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Iris
Harry is back. He finally came back and I'm so excited to see him tonight. Emma will have a sleepover at Millie's so he will come to our house for the first time. I'm anxious about it, I haven't had anyone here except my sisters, Millie and her family. I didn't have friends here, I worked too much and I didn't have the time to get to know people, especially when Emma was younger. Now that she has a few extracurricular activities I have some time for myself.
Emma and Millie are members of a dance group a few weeks now. They have told us that they want to go there because their friend Louisa goes and we couldn't say no. So, now they have practice 2 times and they are happier than ever. Emma told me that they even learned a choreography to Harry's Golden and she is so excited to show him. She didn't tell anybody that she knows him because, as she said, she is afraid of taking him away from her. I don't know where this fear of abandonment came from but I know that I have to talk to Tonya about it. I need advice.
"Emma, darling. Don't hesitate to call me if you want something." I tell my daughter as we walk towards Millie's house. Patrick opens the door and let us in. He hugs Emma first and tells her that Millie's waiting for her on her room and then he hugs me.
"Hello, Iris. Long time no see. Mister popstar took you away from us." I laugh as he says that.
"You saw me two days ago at school, Patrick. How are you?" I ask my friend.
"I'm fine. Work is getting on my nerves. It's the first night I get to spend home finally." He sighs. He is a doctor at the hospital so he gets to work a lot of extra hours. He loves it so much though and I've never heard him complain about it.
"You should have told me. I wouldn't let Emma agree to that sleepover."
"Iris, you know that I love Em girl so match. And I need something to keep Chris busy while I cook. So two kids is better than one."
"I've heard that, you idiot." Chris shouts and then I see him come to the kitchen where Patrick and I are sitting. "Hi my beautiful friend. How are you going to spend the night?" He tells me after the usual hug and a kiss on the cheek. Chris and I are like siblings. I think we are platonic soulmates. We understand each other so well and we think the same things all the time.
"Harry is going to come to my house tonight." They both know about our relationship. They haven't told a soul, not even William. And I know how match Chris wants to tell him.
"Oh, so you have a date. What are you going to wear?"
"Pajamas." I tell them and we all laugh. "We keep it really simple. It's going to be just a date in the house. His dog is going to be there too."
"Harry has a dog?" Chris shouts and I tell him not to because Emma doesn't know that yet.
"He does. His name is Oliver. I think that I will tell Emma about him soon. Imagine how happy she is going to be when she meets him."
They both nod. "Maybe we should adopt a dog too." Patrick says to Chris and I know that he will eventually convince him to say yes.
"I've got to go. I don't want to let my boy wait for me. Emma, come say goodnight to mumma." I say a little louder so my daughter will hear me. I hear immediately four sets of steps running down the stairs and Chris shouting to be careful. I'm so glad that I don't have a staircase in my house because we would have so many accidents. Both Emma and I are so clumsy.
"Goodnight Mumma. I love you." She hugs me and kisses my cheek. It's her first sleepover in a different house other than Tonya's and I feel like I'm going to cry. My little girl is getting older and independent.
"Goodnight, sweet darling. I love you so much." I kiss her blonde hair and I open the door to leave the house. "Call me if she needs anything." I tell Chris and Patrick.
"Have a great time and try not to think about her. We are going to take care of princesses Millie and Emma." Chris replies and I know that he means it. He loves kids so much and I know that someday soon he and Patrick will adopt another one. Bless these men!
When I arrive at my house, I see Harry waiting for me at my front door. He called me two minutes before I arrive to let me know that he is outside and the janitor doesn't let him in because I'm not home. I laughed and told him to wait for me. Oliver is sitting next to Harry. who is talking to Colby, one of the janitors of this block of flats.
"Hello to you two. How are you?" Harry stands up and smiles when he sees me. Oliver barks happily too and I pet his head. "How are you, little boy?"
"Hello, Iris. I didn't let him upstairs because you weren't home. I didn't know that you know him so I told him to wait."
"Thank you of taking such a good care of me Colby." He laughs and then tells us Goodbye. Colby is a ray of sunshine. He is always smiling and the whole building loves him. He works here for a lot of years so everyone trusts him. He's such a bigmouth but he didn't understand who Harry is so we are fine from him.
When we go in to the apartment, I watch Harry looking around trying to photograph the place with his eyes. His gaze stops to the corner of my living room. He lets Oliver's leash and move closer to that wanting to see the photos I had. Oliver is moving around the house trying to get to know the new environment.
"You were so young in these, Iris." He tells me looking at the wall.
