Harry's POV
I can't believe it. Today is Hazel third birthday! She's growing up too fast, I don't like it. It seems like just yesterday she had just arrived at my doorstep and I was freaking out because I couldn't get her to stop crying. Now, she's turning three, in the process of potty training, and sleeping in a big bed!
While at some points I wished the endless train of nappies and three a.m wake up calls would stop, I am starting to miss it. I sometimes find myself waking up in the middle of the night, worried that I've slept through Hazel's cries, but she's sound asleep. And even if she does wake up in the middle of the night, she has the choice to get out of bed and go to my room.
I'm going to need to get myself another baby because I just can't let go yet!
Her birthday from last year and today aren't too different. It's just going to be a small family get-together. My mum, Melissa and I spent some of last night putting up decorations like streamers and balloons. Though, my neighbours have kids and they have made acquaintances with Hazel, so they'll be coming too; Niamh and Lily. It's going to be great.
"Wake up, princess!" I whisper, gently shaking the birthday girl awake. It only takes about a minute for her vibrant green eyes to open, and a smile instantly forms on her face.
"Daddy! T'day is m'birfday!" Hazel squeals, immediately getting out of bed and jumping around her room. I've never seen her have this much energy on a morning.
"Yeah, I know! Do you know how old you are today?" I ask, trying to copy the excited voice she has.
"Um, one. . .two. . .fwee! Daddy I'm fwee!" She squeals, holding up three fingers.
"It's 'three', sweetheart, not 'fwee'." I try to explain.
"I knows, Daddy! Dat's what I said." She explains to me with furrowed eyebrows.
"Oh, yes. Silly me." I chuckle.
"Happy Birthday!" I then cheer, wrapping her up into a hug and kissing her face and head repeatedly. She cuddles into me and giggles at the kissing feeling. "I can't believe you're three today. It seems like you were only the size of peanut the first time I laid eyes on you." I reminisce.
"Was I a cute baby?" I nod.
"The cutest little girl I had ever seen. And you still are!" I laugh, tickling her. She giggles as I get out the changing supplies, suspecting she's wet.
"Daddy! Daddy, m'dry!" She says excitedly. I go wide-eyed. That's so great! But at the same time, that means she's getting older and is becoming less dependent on me. Gosh, I really need another baby.
"Wow, really?! Honey, that's great. Shall we go potty then?" I ask, already leading her to the toilet.
She quickly goes potty and I change her into a fresh new pull-up. Right before we go downstairs where my mum is cooking pancakes, Hazel stops me to show me a picture she drew yesterday.
"Look, see? Dat's you, and me, and Mel!" She says with a smile, pointing to all the messily drawn stick figures.
"I love it, honey. It's beautiful. I certainly have a little artist here, don't I?" I chuckle, giving her jammie-clad stomach a little tickle. She giggles and squirms away as I look at the picture closely. Right above Melissa's drawing, there seems to be some sort of word. But I can't read it.
"Hazel, what does that say?" I ask, pointing to the said scribbles.
"It says 'Mummy'. 'Cause she's my real mummy." She confesses, looking shyly at her feet. I sigh, crouching down in front of her.
"Sweetheart, that's a very nice thing to say to Mel. Maybe you can show her later when she's here for your party. And then she can either take it home or we can hang it up ok the fridge." I start,
"But, honey, Grace-she carried you in her tummy and then gave birth to you-she loves you very much. But she and I were mean to each other, so now she's with another man and she loves him. Just like I'm with Melissa and we love each other. Do you understand, pumpkin?" I explain, trying to put it in the simplest way possible. She doesn't need to know all the details, and while I'm not sure if Grace and Dylan are together again, it seems like easiest way to put it.
Hazel seems to think about it, before accepting and going back to her bubbly self. She wants to go downstairs for breakfast, put I quickly stop her.
"Wait, Hazel. So you know that Grace loves you very much, okay?"
"Yes, Daddy. I know. Can we eat now?" She whines a little, and I chuckle before nodding.
When we arrive downstairs, Mum is flipping the last pancake once more before setting it on the plate with the other steaming pancakes. They look lavishing and cooked perfectly. I look over at the dining table and there are three plates set up with berries on them and a cup of milk in front. Hazel has plastic silverware whereas my mom and I have silver. In front of Hazel's plate is a small card that I'm guessing is from her. In the middles of the table is some butter and syrup.
Hazel is jumping around, squealing and pointing to all the decorations around the house.
"Hey, it's the birthday girl!" Mum cheers, wiping her hands before gathering Hazel in a hug and kissing her face just like I did.
"You're three today! Do you feel any different?" Hazel shakes her head though.
"Nope! M'still me, Nana!" She giggles, tossing her arms at her side.
"Well that's good. I don't want a different Hazel, do you, Harry?" She asks. I also shake my head.
