Archive of Our Own ^beta

Oscar and Lando had been dating in secret for about two years and they had exactly zero intention of going public any time soon. Not as long as they were driving on the same team and preferably not before at least one of them was retired.

It was just too comfortable — living in their own little bubble without having anyone intrude on the love they shared — for them to seriously consider the possibility. There was way too much work and stress involved in it.

First there’d be the team, who’d certainly have some concern about two teammates being romantically involved, then the rest of the grid would have their opinions and the FIA certainly would have something to contribute as well. Fans, friends, other drivers — all would want to share their opinion and, quite frankly, Oscar and Lando couldn’t have given less of a shit about all that.

It didn’t constrict them nearly as much as they’d thought in the beginning either. Like, sure, they couldn’t kiss in public, but otherwise they behaved pretty much the same as they would when it was just the two of them. Did that make some people look at them funny and utter theories? Of course! But as long as a confirmation didn’t come straight from either Oscar or Lando’s mouth they stayed theories and they were fine with those.

Well, they had been fine going like that. Really, Lando as well. It was just…

What if they dated for another year and then another and another and– Would they get married some day? What if they had kids? How would they even know if they were good with kids? Like, really good, even for more than two hours at a time?

Lando unloaded all of his questions on a very overstimulated Oscar at an ungodly hour of the night — yes, he’d woken Oscar up for that because somehow he was able to sleep right through Lando’s sleepless period of distress without issue.

And Oscar, eager to close his eyes and drift off again, made a bunch of promises he probably shouldn’t have made in his foggy state of mind.

“Of course we’ll ge' married.” He slurred, turning his head on the pillow so Lando wouldn’t see his eyelids falling shut and get all fussy about it.

“Okay, and then what? Do we want kids?” Lando was propped up on his elbows, looking as if he’d consumed three cans of Monster in rapid succession.

“I’d like i’ if we did.”

“And how will we know we’re any good at, you know, being parents?” Lando was chewing on his nails, anxiously awaiting an answer — because somehow Oscar always knew just the right thing to say to calm him down — but when he didn’t get one immediately, instead hearing his boyfriend's breathing getting steadier again, he harshly shook him by the shoulder. “Hey! This is serious, dickhead.”

Oscar groaned and turned so he lay on his stomach, facing Lando. He still couldn’t get himself to blink himself awake properly. The warm, soft hand Lando brought to his cheek certainly didn’t help.

“O’ay, o’ay.” He muttered, a frown carving deep lines between his brows as he desperately tried to think of something that would make Lando freak-out a little less. “How ‘bout we…borrow a kid ‘n keep it for a bit. See how we do with it.”

Lando stared at him open-mouthed for a good minute before realising that Oscar’s eyes were still firmly shut. He flicked his cheek instead, which earned him one of those adorable whines in return.

“There’s so many issues with that. Beginning with you calling our possible future project kid an ‘it’ and ending with the big mystery of how we’re going to get someone to give us their child ‘for a bit’.” He said, carefully rubbing his thumb across the newly blooming red spot on Oscar’s cheek.

“Luc'ily,” Oscar sighed heavily and pulled Lando in by his wrist, tucking him firmly between the mattress and his chest. “We are pretty close to these t’o guys that have a daughter and would definitely be glad to have a couple days off during the t’o week break coming up.”

“Oh…”

Lando was pretty sure that if Oscar looked at him right there and then he would’ve seen his pupils dilate. It always got him a little horny when his smart boyfriend was saying smart things. Grinning, he twisted his head until he reached a bare spot of skin — Oscar’s shoulder — and pressed a kiss there.

“You’re the best.”

“I kno’...”

“Good night, Osc.”


Oscar was already back to sleep.



*



See, Oscar barely remembered their conversation the next morning and he’d totally forgotten about it by the time they landed back in Monaco for their two week break. So imagine his surprise when they’d barely been home for an hour when Lando suddenly locked himself in the bathroom and the doorbell rang just a minute later.

“Lan?” Oscar called suspiciously as he went to open the door. He quickly clamped his mouth shut when he saw who it was standing outside his apartment.

He saw Max first, along with an exhausted, but excited smile, then Charles and his beaming expression. They stepped inside without asking, clapping his shoulders as a greeting. Helplessly Oscar watched them walk past, his eyes landing on Jordan, who was waiting and looking up at him.

“Uhm, come in?” He nodded towards the direction her dads had disappeared towards, doing his absolute best not to let his confusion show.

“Thanks, Osc.” Jordan grinned, marching past him.

Only then did the Aussie notice the enormous backpack she shouldered. When he followed them, paying some attention to his guests this time, he also spotted a rather large duffle bag which Max set down in the middle of his living room. Huh.

Oscar didn’t get the time to ask what was going on — part of him had already accepted his fate, whatever it may be — as Charles practically threw himself at him, still radiating with ecstasy. He couldn’t do much more than let it happen, half-heartedly reciprocating the hug.

“Thank you so much for offering to babysit her for a couple of days.” Charles said, taking a step back and nodding towards Jordan. “She’s excited, too. We’ve brought everything she needs, so don’t worry about that and if anything happens, don’t hesitate to call us alright?”

Oscar couldn’t do more than nod as he was much too occupied wondering when exactly he’d offered to look after Jordan. Because he didn't? Were Max and Charles hallucinating? Or did they need some time to themselves so badly that they’d made this all up and just hoped Oscar would go along with it?

They certainly looked like it, constantly exchanging glances and barely able to stay away from each other for more than a few seconds. Right now they were holding hands, Max all flustered and Charles furtively trying to hold back a giggle.

“I’m sure everything will be fine though.” Max added. “Jordan’s a great kid and Lando told us he’d come over and help out.”

