✰ Time of you life (Dr. Robby)
✰ Hurricane (Dr. Robby)
✰ You own a tux? (Dr. Robby) - sequel to Hurricane
Formula 1
Current grid
✰ Fernando Alonso - FA14
✰ Oscar Piastri - OP81
✰ Lando Norris - LN4
✰ Liam Lawson - LL30
✰ Charles Leclerc - CL16
✰ Carlos Sainz - CS55
✰ Lewis Hamilton - LH44
✰ Max Verstappen- MV1
✰ Kimi Antonelli - KA12
Retired drivers
✰ Jenson Button - JB22
✰ Mark Webber - MW2
Wattpad: valentinaf83 - Ao3: valeelavvale
Submit a request 💌
I take requests for these fandoms: The Pitt, The Boys, F1
I always try my best to fulfill requests, the more detailed they are, the easier it is for me to work with them.
That said, I can’t always keep my creativity on a leash: sometimes the story goes where inspiration takes me.
I hope you’ll enjoy the ride with me!
Requests status: open 💌
Main genres: romance, slice of life, fluff, and sometimes smut (if I feel comfortable — that’s up to me).
No violence or anything similar.
I write both OFCs and x Reader just what you like best.
Requests are always welcome, just keep these boundaries in mind 💌
author's note: This story was born from a request by @asficdiary ,and from this photo of Fernando at the piano... The rest, as always, came entirely from my slightly crazy little mind!
summary: After spending the night together, you wake up to the sound of Fernando playing Moon River on the piano. In the quiet before dawn, music, laughter and honest conversations bring you even closer as you begin discovering the parts of each other that go far beyond first impressions.
genre: Romance, Fluff, Slow Burn, Slice of Life
word count : 2646
It takes you a moment to remember where you are. As soon as you open your eyes, you look around, slightly disoriented, but within a few moments everything comes back to you: dinner, the evening, and everything that eventually led you to find yourself in that bed.
It must be late, or very early. It's still dark outside. You stretch slightly and notice that the bed beside you is empty, the sheets still rumpled and the pillow crooked against the headboard.
You push yourself up slightly on your forearms to look around, and only then do you hear something, soft music, something distant and barely audible.
You stay still for a few moments, listening, because the notes sound familiar, so you decide to get up and walk into the next room, just as you are, wearing only your silk slip and barefoot, following that melody that seems more and more familiar with every step.
When you reach the living room, everything is less dark, the lights are dim but on, and the music is louder. You recognize the song immediately and, for a moment, you're surprised. Moon River, a timeless classic, the soundtrack of Breakfast at Tiffany's. You round the corner and see Fernando sitting at the piano.
He's the one playing, without any sheet music in front of him, with the calmness of someone who knows that melody perfectly and has played it countless times, perhaps even just for himself.
You stay there in silence, captivated as always by those notes, which, in that moment, affect you perhaps a little more than usual, considering that he's the one playing them.
An endless amount of time passes, though perhaps it isn't really that long, and then you take a few steps forward. Fernando turns his head as he notices you and smiles.
"How long have you been spying on me?" he asks, amused.
"A little while..." you admit, walking over before sitting down beside him on the piano bench. "Audrey Hepburn?" you ask, tilting your head.
"My mother is her biggest fan..." he admits, playing a few notes from the movie's main theme.
"So am I... But I can't play. I've always wanted to learn, but..." you smile. "I didn't know you played..."
"You thought it was just a decorative piano?" he asks.
"Something like that..." you laugh. "...I guess there are quite a few things left to discover about you..."
"Many more than you could ever discover in just a couple of dates," he admits while playing a few more notes of the same song.
"You win me over like this," you say quietly.
"I thought the fact that you're here tonight meant I'd already done that," he replies, turning his face towards you.
"I suppose..." you smile. "...what else is there to discover about you?" you ask, resting your chin on his shoulder, and the first thing he does is lean over to kiss you.
"It would be too easy if I told you everything. You'll have to find out on your own," he replies.
