Having a two-year-old was stressful, something your mom had warned you about in the months leading up to her second birthday. Everything changes, she said, walking, grabbing, singing, dancing, lots of movement and lots of opportunities for things to get messier and more complicated than they already were.
Having a baby before you were ready was no excuse, which both you and Harry had well learned by now. Ready or not, Jane was a force to be reckoned with, a toddler with an attitude and a half–and the holiday season before her third birthday was making this clear.
No matter how good things had been, the wedding, the tour, all the things that had made you fall even more in love with Harry, the terrible twos were exactly that: terrible. She wasn't even there yet, still a month away from her second birthday and yet she already was sassy enough.
She sat on the ground and looked up at Harry, his hands were on his hips and his brows were scrunched together while they stared at each other. A standoff, one that you'd both become familiar with lately. Watch, don't say anything, cause the second you tell her not to do something, she does it.
You were over by the counter, trying to spread out some cheese on a platter and decorate accordingly with grapes when you realized what was happening, the words slipped out of your mouth absentmindedly, only partially muffled by the Christmas music. "Jane–no."
But it left her hand before she could even look in your direction, always excited at the sound of her own name. Jane yes! she said in reply.
Harry scooped her up in seconds, shaking his head as he tugged your daughter to his side. With a disapproving sigh, he shook his head. "Janey–throwing things is getting really old."
You handed the cheese board over to Glenne before you reached for the dust pan under the sink, sweeping up a childhood memory on your knees when your daughter pointed at the glass shards.
Decorating the tree had always been your favorite holiday activity, but her new found love for tossing things as far as she could left you nervous about putting any decorations on display.
At first it was just going to be a quiet night, some music on and hot cocoa and letting Jane waddle back and forth between the box to the tree to try and hook the ornaments onto the branches if her tiny fingers could.
But then Glenne and Lexi got wind of the plans and Jeff could never say no to a cheese board, so when Jane threw the glass ornament and it shattered into a million pieces, the three of them all turned with wide eyes to see the commotion.
"Ball!"
"Not a ball," Harry shook his head. "As evidenced by the way it shattered."
"Ornament," you broke up the syllables when you stood, disappointed but not upset with her. How was she supposed to know? If she had thrown a plastic one, it would have bounced on the hardwood floor and she could have clapped her hands together with excitement.
She tried to repeat the word, ornament, but her toddler talk made it sound like three broken syllables, om-na-na, when she clapped three times. At least the Baby Einstein videos were teaching her something.
Harry smiled down at her. "Ornament, good job, Janey!"
She smiled proudly, probably just in response to the way Harry looked at her, before shifting her focus to her Uncle Jeff–who closed his eyes when he bit into the warm Brie and let out a moan.
"You really outdid yourself this time, Y/N," he laughed. "Warmed up and wrapped in pastry dough with cranberries?"
"It's like crack," Glenne admitted, her wine glass in her hand.
YOU ARE READING
UNPLANNED
FanfictionYou've always done things the way you were supposed to. On time, in order, and with a fair amount of preparation. But nothing could have prepared you for something as unplanned as this. Especially when Harry Styles is involved.
