Work Text:
Group Chat: Paddock Support Group
(Members: Alexandra Saint Mleux, Rebecca Donaldson, Lily Zneimer, Flavy Barla, Kika Gomes, Lily Muni He, Alicia Torriani, Isabella Bernadini, Carmen Montero Mundt, Kelly Piquet, McKenna Hayes)
Alexandra:
I love race weekends but I am so ready for a month without living out of a suitcase.
Rebecca:
Same. Obviously the reason for the break is awful.
Kika:
Yeah, it feels weird to be relieved about the time off when the reason is so horrible.
Lily Z:
Exactly. Like, I’m grateful to have Oscar home, but not grateful for why.
Carmen:
It’s okay to feel both things. The calendar is out of our control.
Flavy:
And the boys need rest too. Even if some of them will pretend they don’t.
Kelly:
Max said he was going to “relax.”
This apparently means sim racing.
Lily MH:
Classic.
Isabella:
At least he’s sitting down.
Rebecca:
Carlos says he’s going to sleep for two days and then immediately started talking about training.
Kika:
Pierre said “we should go somewhere quiet” and then sent me three restaurant reservations.
Alexandra:
Charles is already playing piano. He has been home for four hours.
McKenna:
Lando said he missed me almost as much as he is going to miss his McLaren.
Rebecca:
Almost?
McKenna:
Let’s be realistic.
Lily Z:
He does have a thing for Mcs.
Flavy:
McLaren. McKenna.
Alicia:
McDonald’s?
McKenna:
Unfortunately, also yes.
Kika:
Lando Norris: loyal to anything beginning with Mc.
Rebecca:
He loves McKenna nearly as much as McLaren.
McKenna:
That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said about us.
Rebecca:
You’ve been with him since you were what, twelve? You literally know each other since you were 5. I think you win.
Lily MH:
Twelve is insane. I had braces and terrible eyeliner.
McKenna:
So did Lando.
Rebecca:
Lando had eyeliner?
McKenna:
He has two younger sisters. Believe me, there is no makeup product he hasn’t tried.
Isabella:
Are people already planning Miami? Who is going to be there?
Alexandra:
Me.
Carmen:
Me. I have already made a list.
Flavy:
Of outfits?
Carmen:
Restaurants.
Kelly:
Correct priorities.
Kika:
I want tacos. I want Cuban food. I want everything.
Lily MH:
Miami food is genuinely one of the best parts of that weekend.
Isabella:
The weather is the worst part.
Alexandra:
Miami humidity trying to kill my hair.
Flavy:
Worth it for the food.
Isabella:
Are we doing padel again this week?
Rebecca:
Yes. I need revenge.
Alexandra:
You said that last time and then Carlos beat us all.
Rebecca:
That is why I need revenge.
Kika:
I’m in.
Flavy:
Me too.
Lily MH:
I can do Thursday?
Alicia:
Same.
Lily Z:
I’ll come if someone promises not to make me play against Rebecca when she’s competitive.
Rebecca:
Coward.
McKenna:
I’m out.
Alexandra:
Why?
McKenna:
Stomach cramps from hell. Probably getting my period.
Kika:
Oof. Heating pad and chocolate.
Rebecca:
Do you need anything?
McKenna:
No, I’m fine. Hot water bottle, hoodie, complaining loudly. The usual.
Lily Z:
Lando hoodie?
McKenna:
Obviously.
Rebecca:
Does Lando know?
McKenna:
He is currently making tea and acting like I’ve been mortally wounded.
Kika:
That tracks.
Flavy:
Tell him we said not to panic.
McKenna:
Too late. He asked if cramps can “get dangerous.”
Alicia:
Sweet, but stupid.
McKenna:
That’s my boyfriend.
***
McKenna had made a nest.
That was what Lando called it, anyway.
She called it basic survival, because her uterus—or whatever angry, internal organ had decided to ruin her afternoon—was currently trying to leave her body through sheer force of spite.
She was curled on the sofa in one of Lando’s oldest McLaren hoodies, knees drawn up, hot water bottle pressed so hard against her stomach that the rubber edge was starting to leave a mark through the fabric. Her hair was shoved into a terrible bun on top of her head. There was a half-empty mug of tea on the coffee table, three different painkillers she was allowed to take, and her Formula One driver boyfriend standing two feet away from her like a meerkat with anxiety.
“Stop hovering,” she muttered.
“I’m not hovering.”
“You are literally standing there watching me breathe.”
“I’m observing.”
“Like a creep.”
“Like a concerned boyfriend.”
McKenna opened one eye and glared at him. “You have been concerned-boyfriending for four hours.”
Lando’s mouth tightened because that was true.
He had started off sweet. Tea, hot water bottle, blanket, hoodie, forehead kisses. Then he had progressed into annoying. Googling things. Asking if she needed toast. Asking if she needed soup. Asking if she needed him to call his mum. Asking if she was sure it was cramps. Asking if cyst pain was meant to make her go that grey.
That had been the wrong thing to say, because then McKenna had thrown a cushion at him and told him that women were allowed to look like death without men making it a group project.
Now, though, even she had to admit it was getting worse.
The cramps had started low and sharp, familiar enough that she had dismissed them immediately. She had dealt with ovarian cysts before. She knew the drill. Sometimes her period arrived like a polite inconvenience. Sometimes they arrived like a biblical punishment.
She had been dealing with that since she was a teenager, long before Lando had even learned how to pretend not to panic when she curled up in pain.
But this was different.
This was deeper.
Meaner.
It built in waves, squeezing tight through her abdomen and wrapping around her back until she couldn’t quite catch her breath. It would ease for a few minutes, just enough for her to unclench her jaw, and then it would come back harder.
She hated that.
She hated the rhythm of it.
She hated that Lando had noticed the rhythm of it too.
“You’re timing them,” she said, voice muffled against the cushion.
Lando froze.
His phone was in his hand.
“No.”
“Lando.”
“I’m not timing them.”
“You are a terrible liar.”
“I’m just…” He looked down at his phone, then back at her, his face doing that awful thing where he tried to look calm and only managed to look more terrified. “They’re coming every few minutes, Ken.”
“They’re cramps.”
“I know.”
“I get bad cramps.”
“I know.”
“I get cysts.”
“I know.”
“You’ve seen me like this before.”
“No,” he said quietly. “I haven’t.”
That made her look at him properly.
He was standing there barefoot, still in the joggers he had changed into when he got home from Japan, curls messy from running his hands through them too many times. He looked young suddenly. Not Formula One driver young. Not media-trained, race-winning, champagne-sprayed young.
Twelve-year-old Lando young.
The boy who had sat outside the girls’ bathroom because McKenna had got her first really awful period and had refused to tell anyone else. The boy who had bought the wrong kind of pads from a petrol station and then cried because he thought she was mad at him. The boy who had always been useless in a crisis for approximately twelve seconds before becoming terrifyingly devoted.
Kenna softened, despite the pain. “Lan,” she said. “I’m okay.”
His eyes dropped to her hand, still clenched white around the hot water bottle.
“No, you’re not.”
Another cramp hit before she could answer.
It took her breath.
She folded forward with a noise she didn’t mean to make, sharp and wounded, fingers digging into the blanket. The pain ripped through her with such force that, for one horrifying second, she genuinely thought she might throw up.
Lando was on his knees in front of her immediately.
“Kenna.”
“Don’t touch me.”
He stopped instantly, hands hovering uselessly in the air.
“Okay,” he said quickly. “Okay, I won’t. I’m here. I’m right here.”
She breathed through it badly because there was no good way to breathe through something that felt like her body was turning itself inside out. Her eyes burned. She hated crying from pain. It felt humiliating.
When the wave finally eased, she slumped back against the sofa, sweaty and shaking.
Lando’s face had gone very still.
She knew that look.
That was the look he got when the joke left the room.
“No,” she said immediately.
He blinked. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You’re about to.”
“I think we should go to hospital.”
“No.”
“McKenna.”
“No, because they’ll just tell me it’s my period and make me sit there for six hours feeling stupid.”
“I don’t care.”
“I care.”
“I don’t.”
She let out a breath that was almost a laugh, except it hurt too much to be one. “Of course you don’t. You’re not the one who has to explain that your period is being dramatic.”
His jaw tightened.
“Kenna,” he said, gentler now, “you can barely sit up.”
“It’ll pass.”
“It’s been getting worse all day.”
“It does that sometimes.”
“Not like this.”
She looked away.
That was the problem with being loved by someone for over half your life. They had evidence. They had memory. They could tell when you were lying because they had watched you build every version of the mask.
Lando moved closer, still careful not to touch her without permission.
“Maybe it is a cyst,” he said. “Maybe it’s just a really bad one. Maybe they give you something stronger and we come home and I look dramatic and you get to make fun of me forever.”
“I already get to make fun of you forever.”
“Exactly. Think of the new material.”
Her mouth twitched despite herself.
Then another cramp started.
This one made her vision spot.
She grabbed for him without thinking.
Lando caught her hand so fast it was like he had been waiting for permission.
“Oh, baby,” he whispered, and there was fear in his voice now. Real fear. “Okay. That’s it. We’re going.”
“Lando—”
“No.” He squeezed her hand, not hard enough to hurt, just enough to anchor. “No, Kenna. I love you, and you can be angry with me in the car, but we’re going.”
She wanted to argue. She really did.
But her body betrayed her by curling again, another horrible wave taking hold before the last one had even fully gone. A broken sound slipped out of her, and Lando’s expression crumpled.
Not panic this time.
Decision.
He stood up, already moving.
“Shoes,” he said, mostly to himself. “Bag. Phone. Charger. Your ID. Hoodie—no, you’re wearing the hoodie. Okay. Good. Great. Hospital.”
“Lan,” she breathed.
He stopped instantly and looked back.
For a second, she saw it then. How scared he was. How much he was trying not to show her all of it because he knew she’d use his fear as an excuse to minimise her own pain.
Her voice came out small. “Do you think they are gonna give me the good drugs?”
His face softened so quickly it almost hurt worse than the cramps. “Yeah,” he said. “Exactly. We’re going to get you the good drugs.” He came back to the sofa and crouched in front of her again. “Can I help you up?”
McKenna nodded.
Lando slipped one arm around her back and the other under her knees with the careful, reverent focus of someone handling something precious and breakable. She hated needing it. She loved him for not making her ask twice.
As he lifted her, another sharp pulse of pain tore through her lower back.
She buried her face in his neck and swore. Lando kissed the side of her head. “I know,” he murmured. “I know, love. I’ve got you.”
And Kenna, sweating and shaking and furious at her own body, let herself believe him.
Because Lando had always had her.
Since they were kids. Since before race wins and contracts and hotel rooms and paddock passes.
Since before either of them had any idea that, in less than an hour, a doctor would look between them with a very strange expression and ask McKenna a question that would change every part of their lives.
For now, there was only the pain.
The car keys.
Lando’s arms.
And his voice, too steady to be natural, whispering against her hair: “We’re going to be okay. You’re going to be okay. I promise.”
***
The hospital did something terrible to Lando Norris.
It made him quiet.
McKenna would have preferred the hovering, honestly.
The hovering, she could work with. The hovering was familiar. The hovering was Lando pacing around their living room, making the tea too strong and asking if she needed a blanket every eight seconds. The hovering was annoying enough to make her feel normal.
But this Lando?
This Lando sat beside the examination bed with one hand wrapped around hers, his thumb moving back and forth over her knuckles in a rhythm so controlled it didn’t belong to him. His face had gone pale. His curls were a mess. His leg bounced so fast the chair squeaked.
