During the car ride to Kevin's place, Celia stayed quiet while Max drove. The radio played softly, and Max hummed to the music. Celia noticed how Max had been in a bad mood all day, and now that her mood was spoiled too, he seemed cheerful again, which annoyed her.

She remembered Victoria's warning about how Max could be annoying, but she didn't expect to feel that way so soon. Celia didn't know why Max was acting like this, but she didn't want to argue with him, so she chose to stay silent.

"Can we go to a mall to buy gifts for Laura and the baby before we go to Kev's place?" Celia quietly asked when they stopped at a traffic light. She didn't want to meet her friend empty-handed.

"Of course, Lia. Whatever you need," Max responded with a smile. And Celia felt annoyed again. Why was he cheerful now after upsetting her earlier? If she didn't know him so well, she might think he was bipolar. But she knew him, so she knew Max's behavior was intentional - first being mean, then trying to start a fight, and now acting like nothing happened. She just didn't understand why.

Max drove them to the nearest mall according to the GPS and parked underground. He smiled as he opened Celia's door for her.

Celia rolled her eyes as he got out, and covered her face with a scarf and sunglasses to avoid being recognized.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" she asked Max, noticing he wasn't trying to disguise himself like her.

"I don't have anything with me," Max said, shrugging.

Celia sighed, searching her bag for a cap and putting it on Max's head, pulling it down to cover upto his eyes.

Max grinned at Celia's action, but she just rolled her eyes again as she walked past him to the elevator, clicking on the floor with kids' toys and clothes.

Reaching, Celia went into the first toy shop they saw, and a saleswoman greeted them warmly.

"Hello ma'am, how can I help you?" the woman asked.

"We were looking for gifts for our friend's daughters," Max replied before Celia could, as the woman nodded.

"And what ages would they be?" the woman asked next.

"One of them is 2 years old and the other girl is a few months old, I think, right sweetheart?" Max asked Celia, grinning at her. He knew very well she was rolling her eyes at him at the moment, although he couldn't see them.

"Uh, yeah," Celia replied, while the woman nodded again.

"Okay, if you could follow me here; we have clothes, books, and toys for toddlers that you could choose from first," the woman offered, leading them down the aisles, with Max walking closely behind Celia.

As the woman stopped, so did Celia, but Max was looking elsewhere, causing him to bump into Celia.

"Shit, Max," Celia groaned as Max turned around, realizing he had stepped on her foot.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Schat, are you okay?" he asked with concern, holding her arm to steady her. Celia nodded slowly before pulling her arm out of his grip, facing the woman witnessing their clumsy encounter.

"Um, so," the woman then continued, "these are some good bedtime stories that toddlers like; and here are some toys they might like. These make sounds and light up as well."

"Alright, thanks, please give us a minute to decide," Celia asked politely as the woman nodded and walked away. Celia picked up a book and began to scan it.

"Charles got this book for Harper on her first birthday, and she loved it," Celia told Max with a fond smile at the memory, "maybe we should get this for Laura?"

"Sure, whichever you like, Lia," Max agreed with the smile still on his face, and Celia sighed again; he was being no help.

"Hm, fine, and maybe this toy?" she asked, picking up a doll with a button that made a noise when pressed.

Max nodded, taking the things out of her hands, carrying them on her behalf as Celia went to the 'newborn' aisle and started looking at the clothes there.

"Remember when Harper was this small?" Celia smiled, reminiscing, as Max nodded along.

"Feels like yesterday," Max added, smiling too.

"She's so grown up now," Celia said, a touch of soft emotion in her voice.

"She'll always be our little girl though," Max reminded, making Celia laugh shortly, agreeing.

Quietly, Max watched as Celia selected clothes for Kevin's newborn, admiring her motherly instincts as she examined the clothes' softness or checked buttons. He hadn't experienced this with Celia when Harper was born, so he cherished this moment; listening to every word Celia spoke, watching her with adoration and awe.

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Celia and Max quickly finished shopping, then they drove to Kevin's place. When they arrived, Celia got out of the car without waiting for Max. Max sighed and carried the gift bags, refusing Celia's help when she offered to carry a few bags.

At the entrance, Celia rang the bell, and after few seconds of waiting, Louise greeted them warmly, hugging Celia right away.

"Cece, how are you?" Louise asked happily.

"I'm good, Lou, how've you been?" Celia replied as Kevin joined them.

"Cece! Max!" Kevin greeted, hugging them too.

"Sorry for showing up on such short notice," Celia apologized, but Kevin and Louise waved it off, welcoming them in.

"Nonsense, you're always welcome," Louise assured them as they all went to the living room.

"These are for Laura and the baby," Max said, giving the bags to Kevin.

"Aw, thank you, but there was no need," Kevin replied gratefully.

"It's mostly things I remember Harper loving as a kid, so I thought they might too," Celia explained as the parents nodded appreciatively.

"Would you like something to drink? Wine, maybe?" Kevin offered.

"Not for me, I'm driving," Max laughed.

