Wildflowers |h.s|

twenty five

Devon

Harry sits up in bed, reading a story Annika picked out with lots of emotion. He gives each character their own voice and engages with the girls. Oakley giggles along in my arms, subconsciously playing with my hands and Annika lightly plays with my hair, obviously getting sleepy.

Today was such an amazing day with the girls. We spent most of our time before Harry got home out in the garden, playing fairies. The girls wanted to pick some flowers for Harry too, so we got to do that together. Those girls are very well versed in how to put together a bouquet of flowers. He was very surprised to see that we got him flowers ready for when he got home.

After Harry got home we spent time together just the three of us, just enjoying a quiet night in. It's definitely getting chilly out for early December and it gets dark out pretty fast now. We had fun though. Harry made us a giant blanket fort in the living room where we ate dinner and told the girls stories until it was time to get ready for bed.

He closes the book as he finishes, looking at the girls. "Ready for bed, wildflowers?" He strokes Annika's cheek gently as she nods.

"I want Devon to put me to bed." She requests, even though Oakley doesn't like that very much since she wanted me to put her to bed. They start to kind of fight, and when I'm not sure how to handle it, Harry steps in.

"How about you both go with Dev to Anni's room and she'll get you to sleep together? Okay?" He offers, glancing over at me to make sure it works for me too.

I nod, "Yeah, come on, we can all lay with Annika until we're asleep." I smile, picking up Oakley. Harry picks up Annika, and we all walk into her room together. He places her on the bed, kissing her head as he gets her under the covers. I turn on the night light, smiling as the two of them say goodnight.

He walks over to Oakley and I, leaning down to kiss Oakley's head gently. "Night night, blossom. See you in the morning." He whispers, and she mumbles a quick goodnight to him. This shouldn't be too hard.

Harry leaves the room, keeping the door open just a crack since Annika's a little scared of the dark. I go over to the bed with Oakley, getting in since there's just enough room for Oak and I. Smiling over at Annika, I let her cuddle in as much as she wants while Oakley gets comfortable on my chest.

"Did you girls have fun today?" I whisper, gently combing my fingers through Annika's hair.

She nods, "I did. Thank you."

I smile softly to myself, "Of course, petal. I had so much fun with you both. You always make me smile so much." I tell her, leaning down gently to press my forehead against hers. She lifts her head up gently to rub her nose with mine and my heart just about bursts.

She's quiet for a few minutes, and I could tell Oakley is asleep on top of me already since her breathing has steadied and she feels like deadweight on me. Annika puts her little hand on my cheek, stroking it gently. "I miss my mommy." she whispers.

It takes everything in me not to just burst into tears when she says that. This poor, sweet, innocent baby. I hope I'm not upsetting her by being with her dad or being around her and Oakley so much. Pulling myself together, I just try to find the best words I can for her.

"It's okay to miss her, Anni. You just remember that your mommy loves you so much, and she's always with you." I whisper, brushing her hair back and stroking her cheek gently.

She nods, her little face just looking really sad. "Oakie doesn't remember mommy, she was a baby."

It really breaks my heart to hear this sweet baby talking about her mom and how much she misses her. What do I even say to that? I don't even know how she died and yet, I'm the one she's going to right now.