Harry looked out of the window as his driver drove through LA towards home. He was on his way back from the airport. It was now mid-September and just over three weeks since they had told his mum about the baby. He'd had to go back to London for some meetings, and Julie had insisted he go. He'd flown back with his mum about ten days ago. Amanda had stayed with Julie in his LA house up until a couple of days ago, and he was so anxious to get home. Julie had told him that she was feeling better, and to confirm he'd even called to talk to Amanda directly just to make sure, and it seemed she was having much better days. He was excited. Maybe now they could get on the same page when it came to the baby. He chuckled a bit as he watched the house come into view. Probably not, but maybe if she wasn't sick every second, she could allow herself a bit more excitement.
"Baby!" Harry called out as he dropped his bag in the foyer. "I'm home! Finally!" He took a few steps inside. "Julie?!" He looked around and didn't see or hear her. He grabbed his bag and went upstairs into their bedroom and heard the shower running in the master bathroom. He smirked as he dropped his bag and went towards the door. The shower turned off as he turned the door knob. When he stepped inside the bathroom, the shower door opened and Julie stepped out and screamed. "Surprise! I'm home!"
"You scared the shit out of me!" Julie swatted him as she grabbed a robe and wrapped it around her quickly. "My fucking heart." She looked at Harry who was frozen in place eyes clearly stuck where her bare stomach was just a second ago. She couldn't help but chuckle. "Uh, Harry?"
Harry raised his eyes slowly towards Julie's still unable to quite comprehend what he thought he just saw briefly. "Baby...."
"I know." Julie reached up and touched his cheek. When he leaned towards her, she kissed his lips. "I'll be right out, and I'll show you. Just, give me a minute, ok?" She knew he'd want to study every part of her slight baby bump, but she wasn't quite able to handle him doing it while she was standing there naked. They hadn't been able to be intimate since before they'd left the UK. She wasn't quite sure she was up to it yet and standing naked in front of Harry would prove difficult to resist for both of them. She pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, brushed through her hair quickly and then walked out to where Harry was sitting on the end of the bed.
Harry smiled as Julie walked out of the bathroom in her shorts and tank top. It was small, but the baby bump was definitely obvious in her tight tank top. If you didn't know it was a baby bump, you may over look it, but it was obvious to him. When she stepped up to him, he put both his hands on her stomach and cupped the bump. "Wow. I leave for ten days and look what happens. There was no sign of this when I left." He couldn't take his eyes from the perfect little bump. His hands feeling over every inch of her stomach.
"Yeah, literally went to bed one night and woke up with it. It was crazy." Julie couldn't help but smile at the look on Harry's face and his gentle touch as he made his way around her stomach. "You can't feel the baby. It just feels like I had a lot to eat recently."
"I'm gonna try anyway." After his hands made their way around her stomach about a half a dozen times, Harry wrapped his arms around Julie's waist and pulled her closer. He pulled her tank top up and placed his ear against her belly button for a moment and then kissed her stomach. "Hi, baby. Daddy's back. Sorry I had to leave you. I hated every second of it. I couldn't wait to get back to you and your mummy."
Julie looked down as Harry talked to her stomach and put her hands in his hair. "We missed you, too. But Aunt Panda was just about as annoying as you would have been."
Harry shook his head and looked up at Julie. "Well, you're feeling better, I can tell, sassy." He clasped his hands behind her back. "But I knew she would be the one to take the best care of you if it couldn't be me or my mum."
"It was nice spending time with her." Julie leaned down and kissed his lips. "I'm hungry. I still have a hard time when I wake up, but later on, I do well. And now, I'm hungry." She reached for his hands and pulled him up. "Feed me."
Harry chuckled. "Well, I've never been happier to hear those words come from your mouth." As Julie started walking from the room he stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist resting his hands on her stomach. "Sorry. You may have me attached to that bump for the next like five months."
"Oh, that won't get annoying at all." Julie giggled. She walked down the stairs slowly and awkwardly as Harry didn't let go. She had to admit, it was kinda cute to see him so excited over a bit of a stomach. To her, it just looked like she had gained about ten pounds and needed to work out.
"Don't care." Harry walked into the kitchen still attached to her from behind. He nuzzled her neck as she opened the refrigerator and then laughed as she turned and shoved the sliced turkey into his chest. "Oh, so am I helping?"
"Yup." Julie said grabbing the brick of cheese, a jar of pickles and the mayonnaise before shutting the fridge with her foot. She turned and grabbed a loaf of bread and then dropped all the contents on the counter by Harry.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Are we sure I've only been gone ten days? That's a lot of food for you."
