Sorry this took so long... I'm with my fam for a few days and have a lot of homework this week <3333 ily guys
Chapter 56
Saturday December 24th
Harry's POV
I could not be more excited.
Today was Christmas Eve and I was getting ready to spend the evening with Lennon and the kids. Lennon and I had a long discussion about what the plan was for how we were going to spend the holiday, and shockingly enough she agreed to let me come over on Christmas morning.
However, I had a little help from Theo, who was eavesdropping on our conversation and walked in to tell Lennon that I should come over on Christmas morning because I bring good presents. He's not wrong about that one.
I think Lennon also knows that Theo is clearly missing Hudson around this time of year, and spending the holiday with just them might be leaving him a little empty inside. Having me there might be a good distraction for him, especially now that we're starting to form a relationship.
Hopefully, I can also help Lennon take her mind off of him. I don't want her favorite holiday to be clouded by sadness from missing him. It's the first Christmas since he's been gone, which is hard to handle, and I can just give her some help.
Honestly? I think she likes having me around again more than she admits.
I loaded the presents that I got for the kids into the backseat of my car, along with grabbing whatever else I needed for the night. The plan is to make gingerbread houses with Theo while the twins nap, and then go out and look for some Christmas lights once they wake up. Then I'll stick around to help Lennon put presents out and stuff like that.
When I pulled into her driveway, she was ushering Theo back into the garage so I didn't hit him with my car. He was on his bicycle just riding around.
"Hawwy's here!" I heard Theo yell when I got out of my car. He scrambled to quickly get off his bike and rush over to me to give me a hug. This will never get old.
"Theo!" I picked him up and spun him in a circle. "Hey Lenny"
"Hey" She smiled. "He's been asking when you were coming over all day long"
I looked down at Theo who was nodding his head. "I'm here now bud! Mommy said we're going to make some gingerbread houses?"
"Yeah! Let's go!" Theo grabbed ahold of my hand to drag me inside, clearly moving on from riding his bike in the cold. Leaving it where it was, we headed inside the house where the heat was on. "Hawwy, guess what?!"
"What's up?" I followed him to the kitchen table.
"Santa's comin tonight!" Theo clasped his hands to his cheeks in excitement.
"Oh my goodness!" I gasped, just as in shock as he was.
"I so excited!" Theo jumped up and down. Seeing him this Christmas is totally different from the one that I did spend with him at two months old. It's so fun to see him excited and happy about the day.
"Me too!" I agreed with him.
I asked Lennon if she needed any help, but she was fine as she brought three gingerbread box kits into the dining room. I sat down across from Theo, and Lennon sat next to him, so she could help him if needed.
We each took out our supplies which consisted of the gingerbread cookies, a giant bag of white frosting, two smaller packs of red and green icing, and 4 bags of different candies to decorate with. I don't even recall the last time I built a gingerbread house, but I was looking forward to it.
We started to frost the gingerbread house pieces with the icing to make them stick together. I became so focused on getting my house to stand perfectly in place, and so far it was holding together pretty well. I was making good progress, and just put the second and final piece of the roof onto my base.
Then I looked up across the table at the other two, and tried my hardest not to burst out laughing.
Lennon's house was a collapsed mess in front of her. She was now trying to help Theo, who had made the roof pieces be the walls to his house, so now his house is all uneven and not going to work right.
"How are you so good at everything?" Lennon groaned, struggling with the icing bag.
"Did a tornado knock your house over?" I chuckled.
"Momma! Look at Hawwy's house!" Theo pointed to my perfectly standing house, showing her how it's supposed to look.
"Yeah his house is perfect, it should win an award or something" Lennon huffed. "Whose idea was this?"
"Yours" I answered.
"Can you help him?" Lennon laughed.
I got up and headed next to Theo, to help fix whatever mess his mom had helped create. While I started working on getting the structure of his house to be stable, Lennon began to rebuild hers from the ground up.
Thanks to my help, all 3 of us finally had good standing houses that were now ready to be decorated. Theo went right to work on decorating his house with every piece of candy that he was given, and smudged pieces of frosting everywhere.