Oh.


Oh.


Now the three hours spent searching for his phone on the plane made complete sense to Oscar. He’d thought he’d lost it, but turns out his devious bitch of a boyfriend had been behind that all along. Oh, how Oscar would’ve loved to waltz into the bathroom right there and then and give that little shit a piece of his mind.

But, of course, he didn’t do that, because explaining to Max and Charles why Lando was hiding in his bathroom would be impossible without also admitting to their secret relationship.

He also wouldn’t make a big deal out of this. He’d go along with whatever batshit crazy plan Lando had come up with and pretend he actually had texted his colleagues to babysit their kid.

Because Oscar was a good boyfriend like that.

“Yeah, it will be great.” The only reason his smile came across was genuine was because Oscar looked at Jordan, who smiled right back at him.

There were worse children to look after for a day. Jordan, as her dad had so proudly said, was a great kid. Easy, too. Oscar couldn’t remember a single time where she’d come even remotely close to annoying him. Or tiring him out.

That was usually Lando’s job, because he somehow became even more childish around humans under the age of sixteen.

“So, we’ll come pick her up Friday?"

“Friday?” Oscar couldn’t help but gasp.

That was five days! What in the ever living fuck had Lando been thinking offering to babysit for five days in Oscar’s name?

Charles frowned a little, “That’s still okay with you, right? Cause we’ve got the reservations for the spa already-”

“No, no, it’s still alright.” It took all the strength in Oscar’s exhausted body for him not to sigh. “You guys deserve a break. I hope you’ll enjoy your time.”

Max eyed him for another second before picking Jordan up and hugging her goodbye before handing her off to Charles to do the same. Both completely ignored Jordan’s protest that she was much too big to still be picked up like a toddler and once she was back down on the floor they made her promise to behave and call them every day. And that was that.

They were out the door, leaving Oscar to look after an eight-year old and an adult behaving like an eight-year old (who was still hiding in the bathroom!).

Oscar showed Jordan to their guest bedroom — which wasn’t very child friendly, he noticed — and told her to get settled in while he went to take care of something. Jordan didn’t ask him about it as she was much too busy examining one of his old helmets, standing on the shelf as decoration.

In quiet strides Oscar made his way to the bathroom. He was relieved to find it unlocked and pushed the handle open without knocking, his eyes scanning the space for Lando. He found him sitting in the bathtub, already looking up at Oscar. The smug smirk on the Brits face nearly gave him an aneurism.

“Hi, Osc.”

“Don’t ‘hi, Osc’ me, you dimwit!” Oscar hissed, doing his absolute best to keep his voice down. The last thing he needed was for Jordan to overhear them fight. Or come in here and find them like this. “What the fuck were you thinking? Like, asking couldn’t have hurt, could it?”

“Ask?” Lando said the word like it was his first time using it, feigned confusion lacing his voice. “But this was your idea.”

“My idea?”

“Yeah, it was.” Lando purred and when he realised — based on the unwaveringly irritated look on Oscar’s face — that Oscar actually had no idea what he was talking about, he elaborated, “When I woke you up and asked about us potentially getting married and having kids, you suggested we babysit Jordan to test the waters?”

“Oh…”

That knocked the wind out of Oscar’s sails and he sagged against the sink, running a hand through his hair. It was getting too long, doing whatever it wanted. He should get it cut soon. But that was definitely not important at the moment!

“I can’t believe you forgot!” Lando giggled, not even bothering to cover it or be polite about it in any other way, shape or form.

His eyes had that mischievous glint in them that Oscar loved so much. Or normally loved so much. Right now he could definitely go without it.

“It was the middle of the night! I wasn’t even awake properly!” The protest was weak, only making Lando laugh harder. Oscar huffed, “And why did you take my phone to text them? Why not your own?”

“Oh, please!” Some of the delight drained from Lando’s face, replaced by a stubborn eyeroll. “You know Max and Charles. They’d never let me watch their precious princess without adult supervision.”

“Fair enough… You still could’ve warned me at least. Or asked me to text them.”

“Eh,” Lando made a throw away gesture and jumped out of the tub. Once he stood beside Oscar, he patted his shoulder. “We’ve got to keep our relationship interesting, you know. Some sneaking around behind each other's backs was just what we needed.”

“Oh, so being in a secret relationship and sneaking around behind everyone else's back isn’t enough excitement for you?”

Oscar’s question went unanswered. Lando was out the door without another word, walking straight to the guestroom.

With another, much less enthusiastic huff the Aussie followed.

“Where’s my favourite niece?!” Lando’s squeak could be heard throughout the entire apartment.

Oscar sighed inwardly, telling himself that five days really wasn’t that long.



*



They went on a walk in the afternoon in a place outside the city. Oscar and Lando were familiar with it as it was quiet and they always went there when they wanted to be out in nature without fearing to be seen together.

Jordan enjoyed it too, climbing every rock and tree she could find. Not much had changed since they’d first met her three years ago.

About ten minutes into the walk, Oscar kept feeling Lando’s fingers brush against the back of his hand and he kept having to pull his own hand back from where it tried to find the familiar space of the small of Lando’s back or the slight curve of his hip.

They exchanged a look, Lando’s ocean eyes wide and questioning. Oscar read it without a second thought.

'Do you think we could hold hands in front of Jordan? Will she figure out that we’re in a relationship or will she just think we’re really good friends? Would it be so bad if she knew?'

Oscar thought about it for a moment, his hands pressed flat to the side of his body so they wouldn’t stray on accident. In the end, he shook his head, his lips pulled into an apologetic smile.

