*trigger warning for brief talk of abuse*
Harry's P.O.V. September 23rd, Charlie 9 months
"Hey Em," I call my wife, and she picks up on the second ring.
"Hi baby, I'm just about to take my lunch."
"Oh sorry, I can call back,"
"No, it's alright. I was actually going to ask if I should come home for lunch with you and Charlie. Unless you've already ate, I can stay at the office."
"The drive is too long for you to come home over lunch. We'll meet you at the office and I'll pick up something on the way," I suggest. I love that Em and I can be flexible with our schedules to spend more time together as a family, but she only takes an hour for lunch and including the commute that cuts down the time by at least half.
"Okay," I can hear her smiling, "What was it you wanted to say?"
"Oh yeah. Your mum called and I'm going to help her lay some rock in her garden or something? You don't have to come if you don't want,"
"I'll stay home," she says, "It's already been a busy morning so I'm looking forward to coming home and doing nothing."
"Okay. Charlie and I will leave in a few minutes, but I'll text you when we're close."
"Okay, I'm excited. I love you."
"I love you too, darling. Be there soon."
After ending the call, I put Charlie in the car and head to the Panera drive thru to pick up lunch for Em and I. Charlie already had rice, baby vegetables, and fruit for lunch but I brought a bottle just in case.
"I got soup," I lightly press Em's office door open with my foot because my hands are full of Charlie, the diaper bag, and our lunch.
"It smells amazing, thank you," she smiles and closes a few tabs on her computer before coming over to take Charlie off my hands so I can set the bag down and we can eat.
Em's office is pretty spacious. Aside from her desk area, there's a small, dining sized table and a few extra comfortable chairs, along with a bookshelf that has some things to keep Charlie occupied while she's here. She wanted to make sure her office was Charlie-friendly and homely since she's spending so much more time here compared to when she was working from home.
"Guess who I was just on the phone with before you arrived?" Em says, stirring her soup so it cools down faster.
"Who?"
"Kylie Jenner," she smirks.
"How come?" I ask, not understanding why that's a big deal.
"She wants me to do her maternity shoot, but do NOT tell anyone."
"Oh, wow. I didn't even know she was pregnant,"
"No one does," she interrupts me, obviously way too excited, "she made me sign an NDA before the phone call."
"Oh great, so now she's going to sue you for telling me," I toss my arms as a joke.
"Shut up," she laughs, almost spilling her soup.
A few minutes later, Charlie stinks up the office, so I take her to the bathroom to change her nappy. Then we just have light conversation and play with Charlie a bit for the rest of Em's lunch break. When it's time for Charlie and I to leave, she's basically asleep on the floor. Her cheek is pressed onto the blanket, her arms are squished underneath her body, and her little bum is in the air. It looks terribly uncomfortable, but incredibly adorable at the same time. I snap a few photos and post one to my private Instagram story.
"I'll be home around five," Em says with a kiss and then I'm out the door with a sleepy Charlie. It is time for her afternoon nap, so she falls back to sleep once she's strapped into her car seat.
***
"Thank you so much for picking these up," Jillian walks out the front door when she sees me parked in the driveway.
"It was no problem, I'm happy to help," I assure her as we start moving the bags of rock from my car to the backyard.
We spend about an hour working outside but Charlie is getting hungry, and Em should be home about now, so we decide to take a break and I'll come by later in the week to help finish the yard.
"Are you doing okay?" I finally muster up the courage open the can of worms I've been thinking about all afternoon. Of course I had to wait until the last minute when I'm packing Charlie's things to head home, though.
"I'm fine, same old, same old. Why do you ask?"
"I just want to make sure you're happy and healthy. You know that if you ever need anything we're here, right? And you're always welcome at our house."
"I know honey," she places a hand on my shoulder, "thank you," and now that she's closer I notice the bags under her eyes that are caked with makeup.
"Are you sleeping well?" I blurt out and she laughs.
"You worry too much, Harry," she shakes her head and takes a step back. She hesitates to speak more, but I can tell there's something else she wants to say, so I give her time.
It's an awkward few minutes, the two of us standing in the kitchen glancing at one another here and there. I'm trying to come up with something to say, but I'm terrified of being wrong or upsetting her. Jared and I spoke yesterday, and he told me a bit more about Jillian and David's past, but it didn't ease my worries in the slightest.
"You're right, I haven't been getting much sleep," her gaze is set on the floor when she speaks.
"Is there something going on?" I tread lightly, not wanting to overstep.
"I've been a bit worried," she sighs, "about the man hanging around your house."
Well this is not going where I hoped it would.
"He's dangerous and if you see him again you have to call the police," she spits out.
"Dangerous? What happened? I thought he left right when you asked him to?" I'm so confused right now. This conversation took a huge turn from what I was expecting.
"He did leave when I asked, but I ran into him again a few days later. He was very aggressive, that's all."
"Aggressive?" my voice raises and octave in pitch.
"Yes, he tried to grab me and was begging for money. I told him I didn't have anything on me and that I was uncomfortable, so I asked him to leave the area."
"You didn't fall," I think out loud and Jillian gives me a confused look. "You told me you fell the other day and that's why your arm hurt." She nods to tell me she's following.
"Jillian," I take a moment to plan how to go about this, "Are you sure you're telling me the truth? All of it?" she hesitates to answer, "Did he hurt you?"
"Yes, he hurt me," she looks ashamed as if it's her fault, "but it wasn't just that one time... and he's not homeless."
"Do- do you know him? Fuck, either way I promise we'll catch him, and he'll go to jail-"
"It's David. Emma's dad."
"Oh, god."
***
Emma's P.O.V.
I love my job, but every now and then I'll have one of those difficult clients with very specific needs and a short temper. I had a meeting with a couple who were interested a family portrait, and the husband seemed very nice and calm, but the wife was not. She kept shooting down my ideas, which is okay because I want my clients to be happy so I'd rather them tell me they hate my ideas rather than going through with the shoot and not liking the outcome, but that's not where her bad attitude stopped. She started bickering with her husband about color coordinating, she was asking for different props and backdrops that we don't have so they would cost extra, and she was also upset with our pricing—it was a disaster.
Needless to say, I am exhausted and cannot wait to get home, eat leftovers, watch a movie, and cuddle with my husband and baby.
I'm just about home when I see someone in an oversized black zip up hoodie and baggy jeans walking around outside our house.
"Dammit, I thought you left," I mumble to myself.
Once I've driven through the gate, I use my rearview mirror to make sure it's closed before proceeding into the garage. As I glance into the mirror, I catch a glimpse of the man staring right at me, but he looks away before we make eye contact.
I shake off the weird feeling and head inside but stop in my tracks once I've barely entered the house.
He looked too familiar... but there's no way I know who he is. Then again, I've never had an up-close interaction with him, I've only seen him from afar.
For the sake of my sanity, I walk back outside to confirm my suspicions. I'm not sure who he reminds me of, but I know that I won't stop worrying until I know for sure.
I stand in the driveway and begin looking around when I see movement from the corner of my eye. I turn to my right, the direction of our front door, and sure enough the man is waving to get my attention from the other side of the fence.
There's a good fifty yards between the front of the house and the fence where the street runs up to, so I take my time making my way down the yard and stop when I'm at a comfortable distance away from him but still close enough to hold a conversation.
"Do I know you?" I ask.
"That's what I was afraid of," he drops his head and begins to shake, and that's when it all comes back to me. "You don't even recognize your own father."
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A/N: So I originally wasn't going to split up this update... but I did... so chapter 48 will be up tomorrow XD
<3 <3 <3