"A mysterious man... I like that," you comment.
"And if I came to your place, what would I discover?" he asks curiously.
"It would be too easy if I told you everything..." you echo, making him laugh. "I'll give you a few hints. You'd discover that I'm definitely not the tidiest person in the world, I couldn't hide that even if I wanted to," you admit. "That I'm completely incapable of keeping plants alive. I don't have any, except for a lemon tree on my terrace. My mother gave it to me and thinks it's always the same one, but I actually buy a new one every time she comes over because it dies every single time," you continue, laughing, and he laughs too.
"I have a housekeeper who takes care of the plants. I don't even know how many I have or what kind they are..." he admits. "...even if I wanted to, I'd never be here to water them, but if I had the time, I'd like to."
"What's it like, always living out of a suitcase?" you ask.
"It's become a habit by now. I don't know if I'd even be able to live any other way," he replies after thinking about it for a few moments. "I started when I was nineteen, now I'm almost forty-five, so... you do the math," he laughs.
"I've never travelled that much, you know? A little, yes, but less than I would have liked. My ex-husband was definitely too much of a homebody, he hated flying... I think, basically, he just wasn't curious about what was outside our home..." you say.
"How boring..." he comments. "...I mean..."
"How boring, yes..." you cut in. "...I couldn't stand the monotony of our life anymore. It was always the same, it was flat, it was... boring. Life shouldn't be boring, don't you think?" you ask him.
"Absolutely. I do everything I can to make sure mine isn't," Fernando agrees, looking at you.
"The day after I signed the divorce papers, I booked a trip to Iceland with my best friend... I'd always wanted to see it and he... 'It's too far,' 'It's too cold'... So I just went, we needed it..." you begin telling him. "We rented a car and simply drove wherever we wanted, it was amazing."
"Iceland is one place I'm still missing, you know?" he tells you thoughtfully. "It's incredible, now that I think about it, I've actually never been there..." he laughs.
"Well then, I'll take you there. It's... wonderful... I'd dreamed of it for years and I don't even know exactly why, but it was one of those dreams I'd always kept in a drawer, and as soon as I had the chance..."
"And then you moved to Monte Carlo?" he asks curiously, and you nod.
"I changed jobs the following year. Before that I was in Genoa, but here... well, when it comes to the luxury yacht industry, I'd say there's no better place..." you laugh. "...so about six months ago... I ended up here."
"And then you tried to sell me a yacht," he cuts in with an amused smile.
"Hey, you came to me... Just to see what we had to offer. I simply seized the opportunity..." you smile.
"...So did I, the opportunity to ask you out to dinner," he comments, clearly pleased, and you laugh, leaning towards him. He slips an arm around your waist.
"...I'm glad you stayed here tonight..." he adds.
"Oh, really?" you ask, lifting your face to look at him. The room is wrapped in half-light, but his eyes still have that spark that caught your attention the very first time you saw him.
"...Yeah... for several reasons. The dinner, the company... The fact that I was dying to make love to you..." he says quietly, never taking his eyes off you.
"You're someone who makes it pretty clear what he wants," you comment.
"...I like being clear... Right from the start," he smiles.
"I'd noticed..." you reply softly.
For a few seconds, neither of you says anything. You simply stay there, close together, the piano in front of you and the house wrapped in that silence that only exists before dawn.
Fernando is the one to break it.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Oh God..." you joke. "Go on, shoot..." you say, curious to hear what's on his mind.
"But you have to be honest when you answer," he points out.
"I'm always honest," you protest, pretending to be offended.
He tilts his head slightly "Does this scare you?"
You frown a little,"What do you mean?" you ask.
"Us. The first time I asked you out, you said you weren't sure it was a good idea..." he explains.
You look at him for a few moments without answering.
"But then I said yes..." you reply, "I guess it does scare me a little," you admit.
"Why?" he presses, growing more and more curious, and you look back at him, not really knowing what to answer.