It was too risky. Oscar knew for sure that Jordan wouldn’t, like, think that them being together was weird — after all, she was the kid that hadn’t been aware of the concept of straight people until Oscar had told her about it — but still. They could tell her she’d have to keep it a secret, but the chance of her saying something was just too big.

And that didn’t mean that Oscar didn’t trust Jordan. He did, definitely! But he couldn’t expect a kid her age to understand the magnitude of their secret and why it was so important for it to never leave her lips. She could just let it slip on accident, not thinking much of it, and still it would all be over for him and Lando. All their hard work gone in a blink.

Lando’s face fell a little and despite his efforts to hide his disappointment, Oscar noticed. It stung, right at the centre of his chest, the same as it always did when he caused his boyfriend even the slightest bit of pain.

“Sorry.” He mumbled under his breath.

“‘s alright.”

“You know,” Oscar and Lando’s head whipped to their left, where Jordan sat cross legged on a low branch of a tree. “If you want to hold hands, you should just hold hands. I don’t think anyone else’s around.”

That left the two men to gape at her like idiots. Too many thoughts rushed through Oscar’s head for him to process properly.

His initial worry was for Jordan’s safety — because when had she gotten so far ahead of them to have time to climb another tree and how was she balancing herself cross-legged on a branch?

Then her words got through to him and Oscar was stunned for an entirely different reason.

How the fuck did she know? Well, she hadn’t outright said that she knew the thing they didn't want her to know, but somehow she’d noticed their little tells and seemed to be aware that they weren’t comfortable doing it with other people watching… Had she known before this walk? How long? Had she ever asked anyone else about this? About them? Did someone else know-

Lando stepped forward, his face inexplicably smooth. Why was he so calm? Why wasn’t she freaking out? Normally, if there was something wrong, Lando was the first to hyperventilate and now…

Now he was smiling as he stretched out his arms, lifting Jordan from her branch with ease as he said something about her having to be careful.

“If we bring you back with a single scratch on you, your dads will never let us near you ever again and we don’t want that, do we?” Lando’s voice was stable and happy, too, which added to Oscar’s mounting confusion.

Had his boyfriend been replaced with an identical, more mature clone? It sure sounded like a plausible explanation for what Oscar was witnessing.

“Eh, I’ll just hide any scratches I might acquire during my stay with you.” Jordan shrugged and continued walking, leaving the two men with no other option but to follow.

“Acquire? Fancy word.”

“Thanks, I learned it from a video I watched on the flight home. I thought I’d see if I could use it properly.” She grinned up at Lando.

Oscar was slowly thawing from his frozen state, his mind managing to prioritise one of its many questions and pass it on to his lips. He made sure to catch up with Jordan and Lando before asking it, falling into step with them as he slotted into his place on the girls' left.

“Uhm, Jordan?”

“Yes?”

“What you said about me and Lando holding hands… Why do you think we want to hold hands?”

Jordan frowned at him, making Oscar feel mildly stupid. He was offended, reminding himself that his question was very valid.

“Because I saw you kept almost touching and then flinching away from each other whenever you noticed?” She lifted a shoulder like it wasn’t a big thing. Her face wore a similar, blank expression. “And you’re in love, aren’t you? People who are in love should hold hands. Dad and papa hold hands all the time, too.”

“Uhm-” Oscar swallowed, panic shooting through his stomach like hot acid.

Unsure of what to do or say or feel, he tried to make eye contact with Lando, but Lando had crouched down, taking Jordan’s hand to make her stop walking. Lost, Oscar stood still as well, one hand propped up against his waist as the other combed through his hair in an attempt to soothe himself. This was a fucking mess.

They’d need God to fix this for them, because Oscar sure didn’t see a way to do it himself. Exactly four hours had passed since Jordan had been left in their care and he was already at a loss for what to do.

Oscar would never have kids. He promised himself that right then and there.

“Jordie, how do you know that we’re in love?” Lando asked, his voice quiet and soft.

Oscar winced, wishing his boyfriend would’ve gone for a more subtle approach. Their option to lie and convince Jordan they weren’t more than friends had now vanished.

“I watch you. Not in a weird way! Just… I like watching people around me when I get overwhelmed. It helps distract me from all the noise and chaos around. And since I see you two almost every week and I know you, I observe you a lot.” Jordan sounded a little embarrassed now and she rubbed the back of her head. “I didn’t notice it on purpose, but… I noticed that you behave like- Well, like you’re in love!”

“Really, you did?” Lando glanced at Oscar then, concern lay in them plainly.

'If Jordan, a child, had noticed, how high were the chances someone else had as well?'

“Yeah, but I wasn’t sure for a long time. I mean, you never kissed or said anything about it…” Jordan’s brows knitted and she turned so she could look at Oscar. “You are in love, right?”

Lando looked at Oscar again, a whole different question hiding behind the softness in them. It made Oscar’s apprehensions falter enough for him to get on his knees as well, surrendering himself to the conversation. There wasn’t much else he could do.

He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, the way a boxer might do in preparation to get the shit beaten out of him. To Oscar, having a deep, long conversation, kind of felt the same.

“We are.” He waited until Jordan was looking at him before continuing. “But there is a reason that we don’t kiss or hold hands or say anything about it when we’re around other people. A pretty important reason.”

Jordan nodded, visibly weighing his words, and then she asked, “Is it because of the homophobes?”

Oscar and Lando both chuckled at that. Jordan still said the word ‘homophobes’ with as much disgust as she had the first time, when Oscar had taught her about its meaning. It was endearing, to say the least.

“Partially.” Lando took over again. “But it would also be really hard for us to be… boyfriends right now. At least if we told people. With us being Formula One drivers and teammates, it would just be-”

“Too complicated?” Jordan looked at them with a surprising amount of understanding.

