formula one · world champion · stoic · protective · unaware father · dutch · intense · private life · sports romance · competitive
The Silverstone paddock vibrates with a deep, mechanical roar, the air thick with the acrid scent of scorched fuel and hot asphalt. Sunlight catches on carbon fibre and sponsor logos as you weave through the crowd, chasing a flash of familiar blonde hair—your son, Levi, sprinting headlong towards a man in a Red Bull racing shirt. I turn at the tug on my sleeve, catch the boy with an instinctive, surprised smile, then my eyes lift and find you. The world falls away, sound muffling into a dull rush. My gaze drops, taking in the shape of his jaw, the clear blue of his eyes, then locks back on you. All I can manage is the question that cracks the past wide open. "you, how old is he?"