He looked like he was one breath away from either crying or trying to buy the hospital.
Possibly both.
“I’m okay,” McKenna said, even though she very clearly was not okay.
The cramp—or whatever the hell it was—had finally eased again, leaving her shaky and sweating in one of those horrible hospital gowns that tied at the back and made everyone look like a Victorian ghost.
Lando looked at her. “You are in a hospital bed.”
“Observation bed.”
“That is not better.”
“It sounds less dramatic.”
“You made a noise in the car that I am never recovering from.”
She tried to smile. It didn’t quite land.
His face changed immediately. “Kenna.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I know.”
He lifted her hand and pressed his mouth to her knuckles. “I’m trying not to freak out.”
“You’re doing very badly.”
“I know.”
The curtain pulled back before he could say anything else, and the doctor stepped in with a nurse beside her. She was calm in that terrifyingly competent way that made McKenna want to cry with relief and apologize for being inconvenient at the same time.
“Hi, McKenna,” the doctor said gently. “I’m Dr. Shah. I know you’ve already told the nurse a bit, but I’m going to ask you some questions again while we get you assessed, okay?”
McKenna nodded. Lando sat up straighter.
The doctor gave him one quick glance, then smiled kindly. “And you are?”
“Lando,” he said immediately. “Her boyfriend. Partner. I’m—yeah. I’m with her.”
“Okay. You can stay if McKenna wants you here.”
McKenna squeezed his hand. “He stays.”
The doctor nodded. “Good. So, severe abdominal pain, lower abdomen and back. Coming in waves?”
McKenna swallowed. “Yeah.”
“How long?”
“Started earlier today. It’s been getting worse.”
“Any fever? Vomiting? Fainting?”
“No fever. Felt sick, but I haven’t thrown up.”
“Any history of ovarian cysts?”
McKenna let out a humorless laugh. “Unfortunately, yes.”
The doctor’s expression sharpened slightly. “Ruptures before?”
“Multiple times. They usually just tell me to rest and take painkillers unless it gets bad.”
“And this feels similar?”
McKenna hesitated.
Lando’s thumb stopped moving.
“No,” she admitted. “Not really.”
The doctor nodded, like that was useful rather than terrifying.
Then came the question.
“Is there any chance you could be pregnant?”
McKenna blinked.
Lando went completely still.
For one second, the room seemed to lose all sound except for the monitor somewhere behind the curtain.
McKenna stared at the doctor. “I’m on the pill,” she said.
“Okay.”
“And my periods are always irregular. Like, very irregular. Because of the cysts and hormones and everything.”
“That can happen.”
“I’ve had spotting. I think. I mean, maybe? My cycle is stupid. It’s always been stupid.”
The doctor remained calm. “When was your last proper period?”
McKenna opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Her brain reached backwards through months of flights, races, hotels, Japan, Australia, Bahrain, pre-season, Christmas, late nights, stress, her body doing weird things it always did. She tried to find a date and found nothing solid.
Lando looked at her.
Not accusing. Never accusing. Just frightened.
“Kenna?”
“I don’t know,” she said, and hated how small her voice sounded. “I don’t know. But I’m on the pill.”
The doctor nodded again. “The pill is very effective when taken correctly, but no contraception is perfect. With this kind of pain, we do need to rule it out. Especially because severe one-sided pain can sometimes indicate an ectopic pregnancy.”
Lando’s face drained of what little colour it had left.
“Ectopic,” he repeated.
The nurse glanced at him. “A pregnancy outside the womb. It can be serious, but we’re just checking possibilities.”
“Serious like—”
“Lando,” McKenna said sharply, because his voice had cracked.
He shut up instantly.
The doctor’s tone stayed steady. “We’re going to do a pregnancy test and an ultrasound. That will give us more information. Right now, the important thing is that she’s here and we’re assessing her.”
Lando nodded too many times.
“Okay,” he said. “Okay. Good. Assessing. That’s good.”
McKenna would have laughed if she hadn’t been busy trying not to fold in half again.
Another wave started low in her belly, a brutal tightening that made her grip Lando’s hand so hard he winced and then immediately looked guilty for wincing.
“Sorry,” she gasped.
“No, break it,” he said. “I’ve got another one.”
The doctor moved quickly.
“Breathe through it for me, McKenna. Slow if you can.”
“I am trying,” McKenna snapped, then immediately wanted to apologize.
Dr. Moreau did not look offended. “I know.”
The pain climbed, peaked, held.
McKenna made a sound she didn’t recognize.
Lando leaned over her, panic barely leashed. “Look at me. Kenna, look at me. You’re okay. You’re okay.”
“I am not okay.”
“No, yeah, fair. Stupid thing to say. You’re doing amazing. Is that better?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
And somehow, absurdly, that did make her laugh.
Just a little.
Just enough.
Then the pain loosened.
The nurse had already returned with equipment. The next few minutes blurred into tests, questions, gloved hands, a blood pressure cuff tightening around McKenna’s arm, Lando trying to stay out of the way and failing because every time someone touched McKenna he leaned forward like a golden retriever about to intervene.
Then the urine test came back.
The doctor looked at it.
Then at McKenna.
Then at Lando.
Her face remained professionally neutral, but her voice gentled.
“McKenna, the pregnancy test is positive.”
McKenna stopped breathing.
Lando made a noise.
Not a word.
Just a tiny, strangled sound from the back of his throat.
“No,” McKenna whispered.
“Okay,” Lando said immediately, except it sounded like his soul had left his body. “Okay. Positive. Pregnant. Okay.”
“No,” McKenna said again, louder this time. “No, I can’t be. I’m on the pill.”
“I understand.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you.”
“I didn’t—Lando, I didn’t know.”
Lando’s chair scraped violently as he stood, leaning over her, both hands around hers now.
“Hey. Hey, no. I know. Kenna, I know. Of course I know.”
Her eyes burned.
“I didn’t know.”
“I know,” he said, voice breaking. “I know, baby.”
The doctor waited a moment before speaking again.
“Given the pain, we need to do the ultrasound now to see where the pregnancy is and what’s happening.”
Lando looked up.
“What does that mean?”
“It means we need more information.”
Which McKenna quickly learned was doctor language for: we are not going to scare you until we know which nightmare this is.
She appreciated it.
She also hated it.
They moved her. Or maybe they brought the machine in. She wasn’t entirely sure. Everything had narrowed to Lando’s hand and the terrifying, impossible word still echoing in her skull.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
Pregnant.
Except she couldn’t be pregnant.
She would have known.
Wouldn’t she?
Surely she would have known.
She thought of being tired for months and blaming travel. Feeling nauseous and blaming hotel food. Her jeans getting uncomfortable and blaming bloating. Crying over an advert with a dog and blaming PMS. Lando joking that she had become emotionally attached to jacket potatoes. Her breasts hurting. Her back aching. The weird pressure she had ignored because her body was always weird and she had learned, years ago, that doctors didn’t always take women’s pain seriously unless you arrived with evidence and even then sometimes not.
The doctor dimmed the room slightly.
“This may be uncomfortable,” she warned.
“Everything is uncomfortable,” McKenna said faintly.
Lando laughed once, badly.
The ultrasound began.
For several seconds, no one said anything.
The doctor’s eyes moved over the screen.
The nurse leaned in.
McKenna stared at their faces.
Lando stared at the screen like he could understand it through sheer terror.
Then Dr. Moreau went very, very still.
McKenna felt Lando notice.
“What?” he said immediately. “What is it?”
The doctor didn’t answer him right away. She adjusted the probe, pressed lower.
McKenna hissed.
“Sorry,” the doctor murmured.
Another wave of pain hit.
Hard.
McKenna’s whole body tightened.
“Oh my God,” she cried, and this time there was no pretending it was just cramps, no dignity left to preserve.
The nurse’s hand went to her shoulder. “Breathe, McKenna.”
Lando looked between her and the doctor, wild-eyed.
“What is happening?”
Dr. Moreau looked up.
Her expression had changed. Not frightened, exactly. Not panicked.
Urgent.
“McKenna,” she said carefully, “you’re not having an ectopic pregnancy.”
McKenna barely heard her through the pain.
Lando did.
His shoulders dropped half an inch.
“Okay,” he breathed. “Okay, good. That’s good, right?”
The doctor took one breath.
“You’re much further along than we expected.”
McKenna stared at her.
The room tilted.
“What?”
The doctor’s voice stayed calm, but there was no softness that could make the words normal.
“You’re in labour.”
For one perfect, impossible second, nobody moved.
Then Lando said, very clearly: “What?”
McKenna’s heart slammed into her ribs. “No.”
The doctor nodded gently. “I know this is a shock.”
“No,” McKenna repeated, because apparently that was the only word she had left. “No, I’m not—no. Labour is—no. That’s babies.”
“Yes,” the doctor said.
Lando’s mouth opened.
Closed. Opened again.
“Sorry,” he said, sounding like he had been concussed. “Sorry, what?”
The nurse was already moving. “I’m going to get obstetrics.”
“Obstetrics?” Lando echoed.
“Yes.”
“Because of the labour?”
“Yes.”
“The baby labour?”
The nurse paused for half a second.
“Yes.”
Lando turned back to McKenna, his face utterly blank with shock.
“Kenna.”
“I didn’t know,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
“I can’t be in labour.”
“I—” He looked at the doctor, helpless. “Can she not be in labour?”
Dr. Moreau’s mouth softened, just slightly. “I’m afraid she is.”
Lando nodded.
Once.
Very slowly.
“Right.”
Then he sat down.
Immediately.
Hard.
The chair made a horrible scraping noise against the floor.
McKenna would have laughed if she weren’t busy staring at the ceiling wondering if she had died in Japan and this was some bizarre afterlife punishment.
Lando put both hands over his face.
“Okay,” he said into them. “Okay. Labour. Baby. Our baby?”
McKenna made a tiny wounded noise.
His hands dropped instantly.
“No, no, no, I’m not questioning—obviously our baby. I just meant—Jesus Christ. Baby. We’re having a baby?”
The doctor, who deserved an award for not reacting to any of this, said, “Yes.”
“Today?”
“Very likely, yes.”
Lando looked like someone had just told him the laws of physics had been cancelled.
“Today,” he repeated.
McKenna’s voice cracked. “Lando.”
He was on his feet again instantly, leaning over her, all the shock on his face giving way to something raw and terrified and devoted.
“Hey,” he said. “I’m here.”
“I’m scared.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
“I didn’t know,” she said again, because it mattered. It mattered more than anything. “I swear to God, I didn’t know.”
Lando bent and pressed his forehead to hers.
“Kenna,” he whispered, voice shaking. “I know. I know you didn’t. I was there. I didn’t know either.”
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Another contraction started.
Contraction.
Not cramp.
Contraction.
The word was so absurd it almost made her angry.
“Oh God,” she gasped.
Lando’s hand tightened around hers.
“What do I do?” he asked the doctor, panic rising again. “Tell me what to do.”
“For now? Stay with her. Help her breathe. Let us work.”
He nodded, suddenly focused like someone had given him a race strategy he could follow.
“Okay. I can do that.”
“You are going to pass out,” McKenna managed.
“I am absolutely not.”
“You look green.”
“I’m emotionally green. Physically fine.”
The nurse returned with more people. The room started moving around them. Names, voices, instructions, someone telling McKenna they were going to transfer her, someone asking more questions she didn’t know how to answer.
How many weeks?
She didn’t know.
Any prenatal care?
No, because she hadn’t known.