Lennon did much better on the decorating part of the project, giving her house specific candy patterns, colors, and symmetry.
Mine was somewhere in the middle with carefully places pieces of candy, but more colorful than Lennon's.
"Look at mines mommy" Theo tapped his moms arm over and over until she looked at his house.
"Wow you did such a good job" She complimented.
Lennon smiled so widely at Theo, and it was like the gates to Heaven opened up. She's always looking so beautiful, but especially when she smiles. Every time she gets that look across her face, it just reminds me that I'm still so madly in love with her. That's why sometimes I honestly find it difficult to be around her, because I still feel the same way about her that I did all those years ago. Even when I was gone and one year turned into two, I never got over her.
I looked at her fondly, and when her eyes glanced over towards me, she squinted at me. It was almost like she knew that I was thinking about her.
"Can we go see lights now?" Theo jumped up from the table, now that we're finished decorating and left with only a mess on the table, he's no longer interested in hanging around.
"We have to wait for Lia and Atti to wake up from their nap. Help us clean off the table bud" Lennon told him, earning a whine from Theo.
"I don't wanna clean mommy" Theo sighed.
"You need to help me please" Lennon looked at him. "Grab the empty wrappers and throw them away, please"
"Fineee" Theo started collecting them and tossed them in the trash.
Until the twins woke up, we played with some of Theo's toys. It took about another hour until we were pulling out of the driveway by the time they woke up and we made our way to the car. We were driving to a neighborhood about 20 minutes away that apparently has a bunch of houses that decorate hugely with lights and everything.
The twins won't enjoy it too much, especially Delia because she'll be stuck in her car seat, but Theo should have a good time.
There was a line to drive through the neighborhood and it was busy but it wasn't too awful. Most people probably visited a few days ago so Christmas Eve could be spent at home or with family, so it worked out for us to have something to do.
Lennon wasn't lying when she said this neighborhood goes above and beyond. All of the houses were covered top to bottom with lights. Many of them flashed and did little light shows as you drove through, and music was playing from speakers. One house even had fake snowflakes falling down from their roof, which Theo really liked.
I can only imagine how much time it took for these people to decorate their house for this, because putting up lights was slightly time consuming, especially in the way they did it.
But it was so fun to drive through and listen to Theo oo and ah from the backseat as he sat there fascinated by all of the different houses. Whenever there was one he especially liked, he would squeal and practically try to climb out of his seat so he could see it better.
Atticus was seeming to enjoy it too, he stared out the window the entire time. Delia, fell back asleep, which was fine.
"Look at that one!" Theo pointed.
"Wow!"
"Why didn't we make our house like these ones?" Theo asked.
"Uhm because mommy is tired" Lennon chuckled.
"So take a nap!" Theo suggested.
"Then who will watch you guys?" Lennon questioned, messing with him.
"Hawwy"
Yes. First choice.
"But what if Harry is busy?"
"Then he should stop being busy and come over so you nap" Theo suggested, like that was the dumbest question she could've asked him.
"You're right" Lennon agreed.
I looked at her. "You know you can right? If you're tired I'll watch them"
"I know you would" She said softly, and smiled at me.
It took us an hour to drive around the entirety of this large neighborhood, and then another 30 minutes on the way home because of traffic. By the time we walked in the front door, it was around 9pm which was after the kid's bedtimes.
Lennon took Theo to go change into Christmas pajamas, brush his teeth, and get ready for bed and such. I carried the twins into their nursery, changed their diapers, and dressed them in some holiday themed pajamas I saw on their dresser.
We met back up in the kitchen, Theo waiting excitedly by the counter with a box of cookies, and Lennon taking out a plate and cup from the cupboards. The babies and I watched Theo set a couple of cookies on the plate, and almost overflow the cup of milk that is meant for Santa Claus.
Quickly, we took the kids outside to sprinkle some "reindeer food" into the grass so Santa Claus knows where to land. I smiled as I watched Theo run around the yard, pouring his oats into the grass happily.