What is it that scares you, after all? The fact that it's him? That he's Fernando Alonso? The man you'd only seen on magazine covers, on television, in the Formula One paddock.
And now you're sitting at his piano, with his arm around your waist, at four in the morning, after spending the night in his bed.
"Because it wasn't part of my plans," you admit.
He looks at you, raising an eyebrow, "So... you had plans?"
"Of course. I always have plans..." you say with a sigh "Not having them throws me off balance..." you admit.
"Let's hear them. What plans did you have?" he asks quietly.
"Surviving the billionaires who walk into my office, for starters..." you reply, making him burst out laughing. "No, seriously... working, going out with my friends, maybe buying a slightly bigger house in a few years... normal things," you explain, gesturing with your hands.
"And I'm not normal?" he asks, and you shake your head.
"No..." you smile. "...I'd say definitely not, at least not in my plans... After the divorce I went out with a few people, but... I still hadn't met anyone I genuinely liked..." you add honestly.
He lowers his gaze to the piano keys, "It hadn't happened to me in a long time either," he admits. "And besides, neither are you. Normal."
"Me? I'm the most ordinary person in the world," you object with a laugh.
"A normal woman wouldn't have started arguing with me just to sell me a yacht," he replies, turning to look at you, and you stare back at him in surprise.
"That was my job..." you cut in, not really understanding.
"No." He shakes his head gently. "Your job was to show it to me. Instead, you started explaining why the one I already had wasn't good enough anymore... Basically giving me the third degree about my life..."
You burst out laughing "I have to get to know my clients if I want to satisfy them, and besides, it was true..."
"I know. And that was the moment I decided I wanted to ask you out to dinner..." he says with an amused smile, and you look at him in surprise.
"When I started giving you the third degree?" you ask.
"When we spent an hour and a half in your office talking about travelling, yes..." he agrees, looking at you.
You realize you're blushing, "So... while I was trying to convince you to spend a few million euros..." you joke, trying to lighten the mood.
"More or less, yes..." he laughs.
"How romantic," you say, putting on an exaggerated dreamy expression.
"Very," he replies, pretending to be completely serious.
"I thought it had been the dress, to be honest," you add.
"No."
"Then my hair?"
"No."
"My undeniable elegance?"
He laughs again.
"No... that came later..." he replies. "...although the white dress definitely didn't go unnoticed," he jokes.
You laugh, amazed at how natural it feels to be there, in the silence, laughing, talking, simply getting to know this man who, there's no point denying it, intrigued you from the very beginning.
"So what was it?" you ask, genuinely curious to know the answer, and Fernando actually takes a moment to think about it.
"The way you talked to me, as if you didn't care in the slightest who was standing in front of you, or as if you had no idea," he replies after a while, and you stare at him in surprise.
"Oh, I knew exactly who you were," you comment.
"More or less..." he corrects. "You knew I was Fernando Alonso, sure, but you talked to me as if I were simply a man who'd walked in to look at a yacht."
"Because that's what you were," you reply.
"Exactly," he says, turning towards you. "And that's something that happens very rarely. Finding someone who doesn't treat you differently, with reverence and all that bullshit..."
You stay silent for a moment before asking, "Does it bother you when people treat you differently?"
"I'm used to it by now, it's part of the game," he replies thoughtfully. "But every now and then it's nice to be treated like anyone else," he adds simply.
"You're not just anyone, not even now..." you tell him.
"Oh, really?" he asks with a smile, and you shake your head.
"Nah... I mean, you're definitely sexier than average," you continue, making him laugh out loud.
Then he reaches a hand towards the keyboard.
"Give me your hand. I'll teach you something," he says.
"Just so you know, I can't play," you comment.
"Well, two weeks ago you didn't even know you wanted to go out with a Formula One driver," he jokes.
"Touché," you laugh, resting your hand on the white keys, and he places his over yours.
"This is a C," he tells you.
"What note does Moon River start with?" you ask.
"With C," he replies, playing the note, then he guides you through the next one, and the one after that, until you're clumsily playing that beautiful melody.