"I was at the university at the first one. I think at the second year. So I was 19 to 20." I tell him and his eyes scan the second photo. "This one is my sister, Tonya. We are inseparable." I point to the fourth one. "This is Florence, Tonya's soon to be wife. It's the first photo of me knowing I'm pregnant. And this one is the first ever photograph I have with Emma. Look how tiny she is." I tell him and I smile to the sight of my girl.
"She is your twin from day 1. The only think that you have to tell you apart is the hair. Her dad is blond?"
"He is, yes. I'm glad she isn't like him."
"You weren't together during your pregnancy?" He asks me and then continues. "You don't have to answer. I don't pry. You should tell me when you are ready."
"Harry." I stop him. "We weren't together. He said that he wasn't ready for a child and I didn't want him to be with me if he didn't want our kid. We broke up and a year later he became a dad."
"He has a family?" He asks me and I nod. "He doesn't know what he lost, darling. You've done an amazing job with my best friend."
"These words mean so much to me." I think that I'm always going to get emotional when people acknowledge all of the effort I put on raising my daughter.
"Hey, love, don't cry." He tells me and moves closer to me. "You are one of the best mums out there. The proof is how happy your daughter is."
"Harry, you are going to make me cry harder." I reply and I wipe away my tears.
"Let's change the mood then." He giggles and then he kisses me. Soon his tongue is on my mouth and I feel him smiling. This boy is going to be the death of me. "I wanted to kiss you as soon as I saw you walking. I missed you."
"I missed you too, H. Emma missed you as well. You have to see her soon."
"I think that I want her to meet Oliver. Do you think she will like him?"
"Oh, she definitely will like him. Oliver, on the other hand, is going to lose all of his piece." We laugh because we both know that this is true. Emma will fall in love with the golden retriever in front of me. She will never leave him alone.
"He's lucky to be loved by your daughter." He tells me as we move to the kitchen to get the table ready.
"You like her as much as she likes you." I notice and he nods.
"I really do. She understands me better than the most of the people I have in my life. I want to be in both of your lives in the future and for me is really important to create a bond with Emma."
"I want you in our lives, Harry. And I think Emma has fallen in love with you long before you did. She always talk about you."
"She does?" He asks me as he couldn't believe what I just told him.
"Of course, she asks me how are you, when she's gonna see you again. She always sings your songs and now she dances them too."
"She still goes to the dancing school?" We both were sure that she is going to get bored after a couple of times but we were completely wrong.
"She does, yes. And they learnt a choreography to golden. She is going to dance for you the next time you see her."
We sit on the table and we start eating the pasta I have cooked. It's an Italian recipe that my mum always does and we have learned it by heart.
"Why didn't you send me a video?" He asks.
"I didn't wanna ruin the surprise. So when she tells you, act surprised. I can't handle her being mad at me."
"Don't worry, darling. I'm an actor you know." He tells me and we laugh.
"When are the movies coming out?" I ask him and he takes a few second to remember, making me giggle.
"In the fall, I think. My schedule is so full that I don't know how I'm going to handle it."
"Why don't you cancel something? You need to rest too, baby." He nods and tells me that he can't do that, that he has to keep up with everything. And I know that by the end of the year, he will be exhausted. 2022 is going to be his year.
We eat discussing how we spend our time apart. He tells me everything he did in New York and he promises that the next time he is going to take me with him so I will know all of his favorite places. I tell him a little about Pleasing and the next collection we are going to release because he wasn't at the meeting the previous week. I, also, tell him about how I try to avoid William and he doesn't seem to understand him. He says that he has told his sister about me.
Now, we are sitting at the couch watching Friends. We literally remember most of the scenes and he tells me about the time he met Courteney Cox at one her parties.
"I have to ask you something." I look at him and I tell him to continue. "Well, I've listened to the voice mail you and Emma left me yesterday night when I couldn't pick up the phone. And when I listened to Emma's voice I immediately thought of As It Was."
He has told me about As It Was a few weeks ago. He even let me listened to it. "Yes, and?" I ask him so he can continue. I'm so confused.
"I want Emma to introduce the song to the world. I want her little voice be the first one the world will hear, not mine. I have this version on my phone, if you want to listen." I nod and he searches for this version.
"Come on, Harry, we want to say goodnight to you." I hear my daughter's voice say and then the music starts as well as Harry's singing voice. I wait till I hear the whole song and I smile throughout of it. He must really see a future with us if he is going to release something permanent with my daughter's voice on it.
"You can do whatever you want Harry. I really love As It Was and Emma is going to love it too. imagine all of her little dance. This song is going to win a Grammy for sure." He blushes and kisses the side of my head.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you love." He tells me and takes me into a hug. "I will give all the credits to my little bestie. Let me text Jeff really quick. We have the single ready. Now, let's go to bed. I missed sleeping with you."