The night is only close to ending, and I already know this weekend will be one I'll always remember.
When he was finished, we headed back inside. Theo stopping by the Christmas tree to say goodbye to Mr. Elf, their elf on the shelf, that Lennon told me she regretted ever starting. But it made Theo happy so she'll continue to put up with it.
"Story time!" Theo clapped his hands and grabbed a Christmas book that was on the coffee table. "Can we read to daddy?"
I stopped in my tracks, forgetting that he wasn't talking about me.
"I have to get the babies to bed Theo" Lennon sighed, clearly torn about trying to talk him out of it. I know she's worried about getting them to sleep since it's late, they'll probably wake up early and get less sleep, and Delia napped again so she might have a rough night.
"I'll do it" I offered.
"Are you sure?" Lennon looked at me.
"Of course" Lennon told me a few weeks ago about their story times out underneath the stars. She brought it up because Theo had asked one night while I was here if they could do it after I left, and then she briefly explained that they look for Hudson in the stars and read books at bedtime to him sometimes like they used to. Of course I would help with the babies so Theo could have that opportunity.
"Thank you. Their bottles are on the counter" Lennon whispered. "C'mon teddy"
She grabbed his hand and a blanket, and then the two of them went out the backdoor to go outside. I shrugged my shoulders and looked between the twins. "Just me and you guys"
I grabbed the bottles and then went to their nursery. I sat down in the rocking chair holding one baby in each of my arms. Luckily, they're strong enough to hold their own bottles, so we sat there and cuddled while they drank their night time milk.
When they finished, I set their bottles to the side and grabbed the first story that I could grab and read it to the two of them. They interrupted quite a bit by making random noises and trying to turn the pages before I finished reading, but it was funny.
I set them each down into their cribs and zipped up their sleep sacks, turned on their sound machine, and flicked the light switch to off. Quietly closing the door, I went out to the living room where I could see the other two from the window cuddled up on a blanket.
I waited only a few minutes until they came back inside. Theo looked tired, and he hugged me goodnight and went off to bed for Lennon without any trouble. While she tucked him in, I went and grabbed my gifts for them from the car and brought them inside.
"Alright, all 3 kids are asleep" Lennon whispered to me, emerging from the hallway.
"Great. Where's the gifts?" I asked.
"In this closet" Lennon walked to a linen closet and unlocked it. I was not expecting to see as many gifts stuffed inside it as I did. She looked at my widened eyes. "They had a rough year"
"You don't have to explain it to me" I chuckled, and began helping her grab presents so we can fill underneath the tree.
There was a mixture of gifts tagged from Lennon and from Santa Claus. Some were big, some were small, some things she said were things they needed like new shoes for Theo but she wrapped them up because it's more fun to unwrap things regardless of what they are.
"Those go in the stockings" She handed me a bag full of smaller tagged gift wrapped items. I nodded along and started to fill up the kid's stockings with what I was provided with.
"You wrapped your own presents?" I held up one that said "Lennon" on it.
"No one else was gonna fill up mom's stocking" She looked at me.
"Eh. Wrong" I gave her a failure buzzing sound like when you lose on game shows. I paused from the kids and grabbed my own bag, shaking it around to show her there were small gifts in there for her that I planned on using to fill up her stocking.
"You seriously didn't buy things to fill up my stocking" She looked at me in disbelief.
"I did"
It was surprising to see how much her face lit up at the fact that I thought to buy things to fill up her stocking. Did no one else fill it for her the last few years? I would've assumed that Hudson did, or at least her dad, but then again... I wasn't there to fill it either so I can't really blame anyone else.
"Well good because I made you one too" Lennon giggled, and grabbed a red stocking with an embroidered H on the front of it out from the closet filled to the top with some goodies.
"You didn't have to do that" I looked at her. I really wasn't expecting or wanting her to spend money on me, I didn't exactly deserve anything from her. Then again, that's Lennon. Her heart is too big for the world, even after what I did to her.
"Neither did you, but you did" She quirked a brow at me.