"It sounded better when you played it," you comment.
"We'll practise..." he replies with a smile.
"Planning on more late-night sessions?" you ask as the two of you hold each other's gaze in that unreal silence.
"I hope so," he replies.
"Will you play it for me again?" you ask, and he nods. The opening notes begin again, and then you start singing the first verse.
"Moon River, wider than a mile
I'm crossing you in style someday."
Fernando stops playing and looks at you in disbelief. You sing, and you're actually quite good.
"Surprised I'm not tone-deaf?"
"A little..." he admits, impressed, starting to play again while you continue.
"Oh, dream maker
You heartbreaker
Wherever you're going, I'm going your way
Two drifters off to see the world
There's such a lot of world to see
We're after the same rainbow's end
Waiting 'round the bend
My huckleberry friend
Moon River and me."
The song comes to an end and silence falls over the room for what feels like an endless few minutes.
"We should go back to bed..." he says quietly.
"Oh, so you do sleep sometimes...?" you ask, never taking your eyes off him.
"Sometimes..." he replies with a shrug. "Not much tonight."
"How come?" you ask, and he answers without even thinking.
"I remembered one damn detail from the last race..." he sighs. "The wrong tyre strategy and..." he gestures.
"So while you were in bed with me... you were thinking about tyre strategies? You might want to work on your romantic side, Alonso..." you comment, and his eyes widen as he realizes you've completely misunderstood him.
"No, no... that's not what I meant..." he says, embarrassed. "I wasn't thinking about tyres while we were in bed together," he explains, and you burst out laughing, seeing him caught off guard in a way you never have before. "I couldn't sleep and I started thinking..." he justifies himself. "...I definitely wasn't thinking about tyres while I was with you."
"I certainly hope not..." you say, climbing onto your knees on the piano bench before settling onto his lap. His hands slide gently along your back.
"I can assure you of that," he says quietly.
"And what are you thinking about now?" you ask before kissing him, and he kisses you back without hesitation.
"I don't think I can answer that," he says, and you both laugh as you pull back just enough to look at him.
"Shall we go to bed?" you ask softly.
"To sleep?" he challenges, his voice sending shivers down your spine.
"We'll stay awake only if you promise not to think about tyres," you reply, making him smile.
"Promise," he says, getting to his feet and taking you with him.
Hold my hand masterlist - Fernando Alonso Masterlist - F1 Masterlist
featuring: Fernando Alonso x ofc! Martina De Marchi
summary: Sometimes, when everything starts to fall apart, the only thing that matters is having someone close enough to stay, close enough to hold your hand.
genre: Romance, Drama, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
notes: Here I am! I haven’t abandoned this story, but unfortunately, from now until September, updates will be a little more sporadic. Don’t worry, though, I’ll get to the end, I already have everything planned!
In this chapter, Fernando's family will be involved. Just like I did in Crossroads, I decided to create an entirely new family for him, leaving his real family members aside.
warnings: This story contains themes of domestic abuse (both verbal and physical), toxic relationships, and implied sexual violence.
It also includes emotionally heavy content and hospital settings that may be distressing to some readers.
Comment if you want to be added to the taglist, or leave a like here
It's a place I've never been
And it comes from deep within
And it's telling me that I'm about to win first prize
Knowing all I have to do
Is reach out my hand to you
Anytime I want to look into your Spanish eyes
Let it be
If we are nothing more than dreamers
Who believe that we see no one between us
How could they be in my heart
And in my mind?
When all I can find
When I look into your Spanish eyes
I know the reason why I am alive
And the world is so beautiful tonight
Backstreet Boys - Spanish Eyes
The holiday on the boat had come to an end, and Martina and Fernando had arrived in Oviedo that morning, together with Inez and Raul, who were already at their parents' house.
The driver and the doctor, on the other hand, were at Fernando's house. It was late afternoon, and they were getting ready to go to dinner with Fernando's family, in the house where he had grown up.
