Songbird [H.S]

THIRTY-EIGHT

"Harry, careful! You'll wake her up!" Marley whispered harshly the moment Harry burst through the bedroom door. He'd had to kick the door with his foot as his hands were full carrying a tray of breakfast for Marley. A selection of fruit, pancakes and toast were arranged neatly on a plate along with a warm mug of tea and a glass of orange juice.

At the girl's instant nagging, Harry raised his brows - a little thrown off that the thing she cared more about was the slight amount of noise he'd made rather than the kind gesture he was making bringing her breakfast in bed.

"Mae, she's dead to the world. She's literally snoring." He stated, knowing that Marley couldn't help it. Since Josie had been born, the teenage girl had been very protective over her. She would watch her sleep, be reluctant to let anyone other than Harry or Jay hold her (even then she would keep a watchful eye) and she would constantly fuss over whether her daughter was warm enough, well fed or needed changing.

It had only been a few days and Marley was still in pain. She would get frustrated she couldn't get up and move about freely whenever Josie needed comforting and would sometimes end up snapping at Harry without even meaning to. The boy was very understanding and was doing his best to help Marley through everything. She was finding it hard to adjust, missing the feeling of Josie moving around inside her and often found herself crying over the tiniest things. Harry had found the girl crying in the bath the previous night after looking at the changes her body had gone through as a result of her pregnancy. She hadn't expected to feel so unlike herself after having a baby, thinking that it would be all love and excitement towards her daughter. Her Mum had tried to warn her that not everything would be sunshine and laughter but Marley had been naïve and shrugged her off.

Now she understood what Johannah had been talking about.

Obviously, she still felt all the happiness and joy from having a newborn but it really had been a much-needed wake-up call. Marley was still young and didn't have the experience in the adult world like her parents did and sometimes, in times like this, it really showed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you again." She apologised, giving Harry a light kiss on the lips as he set the tray down on her lap. The winter light had started to seep through the curtains, casting a blueish tinge throughout the bedroom. Harry was quick to climb back under the blankets to get rid of the chill starting to cause goosebumps along his arms, snuggling up to his girlfriend as they began to tuck into the breakfast in front of them.

The quiet around them was comforting, a relaxing peace wrapping them up like a warm blanket. Even in the short time since becoming parents, the teenagers had learnt very quickly to take advantage of the time Josie slept. Most of the time they found themselves cuddled up together, soft snores echoing about the room as they caught up on some much-needed rest. Other times Harry would tidy up the mess collecting about the bedroom and doing the laundry because Marley wasn't able to do much just yet. The teenage girl felt guilty that he was doing much more than her but Harry was adamant she needed to rest, especially seeing as she had only given birth a few days ago.

"Louis wants to visit," Marley stated as she took a sip from her tea, her expression was unreadable as Harry tried to assess how to approach the conversation. He knew she had no problem with Louis seeing Josie, it was just an issue when she realised his boyfriend often followed him everywhere. Now Josie was here, she was very careful about how Matty would affect their family which also meant she was giving Ben the cold shoulder.

"You feelin' up to visitors? I think Sunny would like to see her Uncle."

"Is it mean if I tell him I don't want Ben around her yet?" She asked, glancing at Harry to see his opinion. She'd been doing this a lot recently - leaning on Harry for advice. She was so used to doing things whenever she wanted and dealing with the trouble that followed and now she had to settle down and look after her daughter, it was reassuring to have someone help her until she got the hang of everything. Harry was in a similar boat, both of them were learning how to be parents and being able to lean on each other made everything a little easier. Plus, both their mother's were very generous with their advice, answering any questions no matter how stupid or obvious it might seem.