Together Or Apart

49. 6 Months Later

Sydney is gorgeous, she really is. But she is a rule breaker. The photographer would ask her to pose in a certain way and she would purposely do the complete opposite. She's 18 months old and still so young, but she knows exactly what it means to do the right thing and she is completely aware of her actions when she does the opposite. Her cheeky grin gives it away. 

"Mummy work." Sydney points to my iPad screen with her sloppy finger which she just pulled out of her mouth. She leans against my shoulder to take a closer look at the iPad. 

I look at her and put my hand around her back, pulling her closer to me. "Yes, this is for mummies work."

Sydney wraps her arms around my neck and rests her cheek against mine. Her curls tickle my ear as her face presses against mine. "Sydney eye ouchie. Mummy pad." I can see in the corner of my eye that she squints her eyes shut before opening them and blinking a couple of times. 

I laugh at her while turning my iPad away from her. "It hurts your eyes does it?" I feel her nod her head. "Have you been reading all of the emails?" She lets go of me and instead climbs onto my lap. Her hands are on my collar bones to keeps her balance. 

"Ya."

The way she says it makes me laugh again. She's so cute without even trying to be. "You can read now, can you?"

Sydney smiles. "Ya."

"You are such a clever girl, aren't you." I put my iPad down and cuddle her. "You are growing up way too fast. I hope you will always want to cuddle me when you get bigger."

"Syd big girl."

I nod my head. "Yes you are."

Harry opens his arms out wide. "Come and give Daddy a hug. I haven't got a Syd hug all day." He pretends to be sad. 

Sydney lifts up her head to look at Harry, before placing her head back against my chest and cuddling into me again. She giggles to herself, purposely ignoring him. 

"Aww, thanks baby" I hug her back as she continues to laugh. "I love you."

"Love mummy." She moves her head to in front of my face and kisses my lips. "Love mummy" she repeats before kissing my cheek and then my nose. She looks over at Harry before planting more kisses on my face.

Harry's jaw drops and I fall into a fit of laughter as we both catch onto what Sydney is doing. Sydney has always been attached to me. A few months before she turned one, she was old enough to be aware of people's actions and would often get jealous whenever Harry would show me affection. Whether he was hugging me or leaning in for a kiss, Sydney would whine. If he didn't stop, she would throw a tantrum. 

Eventually she grew out of it because I guess that's when our relationship began heading south. 

"She's trying to make you jealous."

"Yeah, she is getting me back for all the times I kissed you to make her jealous. I thought she would have forgot about that."

"Are you trying to make Dad jealous, Syd?" Harry asks with a smug expression. 

"Mummy." She says, puckering her lips while holding my face with her two hands. "No Daddy." She points her finger out towards Harry. 

"She's definitely trying to make you jealous." I look back at Sydney and stare into her big green eyes that mirror her father's. "Did it work?"

Harry's facial expression softens and he stares down at his lap. "Yeah..." he pauses and let's out a heavy sigh. "I'm jealous."

Feeling sad for Harry, I take hold of Sydney's hands and gently remove them from my face. "Daddy is sad, Syd. Do you want to go and give him a hug?"

She shakes her head. 

"But look how sad he is that he gets no cuddles."

Harry pouts his lips and sniffles, pretending that he is about to cry. "I'm really sad."

Sydney's facial expression softens and she runs over to Harry. She wraps her arms around his neck and gives him a hug. He encloses his arms around her and holds her tightly to him. 

"I love you so much." He tells her while playing with her light-brown curls. I really thought she would turn blonde like my hair colour, but I guess she has Harry's hair after all. 

With one arm still holding onto Harry, Sydney turns around to face me. "Mummy." She holds out her hand while opening and closing it, gesturing for me to come to her. 

"What's wrong baby?" I ask, despite knowing exactly what she wants me to do. 

"Mummy" she calls to me again. Harry stares between Sydney and I, also catching onto what our daughter wants. 

I remain frozen in place, deciding whether or not this is a good idea. Sure Harry and I have exchanged a quick hug here and there when greeting each other. But sitting here in the living room with our daughter and taking part in a family hug ... I feel like that might be over stepping. She is looking at me with such innocence in her eyes. Surely I can't deny her sweet gesture. 

I stand up and walk over to them. Harry opens his arm and I sit beside him. I take hold of Sydney's hand and place my head on her shoulder. Harry holds us both and I close my eyes, enjoying the comfort that his hugs bring. I feel warm, safe and happy inside his arms, just like I have always felt. Flashbacks of images race through my mind as I remember all of the happy times in our past when he was holding me. When I realise that I am getting too caught up in the memories, I quickly remove his hand from around me and sit up. 

I stand up and walk back over to the lounge where my iPad is. After picking up my iPad, I shake it in my hands. Syd is staring at me. "You keep giving Dad cuddles. Mummy has to get back to her work."