Martina was a little nervous. Not because there was anything to be afraid of, but it was still an important meeting. She was about to meet his family, the people who mattered most to him.
And she had very little experience when it came to close-knit families.
Fernando had reassured her. It was only dinner, but she knew the normal questions would come. About her father, about her mother... She would make something up, and she would do the same about herself. Not lies, but... maybe not the whole story of how she had met their son.
She wasn't going to talk about the report, the charges, the trial. They would pretend none of it existed. She had been the one to ask for that.
It wasn't a conversation she wanted to have over her first family dinner, and Fernando had agreed.
Martina walked out of the bedroom and joined Fernando in the kitchen.
"I'm not asking for your approval, just your opinion," she said as she walked in. "How do I look?" she asked with a smile.
She was wearing a long cream-colored dress that reached her ankles, soft and flowing, with bare shoulders and embroidered with pink flowers.
"You look good, amor," he smiled. "You look beautiful."
"I want to make a good impression," she commented with a smile.
"You have nothing to worry about, okay? It's just dinner. Inez and Raul will be there too, and most of the evening my parents will complain about how little they get to see me," Fernando joked. "And then they'll ask you medical questions because my mum's a hypochondriac," he added with a grin.
"When it comes to medicine, I know my stuff," she laughed. "I can survive."
They left the house and started walking through the streets of Oviedo. It was a wonderful city, small and full of people. Martina looked around while Fernando pointed out places connected to his childhood, to silly things he'd done as a boy, and she found herself completely absorbed in learning more about him, about what had made him the man he was now.
They arrived at Fernando's parents' house right on time, and before stepping through the garden gate, he stopped for a moment.
"I'm here, okay? And nothing will come up unless you want it to..." he said, looking at her. "...it's only dinner, and they're going to fall in love with you..." he smiled.
Martina laughed.
"I'm not that charming, Alonso," she teased.
He shrugged.
"That's what you think. All they'll have to do is see how much we love each other," he said simply, taking her hand again and starting to walk.
With him, she could face anything.
He made her feel safe.
He made her feel strong.
He made her feel like she was capable of anything.
Fernando's parents turned out to be exactly what you would expect from the members of a loving family: his father, a warm and funny man, and his mother, a petite woman with bright, intelligent eyes.
They welcomed Martina warmly and invited her to sit under the porch, where Raul and Inez were already waiting.
And everything flowed effortlessly. The conversation, the laughter, Fernando's mother scolding him for never visiting and never calling, him rolling his eyes, his sister backing their mother up, only to receive exactly the same complaints that had just been aimed at her brother.
Martina laughed. They were a close-knit, completely ordinary family, and that evening she felt pleasantly at ease being part of their dynamics.
"So, sweetheart, you work in the emergency department?" Mrs. Alonso, Manuela, asked while they were sitting at the table.
"Yes, I'm specialising in emergency medicine. I'm in my final year," Martina replied.
"That must be a tough job," his father, Luis, commented, taking a sip of wine.
"Well... you never know what's coming through the door, and you always have to be ready to act. I like the adrenaline that comes with having to make immediate decisions, always trying to do the very best for every patient who comes in..." she replied.
"That answer, Mum, explains why Fernando fell in love with her," Inez joked.
"Well, I'm just a doctor. It's not like being a racing driver who..."
"...I'd say it's much more than that..." Fernando interrupted, looking at her. "Marty saves people's lives every single day. I just drive fast and turn a steering wheel," he joked. "Very fast, so I don't crash. That's true," he added, making everyone laugh.
"Your job carries an enormous amount of responsibility," Fernando's mother added, looking at Martina. "You have no idea how happy I am that Fernando finally found a girlfriend with a real job, someone as smart as you..."
"Thank you..." Martina replied softly.
"He needs someone to keep his feet on the ground, this one, otherwise can you imagine how big his ego would get?" the woman joked again.
Fernando sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes.
"Mum..."