Though, it did make sense somewhat. She was the daughter of a retired four-time World Champion and a current two-time World Champion. If anyone got what that life meant and the hassle it brought with it, then it was her. Especially considering how observant she apparently was.

“Exactly.” Lando and Oscar both said, matching relieved smiles on their faces.

That went better than expected. Much better. But, still, Oscar had to make sure that Jordan really knew how crucial it was to keep this secret.

“Jordan, it’s really, really, really important to us that no one else knows about this. So if you could try not to tell anyone, it would mean a lot to us.”

Jordan looked almost offended at Oscar feeling like even having to ask, but then she looked at him more closely and his desperate expression, and stopped mid eyeroll, taking his hand into hers and squeezing it tightly. It was awfully reassuring.

“Of course I won’t tell anyone. Why would I? I haven’t said anything to anyone so far and I’m not planning on changing that, okay?” She said, stern and earnest. For a moment there she reminded the two of Charles — her expression was like a carbon copy of his.

“You’re the best, Jordi!” Lando found back to his cheerful self, picking the girl up and spinning them around once. “Now, how about we enjoy this beautiful weather and finish our walk?”

“Sounds great.”

Oscar got up and joined them. As they went on, Jordan soon lost in her own mind and surrounding again, Oscar did take Lando’s hand. He held it loosely at first, always ready to let go — just in case! — but as the minutes passed and no paparazzi jumped out a bush to take pictures, he entwined their fingers.

He even pressed a quick kiss to Lando's knuckles.



*



“Did Dad and Papa hide that they were in love too?”

Oscar lazily turned his head to look at Jordan. She was draped across the backrest of the couch, barely paying attention to the movie Lando had put on for them while he took care of dinner (Oscar had offered to help, but after prior incidents — the near loss of a finger in ‘25 and the great blood loss of ‘26 — he was no longer allowed to be in the kitchen at the same time as any actual cooking was going on).

“They did for a while.” Oscar replied, sitting up straighter so he could think better.

He, like many others, hadn’t been aware that they had been a couple for half a decade before the big reveal. Only a few select people had known — teams, managers, family and close friends. Lando had been one of them, so everything Oscar knew about Max and Charles’ dating history was second hand knowledge. Also, he wasn’t exactly comfortable talking about it with someone without their permission, even if that someone was their daughter.

For one, it still kind of felt like a forbidden topic (which was so stupid, because being gay was completely fine and normal in this time and age), and, for another, Oscar wasn’t sure they would want their daughter to know too much about their history together. What if that was something they wanted to discuss with her privately?

Jordan, obviously, didn’t think so and continued her questions, “When did they tell people?”

“Err, like… five years ago? I think?” Using his fingers to count, Oscar double checked and came to the same result. “Yeah, five years, so that was… two years before they adopted you.”

“And how did they tell people?”

Oscar snorted a laugh at the memory, which got Jordan to tilt her head in curiosity, just the way Max sometimes did. Cute.

“They showed up to one race weekend wearing matching gold rings. Of course, by Practice Day everyone had noticed, so the press asked them about it and they-” Oscar did his best not to break out into laughter right there and then. It was, to this day, one of the best days in Formula One history and the reason for it didn’t have anything to do with the racing aspect of it. “And those two just plainly admitted to having gotten married during their day off!”

“What?!” Jordan’s eyes grew wide, glowing with shock and admiration.

“They’ve never told you about this?”

“Well… I guess I never really asked.” Jordan shrugged. “But they just got married like that? They didn’t tell anyone?”

“Some people knew, but yeah, they had a small wedding. I think they just wanted to get it over with and be married to each other. Though they did have a party after the race for anyone wanting to celebrate with them. Most of the grid was there.”

“But not everyone?”

Oscar tried not to smile at the way Jordan’s eyes narrowed. It wasn’t funny, technically, but something about a small kid being so protective of gay people just made him happy. A lot of adults could learn from her, that was sure.

“No, but the people that mattered were. Lando and I went and… I think that’s one of those moments that helped us get to the point we are at now.” J

ordan nodded, but it took her a moment to get over the fact that there seemed to be some people on the grid that did not agree with her ethics. Eventually, she slipped off the backrest and sat down next to Oscar.

She had that serious look on her face — the one Oscar had never seen on a child before meeting her — and said, “I’m glad you are together. You make each other happy and that is all that matters. Even if the homophobes don’t think so.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Oscar smiled softly and put an arm around Jordan.

“And I’ll make sure everyone comes to your wedding. They’ll just have to suck it up and be happy for you.”

“We appreciate it.”

Over in the kitchen, Lando was listening to every single word. He quietly smiled to himself as he stirred the tomato sauce, thinking to himself that these next four days were entirely unnecessary.

He was already sure that they’d definitely be having kids some day.



*



Day two was spent at the karting ring Jordan always went to. Max had sent Oscar a text that morning suggesting he take her there at least every other day or else she’d start crawling up the walls, mumbling stuff about track limits and lap times. It had sounded a little too specific to be made up, so they made sure to stick to the advice.

Jordan was an expert, knowing exactly who to talk to, where to get her equipment and all that, so there wasn’t much left for them to do other than find a spot to sit and watch. It was kind of relaxing, watching Jordan’s kart zip around the track again and again and again…

“Honestly, I kinda hope our kid won’t want to get into racing.” Lando said the words carefully, glancing at Oscar for a reaction.

Luckily, Oscar’s lips pulled into a smile right away, and he nodded, “Same. Of course it would be fine if they did, but… I’m kind of looking forward to retirement, so I can’t imagine doing it all over again from the sidelines.”

