"Hello, where are my gorgeous girls?" Harry's voice whirls through the house as he enters via the front door. I hear it close softly before the sound of a suitcase being rolled through the foyer. London stands up abruptly, dropping her two dolls from her hands as she shoots out of the room and down the hallway.
"Daddy!" She calls out to him repeatedly. "Dad's home." She adds as I hear her footsteps climbing down the spiral staircase one step at a time. I stand up from London's bed where I was reading Billy Summers by Stephen King. I place my book on the bed before walking over to Sydney who is chewing on the T-Rex's head. I pull it out of her mouth and she whines, forcing it back into her mouth.
"No, that isn't for eating." I pull it from her grip and drop it on the floor. She starts to cry while reaching out for the dinosaur. I carry her down the hallways and down the stairs. When I look at the bottom floor below us, I see Harry crouching on the floor with London in his arms. He is running his hand through her hair while holding her tightly with his other hand. She has his arms wrapped around his neck and is talking to him. She's talking softly, so I can't quite hear what she is saying.
Harry's head turns to the side when he sees Sydney and I walking down the stairs. He picks up London with his left hand and holds out his right hand as he walks over to us.
"How was your flight?"
"Hey baby." He says to me as I walk into him and kiss his cheek. "And hello to my littlest love." Harry kisses my cheek first, before planting one on Sydney's forehead. "Yeah, my flight wasn't bad. I slept for most of it. I tried to stay up for as long as I could so that I could get used to the timezone here, but I couldn't fight it."
I pass over Sydney to him and he holds his two daughters in his arms. A beam of light shining through his eyes as he stares at them with so much love and adoration. I know it kills him being away from them while working, but it makes these moments so much more special when he gets to see them again.
"And how have you two been? I hope you have been good for Mum. Londy, have you been doing what you're told?" He asks, looking at me then to London specifically.
She nods her head and starts speaking 100 miles per hour. "Yes I have been so good Dad. I've been doing my reading and I can write three more words now." London holds up three of her fingers, almost hitting Harry in the face as she does so with excitement. "I sometimes stay up after Mummy tells me to go to bed but I'm sometimes not tired. But I have been sleeping in my big girl bed still. And I won't need my wheels on my bike soon. Can we go for a bike ride now Daddy? I've been waiting for you to come here so we can go now."
Harry blinks a couple of times, trying to process everything that she has just said. "Right, well first things first. I really need a wee. Then I think dinner is a good idea. Maybe we can go down to Salt and have something there. London can ride her bike there?" Harry looks at me, awaiting my response from his question.
I uncross my arms from my chest and walk towards the kitchen. "I popped dinner in the slow cooker. I'm making stir fry. I wanted to make your favourite tonight, but we're out of cheese."
"That's okay, we can put that in containers and have it for lunch tomorrow. It's a nice night, why don't we go out?"
"Yeah, okay. Let me go and get ready."
"You look beautiful as you are. Come here, I want a proper cuddle."
He places the girls down on the ground. London runs towards the garage where her bike is. Meanwhile Sydney grabs onto his leg and stands to her feet while holding onto his trousers. I walk over to him and enclose my arms around his waist. I close my eyes as I rest my head against his chest and he places his arms comfortingly around my shoulders with his chin resting on top of my head. The sweet scent of vanilla and pine fill my senses as I inhale one of my most favourite scents.
I often find myself cuddling his pillow because it has the same familiar smell. His smell.
"How have you been?" He whispers to me. "I'm sorry that I had to leave so suddenly. It was out of my control."
"I've been okay. I missed you."
"I missed you too."
"How long will you be back for?" I ask, looking up at him into his deep green eyes that look tired despite him saying he got sleep on the plane.
Harry lets out a gentle sigh and I feel his hot breath hit my forehead as he takes a moment to think of his response. An ill feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me that he is delaying his response because it is one that I won't like to hear.
"A week."
I let go of him remove his hands from around me. "How long will you be gone for?" I take a step away from him before bending down and picking up Sydney. I place her on my hip while my eyes remain on Harry.
