Work Text:
March
Seb wasn't one to brag, but he had a pretty amazing life.
He lived in a beautiful, cozy house like he'd always dreamed of doing, he had the cutest cat in the world, and best of all, he had the most perfect husband he could ask for.
They had been married for almost 5 years now, but Seb barely remembered any of the days before he knew Kimi; it was as if his life only started when Kimi entered it.
Even his job wasn't too dreadful, though working from home made everything a lot easier. Unfortunately, Kimi did not work from home, but those moments when he returned from a long shift on work days always filled Seb with joy.
His favourite member of the house - which he often joked about with Kimi - was of course his tabby cat, Brick. Although letting his husband name their cat was a regret Seb had been living with since they brought the cat home, he still loved the little purring machine to bits.
So yes, he had a great life and he loved everything about it... but it wasn't perfect. And there was one reason for that, selfish as it was.
He wasn't a father.
Since Seb was a kid, throught to a teen and now as an adult, he had always wanted a child. He even still had a notes tab of potential baby names on his phone.
He had never properly approached the topic of children with Kimi before, mainly because he knew his husband wasn't too fond of them. At least that's what it looked like, sometimes it was better to say they weren't fond of him.
The main memory that comes to mind was when he and Kimi met Nico's son George for the first time. Nico and his partner Lewis had been close friends of theirs for years, and Seb was so excited to go and meet their newly adopted baby five years ago.
Unfortunately for Kimi, the moment he begrudgingly held George for the first time, the baby threw up all over his shirt, and things only got worse when the baby began crying and Kimi completely froze up while everyone else was freaking out.
Despite that... rough day, the photo of Seb holding George for the first time was hanging on the wall in the living room proudly. However, every time Seb looked up at it, the overwhelming feeling of adoration came with a small feeling of something else... envy.
He had mentioned wanting children before, multiple times, but neither he or Kimi had ever discussed actually adopting...
That was until today, Seb decided as he stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He knew Kimi was awake now and not in a cranky mood from the terrible ten hours of sleep that was rudely disturbed at 11am. How dreadful, Seb thought to himself with a smirk.
After fixing his hair and taking a deep breath, Seb returned to their bedroom and immediately busied himself with something on his desk. For some reason, maintaining eye contact while having this talk was not an option for Seb.
"I've been thinking..." he started casually.
He glanced over at Kimi, who despite still being curled up in their duvet, looked back at him. "About what?"
Seb opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again. How was he supposed to mention something this major in a casual way? 'Hey, let's have a kid' sounded too over the top, but what else was he supposed to-
"Sebastian?"
He snapped back to reality at the sound of his name and saw Kimi was now sat up, suppoting himself with an elbow.
"Sorry." Seb blinked.
Kimi raised an eyebrow slightly. "You were thinking..?" he encouraged Seb to carry on speaking.
Seb smiled dumbly as if he forgot what he was talking about. "Right- yes, um... I've been thinking about something, and I was wondering how you would feel about it."
His husband nodded. "Okay."
It was now or never, drop the bombshell or opt out and make this awkward.
"We've never really spoken about having kids."
Silence filled the room. The rustling of the bedsheets stopped instantly, the birds outside were no longer singing, and even the hum from the washing machine downstairs seemed to disappear.
The usual calm, neutral look on Kimi's face that Seb was so used to had been replaced by a look of something between shock and... no, just shock.
"What about them?" Kimi forced out, despite both of them knowing exactly what.
Seb cleared his throat awkwardly. "You know, having a kid. Our own kid... like... a- adoption."
Kimi didn't reply immediately, just looked back at Seb with an expression that implied he did not expect to have this conversation five minutes after waking up. It was as if they were having a starting contest, both waiting for the other to break the painful silence between them.
After what felt like hours - but was probably about three seconds - Seb exhaled heavily and went to speak, but Kimi beat him to it.
"How do you feel about it?"
As if Seb's eyebrows couldn't be raised any more, they disappeared into his hair. "Me?"
Kimi nodded. "Yeah. Is it... something you want? ...Now?"
Seb shrugged shyly. "Not right this moment, no. But... soon maybe... at some point, yes."
He did not need to make that as difficult as he did, but at least he'd said it. The problem Seb faced now was the look on his husband's face, it didn't look happy like he had hoped.