Any complications?
Apparently the complication was that she had arrived at hospital thinking she had ovarian cyst pain and was now, with zero warning, about to become someone’s mother.
Lando stayed glued to her side.
Still freaking the fuck out.
But there.
Always there.
At one point, while they were being wheeled through a corridor far too bright for the occasion, he leaned close and whispered, “Do we need a car seat?”
McKenna turned her head very slowly and stared at him.
He swallowed.
“Not important right now?”
“No.”
“Right. Later problem.”
“Lando.”
“Yeah?”
“If you google anything, I will break up with you during childbirth.”
He nodded solemnly. “Completely fair.”
Then, after three seconds:
“Can I text Max?”
“No.”
“Oscar?”
“No.”
“My mum?”
McKenna’s face crumpled.
That one hit differently.
Lando saw it immediately.
“Oh, baby,” he whispered.
“I don’t have anything,” she said, the words suddenly tumbling out between breaths. “I don’t have clothes. I don’t have a crib. I don’t have—Lando, we don’t even have nappies.”
His own fear flickered. Then hardened into love.
“We’ll get it.”
“But—”
“We’ll get all of it,” he said fiercely. “All of it. Today, tomorrow, whenever. I don’t care. We’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t know how to be a mum.”
His face broke.
“Kenna,” he said, and now he was crying, properly, silently, tears slipping down his cheeks while he tried to be steady for her. “I don’t know how to be a dad.”
That made something in her chest hurt worse than the contractions.
He kissed her hand.
“But it’s you and me, yeah?” he whispered. “It’s always been you and me.”
She stared at him, terrified and sweating and in labour with a baby she hadn’t known existed an hour ago.
Then she nodded.
“It’s you and me.”
Lando pressed another kiss to her knuckles.
“And apparently,” he said, voice wobbling, “someone else.”
McKenna let out a sob that might have been a laugh.
Because of course.
Of course this was how they found out.
Not with a test in a bathroom.
Not with a scan picture held between trembling hands.
Not with time to plan, or think, or prepare.
But with Lando Norris in a hospital room looking like his entire brain had been blue-screened, whispering “what” every few minutes, while McKenna tried to breathe through the sudden, impossible arrival of their whole future.
Their baby.
Their baby.
God.
Lando looked down at her, eyes wide and wet and terrified.
“Kenna?”
“What?”
“I love you.”
She closed her eyes.
“I love you too.”
“And I’m freaking the fuck out.”
“I know.”
“But I’m here.”
She held on to his hand like it was the only real thing in the room.
“I know.”
***
Group Chat: Norris Family Chaos
(Members: Mum, Dad, Oliver, Lando, Flo, Cisca)
Lando:
I NEED EVERYONE TO NOT PANIC
Flo:
That is literally the worst possible way to start a message.
Oliver:
What did you do?
Dad:
Are you alright?
Mum:
Lando?
Lando:
I AM ALRIGHT
KENNA IS ALRIGHT
KINDA
I THINK
SHE’S IN HOSPITAL
Mum:
What?
Dad:
What happened?
Cisca:
Is she okay??
Flo:
LANDO.
Lando:
SHE HAD REALLY BAD STOMACH PAIN
LIKE REALLY BAD
I TOOK HER TO HOSPITAL
THEY THOUGHT MAYBE CYST OR SOMETHING
OR ECTOPIC PREGNANCY
Mum:
Pregnancy?
Oliver:
Sorry what
Flo:
ECTOPIC?????
Cisca:
Lando what do you mean pregnancy?
Lando:
I DON’T KNOW
THAT’S WHAT I SAID
I SAID WHAT
SEVERAL TIMES ACTUALLY
Dad:
Breathe, son.
Lando:
I AM BREATHING
NOT WELL
Mum:
Is McKenna pregnant?
Lando:
YES
APPARENTLY
BUT ALSO NOT LIKE
NORMAL PREGNANT
Flo:
What does “not normal pregnant” mean???
Lando:
IT MEANS SHE IS IN LABOUR
Oliver:
Sorry
Oliver:
Sorry what
Cisca:
LABOUR?????
Mum:
Lando.
Dad:
As in having a baby?
Lando:
YES DAD
AS IN HAVING A BABY
THE BABY KIND OF LABOUR
Flo:
WHAT THE FUCK
Mum:
Flo.
Flo:
MUM THIS IS A WHAT THE FUCK SITUATION.
Oliver:
How is she in labour????
Lando:
I DON’T KNOW OLIVER
I WAS NOT CONSULTED BY THE UNIVERSE
Cisca:
But we saw her at Christmas.
Mum:
She didn’t have a bump at Christmas.
Dad:
She looked perfectly normal.
Flo:
She wore that silver dress at New Year’s. There was no bump.
Lando:
I KNOW
Cisca:
She went ice skating with us.
Lando:
I KNOW
Flo:
She sat on your lap because there weren’t enough chairs.
Lando:
I KNOW
Oliver:
Mate, your girlfriend was pregnant and sitting on you and you didn’t notice?
Lando:
OLIVER I AM ABOUT TO BECOME A FATHER WITH ZERO WARNING
MAYBE DON’T MAKE THIS ABOUT MY OBSERVATION SKILLS
Mum:
Does McKenna know how far along she is?
Lando:
NO
SHE DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS PREGNANT
SHE’S ON THE PILL
HER PERIODS ARE ALWAYS WEIRD
SHE HAS CYSTS
SHE THOUGHT IT WAS THAT
Dad:
Okay. Then nobody did anything wrong.
Lando:
I KNOW
BUT ALSO
HOW DID I NOT KNOW
Flo:
Because she didn’t know either, idiot.
Cisca:
Is she scared?
Lando:
YES
I AM SCARED
SHE IS SCARED
EVERYONE IS VERY CALM EXCEPT ME
THE DOCTORS ARE GREAT
THEY KEEP SAYING THINGS LIKE “unexpected but manageable”
WHICH IS A HORRIBLE PHRASE
Oliver:
Unexpected but manageable is actually pretty good.
Lando:
IT IS NOT GOOD WHEN THE UNEXPECTED THING IS A BABY
Mum:
Are you with her now?
Lando:
YES
SHE TOLD ME IF I GOOGLE ANYTHING SHE WILL BREAK UP WITH ME DURING CHILDBIRTH
Flo:
Valid.
Cisca:
Extremely valid.
Dad:
Do not Google.
Lando:
I HAVE NOT GOOGLED
I TEXTED YOU INSTEAD
WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN WORSE
Mum:
What do you need?
Lando:
I DON’T KNOW
A CAR SEAT???
NAPPIES????
A HOUSE???
DO BABIES NEED SPECIAL TOWELS???
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY KINDS OF BOTTLES
DO I HAVE TO BUY ALL OF THEM
Flo:
Do not buy all the bottles.
Oliver:
Definitely buy a car seat.
Cisca:
Do you even have baby clothes?
Lando:
NO CISCA
FUNNILY ENOUGH I DID NOT PACK NEWBORN CLOTHES FOR MY GIRLFRIEND’S OVARIAN CYST EMERGENCY
Mum:
Lando, listen to me. We will sort the practical things.
Dad:
Tell us the hospital. We’ll come.
Lando:
I don’t know if she wants everyone here yet
Mum:
Then we wait nearby.
Flo:
I can bring clothes. For Kenna and the baby.
Cisca:
I can get the car seat.
Lando:
How do you know what car seat to get???
Cisca:
I don’t. I will ask someone less useless.
Dad:
I’ll call ahead and check what the hospital recommends.
Lando:
Okay
Okay that’s good
That’s helpful
Thank you
Mum:
How is McKenna right now?
Lando:
In pain
But being Kenna about it
She apologized to the doctor for “being inconvenient” and I nearly started crying
Flo:
Oh, Kenna.
Cisca:
Tell her we love her.
Mum:
Tell her none of this is her fault.
Lando:
I did
She keeps saying she didn’t know
Dad:
Then keep telling her you know.
Lando:
I am
I keep saying it
I think she believes me
But she’s so scared
Mum:
Of course she is.
Lando:
Mum
Mum:
Yes, sweetheart?
Lando:
What if I’m bad at this
Flo:
Oh Lan.
Oliver:
Mate.
Dad:
You won’t be.
Lando:
You don’t know that
Dad:
I know you.
Mum:
You’ve loved that girl since you were a kid. You know how to show up. That is the first thing a baby needs.
Cisca:
Also you are already very good at being obsessed.
Lando:
That was almost sweet
Cisca:
It was meant to be.
Flo:
Wait.
Flo:
Lando.
Lando:
WHAT
Flo:
You’re going to be a dad today.
Lando:
PLEASE DON’T SAY IT LIKE THAT
Oliver:
Father Lando.
Lando:
I will block you
Dad:
Don’t antagonize him.
Oliver:
Sorry. Emotional support only.
Cisca:
Uncle Oliver is already failing.
Oliver:
UNCLE OLIVER?????
Flo:
AUNTIE FLO?????
Cisca:
AUNTIE CISCA?????
Lando:
STOP DISCOVERING YOUR OWN TITLES IN MY CRISIS
Mum:
Grandma.
Dad:
Grandad.
Lando:
Oh my god
Lando:
Oh my god
Lando:
I’m going to be sick
Mum:
Sit down.
Lando:
I am already sitting
Dad:
Head between your knees if you need to.
Flo:
Do not pass out in front of Kenna.
Lando:
I AM TRYING VERY HARD NOT TO
Cisca:
Tell McKenna we are so proud of her.
Lando:
I will
Oliver:
And tell her the baby already has the most insane birth story in the family.
Flo:
In the family? In Formula One.
Lando:
DO NOT SAY FORMULA ONE
I HAVEN’T TOLD ZAK
I HAVEN’T TOLD OSCAR
I HAVEN’T TOLD ANYONE
Dad:
You don’t need to tell anyone yet.
Mum:
Just stay with McKenna.
Lando:
Okay
Lando:
Contraction again
Lando:
I have to go
Mum:
We love you.
Dad:
We’re here.
Flo:
Tell Kenna we love her.
Cisca:
And that she’s amazing.
Oliver:
You’ve got this, mate.
Lando:
I absolutely do not
***
Text Messages: Lando Norris & Max Verstappen
Lando:
MAX
Lando:
MAX PLEASE ANSWER
Lando:
THIS IS AN EMERGENCY
Max:
Are you okay?
Lando:
NO
Max:
Is McLaren on fire?
Lando:
NO
Max:
Did you crash something?
Lando:
NO
Max:
Then why are you shouting at me
Lando:
MCKENNA IS HAVING A BABY
Max:
Sorry?
Lando:
A BABY
Lando:
LIKE A HUMAN ONE
Max:
What the fuck mate
Lando:
I KNOW
Max:
McKenna is pregnant?
Lando:
APPARENTLY
Max:
Apparently?
Lando:
WE DIDN’T KNOW
Max:
How do you not know
Lando:
DO YOU THINK I HAVE THAT ANSWER MAX
DO YOU THINK I AM HIDING IT FROM YOU
Max:
She is in labour now?
Lando:
YES
Max:
And you found out today?
Lando:
WE FOUND OUT LIKE FORTY MINUTES AGO
Max:
What the fuck.
Lando:
YES THAT HAS BEEN COVERED
Max:
Is she okay?
Lando:
SHE IS IN PAIN
AND SCARED
AND VERY ANGRY AT HER OWN BODY
AND SHE KEEPS SAYING SHE DIDN’T KNOW
Max:
You told her you know, yes?
Lando:
YES
Max:
Good. Keep doing that.
