《help wanted - Harry Styles au》Chapter 23
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My phone blared loudly waking me from my slumber. I jolted up to shut it off, forgetting I was in Danny's room. I looked into the crib and luckily he was still asleep. I checked the time and it was 6:30 AM.
I got up quietly, not wanting him to wake up, I crept out of the room and made my way to my room, taking a shower and getting ready for the day. If I'm not mistaken, Mommsy was coming today to meet the kids.
The events of last night played through my head, the pang of hurt still present and very active in my heart. The anger was no longer there, just hurt and sadness. I sighed getting out of the shower and getting dressed.
I grudgingly made my way to the kitchen, but was surprised when the smell of bacon and pancakes hit my nose. I turned the corner and saw Harry hunched over the stove with an apron on. The kitchen was an absolute mess, flour and egg shells littered the kitchen island.
"Hi." I said quietly, leaning against the wall with my arms folded across my chest.
Harry's head instantly whipped to me, an unsure smile placed on his face. I sighed and walked past him towards the fridge, opening it and grabbing my cold brew, making me a glass of coffee.
"I uh.. I didn't think you'd be up so soon.. I wanted to surprise you." He said awkwardly. I nodded my head, taking a sip of my coffee.
"Thanks." I said simply, my eyes not meeting his. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to say.
I sighed, absolutely frustrated with myself. Anastasia sat at the kitchen table, drinking her coffee while she scrolled through her phone. I felt like a high schooler, clueless as to how to fix this mess I made. I finished cooking our breakfast, not saying anything too scared to say the wrong thing.
I plated the food for us and some for the kids as well. The baby monitor dinged notifying us that Danny was awake. Anastasia instantly got up but I put my hands up to stop her.
"No, I've got it, take a seat. I'll be right back." I said. She opened her mouth to say something but she stopped and sat back down. I went into Danny's room and sure enough he was standing holding onto the railing of the crib. A blanket and pillow laid on the floor and I scrunched my nose at the thought of Anastasia sleeping on the uncomfortable carpet.
"Good morning, baby." I cooed at Danny getting him changed and ready for the day before going to Penelope's room to get her ready as well. Once they both brushed their teeth we made our way to the kitchen.
Ana was pouring herself another cup of coffee before taking a seat back at the table. I noticed she placed a mug of coffee in front of my plate, causing me to smile.
"Daddy cooked breakfast for us, so if it tastes bad... it's not my fault." Ana smiled at Penelope who giggled in her seat.
"Looks yummy." Pen said excitedly. We ate the food silently, besides Penelope's constant chatter and Danny's excessive screams, it was much quieter than usual. I have myself to blame for that.
I would glance at Anastasia any chance I could, but she never looked back. Always just playing with her food with her fork or smiling and answering Penelope.
I know I hurt Anastasia last night, and I hate myself for it. The truth is, I'm not sure why I didn't tell Julia we were dating. I definitely wasn't ashamed of Anastasia, she was amazing and I'm so incredibly lucky to have her.. But I know the fact that I didn't tell Ana the entire truth of mine and Julia's past, I knew that hurt her a lot. God I'm such an idiot.
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"Daddy?" I was snapped out of my thoughts, to Penelope saying my name.
"Sorry, love. What is it?" I asked her, Anastasia glanced at me before looking away quickly.
"Can me and Danny go play in the living room now?" She asked. I nodded my head and unbuckled Danny, letting them run to the living room.
Anastasia instantly started to pick up the dirty plates and placing them in the sink.
"Anastasia.. Can we please talk?" I begged her. I couldn't stand the thought of us not being okay, and it hurt even more knowing that it was entirely my fault. "You have every right to be upset. I'm so sorry I fucked up." I sighed, walked behind her and wrapping my around around her.
"Please. I want to fix this. I'm so sorry." I whispered into her ear. She stood still for a moment, hands clutching the edge of the kitchen sink. After a few seconds I felt her relax and she placed one of her hands on my arm.
"Okay. Let's talk." She said quietly. A sigh of relief left my mouth and I nodded. We sat at the kitchen table, I sat directly next to her and held her hand in mine.
"I was out of line. I messed up big time, I know it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the complete truth about Julia." I sighed, having no idea what to say. "I guess I was just scared, me and Julia dated for less than a month. And that was fresh after Dani died.. To be honest I only dated her to try to fill the void and because everyone kept pushing me to move on." I furrowed my eyebrows, seeing how stupid and foolish I was.
"Did I ever have actual feelings for her? Not at all. I didn't think it was something worth mentioning because of how little that relationship meant to me." I said. "But I know, it's no excuse.. I should've told you straight up the truth, no lies. She was the one that introduced Dani and I though, that wasn't a lie." I added.
"As for me not telling her about us dating." I sighed and let my head fall down. "I wish I had an explanation. But I don't.. I wasn't trying to hide you away, I'm most definitely not ashamed of you either.." I sounded like an absolute idiot.
"It felt like it." She said quietly, her eyes still wouldn't lock with me. She avoided eye contact when she was nervous or unsure. "Why else would you hide it from her? You know what it looked like to me?" She asked. "It looked like a young attractive woman was throwing herself at you, and you seemed to enjoy it." She said, her eyes met mine and my heart broke at the sight of it.
"That's not true." I said sternly.
"Just admit it, ex or not. She threw herself at you. She made so many out of pocket comments towards you, right in front of me. You never said anything to stop it." She said bitterly.
