Daddy Unknown

Chapter 33

As it turned out, she had fallen asleep before comprehending the meaning of his words. Which worked to Harry's advantage, because the second the words had spilled from his mouth: he regretted them. Why he had ever thought telling her right after they had had séx would be a good move, was beyond him. To say he was relieved that she hadn't heard would be putting it mildly.

All that was left to do now, was try not to mess up and to stick to the plan he and his sister had formulated. Moira tended to take him by surprise, so there was really no telling in how she would react to the news of him being her donor.

The following morning, Harry was hanging halfway off the bed with the blankets pooling messily at his ankles and his arms rolled above the bed, he was feeling especially groggy. And when he opened his eyes, the dim lighting seemed so much brighter, and this brightness made his head throb with annoyance.

Might have been because of the fact it was 4am, meaning he only got three hours of sleep.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to force himself back to dreamland. Unaware of how many minutes passed as he tried to fall asleep, he could hear Moira’s soft breathing behind him. Slowly, he turned back over to peer at her through the darkness. Her eyes were closed, her face peaceful and angelic as she breathed evenly through her nose. Unlike him, she was a rather composed sleeper.

Falling back asleep wasn’t gonna work out.

As quietly as he could manage, he pulled himself out of the bed and was about to pull on some boxers when he saw he wasn’t the only one who’d woken up –his little friend had too. Sighing, he took a quick cold shower and then continued to dress in simple joggers.

Making his way down the hall and towards the staircase, a small squeal made him change directions. Entering Ollie’s nursery and peeking into his crib, he was faced with a pair of familiar emerald eyes.

“Why hello there, buddy.”

At the sight, and sound of his daddy, Ollie let out another overjoyed squeal –melting Harry’s heart as he did. Spending time together yesterday had done them good, the baby boy was evidently starting to recognize certain people’s faces; his mother’s, obviously. But Harry’s face as well. The recognition resulted in the enthusiastic reaction he was receiving now.

Picking him up and kissing his chubby cheeks, Harry continued to change his diaper and dress him in one of his many onesies. It wasn’t unusual for Ollie to wake up around this time of morning, he still needed to be fed regularly –every 3-5 hours. And thus, with the little bundle of joy in his arms, he made his way downstairs, to the kitchen.

Harry strapped him in his highchair and went to prepare his formula. Once it was ready, he sat beside him and began feeding. Ollie could easily hold his head up now, unlike a few months ago. And since Moira was determined to train his fine-motor skills, Harry followed her example; holding his bottle with two fingers and letting Ollie hold the majority of the weight. It was quite impressive to see how fast he learned to do this. Harry was sure that within a couple of weeks, he would be able to hold it without any help from his parents.

When he crawled back in bed, this time accompanied by Oliver, it was nearly 5am.

Knowing that he wouldn’t be capable of falling back asleep, he pulled the covers over his legs and simply laid there with Ollie on his chest. Harry figured the onesie and the direct contact with his dad’s warm torso, was enough to keep him from getting cold. With a protective hand on his back, he watched his peaceful face. As opposed to him, Ollie had no trouble falling back asleep.

Hours went by, and Harry kept switching between watching his son, and then watching his lover sleep. It was a rather soothing occupation, to know they were both locked in their own worlds for the time being, resting while he watched over them like their personal guard angel. His mind wandered from his family, to how things would work out tomorrow, and how much would change; for better or worse.

It had been too long since the last time it had just been he, himself and him. So now that he had the opportunity to really think without interruptions, he took full advantage of the situation. As a wide variation of things crossed his mind, he got lost in reverie.

It was the sound of baby babbling that unknowingly woke Moira from the best night’s sleep she had ever had. She stretched languorously and grinned as she thought back to the night’s events. She blushed internally when remembering some of the things they’d done. She could recall them all, all the details from beginning to end. And then… blackness, nothing, nada. She must have fallen asleep from exhaustion right after.

But good heavens, he certainly knew how to satisfy a woman.

Opening her eyes, Moira felt like bursting out in happy tears. The army of butterflies that awakened in her stomach were unstoppable. Harry lay beside her with a hyper Ollie, giggling on his chest. He was tickling her son’s tummy and exclaiming a whole bunch of silly animal-like sounds.

If someone asked her about the definition of love, she would take a picture of this moment and show it to them.