"Yeah but you deserve it. You're like the best mom in the world, and an amazing person. Hell, you deserve more than some gifts in a sock" I explained to her.
"You deserve it too Harry" She looked at me, getting serious.
I shook my head.
"I'm telling the truth. We're both aware of how uneasy I was about you showing up here but... I think it happened right when I needed it too and I didn't even know it"
I looked unsure of her statement, so she continued to speak.
"It's true H. it's been crazy, and weird, and rocky, but you are the reason my days have gotten easier... I never thought there'd be a time again where I looked forward to hanging out with you after that, but lately" She shrugged. "I am happier when you're here"
"Lennon" I found myself blushing.
"And...it's been good to see Theo's growth with you. It's refreshing as a mom to know that he feels safe enough with somebody besides me again"
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me" I smiled at her.
"Plus, it's just gifts in a sock anyways" She joked, and hung it up on the fireplace next to Theo's stocking.
"Very true" I laughed, and then we got back to setting the presents up in just the right way.
When we were finished, it looked like we were going to have a house full of very happy children tomorrow morning.
And to reward ourselves for our hard work, we chowed down on the cookies left out and the glass of milk. Although Lennon did most of the work, it was my first time really getting to play Santa since we didn't really do it for Theo's first Christmas since he was so young.
"What time should I be back in the morning?" I asked her. Lennon, to my surprise, offered for me to sleep over so I didn't have to drive home late and come back in the morning but I turned it down. I just didn't feel right sleeping over, and I wouldn't want to confuse Theo should he accidently find out that I slept over or something. Plus, I had to pick something up at my house to bring over in the morning anyways.
"Honestly? They'll probably be ready at 8" Lennon responded.
"Sounds good. Get some sleep, yeah?"
"You too" She walked me to the door. "Drive safe"
Sunday December 25th
"They woke up at 6 am and I've been struggling to keep him contained since" Lennon said quickly as she opened the door at 7:30 in the morning. I got here a little early, but good thing I did since clearly the kids have been ready for the day for the last hour and a half.
"You could have texted me" I told her.
"It's fine. Theo will be really happy though" She grinned. "I'm excited to see his reaction to it all"
"Me too, it'll be my first time"
"Oh yeah!"
Before going to get the kids, we made a quick pit stop and got everything situated. "Ok now let's go get them before one of the babies falls off the bed or something" Lennon laughed, and grabbed my arm to drag me to her bedroom. "Theo, he's here!"
"Hawwy!" Theo jumped on the bed, and Lia almost went flying. "Santa came! Santa came! Mommy said we had to wait on you!"
"Sorry I took so long!" I scooped Atti up, and Lennon did the same to Delia. "Santa came?!?"
"Yes!" Theo ran over to the door. The kids looked so cute in their matching pajamas.
The five of us headed out to the living room, Theo shrieking with excitement when he saw all the presents underneath the tree. His face lit up, his eyes were wide, and he practically threw himself onto the floor to grab a gift.
Lennon grabbed two cups of coffee, one for both of us, and then we all secured a spot on the floor in a circle basically. It was truly Christmas morning when Theo began to tear through his presents, opening them at super speed, and screaming in joy after each one.
"I got a toothbrush!" Theo shrieked, clutching the toothbrush to his chest.
"Wow! Santa is very resourceful" Lennon commented, and it was amusing how Theo was so excited to receive a toothbrush for Christmas. The fact he was as excited over that as he was with a new train set just proves how well Lennon has raised him so far to be grateful for what he's given.
"What Lia get?" Theo asked, scooting closer to his baby sister, who was opening up a new baby toy. It was a pretend phone that sang songs and lit up, all the things that are amusing to babies.
"A phone!" I gasped.
It was fun to see the babies open the gifts. Lia was like Theo, going straight in to tearing up the paper and tossing it to the side. While Atticus is much more slow and taking his time, more confused about the concept of unwrapping gifts.
"Woah. Lia look" Theo smiled, showing his sister how to work it.
