PIPER’S POV

When we get back to Harry’s flat-- well, our home-- he’s nearly done cooking dinner. Gemma, Anne, and I had gone shopping after lunch, and time sort of escaped us. Gemma and Anne immediately join Karen and Andy in the living room, from which I can hear cartoons playing. I make my way to the kitchen, dropping my bags in the archway so that I can hurry over to Harry.

I hug him from behind, my face buried in his shoulder while he chuckles. It’s one of the few times that we’ve spent a significant amount of time apart since Cory’s death, and I didn’t realize how accustomed to his presence I had become. It makes me nervous when I remind myself that he’s an international pop-star who goes on world tours.

“Hello darling, how was your day?” He turns around in my arms, resting his hands on either side of my face in order to give me a lingering kiss.

I press further into the kiss, gripping the sides of his sweater in my hands. I pull away briefly, opting for hugging him close for a moment.

“I definitely missed you, but I had a really good day,” I grin against his chest, breathing in his scent.

“Good,” he speaks against my hair, gently massaging my shoulders, “Mine was interesting, I guess.”

I continue to hold him close, “What happened?”

He shrugs, breathing slowly, “Just went to the park with Andy... and Karen. We talked about custody a bit.”

I swallow, trying to stave the jealous feeling I can’t seem to eradicate entirely, “That’s good. Did you come to any conclusions?”

I can feel him shaking his head before he says anything, “Not really. We need to sit down officially, with you as well, and decide on details. But, how would you feel about not living in London?”

I’m a bit taken aback by the suggestion, but it doesn’t bother me any, “I’ll go wherever you go. I’m already thousands of miles from home. We should go wherever is best for your family.”

He pulls back and grips my arms gently, smiling fondly, “Our family.”

“Yeah,” I smile, “Our family.”

He kisses me again, this time briefly, before turning back to the stove, “Supper will be ready in ten minutes. Would you mind helping with the salad?”

“Of course I wouldn’t mind,” I chuckle, “If my dad even helped with dinner now and then, she’d probably fall to her knees and kiss his feet.”

Harry smirks, turning to me and winking, “I can think of better things you can do on your knees.”

I feel my face heat up and my core throb. My body can’t seem to take the slightest sexual remark without pushing into overdrive anymore. My hormones have gone completely berserk.

“Then I’m pretty sure you’ll like what I got at Victoria’s Secret today,” I return, pulling vegetables out of the fridge.

He reaches over and smacks my ass playfully, “I know I will.”

________


HARRY’S POV

I don’t tell Piper about the man at Tesco’s. In fact, I hadn’t even told Karen about him yet. I’ll have to tell her, though, if I want to know who he is.

I would just assume that he was a stalker, one who had figured it all out. But, he told me that Karen would know who he was, and that only furthered the fear I’ve had for some time now.

“Daddy! I want more basgetti!” Andy squeals, sauce all over her face. I chuckle and lean over the table to retrieve her plastic “Finding Nemo” bowl.

“Alright,” I give in, pointing to the other bowl which is still full in front of her, “After you eat your salad.”

She nods excitedly and stabs a piece of lettuce with her miniature fork. I know she won’t want anymore spaghetti after she’s done that.

“So,” Mum says, glancing around at everyone, “I think that tomorrow will be a good time for us to check into a hotel. We’ve been in your hair for long enough.”

I peek over at Piper, noting her small pout, “No, we’d love for you to stay through the week.”

Piper grins and reaches for my hand, “We absolutely would.”

Andy claps her hands, a sliver of cucumber half-way out of her mouth, “Yay! Stay with Daddy and Pipey!”

Everyone laughs lightly, and Karen takes Andy’s fork from her, helping her eat.

“I actually have some things to do, and my brother is here in London,” Karen clears her throat, “So, I was wondering if I could leave Andrea here for a couple days.”

“Of course,” I smile uneasily. There’s something unusual going on, and I haven’t entirely put together the pieces. That man today, though, was not a coincidental stalker, “Now how’s about some dessert?”

_______

By the time the kitchen is clean it’s nearly nine o’clock. Piper and I offer to give Andy her bath, and we make our way up the stairs, Andy insistent on walking on her own.

We’re seated on the floor next to the bathtub, Piper’s head resting on my shoulder while Andy plays with her toys.

“How are you parents?” I ask, my hand resting on Piper’s knee.

“They’re okay,” she shrugs, “I’ve only spoken to them briefly, really just in texts. I’m sure they’d love to hear from us.”

“Let’s call them now,” I grin, pulling out my phone, “It’s midday there.”

Piper nods, sitting up and absently playing with Andy. I easily find her mum’s contact and press call, setting it to speaker phone.

While it rings, I tell Andrea softly, “We’re calling Piper’s mum and dad, yeah? Tell them how much you miss them, okay?”

Andy nods excitedly, sitting up on her knees and scooting closer to the edge of the tub.

“Hello?” Marie answers, her voice as pleasant as ever.

Before either Piper or I can speak, Andy’s shouting, “Hi! I miss you to the moon!”

We all chuckle and I quickly add a quick, “Hi Marie. We’re all here; just wanted to check in.”

Piper’s mum coos and it almost sounds as if she’s tearing up, “It’s so good to hear from you all. Andrea dear, I miss you to the moon and back. How are you all? Piper, you’re settled in?”

“Getting there, mama. How’s daddy?”

“Your father is,” she sighs, “Well, he’s healing. He’ll be okay, honey.”

I glance over at Piper and she gulps, holding back tears no doubt, “Can we- Would he talk to us?”

“He’s napping right now,” Marie replies, “But, I’ll tell him to call you tomorrow.”

