Harry Styles Imagines

58. Birthdays [Personal]

This is for you, adishek.
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H A R R Y

The house is eerily quiet when I come home. There is no rustling of contracts, or running water from cleaning the vegetables of tonight's dinner. There is no sound of plastic toys being moved around the wooden floor. What leaves me empty is that there is no sound of the happy voices that always seem to fill the air in the house.

With a sigh I drop my duffle bag against the piano's leg. The idea of surprising everyone that I am finally home after five months of being away doesn't seem as smart now as it did a few weeks ago. My chest can't help but to drop a little. I'm slightly disappointed no one is home to pull me into their arms. No wife to welcome me with open arms and kiss my lips the way only she can. No baby girl to cuddle my legs and fill my entire heart with love.

I quickly shake the negative thoughts out of my head. Aditi doesn't know I arrived home. She has other things to do than wait for me. I know that. So, for the next few hours I make myself useful by unpacking my bags, folding up clothes and throwing other articles into the washing machine.

Then the familiar feeling of being home dawns upon me. That warm hum makes an appearence in my chest. I smile. It is nice to belong somewhere. Especially after spending too little time in one place for so long.

When the sound of jingling keys resonates through the air, I can't deny I have been waiting for it. My heart beats erratically at the high pitched giggles and the clicking of heels against the hard wood floor. My hands start to sweat, and I clumsily wipe them off of my pants. I don't know what to do with myself. My lanky six feet frame places itself in the hallway of the living room and I wait till two out of four of the most important women in my life appear before me.

When they do a shock travels through my body. For a second my brain disconnects with my moves, and I stand there, staring. An equally shocked expression can be seen on my wife's face. But the second my baby girl realizes what's going, she shrieks in happiness and her chubby legs carry herself toward me. When her skin makes contact with mine, I make it back to reality.

I pick her up in my arms and Ivy immediately throws herself around my neck. I cuddle her close to me. My stomach sinks a little when I think about the amount of time I haven't seen my daughter. I can already pick out the small differences that weren't there when I left. Her eyes turned slightly greener, the blue color almost gone now. Her fair skin glows underneath the light of the hallway. My arms tighten around her small frame in reflex. I can't believe I've missed seeing her grow up.

"Hi, Ivy."

"Daddy!" My daughter shrieks in my ear and I laugh at her reaction. She tries to lessen the already nonexistent distance between us, and I smother kisses all over her dark-haired head.

My eyes travel upward when it settles in Aditi is only standing a metre or so away from me. When I look at her, Aditi's frame is tensed, but the smile playing on her delicate lips gives away her thoughts. The look in her eyes is one I can decipher easily.

With a twitch of my head I indicate her to come over. As my wife steps over, closer to me, I keep my eyes trained on her. I can't deny the dark bags under her eyes, or how she slightly trudged for, as if her body is so exhausted it can't bear to take these few steps forward. It's saddening to see.

My lips turn downward as I notice all these little things. The need to punch myself right in the face grows with every second. How in the world could I leave her alone for so long with work and a two-year-old to deal with?