Organising a wedding in less than a week had proved to be the most stressful task Valeria had ever tried to complete.

She had travelled to Rome for it and she and her mum and sister had worked hard to get her even remotely close to ready. Her mood had been all over the place, but she never felt like she had cold feet. She was 100% sure she wanted to marry Sebastian and she couldn't wait to call him her husband. The dress search had been less stressing than she had expected; once she has tried it on her whole family had become a soppy mess. The dress she had chosen was extremely simple, with a tight bust and a flowing gown, no embellishment or anything but it made her feel like a princess. She had looked at her reflection in the mirror, wearing her veil and it had finally hit her. It was happening: she was getting married. Noemi was going to be her witness, whilst Seb had chosen Kimi as his. Seb had worked on the logistics for all the guests, they had only invited family and very close friends. Valeria made sure Philippe and Christine were on the list and so were Charles, Arthur, Lorenzo and Pascale. Daniel was on the list too, but he has travelled back to Australia after winter testing and he had not been able to get a flight ('who gets married with less than a weeks notice?'he had moaned on the phone to Valeria).

The day had come, Valeria woke up in her old childhood bedroom, the nerves making her feel like her stomach was in her throat. She got up and looked around. The pictures of her years karting were scattered on the wall. Jules' smiley face looked right back at her and she sighed.

'I would have loved to have you here for this, Jules' she thought, lightly touching the fading polaroid.

'you're up! Come on, the hair and make-up stylist is almost here! I made you breakfast' her mum's voice made her jump.

She walked out of the room, her eyes lingering for a moment on the news article about Kimi's Championship. The man on that newspaper article was going to be her husband's best man. How weird life had become in less than a year.

Once Valeria was ready, she walked out to the living room where her parents, sister and nonna were.

'You look stunning, Val' Noemi hugged her, trying to contain a tear.

'I can't believe my baby is getting married' her dad added. Valeria had seldom seen him cry and it always hit her harder than she expected when he did.

'Dad I'm 30 at the end of the year' Valeria laughed, trying to cheer him up. 'come on, I know it's fashionable for the bride to be late, but it's a German I'm marrying. I don't think they approve lateness' she tried to joke, making her family laugh.

Valeria walked out of her parents' flat, holding on to her dad's arm. They got into the car they had rented and the driver started the journey to central Rome.

Once they had got to the Terme, she was ushered in by a member of staff.

'Mr Vettel is already inside.' He said.

'I guessed, that man is never late' she joked.

'Valeria, please. It's your wedding day. Stop the jokes' her dad told her with a sigh.

'but this is how I keep sane. Ok, deep breath.' She told herself. The nerves had hit her once more, once the doors in front of her opened and the music started, there was no turning back.

'3, 2...' the staff member said.

Valeria watched as the doors opened and she was met by tens of faces looking directly at her. She was frozen for a second, until her eyes met the ones of her fiancée. He looked so handsome in his dark suit, he had got his hair cut and had kept the light stubble she liked so much. He was trying hard to contain his tears, as she slowly started walking down the aisle. Valeria couldn't contain her smile, Seb had been in charge of the whole set up and the venue looked beautiful. He had chosen the perfect flowers, the perfect colour scheme. He and Kimi had suits that matched Noemi's dress.

'Hello stranger' she told him, once her dad had walked her to him.

'you look... just...' he tried. Valeria had never seen him so emotional.

'thanks, you too' she lightly kissed his cheek. 'but you do all the time' she winked, earning an embarrassed smile from her soon to be husband.

'do you Sebastian take Valeria Rose to be your lawfully wedded wife?'

'I do' he stated. He knew he hadn't stopped smiling since the moment the doors to the room had been opened.

'and do you Valeria Rose take Sebastian to be your lawfully wedded husband?'

'I do' she smiled back.

Little Martha approached them slowly, guided by her mother, to carry their rings. She stopped by them and gave Valeria a big hug, which made her whole room echo with 'aww's.

'Val, since the day I met you I knew you were the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with. With you nothing is scary, stressful or upsetting. You have the power of turning even the worst day inside out and for this I will love you forever.' Seb said.

'Seb, before I met you... there were so many things I hated about myself.  There was so much... history I didn't want to share with anyone. I was me and I was happy, or at least that's what I thought. The past year has been the most amazing year of my life and I wouldn't change anything. None of the early calls, the late nights, the misunderstandings, the arguments... Everything we did lead us to this exact moment and I will spend the rest of my life showing you how much you mean to me.'

'you may kiss the bride' 

Their first kiss as husband and wife topped every other moment they had spent together. The karting, their first date, their first time, the sneaking in and out of each others' room... all those emotions were contained in the one sweet kiss they shared at the venue.

'I can't believe it. We are married. And you and Britta did a great job with the room' Valeria told him, getting rice out of his hair once they sat in the car to go to take pictures

'Why is Britta getting all the credit?' he pouted.