"No thanks! This one is perfect!" I chuckle, and we both tackle her with hugs and tickles and kisses, which leads to Hazel emanating loud giggles in the kitchen.
After a hearty breakfast, with me reading the sweet birthday card from my mum to Hazel, I take my girl upstairs and change her into a cute purple dress with white flowers on it. I also put little tan sandals on her small feet, never really minding people walking around my house in shoes unless they're covered in mud.
While we wait for the guests to arrive, I manage to distract Hazel with 'Peppa Pig' because I know she'll lose her mind trying not to look at all the presents on the table that she can't open yet.
Around ten-ish, the guests start pouring in. First Melissa (of course), then Robin, then Niall and Liam and all my buddies, each one with a gift for Hazel and plenty of kisses and praises and hugs to give her. She is right spoiled today! But that's okay. She deserves to be.
The last guests to arrive are surprisingly my neighbours who live just down the street.
"Nicholas Grimshaw and Michael Maylon. Welcome! Come in, come in." I urge, opening the door wider and letting them in, turning around. "And hello to you two adorable girls," I coo, looking at the small girls; Niamh in Nick's arms and Lily in Michael's. Niamh is two while Lily is three; only a few months older than Hazel. They both wave at me shyly before burying their faces in their dads necks, always being a bit shy.
"Hazel!" Lily squeals, squirming to be let down and go play with her friend. Upon hearing her name being called, Hazel turns to Michael and Lily from where she is standing with Melissa, as the kind woman was helping her count all of her presents.
"Lily!" She returns. Once Lily is let down, the two run to a space in the living room where some of her toys are, and they start playing together.
"Niamh, don't you want to go play with the girls too?" Nick asks softly, bouncing the tiny girl on his hip.
"No," She says in practically a whisper.
"Alright darling. Whenever you feel like it though, just go ahead," Nick says, then turns his attention back to me. "Sorry we're so late. We all slept in a little because this one was keeping me and Michael up all night," He explains, gesturing to Niamh. That must be the reason why she's being all shy and quiet. Usually when she's around me, she's being her cute, bubbly little self.
"It's alright, mate. We've just all been hanging around and catching up. And even if you were really late, I can push Hazel's nap time a little and she won't get too grumpy." I see Nick and Michael let out a sigh of relief.
For the next half an hour or so, I talk with some people that I haven't been able to in a while, including Nick and Michael. Luckily, Niamh finally came out of her shell and went over and played with Lily and Hazel, leaving us three to talk about more adult things. Melissa then also joined us.
While Nick and Michael had gotten up for some food, I apologised to her for ignoring her most of the time. I hadn't really realised until that point that I hadn't been paying much attention to her, and I felt really bad. Melissa just shooed it off though, happy that I was socialising. In that time, she was hanging out with my mum and a few of her friends, so she had been having fun.
I decide to officially get the this party started when I see Hazel continually looking in the direction of the table with presents, and sending me pleading looks.
"Okay! Let's get this show on the road!" I announce, clapping my hands once.
"Yaaaay!" Hazel squeals, running over to her booster seat which has a birthday girl balloon hanging on the back of it. It takes a couple minutes for everyone to stop their conversations, but once they do, all attention is on Hazel.
Hazel waits excitedly, hands ready to tear apart the pretty paper covering the big box while she waits for me to get my video camera running.
"Daaaaddy huuuurrryyy." She whines, bouncing in her seat.
"Alright alright. . .and, go!" I announce, and she wastes no time in ripping apart the paper with her little hands, not needing help at all. When she's finished, she pulls out a box with a Disney princess Barbie doll inside; Belle to be specific. She gasps.
"It's, Belle, it's Belle!" She chants, holding up the box for everyone to see. I tell her who got it for her since she can't read.
"Thanks, Mel!" She says, running to Melissa to give her a hug.
"You're welcome, sweetheart. I hope you like it."
"I do, I do."
Hazel runs back to her seat and continues unwrapping presents, thanking the person and giving them a hug each time. All the while, I'm recording the whole thing. I have to wipe my eyes more than once though. My little baby is really growing up. And I'm so proud of the beautiful, kind, funny and thoughtful person she's becoming.
Melissa's POV
It's been so cute watching Hazel and Harry interact with each other all day. Even though I see them almost everyday, it still amazes me how good he is with her. I can only hope that someday I can be as good of a mum to my child as Harry is to Hazel.
It's really exciting that Hazel is turning three. I can tell that Harry's sad though. I've seen him tear up more than once today, most of them during the present opening. It's cute really, but he has to face the reality that Hazel won't be little forever. I can't even imagine how much of a mess he'll be on her first day of school.
After Hazel opens all her presents and we eat cake, everyone goes back to talking and what not, while Hazel plays with her new toys. Harry helped her open a few, and told her they would open the rest later. I've enjoyed talking with Anne and her friends, but now I'm getting bored. What better way to get in-bored than to play with a toddler!