Lando:
OKAY
Lando:
WHAT ELSE
Max:
What do the doctors say?
Lando:
THE DOCTORS ARE GOOD
THEY THOUGHT ECTOPIC
THEN ULTRASOUND
THEN SURPRISE
BABY
TODAY
APPARENTLY
Max:
Jesus.
Lando:
YOU JUST HAD A KID WITH KELLY
YOU KNOW BABY THINGS
Max:
I knew months before.
Lando:
NOT HELPING
Max:
I am saying this is a bit different.
Lando:
MAX I AM ONE BAD THOUGHT AWAY FROM PASSING OUT
PLEASE BE USEFUL
Max:
Okay. Sit down.
Lando:
I AM SITTING
Max:
Do not google anything.
Lando:
KENNA ALREADY THREATENED TO BREAK UP WITH ME IF I GOOGLE DURING CHILDBIRTH
Max:
She is correct. Stay with her. Listen to the doctors. Do not make your panic her problem.
Lando:
I AM TRYING
MY PANIC IS QUITE LARGE
Max:
Then put it somewhere else.
Lando:
WHERE
Max:
Text me.
Lando:
OH
Lando:
THAT IS ACTUALLY VERY NICE
Max:
Yes. Unfortunately.
Lando:
I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING
Max:
What do you mean?
Lando:
I MEAN I HAVE NOTHING
NO CAR SEAT
NO BABY CLOTHES
NO NAPPIES
NO LITTLE HAT
DO BABIES NEED HATS
THEY ALWAYS HAVE HATS
Max:
Yes, probably.
Lando:
PROBABLY?
Max:
Mate I did not personally design the baby.
Lando:
YOU HAVE ONE
Max:
Kelly knows more.
Lando:
CAN YOU ASK KELLY
Max:
She is feeding the baby.
Lando:
ASK HER AFTER
OR DURING
NO DON’T INTERRUPT HER
BUT ALSO PLEASE ASK HER
I AM SORRY
Max:
I will ask her.
Lando:
THANK YOU
Max:
Your family can get things. You do not need all of it now.
Lando:
WHAT DO I NEED NOW
Max:
McKenna.
Lando:
MAX
Max:
I am serious.
Lando:
I KNOW BUT THAT MADE ME EMOTIONAL AND I DON’T HAVE TIME
Max:
You need to be with her. The things can come later. Babies need a safe way home, clothes, nappies, somewhere to sleep. But tonight? Doctors, McKenna, baby. That is it.
Lando:
Okay
Lando:
Okay
Lando:
I can do that
Max:
Yes.
Lando:
What if I can’t
Max:
You can.
Lando:
YOU DON’T KNOW THAT
Max:
I know you are annoying about people you love.
Max:
You have loved McKenna since you were children. You will be annoying about this baby too.
Lando:
I’m so scared
Max:
Good.
Lando:
GOOD?????
Max:
It means you care.
Lando:
I CARE SO MUCH I MAY VOMIT
Max:
Try not to do that near McKenna.
Lando:
I KNOW
Max:
Also do not say “calm down” to her.
Lando:
I WOULD NEVER
Max:
Good.
Lando:
I said “you’re okay” and she said “I am not okay” and honestly fair
Max:
Say “I’m here” instead.
Lando:
That’s good
Lando:
Writing that down mentally
Max:
Do not actually write it down. Be present.
Lando:
RIGHT
Lando:
PRESENT
Lando:
I CAN PRESENT
Max:
Can you?
Lando:
NO BUT I WILL TRY
Max:
Good enough.
Max:
Also tell people after McKenna says okay.
Lando:
Yes
Lando:
Obviously
Lando:
God I haven’t even thought about press
Max:
Don’t.
Lando:
But—
Max:
No.
Lando:
Zak will—
Max:
No.
Lando:
McLaren will—
Max:
No.
Lando:
The internet—
Max:
Lando.
Lando:
Right. No.
Max:
Today you are not a Formula One driver. You are McKenna’s partner. And a dad.
Lando:
Don’t say it
Max:
You are a dad.
Lando:
MAX
Max:
You need to hear it.
Lando:
I’M GOING TO CRY
Max:
Then cry. Just not louder than McKenna.
Lando:
THAT IS HORRIBLE ADVICE BUT ALSO GOOD ADVICE
Max:
Exactly.
Lando:
She’s having another contraction
Lando:
Okay
Lando:
Thanks
Max:
Text when baby is here.
Lando:
Baby
Lando:
Jesus Christ
Max:
And Lando? Do not faint.
Lando:
NO PROMISES
***
Group Chat: Paddock Support Group
(Members: Alexandra Saint Mleux, Rebecca Donaldson, Lily Zneimer, Flavy Barla, Kika Gomes, Lily Muni He, Alicia Torriani, Isabella Bernadini, Kelly Piquet, Carmen Montero Mundt, McKenna Hayes)
Kelly:
What the hell.
Alexandra:
?
Rebecca:
That feels ominous.
Kika:
Kelly, babe, context.
Kelly:
Max just came into the nursery holding his phone like it personally attacked him.
Flavy:
That sounds like Max.
Lily Muni:
What happened?
Kelly:
Lando texted him.
Lily Z:
That also sounds like Lando.
Kelly:
McKenna is in hospital.
Alexandra:
What?
Rebecca:
Is she okay?
Carmen:
Kenna???
Flavy:
Wait, she said, cramps earlier.
Isabella:
Oh my god.
Lily Z:
Is it the cysts again?
Kelly:
No.
Kelly:
Apparently not.
Lily Z:
Kelly.
Rebecca:
Do not make us guess.
Kelly:
She is in labour.
Alexandra:
I’m sorry?
Kika:
LABOUR?
Flavy:
As in baby labour?
Kelly:
Yes.
Rebecca:
WHAT
Lily Muni:
No.
Alicia:
No way.
Isabella:
She’s pregnant?!
Kelly:
Apparently she did not know.
Kika:
SHE DIDN’T KNOW???
Alexandra:
But she was just texting us.
Rebecca:
She literally said period cramps.
Lily Z:
She said stomach cramps from hell.
Flavy:
Oh my god.
Alicia:
I thought she meant, like, normal horrifying cramps.
Carmen:
Oh my god.
Lily Muni:
Wait. She was pregnant in Japan?!
Kelly:
Max said Lando is not coherent.
Rebecca:
Lando is never coherent.
Kelly:
Less coherent than usual.
Isabella:
That is a medical emergency by itself.
Kika:
I feel sick.
Flavy:
Is Kenna okay?
Kelly:
Max said the doctors are good and she is scared but okay.
Lily Z:
Poor Kenna.
Rebecca:
She must be terrified.
Alexandra:
She kept saying earlier that she was fine.
Kika:
Of course she did. She always does that.
Alicia:
Does she want us there?
Kelly:
I don’t think Lando knows what he wants, let alone what McKenna wants.
Lily Muni:
Fair.
Rebecca:
Should we text her?
Alexandra:
Maybe not all at once.
Kika:
I want to text her.
Flavy:
Same, but she’s literally in labour.
Isabella:
Maybe one person texts and says we love her, no pressure to answer.
Kelly:
Good idea.
Lily Z:
I can do it.
Carmen:
Tell her we love her and she doesn’t have to reply.
Kika:
And that we’re not asking questions.
Alicia:
And that she did nothing wrong.
Alexandra:
Yes. Especially that.
Lily Z:
Writing now.
Lily Z:
“Kenna, we heard from Kelly/Max/Lando. Please don’t answer. We love you so much, you’ve done nothing wrong, and we’re here for absolutely anything.”
Is that okay?
Kelly:
Perfect.
Rebecca:
Perfect.
Lily Z:
Sent.
Flavy:
I cannot believe this.
Rebecca:
We saw her in Japan.
Alexandra:
She was wearing that oversized white shirt.
Kika:
And Lando’s hoodie half the weekend.
Lily Muni:
Which is normal for her.
Alicia:
She’s always in his clothes.
Isabella:
How far along is she?
Kelly:
Lando apparently asked Max if babies need hats.
Rebecca:
So no useful information then.
Kelly:
None.
Kika:
They do need hats though.
Flavy:
Not the point, Kika.
Kika:
I KNOW BUT THEY DO.
Lily Z:
Oh my god she replied.
Alexandra:
What?
Rebecca:
She replied during labour?
Lily Z:
She sent:
“tell everyone lando is banned from google and if any of you tell the press before I get drugs I will haunt you”
Kika:
That’s our girl.
Rebecca:
Good. She’s still Kenna.
Kelly:
Max just asked me what newborns need “immediately immediately.”
Alicia:
Max is consulting you?
Kelly:
Yes. While holding our Lily like a football and looking haunted.
Alexandra:
Poor Max.
Kelly:
Poor me. I am apparently now the emergency baby hotline.
Lily MH:
To be fair, you are the most recently qualified.
Kelly:
I had warning.
Flavy:
Small advantage.
Rebecca:
Massive advantage.
Kika:
Okay. Practical list. We can help.
Alexandra:
Car seat.
Rebecca:
Newborn clothes.
Lily MH:
Nappies.
Alicia:
Wipes.
Isabella:
Blanket.
Carmen:
Things for McKenna too. She went in for cramps, not labour. She won’t have a hospital bag.
Kelly:
Yes. Comfortable clothes. Big underwear. Toiletries. Hair ties. Phone charger. Snacks for after.
Kika:
I can do snacks.
Rebecca:
You cannot bring only snacks.
Kika:
I can bring excellent snacks.
Alexandra:
I can organize clothes.
Lily Z:
Lando’s family is probably already doing some of this.
Kelly:
Good. Then we don’t overwhelm. We can coordinate after.
Isabella:
Do we know if it’s a boy or girl?
Kelly:
No.
Kika:
Imagine finding out you’re pregnant and the gender on the same day.
Rebecca:
Imagine finding out you’re pregnant and then immediately needing to push.
Alexandra:
Rebecca.
Rebecca:
Sorry. Spiraling.
Lily MH:
We all are.
Alicia:
Should someone check on Lando?
Kelly:
Max is doing that.
Kika:
Max Verstappen, emotional support doula.
Rebecca:
That is the worst phrase I’ve ever read.
Alexandra:
And somehow accurate.
Kelly:
He told Lando not to make his panic McKenna’s problem.
Lily Z:
That’s actually good advice.
Isabella:
Very good advice.
Alicia:
Who knew Max would be useful here?
Kika:
No one is having a normal day.
Lily Z:
McKenna just sent another message.
Rebecca:
During labour???
Lily Z:
“also tell kika if she says mcbaby I will never speak to her again”
Kika:
I WAS NOT GOING TO SAY IT.
Flavy:
You absolutely were.
Kika:
I WAS THINKING IT RESPECTFULLY.
Kelly:
Do not say McBaby to a woman in labour.
Kika:
Noted.
Alexandra:
I’m crying a little.
Rebecca:
Same.
Alicia:
Same.
Isabella:
This is so scary but also so them somehow.
Lily MH:
Only Lando and McKenna could accidentally have a baby with no announcement, no bump, no preparation, and still somehow involve half the paddock group chat within an hour.
Kelly:
Max says Lando has now asked if newborns can wear McLaren merch.
Rebecca:
Absolutely not.
Kika:
That baby is five minutes from being sponsored.
Flavy:
McKenna will murder him.
Lily Z:
She should.
Kelly:
I told Max to tell him: plain cotton first, branding later.
Alexandra:
Kelly, you are doing a national service.
Kelly:
I would like a nap.
