Harry remembered it like yesterday. He remembered the night he sat down in the living room with his sister and handed is mother a resealable bag with his pregnancy test inside. At first she assumed Gemma was the one who was pregnant and started to jump around for joy.
But then they quickly explained that it wasn't her who took the test. It was him. And from there, Harry went on to explain about how he had unprotected sex for the first time with Zayn on prom night and that when he kept getting sick, Gemma advised him to take the test.
Anne had only stared at them. She didn't understand. How could this happen? How could her son be pregnant?
Well that question only led to Harry recounting everything he'd learned in Sex Ed about three years prior. And that led to Anne realizing she hadn't known as much about her son as she thought. Everything from Harry possessing the Dual Male Reproductive System or even him no longer being a virgin. She'd been clueless about it all. And now her son was paying for it.
However, despite how big of a surprise it really was, she really liked Zayn and hoped that he would be around to take care of the baby and support Harry. But her heart was broken when Harry told her he broke up with Zayn and didn't want him around anymore.
Having been divorced, she'd seen how hard it was to be a single parent having to raise children. She never wanted Harry to go through that too. But for whatever reason that Harry wasn't telling her, he was choosing to go through it. Therefore she turned to convincing him to at least tell his child about his father. He owed him that at least. Even if Zayn was never going to be around.
In the end, Harry was certain that was better than seeing Zayn again. So he settled on it. And it's why he would show Benjamin photos of his father and tell him stories about him. Even if Anne and Gemma wanted him to include Zayn, Harry was adamant about never letting Benjamin meet him no matter what.
So that's why for the last few days, Harry wondered what would happen when he got there and told his mother about Zayn being his life again. Would they judge him? Would they laugh at him? Would they be angry at him like Zayn's father was at him? That's what he wanted to know the most.
Harry had called ahead. So his mother was there to open the door for him when he came up.
"Hi, mom."
"Hi." She noticed his smile.
"Wow, look at you. You look so much happier than you did when you dropped Benjamin off. The time away really do you some good, huh?"
"It did, yes. But it wasn't being away from him that helped. I just had to do some things."
"Well, I'm glad you did them. I don't ever want to see you look like that again."
They came into the kitchen where Benjamin was sitting down at the table and having lunch. He lit up as soon as he saw his father.
"Daddy!"
"Hi!"
When he got down from his chair and ran over to Harry, Harry hugged him tightly. Even though he sent his don away for a few days, he couldn't wait to get back to him. He was a bright spot in his life. And knowing that gave him the best idea.
"Hey, do you want to help daddy do something very important today?"
"Uh huh."
"Are you sure? Because what I'm talking about is a very big thing."
"I can do it."
"Okay then. Why don't you go finish eating and I'll come sit with you in a minute."
Benjamin went to sit down and Harry stood up.
"Mom."
"What, dear?"
"Can you please go get Gemma? I have something important I really want to tell you two."
She looked slightly hesitant.
"Uh... sure. I'll go get her."
While Anne left the room, Harry sat down adjacent to his son at the table.
"Have you had fun with grandma this week?"
He nodded as he picked up a fish stick.
"I got a new toy."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, well I would really love to see it. Will you show me later?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome."
A moment later, Anne and Gemma came in.
"Well, someone looks happy." Gemma said.
"I said the same thing." Anne added.
"I am happy. And what I'm happy about, I want you two to sit down so I can tell you about it."
Gemma gasped.
"Oh my gosh. Are you pregnant again?"
"What? No. Gosh no. I'm on the pill."
"Oh. Then what's so important?"
"Sit down first and I will tell you."
"Okay... but just so you know, you're making me nervous."
They both sat down at the table and looked at Harry.
"Alright, tell us dear."
Harry smiled and looked at Benjamin.
"Benny, here is where you get to help daddy out."
"Yay!"
"Do you remember that secret daddy asked you to keep? The one I said Grandma and Aunt Gemma couldn't know."
"Uh huh."
"Well, daddy has had a lot of time to think about it and he's ready for his mother and sister to know what's been going on in his life. Do you think you can tell Aunt Gemma and Grandma the secret?"
He looked at them then back at Harry shyly. "Um..."
"It's okay to tell them now. We want them to know because it's a good thing. Go ahead. Tell them."
He smiled. "Well, um... Papa comes all the time. And we play with my playdoh. I love playdoh. Papa loves Playdoh too. And he likes um... cheese sandwiches too. He's so funny."
It took him a while to get it all out but he finally did and looked at Harry.
"I'm in trouble?"
"No, sweetheart. You did excellent. Thank you."
When Harry looked at his Mother and Gemma, they were just staring at him, speechless.
"Mom, Gemma?"
"Did he just say what we think he said?" Gemma asked.
"He did."
"So when he says his Papa, he means..."
"Zayn."
Anne seemed shocked and she smiled. "So he knows about Benjamin?"
"He knows."
"And he's happy about it?"
"More than happy, Gem. He comes around often. He takes care of Benjamin, he buys things for him. He spends time with him. He genuinely loves his son very much. And he's grateful that I told Benjamin about him before he ever knew him."
Anne laughed quietly. But not because anything was funny. She was just so happy.
"Oh, that's so wonderful. So is that why you're smiling? Because his father is in his life now?"