Her previous fears and expectations were gone, to be never seen again. She should’ve known Harry would stay by her side, no matter who Ollie’s father was. She should’ve known he would react the way he had to the news of Ollie being the result of sperm donation. She should’ve known he would treat her with respect and worship her body during last night’s intimate activity –despite the extra weight.

Because Harry was genuine, handsome, passionate, humorous, caring, all that she looked for in a partner and.. Harry, just Harry. Nobody would ever make her heart beat faster like he did, or put up with her shit like he had done since the day they’d met.

Surely there were better men in the world, men who didn’t fart in their sleep, complain about being hungry and then forced her to make them food, who didn’t leave the toilet seat up or persuaded her not to wear any short skirts of dresses. But none of those men compared to Harraël Stones: her man.

Closing the space between them and shuffling over to the other side of the bed, she snuggled her face into his warm, bare shoulder and aimed to bury herself in his scent. Harry stopped tickling Ollie and diverted his attention to her.

“Oh hey, you’re awake.” He murmured huskily, pulling one arm away from Ollie to wrap around her shoulder.

His lips pressed against hers in a kiss, and he didn’t press further—he only met her lips for a moment before disconnecting and instinctively tightening his grip around her. Their legs tangled together underneath the covers. It was an instance of serenity —not a noise was heard, even Oliver had fallen quiet. And as her eyes grew heavy again, Moira found herself wanting to sleep with Harry holding her like this.

Something small poked her in the nose, causing her to be shaken from her daze. Not realizing she’d even shut her eyes in the first place, they fluttered back open to be faced with a pair of wide, emerald ones. Ollie inspected his mother with the utmost fascination as he poked her face in different places. When he managed to prod her eye, she called it quits and gently removed his little hand, pressing kisses to his skin in the process.

“I changed his diaper, dressed him and fed him his formula about four hours ago.”

“What time is it now?”

“Nearly 9am.” His hand started rubbing circular motions on her back, relaxing her muscles.

“You didn’t have to get out of bed, you could’ve awakened me.” She scolded weakly, though she truly did appreciate the gesture. She just didn’t want to bother him with these kind of things, it wasn’t his job.

“I was awake anyway, it’s fine.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, by then, Ollie had fallen back asleep. Moira began absently tracing his tattoos as she got wrapped up in her thoughts again, a certain sentence was bubbling up to her mouth.

“Harry?” she called after a while.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

It took a few seconds for his brain to process what she had just said, and when it did. Harry was stunned. His mouth was hanging wide open as he blinked quickly. The three words turned his world upside down and kept resonating endlessly in his mind, swarming it completely.

He sucked in a sharp breath and gazed down at her just in time to see her eyes open. They stared into the windows to their souls —green ones matching blue ones—and she could see her reflection mirrored back at her.

Harry pulled his arm from around her and cupped her cheek instead, his thumb stroking over the right side of her chin, and it was like he had forgotten the meaning of ‘I love you’ until he saw the look in her eyes; pure and raw adoration, love.

Never in his wildest dreams had he suspected Moira to be the first to confess her love. That is, if she was even going to. And yet, here she was, surprising him like always.

“I love you too.” he said firmly without a trace of hesitation, his voice merely a whisper.

He sounded deadly serious. He wasn’t just telling her that—he was stating the truth. Hearing the sincerity in the way he said it, made the fireworks erupt inside her. Which only tripled when he added:

“I love you, and I love Ollie. I love you both so much.” he pressed a kiss to the top of her son’s head, and Moira melted at the sight.

His hand wrapped around her frail neck in a surprisingly tender manner, his rough palm felt sensitive against her skin –adding to the sensation. He kissed her softly, and then something seemed to switch. Kissing her more firmly and with more passion, she delved into his embrace, meshing easily against his lips and letting them move against hers, following his movements.

To make sure Ollie wouldn’t roll off of his chest, she put her hand on the one Harry already had on her baby’s back. One of his fingers wrapped around hers and together, they ensured he wouldn’t 'endanger' himself in his sleep.

Suddenly, Harry detached his mouth from hers.

“Isn’t it time for Ollie to eat again?” he whispered, sounding doubtful.

“We’ll go downstairs when he wakes up.”

“But-“

She laughed softly, “Just kiss me.”

Harry’s lips cracked into a low smirk at her words, and he mumbled, “So bossy,” Before smashing his lips to hers again. This time he unwrapped his fingers from around her throat and fully wrapped his arm around her waist, pressing her chest partly against his, and her heart sailed when she could feel him smile into their kiss.

The rest of the day was spent in bed.