as it is || harry styles au

twenty-seven

"Let's move you kids to the couch to catch up," Mom spoke up. "I've got more coffee brewing and I'll pop another bottle of champagne."

     Mickie, Em, and Jenna moved further into the living space and I felt a twinge of embarrassment that they were seeing how tiny my apartment was. Then I remembered that this was my family. They didn't care.

     Jamie took the main stage and rattled on about all the awesome gifts he received. He talked about the gifts he got this morning alongside the gifts Harry's family got him the night before. That got him onto a tangent about how there was a whole gaggle of people who shared a name with him. The whole time, my friends were biting their tongues.

     Mickie and Jenna both stole glances at Harry and I from time to time. Em did, too, but not nearly as often since they'd already met Harry. However, this time was different. There was a different feel to Harry's presence in our company. He certainly held himself with much higher regard than the last time Em visited. Now, he was more confident in where he fit in all of this—where he fit with Jamie and I. That change was palpable in the way he interacted with with the both of us.

     "Hey, Harry, do you mind helping me grab some stuff from the car?" Mickie asked.

...

h a r r y

     I peered into the car trunk where a suitcase laid open full of gifts. "Jamie is one lucky kid."

     "He deserves it all and more." He handed a couple gift bags over to me. "Jenna and Em wrapped them during the drive here from the airport. Not their best work."

     I chuckled.

     "But, real talk, dude...what are your intentions with the two of them?"

     There it is. "I love them. I don't plan on going anywhere so long as they'll have me."

     His eyes carefully examined mine. "I've only heard good things about you, man. Really good things. But that doesn't mean I'm not worried about them."

     "I understand completely. You're family. The three of you were there for them when no one else was. If I'm honest, I took it hard when Ivy came back. Not only had she come back after six years of radio silence, but she came back with a kid. Even before I learned the truth, there was no denying my heart still belonged to her. Jamie had me wrapped around his finger immediately."

     Mickie's eyes dropped to the asphalt and he swallowed hard. "I love that kid to death. I watched him grow up, learn to walk and talk. He's a chatty, outgoing kid, but he's smart and so is his heart. He trusts you and that's plain to see within minutes of watching you two. He was only ever like that with us, so I know you're the real deal."

     I tried to find the words I'd been wanting to express to him, Jenna, and Em for weeks now, but couldn't verbalize them. "I have so much I want to say to you guys. I feel this insane amount of gratitude for you three even though I don't know you. I might not have any grounds on which to stand to feel that gratitude for helping raise Jamie since I had no idea he even existed nor is he biologically related to me, but...I do."

     "I know what you're saying, man, but I don't ever want a thanks for being in his or Ivory's life."

     "Understood."