'because I know her. She's got some magic.' She joked 'and thanks for getting everyone in, it must have been hard' she added.

'nah, it was easy. Nobody says no to me' he joked.

'Well, this marriage starts well, you're already lying to me! ' Valeria joked. The German gave her a look, as he pretended to be offended. 'I love you' she added, leaning in for a kiss.

'I love you too'

The newlyweds had gone to take pictures in a secluded area of Villa Borghese as the guests had moved to the reception venue.

A while later, they jumped into the car again to join their guests.

'My feet are already killing me' Valeria moaned.

'I got ya, Schatzi' Seb smiled, grabbing a bag from under the seat. Valeria opened it to find a pair of bright white vans, Seb had personalised them with their initials and their wedding date.

'How are you so perfect?' Valeria kissed him once more.

'please make some noise for Mr and Mrs Vettel' Valeria heard someone say, as they walked in the reception room. Seb gently walked her to the top table, towards the right of Noemi, Valeria noticed an empty seat. She gazed at the place card that simply said Jules, she tried to contain a tear, sitting down next to her sister.

She and Seb had chosen a nice restaurant in Central Rome that specialised in typical roman cuisine. They sat at the table for hours, Valeria felt like she couldn't possibly eat another bite of anything when she noticed the cake being brought out.

'Damn' she whispered. 'I forgot about the cake' she said when Kimi gave her a confused look.

'I need it to soak up some of the wine' he giggled.

'you know that that was for sharing, right?' she teased him. Seb smiled at his wife and best man bickering about how much wine Kimi had stolen from her bottle.

Dinner had been cleared up and the time for the party to start, but not before the first dance. Seb gave her a sweet smile, as he offered her his hand to join him on the dancefloor.

As the book of love started playing, Valeria rested her head on Seb's chest, letting him slowly lead her through their first dance as a married couple.

'Martha, nein! Komm her!' They heard Stefanie say. Martha had escaped her mum's hands and had joined the two on the dancefloor.

'es ist in Ordnung, Stef ' Valeria chuckled. She grabbed the young girl in her arms and let her dance with her and her uncle. Seb gave Martha a kiss on the head and lead the two girls until the song finished.

'Ich liebe dich' Valeria whispered, kissing her husband.

'Ti amo' he replied.

'Ich liebe dich, auch, Tante Valeria' Martha stated. Seb gave his wife another bright smile, he never expected his niece to take a liking to her so quickly.

'it must be a Vettel thing, then' he joked, kissing Martha on the forehead. 'I love you, little one. Now go get mummy and bring her to the dancefloor' he told Martha in German.

Once most people had joined the dancefloor, Valeria and Seb finally decided to get themselves a drink and catch up with some of the guests they hadn't been able to speak to.

They bumped into Christine and Philippe at the bar, who were chatting with Charles and his family.

'Valérie you look amazing' Charles said, hugging her. 'congratulations, guys, the team is going to go nuts in Australia'

Seb gave Valeria a look as he knew she hadn't spoken to the Monegasque yet about the work situation. Valeria gave him a darting look, as if to silence him.

'I guess' he said, awkwardly scratching his head.

'thank you all for coming at such short notice.' Valeria looked at him with a smile.

'darling we wouldn't have missed this for the world' Philippe told her. 'I'm sure Jules' here too' Christine added.

Valeria could feel her lips curve in a sad smile. She had missed Jules even more than usual that day.

Monaco 2014

'Do you think we'll ever get married?' Jules had asked her, once.

'you mean us me and you or us with two separate people?' she had replied.

'Us with other people, you drive me insane at the best of times' he had told her with a chuckle.

'maybe. And when we do, we'll make sure we'll warn our future partners about all our flaws' Valeria had joked as Jules parked up his car at the Monaco paddock.

'Here' Seb re-connected her to the real world by giving her a drink. They had a chat with the Bianchis and the Leclercs for a bit, until they were called in for another set of pictures.

The party had been in full swing for a while, when Valeria felt completely drunk. With Seb being still on a work diet, every time someone got them both a drink, she had ended up drinking his too.

Seb watched her as she danced around with Kimi, holding the train of her dress up by her side, showing off her white trainers.

'my little brother has finally tied the knot. We couldn't imagine a better person for you, Sebi.' Melanie Stefanie had joined him where he was.

'I couldn't either. She's my everything' he replied, wrapping his arm around them both. 'thanks for not telling me I am crazy'

'you are' Melanie said. 'mad as a box of frogs. But she is too, and she is perfect for you'

'I guess you're not wrong' Seb chuckled as his wife and best man had decided to ingest more alcohol by doing shots of grappa with Valeria's cousins and uncles. 'to the maddest year of our life'  he cheered with his sisters.