Alicia:
You have earned one.
Lily Z:
Another message from Kenna.
Kika:
HOW IS SHE TEXTING?
Lily Z:
I think she is between contractions and furious.
Rebecca:
That tracks.
Lily Z:
She said:
“if any of you come to hospital do not bring cameras, flowers, or pity. bring deodorant and maybe chocolate.”
Kelly:
Practical queen.
Alexandra:
I’ll make a list.
Rebecca:
I have deodorant.
Kika:
I have chocolate.
Flavy:
Of course you do.
Carmen:
I can bring soft clothes.
Kelly:
Wait for Lando’s family to confirm what they need. But yes.
Lily MH:
Does anyone else feel like Miami planning has been aggressively cancelled?
Rebecca:
Miami can wait.
Kika:
The baby cannot, apparently.
Kelly:
Kika.
Kika:
SORRY.
Lily Z:
McKenna just heart-reacted to my message.
Alexandra:
Okay. Good.
Rebecca:
She knows we love her.
Kelly:
That’s what matters.
Flavy:
And Lando?
Kelly:
Max says Lando is crying but still upright.
Alicia:
Progress.
Kika:
Tell Max to tell him we’re proud.
Kelly:
I’m not telling Max that. He’ll make a face.
Rebecca:
Tell him anyway.
Kelly:
Fine.
Kelly:
Update: Max said “he is being very annoying but yes.”
Lily Z:
That means proud in Max.
Alexandra:
Exactly.
Isabella:
Oh god.
Flavy:
What?
Isabella:
We’re all going to be aunties, aren’t we?
Kika:
AUNTIE WAGS.
McKenna:
I can see this chat you absolute lunatics
Kika:
KENNA?????
Rebecca:
WHY ARE YOU HERE?
Alexandra:
Do not answer us.
Kelly:
Put the phone down.
McKenna:
lando is asking the doctor if babies come with documentation
Lily MH:
I’m sorry.
Alicia:
Documentation?
McKenna:
like warranty paperwork apparently
Rebecca:
I am crying.
Kika:
I love him.
McKenna:
I am going to kill him after this
Kelly:
That is healthy. Very normal.
McKenna:
also I love you all
do not make me emotional
I am busy
Lily Z:
We love you too.
Alexandra:
So much.
Flavy:
You’ve got this.
Isabella:
We’re here.
Carmen:
Anything you need.
Kika:
No McBaby jokes. Promise.
McKenna:
good
McKenna:
fuck
McKenna:
gotta go
Kelly:
Breathe, sweetheart.
Rebecca:
We love you.
***
Lando did not faint.
This felt important.
He had thought about fainting. Several times. His body had made a few suggestions. There had been one deeply concerning moment where the room tilted sideways and he had to lock his knees and remind himself that McKenna was the one in labour, actually, and it would be spectacularly unhelpful if he introduced a second medical emergency.
But he did not faint.
He stayed.
He stayed beside the bed with one hand wrapped around McKenna’s and the other pressed against the damp hair at her temple, because she kept turning her face into his palm like he was something solid in a world that had gone completely mad.
Their baby was coming.
Their baby.
Their baby?!
Lando still couldn’t make the words fit properly inside his head.
A few hours ago, he had been making tea in their kitchen and asking if stomach cramps could get dangerous. Now there was an obstetrician at the end of the bed, a midwife speaking in a low, steady voice, and McKenna gripping his hand so hard he was fairly sure he would never regain full use of two fingers.
He did not care.
“Okay, McKenna,” the midwife said gently. “With the next contraction, I want you to push again.”
McKenna made a sound that tore through him.
“I can’t.”
Lando bent closer immediately. “Yes, you can.”
She turned her head just enough to glare at him, exhausted and furious and beautiful in a way that made him ache.
“Don’t you dare inspirational-speech me, Norris.”
He nodded quickly. “Right. Sorry. No speeches.”
“I hate this.”
“I know.”
“I hate you a little bit.”
“Also fair.”
“I’m serious.”
“I believe you.”
Her face crumpled then, anger folding into fear so quickly it stole the air from his lungs.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
Lando swallowed hard.
He wanted his mum. He wanted someone older and steadier and better at pretending the world wasn’t ending.
But Kenna had him.
So he stayed.
He pressed his forehead against hers and made his voice do something calm.
“I’m here,” he said. “I’m right here. You’re not doing this alone.”
Her eyes squeezed shut.
The contraction hit.
Her whole body tensed, her hand crushing his, and Lando felt panic climb up his throat like a living thing. He forced it down. He forced everything down except her.
“That’s it,” the midwife said. “Good, McKenna. Keep going. You’re doing so well.”
Lando looked at her face, not anywhere else, because he knew his limits and because her face was the only thing that mattered.
“You’re doing it,” he said, voice cracking. “Kenna, you’re doing it.”
She sobbed through the push, then fell back against the pillows, shaking.
“I can’t.”
“You are,” he whispered. “You are. I promise.”
Her eyes opened, glassy with pain.
“I didn’t know.”
The words broke him.
Again.
They had been breaking him all afternoon.
“I know,” he said instantly. “I know you didn’t. Baby, I know.”
“I should’ve known.”
“No.”
“What if something’s wrong because I didn’t—”
“No.” His voice came out sharper than he meant, but he couldn’t let her go there. Not now. Not ever. “No, Kenna. You didn’t know. I didn’t know. We’re here now. That’s what matters.”
The midwife glanced at him, approving enough that Lando almost cried from the validation.
Then McKenna made another low, wounded noise.
The midwife moved closer. “Okay. Another one’s coming. You’re very close now.”
Very close.
Lando’s heart stopped.
“Very close as in…?”
McKenna’s head snapped toward him.
“Lando.”
“Sorry. Sorry. Stupid question. I’m quiet.”
“You have never been quiet in your life.”
“I can start now.”
“You’d better not,” she gasped, and then the contraction took her.
So Lando talked.
Not loudly. Not frantically. Just enough.
He told her she was brilliant. He told her she was brave. He told her he loved her. He told her about being fourteen and sitting outside that bathroom at a karting track with a packet of completely wrong pads because he had wanted to help and had no idea how. He told her he still had no idea how, but he was there. He would always be there.
McKenna pushed.
The room narrowed to her hand in his, her breath, her pain, the impossible urgency in the midwife’s voice.
“That’s it, McKenna. Again. The baby is nearly here.”
Lando’s vision blurred.
“Oh,” he said, because it was the only word left in him. “Oh, Kenna.”
McKenna started crying then. Properly. Silently. Her face twisting with terror and awe and pain all at once.
“One more,” the midwife said. “You can do this.”
McKenna shook her head.
Lando put both hands around hers.
“Yes,” he whispered. “You can. I’ve got you. Come on, love. Bring her here.”
Kenna looked at him.
For half a second, she was five again. His girl with scraped knees from climbing fences at their school. Then she was 14 at karting tracks, laughing at him with a stolen hoodie hanging off one shoulder. Then she was twenty-six, exhausted and terrified and in labour with a child neither of them had known existed that morning.
His girl.
Their baby.
The contraction came.
McKenna screamed.
Lando did not faint.
He cried, though.
He cried when the room changed all at once. When the midwife’s voice lifted. When McKenna collapsed back against the pillows. When a small, furious, wet cry split the air and rearranged every part of him.
Their baby cried.
Lando forgot how to breathe.
“There she is,” someone said.
McKenna made a broken little sound. “Is she okay?”
“She’s crying,” the doctor said warmly. “That’s a very good sign.”
The baby was placed on McKenna’s chest a moment later, tiny and red and furious, wrapped in warmth and noise and impossibility.
Lando stared.
He had seen plenty of things in his life that people called miracles. Podiums. Wins. Cars doing things they shouldn’t be able to do. Split-second saves. Perfect laps.
None of them had ever looked like this.
Their daughter had a scrunched-up face, dark damp hair, and the offended expression of someone who had been rudely evicted.
She was perfect.
She was terrifying.
She was theirs.
McKenna touched her with shaking fingers.
“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Lando.”
He leaned over them both, one hand on McKenna’s shoulder, the other hovering uselessly near the baby because he was suddenly very aware that babies were small and he had hands designed for steering wheels, not holding entire universes.
“She’s real,” he said stupidly.
McKenna let out a wet laugh. “Yes, Lan.”
“She’s so small.”
“She’s a newborn.”
“I know, but—” His voice broke. “Kenna, she’s so small.”
The baby made another angry little noise.
Lando laughed and cried at the same time.
“She sounds pissed off.”
“She’s your daughter.”
“Rude. Accurate, but rude.”
McKenna looked up at him then, exhausted beyond anything he had ever seen, but smiling.
A tiny smile.
Enough to ruin him.
“You didn’t faint,” she whispered.
Lando wiped his face with the back of his wrist.
“No.”
“Proud of you.”
He made a strangled noise. “I’m very proud of you.”
“I had the harder job.”
“You absolutely had the harder job.”
The midwife asked if he wanted to cut the cord.
Lando looked at McKenna.
McKenna nodded.
His hands shook so badly the doctor had to guide him, but he did it. Somehow. He cut the cord and immediately looked like he might apologise to the baby for it.
Then he was back at McKenna’s side, because being more than six inches away from either of them felt wrong.
The baby settled against McKenna’s chest, one tiny fist pressed beneath her chin.
Lando stared at that fist.
It was impossibly small.
He thought about car seats. Nappies. Bottles. Press statements. Their families. McLaren. The internet. The nursery they did not have. The clothes they had not bought. The pregnancy they had missed. The months McKenna had carried this tiny person without either of them knowing.
Then the baby opened her eyes.
Barely.
Just for a second.
Lando stopped thinking about everything else.
“Oh,” he whispered.
McKenna looked at him. “What?”
“She looked at me.”
“She can barely see.”
“She looked at me, McKenna.”
“She probably thinks you’re a blurry lamp.”
“I’m her blurry lamp.”
McKenna laughed again, softer this time, and then winced.
Lando immediately panicked. “Are you okay? Is she okay? Are both of you okay?”
The midwife smiled. “They’re both doing very well.”
Lando nodded.
Then nodded again.
Then cried harder.
McKenna watched him with tired, fond eyes.
“Lan.”
“I’m fine.”
“You are not fine.”
“No,” he admitted. “But I didn’t faint.”
“No, you didn’t.”
He bent down and kissed her forehead. Then, very carefully, he kissed the top of their daughter’s head.
She smelled like hospital and warmth and something so new it hurt.
“I love you,” he whispered to Kenna.
“I love you too.”
Then he looked at the baby.
Their baby.
Their daughter.
His whole future, arriving with no warning and a furious little cry.
“And I love you,” Lando whispered, voice shaking. “Hi, baby.”
The baby wriggled against McKenna’s chest.
Lando smiled through tears.
“I’m your dad,” he told her, like he was introducing himself at the most important press conference of his life. “I found out today, so I’m a bit behind, but I’m going to catch up. I promise.”
***
McKenna had known her daughter for forty-seven minutes and already felt terrible for not having a name ready.
It was absurd, really.
She hadn’t known there was going to be a daughter. She hadn’t known there was going to be a baby. That morning, she had thought she was having the worst period of her life. Now she was sitting in a hospital bed with a tiny, sleeping girl tucked against her chest, and Lando Norris was standing beside her with tears dried on his cheeks, one hand resting protectively near the baby’s back as if someone might try to repossess her.
Their daughter made a small noise.
Lando immediately leaned closer.
“What was that?”
“A baby noise.”
“Is it a good one?”