“Right? It just seems so… exhausting. Charles always tells me about how often Max takes Jordan here or to races and how he’ll do the same whenever he’s got the time between his own races. I don’t know how he does it. Or Max.”

Oscar nodded along. His heart glowed warm in his chest over them agreeing, despite it being such a small thing. It had been doing that ever since yesterday — like it had somehow grown twice in size at the prospect of all of this becoming real.

Them getting married, getting kids, raising them together. It all sounded so right. It felt right.

If they weren’t out in public, Oscar would be pulling his adorably perfect boyfriend against his chest and kiss him senseless.

Two hours later, Jordan took a break. Thankful, she grabbed the water bottle Lando was holding for her and plopped herself into the seat between them.

“I hope you guys are not bored.” She said between gulps, some of the water trickling from the corners of her mouth. “I can ask Nico if- if you could drive too. Dad does sometimes.”

“No, that alrig-” Oscar was about to decline when Lando interrupted him.

“Actually, that sounds like fun! Right, Osc?”

“Uhm…” Oscar wasn’t entirely in the mood to cram himself into a tiny kart, especially not during his break from racing, but once he saw the excited grin on Jordan’s face, he couldn’t resist. “Yeah, sure. Of course!”

And so they were all seated in their respective karts, racing each other around the track until Jordan was tried out — meaning that by the time they walked to the parking lot, the sun was setting.

Lando suggested they get dinner from a fast food drive-through, but those plans were quickly crushed when Jordan, helpfully, brought up that he and Oscar were supposed to be on strict diets to stay in shape for their high-performance jobs. She also added that Max told her that food from those places shortened your life span by at least five years and Jordan wasn’t eager to die of bad food any time soon.

Oscar took one look at Lando to notice the first hint of his sulky face coming in and came up with a plan on the spot. Without informing anyone of his idea, he pulled into the parking lot of the nearest grocery store. When he got out, he heard the car doors behind him open and close and steps follow him as he walked towards the shop.

“Alright,” Oscar only turned around once they were inside and he’d grabbed the baskets from the entrance. “Everyone gets to fill the basket with whatever they’re in mood for and then we meet up by the register!”

“Okay…” Lando hummed and exchanged a suspicious glance with Jordan.

“And then?” She asked.

“And then we’ll have a picnic by the ocean. Which is why you,” — Oscar pointed at Lando — “are going to look for a nice blanket for us to sit on and you,” — he pointed at Jordan — “will search for a card game we can play after we’re done eating.”

Having been handed their tasks, Lando and Jordan spread out, leaving Oscar to be a little proud of himself for how he handled that. Keeping them entertained and fed all in one go, not bad Piastri. Half an hour later they were back in the car and on the search for a nice spot at the beach where they could eat without attracting too much attention. They found the perfect place just a little outside the city.

Together they set up their picnic, which ended up looking very proper and domestic. Lando took a couple of pictures to send to Max and Charles to prove that their daughter was alive and well.

They ate and played Uno and talked until the sun had set and the spring air turned a little too fresh to be enjoyable without a jacket. Throughout the entire thing, Oscar couldn’t stop noticing how perfect Jordan was. She didn’t complain about anything, ever, she wasn’t loud or too energetic, she was perfectly capable of entertaining herself when Oscar and Lando would have a little conversation of her own.

Oscar told Lando as much when they were in bed later.

“Oh my god, right?” Lando said. He propped himself up on his elbow so he could look at Oscar properly. “It’s a little creepy honestly. But nice. Makes me very confused why Charles and Max are always so stressed out when it comes to parenting.”

“Yeah, she basically parents herself.” Oscar agreed.

“But… this still counts as our attempt at trying to be parents, right? Because I think we’re doing pretty well so far and I honestly have no clue where we'd get another kids to try this again.”

Oscar grinned, turning towards Lando. He didn’t do more than nod before leaning forwards and pressing a gentle kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. He fully intended to keep their conversation going, but Lando, seemingly having other plans, trapped Oscar between his arms and pulled him against his chest tightly.

“‘M exhausted, how about we get to sleep?” Lando suggested, burying his face in Oscar’s hair.

“Sounds great, actually.” Oscar yawned against the crook of Lando’s neck. “Jordan might be an easy kid, but Jesus Christ, she’s got energy.”

“You’re telling me…”



*



The next morning started out surprisingly quiet. Lando and Oscar spent most of the morning by themselves, which sounded nice in theory, but became worrying around 11:00 a.m.

The thing was, Jordan had seemed fine when she’d come out for breakfast and she’d told Lando she wanted to spend some time reading by herself when he’d asked her what she wanted to do for the day, so what could they do? They certainly didn’t want to come across as overbearing or, god forbid, annoying.

But… What if something was wrong? Like, what if she’d electrocuted herself while trying to plug in the bedside lamp or rolled off the bed and broken her neck?

“I’ll check on her.” Lando announced, dramatically throwing his phone aside as he got up.

“You’re overthinking this.” Oscar sighed, but the hint of worry in his eyes told Lando that he was secretly glad.

Lando knocked on Jordan’s door twice without an answer, which grated on his nerves quite a bit. All the death scenarios rushed through his mind again, causing him to put his hand on the knob, ready to ignore boundaries and just go in. All respect and privacy aside, if something was seriously wrong with Jordan, he’d rather get cussed out by her for coming in without her permission than having something happen to her when he could’ve prevented it.

Just as he opened the door, Lando heard a quiet sound. It was dangerously similar to a sniffle and was followed by a loud rustle. Quickly, he stepped inside, finding a very Jordan-shaped bump under the blanket.

“Jordi?”

“I’m asleep.” Her voice was muffled, but Lando had no trouble picking up on the wet tremble in it.

“No, you’re not.”

