Today was a slow day for us here at the Styles' residence. It happens maybe once a week when the kids are lazy and don't have the energy or need to be rambunctious and crazy.

I enjoyed days like these, it was a nice break for me. Running after two kids all day really does something to your back. The kids were drawing on their designated coloring books at the coffee table while I folded clothes on the couch.

Penelope has been a little more nit picky about what Danny can and can't use if she claims it as her own. So I had to assign them everything, different coloring books, different crayons, different toys, hell even different pillows.

"Okay, my darlings. Look at the camera!" I smiled, holding up my phone to take a picture of them. My screen flashed and Harry's name appeared across the screen, interrupting my photo shoot.

"Hello?" I answered the phone quickly.

"Hello.." Harry chuckled. "Eager to talk to me, are we?" He teased. I rolled my eyes him.

"Is there a reason you're calling me Harold?"

"Yeah.. So uhh their grandma's coming over later tonight.." Harry's voice was low. My body tensed, I was by no means ready to meet any family.

"Your moms coming?! She's here? In America?!" I whisper shouted into the phone.

"No.. Actually it's Danielle's mom." Oh dear God. Tonight I'm going to meet the mother of the beautiful woman that created these children. "Ana?" Harry's thick accent pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Oh! That's great!" I put on a fake excited voice. "I was actually planning on having dinner tonight with Tina, but I'll make sure the house is clean and ready." I whipped up some excuse, trying to escape the dreadful night.

"Anastasia, it's a Wednesday. I know you don't have plans with Tina." He spoke sternly into the phone. Shit. "I promise, it won't be that bad." He tried his best to ease my obvious nerves.

"I'm going to leave in an hour, when I get home we can go get groceries for dinner." I sighed but agreed with him, we said our goodbyes and hung up the phone.

"Alright, lovebugs. Time for a nap." I tickled the two kids in front of me, figuring they should nap now so they're okay when we all go to the store when Harry gets home.

~~~

The house was spotless, the toys were all put away, the pillows were fluffed, candles lit and made the whole house smell clean and put together. I sighed and fell onto the couch with a big huff.

"Long day?" I bolted upright.

"Jesus Christ, Harry! You have to stop doing that!" My hand clutched my chest, he laughed and hooked his jacket and bag onto the hook by the door before heading to the kitchen.

"Are the kids still sleeping?" He asked before chugging half of a water bottle. I yawned and nodded my head, honestly my body was tired. Running after two toddlers every day does get exhausting.

"Yeah, I'll go get them." I stood up from my seat but was instantly stilled by Harry.

"I've got it, love. Sit down." Harry pushed me down onto the couch. I laid back down on the couch and ran my hands over my face. My brain couldn't help but wander on the events that would take place tonight. I have no idea what's going on with Harry and I, nothing serious or official, but how would that play out tonight?

Surely Danielle's mom won't be too keen on the idea of something going on between Harry and his nanny. Which I totally understand, I wouldn't be too happy about it either.

"Alright, ready to go?" Harry walks into the room with Penelope's hand in his and a smiling Danny in his arms.

"Yes... Let's go." I put on a smile and we made our way to the grocery store. Harry could tell I was anxious for tonight and tried to fill the weird air with small talk and music.

"I do have to warn you.." Harry spoke as he pushed the cart down the aisle. "Monica can be... difficult at times." Harry scratched the back of his head.

"Difficult?" I raised my eyebrow at him, my stomach twisting even more.

"She's very sweet. But she's also very blunt and says what's on her mind... Her and mum don't get along very well.." He said embarrassed. I nodded my head, absorbing what he's saying.

"Should I be nervous?" I laughed awkwardly, trying to mask how nervous I already am.

"I think you'll be fine. You're my nanny, what would she have against that??" Harry chuckled and walked away towards the meat section. Of course. Just his nanny.

After finding all the ingredients for the dinner, we headed back home, stopping by an ice cream shop to give the kids a little treat for behaving so well.

~~~

"I'll go ahead and start on the food." I said as soon as we got all the grocery bags into the kitchen. Harry decided on shrimp Alfredo for tonight. I prepped the sides and dessert as he started on the main dish.

"Okay, she'll be here in 45 minutes so no rush." Harry said glancing at his phone. I sighed. I was nowhere near mentally prepared for tonight, but nonetheless we continued to prepare the food as best as we could.

Once the food was done I placed them out on the dining table, putting out all the plates, silverware and cups.

"Do you want wine out for tonight?" I called to Harry, he responded with a yes and I pulled out one of the wine bottles hidden away in the pantry.

"She's here!" Harry hollered out. I took a deep breathe and put my best smile on my face, flattening my shirt out and walking to the front door, the kids running to the door behind Harry.

"Monica!" Harry said cheerfully. "It's so good to see you." He wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"It's good to see you too, Harry." She smiled and diverted her attention to the kids. "And you too my little munchkins." She said playfully smothering them in kisses.

"Monica, this is Anastasia." Harry gestured towards me. "She's our nanny, she's been a great help with these two." Monica looked over at me, she kept a smile on her face but I just knew she was probably tearing me apart in her mind.

I held my hand out for her to shake which she did. I felt instantly timid and small under her eyes, the way she looked me up and put knots in my stomach- and now the good kind.