"Yeah, and I have my first RBR media tomorrow, so alcohol isn't a good idea tonight," Celia added with a laugh.

"Okay, OJ for you guys, then," Louise joked, heading to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Kevin turned to Celia with a smile, patting her back. "So you're back!"

"I'm back," Celia replied happily. "Saw the first model of my car today."

"Took you long enough," Kevin teased. "I kept telling you to come back but you wouldn't listen, would you?"

"You know why I didn't, Kev," Celia replied, giving him a side-eye, and Kevin nodded.

"Yeah yeah, I know. But I'm glad you agreed this time," Kevin said sincerely. "You have such a passion for it. Would've been a shame if you never raced again. Was it Max who convinced you?" he asked as Louise rejoined the group, offering mocktails to the guests.

"It was Harper, actually," Celia revealed as Kevin raised his brow in confusion.

"Yeah as soon as she heard Christian talking about it, she wouldn't stop mentioning how great it would be if Mama Dada raced for the same team," Max chimed in.

"Yeah, she's always heard stories of my racing days and seen it on TV. She'd ask why I stopped and I didn't want her to think she was holding me back so, when she insisted this time, seeing her so excited for it made me wanna say 'yes' even more," Celia explained with a fond smile.

"Well, that worked out great because we did miss you a lot. But shame what Checo is going through, though," Kevin said sadly, and Celia nodded with a frown.

"I hope it's nothing serious and he returns next season," Celia said optimistically. "I mean, he hasn't announced retirement yet, so maybe his mind can be changed."

"I don't think he himself wants to keep racing anymore," Max countered, "He's been doing it for 11 years now, plus he's always been a family man."

"I don't think there's any driver who ever wants to not race anymore," Celia shrugged, and Kevin laughed.

"You say that because you've got such a knack for racing," he pointed out. "Not everyone's the same."

Just then, small footsteps approached as everyone turned to see Laura entering the room with a doll in her hand.

"Laura, say hi to our guests, sweetie. They're dad's work friends," Kevin prompted, pulling her to sit beside him.

"Hi," Laura greeted shyly as Celia smiled at her.

"Hi dear," Celia responded warmly, "it's nice to meet you."

"She's so pretty, mom," Laura whispered to Louise, causing her to laugh.

"Well, you should tell her that, sweetie," Louise encouraged, turning Laura towards Celia.

"You're very pretty," Laura said shyly as Celia's smile widened.

"Aw, thank you, sweetheart," Celia replied, "you're absolutely adorable."

At that, Laura blushed, burying her face in her mom's chest, as the adults chuckled at her cuteness.

"Where's the baby?" Max inquired, noticing the absence of the youngest family member.

"Oh, she's asleep upstairs," Louise informed, "you guys wanna see her?"

Celia nodded, and they followed Louise upstairs. Celia offered her hand to Laura, who accepted it shyly.

They went upstairs to the nursery, where Louise handed them hand sanitizer before they approached the cot where the newborn was sleeping peacefully.

"She's so beautiful," Celia whispered, and Max nodded beside her.

"Did you guys decide on a name?" Max asked, and the parents nodded.

"Laura picked the name," Louise revealed.

"Oh yeah? What is it?" Celia asked as she lifted Laura in her arms.

"Lacey," Laura said shyly, and Celia smiled at her. "That's a beautiful name, dear, good job!" Celia complimented, making Laura smile wider.

And once again, Max found himself admiring Celia as she interacted with Laura, completely engaged in the conversation as Laura explained why she had picked that name.

He had always admired how good she was with kids, and he had imagined her being an amazing mother to their child someday.

Of course, that was still true as she was the best mom to Harper but things hadn't exactly turned out as he had envisioned. There was no wedding, no shared house. They weren't together anymore, just co-parents and teammates. That was all they were.

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kevinmagnussen

Liked by - celiamorales, maxverstappen1 and 1,174,432 others

Tagged - louisegjorup

Dear ones❤️

Comments

louisegjorup Thanks for capturing this @celiamorales
↳ celiamorales You two have a beautiful family❤️
↳ kevinmagnussen Laura is asking when you'll be visiting again
↳ celiamorales Aww, tell her soon🥺

maxverstappen1 Thanks for being such lovely hosts
↳ kevinmagnussen You guys are always welcome, mate
↳ landonorris Think you guys left some people out 🫤
↳ celiamorales Aren't you in Monaco? 😒

user1 Not the parents of F1 hanging out🥺🥺
↳ user2 IKR and imagine Max and Celia probably giving Kev and Lou parental advice too
↳ louisegjorup Cece has the best parenting advice for sure
↳ user2 Omg you replied!
↳ user3 No wonder #Merstappen are THE PARENTS out of the Grid

user4 SO CUTE

user5 So Max and Celia are here in the UK together right now??👀
↳ user2 They were spotted at the Nice Airport yesterday with Harper. They're here for the Red Bull press conference that's tomorrow
↳ user5 🤓

user6 This is so precious🥺🥺
↳ user7  And it's so nice to see Cece back with the F1 crowd. Can't wait to see her back with all buddies!