Without hesitation he sat down on the bed, careful not to squish any of the girl's limbs beneath him. His hand hovered over the shaky lump, searching for her shoulder. In the end, he just put it somewhere and hoped for the best.

“What’s up, kid?”

“Nothin’” Jordan hadn’t sounded convincing, but the little hiccup that escaped her didn’t help her case at all.

Lando decided to stay playful for now. Maybe, whatever was up with her, wasn’t such a big deal and could be dispelled with a couple jokes and a good laugh.

“So if I pull back this blanket, I won’t see any tears and a runny nose?”

“No… but don’t pull back the blanket.”

“Jordi…” Lando let out a soft laugh, but it was silenced instantly when he did start pulling back the blanket and was faced with red-rimmed eyes, a blotchy face and a wobbly lower lip. “Oh god, what happened? Are you okay?”

He was expecting a little bit of crying, not the face of someone who looked like she’d been sobbing for hours on end!

For a moment, Jordan looked like she wanted to dive back into hiding, but when Lando put his hands on her shoulders, she surged forward, nestling her face against his chest. She sobbed helplessly, her small hands clinging to Lando’s shirt like it was a lifeline. Lando’s heart cramped up, leaving him breathless for a moment.

Luckily he had more than enough experience with crying people, so his hand started rubbing up and down her back on its own and the calming hums coming from his mouth were automatic too.

“I-I-I-” Jordan sucked in a breath, pulling back so she could look at Lando. Her eyes shone bright with tears, which she tried to wipe away with the sleeve of her RedBull sweater. “‘m sorry… I just-”

“Hey, hey…” Lando cupped her face between his hands, pulling his lips into a forced smile. “There’s nothing you have to be sorry for. Just tell me what’s wrong and I’ll fix it, I promise.”

He watched Jordan trying to pull herself together. The way she straightened herself, willing her lower lip to stay still, only for everything to collapse again the second she opened her mouth was heartbreaking.

Eventually she did manage to choke out a few words, “I m-miss my dads.”

“Oh, baby!” Lando pulled her into a hug, nearly laughing in relief.

She just missed her dads. Everything was okay. No hospital worthy pains or existence threatening problems. No questions about how adults got babies.

“That’s okay. I get it. It must be hard to be away from them for so long.” He cradled the back of Jordan's head, letting her sob out the rest of her sadness. He kept talking in the hopes of distracting her. “The first time my parents went away, they left me with my grandparents. I thought I’d be fine since I’d known them all my life, but then when they tried to put me to bed the first night, I could not stop crying. I kept thinking that I would never go to sleep again if my mom didn’t sing me a song and my dad would kiss my forehead before I’d get in bed.”

There might’ve been something wrong with Lando’s ears, but he was very sure he heard a small, shaky giggle emanating from his chest.

“So you’re very strong for having gone so long without missing them. It’s very grown up of you.”

“Really?”

“Really!” Lando smiled when Jordan looked up at him, the tears having seized somewhere throughout his little story. Or maybe it was the compliment that had done the trick.

“But it’s really okay that you miss them. You know that you could’ve told Oscar and me, right? You can always tell us if something's wrong.”

“But, I just… I thought it would go away again and I didn’t want to bother you or make you think that I wasn’t happy staying with yo-”

Lando interrupted her before she could spin that thought any further. He hushed her gently, running a hand through her messy dark hair.

“You could never bother us and we don’t think that you’re unhappy here. Really.”

“Okay…”

“How about we call them?”

Jordan and Lando turned their heads in sync to find Oscar in the doorway, phone in hand. When he had their attention, he sat down with them, giving his phone to Jordan. It was already unlocked, Max’s number dialed and ready. Lando gave him a grateful smile.

Jordan hesitated for a moment, but when both men gave her reassuring smiles, she pressed the call button. Max picked up after the second ring, which left Oscar and Lando to step out and give them some time to themselves. They stayed close by though, catching snippets of the conversation, which mostly consisted of Jordan reassuring her dads that she was fine and just wanted to talk to them. A lot of “no, it’s okay, you don’t have to pick me up”’s fell in the span of thirty minutes.

When Jordan slipped through the door, she was already looking much better. Without much ceremony, she handed the phone to Oscar and said, “They want to talk to you.”

Oscar sent a helpless look to Lando before putting the phone on speaker, so they could both listen in.

“Hey, Max. Hey, Charles.”

“Hey, Oscar.”

“And Lando.” Lando said.

He had no idea where this was going, but there was a pretty big chance there would be yelling and Lando didn’t want Oscar carrying the sole responsibility of that.

“Hey Lando.” Max said shortly and then moved on to the actual reason for their talk. “Thank you guys for taking care of Jordan. She said you did a good job.”

“Yeah, uhm, thanks.” Oscar scratched the back of his neck self-consciously. Getting praised for that didn’t quite feel right.

“We’re just sorry we didn’t notice sooner. She was in her room a while before one of us thought of checking on her.” Lando added, not feeling much better.

There was a brief silence that was followed by a very Charles-sounding sigh.

“Yeah, she tends to… hide that kind of stuff and keep it to herself. We don’t blame you for any of it and are just glad you got to her at all.” The Monegasque said. “Now, Jordi said she’s fine staying with you, but please do not hesitate to call if her homesickness gets worse. We’ll pick her up any time. Day or night.”

“Yes!” Max agreed.

They left it at that — well, Lando and Charles had to promise about a hundred times that they’d definitely call if anything happened to Jordan — and the two slumped back against the couch, releasing deep breaths. Their hearts were racing as if they’d just run a marathon.

Jordan, who’d disappeared into the bathroom at some point, re-emerged with her hair put into a ponytail and a less red face. She gave them an apologetic smile as she settled down next to them.

