never enough [zarry]

interlude

When Harry had been little, his dad had always said: You have work for your success! and looked at Harry sternly.

Harry had clutched his doll and nodded, not sure what his dad meant and not sure he wanted to be gone for hours and hours every day and not see his mummy all day.

His mummy would always pull him onto her lap as soon as his dad was gone, kissing his forehead and smiling at him.

"Do you know what success is?" she'd asks and Harry would shrug and pet his doll's head.

"Being at work a lot."

"Mm," his mummy'd hug him, kissing his cheek. "That's what success is for your daddy, baby. But it's different for everyone. For Auntie it is making the prettiest and tastiest cakes. Remember how happy she was when you liked your birthday cake?"

"It was the best," Harry had nodded excitedly. It had been the best, formed like a unicorn with glitter and all, and it had tasted of raspberries.

Mummy had kissed his cheek again. She liked doing that. "You just need to think about what makes you happy, baby, and then you need to work hard to be good at it. What makes you happy, baby?"

"Taking care of Sarah!" Harry had said., holding up his doll and giving her a kiss like mummy always kissed him.

"Then you need to take the best care of Sarah," mummy had said and stroked his hair. "And you'll be successful."

"Ok," Harry had nodded, not sure if he understood. But he could take care of Sarah and be good at it.

He remembers that now, watching Zain him happily as he eats another bite of chicken. He no longer looks as pale and thin and exhausted as he had before Harry had managed to take care of him. He had gained a bit of weight and the dark circles beneath his eyes were gone and his hair fell into his face, soft and thick.

It's not success the way his father defines it, but it was definitely success, making sure Zain was happy and heathy despite his stubbornness.

Now he just needed to make sure that Zain would let him for the rest of his life. And he would. He might not define success as his father did, but that did not mean he was any less stubborn about reaching his goals.

💫

so... we'll see if i keep this interlude pattern up...

but for now let's try and... enjoy?