"Oh, he's a good boy, I know... But he's lived a life that..." Manuela continued, gesturing animatedly. "...but tell me, how did you two meet? Come on, you know I'm curious," she added as she sat back down after serving dessert to everyone.
Martina froze for a second.
"I moved into the apartment opposite hers," Fernando stepped in. "And her father works for Ferrari," he added truthfully. There was no need to lie about that.
"And that's when Fernando suddenly stopped leaving Maranello," Inez commented, making everyone laugh. "We immediately knew there had to be a girl involved when you even stopped staying in Monte Carlo. Ferrari couldn't possibly have become that important."
Martina laughed.
"My fault, actually, that he's always there..." she commented.
"No fault at all," he replied. "I'm perfectly happy with that," he smiled, squeezing her hand.
After dinner they moved back outside. The garden was enormous and beautiful, with perfectly tended flowers and the sound of cicadas echoing everywhere.
"Hey..." Fernando said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Everything okay?" he asked, kissing her neck.
"Yes, it's been a wonderful evening. Your parents are lovely," she replied with a smile.
"My mum keeps saying I've finally brought home the right girl," he answered, making her laugh.
"Your mum exaggerates..." Martina replied.
"Maybe she doesn't," he commented quietly.
"See the way he's looking at her like an idiot?" Inez's voice rang out behind them, and both Martina and Fernando turned to see her pointing at them while their mother laughed. "Seriously, it's like his brain has completely melted."
"Would you stop being an idiot?" Fernando snapped while his twin mimicked him.
"You're the one who's become all mushy..." she shot back.
"Says the one who claimed she'd found her Prince Charming when she met Raul..." Fernando replied.
"I never said that, you stupid driver!" Inez exclaimed.
"I never said that..." Fernando repeated, imitating her. "You absolutely did. I remember it."
"Mum, tell him I never said that!" the girl protested.
"Mum, you know you remember it!" Fernando replied.
"Kids, do I have to remind you that you're not twelve anymore?" Manuela interrupted, looking at her children.
"He's been stuck at twelve for years..." Inez muttered.
"You never even made it to twelve," Fernando replied, annoyed.
Martina watched them.
She was seeing a side of Fernando she had never expected. A spontaneity she absolutely loved.
He was home, on his own turf, and he felt completely free to be himself.
He probably felt even freer than he did when he was alone with her, when perhaps he had to be more careful about what he said or did. Around his sister, Fernando had absolutely no filter.
She had always wanted a brother or a sister, but it had never happened, and she had always envied her friends who had siblings.
Watching the twins together like that was beautiful, and Martina was truly happy that Fernando had a family who loved him so much.
-
They got home fairly late, after an evening filled with endless conversation.
Fernando was asleep. It was almost three in the morning, but Martina hadn't been able to fall asleep, and not wanting to wake him, she had quietly gotten up and gone out onto the terrace with a cup of chamomile tea.
The city was silent, and she could still hear the crickets and cicadas singing from the hills just outside town.
It had been a lovely evening, and she had felt welcomed and cared for in a way she rarely had before.
Only afterwards, in the silence of the house, once Fernando had fallen asleep and she was alone, did she allow herself to think about how much she envied him.
Not in a bitter way, but he truly had a wonderful family. Close, loving, always ready to help him, people he could always count on.
She hadn't known anything about her mother for twenty years, and her father had chosen to stand by the monster who had destroyed her life.
She knew that now, at twenty-eight, her life was in her own hands. It was up to her to build herself a future, and she would.
But that didn't erase the sadness of something she would never have had.
Spritz quietly climbed onto the chair beside her and curled up, as though he understood she needed a little silent company.
"Maybe one day I'll manage to build myself a family like that, won't I, little monster?" Martina said, stroking his soft fur.
The cat didn't move, simply purring for a moment, and she smiled.
"Marty..."
Fernando's voice echoed behind her.
"...what are you doing out here? It's three in the morning," he said, stepping onto the terrace, rubbing his eyes.
