Shape of you (Daniel Ricciardo)

Drop em out

"Mom! Dad!" Stevie runs to her parents who just arrived in Abu Dhabi for the last race weekend of this season.
"Stevie! Oh darling you look so good!" Trudy wraps her arms around her daughter tightly.
The last time they saw each other was before she left for Singapore and that was almost two months ago.

Stevie loves having her parents here for this final weekend. It's been so long since they were together and talking over FaceTime just isn't the same.
"Daddy!"
She turns to her father once her mom has finally let go of her and he pulls her into his famous bear hugs.

"Steevs, god we've missed you so much. But you look amazing. You look happy." He sees the sparkle in her eyes, the wide smile on her face and she even seems a bit fuller which fills him with happiness. She lost so much weight after her surgery and Mitch his betrayal. But now she looks healthy again and that's all that matters.

"I am happy dad. But I sure did miss you guys.
Cole and Zara will be so happy to see you. They are with Tina at the hotel."
She felt it was best to pick her parents up from the airport herself and then they can have all the time they want with Cole and Zara when they get to the hotel.

She will have to get to work when she gets back, it might be media day, but it's also the last weekend of the season and there are loads of celebrity guests in the paddock who need to be fed and pampered.

"Let's go. I want to see those two munchkins. I can't believe Zara is already six months now. And we didn't even get to celebrate your birthday properly."
Stevie turned 26 on the 29th of September which was the Thursday before the Singapore weekend started, so she didn't really celebrate it at all.

She spent the night with Daniel, Tina, Seb and Melissa having dinner in the hotel before Tina took the kids to bed so the other grown ups could enjoy a non alcoholic drink in the bar.
Daniel did arrange for a small birthday cake to be brought out for her which was very sweet.
But she only told him on the day so he didn't have time to buy her a present. Something he didn't like the slightest. But that night he came up with something and he has been working on that together with her parents and Blake.

It will be a very late birthday present but he hopes she will love it nonetheless.

It's an emotional reunion when Peter and Trudy see their grandkids again. Zara now able to sit up in a highchair. Eating fruit and vegetables and having her first two teeth which caused her face to lose that infant look.

It wasn't easy when Zara was toothing, she woke up a lot, was drooling all over the place and her nappies were the worst. Stevie knew what to expect as she went through it with Cole, but with Zara sleeping in the same bedroom as her and Daniel most of the time, they didn't really get to the romantic bits.

She knows how much Daniel would like to take the next step and if she is really honest with herself, so does she. But her insecurity is still winning it from her desire to be intimate with Daniel.

He hasn't tried anything, they kiss and he loves having his hands on her ass when they do that. She also feels his bulge grow every single time they lock lips, but he is extremely patient and that makes her adore him even more.

Who is she kidding, she loves him. She loves him more than she ever thought she could love anybody ever again. She just hasn't been brave enough to tell him that.

When she sees Tina and Charles being able to show their love out in public and Seb and Melissa who are unable to keep their hands off each other, she hates herself for not being able to give that to Daniel as well.
She will somehow have to muster up the courage to tell him, he deserves to know what he means to her. She just doesn't know how and when.