Poppy/H.S

Chapter 35

When the birthday party was over and everyone had left, Harry and I helped Anne clean up while Poppy was laughing at the sound of the vacuum cleaner, since she considered it incredibly funny.

"That's hilarious!" She exclaims, her hands holding her tummy as she laughs out loud.

We also put down all the remaining birthday decorations, trying to make the inside of the house look as if there hadn't just been a birthday party. When the house looked almost spotless, we put all the leftovers in the fridge, not wanting neither the cake nor the cupcakes to go bad.

It was late in the evening when we were satisfied with the finished state of the house, and Anne couldn't even express how happy she was we took the time to help her clean up the mess. She obviously knew Harry wouldn't go home right after the guests had left, as for it was his birthday party, and since it wasn't held at his house, it was rather expected of him to stay for some extra time and help Anne with the cleaning.

However, I could tell how actually surprised she was when I didn't hurry to make it to the train station in time as soon as the party was over, because I didn't want to leave Harry to do all the work when he's helped me several times in the past.

Since it was rather late when we finished cleaning, Harry offered to give me a lift home, and I simply couldn't refuse the offer considering how scared I was of travelling alone at night. As a woman, I simply didn't want to risk the possibility of getting robbed, or worse, on the train in such a late hour in the evening when all the normal people had arrived home already, and the remaining travellers were only the freaky, sleazy men.

Even though there was a four hour long drive ahead of us, and I couldn't help but feel extremely happy to spend some more time with Harry and Poppy. Of course, I spent a lot of time with them at the party, but it was different. We were surrounded by many people, several of whom I saw for the very first time that day, their eyes focused on every little interaction of ours.

I'd been looking forward to the time when it would be just the three of us again, not being judged by anyone.

"Daddy, why can't we take Valentine home with us?" I overhear Poppy ask Harry another curious question of hers, making both me and Harry exchange knowing looks, chuckling.

"Flower, Valentine needs to get some work done at home," he explains it to her quickly, pulling up at my house, meaning Harry and Poppy have another hour on the roads awaiting them until they arrive in London. "She's a lawyer, remember?"

"But we've only been together for little time today," Poppy pouts.

"Flower," Harry sighs, scratching his stubble. "It's already very late at night."

"Hey, I've got an idea," I join their conversation when I see Harry's ran out of arguments.

Not wanting Poppy to be sad, I make a spontaneous suggestion, "How about the two of you pop in for a few minutes and I'll make a cup of tea for you Pops, and some coffee for your daddy, so that you have more energy before you hit the roads again?"

"Yes, please!" Poppy exclaims happily, making me realise the little girl has got more energy than her father.

"That's not necessary," Harry argues as he shakes his head, yawning.

"It's still your birthday for another half hour," I raise my eyebrows at him, "I wanna make a good cup of coffee for the birthday boy, come inside for a bit," I persuade him for Poppy's sake, not wanting to disappoint my new bestie.

"I guess I can never refuse coffee," he smirks, "Especially when you're willing to make it."

I giggle at his funny remark, only for him to say, "Wait here, love, I wanna open the door for you."