"Go back to bed, Fer. I can't sleep, but you should," she said immediately.
Instead, he sat down beside her on the sofa and wrapped his arms around her.
"What's wrong, mi amor?" he asked softly, kissing her neck with a tenderness Martina still couldn't believe was meant for her.
"Nothing... nothing's wrong..." she replied.
"Liar..." he answered, gently pulling her against him. "You can't fool me, you know that, Doc?" he continued.
She smiled.
"I was just thinking that you have a beautiful family. You're lucky," she admitted at last.
"I really am. They're the most important people in my life. They're always there... always," he replied.
"I was thinking about my father..." she added quietly. "...I've been thinking about it for a long time, you know? About why he's like this with me. I... I... I think..." She paused for a moment. "My mother left because she didn't want to be a mother. She missed the freedom she'd lost when I was born... I think he blames me for making her leave," she admitted at last.
"Marty... come on..."
"...He loved her so much, and then one day she disappeared... because she didn't want a life with me," she interrupted, turning to look at him.
"Then he's an idiot," Fernando said bluntly. "You were a little girl who'd just lost her mother. How the hell could any of that have been your fault?"
Whenever the subject of Giorgio came up, Fernando lost his temper. The idea that a father could react the way he had after everything his daughter had endured was incomprehensible to him.
He had stopped speaking to him, even at work, except when absolutely necessary.
He considered him a despicable man who didn't deserve a daughter like Martina.
"I'm not saying it was my fault. I just think... he believes it was," she said in such a flat, resigned tone that Fernando found it unsettling.
As though she'd grown so used to it that it no longer surprised her.
"And I don't want this to become one more thing for you to carry," she added with a smile. "You've already got enough on your shoulders... I'm not sad, Fer. Tonight was wonderful," she said sincerely. "I was just thinking."
"I think one day you really will build the family you've always wanted," he told her.
"I hope so..." Martina admitted. "...I've always wanted one, although to tell the truth I never really let myself think about it, because yes, I wanted one... but I never wanted it with him."
"Thank God, Marty..." Fernando said without thinking. "...I can't even imagine him as a father."
"Neither can I," she replied. "We talked about it once... but it was before... before..." She let the sentence fade away, and silence settled between them while Fernando gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb, and she curled up against him.
"For now we've got Spritz," the driver said after a while.
She burst out laughing.
"Judging by how much he eats and sleeps, I'd say we're doing a pretty good job," she replied.
"Just look at how well that little beast has got it," Fernando muttered, pointing at the cat sleeping peacefully.
"Do you realise you adopted a cat for me?" she asked, amused, turning to look at him.
"Yeah, Doc... I realise that. And believe me, more than once I asked myself, 'What the hell are you doing?'" Fernando laughed. "But then I'd look at you and... well..." He shrugged. "You were worth it," he finished, a little embarrassed.
She stayed silent, a faint smile on her lips, simply staring into those dark eyes that had become her entire world, eyes that gave her tenderness, love, passion, endless calm, strength... everything she needed, exactly when she needed it.
"Let's go to bed, champion," she said, brushing a kiss against his lips.
They got up and slipped beneath the covers once they reached the bedroom, lying there in the darkness, in silence.
"Maybe one day you'll have your family... with me," Fernando said quietly, almost unsure whether he wanted her to hear him or not.
"That's what I hope too, amore..." she replied. "...but it feels too soon to think about that. I didn't mean to..."
"...I know you didn't mean anything by it. I'm the one who thought about it tonight, especially after my sister practically ordered me not to let you go because I won't find another one like you," the driver laughed.
Martina tightened the arms he had wrapped around her from behind. She felt tears sting her eyes, because she had never expected to hear something like that.
"I know we're in the middle of a mess, that we've somehow been together for three months, and that we've still got an ocean to cross... But..." Fernando continued softly, "...I wonder what you and I are going to get ourselves into, Doc..."
"I don't know... but I'm sure it'll be something beautiful..." she replied, turning around and burying her face against his neck.