"I told you. I'm hungry." Julie snatched the turkey from Harry's hands. "Oohh, I think I'm going to make this like a grilled cheese. Only with turkey." Julie turned and grabbed the butter from the fridge. She set it down and took out some bread. "Do you want some?"
"Yeah, sure. I haven't eaten since I left the UK." Harry opened up the package of turkey.
"Are you going to eat what I'm eating? Otherwise you have to go get the avocado and handle that." Julie reached over and opened the jar of sweet pickles and pulled one out taking a bite.
"I guess I can cheat this meal. I mean, you are using whole grain bread. I'm proud of you. A little butter and a little cheese won't hurt me." Harry watched Julie turn towards the stove and turn on a burner, putting a large frying pan on it.
"Maybe a little cheese on yours, but a whole lot of cheese on mine." Julie shrugged at him. "I'll blame cravings. Be lucky I'm not sending you out in the middle of the night yet for some off the wall craving. I'm looking forward to doing that."
Harry chuckled and watched Julie as she meticulously put together both of their sandwiches. Each just a little bit different. The little things they had picked up about each other. As she grilled their sandwiches he put the turkey and bread away, placed some pickles on each of their plates and put those away as well. He watched as she placed each sandwich on a plate and put mayo on hers and Dijon mustard and tomatoes on his. He laughed as she washed her hands immediately after she touched the tomatoes. "You know, maybe you should give tomatoes a try. My kid might like them, so maybe you'll have a new taste for them."
Julie rolled her eyes. "If I start craving tomatoes, you better run." She picked up her plate as Harry returned the rest of the items to the fridge and then walked with him to the table.
"No threats. If you crave them, it means you like them. You can't hate me for that." Harry sat down with his plate and handed Julie the bottle of water he had grabbed for her, setting his down in front of him.
"Oh, but I can. Remember, for at least another five months, it's all your fault. Everything." Julie smiled and then picked up another pickle to take a bite.
"So unfair." Harry laughed as he took a bite of his sandwich. "Oh, this is good though. If this is how your cravings are going to go, I'm all for it."
Julie took a bite and smiled over at Harry. "It is pretty damn good, huh?" She took a drink of her water and set the bottle back down. "How was your trip?" She asked before taking another bite of her sandwich.
"Good. Everything went great. Talking about the second album, told them I wanted to take my time." Harry set his sandwich down and looked at Julie. "It was REALLY hard not to tell them why I was asking for more time. Why I didn't want to release anything in, oh, like five months or so."
Julie took a deep breath and let it out. "I know. And I'll release your muzzle soon. I promise. Just give it a little more time."
"My muzzle." Harry laughed and shook his head. "You have such a wonderful way with words."
"You got to tell your sister while you were there. How'd she take it?" Julie asked as she continued to finish her lunch.
"As I expected. She's happy for us. Julie, you know she loves you more than me." He laughed as Julie rolled her eyes at him. "Ok, ok, just as much as me. Gemma can't wait to be an aunty. In fact I'm surprised she hasn't called you yet. Hell, I'm surprised she didn't beat me to LA."
"That's great." Julie finished her sandwich and picked up her last pickle. "Not everyone is going to be as happy as your mom and sister."
Harry sat back and took a drink of water as he finished the last of his lunch. "You will totally be surprised, baby. More people are going to be thrilled with this than you realize. You wanna know why?" Harry asked as he moved from his chair to his knees in front of her taking her hands. "Because I'm thrilled. I'm happy. And my family and my friends want to see me happy. That means being with you, and having our baby." He looked up into her face which was gazing down at him. "And this growing baby inside of you makes me happier than you will ever let yourself realize."
Julie looked down at Harry's face. She smiled, again. She couldn't help it. Since he'd come in and saw her little baby bump, he had seemed on cloud nine. Almost like he was floating on air. His mood was contagious, and he was so happy. She could feel it. "Alright, Harry." Julie took her hand and ran her fingers through the curls growing out by his ears. "We'll talk about how we will tell the others."
Harry stared at Julie stunned. Was that it? That's all it was going to take to tell everyone they were going to have a baby? "Really? Just like that?"
Julie chuckled softly. "Yep, just like that."
Harry wrinkled an eyebrow and then looked down at Julie's belly. "You're really mellowing your mummy quickly, little one. It's kinda freaking your daddy out. Ouch!" Harry laughed and rubbed the back of his head that Julie just slapped lightly. "Ok, never mind, there she is."
