Distract and Sedate H.S

Chapter Four

Harry.

"Who's the girl now?" my dad asked, snapping me from my thought.

"No one."

"Harry, you know, and I know."

I let out a chuckle before biting into a piece of carrot from the vegetable pot. I just shook my head, gazing over the table top.

"Tell me, son."

I swallowed the hot food, enjoying the numb burn down my throat. "Why are you so curious, dear father?"

"Because the last time I saw that look, you were to have a child together two months later."

His words had a nauseating effect. Cecilia was nothing like her.

"Don't say that."

"Just give me her name." I shrugged, and he waved me off. "Grow some bollocks. I just want her name."

"No, I'm unaware of it. Just her surname."

"Oh God, don't tell me..." I looked over at him as he groaned into his palm. "Please don't tell me it's the psychologist." He had a strange habit of running his wrinkled fingers over half his shiny, bald head and into the fluffy silver hair at the back, as if he hadn't realised anything had gone missing over the years.

"How did you guess that?"

"Because you slept with the last three. You can't keep doing this to Darcy. She almost starts to trust one, and then you take them to bed. The cycle goes on and Darcy has no woman in her life."

"This girl's different. She wouldn't let me, and I have tried."

He stared me down with an intimidating glower that I knew I had inherited. "I understand you want a woman who cares for Darcy, but these ladies are paid to be nice to her, nice to you."

This piece of information that had been patrolling my urges was antagonising enough as it was. I didn't enjoy it slapped through the air into my face. "She's not nice to me at all."

"But you fancy her?"

"No, no... She's just different," I muttered, a smirk momentarily crossing my lips. She wasn't the usual type I would go for, not at all. Only, she was at times... intriguing.

"Don't do it again. Darcy can't take another blow."

I glanced over at my old man. "You should've seen the way she was with Darce. I thought it would be like the others, but it took this girl a few minutes to gain her trust. There's something different about her."

"She costs twice as much. That's the difference."

I sent him a warning look. He only ignored it.

My thoughts floated toward her for a moment, diverging me from my surroundings. "She's coming over on Friday, so we need to call housekeeping on Thursday. I need to remember to wash Darcy's hair. Oh, and I-"

"You are crazy, boy," he grumbled, limping off into his room.

"Daddy!"

Her shout caught the air in my lungs. "What's wrong, Darcy?"

"Daddy, hurry!"

I sprinted up to her room to find her stretched across the floor in front of a picture she had drawn, a vague image of a black dog. I let out a rugged breath and slumped against the door frame. "Don't do that, love. Scared the hell out of me."

She looked up. "Sorry, Daddy." She came up and hugged my legs, sending a smile to my lips. I picked her up and swung her over my shoulders as she laughed. She squealed as I bounced down the stairs, laughing along with her.

"Ready for take-off, Captain Darcy?" I announced in a loud, deep voice.

She giggled before I yelled out, "Five, four, three, two, one!" I took off around the lounge with my hand outstretched, the little girl clutching her thin arms around my chest and bundles of laughter flying from her mouth. It was the most amazing thing to hear. I held her sides securely before I fell back onto the couch.

I chuckled and brushed her wild hair out of her eyes. "Landed safely on couch ground. Thank you for co-piloting The Harry."

She paused from giggling. "Huh?"

"Nothing, monkey." She laughed again and fell flat against my chest, leopard-crawling until her warm head could fit perfectly into my neck.

"Daddy?" She asked, breaking our silence.

"Yeah, baby?" I patted her small hip gently as she held up her head by her elbow on my shoulder.

"You know the lady from the snowy place?"

It was snowing in the whole of England right now. "Sure... What about her?"

Her eyes hit mine and she grasped my thought. "Is she a mommy yet?"

"Which lady, Darcy?"

"The one that's scared of birds," she said in an obvious tone. It took me a long second to recognise that as the psychologist, Dr Rodgers.

"Darcy..." She was looking at me curiously and I was trying to form an answer. How could I tell her? "You see, honey... some women are very special. That girl, she is like a guardian angel, so God couldn't give her kids of her own, because she has to look after all the children of the world."

I saw disappointment in Darcy. "What's the matter?"

"Can she ever be a mom?"

"I don't know," I answered.

"Where's my mommy?"

I closed my eyes for a second, feeling her small hand grip my shirt in a fist. "Listen, baby. Sometimes people don't have dads or they don't have moms or they are completely alone, because that's the way it has to be. I don't know why but it's supposed to me and you."

"She was nice," she mumbled, laying down her head again.

"Why do you think so?"

She only shrugged. I couldn't see her expression. "I love you so much, Darce. Dad's always going to be here, you understand that?"

It was always now that guilt settled in. I was a shitty father. The bottle always had a grasp on me. Over and above my child, even, and I loved her inconceivable amounts. I hated myself for that, for how I couldn't even tell Darcy I would always protect her without lying.

She shuffled deeper into my arms. Into my shirt she mumbled, "Love you too, Daddy."