"Only if you want it too, though." Seb quickly added. "I mean- we have the stability for it, but I don't want you feeling like you-"
"I do."
Seb paused, locking eyes with Kimi once again. There was the faintest of smiles threatening to escape on the edge of his lips.
"You- really?" Seb questioned. "You want this?"
Now it was Kimi's turn to shrug. "Yeah."
The only thing Seb could do was laugh, and it broke the strange tension in the room. He got up and threw himself onto the bed and into Kimi, who himself was smiling.
"Just 'yeah'?" Seb asked jokingly.
Kimi ran a hand over his face. "What else do you want me to say?"
Seb continued to laugh. "How about... wow Sebastian, I would love to start a family with you, I love you so much!"
He could feel his husband laughing next to him. "I would never say that."
After a while longer of laughing, Seb sat himself up and looked at Kimi. "You're serious about this?"
"Of course." Kimi replied softly. "I am serious about everything."
Seb smirked at him. "Be serious! You really want to adopt?"
There was a brief pause, and Seb immediately expected the worst: all the big changes and adjustments they'd have to make for this was too much for them, especially Kimi-
"The only time I have been this sure about something was when I asked you to marry me."
Seb's breath caught as Kimi's words processed in his mind. That funny feeling in his stomach that he used to get when he first started going out with Kimi was back, and a shy smile spread over his face.
He shuffled back under the bedsheet and let Kimi pull him closer. He wasn't planning on spending this morning doing nothing at all, but now he didn't mind as much.
"I love you." Kimi hummed tiredly.
Seb smiled to himself. "I love you too."
He closed his eyes and began to drift off almost immediately. The last thing Seb remembered was feeling the warmth of Kimi against him, as well as a small kiss on the back of his head before sleep took him again.
Kimi wanted this. It was actually happening.
~♡~
August
"Do you think he will like it?" Seb asked for what must have been the 1000th time, but the nerves were really starting to kick in now. Today was the day that their son truly became their son.
He and Kimi planned on visiting a few adoption centres and children, but they didn't expect the first child they met to be so perfect, and his name was Max.
Max was quiet at first when Seb and Kimi visited the adoption centre some time ago, but it didn't take long for him to come out of his shell. He was also very smart for his age, being able to understand and speak 2 languages at just 6 years old. He seemed to warm up to Seb within 2 minutes when they first met, and that was the moment he and Kimi knew.
Kimi, who was currently leaning against the wall and inspecting the small bedroom they had been working on for the last few weeks, simply sighed gently. "He loves cars, his bed is a car. I think he will like it."
Seb looked over at the bed again and smiled to himself. Max had mentioned his love for cars multiple times, so as soon as Seb got home that day, he opened his laptop and bought a bedframe that looked like a car.
"What if we went overboard with the cars?" Seb glanced around at the cars on the walls, the toy cars neatly piled in a basket, the car posters on the back of the door, and the clothes hanging in the small wardrobe... mostly shirts with cars on them.
He felt a hand caress his back and exhaled heavily, briefly forgetting about his worries in that moment.
"You worry to much, love." Kimi spoke softly. "We will be okay."
Seb nodded as he pulled Kimi into a hug. His husband was right: they would be okay, and Max would love this.
Not just Max, his son.
The drive to the adoption centre was quiet, and it was clear that both him and Kimi were slightly nervous. Even the quiet background noise of Seb's favourite CD wasn't helping.
He wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure what. Instead, he glanced in the rear view mirror at the small booster seat in the back of the car, and he smiled to himself.
"This is going to be perfect." he thought out loud, turning to Kimi who was driving. "You are perfect. I love you."
To Seb, seeing Kimi smile never became less beautiful with time. "I love you too."
That was all they said, it was all they needed to say, and the rest of the journey felt less nerve-wracking afterwards.
Well, mostly.
"I'm going to be sick." Seb announced as soon as Kimi killed the engine in the car park. "I am definitely going to be sick! What do I do?"
Kimi simply placed a hand on his back and slowly traced patterns on his shirt. "You know you won't be sick, you're just nervous."
"No, I really am going to be sick!" Seb ran a hand through his hair. "Am I having a stroke?"