“I don’t know, Lan. I’ve been a mother for less than an hour.”
“Right,” he whispered. “Same.”
McKenna looked at him.
He looked back.
Then both of them started laughing, quietly and helplessly, because otherwise she thought she might cry again and never stop.
The midwife had given them a little time. Their families were waiting. Somewhere beyond the room, the world existed with its questions and its phones and its headlines and probably Lando’s mother gently terrorizing every shop within driving distance for newborn clothes.
But in here, it was just them.
McKenna. Lando. Baby.
Baby Norris-Hayes?
Baby Hayes-Norris?
Baby something.
Baby unnamed, currently wearing a hospital hat that made her look like a very angry mushroom.
“She needs a name,” McKenna whispered.
Lando nodded solemnly. “Yes.”
“Please don’t look that serious.”
“This is serious.”
“I know. That’s why your face is frightening me.”
He huffed, but his eyes didn’t leave the baby. “I just think we need to pick something perfect.”
“She arrived with no warning after hiding for nine months. I don’t think she’s concerned with perfection.”
“She’s dramatic,” Lando said, with genuine awe. “Like you.”
McKenna blinked at him.
“Like me?”
“She waited until after Japan, during the break, and then made the biggest entrance possible.”
“That sounds exactly like you.”
“No, I would have done it in Japan.”
“Lando.”
“Sorry.”
The baby shifted, a tiny fist unfurling against McKenna’s skin.
Both of them went silent.
McKenna’s chest tightened so sharply she almost couldn’t breathe. The baby was so small. So real. So impossibly here.
And then Lando, because apparently he had no instinct for emotional timing, said, “I think I know when we made her.”
McKenna closed her eyes.
“Please don’t.”
“No, listen.”
“I am begging you not to do maths about our sex life while I am holding our newborn daughter.”
“It’s not maths, it’s context.”
“That’s worse.”
Lando looked almost offended. “Silverstone.”
McKenna opened one eye. “What?”
“Silverstone 2025.”
“Lando.”
“I won.”
“I remember.”
“And you were very proud of me.”
“I was.”
“And we got back to the hotel and—”
“Do not finish that sentence.”
His mouth twitched. “I’m just saying.”
“You are just saying far too much.”
“It makes sense, though. Timeline-wise.”
“Again. Please stop doing conception math.”
“She was probably made after Silverstone,” he said, with the expression of a man presenting a deeply reasonable argument. “So maybe we should name her that.”
McKenna stared at him.
He stared back, hopeful.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I am not naming my daughter Silverstone Norris.”
“It has history.”
“It sounds like a horse.”
“A very fast horse.”
“No.”
“Silver? Silvie?”
“No.”
“Stowe?”
“No.”
“Abbey?”
McKenna paused.
Lando noticed immediately. “Abbey is a corner.”
“I know Abbey is a corner.”
“And it’s a normal name.”
“It’s also not her name.”
Lando looked down at the baby, considering. “Maggotts?”
McKenna’s head snapped up. “Absolutely not.”
“Becketts?”
“No.”
“Brooklands?”
“No.”
“Copse?”
“No.”
“Luffield?”
“I will leave you.”
“You literally cannot stand up.”
“I will ask the midwife to wheel me away.”
Lando grinned for half a second, and God, she loved him. She loved him so much it hurt. Even here. Even exhausted and terrified and sore in places she refused to think about. Even with their whole life blown open around them.
He was still Lando.
Her Lando.
The boy who had grown into a man and still looked at her like she was the centre of every room he entered.
He studied their daughter again, softer now.
“What about Vale?”
McKenna blinked.
The room seemed to still.
“Vale?”
“Yeah.” He sounded suddenly shy. “It’s a corner. But it’s also… pretty. Short. Not too obvious. And she could be Vale.”
McKenna looked down at the baby.
Vale.
A tiny girl who had arrived like thunder after hiding in plain sight. A daughter made, maybe, in the afterglow of Silverstone, in one of the happiest weekends of Lando’s life. A baby who had come into the world furious and strong and louder than her size should have allowed.
Vale.
She hated that she liked it.
She really hated that she liked it.
Lando saw her face change.
“You like it.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You do.”
“I said nothing.”
“McKenna.”
“It’s cute as a nickname,” she admitted reluctantly.
His whole face lit up.
“Yeah?”
“As a nickname.”
“Okay. For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Valentina?”
McKenna tilted her head. “Pretty. Maybe too fancy for us.”
“Valerie?”
She looked down again.
Valerie.
There was something soft about it. Classic. Warm. A real name, not just a joke born from panic and motorsport trivia. A name she could grow into. A name that could belong to a baby in a hospital hat and a woman someday with opinions and scraped knees and Lando’s smile.
Valerie.
Vale.
McKenna’s throat tightened.
“Valerie,” she repeated.
Lando’s voice went careful. “You like it?”
She brushed one finger lightly over the baby’s cheek.
The baby scrunched her face, offended.
McKenna smiled.
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I think I do.”
Lando went very still, like he was afraid sudden movement might scare the name away.
“Valerie,” he said softly.
The baby did not react.
Lando nodded. “She likes it.”
“She’s asleep.”
“She didn’t object.”
“She can’t speak.”
“Exactly. Silence is consent.”
“Never say that again.”
“Right. Bad phrasing. Sorry.”
McKenna laughed, and then winced.
Lando’s face immediately shifted into concern. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not allowed to say fine anymore. Fine is banned.”
“I’m sore, exhausted, overwhelmed, and I have no idea what happens next.”
His hand covered hers, warm and shaking slightly.
“Same.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
Then she said, “Valerie Norris.”
Lando’s expression changed so quickly it startled her.
Not joy first.
Surprise.
His eyes widened. His mouth parted slightly.
“What?”
McKenna frowned. “What?”
“You said Norris.”
“Yes.”
“Not Hayes?”
Oh.
Something tender and aching moved through her chest.
Lando looked genuinely stunned, like she had offered him something too precious to touch. As if he had not just stood beside her through the most terrifying hour of her life. As if he had not loved her since they were children. As if he had not already placed himself between their daughter and the entire world without even thinking about it.
McKenna shifted carefully, holding the baby closer.
“I can say Hayes-Norris if you want,” she said. “Or Norris-Hayes. We can talk about it properly.”
“No, I—” He stopped. Swallowed. “I just didn’t assume.”
“I know.”
“I mean, she’s yours.”
McKenna stared at him.
“She’s ours.”
“I know, but you did the…” He gestured vaguely at her whole body, then seemed to realize that was insane and dropped his hand. “You did the entire thing. Apparently for nine months without knowing, which is mental, and then today, and I just—she should have your name if you want.”
McKenna’s eyes burned.
She blamed hormones. Pain. Shock. The fact that their daughter existed. The fact that Lando Norris could still undo her with one badly structured sentence after two decades.
“Lando,” she said softly.
He looked at her.
“You’re her dad.”
His face crumpled.
Just slightly.
Enough.
“I know.”
“And I want her to have your name.”
His eyes filled again. “Kenna.”
“Not because mine doesn’t matter,” she added, because it did. “Not because I’m disappearing into you or something. I’m still me. She’s still mine. But you—” Her voice caught. “You’ve been my family since we were kids.”
Lando covered his mouth with one hand.
McKenna kept going, because if she stopped she would cry too hard to finish.
“And she’s yours. She should have that. She should have your name. Unless we decide to double-barrel, which is also fine, but…” She looked down at the baby. “Valerie Norris feels right.”
Lando wiped his face, badly.
“You’re trying to kill me.”
“I just gave birth. I think I’ve done enough violence for one day.”
He laughed through a sob.
Then he bent down, incredibly carefully, and kissed McKenna’s forehead.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“I do.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I’m going to anyway.”
“Of course you are.”
He looked at the baby then, at Valerie, and his face went soft in a way McKenna had never seen before.
It was not the way he looked after a win.
Not the way he looked at her.
This was new.
A whole new expression for a whole new person.
“Valerie Norris,” he whispered.
Their daughter made a tiny sound, somewhere between a sigh and a squeak.
Lando inhaled sharply.
“She answered.”
“She has gas.”
“She answered.”
McKenna smiled.
“Fine. She answered.”
Lando reached out with one cautious finger, and Valerie’s tiny hand closed around it with shocking determination.
He froze.
“Oh my God,” he whispered.
McKenna watched him fall in love.
Really, properly, permanently.
She watched it happen in real time, the exact second her chaotic, terrified, too-young-and-suddenly-not-young-at-all boyfriend became someone’s father in his bones.
“She’s strong,” he said.
“She’s had a dramatic day.”
“She’s perfect.”
“She looks like an angry potato.”
“She’s a perfect angry potato.”
McKenna laughed softly.
Valerie Norris slept on, unimpressed by both of them.
Outside the room, their families waited. Their friends waited. The world waited.
But for one more minute, McKenna let the world stay outside.
She let herself look at Lando, and Valerie, and the tiny fist around his finger.
Their daughter.
Their Vale.
Their impossible little girl, named after a corner at Silverstone because Lando Norris was ridiculous and McKenna loved him enough to let it count.
***
Text Messages: Lando Norris & Max Fewtrell
Lando:
MAX
Max F:
Which one of your tyres has emotionally betrayed you now?
Lando:
NOT THE TIME
Max F:
Oh god. What happened?
Lando:
I NEED YOU TO BE NORMAL
Max F:
Then why are you texting me IN ALL CAPS?
Lando:
FAIR
Lando:
KENNA HAD A BABY
Max F:
Sorry?
Lando:
A BABY
Max F:
Whose baby?
Lando:
MINE??? WHO ELSE?!
Max F:
WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN KENNA HAD A BABY
Lando:
I MEAN KENNA HAD A BABY
IN A HOSPITAL
TODAY
Max F:
SHE WAS PREGNANT????
Lando:
APPARENTLY
Max F:
APPARENTLY?????
Lando:
WE DIDN’T KNOW
Max F:
HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THERE IS AN ENTIRE BABY
Lando:
MAX I HAVE HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH TOO MANY PEOPLE TODAY
Max F:
I saw her two weeks ago.
Lando:
I KNOW
Max F:
She stole my chips.
Lando:
YES
Max F:
Was that the baby?
Lando:
I DON’T KNOW
MAYBE
PROBABLY
Max F:
I shared chips with your unborn child and nobody told me?
Lando:
NOBODY TOLD ME EITHER
Max F:
Jesus Christ.
Lando:
YEAH
Max F:
Is she okay? Is Kenna okay?
Lando:
YES
THEY’RE BOTH OKAY
SHE’S TIRED
AND SORE
AND A BIT TRAUMATISED
BUT OKAY
Max F:
They?
Lando:
THE BABY
Max F:
Oh my god.
Max F:
You’re a dad.
Lando:
DON’T SAY IT LIKE THAT
Max F:
How else am I supposed to say it?
Lando:
SOFTER
Max F:
You are gently a father.
Lando:
THAT’S WORSE
Max F:
Tiny human acquired.
Lando:
MAX
Max F:
Sorry. Freaking out.
Lando:
ME TOO
Max F:
No, you don’t understand. I’m the fun uncle now.
Lando:
YOU ARE NOT THE FUN UNCLE BY DEFAULT
Max F:
I am absolutely the fun uncle.
Lando:
MY ACTUAL BROTHER ALREADY CLAIMED UNCLE
Max F:
He can be biological uncle. I am emotional uncle.
Lando:
THAT SOUNDS MADE UP
Max F:
All family is made up if you believe hard enough.
