Author's Note: Hi everyone, it's Mandolin016 ! I hope you are all well. Short chapter today, as I have a bit of writer's block, but we get to meet a new character! Enjoy  and thank you so much for reading and voting :)

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[age of 6]
written by fleur

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Charles held his goddaughter's hand as he led the six year old through the Bahrain paddock. It is 2022, and the restrictions on wearing masks had been dropped so neither was wearing one in the darkening Bahrain night. Being Friday, after two successful practice sessions, the teams were packing up for the night, the media had dispersed, and the drivers were slowly leaving for their hotels. The area was relatively sparse. Charles pointed out all the garages to Morgane, showing her the hospitalities and motor homes.

"What team is that?" He quizzed her, pointing to the Alfa Romeo garage. "Hmmmm," Morgane thought, "Alfa?"

"Yes!" Charles congratulated, "I raced there for one year but you didn't come to a lot of races. You were just a little girl."

"And now I'm a big girl?" Morgane questioned.
Charles nodded, "Yes, of course."

He led her to the Alfa garage, where he found only two other people next to the cars: Valtteri Bottas and his daughter Katja, who was around Morgane's age and looked like a little female version of her father. Valtteri was quietly showing his daughter the car, pointing out the same things Charles had been showing Morgane at Ferrari: the tires, wings, and steering wheel.

"This is Alfa Romeo." Charles told Morgane. Valtteri turned around. He just noticed the two people behind him. "Oh, Charles. Hi." He said quietly in English, "This is my daughter Katja." Charles waved to the little girl who moved shyly behind her father's leg. Morgane did the same, creeping behind her godfather when the Finn said hello to her. "This is Morgane," Charles told Valtteri, "she's—"

"Jules' daughter." Valtteri finished, observing that neither of the children present spoke English, he said, "It really hit me when he died. Especially since my ex-wife was pregnant with Katja when the accident happened."

Charles nodded solemnly. He had been so caught up in his own grief, that he hadn't fully thought of how the other drivers were affected.

The  four stood in awkward silence for a moment, before Charles broke it in French, "Morgane, this is Katja and her dad Valtteri. I race with him and your Papa did too when he raced." Katja gave Morgane a small shy wave, and Valtteri introduced Charles and Morgane to her in Finnish.  Morgane hummed thoughtfully, before looking up at the Alfa Romeo driver: "Did you beat Charles and my Papa or did they beat you?" She asked him in the only language she knew, French. Her godfather laughed loudly, while the two Bottas stood in confused silence.
"She wants to know," Charles said, out of breath from laughing, ", if you are a better driver than Jules and I."

Morgane looked up at Valtteri expectantly. "Well," he said in English, blushing a bit, "I think your daddy was the best of the three of us."

Charles translated the response to Morgane who seemed satisfied with the result.

It was hard to sustain a conversation with two young children who didn't have a language in common, so Charles and Morgane moved on to the next open garage: Mercedes.

There, no one was with the cars so Charles took his time to show Morgane how the cars were different from Ferrari. She was a smart girl , and asked so many questions. He answered them all, explaining in a way that was easy for Morgane to understand. She took it all in, observing the livery, tires, and wings.

"Can I sit in it?" Morgane asked inquisitively. Charles looks around nervously, "Quickly!" He whispered and began helping her into the cockpit.
She looked around briefly, before staring up at her godfather with her big brown eyes.

"This is boring!" She exclaimed, "let's go see Léa!" Referencing Pierre's twin sister, who Morgane was obsessed with. (Honestly, who wouldn't be? Léa's fashion sense and bright personality were contagious.)

Charles obliged, helping the girl out of the Mercedes and back into the paddock. Together, they skipped to the Alpha Tauri hospitality to see the Gaslys.

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