Prince in the City [Harry Styles AU]

Chapter 26

The door swung open, revealing my mother dressed in dark wash bootcut jeans and a pretty peach blouse, offering a grin as she caught sight of us. "Hi, guys," she greeted, stepping aside to let us in. "Hi, baby," she added as I pressed a kiss to her cheek once shuffling inside.

"Hi," I returned as she shut the door and faced us, while I introduced, "Mama, this is Niall and Louis — Harry's friends from London."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Queen," Louis grinned, giving my mom a brief hug in greeting, before Niall did the same with similar sentiments.

"Call me Zara," Mama smiled once her and Niall pulled away, her smile turning to Harry as she added, "Good to see you again, Harry."

My boyfriend grinned, already leaning int to give her a hug and kissing her cheek as he pulled away and said, "You, too." Mama then gestured us towards the living room, right when I saw Xavier lowering the volume of the TV and turning to face us. "Boys, this is my son, Xavier. Hon, these are Vera's friends Harry, Louis, and Niall."

But, of course, even my brother wasn't susceptible to being in the presence of the Prince of England, so he was more or less frozen in shock at the sight of my boyfriend standing next to me in all his regality without actually being dressed the part. But — who was I kidding? Harry had the whole royalty vibe down to the core so it wasn't hard to tell he was the prince of a damn country. Plus, having the Prince of England in your living room was not an everyday occurrence, no matter how used to it I had become.

"I, uh," Xavier cleared his throat, prompting me to press my lips together in amusement as he walked over and slowly grasped Harry's hand to shake it, before chuckling almost nervously. "I know you've been friends with Vera for a while now but I still can't. . ."

Harry, being the cheeky man he is, merely laughed in good nature as he shook my brother's hand, using his free one to pat his shoulder. "Seein' is believing, innit?"

Xavier nodded almost numbly, eyes still wide as he stared at my boyfriend in unabashed shock. I was about two seconds away from nudging him in the ribs to snap out of his obvious revere before he broke out of it himself. Blinking away the surprise and mild confusion, Xavier then offered a smile before saying, "Nice to meet you." He then turned to the other Brit and Irishman in the room, greeting them as well.

"Where are Gina and Felicity?" I asked my brother, shrugging off my coat after the introductions had been finished.

"They'll be down in a couple of minutes. Gina's helping Felicity get dressed," he informed me, and I found it kind of amusing that he was still — discreetly — staring at Harry as if he couldn't believe he was here. I didn't blame him; it took me awhile to get used to it, too.

Settling down on the beige suede couch, I looked up at my mom as she asked the boys, "Can I get you guys anything to drink? We've got beer, soda, water." With a grin she added, "The wine's for after dinner."

I chuckled lightly as all three of the European boys said they'd wait to drink with dinner, before settling down on the couches as well. Harry and Niall sat on either side of me on the larger couch while Louis joined Xavier on the smaller one, and Mama took a seat on one of the two accent chairs opposite of me. Conversation then easily flowed between everyone, with Mama already familiar with Harry and proceeding to get to know Louis and Niall.

Minutes later, footsteps could be heard and I looked towards the stairs that descended into the living room and saw Felicity practically run down with Gina behind her at a slower pace. My niece, being the energetic girl she is, practically flung herself across my lap as she exclaimed, "Aunty Vee!"

I laughed at her antics, hugging her back as the boys greeted my sister-in-law — who, just like Xavier, was placed in a state of shock at the sight of Harry. But, unlike her husband, she had recovered more quickly because she was definitely more graceful than Xavier and returned Harry's friendly hug. Though when the boys went to sit back down, Gina's eyes met mine and she widened them while mouthing, Oh, my God!