"Sebastian." Kimi's voice was firmer now, but there was no anger or rush behind it. "You're okay, just take a minute."
Seb nodded. "Okay, okay. One minute."
That was how they remained for a while, sitting in silence while Kimi grounded Seb. Eventually, Seb let out one final deep breath and turned to his husband.
"Shall we go and pick up our son?"
Kimi smiled and nodded, and Seb stole a quick kiss before jumping out of the car, linking hands with Kimi and heading inside.
The same man, Daniel, who introduced them to Max spotted them and smiled. "Aha!" he announced excitedly. "The Räikkönen-Vettels?"
Seb returned the eager smile. "That's us."
"Max is extremely excited." Daniel told them as they walked down a familiar corridor. "He didn't fall asleep until midnight last night because he kept jumping up with joy."
The thought made Seb's chest warm, and he squeezed Kimi's hand gently. He was glad to feel the gesture returned, and when an all-too-familiar laugh echoed down the corridor, Seb perked up.
"I know that laugh." he said, mostly to himself.
Daniel nodded and chuckled. "I'm sure you will never hear the end of it when he is home with you."
As they turned the corner into one of the small playing rooms, the sight of Max sitting on a racetrack carpet and playing with cars greeted them.
When Max heard the sound of people entering the room, his head snapped around and his eyes locked onto Seb and Kimi. Without wasting a second, he jumped up and ran at them, using his small arms to signal he wanted to be lifted, despite being told multiple times that children being picked up was not allowed.
But Seb, who was he to say no to Max's adorable face?
"Hey, Maxie!" Seb laughed as he picked up the small boy, who immediately put one arm around him and used the other to pull Kimi's arm closer.
Max was laughing already, a toothy smile beaming at them both. "Are you my dads now?"
Kimi and Seb exchanged a glance of joy before looking back at Max.
"I guess we have no choice." Kimi replied sarcastically, only sending Max into another fit of giggles.
Seb put him down on the floor and Max looked at his and Kimi's joined hands. Hesitantly, he placed his own small palm on top, and Seb wasted no time moving his hand to now hold Max's as well.
A voice behind them sniffled rather unsubtly, and the three of them turned to look at Daniel. "Sorry, this part always makes me cry."
"Don't, you'll set me off!" Seb replied with a laugh.
Kimi made a face at Daniel. "Please, you don't want to set him off."
Seb hit his husband on the arm playfully, and Max watched from the floor and giggled. "When can we go home?"
Hearing Max already calling it "home" filled Seb with pride, and he looked at Daniel for an answer.
He smirked and shrugged. "Well, everything is signed, sorted and official, so whenever you're ready, you can go Max."
Max squealed in excitement and ran to the corner of the room to pick up a small backpack, which unsurprisingly had a car on it. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
Seb watched in amusement as Max grabbed Kimi's hand and pulled him out of the room. Before they could go though, Max turned back and hugged Daniel tightly, saying his goodbyes. Seb almost felt bad, it was clear that he was close with Max.
"You can come by and see him any time." Seb offered once Max had returned to pulling Kimi down the corridor, to which Kimi picked him up and immediately found all of Max's ticklish spots.
He looked at Seb and smiled in appreciation. "Thank you. Can you just... send me an e-mail every now and then telling me how he is? I'm going to miss that crazy creature."
Seb smiled at him. "Of course."
The two hugged quickly before Seb realised both Max and his husband had disappeared.
"They've left me already." he joked, but he saw them re-emerge from one of the other rooms with two more bags a moment later. Seb laughed a bit too loudly when Max handed all of his bags to Kimi for him to carry and skipped off down the corridor.
Kimi looked back at Seb with a pleading look. "Some help would be nice?"
Unfortunately for Kimi, the help in question was Seb pulling out his phone and taking a picture of him with Spiderman and racing car backpacks hanging from most of his limbs.
"That is going straight onto the fridge!" Seb smirked at his husband, ignoring his betrayed face and walking straight past him to run away with Max.
Kimi looked back at Daniel one last time. "I am already regretting this."
He smiled back at Kimi. "You're the designated bag carrier now, this is your new life."
A small laugh escaped Kimi, and after waving at him one more time, he headed off to catch up with Seb and Max, who had probably already driven off without him.
