Once in a lifetime

Chapter 56 Secrets

"Daddy?" Zayn whispered, hugging himself. The three of them stopped at the same time, too shocked to say anything more. Zayn stared at the kid, the exact image of Harry. Same curls, just longer. Same eyes, just younger. Same dimples, just fuller cheeks. Her nose was slightly different, though, same as her lips.

"What is... What is happening here?" Harry muttered, speechless. Anne came from the living room, cursing herself for not been able to avoid the awkward moment.

"Oh shit, this wasn't supposed to happen like this. Maddie, go back to your mom, sweety. I need to talk to your dad for a minute, okay?" She asked, as gently as possible for all in the room.

"Yes, Mama Anne." She, Maddie, replied, with a dimply, sweet smile aimed to Harry. They all waited for her to leave the room, Anne and Harry started talking at the same time, and Zayn just remained quiet, still hugging himself. He was suddenly cold, very cold. When Harry tried to grab his hand, he moved.

"Baby... I...uh...I swear I have no idea what is going on here, Z. Please, do you believe me?"

"I couldn't explain this over the phone, luv. I'm sorry I couldn't give a heads up, but this is not the type of conversation you casually have over the phone, with your son who is in another continent."

"I... I need to sit. Hi, Anne, m' sorry m' being rude as fuck. I, uh, wasn't expecting..."

"Hi dear. It's okay, Zayn. I know, I was as shocked as you are now. Let's go to the garden, so I can explain." She said, smiling tenderly to the two boys in front of her. Harry reached out for Zayn's hand again, but he moved away, once more.

"Baby..." he sobbed.

"I... I can't Haz. I don't know... I need to know. I need to know, and I need to sit, I feel like I'll pass out."

"Let's go. It'll all make sense in a minute." Anne said, getting in the middle and shoving an arm on each of them. "Harry is not to blame, my dear. I'll just say that now, okay?" She said to Zayn, who nodded.

Harry sobbed again, just as confused. He hated to admit it, but he was also scared. As never before. They sat in the garden, where Anne had glasses of water ready for them. Zayn downed his almost in one gulp, and Harry just kept playing with it.

"Okay. I'll start at the beginning. Harry, you remember Marianne, the girl you were with when you were like, eighteen?" When Harry nodded, she continued. "She came to me two days before I called you. She said she had your baby and now she demanded talking to you. I, of course, went feral on her. She certainly wasn't expecting us to believe her after all these years she had your kid and never told us."

"She is a carbon copy of Harry, though." Zayn said, his voice as low as ever. Anne agreed.

"She is, but I didn't see her right away. So, I demanded Marianne for explanations. She found out she was pregnant until she was five months. By that time, you had already left for Cambridge, so she didn't reach out. Her parents supported her, and it was all good until two years ago. She found out she is very ill, luv, she doesn't have much time left."

"Wot?" Harry spoke for the first time since Anne started talking.

"Yeah. Maddie, Madison, started asking for her father. Maddie told me when we chatted that she was curious as per why she only had a mom, when her friends had a dad and a mom, or even two dads and no mom. She started asking even more when it was clear that Marianne wasn't well. I was told by Marianne that she had to tell her who her father was and why he wasn't with them. She was honest and told her the truth, that she never told you about her."

"So, Maddie is eight?" Harry asked again.

"Yeah, she turns nine next year. Marianne said Maddie didn't talk to her for a month. She started asking everyone to call her Madison Styles, even at school." That made the three of them smile. "When it turned unbearable for Marianne to keep her from meeting you, turned out you started the process to have a Styles Publishing branch here. So, to delay the reunion, she told Maddie she had to get all A+ at school and eat all her veggies. She is such a smart girl, it was a piece of cake for her to get straight As, not that she was doing bad before, but she struggled a little with her Spanish and Math courses."