and my back clicks "Good session, what are we going to do tomorrow?" Roberto asks me "I'm lost, it's going to be tough" He nods "Well, the team is lucky that it has you" He compliments me "Thanks, but I'm not exactly on top form" He gives me a small smile "We will have a good weekend, the team needs a good start to the second half of the season" He tells me and I know its been tough for Ferrari, but they have made me feel like family. I stand up, my hip aching as I have pressure on it. I wince slightly and Roberto waves Jake over "We are headed to the meeting room, could you walk with Rosie?" He asks not outright saying that I was struggling "Of course I can, Come on RoRo" he says tucking his arm through mine. We walk through the garage and I can feel the sympathetic gaze and I find myself ripping my arm out of Jake's and going through the rest of the garage alone. I can feel my breaths coming slower and I feel like I can't breathe. I make it to my seat in the meeting room, Jake gives me a look and I shake my head at him causing him to shrug and leave the room.

"Ready to go, are you done for the day?" Charles asks as he gets back from the media pen "Almost, I'm going to bring some paperwork back with me, to help me with the conditions tomorrow" I tell him, I have data from previous wet races "Okay, well I will come back and get you in 5 minutes, you had best be ready to go" Charles jokingly warns me "I will!" I tell him grabbing my papers out of the printer. Roberto looks over "I'm sorry for leaving early" I say to him and he shakes his head "Rosie, please don't be stupid, you work harder than most of us! You deserve to go early!" He assures me and I give him a side hug "Thank you" he smiles and greets Charles as he walks over "you all sorted?" He asks and I nod standing up off of the stool, he immediately takes my arm "See you tomorrow!" He waves to the guys in the garage as he ushers me out into the paddock.

"HEY GUYS!" Max shouts and I turn on my heel to see him and Daniel ahead of us in the paddock. Max wraps me in a hug and Daniel ruffles my hair "Hey!" I greet both of them "Good day?" Max asks Charles who nods "All for nothing really though! Rain for the rest of the sessions" Daniel nods "Did seem trivial being out there today!" He chuckles, his papaya hoodie shaking on his shoulders "It did seem stupid" Max agrees and the engineer in me feels the rage "It will help with future data, future car performance and we did get some information that will help us over the rest of the weekend" I say defending all of the teams who went out today. "Chill Rosie, we get it! It was just a joke" Daniel tries to calm me down "I know it is you guys in the cars but everyone else in the team does their jobs, which in some cases are just as important" I keep defending my job "I know! Sorry Rosie, I didn't think you would get offended" I shake my head and Charles squeezes my hand "We need to get going guys, see you tomorrow!" Charles tells them and he starts us on our walk back to the hotel.