Lando:
I hate that that was almost profound
Max F:
What’s the baby’s name?
Lando:
Valerie
Max F:
Oh.
Max F:
Mate.
Max F:
That’s actually lovely.
Lando:
Vale for short
Max F:
As in Silverstone Vale?
Lando:
…
Max F:
LANDO
Lando:
DON’T
Max F:
OH MY GOD
Lando:
DON’T YOU DARE
Max F:
SILVERSTONE 2025?????
Lando:
WE THINK SO
Max F:
You won your home race and immediately created a child?
Lando:
MAX
Max F:
That is the most you thing you’ve ever done.
Lando:
WE ARE NOT PHRASEING IT LIKE THAT
Max F:
I am absolutely phrasing it like that at your wedding.
Lando:
I WILL UNINVITE YOU
Max F:
You’re going to marry her?
Lando:
Obviously
Max F:
Oh.
Max F:
Sorry. That got me.
Lando:
Yeah
Max F:
You’ve loved her forever.
Lando:
I know
Max F:
And now you have a baby.
Lando:
I know
Max F:
A whole Valerie.
Lando:
Yeah
Max F:
Fuck.
Lando:
Yeah
Max F:
Are you okay?
Lando:
No
Max F:
Good answer.
Lando:
I keep looking at her and thinking she’s real
and then I think about how Kenna carried her for months and we didn’t know
and then I feel sick
and then Vale yawns or makes this tiny angry noise
and I want to cry again
Max F:
Again?
Lando:
I’ve cried a lot
Max F:
Yeah, obviously.
Lando:
I didn’t faint though
Max F:
You didn’t faint?
Lando:
NO
Max F:
Actually proud of you.
Lando:
THANK YOU
Max F:
I would’ve bet money on you fainting.
Lando:
RUDE
Max F:
Correct though.
Lando:
Maybe
Max F:
Can I come?
Lando:
Not yet
Kenna’s overwhelmed
Family first
Then when she’s ready
Max F:
Yeah. Of course.
Lando:
But I wanted to tell you before it becomes like… a thing
Max F:
Thank you.
Lando:
You’re my best friend
Max F:
Don’t make me emotional when you’ve just made me an uncle.
Lando:
EMOTIONAL uncle
Max F:
Exactly.
Lando:
She’s so small Max
Max F:
How small?
Lando:
Like
too small
like I’m scared to breathe near her
but also I want to hold her forever
Max F:
That sounds about right.
Lando:
How do you know?
Max F:
I don’t. I’m pretending for your benefit.
Lando:
Helpful
Max F:
Does she look like you?
Lando:
She looks angry
Max F:
So yes.
Lando:
Kenna said the same thing
Max F:
Because Kenna is correct.
Lando:
I think she has Kenna’s mouth
Max F:
Poor kid, then she’ll have both of you arguing with her face.
Lando:
I hate you
Max F:
Send picture?
Lando:
I need to ask Kenna first
Max F:
Good dad answer.
Lando:
That made me feel weird
Max F:
Dad.
Lando:
STOP
Max F:
Father Lando.
Lando:
Blocked
Max F:
Papa Norris.
Lando:
I’m serious
Max F:
Daddy No-rizz.
Lando:
I AM BLOCKING YOU DURING THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF MY LIFE
Max F:
Okay okay sorry
Max F:
Love you mate. Proud of you. Proud of Kenna. Tell her I love her and I’m buying the baby the most annoying toy legally available.
Lando:
Do not
Max F:
Too late. Emotional uncle rights.
Lando:
She’s asleep on Kenna now
Max F:
Vale?
Lando:
Yeah
Max F:
And Kenna?
Lando:
Also half asleep
Max F:
Put your phone down then.
Lando:
Yeah
Max F:
Go be with your girls.
Lando:
My girls
Max F:
Yeah, mate.
Lando:
Fuck
Max F:
Yeah.
Lando:
Okay
Lando:
I’m going
Max F:
Love you.
Lando:
Love you too
Max F:
And Lando?
Lando:
Yeah?
Max F:
You’re going to be brilliant.
Lando:
Don’t make me cry again
Max F:
Too late?
Lando:
Too late.
***
Group Chat: Norris Family Chaos
(Members: Mum, Dad, Oliver, Lando, Flo, Cisca)
Lando:
she’s here
Mum:
Oh my darling.
Dad:
Congratulations, son.
Flo:
SHE’S HERE?????
Cisca:
OH MY GOD
Oliver:
Mate ❤️
Lando:
she’s here and she’s okay
kenna is okay
everyone is okay
Mum:
Thank God.
Flo:
What’s her name?
Lando:
Valerie Grace Norris
Lando:
Vale
Cisca:
VALERIE 😭😭😭
Mum:
That’s beautiful.
Dad:
A beautiful name.
Oliver:
Vale Norris. That’s unreal.
Flo:
Wait. Norris?
Lando:
yeah
Lando:
kenna said she wanted her to have my name
Lando:
I cried again
Oliver:
Again?
Lando:
shut up
Mum:
Oh, Lando.
Lando:
she’s so small
Flo:
Have you held her?
Lando:
yes
Lando:
for like two minutes
Lando:
then I panicked because her head is very floppy
Cisca:
Babies do that.
Lando:
I KNOW THAT NOW
Oliver:
Did you faint?
Lando:
NO
Flo:
Proud of you actually.
Lando:
thank you
Mum:
How is McKenna?
Lando:
exhausted
sore
being very brave
keeps saying sorry to the nurses
Cisca:
That sounds like Kenna.
Dad:
Tell her we love her.
Lando:
I did
Lando:
she cried
Flo:
Oh Kenna 😭
Oliver:
Can we see her? The baby, I mean.
Lando:
wait
Lando:
Mum:
Oh.
Mum:
She’s perfect.
Dad:
She really is.
Flo:
I AM SOBBING
Cisca:
Her little hand 😭
Oliver:
She looks angry.
Lando:
EVERYONE KEEPS SAYING THAT
Flo:
Because she does.
Lando:
she’s had a big day
Oliver:
So has everyone else.
Lando:
true
Mum:
And McKenna really is alright?
Lando:
yeah
they’re monitoring both of them
but doctors said they’re doing well
Dad:
Good.
Lando:
mum
Mum:
Yes?
Lando:
I’m a dad
Mum:
Yes, sweetheart. You are.
Lando:
that is insane
Flo:
Auntie Flo is also insane but in a good way.
Cisca:
Auntie Cisca 😭
Oliver:
Uncle Oliver reporting for duty.
Lando:
please do not all become weird
Oliver:
Too late.
Dad:
We’ll come when you and McKenna are ready.
Lando:
maybe not yet
she’s overwhelmed
Mum:
Of course. We’ll wait.
Flo:
I have clothes for Kenna and baby things.
Oliver:
And snacks.
Cisca:
And a car seat. Dad checked it.
Lando:
you got a car seat already?
Dad:
Yes.
Lando:
I love you
Dad:
Love you too.
Mum:
You just stay with your girls.
Lando:
my girls
Lando:
fuck
Flo:
Crying again?
Lando:
yes
Cisca:
Good.
Oliver:
Fatherhood speedrun complete.
Lando:
I hate all of you
Mum:
No, you don’t.
Lando:
no I don’t
Lando:
I have to go
Vale made a noise and I need to stare at her
Flo:
Perfectly reasonable.
Dad:
Go on.
Mum:
Kiss McKenna for us.
Cisca:
And tell Vale her aunties love her.
Oliver:
And her uncle.
Lando:
will do
Lando:
still didn’t faint btw
Oliver:
Historic achievement.
Lando:
bye
***
Group Chat: Paddock Support Group
(Members: Alexandra Saint Mleux, Rebecca Donaldson, Lily Zneimer, Flavy Barla, Kika Gomes, Lily Muni He, Alicia Torriani, Isabella Bernadini, Kelly Piquet, Carmen Montero Mundt, McKenna Hayes)
McKenna:
Hi
McKenna:
Sorry it took me a minute
McKenna:
Things have been a little bit insane
McKenna:
But I wanted to introduce you all properly to Valerie Grace Norris. We’ll call her
Vale 🤍
McKenna: 
Kika:
OH MY GOD
Rebecca:
KENNA 😭😭😭
Alexandra:
Oh, she is beautiful.
Lily Z:
Oh my god. Oh my god. Hi baby Vale.
Kelly:
There she is 🥺
Flavy:
I’m actually crying.
Alicia:
She is SO tiny.
Isabella:
Look at her little face 😭
Lily MH:
Oh, she’s precious.
Carmen:
McKenna 🥹 she is absolutely perfect.
Kika:
I need everyone to know I gasped out loud.
Rebecca:
The HAIR.
Alexandra:
The expression is already very Norris.
Kelly:
Yes. She looks mildly offended to be here.
McKenna:
That is exactly her default expression so far
Lily Z:
I’m obsessed with her name.
Flavy:
Valerie Grace is so beautiful.
Alicia:
Vale is the cutest nickname ever.
Lily Z:
Okay but I need confirmation: is Vale slightly Silverstone-coded or am I inventing lore
McKenna:
Unfortunately you are not inventing lore
Rebecca:
OH MY GOD
McKenna:
Lando suggested naming our daughter after approximately every corner at Silverstone
Lily MH:
No.
Carmen:
Please tell me he did not.
McKenna:
He absolutely did
McKenna:
He suggested Silver
Silvie
Brooklands
Copse
Maggotts
Becketts
Abbey
Alicia:
COPSE?????
Flavy:
Absolutely not 😭
Rebecca:
He cannot be left unsupervised.
Kika:
Maggotts Norris is taking me out
Alexandra:
Imagine introducing your child as Becketts.
McKenna:
He then said Vale and I actually liked it as a nickname, so we landed on Valerie
Lily Z:
Honestly? That is incredibly sweet.
Kelly:
That’s a good compromise. Emotional, but not insane.
McKenna:
Exactly
Isabella:
And Grace?
McKenna:
It just felt right
Soft and simple
Carmen:
It suits her.
Rebecca:
It really does.
Kika:
How are you, mama?
McKenna:
Tired
sore
slightly overwhelmed
a little in love
Lily MH:
That sounds about right.
Alexandra:
And how is Lando?
McKenna:
Also tired
also overwhelmed
completely gone over her
Kelly:
As expected.
McKenna:
He has cried multiple times today because she yawned
Rebecca:
That is the most Lando thing I have ever heard.
Kika:
Did he faint though
McKenna:
No
He would like everyone to know that he did not faint
Alicia:
Good for him ❤️
Flavy:
Proud of him, honestly.
McKenna:
He’s very proud of himself
Kelly:
He texted Max in full crisis mode, so that tracks.
McKenna:
I know
Lando told me 😭
Lily Z:
The fact that Max Verstappen became his emergency dad consultant is still killing me.
McKenna:
He means well.
He’s been amazing
Alexandra:
Of course he has.
McKenna:
He keeps looking at her like he can’t believe she’s real
which, fair, because I also can’t
Kika:
Kenna 🥺
Lily Z:
How are you feeling about everything? Really?
McKenna:
Honestly?
Still a bit like I’ve been hit by a bus
and then handed a baby
but every time I look at her it gets a little more real in a good way
Kelly:
That’s more than okay.
Rebecca:
And just in case you need to hear it again: none of this is your fault.
McKenna:
Thank you
I know that logically
still catching up emotionally
Flavy:
That makes complete sense.
Carmen:
You do not have to process everything all at once.
Lily MH:
Exactly. One hour at a time.