"I don't know. A week or so."
My head diverts downwards at the floor in disappointment. Harry places his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry Hailey. I can't-"
"Can't help it. Yeah, I've heard it all before. I get it, you want to work. Whatever."
I turn around and start walking back upstairs.
"Where are you going? You're mad at me now, aren't you? Fuck, I've just walked through the door and you are already in a mood."
"To get ready for dinner." I say in response. "I'm upset Harry, but if I only have a week with you, then I can't spend it being mad at you. We have to make the most of it while we can."
"There's also one more thing I have to ask."
I stop walking when I reach the 8th step and I glance down at him. "Yes?"
"Is there something you have to tell me?"
I raise an eyebrow. "Tell you what?"
He places his hand on his stomach, trying to hold a straight face but fails to do so and ends up in a fit of laughter. "Apparently you recently became pregnant again with baby number three. But that's not possible - well, it's not possible to be mine because we haven't had sex in over four months. You'd be well into your second trimester by now."
"So you're counting how many months its been now, huh?"
He remains silent.
"Well guess what, the baby's not yours. It's fucking Donald Trumps."
"Even Trump can get some action and I can't. Jeez, I really am on the outer."
"You know what Harry. Maybe we should just skip dinner. I don't feel like going out tonight. Stir fry is in the slow cooker when you want it. Dish out London's too. You need to spend time with your daughter before you leave her again."
"Come on now, that's not fair."
"Don't get me started on what's not fair Harry."
*
The following morning I wake up to how I wake up most mornings. With Sydney beside me in bed. Sydney, not Harry. I don't know where he slept but he didn't come in last night. We haven't spoken since our argument when he first came home. I wouldn't even call that an argument. It was just a stupid conversation that turned sour.
I try my best not to be upset at him, but I can't help it. Harry wanted to have a family and I expected him to be here for us completely. It was supposed to be family first and work second. Now it is starting to feel like the old days when work always came first.
I turn on my phone so that I can see what time it is. Sydney only woke up once during the night, so I had a pretty decent sleep. When my phone loads upon turning it on, it instantly becomes flooded with messages.
I roll my eyes and let out an annoyed groan.
"Fucking perfect, I know exactly why I'm so popular this morning."
I glance over at Sydney who is still peacefully sleeping beside me. I take this time to read through some of the articles that are assuming my pregnancy. The pictures of me at the supermarket are everywhere online. They're horrible quality, but enough to see that I am shopping in the medical section.
If you're in Australia, you would know this section very well because it is the same at every Woolworths store. This news has spread onto every platform. There are Instagram posts, Twitter posts, Facebook posts, Youtube videos from news pages and reaction videos. Not to mention my personal favourite (sarcasm intended), online articles.
I begin reading the article second from the top.
Headline: Hailey Hayes Pregnant With Harry Styles' Third Child Amid Breakup Rumours.
Bi-line: Is this the reason the singing sensation couple of 7 years have had trouble in paradise?
With so many of the stars, including Rhi Rhi Katherine Schwarzenegger expecting, it's almost as if there's a full-on Hollywood baby boom in progress! Perhaps that's partially what sent #Hayles (Styles and Hayes) fans into frenzy when a photo emerged of Hayes shopping for pregnancy tests.
The frenzy began when Hayes was photographed yesterday (January 18 and shortly after, the first photo emerged from @simplystyles (see below). Hayes posted a photo on Instagram hours earlier of herself and her nephew captioned 'my precious boy' so fans are claiming that by hanging out with her nephew she could be telling the family of the third addition.
The famous couple have been in the spotlight recently amid rumours that they have parted ways after dating for seven years.
A close source to the couple who fans have given the name of #Hayles has said that a romantic interest between Styles and Kendall Jenner is what tore the two apart.
Other rumours are that the relationship was jus a publicity stunt from the duo's management and the children are in fact not really theirs whilst others are just simply stating they had fallen out of love with one another and decided that their relationship wasn't meant to be.