"Here, Theo give this one to your mommy" I told him, handing him a nicely wrapped present that I bought for Lennon. She'll probably say once again that I didn't need to buy her anything, but I wasn't going to let her sit here on Christmas and not open anything. Christmas has more to it than just the gifts, but let's be honest, everyone has fun opening at least something.
"Oh is this for me!" Lennon grinned at Theo, taking the gift from his hands. "Harry you didn't ha-"
"Save it" I cut her off, smiling. "Just open it"
"Okay" She agreed, and started opening up the gift. I got Lennon a few different gifts, most of them were very plain if I had to be honest, but I just wanted to get her a few things. This one was a new box of her favorite coffee, so something simple but I knew she'd use it.
"What is it mommy?" Theo was all up on her side trying to see what she got.
"Coffee! My favorite!" Lennon shook the box around. "Thank you H"
"Your loved coffee" Theo clarified, and Lennon nodded. "Wow!"
"Theo, give this to Harry" Lennon reciprocated, and now I will be the one saying she really didn't have to buy me anything.
Theo handed me a rectangular box with a bow on it. I untied the bow and dug through the tissue paper, to see a gift, and my heart fluttered when I saw what it was. She had Theo make an ornament for me, that had his handprint imprinted in the mold, with Christmas 2018 written on top of it.
And then I was tearing up because this just meant everything and more to me. I'll probably hang it up in my room all year long.
"Thank you so much" I looked at the two of them. "This was super sweet"
"You're welcome"
The kids continued to open presents, and Lennon did an amazing job. Obviously, she knows them better than anyone, but Theo was genuinely really happy and thankful for all of his gifts so far. He would keep stopping to hug her after all the ones that were labeled from mommy.
Lennon and I exchanged a few more gifts with each other, both of us ironically getting mad at each other when another gift came our direction. I gave Lennon a nurse cup with her name on it in her favorite color, a framed photo of the first photo I took of her and all the kids on Halloween, and a new sweater I thought she would look really pretty in.
She had gotten me some new sweatshirts, one of those faceless paintings of Theo and I, some new sunglasses, and a movie night themed basket because I'm an actor. Our gifts for each other were simple, but that's exactly what it should be at the point of our friendship right now.
"Oh my goodness" She clasped her hand over her mouth. "It's so pretty"
I had ordered her a custom necklace that had charms in the colors of the kid's birthstones. I knew it was something she would like because parents basically go crazy over anything their kids are a part of, an example of me wanting to cry at Theo's handprint, but it was still simple and not something that felt like I was overstepping.
"Do you like it?" I asked, double checking, if she didn't I'd probably toss it out the window.
"I love it. This was super sweet, thank you so much"
"Of course" I smiled.
She wanted to put it on right then, so I got up and clasped it around her neck for her while she held her hair out of the way. It looked really pretty on her.
The kids, mostly Theo since he had more, finished opening up all their presents from Santa and Lennon, so now it was my turn to hand out the couple things that I had bought for them. Again, none of these items were anything major, just things that I picked up on that they like to play with.
I got Delia a baby doll, some paw patrol figurines because I've noticed she likes to stare at the dogs when Theo is watching that show, a new outfit, a baby light up toy, and a new lovie with a fish on it.
Atticus got a new outfit, a different light up toy, a lovie, a farmhouse toy with a bunch of squishy animals, and some new books because he loves the ones that include soft or sensory things for the babies to touch as you read to them. Along with a ball pit, but that was kind of for all of the kids.
Lennon practically sat there in shock each time a new gift was handed to them. I didn't think it was that much, but she did.
Theo got some similar things such as a new outfit, some new books, and more train track pieces since we know how much he loves to build those. Along with some other things.
"What is it buddy?" Lennon asked.
"A teddy bear!" Theo held it up for her to see. Since Theo was little, his nickname has always been teddy bear, it's just something we called him one day and it's apparently stuck around until now. So I knew the most obvious gift for him was a classic teddy bear.
But I had his name embroidered on one of the teddy bear's foot, similar to how Andy is written on Woody's foot in his favorite movie of all time.
"Harry! That is so cute, are you kidding?" Lennon lit up.