"You have to ruin every single moment." Julie sighed as Harry looked back up at her.
"No, I thought it was cute." Harry stood and kissed her. "Let me clean this up, and I'll meet you on the couch. You better not have plans tonight, because you and I have some cuddle time coming."
Julie grabbed their water bottles and walked towards the couch. She sat at the edge and waited for Harry to come back and settle against the arm. She curled up to his side and relaxed into him as his arms wrapped around her. "I missed you. The past couple of days were nice, with the quiet, but ten days was definitely too long."
Harry closed his eyes and rested his head on Julie's as he rested his hands back on her belly. "Damn, you are hitting me all in the feels today." Harry gently caressed her stomach. "You don't usually miss me so quickly."
"Yes, I do. I just don't normally admit it so freely. But now, I'm pregnant, and scared, and you're responsible for all of this. And it seems I need you more than I already did. And I already needed you more than I was comfortable with. So now, it's just annoying." Julie explained quickly.
"Well, it's not annoying to me." Harry kissed her head and then worked his way down to her neck peppering light kisses over that before ending at her shoulder. "I, in fact, quite enjoy you telling me that you miss me. I enjoy it a lot."
"Well, I'm glad you're back. And you're not allowed any business trips for awhile, so, just remember that." Julie put her hands over Harry's on her stomach. "We need you here." Julie admitted quietly with emotion threatening to take over her voice.
"Fuck. I'll never leave again if it's going to cause you this much emotion. You're killing me." Harry buried his face in the crook of Julie's neck.
"It's not like that. Just for now. Things are really changing. We can find out in a few weeks, if we want, if we are having a boy or a girl. Apparently, my stomach is going to grow daily, and everyone is going to find out. I could, as I used to, do everything on my own. But, I don't want to. Crazy as it sounds, you make me think that I can actually do this." Julie turned and looked at Harry. "I'll be right back." She gave him a kiss and then got up off the couch.
"Where are you going? We were having a moment!" Harry called to her retreating back.
"I'll be right back!" Julie called as she walked upstairs.
"Woman! What are you doing?" Harry called out as he waited sitting on the edge of the couch, impatiently. He'd just gotten back after a long trip, and as soon as they were relaxed and cuddling, she'd escaped again. A few moments later she was walking down the stairs with a small bag in her hands. "What you got there?"
"First, stop calling me 'woman'." Julie sat down beside Harry and opened the bag. "Second, after my appointment the other day, I had to go pick up some new medications, it was going to be a bit before they were ready, so I went and looked around the hospital gift shop and saw this." She pulled out a small gray elephant rattle from the bag. "And I couldn't resist. I just had to buy it. It seemed perfect."
Harry watched Julie gently play with the small elephant rattle in her hands, and swallowed holding back his overwhelming emotion as he observed how gentle her face looked. He'd never thought she would be the first one to buy something for the baby. It made him so happy that she'd begun to accept this change in their lives so quickly. He'd figured it would take a lot more time, and maybe she'd still have moments of doubt, but seeing her since he'd walked in the door just a couple of hours ago, gave him feelings of hope he hadn't quite felt yet. He took the rattle from her hands and leaned back on the couch pulling her back with him, wrapping her back in his arms playing with the rattle in front of her. "It's more than perfect. Our first baby item. It's so exciting."
"It's ok?" Julie asked a bit tentatively, her face a bit pensive.
"It's perfect." Harry looked at all the emotions playing across her face.
"No. I mean. It's ok that I'm ok with having the baby? That I'm happy about it?" Julie clarified.
Harry moved Julie so he could look at her directly. He could tell she was really struggling with this, and he wanted to reassure her. He cupped her cheek and looked deeply into those beautiful blue eyes. "Baby." He rubbed his thumb over her cheek. "It's more than ok. I want you to be happy about it, be excited about it. I know that doesn't make it any less scary. Because it's all new. But, god, yes it's ok to be happy about having our baby."
"I am happy. I think. But I feel like I shouldn't be. I didn't want this. I didn't plan this. I'm not sure I'll even be a good mother. It seems like I shouldn't be happy or excited." Julie shook her head. "But I am. Every time I hear the little heart beat, or see the little body move on the ultrasound my heart feels like it could explode out of my chest it feels so big, so full. Every time I think that I'm responsible for creating and growing another human being, it scares the crap out of me, but it also gives me a sense of purpose. It makes me feel like I finally have someone that needs me completely."
