Songbird [H.S]

FIFTY-NINE

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." Harry sang softly to himself, propping Josie up on his hip as he offered her a piece of his jammy toast while he busied himself in the kitchen making tea for Marley. They had a busy day ahead of them and the girl had been exhausted so he'd let her sleep in to get her well-rested for all the festivities he had planned. It was Josie's first Christmas and Harry was determined to make sure everything was perfect for her, writing out a whole list of activities he wanted to tick off throughout the month of December.

As it was nearly two weeks before the big day, Harry had decided it was the right time to put up the decorations. Mark had bought the tree home the night before so the family could decorate it while Marley's parents were at work. All Harry needed to do was drag the tree in from the garden and set it up while Marley rummaged around in the boxes of decorations for the coloured baubles she wanted to put on it this year. He couldn't wait to see Josie's reaction to the sparkly tinsel and fairy lights. She was going to love it.

"Come on sunny, let's dance. Yeah?" He smirked, swaying his hips as he continued humming the song. The girl squealed, swinging her legs and clapping her hands together with a huge grin. Strawberry jam was smeared all around her mouth which then found it's way onto Harry's white shirt when she buried her face into his chest when she was overcome with giggles.

"Oh." The little girl babbled, looking up at Harry with wide eyes as she pointed at the red jam staining his shirt. Josie had started to show strong signs of picking up on what her parents were saying, especially the way they would react to certain things like being messy or dropping things. She had been making a lot of noises and forming the basic sounds to start saying her first proper word and Harry knew that with a little more encouragement, she'd get there soon.

"Yeah, uh-oh." The teenager chuckled, brushing his thumb across Josie's lips to tidy up some of the mess around her mouth. "Mumma's not going to be happy scrubbing the stains out, is she?"

"Mmm-"

"Yeah, Mama. Can you say Mama?" Harry was quick to encourage the baby on his hip, smiling softly as he watched her lips try to form the right sound. Unfortunately she didn't quite get there, giving up and grabbing a fistful of his hair to try putting in her mouth instead.

The little girl was more obsessed with Harry's curls than Marley which was something he didn't think was even possible. He'd probably cause a meltdown if he ever decided to chop them off.

"Let's go wake Mummy up, yeah? We have to start doing the tree if we don't want to be late for Father Christmas!"

With only Marley, Harry and Josie home, their morning routine ran much smoother as nobody was getting their way or jumping into the bathroom unexpectedly which meant that  it didn't take long for all three of them to be gathered in the lounge surrounded by a mess of Christmas decorations. The radio had been flicked on and tuned so that it played festive music as quiet background noise while they worked, Harry occasionally singing along as he concentrated on making sure the tree was secure in it's stand.

"Bambi, stop fussing it's fine." Marley chuckled from where she was laying in the sofa with Josie sat on her lap. Harry had taken so long to put the tree up that she'd already sorted through all the boxes of decorations so she'd resorted to watching amusement as he muttered to himself when something went wrong.

She had offered to help but he was determined he could do it himself.

"You sure? it feels like it's leaning more to the left." Harry fussed, his brows knitting together with concentration as he continued to stare at the tree as if it was suddenly going to move.

"Maybe that's because you're leaning your head."

The girl burst into giggles as she watched Harry straighten up with a pink blush dusting his cheeks, running his fingers through his long curls with slight embarrassment.