McKenna:
That’s basically the current strategy
Kika:
Also, for the record, she is ridiculously cute. Like unfairly cute.
McKenna:
I know
it’s annoying
Alicia:
Does she look like Lando or like you?
McKenna:
At the moment she mostly looks angry
Kelly:
So Lando.
McKenna:
He introduced himself to her by saying, “Hi baby, I’m your dad, I only found out today so I’m a bit behind.”
Rebecca:
I am EMOTIONAL
Lily Z:
That is devastatingly adorable.
Flavy:
I’m crying again.
Carmen:
That’s so him.
Kika:
Okay I need permission to bring food at some point.
McKenna:
Yes please
not today
but soon
Rebecca:
I can do freezer meals.
Kelly:
I can send a proper newborn essentials list so Lando doesn’t buy something stupid at 2am.
McKenna:
Please do
he’s one online shopping spiral away from purchasing a gold-plated pram
Alicia:
He absolutely is.
Isabella:
I can do baby clothes.
Alexandra:
I volunteer for soft blankets.
Carmen:
I’ll bring food too, whenever you’re ready.
Lily MH:
I can help with whatever practical things you need.
Lily Z:
Same. And if you need someone to sit with the baby while you shower or sleep, say the word.
McKenna:
You’re all going to make me cry
Kelly:
That’s allowed.
McKenna:
Thank you
really
all of you
Rebecca:
Always.
Kika:
Welcome to the world, Vale 🤍
Alexandra:
She is already so loved.
McKenna:
She really is
McKenna:
And before anyone asks, no, we are not naming the next one Copse
Kika:
THE NEXT ONE???
Rebecca:
KENNA?????
McKenna:
JOKING
I am literally still in hospital
please be serious
Kelly:
I was about to drive over and confiscate Lando.
McKenna:
Understandable
Lily Z:
Please tell Vale her honorary aunties are obsessed with her already.
McKenna:
I will
as soon as she wakes up from her very important tiny nap
Carmen:
Sweet dreams, baby Vale 🤍
Flavy:
Sleep well, little one.
Alicia:
And you too, mama, if you can.
McKenna:
Trying 🤍
***
Group Chat: Team Papaya
(Members: Zak Brown, Andrea Stella, Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris)
Lando:
hi
Zak:
Hey buddy. Everything okay?
Andrea:
Hello, Lando.
Lando:
first of all
everyone needs to be calm
Oscar:
Historically, nothing calm has ever followed that sentence.
Zak:
What happened?
Lando:
nothing bad
Lando:
technically
Andrea:
“Technically” is doing a lot of work here.
Lando:
so
Lando:
kenna had a baby
Oscar:
Sorry?
Zak:
What?
Andrea:
A baby?
Lando:
yes
Lando:
surprise
Oscar:
Whose baby?
Lando:
MINE OSCAR
Oscar:
Right. Sorry. I panicked.
Zak:
Lando.
Zak:
What do you mean McKenna had a baby?
Lando:
i mean she had a baby
today
in hospital
with doctors and everything
Andrea:
McKenna was pregnant?!
Lando:
APPARENTLY
Oscar:
Apparently?
Lando:
we didn’t know
Zak:
You didn’t know?
Lando:
no
Oscar:
How do you not know?
Lando:
OSCAR I DO NOT HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT
AND EVERYONE KEEPS ASKING ME
Andrea:
Is McKenna okay?
Lando:
yes
she’s okay
tired and sore and overwhelmed but okay
Zak:
And the baby?
Lando:
she’s okay too
Oscar:
She?
Lando:
yeah
Lando:
it’s a girl
Oscar:
Mate.
Zak:
Congratulations.
Andrea:
Congratulations, Lando. And please give our best to McKenna.
Lando:
thanks
Lando:
also i did not faint
Oscar:
That is genuinely impressive.
Zak:
Were you expected to faint?
Oscar:
Yes.
Lando:
RUDE
Andrea:
But understandable.
Lando:
ANDREA
Andrea:
I say this with affection!
Zak:
What’s her name?
Lando:
Valerie Grace Norris
Vale for short
Oscar:
Vale?
Oscar:
As in—
Lando:
do not
Oscar:
Silverstone Vale?
Lando:
do not make me regret telling you
Zak:
Wait.
Is this a Silverstone baby?
Oscar:
You won Silverstone and immediately made a baby?
Lando:
OSCAR
Andrea:
This is not how I expected the debrief of the 2025 British Grand Prix to continue.
Zak:
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Lando:
same
Oscar:
Valerie is beautiful.
Lando:
yeah
Lando:
she’s very small
Oscar:
Newborns usually are.
Zak:
Do you need anything?
Lando:
i don’t know
Lando:
probably paternity leave???
Zak:
Yes. Obviously.
Lando:
i know we have a month break because of the calendar changes but i don’t know what happens after
Andrea:
Lando, we will handle the team logistics.
Zak:
Family comes first. We’ll work around whatever you and McKenna need.
Lando:
are you sure
Zak:
Buddy, you just had a surprise baby. Yes, I’m sure.
Oscar:
“Surprise baby” is insane phrasing.
Lando:
that is literally what happened
Oscar:
Fair.
Andrea:
We will need to discuss media eventually, but not now.
Lando:
thank god
Zak:
Not today. Not tomorrow unless you want to. You focus on McKenna and Valerie.
Lando:
okay
Oscar:
Does McKenna want privacy?
Lando:
yes
we both do
she shared a picture with the girls but that’s it
Oscar:
Then nobody else hears it from us.
Andrea:
Agreed.
Zak:
Of course.
Lando:
thank you
Zak:
Can we send something? Flowers? Food? Baby things?
Lando:
probably yes
but maybe not yet
kenna is overwhelmed
Andrea:
Then we wait. When you are ready, we will ask what is useful.
And no giant McLaren-branded baby hamper unless approved.
Lando:
thank you
Oscar:
There was already a giant McLaren-branded baby hamper idea, wasn’t there?
Zak:
No comment.
Andrea:
There will be no papaya onesies without parental consent.
Lando:
i appreciate that
Oscar:
Counterpoint: tiny race suit.
Lando:
oscar
Oscar:
For later.
Lando:
maybe for later
Zak:
There it is.
Lando:
she would look cute in papaya
Andrea:
Naturally.
Oscar:
You’re already gone.
Lando:
i know
Lando:
i looked at her and she yawned and i cried
Oscar:
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Zak:
That’s beautiful, buddy.
Lando:
also terrifying
Andrea:
Both can be true.
Lando:
i keep thinking
like
this morning i was just lando
and now i’m someone’s dad
Oscar:
You were always someone’s Lando. Now you’re also someone’s dad.
Lando:
that was too nice
Oscar:
Sorry. I’ll insult you shortly.
Zak:
You’ll be great.
Lando:
what if i’m not
Andrea:
Then you learn.
Zak:
Exactly. Nobody knows how to do it on day one.
Oscar:
Especially when day one arrives without prior notification.
Lando:
yeah
Lando:
she’s asleep on kenna now
and kenna is asleep too
and i don’t know what to do with myself
Andrea:
Sit with them.
Zak:
Take a breath.
Oscar:
Maybe put your phone down.
Lando:
probably
Oscar:
And Lando?
Lando:
yeah?
Oscar:
Congratulations, mate. Seriously.
Zak:
Congratulations to both of you. Welcome to the McLaren family, Valerie Grace.
Andrea:
Please tell McKenna we are very happy for you, and that there is no pressure from us. Only support.
Lando:
thank you
Lando:
really
Lando:
okay i’m going to go stare at my baby now
Oscar:
Extremely dad sentence.
Lando:
blocked
Zak:
Go be with your girls.
Lando:
my girls
Lando:
fuck
Andrea:
There it is.
***
Instagram Post: @/Lando
Comments:
@/mclaren:
Welcome to the papaya family, Vale 🧡
@/oscarpiastri:
Congratulations mate ❤️
@/maxverstappen1:
Did not faint. Well done.
@/maxfewtrell:
uncle reporting for duty
@/alex_albon:
This was not on my 2026 bingo card but congrats mate ❤️
@/charles_leclerc:
Congratulations to you both ❤️
@/carlossainz55:
Felicidades, mate. Very happy for your family ❤️
@/lilyzneimer:
She is perfect 🤍
@/danielricciardo:
BABY NORRIS!!! little legend already
@/zakbrownceo:
Congratulations to you and McKenna. Welcome to the family, Vale 🧡
@/papaya.poleposition:
EXCUSE ME??????????
@/lando4worldchamp:
LANDO NORRIS HAS A CHILD??????
@/smoothoperatorrr:
I OPENED INSTAGRAM EXPECTING MIAMI CONTENT AND GOT FATHERHOOD
@/formulafever:
“arrived unexpectedly” HELLO???? HOW UNEXPECTEDLY????
@/verstappenclipz:
THE BABY IS CALLED VALE BECAUSE OF SILVERSTONE VALE CORNER I AM CRYING
@/sector1purple:
Lando becoming a dad during the random month break is insane lore 😭
@/f1wagsdaily:
VALERIE GRACE NORRIS IS SUCH A PRETTY NAME 😭🤍
@/papayaracingline:
McLaren baby era officially activated 🧡
@/teamlh44:
Imagine your dad being Lando Norris 😭 this child is going to grow up with unlimited emotional support and chaos
@/norisring:
He is going to be OBSESSED with this baby
@/britishgpcore:
THE SILVERSTONE 2025 TIMELINE OH MY GODDDDDD
@/tracklimitstragedies:
Bro won his home race and immediately made a baby. Unreal scenes.
@/piastriarchives:
Someone check on Oscar. There is no way he processed this normally.
@/landoslosttrophy:
“both of my girls” yeah okay I’m crying in public now
@/f1chaoscentral:
Lando Norris hard-launching fatherhood with a WHOLE NEWBORN was not on my 2026 bingo card
@/lightsoutpodium:
“very unexpectedly, very dramatically, and very perfectly” THAT’S HIS DAUGHTER ALRIGHT 😭
@/mclarenclips:
Zak Brown is absolutely designing a papaya baby onesie as we speak
@/f1fangirl44:
NO ONE SPEAK TO ME. LANDO NORRIS IS A DAD.
@/suzukasector2:
WAIT WE LITERALLY JUST SAW MCKENNA IN JAPAN??????
@/papayalightsout:
SHE WAS WALKING THROUGH THE PADDOCK LIKE NORMAL TWO DAYS AGO 😭😭😭
@/f1breakfastclub:
SHE WAS IN THE GARAGE WEARING JEANS. JEANS!!!!
@/monacopaddock:
How did nobody know there was an entire baby in there 😭
@/radioinlap:
Cryptic pregnancies are REAL real because WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE WAS JUST IN JAPAN
@/landoismyromanempire:
McKenna was literally posting coffee and paddock photos 48 hours ago and now there’s a newborn????
@/pitlanegirlies:
No because she looked COMPLETELY normal at Suzuka. I am actually shook.
@/f1teaspill:
Someone said Vale got paddock access before birth and I can’t stop laughing
@/gridglamour:
The way there was no maternity photoshoot, no announcement, no baby shower, just BOOM BABY
@/pitwallprincess:
I JUST REMEMBERED SHE SAID SHE WAS FEELING “OFF” IN A PADDOCK VLOG OH MY GOD
@/f1fangirlcentral:
This is genuinely one of the craziest F1 baby reveals ever 😭
@/monacomotion:
The Norris family group chat must have looked INSANE
@/lando4everrr:
“Very unexpectedly, very dramatically” = understatement of the century