Harry couldn't help but smile listening to the words pouring from his beautiful, kind, caring, compassionate girlfriend. One who he knew was all of those things, but who never believed them herself. She was going to make the best mother. Because of those qualities, but also because she would never take any shit from anyone else. Their child would have the best of everything. "Screw what you believe you need to think because of others. So what if it wasn't planned. So what if we weren't exactly ready for it. So what if it changes things going forward. We adapt. It's what we do. If you're happy, then own it, baby. Be happy. You and I are the only ones that matter in this, and I have told you from pretty much the beginning, I'm good with this. In fact, I'm thrilled."
"It just seems like it would take me longer to get there." Julie admitted. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it would be a struggle for her to deal with something so out of her normal routine, as well as her expectations.
"Yes, I admit, I thought it would take longer for you to accept it. But I knew you'd get there. So, it just happened a bit sooner." He kissed her forehead and then leaned back against the couch again and wrapped her back in his arms placing the elephant rattle over her little baby bump. "So, little one, do you like your first toy?"
Julie smiled as Harry talked to the baby. Everything she knew told her she shouldn't be happy about this. But she was. She was having a baby. A baby with the man she was head over heels in love with. "So, we have to add another title to your resume? Harry Styles, he's a singer, songwriter, actor, model, philanthropist, and now baby whisperer?"
"You forgot playboy." Harry laughed as Julie elbowed his stomach. "Former playboy?"
"Fuck off, Styles." Julie shook her head settling back down against his chest.
"Well, I am hoping we can get back to the fucking soon." Harry grunted as he got another elbow to the ribs this time. "Ok, ok, sorry, I ruined the moment. Let's go away. Just a short trip. Before your next ultrasound. We can see how you handle traveling, and if you do well, then maybe we can go back to the UK after the appointment."
"We just had probably one of the sweetest moments in our entire relationship and you had to bring it right back around to fucking? Really?" Julie feigned mocked disgust.
"Yeah, well, that's just us. So, what do you say? Come on. Let's plan a trip." Harry begged.
"Where? Why?" Julie asked.
"Why? What does it matter? Just to go on a trip." He thought about the where. "I know, let's go to Tahoe. Niall's tour is ending in a few days. We can have them meet us there. One last time before the baby comes. You were vomiting nonstop on your birthday a few weeks ago. It can be a late birthday trip. We've only seen Tahoe when it's snowed. It will be late September, early October, I bet it would be beautiful in fall."
Julie thought about it as she settled back against his chest and relaxed. "I mean, Tahoe kinda has been a big part of our relationship. It has been a couple of times."
"It has." Harry reminisced. "We got through some shit in Tahoe. I think it will always be one of my favorite places. Favorite memories. Both times we've gone so far. You opened up to me quite a bit in that cabin."
"Well, to be fair, if it wasn't Tahoe, it probably would have been wherever we would have ended up. Especially the first time. The blizzard stranding us, now that was unexpected." Julie held Harry's hands which still held the elephant rattle in them.
"Ah, yes. Never thought I'd love snow that much. But I loved it then." Harry chuckled. "So, say yes. Let me set something up, and we will go in a couple of weeks, and come back just before your ultrasound appointment. Please? Please say yes."
"Oh, fine. If it will get you to stop begging, I'll say yes." Julie screeched as Harry quickly moved out from behind her and laid her on her back leaning over her and settling himself between her legs.
"Yes?" Harry asked giving her his big dimple smile. "I've only been home a couple of hours, and I've never been so happy." He leaned down and captured the lips of his love, moving his slowly and in sync with hers until her hand went into his hair. When her fingers tangled in his curls, a groan escaped from deep within him. "I've missed you so much." Harry said breathlessly as he reluctantly broke the kiss.
"Show me how much." Julie looked into his eyes. She saw the want and need in them but also the concern. "I'm ok. Really. Make love to me, Harry."
Harry leaned down and scooped Julie up from the couch. He grabbed the bag and placed the rattle into it and carried both it and Julie upstairs. He placed the bag on the dresser and then laid Julie gently on the bed pulling his shirt off over his head before climbing up over her body from the bottom of the bed. He raised her tank top and kissed her stomach. "Sorry baby, but it's mummy and daddy time now." He kissed Julie's stomach again, making his way back to her lips before making slow, sweet love to his girlfriend for the first time since learning she was carrying his baby.
Sorry it's still a bit slow between updates...
Still having a bit of writers block...
Guess my characters don't quite know what they want right now...
Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy!!!
As always any feedback welcome 😘❤️