Lovers

On The Town

Hello hello hello! I hope you're all still having a good quarantine! We are getting veeerrryy close to some drama to spice this book up a bit, but in the meantime, we have a few more really sweet chapters. I'm excited about where we are heading though, so I hope you all are too! Enjoy/comment/vote x
-ab

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May 22, 2028

Patrick

"P," Harper complains to me, "do you have to go to work?"

I roll my eyes at her. "Yes," I say. "We've already been over this. You'll have Brit with you all day. I know that you're nervous, honey, but you can't be like this. You're an amazing mum, and you have Brit to help you out if you need it, and you can always call Taylor or my mum or your mum. You have so many people around to support you. You're going to have to get used to being home with Millie all day."

"I'm going to miss you..." she says to me. "Millie's going to miss you, too."

"You're both going to be just fine," I assure my wife. I rub her arm lightly, and she forces a little smile. "This day will be over before you know it."

When we hear a knock on the door, we know that it's Brittney. She has agreed to come and spend the day with Harper, so that her transition to being alone with our daughter can be a bit easier. Her time in London is going to be over before we know it, it seems, and I don't know what Harper and I are going to do without her. Not only has she been an amazing help with the baby, but I know that Harper is going to be terribly upset to see her go. Their friendship is such a beautiful bond, and I've loved watching the two of them have so much fun together. Brit always manages to put a smile on my wife's beautiful face, even when she's breastfeeding or doing something equally not so fun.

I let Brittney into the house, and she immediately goes over to my wife. "Hey," she smiles. "You know what we should do today?"

"What's that?" Harper replies.

"We should take Millie out for a day on the town."

A worried look crosses Harper's face. "What?"

"We can show her where her mommy used to work, take her to see daddy on his lunch break maybe..."

I grin, liking that idea. "We have the pram, but haven't really taken it out yet. She's old enough now to have a tube ride."

"Patrick..." Harper looks at me.

"I'd love to see my little cuddly on my lunch break. Plus, we want her to grow up being comfortable around the craziness of the city. It's best to start it from a young age. She'll like all of the colours along Shaftesbury Avenue. I think it's a great idea, Brit." I'm being completely honest in my words. Harper has been so terrified that our little girl hasn't left the house, short of for her appointments with a pediatrician, since she was born. I get that my wife is just trying to be cautious, but I also don't want her to become overprotective of our little girl. While we love her more than anything, we want to let her live. I know that part of what caused Harper's slightly strained relationship with her mum was the fact that Audrey was so overprotective of Harper, up through her teenage years. I don't want my wife to form similar habits, and for history to repeat itself.

It takes a few more minutes of convincing from Brittney and I, but eventually, Harper breaks down and agrees to go. This results in cheers from Brittney, who has been frequenting the West End and is probably just looking for an excuse to be back and spontaneously buy a ticket for tomorrow night's production of Les Miserables.

"If you need anything, then you can call," I tell Harper as I'm preparing to leave. "My lunch break is at the usual time. I'll probably go to my usual Pret down the street. Can we meet there?"

"Sounds like a plan," she replies. "Brit, have you tried Pret yet?"

"No, but I've seen them everywhere."

"God, she hasn't tried Nando's yet, either," Harper laughs. "All of the staples of a Londoner's diet."

"Well, she'll have Pret for lunch today," I laugh.

"I'm looking forward to it," Brittney smiles.

Suddenly, we all turn our heads to the infant swing upon hearing the beginnings of cries.

"I'd better take care of that before she proves to us all that she's going to be an opera singer someday," Harper says with a cheeky hint in her voice. Recently, Harper and I have realized that Madeline most certainly has her mummy's singing lungs, as her screams can go so loud when she wants us. My wife walks over and scoops the little girl out of the swing, trying to figure out what might be wrong with her. "She's dry, and just ate pretty recently. I think she just wants cuddles. Is that right, baby girl?"

Harper hugs the little girl to her chest, and sure enough, she stops crying quite soon.

"She has to be the center of attention," Brittney laughs.

"Well," I grunt, "she doesn't get that from me."

Harper makes a face, pretending to be offended by my comment, but we all know that she's just teasing.

"Don't worry, most babies are like that," Brit assures us.

I walk over to my wife, and give kisses to both her and our daughter, then announce that it really is time for me to leave.

"Have a good first day back," the two young women tell me. My daughter rests happily in the arms of my wife.

I have no doubts in my mind that they will be fine today. I think that they're going to have lots of fun on their little London adventure, and I know that Harper will be super careful to be sure that they're safe. She did investigate what it's like to have a pram on the tube, back before Madeline was born. She figured out that it wouldn't really be all that bad. This was, of course, in her argument for not wanting to buy a car.

In the end, she's been thankful that we did get the car, but I think that she'll be happy to get back on the tube again. It's her preferred method of transportation, and justifiably so, as London's traffic isn't very fun, nor is finding a parking spot.

I can't wait to hear all about her day.