The Au Pair

It was an odd thing, the way the whole house changed with Julia out of it. There was a freedom that could be felt. And Harry wasn’t entirely sure it was only him that could feel it. By the looks of it, both Jackson and Avery even seemed freer. Their smiles weren’t forced or absent. And he loved seeing them like that.

“I love you, Daddy,” Avery’s tiny voice said as he sat on the edge of her bed, tucking her in after Niko and Mary gave her a bath and dressed her in her pajamas.

“I love you so much, my beautiful girl,” he smiled, leaning down to give her a kiss on the forehead.

He felt her wrap her little arms tightly around his neck as she gave him a light kiss on the tip of his nose. His heart swelled for his little girl, the love of his life.

“Sweet dreams, baby girl,” he told her as she dropped her arms and snuggled back into the bed with her stuffed dog, Mr. Snuffles.

“’Night, Daddy,” she sighed as he stood up from her bed. When he turned around, he saw Niko standing in the doorway, smiling at him.

“Oh, hi… Niko,” he said, startled that she was there, but also feeling himself react to her presence in the way he usually did.

“Goodnight, Niko,” they heard Avery say.

“Goodnight, baby angel,” Niko said to Avery, walking over to her, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Harry walked toward the bedroom door and Niko followed him, shutting off the light, leaving the soft glow of Avery’s princess nightlight to light up the room.

“Hi,” Harry said to Niko quietly.

“Hi,” she smiled back, ready to reach out to him.

But both of their eyes registered Mary coming out of Jackson’s bedroom and they quickly turned away from one another.

“Is Jackson in bed?” Harry asked Mary quickly.

“Yes. He is waiting for you,” Mary said with a nod.

“Alright. Thank you,” he said, clearing his throat. Mary nodded again, moving down the hallway passed the two of them.

“Hey… uh…” Harry stammered out, causing Mary to stop in her tracks and turn to face him.

“I need to, uh… is it okay if the three of us talk? I want to talk to you both,” he told them with a master plan stewing in his brain.

“Uh, sure,” Niko said, looking at him oddly.

“Of course, Mr. Styles,” Mary said obediently.

“Just, uh… finish up whatever you’re doing and meet me down in the kitchen,” Harry told them.

“Of course,” Mary said, nodding her head.

“Thanks,” he said and she turned around, bustling off toward the bathroom, most likely to clean up from bath time.

“What do you need to talk to us about?” Niko whispered as she followed him down the hallway toward Jackson’s room.

“I’ll tell you in the kitchen,” he told her.

“Ohh-kay,” she said as he turned into Jackson’s room.

“Hey, buddy,” he said, smiling at his son.

“Hi, Daddy,” he smiled back, looking incredibly tired.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Harry told him as he leaned down, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

“Yeah. Soccer tomorrow,” Jackson said, smiling as his eyes drooped with sleep.

“Soccer tomorrow,” Harry chuckled, nodding his head.

“I love you, Jacky,” Harry told him as he walked toward his bedroom door.

“I love you too, Daddy,” he said, turning over to go to sleep.

Harry shut off his light and walked out of the room, half expecting Niko to be waiting there for him, but she wasn’t. He made his way down to the kitchen, finding both girls sitting at the breakfast table. Mary almost looked scared, like he was about to lecture them or something. But Niko was as confident and sexy as ever. And with Julia gone, he wanted nothing more than to take her to bed with him at the end of the night.

“I just wanted to run something by the two of you,” he started off.

“Okay,” Niko said, while Mary sat there staring back at him.

“I really want to take the kids to Disneyland,” he told them, hoping that the tension Mary seemed to be feeling would die off.

“Oh, that would be so much fun!” Niko said, immediately perking up. Mary let a smile work over her lips, making Harry feel less awkward with her around.

“Yeah. I want the kids to be able to get out while we’re here in California and with Julia always working, it’s been kind of hard. So I want to do this,” he told them both, avoiding eye contact with Niko as he talked about his wife.

“So what do you need from us?” Niko asked.

“Well, obviously I would like you both to come with us. But I would also need some of the logistics worked out. Like the ‘mom’ sort of stuff – like lists of stuff we’d need to bring for like an all-day Disneyland adventure. I’m no good at any of that stuff,” he told them, getting down to business.

“Mary, you’re really organized,” Niko said, smiling over at her.

“I am. I can help you with that, Mr. Styles. When were you planning on making this trip?” Mary nodded, her eyes darting from Niko to Harry.

“I was hoping sometime within the next week,” he told her.

