** March 8, 2029 **
The next day, I woke up to loud knocking on the door to the hotel. Grace ran into my room, jumping onto the bed. I groaned, feeling the impact of her elbow on my stomach.. "Mum, someone's at the door." She loudly whispered, and I sighed, checking the time on my phone. "Damn it." I muttered, pulling the covers off and walking out of my room and over to the front door.
I checked the peep hole first just to make sure, and then pulled the door open. "It's about time, I was about to leave. I thought maybe you went back to Harry's." Anne commented, walking past me into the room. "Sorry, I just woke up. I lost track of time, and had a late night." I replied, shutting the door and going into the kitchen area to make coffee. "Is Grace here? I thought Harry said she was with you." She questioned, and I motioned towards my bedroom.
Grace had been hiding behind the doorframe, but quickly ran out when she saw it was Anne..
After a few minutes, I was sitting down at the table, drinking my coffee while Anne asked Grace questions about school...
"How are you doing?" She asked, and I looked over at her, seeing she was indeed talking to me. "I'm alright. Pretty busy at work." I replied, running a hand through my hair, which I realized was probably still a mess from me sleeping on it..
"I meant.. With Harry." She said. I glanced over at Grace, and she met my gaze. She sighed, grabbing her coloring stuff and walking into my room, shutting the door.. I always felt guilty about sending her away during serious conversations, knowing we needed to be more open with her. But, we'll deal with that another day...
"Well, I spoke with him yesterday. He nearly caused a wreck outside of Grace's school. But, we talked for a while. And, I told him I would come back. But, he's started drinking a lot." I commented, and she nodded. "I figured as much.. You know, when you died—or, well.. You know... He did that. A lot. I had to watch Grace for months before he got his act together and stopped drinking." She explained, and I ran a hand through my hair.. "So, he'll stop? I mean, if I go back, he won't keep drinking? Because, I don't want Grace in that house with an alcoholic father. That's exactly what went wrong with me. Well, one of the things.." I trailed off, seeing her watching me.
"What?" I asked when she didn't say anything.. She shook her head. "Nothing.. It's just.. I never thought you cared about her. But, you do. Don't you?" She questioned, and I nodded.. "I don't want her to turn out like me. I want her to have a normal childhood. Or, at least a semi-normal childhood. With Harry being super well-known, it makes that difficult sometimes. But.. That's all I want for her. I don't want her to have to deal with the things I've had to." I explained. She nodded, thinking about it.
"When I first met you, I really did not like you, and I won't lie and say I did.. It took me a long time to get to a point where I understood what Harry was going on-and-on about all those days when he'd talk to me. Even after you disappeared for five years, he never stopped talking about you." She commented.
"But, I think since you've been back, that you've done a great job with Grace. I can really tell that you care about her.. I just ask one thing..." She hesitated, and I motioned for her to continue.. "Give Harry another chance. I know, it's hard to trust someone after they do what he did. But, he has a good heart, and I know he has to be hurting everyday thinking about what he's done.. You can take the time you need to trust him. But, please don't run off again just because of this. You two deserve another chance." She commented, and I nodded..
"I'm not going anywhere." I replied. She smiled, glancing over to the other side of the room. "Good. Good. That's really all I wanted to talk to you about." She said, and I nodded, standing up and going across the room. I opened my door, seeing Grace sitting on the bed, coloring. She looked up.
"Mum, can we talk?" She asked, and I glanced over my shoulder. Anne was gathering her things. "I'll talk to you later, good luck with everything." She commented, sending Grace a small wave before walking out of the hotel room and shutting the door back behind her..
I turned back to Grace, who was now sitting up. "Yeah, sure." I replied, not sure where this was going to go.
"Ok, so. You always tell me that it's good to be open, and that we need to talk about our feelings. But then you and dad, and Gran.. You always make me go to my room. I don't think that's fair." She said, and I nodded, taking it all in. Never would I have thought that I'd be having this conversation with a seven year old. Nonetheless, my own child..
"I know, babe. I was actually just thinking about that earlier. And, you're right. It isn't fair for me to send you away. But some things, they aren't stuff we want you to have to listen to. Like, with your dad. When him and I argue, I don't want you to have to listen to that." I started, and she seemed like she wanted to say something, so I stopped.
"But that's not fair to me. I don't like that you keep secrets from me, mum." She said, and I sighed, walking over and sitting next to her on the bed. She moved over, sitting between my legs, leaning her head against my chest. I held my arms around her, trying to think.. "I know, baby.. It's just all very complicated, and messy.. I don't want you to think we're keeping secrets from you. With a lot of this stuff, we can't have it getting out into the media. In other words, we can't have you telling your friends at school the stuff your dad and I fight about." I explained.
"So, if I pinky promise that I won't tell anyone your secrets, will you tell me?" She asked, and I sighed.. "Sure, baby. But it has to be a pinky promise." I replied, smiling down at her when she looked up at me..
She held out her pinky, and I linked mine around hers. "Promise."