~♡~
The car ride home didn't have a moment of silence, which was mainly because Max spent the entire time blabbering on about cars and laughing, and Seb loved it.
As Kimi pulled up onto their driveway and stopped the car, Max put his hands on the window and admired the house.
"Wow..." he whispered. "This is your house?"
Kimi smirked. "No, this is our house."
Seb looked at Kimi with all the adoration he had before getting out the car and helping Max do the same. Max wasted no time in sprinting to the front door and continuously ringing the doorbell. Seb laughed as Max sang along to the ding dong melody of the doorbell.
"No one's home, silly!" Seb called out to him, dangling the house keys from his fingers.
Max laughed as he jumped up and down at the door, waiting impatiently to get into the house. As Seb and Kimi made their way over, a crucial though suddenly entered Seb's brain, something he completely forgot to mention to Max this whole time.
"Hey Maxie?" Seb asked nervously, and he looked up with big eyes. "How do you feel about cats?"
Seb noticed the moment Kimi realised what he was hinting at, and almost laughed at the horror realisation. Here's to hoping Max wasn't allergic, or worse, didn't like cats.
Max's smile only widened. "I love cats! Do your neighbours have any?"
Kimi smirked. "Better than that."
...
"Shut. up."
Seb and Kimi both laughed as Max's jaw fell to the floor, and they quickly unlocked the front door and guided him into the living room.
Max took in all of his surroundings with the widest eyes he could, not being able to stop smiling. As he entered the living room, he gasped and froze.
"That..." Seb hesitated to admit the name of their cat. "...is our cat, Brick."
Max shot a judgement glance their way, and Kimi shrugged guiltily. "He got his name before we adopted him."
"That is such a lie, Kimi! You named him!" Seb replied, dumbfounded as he and Kimi began pretend arguing over the cat's name, making Max laugh.
Slowly, Max approached Brick and held a hand out gently. "Hey, Brick." he whispered softly, and the cat sniffed his hand for a moment before he started purring contently and rubbing his face against Max's hand.
"He likes you already." Seb smiled at them, and Max looked back up at him with proud eyes.
They left the cat to sleep, and Seb and Kimi continued to show Max around the house, including the kitchen, bathroom, and the garden which Max was very impressed with, mainly because of the swing that awaited him outside.
"We should go upstairs." Kimi said suddenly, shooting Seb a sneaky and unreasonably attractive wink.
Seb grinned back at him. "I agree, we need to show you something."
Max giggled nervously. "What is it?"
"You will see." Kimi replied as they all headed upstairs.
Impatiently, Max smiled and grabbed both their hands in an attempt to pull them upstairs quicker. "Tell me!"
Kimi chuckled softly. "You will see."
"Tell me!"
"No."
"Tell meee!"
"No."
"Tell meeeeeee!"
Seb laughed at the ridiculousness of his husband and son. It still amazed him to think of Max as his son... God, he was so lucky.
Kimi stopped outside Max's new room, unbeknownst to him. "Max, take a look in here."
After giving them both his best suspicious glare, Max grinned and opened the door slowly. The moment he entered the room, his face lit up.
"Wow!" he gasped as he walked around and looked at everything. "Is this... is this my room?"
Seb nodded with a smile. "As jealous as we are, this belongs to you."
He and Kimi waited by the door hand in hand and let Max explore, laughing at every gasp and happy noise that came from their son.
"IS THAT A CAR BED?!"
Max screamed in pure joy - making Seb jump - as he belly-flopped onto the mattress.
Kimi leaned in towards Seb ever so slightly. "Still think we went over the top with the cars?"
"Definitely not." Seb replied quietly. "This is better than perfect."
Max was too busy rolling around in his brand new bed to notice his dads whispering about him. "This was the best day ever before the bed, and now it's the best best day ever! I am sleeping in a racing car!"
Seb breathed a small sigh of relief; thank fuck all the hard work that went into this room payed off... even if most of the 'work' was him sitting on the windowsill and watching Kimi build everything. Cut him some slack, he put one of the posters up!
"So you like it?" Seb asked hopefully.
Max gaped at him. "Like it?! I love it! Thank you so so so so so so so so much!"
Seb squeezed Kimi's hand again, and he noticed his husband smiling out of the corner of his eye. "So, broccoli for dinner?" he asked.
