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“It’s great your parents are still living in your childhood home,” Lando says as he traces strange patterns on Oscar’s chest.
Oscar knows he always does that when something bothers him, to relax and to chase the unwanted thoughts out of his mind.
“It is. I– The first time I returned after getting my apartment in London, I nearly redecorated. Felt silly to come back to my teen room, you know.”
Oscar feels Lando nods against his chest.
“But in the end, I didn’t and I’m grateful for it. I’m not here often and I like to find all these memories.”
“Even Fluffy?” Lando asks, teasing Oscar about the battered dog plushie that Lando cooed over when he first came into the room.
“Especially Fluffy.”
“Sometimes I wish my parents would have kept our house. I know the new one is better but… yeah.”
“Memories?”
Lando nods again and Oscar feels him take a deeper breath. Instinctually, he gently strokes his back, to comfort his boyfriend.
“You know, I’ve asked a real estate agent to keep an eye on it. If the house is put on sale, he’ll tell me.”
“You want to buy it back?”
“Yeah. I know the new owners have probably changed a lot of things but… I know it’s silly.”
“It’s not. I mean, you can probably buy any house you want but if this one is the one you want… Then go for it.”
“It’s just… When I imagine myself, in a few years. I always see that house. With the little patio and the large gardens and–” Lando stops himself and Oscar can feel the tension taking hold of his body.
“And?” he gently pries.
“Nothing… It’s… Nothing.”
“Lan, you know you can tell me everything, don’t you?”
“I know but… I… I’m afraid you’re not going to like what I want to say and if you don’t, I…”
Oscar moves a bit to lift Lando’s head from his chest and looks at him in the eyes.
“Do I need to remind you it’s better to say things than keep everything bundled up? Do I need to remind you what happened last time?”
“No… I…”
Oscar put a gentle kiss on Lando’s temple, to encourage him.
“It’s just that I’m always imagining kids playing in the garden.”
Oscar wasn’t expecting that. Lando’s desire to have kids one day is not something he hid from the public so he’s not sure why his boyfriend was so reticent about telling him.
“Lando… I know you want kids. You never hid that.”
“I know but… We never talked about actually having kids. Together I mean.” Lando explains.
“You’d want that?”
Lando hides his face against Oscar’s torso but Oscar doesn’t let him, lifting his head again.
“Not now of course but, yeah. I think so. You?”
“I mean… I’m still young so it’s not something I’ve thought about in detail but, yes, at one point, I’d like to have children.” Oscar confesses.
“With me?” Lando asks with that adorable pout Oscar can’t resist. But this is a serious conversation so he tries not to be influenced by his boyfriend’s cuteness.
“Lando, you know I love you don’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“And that I’m not planning on stopping any time soon.”
“Yes.”
“So, yes, I’d like to have kids with you.”
“Awww!” Lando coos in a nearly mocking way but Oscar knows better and can see how he’s just trying to hide that he’s getting a bit emotional.
Oscar shuts him up with a kiss before they cuddle a bit more and fall asleep in each other’s arms.
***
Oscar had seen the pictures Lando showed him– the old ones from his childhood, the newer ones from the real estate agency. But going to see the house for real feels different.
Lando takes his hand as he opens the main door and Oscar knows the moment is meaningful for his fiance. He finally made his dream come true and bought back his childhood home.
Lando stops once inside. Looks at the little hallway opening over the living room.
“I can’t believe it’s mine again.”
Oscar comes to cuddle Lando.
“Are you happy?”
“Yes. And the owner barely changed anything. Just the kitchen and bathroom but… It still feels familiar.”
“It’s a beautiful house.”
“You like it too?”
Lando moves in Oscar’s arms to face him, putting his hand behind his neck.
“Lando… I wouldn’t have bought it with you if it wasn’t the case. I know it was your dream to get the house back but now it’s our dream to make it our family house.”
“Osc… I love you!”
