Strong [h.s]

There's a "Yacht" Going On

Aideen leaps into the air excitedly, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Awesome! I'll let them all know, you two get dressed and such and we'll be leaving in about an hour or so!" Without awaiting a response from either of us, she rushes out of the room, leaving the door open behind her.

Harry scoops Randie up into his arms and presses a kiss to her forehead. "Alright, Bambi, Mommy and Daddy have to get ready to go, so I need you to go get together everything from your room that you think you'll need for the beach. Put it all in a neat spot on your bedroom floor, okay?"

She huffs defiantly and crosses her chubby arms over her chest. "Why do two bofe of you get to go on a boat? I wanna' go too!"

Harry looks her dead in the eye. "Because there are sea monsters that live out in the ocean, and one personally asked me to keep you off of the boats today."

Randie's expression turns to one of curiosity and wonder, and she cocks her head slightly to the side. "Why?"

I can see Harry working to quickly come up with an answer that will satisfy her. "Because. . . Because all of his buddies will be going farther out into the ocean today, and he doesn't want to frighten you. Isn't that nice of him?"

Randie furrows her eyebrows in thought, then curtly nods. "Yes, but I'm not ascared of sea monsters."

"Maybe they're afraid of you," comes a low voice from across the room. It's Anne, leaning against the door frame with a mischievous smile turning up the corners of her lips. "Little girls are frightening things to sea monsters! Now why don't you come with me, and we'll get you all ready to go for our day at the beach while your mommy and daddy get dressed?" She shoots me a knowing look, her eyes sparkling joyfully.

Randie squirms out of Harry's arms and runs past Anne, turning left to go to her room. Anne raises her eyebrows and grins at the two of us, closing the door as she turns to follow Randie.

"Do you think she'll be safe with them today?" I ask softly, "I know they're your parents, but do you truly believe she'll be safe?"

Harry's eyes meet mine, gazing tenderly down at me as he reaches out to touch my face. I feel his calloused fingers on my cheek, and I tilt my head slightly into his warm touch. My eyes fall closed as his other hand goes to my arm, gently moving up to my shoulder and then into my unruly hair. My question dissolves into the air as Harry's lips meet mine, drawing out a light gasp of surprise.

     He moves forward and gently pushes me back, using his strong arms for support as he holds himself over me.

Harry's serious expression suddenly turns into a cheeky grin. "Hey, you wanna go get some food?"

Two hours later, I'm sitting on the edge of a small yacht, waiting for the engine to come to life. Niall is finalizing the rental payment, Aideen is sitting across from me--on her phone--Liam and Louis are talking about some soccer tournament, and Harry ran off somewhere to pee.

It's not long until Harry and Niall come back, joining the rest of us on the boat. Harry takes a seat next to me while Niall heads over to start the yacht.

"Has he done this before?" I ask Harry in a hushed tone.

"Oh, plenty of times."