"Ew, nooo!"
As Max and Kimi began 'arguing' over whether they should have pizza or broccoli for dinner, Seb opened his phone and searched for the nearest pizza delivery to them.
"Sorry love, he wins." Seb muttered under his breath.
~♡~
Their first day as a family went so much better than Seb expected, he didn't even know how else to describe it other than perfect.
After finding a makeshift stool so Max could reach the sink and brush his teeth, he guided his son towards his new bedroom and let him get comfy.
"This bed is awesome." Max sighed as he snuggled into the warmth under the blankets.
Seb smiled at him and mentally noted his son's tired eyes and the long yawn he did. Despite Max insiting he would stay awake for a bedtime story, Seb was less convinced. Instead, he simply chose to talk to his son, which had quickly become his new favourite thing.
"So, did you have a good day today?" Seb asked him.
Max yawned again and nodded. "The best day ever. Thank you, papa."
Seb's eyes widened in surprise and his mouth fell open ever so slightly. Max must have caught on because he frowned up at him. "Hello?"
Trying to play it off, Seb blinked himself back into reality and let out a shaky breath. "You- you don't have to call me that if you don't want to, Maxie. I won't be offended."
Max's frown didn't change. "I do want to! You are my papa, no?"
"Of course I am, and I always will be." Seb smiled and stroked his son's hair softly. "You get some sleep now, okay Maxie?"
Thankfully for Seb, Max nodded and allowed his eyes to shut instead of protesting about not being read a bedtime story. He waited next to the car bed until he knew Max was definitely asleep before sneaking out of the room as quietly as possible.
Seb returned downstairs to where Kimi was waiting on the sofa. Looking at his husband's exhausted but happy face finally broke something in Seb, and all the moments he'd been holding back tears today came flooding back at once.
Seb barely had time to register that he was crying before Kimi stood up and pulled him into a hug.
"He called me papa!" Seb sobbed.
Kimi nodded proudly, resting his chin on Seb's shoulder. "Because he loves you so much already."
Seb exhaled sharply as he tried to calm himself. "I didn't expect him to do that so soon. I was prepared for the talk about how he didn't have to do anything he didn't feel comfortable doing... like calling me that."
"I think if he is comfortable enough to have a pillow fight with his dad on his first day home, he's comfortable enough to call you that." Kimi replied, and Seb laughed as the chaotic memories of today came back to him again.
Seb wiped his eyes on his sleeve and pulled Kimi down to sit on the sofa with him. They adjusted to fit perfectly next to each other like they had grown so used to doing, and Seb shut his eyes slowly.
"I am the luckiest man on Earth." he hummed tiredly.
Kimi laughed softly as he began running his hand through Seb's hair. "We both are."
And that was right. They had the most amazing son Seb could ever ask for, and he fell asleep right there on the sofa in the arms of his husband, dreaming about what was to come for him and his family.
~♡~
September
@sebvettel5
Hi Daniel! It's now been a whole month since Max moved in with us, and you could have warned me how quickly time would go! Max has settled in amazingly, he is truly an incredible boy, even though he has already inherited his Isä's laziness and cheek😝 Thought I'd show you what he's been up to since he moved in, so I attached some pictures!
*View 10 photos*
- (Max laying in his brand new bed, looking in awe at the car-shaped bedframe)
- (Seb standing behind Max while they measure out the ingredients to make a cake)
- (Kimi asleep on the sofa, and Max sitting in the exact same position next to him, also fast alseep)
- (A selfie taken by Kimi of them all on a ferris wheel, Max is peering down at the ground eagerly and Seb is worriedly holding Max's shirt and biting his fingernails)
- (Max dressed in uniform for his first day of school)
- (Max and George fighting over a small teddy while Nico laughs in the background)
- (Seb looking at his laptop and working while Max reads along, pretending to understand)
- (A photo of Max laughing at Kimi after Seb forced one of Max's tiny dress-up costumes onto him)
- (Max walking home after his first day of school alongside his new best friend, Charles)
- (A photo of Seb, Kimi and Max all eating ice cream, Max has ice cream all over his face)
Thank you for everything you've done for us Daniel, he was truly the missing puzzle piece in my life.
Sebastian (and Kimi, who insisted his name go at the end of this e-mail🙄)