"Thank you Hawwy!" Theo engulfed me in a hug.
"Of course buddy"
Next up he opened up a large set of Toy Story action figures. He was just as excited as I thought he would be, and he's really easy to please if you know what he's interested in. I loved getting to see his reactions to everything that he's opened up so far, it's so rewarding to watch the world through children's eyes and I can't believe I ever ripped that opportunity away from myself.
Next up was a gift that when he opened up, he didn't exactly know what it was, and he handed it over to Lennon to explain to him what it was.
"Oh my gosh" Lennon stared at it, and then looked at me. She looked like she was tearing up, which was definitely not my intention.
"What is it?" Theo looked at her.
"Stars! Like daddy stars?!" Theo asked, Lennon looked at me and I nodded my head.
"Yeah, like daddy stars" Lennon bit her lip.
"So even on nights that you don't go outside and read, the stars can still be with you in your room all night long" I explained.
I wasn't expecting Lennon to get up and throw her arms around me in a hug, and whisper so I could hear. "Thank you... That was so incredibly sweet, and probably very hard for you to do. I appreciate it, and Theo will love it"
I appreciated her words. It was a little hard, but on the other hand it wasn't. Because I know that it's something that Theo will appreciate and hopefully help him out. Personally, I'd like to think it's slight growth of my reaction to Theo calling him dad from last month, to now purchasing something that directly is related to Hudson.
"I love it so much! I wanna turn it on later!" Theo tightly wrapped his arms around my neck. Hugs from him will never get old. And I was glad to see that now that he understands what it is, he is really happy about it. That makes it all worth it.
"Harry got you guys some amazing gifts" Lennon nudged Theo's arm. "That's so nice of him"
Theo thanked me several times in a row, and the babies gave me some smiles, which was cute.
Now under the tree was empty, but there was still one more gift for the kids that we had up our sleeves. "You go get it" I told Lennon.
"You sure?"
"Yes"
"Okay, Theo stay here and close your eyes" Lennon instructed.
Theo closed his eyes and waited on the floor while Lennon retrieved the final gift from the other room. Lennon was giggling as she came back into the living room with the special gift in her arms, and I was recording on my phone.
Lennon knelt down in front of Theo and set the final gift in his lap. "Open your eyes!"
Theo's eyes opened, and the most excited scream erupted from his small body. "A PUPPY"
The small little chocolate colored dog was sat in Theo's lap, now equally as excited to see Theo and began licking away at Theo's face. Theo was overwhelmed with excitement and couldn't even get any words out as he tightly hugged the dog in his lap.
I know it seems crazy, and Lennon was totally against the idea, but somehow she changed her mind. We talked about it a lot for the last month and she was at a harsh no for most of it, but she slowly began to come around to the idea of having a dog. I had been following rescue pages for the last couple weeks, and I came across the perfect match, and we ended up getting him.
The dog is a bit older so he's not in that notorious destructive puppy phase that Lennon was so worried about. He was with a foster family for the last several months who assured us that he was housetrained, gets along with other animals and kids which was clearly important, and hasn't had any inkling to destroy anything. The nice lady told us several times that he was a very chill and lazy dog, but did enjoy his walks, but really is in love with cuddles more than anything else.
Lennon and I ended up meeting the dog a few days ago to make sure it would be a good fit, and Lennon fell right in love with the dog who slept at her feet for an hour while we were there talking. It just seemed like the perfect fit right away, and Lennon was equally excited about getting the dog as Theo was. Trust me, if she was adamant about not getting the dog, it would not be in this house right now.
The dog walked over to the babies who excitedly grabbed at him, eager to play with the new animal in front of them. Lennon was laughing at their excitement but was careful to make sure they didn't pull too hard and hurt him. Theo was sitting there in shock, I can't blame him, he's had quite the amazing morning.
"I have a doggy!" Theo squealed, jumping up and down.
"Aren't you so happy?!" Lennon smiled at him, petting the dog.
"Yes! Thank you mommy! I so excited!"
"We'll have to give him a name!" I pointed out to him.