"It's great to meet you." I said curtly. She hummed and walked passed me into the living room. Harry gave me a small smile for reassurance and followed after her.

"Oh wow, this place is so clean! Last time I was here it was an absolute mess." She laughed.

"Yeah well, like I said. Anastasia's been great. She helps a lot around the house as well. I hardly have time to clean anymore." Harry chuckled. "And the last time you came was a week after Danielle died." Harry muttered softly, he spoke so softly I'm sure I wasn't meant to hear him.

"Right, well. Shall we eat?" Monica grinned at Harry, I put Danny in his high chair and Penelope took a seat in her usual spot.

"Fancy wine, I see." Monica gestured to the bottle of wine as she sat down in front of Harry, my usual seat. I took the empty seat next to Harry and Monica looked at me with a surprised look on her face.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, opening the bottle of wine and pouring some into a glass for the two of them.

"Yes. Of course, I just didn't know you allowed the help to eat with your family." Monica said nonchalantly. My eyes widened at her words, the help? What year is it? I didn't even know people still said things like that. I turned my face to look at Harry, his expressions matched my own, wide eyes and opened mouth.

"Of course Anastasia eats with us. She's not an servant." Harry spoke, his voice was a little more sharp but probably not noticeable to Monica. Monica did not look very pleased, she stared at me with more disgust, not even trying to hide it.

"I see." Was all she said, taking a sip of her wine. She didn't have to say anything to hurt me though, her eyes did all the talking. It was obvious that she wasn't a fan of me.

"Did you cook all this? Looks amazing, especially for you." Monica laughed as she glanced over the spread on the table. Harry nodded, serving some of the pasta Penelope. He put a small serving onto my plate, not for me though, it was for Danny. We always cut up the food into smaller bites for him to prevent choking.

"Oh Harry's give her a little more. I mean look at her, she'll definitely want to eat more than that." She laughed to herself. I stared at her as I cut the noodles into smaller pieces. She was so satisfied with herself, calling me fat in a joking way.

I didn't even glance at Harry, I figured he wouldn't say anything. This is his mother in law after all, I doubt he'd want to ruin the peace.

I pushed back from the table, not caring that the chair made a loud scraping noise as I stood up. I grabbed the plate of pasta and made my way around the table and silently put the pasta onto Danny's high chair.

I glanced up at Harry who was watching me closely, his eyes screaming that he was sorry. I shook my head, if he was sorry he would've said something.

"Actually, Mr.Styles." I began to speak, I could already feel my eyes burning. "I'm not very hungry, I'll just go finish up the laundry and I'll call it a night. Is that okay with you, sir?" I said quite harshly. I didn't mean to speak with a tone but I just wanted to get out of there. Harry looked taken aback with my words.

"You let her talk to you like that?" Monica chuckled in her seat, shaking her head. "Interesting choice in housekeeping, Harry." Monica continued to speak. Harry stayed silent and I took that as my cue to walk out of the room.

As soon as the door was closed and locked I ran to the bathroom, scrubbing the makeup off of my face and finally letting the tears fall down my face.

I know Harry said she was honest, but I didn't think she would be so cruel. Her words replayed in my brain over and over again, she talked to me as if I was a slave, a pet. What hurt more is Harry let her. I thought I meant more to Harry than that, I thought he would be quick to defend me.

Instead he said nothing.

I sighed and changed out of my clothes and into pajamas. I wasn't in the mood to do the laundry that sat in baskets against my wall. I just wanted to crawl in bed and cry from embarrassment. Never in my life have I been more humiliated than tonight, and I've been embarrassed a lot.

Harry never knocked on my bedroom door for the rest of the night. After Monica had left I thought I heard footsteps coming towards my room, it stopped but nobody ever knocked. It's not like it mattered, I wouldn't have opened the door regardless.

The next morning the air in the house felt weird, I tried my best to avoid Harry who conveniently decided to work from home today. I only muttered a good morning to him in passing before going on about my daily chores and tasks.

I decided, I wasn't going to let the problem continue to occupy my thoughts, I still felt like absolute trash, but I didn't want the kids to notice. After all, they did nothing wrong and probably had no idea that there was even tension last night. So I filled every second possible with the kids, making sure they were okay and happy.

Harry would try to start up conversations every now and then whenever he came out of his office, but I kept it short and simple. I was still upset that Harry let her speak to me that way, I guess I felt even more stupid to think he would jump to my defense immediately.

"Alright, love bugs. Let's go outside." I smiled, they loved being outside and I really didn't want to be inside the house in case Harry came out for something, odds are he wouldn't go outside just to talk to me.

It was a nice day outside, the sun felt nice on my skin. The kids ran around the backyards and I sat on the porch, not taking my eyes off of them. I trusted Penelope enough to look after Danny and to holler for me if anything happened at all.

"You can't keep avoiding me." I heard an all too familiar accent from beside me. I glanced up and saw Harry standing next to the seats, hands stuffed in his sweats awkwardly. Weird, even when he works from home he usually dresses for work.

"Yes I can." I said, giving him a fake smile before getting up and going to where the kids were playing in the grass, thankfully Harry didn't follow me. He stared at us from the porch for a bit before entering back into the house, slamming the door shut behind him. I sighed and shook my head at his actions, I'm the one that should be upset. Not him.

~~~