“Yes. I can help,” she said, smiling pleasantly at him.

“And I would be happy to help as well, Mary,” Niko told her.

“Great! You girls are the best,” Harry said happily, feeling elated that he would get to actually do something extra special for his kids.

“I’ve never been to Disneyland,” they heard Mary’s timid voice, causing them to both look over at her.

It was an odd thing when Mary conversed about her life, because she rarely did. She acted so professional and put-together most of the time.

“I haven’t either,” Niko added.

“I used to live here, so I’ve been there quite a bit,” Harry chuckled, remembering his younger years.

“Oh, yeah. You and your boy band,” Niko giggled, causing him to smile widely at her as a blush crept up his cheeks.

“Hey, we were more than just a boy band,” he protested. Niko giggled at his response.

“You guys want some wine?” Harry asked on a whim.

“Sure,” Niko told him, perking up even more.

“Mary?” He asked. She hesitated, looking even more uncomfortable than usual.

“Jesus drank wine, Mary,” Harry told her, trying to hold back a laugh. She was shut up so tight. She needed to loosen up.

“One glass would be fine,” she answered quietly.

“Good girl,” he snickered, getting up to retrieve the bottle and the glasses.

The more wine Niko drank, the more talkative she got. It was actually kind of hilarious. And Harry loved being able to talk with her so freely. Not as freely as he would if they were in the pool house with one another, but free enough without Julia’s presence around the house. Mary was still pretty quiet, but he could see her cheeks getting red as she drank – a tell-tale sign of a drunken state.

Every time Mary’s glass would get close to getting empty, Niko would pour more in it. Harry figured Mary was going to stop her the first time she did it, but she just eyed Niko and kept drinking.

“So Mary, do you have a boyfriend?” Niko asked her. Harry already knew the answer. Being as religious and conservative as Mary was, there was no way she would let a boy into her life.

“Do you?” Mary countered her question quickly, without answering.

Harry’s eyes shot to Niko, so intrigued by the question. Would she say yes or no? He knew he wasn’t her boyfriend, but he wondered if she would acknowledge him as one just for fun – like a little inside joke between the two of them.

“No, I don’t. You?” Niko answered and countered back to Mary immediately, eyeing Harry out of the corner of her eye. He smirked at her, shaking his head slightly.

“I don’t,” Mary told her.

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?” Niko asked.

“That is quite personal,” Mary said, pursing her lips together.

“Well, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” Niko chuckled.

“No, I have never had a boyfriend,” she answered quietly.

“And you know what, Mary? That’s okay,” Harry told her, trying to make her feel less awkward.

“It is. Who needs ‘em anyway?” Niko giggled and Harry could tell she was getting a little drunk. Mary giggled at Niko and he knew she was feeling it too.

“How many boyfriends have you had, Niko?” Harry asked, feeling exceptionally curious about it.

“Oh jesu—uh, jeez,” she giggled, catching herself from taking Jesus’ name in vain for Mary’s sake.

“I don’t know. I had a few in high school. And a few in college,” she chuckled, shrugging her shoulders.

“Boys are just a distraction,” Mary added.

“Hey, I resent that,” Harry said, feigning offense.

“You are. You most definitely are,” Niko giggled, looking over at Harry, causing him to cock his eyebrow at her.

“I focus on my school work. I will look for a husband when I am through with school,” Mary continued talking.

“But what about fun, Mary? Boys are a lot of fun,” Niko said, sneaking a sly look in Harry’s direction.

“I will not have sex before marriage,” Mary stated matter-of-factly.

“Mary, there’s a lot more to boys than just sex, you know,” Niko told her. Mary shrugged nonchalantly as she took another sip of her wine.

“Or… um, do you… are you like… into girls?” Niko asked awkwardly.

Harry’s eyebrows heightened as his lips formed into an ‘O’ at her question, not really knowing how Mary was going to react to a question like that.

“No. Absolutely not,” she said as her cheeks blushed a deep shade of pink.

“There isn’t anything wrong with it. I just… I don’t want to offend you either way,” Niko told her. Mary nodded, not speaking anymore on the subject.

“Okay, changing the subject… So yeah, Disneyland will be fun,” Niko said awkwardly, sending Harry a wide-eyed look.

“Yes, yes,” Harry said, clearing his throat, feeling just as awkward.

Moments later, his phone rang and he saw his wife’s name flash across the screen.

“It’s Julia. Excuse me, please,” Harry told them as he got up from the table to take the call in the other room.

