"Are you?" Harry asked, his voice a thing of surprise. He knew this already, knew who this particular family was because of his wife's late night phone calls where she talked about Denise and her nosiness. Still, Harry smiled and stuck out his free hand to greet everyone. "It's nice to finally meet you all. I'm Harry.
Denise was too distracted by Harry's ink covered arm that held Ynez to notice her oldest daughter practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. This is not at all who Denise imagined when she tried to picture Luz's husband. She never knew what to imagine, but this certainly wasn't it. He was handsome for starters, despite the plethora of tattoos on his arm. With green eyes, tousled brown hair, a wonderful smile, he'd left Denise a little speechless, which was a first for her.
"I'm a huge fan," Caroline blurted, almost like she physically couldn't hold the words back any longer. "Sorry, I just, I recognized Mrs. Styles' and your kids' names, but I didn't want to assume or anything, and-"
"That's alright," Harry told her, his grin still easygoing. Ynez laughed a little, but he subtly pinched her side. "But I wouldn't say Mrs. Styles in front of her, she prefers Doctor Price. She's the impressive one in our family. I like to think of myself as more of a trophy husband than anything."
A doctor? Denise thought. She didn't even stop to consider that Luz worked considering all those kids running around.
Caroline bumbled through an apology, but Harry waved her off and invited everyone inside. The music was even louder in the house, coming from somewhere in the backyard. When the little group finally made it to where the party was, Denise's eyes widened.
There were more people than she'd originally thought. People of all ages were dancing, swimming in the pool, or sitting on barstools and eating. It was quite the production.
"Are you going to surprise mom?" Ynez asked her dad as she fiddled with the string of pearls around his neck.
"You think I should?" Harry had pulled into the driveway just before Ynez and their neighbors walked out of their house. He was itching to see his wife and kids more than anything at the moment, but perhaps he could have some fun with it.
Ynez nodded at him and pointed out where Luz was standing, her back to them. Harry gently set Ynez down and waved to his neighbors, telling he would talk to them later.
As he crept up behind his wife, he let himself admire her- her long hair that was a little damp from either a shower or a swim, a white coverup that showed a light blue patterned bathing suit underneath. From where he stood, Luz looked almost exactly the same as she did a few months ago, but he knew if she turned around there would be a baby bump.
Without a word, Harry reached down and placed his hands over Luz's eyes. She jumped and cursed in Spanish. "Niall, I swear to God-"
"Guess again my love," Harry said quietly, just loud enough for Luz to hear.
She jumped again, but this time it was to turn around and face Harry. "Oh my God, you're here!" Luz wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight, Harry doing the exact same. She pulled back to hold his face in her hands and take him in. He was still the same Harry she'd met years ago, but now there were hints of smile lines at the corners of his eyes. He had a strand of silver in his hair here and there, but he always had Luz pick them out, not quite ready to admit that they weren't as young as they used to be.
Luz leaned in and kissed him, not caring that there were people around, two months had felt like six to her. The kiss didn't last long because both of them were smiling too much, so she hugged him again, staying like that until the rest of their family nearly tackled Harry onto the grass. He could hardly be seen as James, Robin, and Sofia climbed on top of him, Luz's arm perched on top of Ynez's head as they watched the scene unfold before them.
When Harry finally managed to stand up, he still had the twins hanging on one of his arms. Luz walked over and reached for Jamie, who happily complied to being held by his mother. Harry kissed his wife's cheek and found her a seat at one of the outdoor tables, pulling out the chair for her and offering his other arm to help her sit. Luz waved him off, of course, which Harry was used to. He was worried that she was in denial or just plain unaware of how far along she actually was.
"Treating people with tequila?" He asked, nodding subtly to the family who was still standing a little awkwardly by the entrance to the backyard.
Luz ran a hand through James' hair and kissed the top of his head. "Worked before, didn't it? Sparkly Harry was quite the star the first time you came to my parents' house."
"Who's Sparkly Harry, Papá?" Robin asked, squishing Harry's cheeks between her hands.
"Why don't you go find your abuelita, peanut," Harry said instead of answering her. She did as she was told, scampering off with her twin brother right behind her.
Harry held his hands out to Luz and she took them, letting him pull her onto his lap. Moving her hair aside, he kissed the spot just below her ear. "Alright, you've made your point. So when are you going to do the treating with the tequila?"
"Tico's already on it," Luz said breezily, leaning farther against her husband's chest.
"Ah, I see. And what will we do, my beautiful, sexy wife?"
"Hm," Luz smiled, rubbing her thumb across Harry's hand. "Well, I seewould like to hear about your work at the London studio while watching you have a drink."
Though she couldn't see it, Harry smiled too. With one hand in Luz's and his other on her belly, he kissed her bare shoulder. "Deal."
Denise Rodgers watched as Luz and her very real husband sat together on a chair and whispered to each other with matching grins on their faces. She still couldn't quite believe everything she'd learned. Here she thought that her new neighbor was some widow or an ex wife with a sizable settlement or an ex con artist. What she failed to imagine was the truth, that the young woman was happily married to a global superstar.
While Harry left Denise and her family to see his wife, she asked her daughter who their neighbors were. Caroline rolled her eyes at her mother's cluelessness, but she pulled her phone out and searched up a picture of them anyway.
It looked like an old photo of the married couple. They were on a red carpet of some sort, Harry in a black leather suit and a feather boa and Luz in a black top and long skirt.
"He has, like, five Grammys and an Oscar," Caroline said, showing Denise a couple more photos.
Sipping on the margarita one of Luz's relatives, a brother, if she remembered correctly, handed to her, Denise watched Melanie run around with Ynez and some other kids on the expansive lawn. She felt a little guilty sipping on a drink from the family she'd thought so little of, but damn it was a good drink, and the food set up on tables didn't look half bad either.
"Have we learned anything from this experience, Denise?"
Denise looked over to see her husband with a plate of food, clearly enjoying the party as much as their daughters were. She sighed and took another sip from her drink. "I have to apologize, don't I?"
"Probably, but if your pride is too big, I think she knows." Denise's husband gestured with the beer bottle in his hand. Looking over, Denise saw the young wife looking in her direction. She was still sitting in her husband's lap, who was talking to someone else sitting at the table, the grandparents she'd seen at the house before. Luz raised what looked like a glass of water in Denise's direction and winked.
Denise raised her own drink in return, a small smile on her face. Perhaps there was hope for the two neighbors yet.
Strangers Part 2
Magsimula sa umpisa
