Emma's P.O.V. After the Party (August 7th)
I hear the thud of a car door slamming shut first and then a warm presence as his hands collect my hair into a makeshift pony.
Sometimes I forget that I'm not 22 and I can't handle my alcohol like I used to.
"I'm sorry," Harry says, one hand holding my hair back and another rubbing circles on my back. I'm hunched over the side of the road, emptying the contents of my stomach onto the pavement. It's quite the sight to see.
"It's my fault," I manage to croak in between hurls.
In a hurry to get home and go to bed, I don't take much time pulling myself together once I feel it's safe enough for me to stand up. Harry helps me into the car, and I go back to my previous position leaning on the window with my knees tucked into my chest.
Annie somehow manages to sleep through the entire thing, and I smile when I see that Harry checks on her before getting in the driver's seat and taking us home. We don't end up driving Annie back to her place, but I'm okay with it because it means getting home sooner.
"Who is that?" I ask, my voice groggy from falling in and out of sleep.
"Security, remember? Your mum called because that man was creeping her out, so I called them to stay until we got here," Harry explains while resting one hand on my back that's turned to him. The reflection in my window allows me to see Harry wave to the security man in his black car before entering the gate code and pulling into the garage.
"Do you want me to help you inside first or can I wake Annie?" Harry whispers, unbuckling both of our seatbelts.
"Get her first," I close my eyes and make myself more comfortable while I wait for Harry to return.
"Em, baby, wake up," someone's behind me, brushing my hair back from my face. I don't want to open my eyes but then I feel lips press against my bare shoulder.
"Hm?" I groan.
"Sit up for me, please. I need to open your door," Harry speaks gently.
Reluctantly, I roll over and support myself using the back of the seat like how you're supposed to sit in a car, but like the Superman he is, Harry comes to rescue me before I lose balance and fall over.
He carries me up the stairs and I try to tell him to stop by Charlie's room so I can say goodnight, but I don't think he hears me.
***
August 8th Charlie, 8 months
"Muuuuummy, it's time to wake up!" tiny fingers poke and pull at my face.
"What time is it?" I move Charlie's hands away from my cheeks as I rub my eyes and then finally open them, seeing a baby sat right next to my head.
"A little after 10:30," Harry says and I see now that he's lying on his side, keeping a hand on Charlie so she stays between us. Both are fully dressed and I'm not, but I don't exactly remember how I got undressed.
"Do you have a headache?" Harry asks and begins to hand me a glass of water from his nightstand.
"No, but I'll take the water. Thank you," My throat is really dry. It's even painful to swallow plain water.
"Our mums made breakfast. There's coffee, pancakes..."
"Harry? Did you say that guy was back?" I cut him off, my mind preoccupied that I completely forgot he's in the middle of telling me what we have for breakfast.
"Yes. Your mum called last night so I asked security if they could stay outside the house until we got home. I guess the guy was in our bushes, but he wasn't there when we got home."
"Okay," I sigh and pull Charlie onto my chest, giving her a good squeeze. She makes herself comfortable, laying with her cheek against my chest and her arms out to the side as she makes cute baby noises.
Harry's fingers play with the curls on her head while he talks, "The next time I see him by the house I'll talk to him and ask him to stay further off the property. He doesn't seem dangerous, I'm just worried that he's not in a good mental state."
"What do you think, Charlie?" I talk in my baby voice, "Should I go get breakfast now or will you snuggle with me all morning?"
"The morning's almost over, darling," Harry smirks at my scowl.
I let Charlie go and Harry takes her downstairs while I shower and get ready for the day. Breakfast is still hot when I finally make it to the kitchen, and I see that Annie has just woken up too.
Anne and my mom ask us all about what happened after they left the party, and while I'm in the middle of a story I'm interrupted by Harry's loud voice from the other side of the house.
"WOOHOO!!! GOOD JOB, BEAN! LET'S GO SHOW MUMMY!"
Pretty soon, all eyes are on Harry as he runs into the kitchen carrying Charlie like a football.
"Come on!" he gestures for us to follow him into the living room as he scurries back the way he came.
We all take a seat while Harry sets Charlie back on the ground. He picks up Charlie's stuffed frog that Jamie named Jenny, and then sits on the floor a couple feet across from Charlie.
Harry puts the frog on the floor in front of him and begins moving the legs like he's dancing to the made-up song Harry sings.
"Charlieee! Charlie-bean, come get me! Come get me! I want a hug!" The frog dances around, catching Charlie's attention.
She's in a trance, staring right at Jenny until Harry makes him leap forward a bit. This makes Charlie excited, and she falls from her bum to her hands and knees.
We all watch with anticipation as Harry continues to be silly for Charlie and Charlie continues to reach for the frog. She makes little grunting sounds as she rocks on her knees, gaining a tiny bit of progress in the right direction.
Harry decides to move closer so that him and Jenny are no more than a foot away from Charlie. The shortened distance seems to give Charlie the courage to lift her knee, and soon enough she's lifting both her hands and knees in enough sync to move forward.
"Oh my god, she's crawling," Annie says quietly as to not startle or distract Charlie.
"That's it, Charlie-bean!" Harry whisper yells as she comes closer, almost close enough to reach out and touch the frog. She tries, but she can't reach so she ends up falling on the carpet. She doesn't cry though; she just gets back up and crawls a smidge more to reach her friend.
"Yay!!!!" Harry lets Charlie grab a hold onto Jenny. Then, as we all cheer, he throws her into the air and gives her kisses all over her face and tummy, making her giggle. We continue to watch as Harry and Charlie blow raspberries at each other until he remembers that we're all here, so he turns to us with a huge dimpled grin.