Piper nods, but says nothing, so I do, “That’d be great. Piper would love to talk to him.”

“Now Andy,” Marie changes the subject, “What did you do today?”

“I went to the park!” She hums and repeats herself, “I went to the park with daddy and mummy, and I helped daddy cook basgetti, and I watched Winnie Pooh!”

“Wow!” Marie gasps dramatically while I pull Piper closer to me, noting her distance, “That sounds like such a lovely day! Next time you visit me, we’ll go meet Winnie the Pooh, okay?”

Andy splashes her hands in the water, some of it landing on Piper and I making us laugh.

“Yeah! I wanna meet Winnie Pooh, Ms. Marie!” Andy screams in excitement.

“Only if your a good girl this year, alright?” she promises, chuckling, “And you can just call me Marie, baby girl.”

I cover the phone and whisper to Andy, “What did I tell her you should call her? Do you remember?”

Andy gasps and nods, whispering to mimic me, “Okay, Grammy.”

“Louder, sweatheart,” Piper grins fondly, taking her phone out to record a video, “She can’t hear you.”

Andy takes a breath and screams this time, “Okay, Grammy!”

We all laugh lightly as Marie hums in adoration, “Oh such a sweet girl.”

“We thought that the baby could call you Grammy,” Piper smiles, unknowingly patting her stomach, “So, since you’ll be her little brother or little sister’s Grammy, you should be Andy’s Grammy too.”

“I love it, dear,” Marie mutters, obviously tearing up, “Andy’s my grand-baby too, aren’t you, sweetie?”

Andy splashes in the water again, reaching for her mermaid doll, “Yep! And you’re my Grammy!”

Piper’s eyes are damp and she’s still recording, moving the phone between me and Andrea.

“Well Grammy,” I grin, sticking my tongue out at Piper’s phone, “We’re going to finish Andy’s bath and get to bed!”

“Alright, thank you for calling me,” she sniffles, “I love you all.”

“Love you!” Piper and I say at the same time, Andy following behind us in an unintelligible mumble.

Piper leans forward as I hang up, turning the phone around so the camera faces us as she kisses my lips. Andy giggles and claps her hands and I smile against Piper’s lips.

“I love you,” I tell her honestly, “So much.”

“I love you too,” she grins, stopping the recording even though we’re still kissing.

“Andy want kisses too!” the toddler pouts from the tub. We both chuckle and lean over, peppering her face in noisy pecks.

She squeals and pushes our faces away, “I love you, but that’s too many.”

We all laugh, and I just sit back, appreciating the little family I have, despite the shit we’ve all been through.

“One big happy family,” I grin, ruffling Andy’s partially damp hair and Piper’s at the same time. They both react the same, pulling my hands off of their heads. Piper returns to her spot, laying on my shoulder and Andy continues to play.

Maybe we’re not that strange of a family after all, even though I’m in a famous boyband, Piper’s suffering from the depression of losing her brother, and we have to share Andrea with her enigmatic mother. At the end of the day, we’re really just like any other family.

We’re even more lucky than most, if you ask me, because we’re happy.


__________


PIPER’S POV

Later on, after Harry and I have made love and are lying side by side in bed, he mentions through ragged breaths, “I’ve got an interview with the lads on Friday. I’ll be gone a good part of the day. Are you okay keeping Andy with you? I’m sure Mum and Gems will still be here.”

“Of course,” I grin, my body feeling like it’s floating after an extremely intense orgasm. My body pregnant is so much more sensitive than I could have ever imagined.

“I’m not sure what you want to do long-term,” he adds, turning on his side to face me, “When I start touring again, do you want to see Andy regularly while I’m gone? I want you to have a say in any decisions that are made.”

“Yeah,” I face him, my fingers brushing through his hair, “I love Andy, Harry. And especially when the baby’s here, I want her around as much as possible. This baby is going to need a big sister.”

Harry grins, the smile reaching his eyes, “You’re the best. I want you to be a parent to Andy, too. You practically are already, but you’re such a perfect example of a strong woman. She should learn to be like you.”

I take his words to heart, proud of the person he sees me as, and a bit down about how I see myself, “I’m glad you think so.”

He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my nose, “Emotional update, please.”

I giggle lightly, “Update: I’m happy and I love you, and I love your daughter. I’m ready to make any steps we need to to keep this family together. Also, I’m still a little sad. Talking to my mom, and hearing how off my dad is... It just makes me miss Cory more. It’s like- It’s weird not having him here, or knowing that he’s back home. He doesn’t get to be called Uncle Cory-“

I stop there, my sinuses burning fiercely. Harry closes his eyes and rests his forehead against mine.

“Piper, I know you’re sad, but don’t ever think that makes you weak,” Harry whispers in the silent room, “You’re allowing yourself to be happy despite the sadness, and that’s where the strength is. You won’t ever forget him, and neither will I. He will be called Uncle Cory, and he’ll be remembered fondly, alright? I promise you that.”

He holds my gaze, his hands running along my spine softly, “Okay, baby?”

I nod slowly, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. Because, even after all I’ve been through, Harry constantly reminds me that there’s always some light in this world.

Times like this make me wish that Cory had a little more Harry in his life, if only to give him a bit of hope.

Notes

Hello! IDK if you guys have Wattpad, but the reason I updated so quickly was because I told my readers there that if I got a certain amount of votes, I'd update during the weekend, and they did! If you guys have Wattpad, you should follow me there! WATTPAD PROFILE

if you go on there and vote for this chapter to help get 30 votes, I'll update again on Wednesday (aka Louis' bday and Christmas Eve) xx love you guys! You're incredible. Enjoy SNL tonight if you're watching!!! :D