"That's half of it. Because as happy as we are to have Zayn for Benjamin, he's not just here for Benjamin. He's here for me too. And we've been seeing each other a little over a month and a half."
"Like dating?" Gemma asked and she was clearly shocked.
"Yes. Like dating. We still love each other from those years ago and we never stopped. To be in each other's lives again was like fate."
"Fate? But I thought you hated him."
"I do not hate him." He quickly said.
"And be careful what you say in front of my son."
"Sorry. It's just... I thought things between you didn't end so well."
"They didn't. But that's because I was misinformed all those years ago. What I thought happened did not happen."
"Will you ever tell us what it was you thought happened?"
"No. I won't. Because it's not important anymore. I just want you two to know that this is everything I wanted and needed. What all three of us needed, actually. And from here on out, we are going to be a family. So I just hope that you support us."
"Of course we will, sweetie. You have our full support. Right Gemma?"
"How did you two meet this time?" She asked.
"Did you go looking for him?"
"No. I happened to come into his place of business and he saw Benjamin and knew there was something about him. It led him to me. He started coming around and before we knew it, we were back together."
"And when was this that he started coming around?"
"December."
"It's been that long?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
He sighed.
"Because I didn't want to be judged. After being adamant about not wanting to see him again after something I was so sure had done, you might think something was wrong with me if I started letting him come around out of nowhere. I didn't want that."
"Harry." His sister said. "We're happy for you. You've already told us what happened years ago was a simple misunderstanding. We accept that and we support you. And besides, you know me, I've always been a huge advocate of you having a boyfriend. You go, girl."
Harry laughed. "Thanks."
Anne wiped away a happy tear. "When do we get to see Zayn. I've really missed seeing him around."
Harry smiled.
"Someday. I promise. For now, he has some things to get together with his own family. We don't want to do this too soon. One step at a time. Okay, mom?"
She stood up.
"That's fine with me. You just tell him when he's ready to come over and see us, he's welcome. I'll make a nice meal and we can all talk and enjoy ourselves."
"I will."
"Wow." She said once more as she went out of the kitchen still giggling happily. "I know he's all grown up now. I wonder if he's still a handsome young man."
Harry laughed quietly as he looked over at his son. He reached over and put a gentle hand on his chin. It had been a lot to ask of his son to keep such a big secret hidden for so long. But now he didn't have to do it anymore. He bravely told his grandmother and Aunt the truth.
Harry knew then that he too was obligated to follow in those footsteps. To be brave and tell Benjamin the truth of what his body could do whenever it was time to do so. He knew he could do it. Just as long as he had Zayn Malik by his side.
➡️ ➡️ ➡️
Monday morning, Zayn was the first person at the dry cleaners. So he opened up the store and turned on all the lights. Then he headed to his office.
When he saw the space where the big chair used to be, he laughed quietly. He nearly forgot about that night. But how could he really? He spent a night being intimate with Harry there while heavy rains poured outside.
He sat down in the office chair behind his desk and turned his computer on. The sun had rose on a brand new week and he was glad to be here in a happy relationship and without coat thieves.
As he was getting everything together, he heard someone come in the front door. Then a few moments later, there was a soft knock inside his doorway. When he looked up, he saw Louis there. He seemed afraid to come in.
"Good morning." Zayn greeted.
"Good morning." He said quietly.
"Come on in."
"No. It's okay. I'm fine here."
But he pointed to the empty space where the chair was.
"What happened to the chair?"
"I... Got sick of looking at it. So I'm preparing early for the remodel."
"Oh."
"Didn't you say you were going to do some kind of concept drawing for me? I'll need that soon because the same theme here will need to be the same theme at the Summerland location before it opens."
"Um... I did say I would that that. But I didn't get a chance to do it. And after everything that's happened, I wasn't sure that you still wanted me to. Or that you would want me to do anything. Especially work for you. I know I wouldn't want me to."
He sighed.
"Louis. I want you to know that I don't hold a grudge against you for what you did. I know you didn't want to hurt me when you did it."
"But I did hurt you."
"After I hurt you first. But then when you saw that I was hurt, you came to me right away. You told me the truth because you cared about me more than you cared about how much you yourself were hurting from what I did to you. You did something for me that I never did for you.
"So I want to take this time to do more. I told you you would have that job at the second location guaranteed. That still stands. But I also want to give you that significant raise you've been asking for too. You're a great guy, Louis. And someday a really great guy is going to see it too and you're going to be able to take him home to your family and laugh when you go home for the night about the fact that he admits Daisy and Phoebe scare him a little bit."
Louis chuckled.
"What I'm saying is, I know for a fact that there's something or someone for everyone. We're all waiting on someone or something. We just have to wait for life to tell us what it is."
Louis folded his arms and bounced on his tiptoes. A genuine smile shined Zayn's way.
At last, acceptance.
"Thanks Zayn. I'll try to remember that. And I'll definitely get on that concept drawing too. But for now, I'll get to work."
He slowly turned around and exited his office, leaving Zayn staring at the empty doorway this time. That's when he sat back in his chair and put his hand on his chin.
He couldn't very well say that things were back to normal. But he could say he'd just created a very good starting point for it to trend that direction. Hopefully someday things could return to normal between them. But just in case they never did, he at least wanted to be able to say he tried. And that was more than he could say for so many other situations in his past.