"Did you see that!"
"Yes baby," I walk to where Harry and Charlie are, reaching out my hands to hold her.
"You did so good, Charlie! I'm so proud of you!" I pick her up and we celebrate all over again.
Harry's P.O.V.
Shortly after Charlie has shown off her new skill, I sneak off into my office to write down some ideas for my new "album." I'm sort of working on another album, but I have no plans to release it soon. Right now, I'm just writing as much as possible, which happens to be a lot because I've been incredibly inspired lately.
I'm fiddling with my guitar and writing some notes for myself in my journal when someone knocks on the door.
"Come in," I say to the person on the other side and remove the guitar from my lap.
"Hi darling," my mum steps in and softly closes the door behind her.
"Hello," I smile.
"Are you working on something?" she asks, taking a seat on the keyboard bench.
"Sort of, it's nothing much yet," I tell her.
"Well, I'm sure it's brilliant. Anyways, I didn't come in here just to bug you. Did Jillian tell you she talked to the homeless man last night?"
"What? No,"
"I was afraid she didn't. I'm not sure what she said, but whatever happened, it made him leave right away. It was well after Charlie had gone to sleep and Jillian asked me to stay inside while she asked the man to stay off the property. You really should thank her, because left right away and told her he wouldn't come back," she explains.
"Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Thanks Mum." Part of me wonders why Jillian lied, but I'm sure she just didn't want me to worry about the situation while we were at the party. I know if she would have told me she was going to talk to him I would have shot her down immediately, but everything worked out well in the end so I can't complain. I'm just glad we don't have to worry about him anymore. I do hope he finds help though.
***
Emma's P.O.V. One Week Later
Before I even open the front door, the beautiful melodies of Etta James are pouring from inside the house.
I take it Harry doesn't know I'm home yet, because instead of acknowledging my presence, he swings his hips with his back facing me and passionately sings along to the lyrics, "All I want to do is bake your bread, Just to make sure that you're well fed, I don't want you sad and blue, I just wanna make love too you, Love to you ooooh, Love to you."
"Should I expect this greeting after work every Friday?" My hands slither their way around Harry's waist, making him jump and nearly spill whatever food he's making on the stove.
"Just a second!" he yells and looks around for his phone to pause the music that's been blaring through the kitchen speakers.
"You scared me," he laughs and makes his way back to the stove, stirring the pot once and then setting the spoon aside so he can lift me in his arms.
"Woah!" I squeal until he sets me back down with a kiss.
"Hmm," I pull him back to me for another kiss, deepening it just a bit but not enough to get too carried away.
"Happy first week of work!" Harry gives me that playful grin.
"Thank you," I smile brighter and kiss his cheek before peering over at the stove. "Where is everyone?"
"They're having a grandmother's day," he explains, "They took Charlie away from me way too early in the day, so I've been sitting around bored out of my mind waiting for you to come home. Really, Em. I've been so lonely, it's depressing."
I pout at his exaggeration, "Do you know when they're planning on being back?"
"No, but I could tell them to keep busy for another few hours," he stares at me while he blindly reaches for his phone to text our moms.
"Good. Cuz I just wanna make, love to you," I sing to the tune of the song.
***
"I think that's them," Harry whispers. We've been cuddling in bed—naked of course—for the last twenty or so minutes, soaking up some well-deserved alone time.
"I don't want to move yet," I nuzzle my head further into his neck, kissing his soft skin to convince him to stay in bed with me.
His hand traces up and down my spine a few times, but then he turns his head to kiss the top of mine as he pulls away and throws on some sweats to go downstairs.
Harry's P.O.V.
"Good evening, ladies," I walk downstairs and find that my mum, Jillian, and Charlie have just arrived home.
"Did you enjoy dinner?" my mum asks so innocently I have to chuckle. "What?"
"Nothing," I bite my tongue to conceal my smile. "How's my baby?"
"She's asleep, but she already ate and just had a diaper change," Jillian hands me Charlie's car seat which she's inside.
Charlie cries all the way from the moment I take her out of her seat until she's in Em's arms.
"Oh, someone's sleepy," Em rocks Charlie in her arms to settle her and place her in the cot.
"Goodnight, Bean. I love you," I bend over and kiss her cheek, then head back downstairs to check with Jillian and Mum.
"Where's Jillian?" I ask my mum who's fixing a pot of tea in the kitchen, typical.
"She went home, it's getting dark," she says, and we both take a seat at the bar.
"How was your dinner?" I ask.
"It was delicious. Jillian took me to her favorite seafood restaurant and I'm serious when I say this Harry, you have to take me there every time I visit."
"Okay," I nod and smile. It really warms my heart how close my mum and Jillian are. They're always together when my mum is visiting with us, and I'm sure they text all the time as well.
"But," her mood shifts from her normal bubbly, happy self to a more serious one, "I am worried about her. She took off her jacket while we were at the restaurant, and I noticed quite a few bruises on her arms. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to dampen the mood on our date with Charlie, but if you notice anything I think you should say something. She doesn't seem sick, and maybe she just fell, but they looked recent," my mum explains.
"Both arms?" I clarify.
"Yes, just below her shoulders."
"That's weird. Thank you for telling me, I'll keep an eye on her."
"Of course, dear," my mum says and then stands to tend to the kettle, but not without kissing my forehead and putting that smile back on her face.
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A/N: I love Anne.
That's it, that's the tweet.