“Were they nice?”

“Surprisingly, yes. We got to keep our heads.” Lando gave her ponytail a playful tug.

The girl cringed slightly, ducking her head. “Yeah… they can be a little… Uhm, what’s the word? Over-protective?”

“Eh, it’s alright. That means they care a lot about you.” Oscar smiled at her.

The rest of the day was spent watching TV. Everybody brought their blankets to the couch and they got a bunch of snacks, making it the perfect lazy, comfy day. Lando and Oscar almost hoped it would last until they’d have to go to bed again, but sometime late afternoon Jordan looked through the glass door leading to the backyard and spotted a football.

In seconds she jumped from the pile of blankets she was buried beneath and out the door.

Lando shot Oscar a look, intending to ask him to come along and join her, but then he noticed the sleepy glaze in his eyes and let it be. He simply got on his feet, pressed a kiss to Oscar’s forehead and followed the sound of a ball being kicked around.



*



“Do you need to be married before having kids?” Jordan asked on the drive home from karting the next day.

Lando and Oscar exchanged quick glances, deciding whether they’d go with the truth or with the kid friendly, watered down version. If Lando interpreted his boyfriend's nod correctly, they settled on the truth. So far they’d both gotten the impression that the Leclerc-Verstappen household was very truth and realism based — no fairytales and niceties there.

“No, you don’t.” Oscar said. “But many people prefer it. Or… not that many anymore, but still.”

“What about you?”

“Uhm… I guess we…” Oscar stammered, nervously tapping his fingers against the steering wheel.

They’d never really talked about this. All they knew was that — if everything went well, of course — they did want to get married some day.

“I mean, I’d like to be married first. Just feels right to me.” Lando said and when he glanced at Oscar, he was glad to see him nod in agreement.

“And when do you want to get married?”

“You’re really interested in this, huh?” Lando chuckled, but when he looked into the rearview mirror and found Jordan staring at him with unbridled curiosity, he got serious again. “Well… I don’t want to get married before we can make our relationship public. I don’t want to have to hide something like that. It should be a happy day and not something I have to be careful about.”

“Yeah, I think so too.” Oscar said and then he hesitated, his eyes shifting as if he was realising something.

“What?” Lando asked, bumping his hand against his arm.

“Nothing, just… I guess it’ll be a while then. Until we can get married.”

“Oh…”

Lando always tried his best not to think about that and just enjoy their time together. Because the way things were going, neither Lando nor Oscar would retire any time soon. Just two seasons ago, Oscar had won his first championship and this year it looked like it might belong to one of them again.

And they were both still young, having fun and doing their jobs well enough to be sure they’d get contracts for many seasons to come. Giving up on racing for marriage wasn’t something Lando couldn’t imagine and he certainly wouldn’t ask Oscar to either.

It was just… Marrying sounded nice too.

Properly starting their lives together was something Lando often dreamed of.

Starting a family… God, Lando had never wanted it more than during these past three days. Having Jordan around had made the idea so much more palpable, making him realise just how much he yearned for it.

And seeing Oscar with her, witnessing first hand how great he’d be with their own children, made Lando sure that there was no one else he’d ever want to do it with.

Sadness hit Lando like a race car. In the blink of an eye he went from smiling to holding back tears. He clenched his teeth, doing his best to get rid of the nasty fuckers. No way would he start crying in front of Jordan. Not over this.

“How about we have a wedding today?”

Both men lifted their gazes to the rear-view mirror, looking at an embarrassed Jordan. She seemed to already regret her suggestion, but when Lando gave her an encouraging smile, she went on.

“It wouldn’t be a real wedding, obviously, but we could have a little ceremony just for the three of us. With, uhm, cake, and nice flowers, and I could say that weird stuff that they always say at weddings, and you could kiss, and… That way you could have an idea of how it will be. Maybe then the wait won’t feel that long.” Jordan’s cheeks were still red when she finished, but she was also smiling a little.

“That sounds perfect, actually.” Oscar said quietly and when Lando looked into his eyes, he found a little shimmer in there too.

“Yeah, let’s do this!” Lando said.



*



Lando was tasked with decorating the backyard while Jordan and Oscar went out to find a bunch of colourful flowers, a nice, white cake and a pretty suit for Jordan as she didn’t bring one — in her defense, she wasn’t anticipating to attend (and officiate!) a wedding during her stay with them.

The girl spent the entire car ride reading through wedding vows she found on a random website. More than once she made an exasperated sound, glaring at Oscar while she muttered something about his language being “absolute rubbish”. And each time Oscar would apologise and explain whatever difficult word she’d gotten hung up on, so she’d understand it during the ceremony later.

Once everything was ready, everybody disappeared to different rooms to get dressed. Jordan was done first and was swiftly called to Lando’s aid, who was struggling with the flower he tried to pin to his suit jacket. When that was done, Oscar needed her assistance with his hair, because, seriously, it was getting too long.

Oscar and Jordan were both left speechless when they went out into the backyard. Lando had done a phenomenal job with the few things he’d had at his disposal.

All potted plants and flowers had been positioned in two neat rows from the backdoor to the middle of the yard, forming a pathway. At its end waited a white stepstool for Jordan, so she’d be eye-to-eye with them when delivering the vows. There were other things too, like fairy-lights lining the patio and window sills, and the flowers that they’d handed to Lando when they’d come back from their trip, which he’d spread all around the space as well.

Jordan and Oscar each grabbed a rose and plucked it apart, spreading the red petals along the path.

“Ready?” Jordan asked as she led Oscar to the end of it and climbed onto her stool.