"Anastasia, I didn't make rude comments because I didn't want to make anything awkward. You're right, I should've told her straight up no. From the very first day we met with her I should've set it straight, and I'm sorry I didn't do that." I pleaded with her. "I'm an idiot, I know that I messed up. Please. Please let me make it up to you." I was desperate, I didn't want this argument to ruin us.
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"It just hurt.. It hurt a lot Harry." She sighed. "How am I supposed to trust you when you kept this a secret from me?" She sounded tired.
"You're right, I've swayed your trust. Let me gain it back. I promise I will make it up to you, it will never happen again." I said. She looked at me for a second, contemplating in her head.
"It better not." She said, a small smile broke on her face. I instantly wrapped my arms around her, bringing her body to mine tightly.
"Thank you, Anastasia." I whispered into her ear.
"You're going to make it up to me." She whispered back. I pulled back and grinned, sticking my pinky out for her.
"If it's that last thing I do."
~~~
Mommsy texted saying she was almost here, the kids were in the backyard with Harry and I was definitely a tad bit nervous for them to meet. I know she's going to fall in love with the kids immediately, but Harry and I decided we should tell her about our relationship as well.
"She's almost here!" I called out to the backyard, Harry gave me a thumbs up, gathering the kids and coming back inside the house.
"Geez, it's hot out there." Harry panted, chugging a bottle of water. The kids instantly ran around the house, shouting nonsense.
The doorbell rang and I looked at Harry.
"Here goes nothing." I sighed opening the door.
"Anastasia! I've missed you so much!" She instantly wrapped her arms around me tightly.
"Hi Mommsy.. I missed you too." I smiled at her, I stepped back and let her come into the house.
"This is Harry." I gestured to Harry who smiled and held out his hand for Mommsy, which she took gladly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Harry, I'm Laura." Mommsy smiled at her.
"Come in come in, the kids are excited to meet you." Harry smiled at her.
"Wow, what a lovely voice." Mommsy grinned at Harry. "British?" She asked, Harry nodded, a blush on his cheek. Mommsy nudged my side as we followed Harry into the living room, causing me to roll my eyes playfully.
"Penelope! Danny! Come here." I called to them, pulling them away from their toys. "This is Miss Laura." Penelope greeted her politely and I picked up Danny so they could be eye level.
"Well aren't you just the cutest kids." Mommsy smiled taking Danny from my arms. We all sat in the living room while the kids played on the floor.
"Laura, would you like anything to drink? Water? Tea?" Harry offered her.
"Water is fine, dear. Thank you." Mommsy nodded her head. Harry walked off to the kitchen and Mommsy didn't waste a second to pounce on the topic of Harry and I.
"Spill." She said, with a raised eyebrow.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I shrugged to her playfully, Harry returned rather quickly with a glass of water for both Mommsy and I.
"Actually, Laura.. There is something we wanted to discuss with you." Harry said, taking a seat next to me.
"I'm all ears." She nodded.
"Well.. You see, I am quite attracted to your granddaughter." Harry said simply, causing me to blush furiously. "She means a lot to me, we've been dating for a little over a month now, but it really would mean a lot to me to have your blessing." Harry explained to her.
"Hmm, well I will say, Anastasia does talk a lot about you. It appears she's quite infatuated by you as well." Mommsy smiled.
"Mommsy!" I groaned, embarrassed. Harry chuckled next to me.
"Your hairs down." Realization fell on Mommsy, slightly in shock. I forgot that I even had it down, I was so used to it around Harry. She studied me carefully, her eyes starting to water before she turned to face Harry again.
"I haven't seen her with her hair down since she was 8." She gasped out. "If you could manage to help her do that, then I trust you with her completely." She smiled, I couldn't help but tear up as well as she spoke. My grandma is the only constant in my life, the only person who has supported me and loved me my entire life.
I lunged myself at her and hugged her tightly.
"I love you mommsy." I said softly.
"And I love you, sunflower." She said, my heart swelled at the childhood nickname. "You are so strong and beautiful. Happiness looks good on you." I grinned at her comment. After a while of chatting and catching up it was about time for the kids nap time.
Harry took care of it, wanting me to spend time with my grandma who I haven't seen in what felt like months.
"Would you like me to show you to your room?" Harry said from the entryway of the living room.
"Of course!" She grinned. Harry nodded and picked up her small bag.
"You'll be staying in Anastasia's room whenever you come to visit." Harry said, causing me to furrow my eyebrows a little. "She'll be sleeping in my room for the time being." He said. I whipped my head to give him a wtf face, to which he just stuck his tongue out at me with a giggle.
We let Mommsy get settled in and I followed Harry into his room.
"I don't think I agreed on this." I folded my arms and glared at him.
"Oh come on!! My bed is much more comfortable than yours!!" Harry said jumping onto the bed. "And... this is a new mattress." Harry said. My eyes instantly widened at his words.
"A new mattress?" I asked. He nodded his head and raised him arms out for me to come to him.
"I knew you weren't comfortable with sleeping with me on the old mattress.. So I got a new one, I want you to sleep with me Anastasia, not just when your grandma is here. Always." He smiled at me. My face was burning and I was sure that I was red as a tomato.
"You did that for me?" I was still in disbelief.
"Baby, I'd do anything for you." He said. I placed my lips onto his, kissing him softly. His hands moved down to the small of my back, a comforting gesture.
"So.. Sleep with me?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow.
"Always."
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