Lando kisses him and as the kiss grows more passionate, Oscar finds himself pushed against the wall.
And if they christen their house in that way, he’s not going to complain.
***
Lando looks at the ceiling and tries to calm his fast-beating heart.
He can’t believe it’s happening. For real. In less than 24 hours he will be Mr Lando Norris-Piastri.
It feels like yesterday when Oscar and he met properly for the first time, at the MTC. Just a handshake and a quick chat over a coffee before a long day of photoshoots and meetings.
It was already six years ago. It took them a bit of time to understand each other at first but when they did, it became evident for Lando.
Oscar was the one. The one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, the one he wanted to create a family with.
And tomorrow, they are going to marry each other, making that dream a reality.
There is a knock on the door of his room.
“Come in.”
“Hey.”
“Mum…”
“Just wanted to know how you were feeling?”
“Stressed,” Lando confesses as his mother comes to sit on his bed. “And… I miss him.”
“Oh, Snoepje! You will see Oscar soon! And missing him is part of the deal of spending your last night as fiances apart.”
“I know.”
Lando was the one insisting they did this. Lando is staying with his parents and Oscar in a rented house with his family. A night apart before promising to love each other forever. Lando loved that symbolism.
And so he was there, alone in the room that had been his for just a year before he moved into his first flat in Woking. A room that didn’t feel completely familiar.
“You should sleep, Lando. Wouldn’t want to get married with bags under your eyes, would you?”
“Yeah, I should but…”
“Try breathing slowly and just think about saying yes to the man you love!”
“Easier said than done. Were you stressed before your wedding to Dad?”
“Of course I was, I threw up first thing in the morning! Your grandma was afraid I was pregnant. I was just so nervous!”
They both laugh at the anecdote.
“But I calmed down as soon as I saw your father waiting for me at the other end of the aisle. I knew I was making the best decision of my life. And I have never regretted it since.”
“I hope it will be the same for Oscar and me.”
“I’m sure it will. You love each other so much. Everyone can see that. And your love stayed strong, even when you battled on track, even when he went over to Red Bull.”
Lando nods, remembering the hard times they had back then and how it felt like their love only got stronger.
“Sleep, now!” His Mum says again, kissing him on the temple and ruffling his hair.
“Goodnight, Mum.”
“Goodnight, Snoepje.”
A few minutes later, Lando falls asleep imagining the soft smile of Oscar as he says “I do.”
***
“It’s beautiful,” Oscar says as he puts his arm around Lando’s waist.
“Yes. And I can’t wait for our little girl to come.”
The nursery was finished while they were racing in Abu Dhabi, under Lando’s parents' supervision and it’s even more beautiful than in the drawings.
“Me too. Just a few more days probably.”
They talked to their surrogate the day before as her due date was fast approaching. Lando is both impatient and completely frightened at the prospect of having the responsibility of a baby. But his family is there to help them and Oscar’s calm and confident demeanour really helps, too.
“I hope she will love this room as much as I did,” Lando says, trying to superpose the image of his childhood room over the newly refurbished nursery.
“I’m sure she will. But I’m still putting a lock on that window! No way she’s sneaking out like her father…”
“I was actually sneaking in, not out!”
“And you still ended up in hospital…”
“It was only a little cut.”
“Lando,” Oscar sighs.
“Ok, ok.”
“I’m going to be the strict parent, ain’t I?”
“Yup.”
Lando put a little kiss on Oscar’s cheek.
“But you’ll be a wonderful Dad, Osc.”
“I hope so…”
Lando extracts himself from his husband’s embrace and goes around the room. He touches the soft wooden furniture, makes the mobile move above the cot and straightens the koala plushie in it.
The room is perfect.
Lando looks at Oscar who smiles so softly at him. There is that warmth in his eyes that has been there since the first day. Looking at Oscar makes Lando feel at home more than anything else, even more than this childhood room that holds both his past and their shared future.