I walk over to Hazel who's gently taking a Barbie hairbrush and running it through Belle's hair.
"Hi, Hazel." I greet, sitting down next to her with a smile.
"Hi, Mel. Oh, I maded you somefin'." She says, handing me a piece of paper. From afar it looks like a bunch of scribbles, but when I look closely, it looks to be three figures; who I'm guessing are Hazel, Harry and me. I smile at it, and I'm about to say thank you when I see what looks to be a word written over my head. At least, I think it it.
"Hey, Hazel. What does that say?" I ask. I feel bad for making her translate, but I really don't know what it says. And I want to know.
"Says, 'Mummy', 'cause you're my really mummy. But Daddy says that Gwace, my real, real mummy loves me." She explains, and I listen with wide eyes when I hear the word 'Mummy'. She couldn't mean that, could she? Oh, gosh. What will Harry think of this? Though, he did say that he talked to her about Grace so I'm guessing he knows. But still! I didn't think she would get so attached to me so quick. Is that a good thing? I don't know. I don't really know what to do about this. I'm happy, I really am, that Hazel thinks of me that way. But it is a little scary. What if Harry and I don't work out? What will happen between us? I couldn't break her heart like that. I need to find Harry. Yes, that's what I need to do.
"Aw, Hazel, I love it. Thank you so much. Can I keep it? Or do you want it on your fridge?" I ask. She says I can keep it, and I give her a quick peck on the cheek before getting up to find Haz. I don't think he'll be mad, but would he because I'm scared? Ugh, I just don't know.
"Harry, can we speak for a minute?" I ask in a weirdly shy voice. I feel bad for breaking up his conversation. He seems to be having a fun, a can of soda in his hand and he's laughing. He looks like he's about to say something along the lines of 'hold on', but when he sees the drawing in my hands, he excuses himself and we go upstairs to his room.
"Okay so before y-" He starts, but I cut him off.
"Harry, it's okay. Hazel told be about Grace and everything. I'm just—I don't even know," I start, before burying my face in my hands. This day was going so well, and now it's getting stressful. I'm so overwhelmed. I look through the openings in between my fingers and I see Harry biting his bottom lip.
"Hey, sunshine, come here." He says, gathering me into his arms. I bury my face in his shoulder, taking in his comforting after-shave scent. "Tell me how you're feeling, please," He asked softly. I sigh, retracting from him a bit so my words aren't muffled.
"I'm scared, Harry. I feel like after all she's been through with Grace, I have really big shoes to fill. I want to meet her expectations, but I don't know if I can. I'm trying my hardest to be the best role model and perfect girlfriend, but I'm scared I'm going to mess up. I don't want to disappoint her. And if we don't work out, God, Harry, she'll be heartbroken!" I confess, eyes welling up with tears. He looks at me with a concerned face. He reaches his hand up and wipes the tears gently from my eyes, then presses a kiss to my forehead.
"Darling, you don't need to be scared. You're doing a wonderful job. She must like you a lot to give you the 'Mummy' title. I was worried she was going to have a lot of trust issues because of Grace, but she seems to be doing okay. But darling, I can assure you she loves you. Now, you can't expect yourself to be the prefect parent or at anything really. We're both still learning, and we can help each other along. As for us not making it, you can't think about the worst scenario. It'll make it worse. Think about the positive things. I can't promise you we'll stay together forever, but I'm hoping we do," He soothes with a smile. I smile back at him. He's right. I can't be worrying about us or being perfect. I can try to, but I never will.
"Thanks, Haz. That really helps. You're just so good with her every day. You always seem to know what to do. I hope someday I can be like that." I smile.
"You will. It just takes time. And believe me, I get stuck on what choices to make for her every day. It's not easy, parenting; making choices for another being. But people do it. And we can too. Now, how about we go downstairs. I think Anne's taking a few family photos." He kisses me on the lips, his soft plump lips meeting mine. I smile and nod once we break apart.
"Let's go."
I watch as Harry takes photos with Anne, some group photos with me included, and some with just him and Hazel. Anne's just about finished as she snaps another picture of Hazel and Harry posing together. I smile at the cute pair. Suddenly, I feel an arm pull me to the side and before I know it, I'm standing next to Harry, behind Hazel. I have just enough time to smile before the camera snaps the photo.
When I look at the picture later, I can't help but think we all look like a small, yet happy family.
(Credits to owner :)
Author's Notes-
The photo's a little different than how I imagined, but I still like it. I picture Melissa having more of a Jennifer Garner look, if you know who that is. If you don't, you should look her up!
I hope you enjoyed this. Leave any thoughts in the comments. Another update should be out tomorrow!
Xoxo-
HSFanFicTion1994