STILL | NH |

CRUEL SUMMER

Rigby

"Mommy, can we go to the beach?"

Sitting the bags of groceries on the countertop, my eyes find Niall's as he carries the small Winnie the Pooh suitcase down the hallway.

"If we can all get our stuff put away then we can go before dinner... How does that sound?" I say, running my hand through Finn's messy waves, the ones he got from his dad. "If you help daddy then we can maybe get to build a sandcastle!"

That's all it takes before his toothless smile spreads across his face before taking off down the hallway.

"Rory!"

Poking her head around the corner, she pulls the headphones out of her ears. "Yeah?"

"Babe, will you grab the last couple of bags from the back of the car for me?"

The pink and purple color of the bands of her braces are bright as she smiles at me, sitting her phone on the counter. "Do you want me to grab the cooler too?"

"No." Shaking my head, I open the refrigerator and start putting things where they go. "Dad can just get it after he gets our bag. Did you grab all your stuff and put it in your room?"

Turning on her heel, she answers with a yes as she makes her way back out of the front door and steps around her youngest brother, leaving him to his tiny blanket that goes everywhere he goes.

"Clover baby?"

Looking up, I can't help the butterflies that erupt in my stomach when Niall comes around the corner, the same butterflies that have been around for years at the sight of him. "Charms?"

Coming across the room, I smile when he wraps his arms around my waist and spins me, pressing me into the kitchen counter as his lips find mine. "You look so pretty."

"Niall, I literally have dried snot on the front of my shirt." I laugh as our lips brush together. "One of these days you're going to stop lying to me."

He pulls back, bringing his hands up to cup my cheeks. "Rigs, there's nothing that could be dried on your shirt that won't make you the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. I don't know why you think I don't want you all day every day, because I do. I really fucking do."

"I don't even look the same anymore—" His teeth pull on my earlobe as he presses his hips into mine ever so slightly, his lips brushing against my ear so softly goosebumps spread across my skin like a raging fire.

"Of course you don't look the same." Bringing the tip of his finger up, he brushes the pad of it across the creases at the corners of my eyes as I smile. "You've got these lines from how much we've laughed together..." His hands fall to my hips, fingertips pressing into the flesh that's more prominent than it used to be. "This body? The body that has carried our children? It still makes me weak in the knees."

Resting his forehead on mine, deep blue eyes that feel like home warm me from the inside out. "You're such a softie. Do you know that?"

"Softie?" Niall shakes his head as he presses his lips to mine again. "I'll remember that next time when—"

"Mom! Dad!" Turning away, we both laugh as Rory lifts her arm up to cover her eyes from the other side of the kitchen. "Can you guys just be like — normal?! Like can you not be grossly in love for two seconds?"

Niall laughs as he steps away from me, his eyes burning across my skin as he reaches over and messing with Rory's hair. "We're just trying to keep it real, kiddo."

"Well can you keep it real away from me?" Her nose scrunches up just like her Uncle Harry, a testament to how much time they've spent around him growing up. "Mom, I got the rest of the groceries but I'm definitely not hungry now."