“Hello,” he answered once he reached the living room.

“Harry, hi,” he heard his wife’s voice.

“Julia it’s—half past one in the morning in New York. What are you still doing up?” He asked, looking at the clock that read 10:30.

“Working. I’ve been working non-stop since I got back,” she told him. His jaw clenched with her words.

“That’s why I called,” she continued.

“Of course it is,” he grumbled. She didn’t call to see how her family was doing, she only called because of work.

“Harry,” she sighed.

“What, Julia?” He growled.

“I… it’s going to take a little longer than planned,” she told him.

“A little longer than planned?” He shot back at her.

“I am working day and night here, Harry. I am trying my best,” she snapped.

“Well, your best isn’t good enough, Julia,” he snapped back at her.

“Harry—” She started to say, but he pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up on her.

Niko and Mary sat at the kitchen table for a few moments in an awkward silence after Harry left to take Julia’s phone call. Niko felt really bad for even suggesting that Mary was a lesbian. Although there is nothing wrong with it, in her opinion, there were some people – especially the really conservative people that would take great offense to it.

“Nikola, can I ask you something?” Mary asked quietly.

“Uh, sure,” she told her.

“What do you and Mr. Styles do when you go into the pool house during the mornings?” She asked.

Niko’s heart fell into her ass. She was frozen in apprehension – just about gasping for air. Oh god, oh god.

“Uh…” Niko stammered, at a loss for words.

“And I know he still goes with you to bring Jackson to soccer and you don’t come back for hours,” she added. Shit, shit, shit. They were about to be caught by the Virgin Mary. Niko needed to think fast.

“Uh… we’ve been… we’ve been planning Julia… uh, Mrs. Styles’ birthday party… you know it’s coming up at the end of the summer,” Niko said quickly, hoping it was enough to sate Mary’s curiosity. When she nodded her head, Niko felt relief flood her system.

“He didn’t want to throw one, but Julia insisted. So yeah, don’t say anything to Mr. Styles about it because he’s pretty bitter about it. He will just be put into a bad mood over it. It’s been a struggle working with him on it,” Niko said, coming up with a seemingly perfect lie. Mary nodded looking as though she bought the idea of it.

Niko’s heart rate was slowly starting to come back down when Mary took another swig of her wine, dropping the subject. Holy shit. That was a close one.

When Harry walked back into the kitchen, Niko looked a little shell-shocked and he wondered if it was because she heard his and Julia’s fight.

“I think I need to go to bed,” Mary said, finally finishing off her glass before Niko had a chance to refill it.

“Are you sure you don’t want another glass?” Niko smirked at her, trying anyway.

“I’ve had quite enough, thank you,” she said, smiling lightly as she got up from her chair, stumbling just a little.

Niko held back her giggles as best as she could until Mary exited the room.

“I can’t believe she drank as much as she did,” Harry chuckled.

“Me neither,” Niko smiled.

“You kept refilling her glass. That was brilliant,” he said, completely amused by it.

“Harry, we need to talk,” Niko said, her face growing serious. His eyes met with hers as his smile dropped from his face.

“Uh-oh. What does that mean?” He asked her.

“Come here,” she said, getting up from her chair.

Harry pulled himself out of his own chair and followed her out of the kitchen and onto the back patio, wondering what the hell she seemed so weirded out about.

“What is going on, Niko?” He asked her finally.

“You need to throw a birthday party for Julia,” she told him, only confusing him further.

“What? Why?” He asked.

“Because I told Mary you were,” she said, seeming hyped-up about something.

“Why would you tell her that?” He asked, still unbelievably confused.

“Because she asked me what you and I do when we go into the pool house in the mornings,” Niko explained finally.

“Nah-uh. She’s seen us?” He gasped.

“Yeah and I had to come up with something fast. Thank God she has lived a sheltered life and believes things people tell her,” Niko sighed.

“Oh my god,” Harry said, stepping back slightly to think about what she just told him. Mary saw them going into the pool house together.

“Maybe we should… slow down with each other,” Niko stammered. Harry’s eyes shot up to hers and she couldn’t do anything but avoid looking at him.

“Niko… no. I-I don’t want to,” he told her.

“Harry, we’re gonna get caught,” she said, finally looking into him eyes.

“We’ll have to be sneakier,” he told her. They could make it work.

“Harry…” She sighed.

“Niko, it’ll be fine,” he said, trying to reassure her.

“What if Julia saw us going into the pool house?” She countered.

“Julia’s not here and won’t be here for a while,” he told her, disregarding that train of thought altogether.