Since the birth of this image, perhaps Styles not wanting to be a father at such a young age and peak time in his career could be the reason for their split. He has mentioned in the past that the hardest thing he deals with on tour is the fact that he misses his children. Or could the newest baby bring them back together? #babystyles is the number one trend on Twitter and Harry Styles fans are the most responsible for the trend (see below).
I stop reading and almost laugh to myself because none of those 'rumours' are true. Suspecting that Harry is awake, he would have for sure read this by now. I wonder what he thinks about this. I transfer Sydney over to her crib and put on the baby monitor. I walk into London's room, expecting her to be asleep since I haven't heard her voice throughout the house.
Her bed is made and her curtains are open. Her pyjamas are on the floor and her wardrobe door is open. I walk over and close the door before bending down to pick up her pyjamas. I neatly fold them before placing them on her bed. I check the two spare rooms upstairs before heading downstairs. Both Harry and London are nowhere in sight.
Then I get an idea and decide to check the garage. That's when I notice that London's bike is missing. Harry must have taken her on a bike ride this morning. I use this time to be productive and put on a load of washing and unpack the dishwasher from last night.
Twenty minutes later, the back door swings open and London runs into the house. "I did it Mummy, I did it!" She runs into me and cuddles my thigh, making me stumble backwards upon impact.
"Did what baby?" I bend down and give her a cuddle. "Good morning." I kiss her cheek and unclip the buckle of her helmet. I take off the pink helmet and place it on the kitchen table.
"I rided my bike without the wheels."
I look over at Harry who is struggling to put the stand up on her bike. He eventually gets it and places it to the side of the door before coming inside.
"Well done, that's incredible. I'm so proud of you." I caress her cheek. "Should we celebrate with pancakes?"
"I already had breakfast." She tells me.
"Yeah, we went to the bakery." Harry holds up a white paper bag with what I'm guessing is some delicious pastries inside of it. "I got you your favourite." He walks over to the kitchen island and places the bag on top of the table. He tears it open, revealing a chocolate croissant. In his other hand is a white paper cup. He hands me the cup and I thank him before smelling the warm liquid through the lid.
Chai latte.
"Thank you." I give him a small smile and take a sip from the cup. It is the perfect temperature to drink. I reach for the chocolate croissant and take a bite. I haven't had one of these in a long time.
"I'm sorry about last night. Forgive me?"
I take another sip from the cup before answering him. "When I seen the chocolate croissant, I think I was going to be mad for a little longer. But when you pulled out the chai, I couldn't possibly be mad for a single second longer."
Harry instantly smiles and runs over to the other side of the island where I am standing. He takes the chai out of my hands before picking me up and spins me around. I laugh at him while holding on tightly to his shoulders because he is spinning me at quite the speed.
"I want a turn, I want a turn." London walks over to us and Harry stops spinning me because my foot only missed her face by mere centimetres while he was spinning me. Harry kisses my lips before putting me down. He then picks up London and begins spinning her.
"Again Dad, again." She shouts after he stops spinning her.
"Shh, your sister is still asleep." I remind her.
"No more love, Daddy is a little dizzy. If I spin anymore, I might chuck up the coffee I had."
"Has your phone been busy this morning?" I ask him.
He shrugs his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I haven't turned it on. It's been dead since I was on my way here in the car last night."
"The rumours are spiralling."
"What rumours?" London asks, reaching for my croissant and stealing a piece from it.
"Hey, that's mine." I swat her fingers away, causing her to laugh in response as she chews on the sweet treat. "Nothing, just silly stuff."
"For Dad's work?"
I nod my head. "Yeah, something like that. Come on, let's go outside and have this. You can tell me about your bike ride." I grab the baby monitor, my chai and the croissant. We all go outside and sit at the table by the pool. London tells me how Harry took off her training wheels and was holding her bike while she rode it without the wheels. She can't quite do it on her own yet, but Harry said she is only days away from being able to.
A/N: Hey guys, I am so sorry that I haven't been as consistent with the updates. I will try to get back with the weekly updates / if I don't update weekly then I'll do double updates. Hope you are enjoying this 3rd book so far! x