A Match

Twenty Four

The next day the boys had the first concert of the North American leg. Everyone apart from Harry and I was up at seven, according to Lou, but the two of us surfaced at around half nine. As soon as we'd finished breakfast, we headed out into the garden where everyone else was sat watching Lux and Liam play together.

"Here they are!! The illusive Harry and Tasie!!!" Zayn teased when Harry and I walked through the double doors, and we both chuckled.

"Sorry. Sleeping pills were more effective than we thought." Harry said, and everyone laughed as we hugged them. Lux leapt into Harry's arms, and he chuckled as he pecked her lips and then held her on his hip.

The Rogers Centre was only a ten minute walk from the hotel, so we all went on mass together, the security guards on the outside of our little march, and then with the less high profile people, such as the stylists and catering team by them, and the very high profile members: the boys, Lou, Lux, Perrie, Sophia and I, etc. walked right in the centre. Unlike at times when paparazzi are hounding us and there's barely space to move, the walk was pleasurable, and I actually could see between the security guards to observe Toronto.

As soon as we'd snuck in the back entrance, avoiding the fans, the boys were whisked away for choreography and sound-check, leaving just Sophia, Perrie and I. We all grinned at each other, and in the middle of the corridor, had a massive group hug, before sitting down on the front row of the arena full of empty seats, having a little girly catch-up as the tech crew got the hang of lighting and pyrotechnics.

As usual, the boys were fantastic that night. Their energy was just infectious, and despite the fact I was pregnant and still quite jet-lagged, I was bouncing around and singing along all night.

After it was over, I sat in the dressing room with the girls as Harry showered quickly, and then changed into his clothes he wore earlier today. Now that he was clean, he was allowed to kiss me, and we did that before getting into one of the waiting cars which drove us round the corner to the hotel; I was too tired to walk.

The boys were performing at the Rogers Centre again the next day, which was good because a random bout of morning (late night) sickness struck me almost as soon as we got back to the hotel, keeping Harry up for the next few hours. I think if we'd had to have been up really early the next morning, neither of us would have made it with the short sleep we had.

We surfaced at about midday the next day, meaning pretty much as soon as we'd eaten our breakfast, it was time to walk with everyone else to the arena. We went on a scenic detour of Toronto to get to the Rogers Centre, which turned the ten minute walk into a ninety minute walk, but no one really cared; we were leaving tomorrow morning, so this was all the sightseeing we'd have time for. Besides, the boys had been and done it all in the arena yesterday, so there was no need for a tech rehearsal or anything.

By the time we got the Rogers Centre, it was two o'clock. The boys' chef, Sarah, had got there before us and made everyone lunch, so we all sat together on the stage to eat, our faces being illuminated various colours as the techies tested all the lights.

The girls and I were going to watch the show from the crowd again that night, but Louis' sister, Lottie, called to say she'd seen some nasty threats posted on Twitter regarding Perrie. Deciding we didn't want Perrie to be attacked, we changed the plan after receiving this info, so after pushing the boys onstage at half eight, we watched them from the wings, joined by Lou and Lux, who had her little neon pink ear defenders on so probably could barely hear a thing, but bounced happily up and down on her Mum's hip anyway.

After the show finished, Harry and I strolled like proper little lovers, hand in hand through the brightly lit streets back to the hotel.

"Taaaasiiieeee." Harry said sheepishly, rocking back on his heels, once we'd returned room 9382. I paused in the act of selecting a t-shirt from my suitcase and turned to smile fondly at Harry.

"What, H?" I asked. He grinned, dimples popping out.

"I know you don't normally like showing off your buuump, but just for toniiiight, could you please not wear a top?" He asked.

"Um... Oh, um... I-I dunno Harry, I mean, it makes me feel really weird, you know that, I mean, erm..."

"Pleeeaseeee Tasie?" Harry whined, pulling a puppy dog face, and I groaned.

"Argh, fine, fine." I sighed. I quickly pulled my dress over my head, and then pushed my tights down my legs. I unclipped my bra. Harry was right. I hate showing off my bump. It makes me feel like a horribly overweight slut. I self-consciously crossed my hands over my mid-section, avoiding eye-contact with Harry as I took a step towards the bed. Before I could dive and hide myself under the covers, I felt a big hand carefully take mine and pull it away from my body. It held my hand to my hip, as Harry's other arm snaked under my belly, softly caressing it. I felt his lips on my neck, and I sighed happily.

"How could you ever be embarrassed by this?" Harry whispered, his breath tickling my neck. "This small, small bump is our baby. Our beautiful, beautiful baby. And she, or he, is going to have the most beautiful brown curls and green eyes... The perfect mix of both of us. This bump may get bigger, but how could you ever be embarrassed of it, knowing that our baby is in there? Every inch you grow is our little miracle gaining a finger, or lung... Every extra inch is our baby growing bigger, and stronger, and healthier... Trust me Tasie, when we're holding her for the first time, no one will be embarrassed. I adore you, Tasie Parker. And I adore this baby too. Because you're both my family. So whether you're embarrassed because of what the press will comment, or of what you think I'll think, don't be. Because this little bump is the start of our family. And that's not embarrassing, that's wonderful." By the time Harry had finished his little speech, I was sniffling softly. I spun around to face him, and he beamed down at me.

"Okay. You really should consider being a public speaker after the band finishes. You're very good." I said, and Harry chuckled. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine for a few seconds, before pulling them apart.

"C'mon baby." He winked. "Let's go to bed." I giggled as he pulled me down onto the mattress, resting my head on his chest.

Almost as soon as Harry and I were awake the next morning, we were out of the hotel and sat on the tour bus. It was an eight hour journey to New York, so the five boys, Sophia, Perrie and I all made ourselves comfy in the living room upstairs. We pulled the blinds down on the window, and dragged the duvets off the bed, snuggling up together and then spending the day watching films on the PlayStation the boys just casually have on the tour bus.

We arrived in New York just before dark, at about eight. Everyone headed into the bar for some drinks, but I was exhausted, and embarrassingly not legal, so just went straight on up to the top floor, where our hotel room was.

I shut the door behind me, and straight away got changed into the fluffiest pair of pyjamas I could find, before burying under the duvet. I grabbed my phone, and suddenly remembered I'd forgotten to tell my family I was still alive. It was one o'clock in the morning back home, so they would be asleep, but Mum would be stressing so it was best to send it now. I typed a message out quickly and then hit Send, the little sigh of my phone as it went the only sound in the room.

As I was lying in bed, I had a sudden urge to interact with the baby. So I did, for the first time in this whole pregnancy. I slowly slid my shirt up, and a faint smile tugged at my lips as I observed the little mound that was my stomach. I tentatively put my palm flat against the highest point, where I guessed the baby's head was, and smiled softly.

"You alright in there kid?" I whispered. "Probably a bit squished, isn't it? Oh well. I think you're something that's actually better in than out... For the next few months at least." I sighed. I'm talking to my stomach. I'm going fucking insane.

"I do like you, you know." I said. "It probably doesn't seem like it, but I do. I mean, don't get me wrong I wish you were ten years in the future, but at the end of the day, I'm still your Mommy. And you're still growing inside me, a little bit more every day. If I think about it like that, you're kind of amazing, aren't you little bubba?" I said to my bump. I could imagine the ugly little alien look-a-like currently occupying my womb glowing in pride at this, and smiled.