Theo thought about it for approximately two seconds. "Mr. Dog!"
"How did I know that was going to be the answer?" Lennon laughed. "What about another name Theo? Like something cute like Max or Buddy or-"
"Sparkles!" Theo gasped.
"You think?" Lennon asked him.
"Wait, no" Theo looked at the dog. "He looks like a brownie"
"Brownie is cute" Lennon agreed with him.
"Mr. Brownie dog!" Theo shrieked.
"Is that your final answer?" Lennon pet the dog once again.
"Yes!"
"What do you think H?" Lennon turned to look at me.
"Totally up to you guys but Mr. Brownie Dog sounds perfect" I glanced at Theo.
"Awesome" Lennon smiled as she watched all 3 kids try and grab the dog and be near it. "Well Theo did you have a good Christmas morning?"
"Yes!" Theo got up and hugged each of us separately. "Thank you mommy, and Hawwy, and Santa Claus"
"You're so welcome teddy" Lennon kissed his cheek. "Let's make some breakfast now"
Lennon went into the kitchen to start cooking, which meant I was on clean up the wrapping paper and open up toys duty. Lennon made us a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and some toast. Theo talked about how excited he was for all his new gifts while we ate, and the morning was off to a great start.
After cleaning up breakfast and bringing in all the necessities for Mr. Brownie Dog from my car to show Theo, I started gathering up my stuff to leave since Lennon and I only discussed Christmas morning and I didn't want to stick around too long if she didn't want me here.
"What are you doing?" She stopped me in my tracks.
"Getting ready to go"
"Why?" She made a confused face.
"Because..."
"Stay" She said. "Well, if you want to, you don't have to. But I would like it if you did, unless you have somewhere else to be, that's fine too"
I titled my head at her. "Who's the nervous rambler now?"
"I don't know what you're talking about"
"Aw Lenny. Do I make you nervous?"
She avoided eye contact with me and swayed back and forth on her heels, avoiding my question she said "So you'll stay?"
"Of course I will"
And I don't just mean for only this moment.
The rest of the day was exactly how I would have pictured it. The new toys were practically exploded in Lennon's living room, we did lots of crafts and playing with their new gifts, and eating great desserts. It was just the most carefree time I've had in a while as we went from one activity to the next, just enjoying each others company and the new dog. Still can't believe I pulled that one off.
With how much fun all of us were having, time just seemed to fly by. Before we knew it, the day was coming to an end, and I didn't want it to. I wanted to stay here in this day forever. This is probably my favorite day of my entire life.
We were snuggling on the couch right now, Theo was nestled into my side and resting his head on my chest as he stared at the bright TV. I was so overjoyed when Theo chose to sit next to me this time, and even more so when he was the one who leaned into me and started cuddling.
All the energy the kids exerted today, and the sugar Theo had, had finally caught up to them. All three of them were snoring away in one of Lennon or I's arms, while the movie was still quietly playing in the background.
Carefully transferring them to their beds to not wake them up, Lennon and I managed to successfully get all 3 of them down for the night. We met back up in the living room to see the tornado of toys that came through her house, and Mr. Brownie Dog just sleeping on his new bed in the middle of the floor.
"Damn" Lennon stared at her house.
"You go to sleep, I'll straighten up" I told her, but she shook her head.
"We can do it together"
Deciding not to go back and forth with her, we started cleaning up the evidence of how fun our day was. Mostly everything was being stacked in a corner to be actually put away at a later time, but still.
"How was today for you?" I asked her, referencing Hudson.
"You being here really helped" She paused and looked at me. "I don't think my day would have gone as good as it did if you weren't here, so thank you"
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself"
"Me too. Oh and I wanted to thank you for the gifts for the kids. I know that Theo was obvious, but it means a lot to me that you included Lia and Atti as well. You've taken the twins under your wings as well, and I really appreciate how you don't hesitate to include them, even though you have no obligation to. All I wanted you to do was show up for Theo, and you've been showing up for all 3 of them and that makes me really happy"
"Of course" I told her. Their dad stepped up for Theo when I wasn't around, and now I want to do the same for them. Plus, they're adorable so it's hard not to fall in love with them when you're around.
