Honey Curls (Daniel Ricciardo)

THE PERKS OF ABSENCE

The sound of two different alarms beeping jolted Teresa awake. She sat upright on the bed, not really noticing the arm around her waist.

Her sudden movements, however, made Daniel awake with a start as well, eyes alert and worried – "Tessa?"

She reached to her side-table to turn off her alarm before doing the same to Daniel's phone; her still sleepy brain not realizing that she had to climb on top of the Aussie for the effect.

"How did Lucas get here?" – she asked, noticing that their son had gone from being sandwiched between the two of them, to occupying almost half of the bed on Daniel's side.

"We must have moved during the night." – Daniel said with a grin, watching in amusement as Teresa's brain seemed to finally comprehend where she was standing.

"I'm sorry, Dan. Your alarm was so loud... I didn't think." – her cheeks were red and her eyes wide and she was so embarrassed that she didn't notice she had called him Dan.

"No harm done, Tessa." – he gave her one of those insufferable cheeky grins – "Is it 6:30 already?"

"Yes." – she yawned, before stretching and getting out of bed – "I need to be at the circuit before 9. We should call your parents in the morning, right? Because of the time zones?"

"Yeah, that would be great." – Daniel nodded before hesitating – "Do- Do you think you can be here when I call them? I'm a bit concerned about Lucas' reaction."

Teresa gave him a reassuring smile – "Sure, although I'm certain it will be fine." – she collected her clothes and pointed towards the bathroom – "I'm going to change."

She couldn't help but feel slightly worried about the prospect of meeting Daniel's parents; surely, they were not her biggest fans. After all, she had kept their grandson a secret for three whole years.

Finishing her braid, she took a deep breath and looked at her reflection in the mirror – her green eyes were alert and the usual dark shades underneath had subdued.

She felt well rested. Ever since her pregnancy days that the quality of her sleep had decreased. Even when Lucas started to sleep through the whole night, her sleep didn't improve.

"Too many thoughts in my head before bed."

The sound of Lucas' voice brought her back to reality and she hurried back to the room.

"Mamããããã!" – a bundle of curls threw himself at her and Teresa grinned – "Good Mwoning!" – Lucas snuggled closer to her as she kissed his hair.

"Morning, champ. Did you sleep well?" – she felt him nod, before he looked at her, eyes bright with excitement.

"Daddy is wacing today." – he ran from his mother's embrace, pretending he was driving, all while imitating the sound of the F1 cars.

Daniel soon joined him, chasing after him while running commentary – "And Danny Ric on a wild chase of the new prodigy racer, Mini Ric. But look, Mini Ric is defending like a true champion!"

"Well, both Mini Ric and Danny Ric have to get dressed or they will be late." – Teresa pointed out between giggles, making the duo groan.

She dressed Lucas quickly; he was in a really good mood today and didn't make a fuss about tying his own shoes. She run her fingers through his curls, attempting to somehow tame the dark tresses, to no avail – "You need a haircut, love."

"If he's anything like me, we'll be cutting his hair every month." – Daniel said, entering the room fully dressed in his McLaren attire.

His phone rang and he quickly picked it up – "Hey Ma!"