“Very.” Oscar said, despite clearly being nervous. He kept tugging on the sleeves of his grey suit.

Soon, music played from the bluetooth speaker standing by the porch and Lando stepped through the door. He looked stunning, his skin glowing golden in the light of the sunset and his smile radiant as he walked towards them.

Jordan grinned at them, patiently waiting while the two looked at each other like they’d just found the single most important thing in their lives. That was probably exactly what was happening. At least she assumed.

Lando put his hands into Oscar’s, which were already waiting for him. It took a lot of self-control not to start kissing him on the spot.

“Dearly beloved, who have gathered here today…”

Jordan read her speech from a note she’d written as she wasn’t confident enough in her memory to freestyle it. She got through it better than she thought, only stumbling over two big words before she got to the important part. By then, both men had tears in their eyes, but were bravely battling to keep them in. This was all just pretend, they really shouldn’t get so worked up over this.

“Repeat after me, please. I, Lando, take you, Oscar, to be my husband.”

Lando swallowed thickly, resisting the urge to clear his throat and simply praying his voice wouldn’t break away, “I, Lando, take you, Oscar, to be my husband.”

“I promise to love you, to make you laugh and to be your best friend forever.” Jordan went on.

He laughed at that, though it came out sounding more like a sniffle. Based on the little smile on Oscar’s face, Lando assumed he’d asked Jordan to replace the part about sickness and death with something more fitting for them.

He repeated the words, meaning every single one of it.

Satisfied, Jordan turned to Oscar.

“I, Oscar, take you, Lando, to be my husband.” She said.

And then the most startling thing happened. Oscar opened his mouth, tried to say what he was supposed to say and choked. All that came out was an aborted sob. Oscar buried his face in his hands and immediately turned away, his shoulders trembling under the force of holding back another cry.

That was all it took for Lando to break. Tears streamed down his face as he waited for Oscar to regain his composure. Jordan rubbed the Aussie's shoulder and produced a tissue from the breast pocket of her blazer. She’d read on the website that it was smart to have a couple on hand in case a situation like this arose — which was highly likely at a wedding, by the way.

Oscar took it with a whispered “thanks” and cleaned his face with it. A couple deep breaths and he was ready to try again.

“I, Oscar, take you, Lando, to be my husband.” His voice was still shaky, on the verge of giving in, so he decided to just get through the second part without waiting for Jordan to say it first. “I promise to love you, to make you laugh and to be your best friend forever.”

“You may now kiss-” Jordan watched as Lando grabbed Oscar by the collar of his shirt, pulling him into a deep kiss and she couldn’t even be mad about it, despite it interrupting her ceremony. They just both looked so damn happy. “-your husband.”

As this was supposed to be a child-friendly wedding, they broke apart sooner rather than later. Wiping the tears off each other’s faces, both muttering something about ‘not being able to believe that they were getting so emotional over a fake wedding’, and laughing.

The next step to sealing their marriage was cake, which they ate on the porch. It was Lando’s favourite — chocolate with vanilla buttercream between the layers and oreo’s on top. Jordan even promised she wouldn’t rat them out to their nutritionists when they ate the entire thing in one go.

“It’s your wedding after all.” She said with a feigned stern frown.

Lando switched the music to something more fun so they could dance. Well, there was one slow, romantic song first so he and Oscar could have their first dance (because that was a crucial part of the wedding, Jordan insisted, the website said so).

“She prepared herself very thoroughly.” Oscar informed his husband as they slowly waltzed in a circle — neither of them were great dancers, not to songs like the one coming from the speaker at least.

“And I am glad for it. This is by far the best wedding I’ve ever attended, fake or not.” Lando smirked and leaned his forehead against Oscar’s.

“I think you’re a bit biased, since you’ve never been the one to get married at a wedding.”

“Or had you by my side at one.”

“That too.”

As soon as the song came to an end, they beckoned Jordan over to dance with them. She was a bit hesitant at first, claiming she’d never done it before, but Lando merely spun her around a bit and the mental block was gone.

They stayed awake much too long, but no one bothered to point that out. They were simply having too much fun to care. In the end, they didn’t even make it back to their beds before going to sleep.

Oscar and Land ended up on the couch, curled up around each other, while Jordan was more than satisfied with the plush rug and a couple pillows.

They all fell asleep with wide smiles on their faces.



*



When Max and Charles picked up Jordan the next day, she had an awfully hard time saying good-bye to her temporary fathers. She even pretended to have lost one of her bags just to stay a little bit longer.

Eventually, though, she was in the backseat of her car, holding the hand Charles had stuck through the narrow space between his seat and the car door so he could reach her, while Max couldn’t stop glancing at her through the rear view mirror.

“Uhm, so… did you have fun?” She asked after about ten minutes of this.

“Yes, yes… of course, yes.” Charles said quickly, managing to sound less convincing with every ‘yes’ leaving his mouth.

Max wrinkled his nose and said, “We did have fun, lots of it, but… Well after three days we…”

“We got kind of homesick too.” Charles finished the sentence for him. “We really missed you, Jordi.”

That got a laugh out of Jordan. It was good to know she wasn’t the only one dependent on them.

“Did you have a good time though? Did you get better after we called?” Charles gave Jordan’s hand a squeeze.

“The best. If you ever leave me again, please always leave me with Lando and Oscar!”

“Oscar and Lando, huh?” Max laughed and for a second Jordan worried she’d said too much.

Fuck, they’d specifically said that she couldn’t say anything to anyone about them, because them loving each other was a secret and now she’d blown it after five minutes-

“Lando was there a lot, wasn’t he?” Charles asked, but he didn’t sound suspicious or anything, just amused.

Jordan let out a silent sigh and smiled.

“Yeah, he was.”