"And for my gifts as well!"
"You're welcome. Thank you as well"
"I have one last thing for you" Lennon said, like she just remembered.
She handed me a little blue box with a bow wrapped around it, so I don't know what's small enough to fit in the box, but I was about to find out. I untied the bow and lifted the lid off, dug through the tissue paper, to reveal a flash drive.
"So I was going to make a scrapbook, but I don't have the time or creativity to be that person, so on that flash drive is an abundance of pictures of the last few years of Theo's life. I figured you would like to have them" She smiled at me.
I looked at the little flashdrive in between my fingers and smiled widely. "Thank you. I can't wait to look at them all"
"Of course"
We continued cleaning up, and stopped when the house was decent enough for the time of night that it was. I was leaned against the wall in the walkway to the dining room, watching Lennon clean up one last thing she insisted had to be down right this minute.
She finished, and then came to stand next to me, and all I could do was chuckle.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
I didn't verbally answer her, just pointed up above us with the cheekiest smile on my face.
"Haha very funny"
"I believe you have to kiss me" I shrugged cockily to her.
"Do I?"
"Rules are rules Lenny"
"They can be broken" She giggled, messing with me, and starting to walk away so she wasn't underneath the mistletoe for any longer.
However, she was dragged right back underneath it when I grabbed her hand and tugged her back closer to me. "Just shut up and kiss me"
We leaned in at the same time, our lips connecting, starting to move in perfect synch. My hands cusped the sides of her face as we moved our lips together, and I felt her lean in closer to me and our chests were now touching.
I walked us forwards so her back was now against the wall as we started to make out with another. Her hands made their way up to my hair and she ran her hands through it. Mine moved down her body to hold at her sides.
To my surprise, the kiss continued to escalate and my lips moved downwards from her lips, to her jaw, and then rested at her neck. She tilted her head to the side, breathing heavier, her guard was slowly coming down.
"Fuck Lennon" I mumbled against her neck. "Missed you so much"
"Harry" She whispered, enjoying it.
It probably wasn't something we should be doing, but neither one of us wanted to be the first one to pull away.
My lips continued to kiss away at her neck, leaving a small mark which she'd probably scold me about in the morning, but neither of us cared right now. It's been so long since we had each other like this, years of missed time, and I didn't want to waste any more of it. I just wanted her.
"We should stop" She whispered, arching her back.
"I know" I mumbled, going back up and attaching my lips to hers once again.
"We can't" She bit her lip when I pulled off so she could speak. "Theo's in my room"
"We gotta get him out of there" I joked, and inevitably pulled away from her against my wishes.
"Oh my gosh" She giggled, pulling her hair back out of her face. "Was that stupid of us?"
"Just give me a minute" I shook my head, definitely worked up.
She glanced down at me and then back up at my eyes. "Damn"
"I should probably get going" I chuckled and exhaled a deep breath. It's been a longgg time since I've experienced something like that.
"Are you sure you can drive like that?" She laughed, poking fun. "Maybe you should use the guest shower"
"Haha" I monotoned laughed.
Then at the same time we both must've felt the feeling of being watched, because we both looked to the side.
I was panicked that it was Theo, and then Lennon would really chop my head off, but thankfully we were only met with Mr. Brownie Dog. Who was sitting there staring up at us.
"How long have you been sitting there?" I asked the dog.
"The dog doesn't talk" Lennon rested her head on my arm.
"Good, then he can't share our secret"
"True"
"I should honestly get going, it's been a long day" I told her, and grabbed my bag of stuff.
"You're right. I'll uh, text you tomorrow or something"
"Sounds good" I opened up the front door. "One for the road"
I started to lean in, and she moved in faster and softly kissed my lips. It was a nice kiss, and when pulling away from her, her cheeks were bright red and the biggest smile was painted across her face.
"Goodnight Harry"
THEO FINALLY GOT HIS DOGGY!!!!
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Xoxo
Sierraaaaa