“Harry…” She said again.

“Niko,” he replied as he grabbed onto her arms and moved her away from the view of the French doors.

“I need this, do you understand?” He said, gently pinning her between him and the exterior of the house. He needed her to know what she meant to him, how crazed he’d be without her.

All it took for him was to see her head nod and his lips were on hers for a hungered, frenzied kiss. When he pulled away, they were both breathing heavily.

“It seems like you need it too,” he said, looking deeply into her eyes.

Her eyes stared back into his as he waited for any kind of response from her.

“Do you need this, Niko?” He asked finally.

“Yes,” she breathed quietly.

Harry’s heart flourished for her as he leaned in, kissing her lighter and more lovingly than before.

“Will you come upstairs with me tonight?” He asked her.

“In your room?” She choked out.

“We can use one of the other rooms if you want,” he offered, hoping she’d say yes.

“No. It’s fine,” she told him and a smile formed for her on his lips.

“Good,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose before he grabbed her hand and led her into the house with him.

Having Niko in the bedroom he shared with his wife – even though it was just a rental home – was strange, but it was also adventurous and sexy at the same time. And it wasn’t like Julia made love to him in that bed, not since last summer anyway.

Harry closed the door behind them carefully before he grabbed Niko in his arms, pinning her against the wall as he kissed her. His hands moved swiftly along all her curves, appreciating every inch they touched. When it wasn’t enough, his fingers slowly started to peel away her clothing as his mouth moved over every body part he exposed. Her soft moans were only adding to his desire and he wanted nothing more than to be inside of her, filling her with pleasure.

Niko’s fingers came down, pulling up the fabric of his shirt and he let her pull it off of him before their lips met back up and her arms wrapped around his neck. Harry grabbed onto her hips, lifting her up against him in his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist and he began walking them toward the bed. Once they got to the mattress, Harry stumbled slightly and they toppled onto the bed. Niko let out a loud giggle as they did, which made Harry laugh.

“There’s all sorts of gravity in here,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, we can blame the gravity,” she giggled as she began to kiss him again.

When they were finally naked with each other, when he wanted so badly to push inside of her, he remembered one tiny little, shitty detail.

“Fuck…” He breathed.

“What?” She asked, looking up at him.

“All the condoms are in your room and in the pool house,” he told her with a sigh.

“Uh… well. I am on birth control,” she told him. He stared down into her eyes for a few moments. Well, hell…

“I mean, are you sure?” He asked her.

“I think I would know if I was on birth control,” she giggled.

“No, I mean, are you sure you want to do it without a condom?” He laughed at her silliness.

“Oh. Ha. Yeah. I mean, you don’t have any diseases, right?” She asked. Which in hindsight, it might have been something she should have asked before they slept together the first time.

“No. You?” He asked her.

“None,” she told him.

“So, we’re good then?” He confirmed.

“We’re good,” she said with a nod.

Harry slowly pushed inside of her, feeling her warmth immediately.

“Oh my god, it feels so much better without a condom,” Harry moaned lightly.

“Does it?” She giggled.

“Oh god, yeah,” he moaned, feeling the pleasure shooting through him from just the single movement he was making.

“Then why are we using them?” She chuckled.

“Good question,” he asked, looking down into her eyes once he was fully inside of her.

Harry leaned down, giving her one last passionate kiss before he began the act itself. Once he got his rhythm going, he had her moaning louder than she probably should have been. Luckily enough, both of the kids’ bedrooms were far enough away that they wouldn’t hear anything due to the thick walls of the old house.

“Harry. Oh, god,” she whimpered.

“Feeling good?” He questioned as he kept up his rhythm.

“So good, so good. Don’t stop,” she moaned.

“You feel amazing,” he groaned.

“Oh my god, Harry,” she moaned in a high-pitched voice as her body contracted lightly from orgasm.

“You feel so good, Niko,” he groaned, keeping up his break-neck speed.

“Oh, Harry,” she whimpered, digging her fingertips into his bare back.

“Are you ready?” He asked as he felt the tingling of orgasm hitting him.

“Uh-huh,” she said breathlessly, moments before he lost himself in her.

Harry let out a large breath before he collapsed down on top of her beautiful, naked body.

“That was good,” she breathed out heavily.

“That was amazing,” he told her.

Harry resituated himself so he wasn’t crushing her completely, but he stayed in her arms, their naked bodies pressed perfectly together. The safety and security he felt with her was priceless and before he knew it, he fell asleep in her arms.

Notes