Golden Luckenbooth

Thirty-Four

"We've been here before." I speak into his chest. "Our last morning together."

"Yes, but that wasn't actually our last morning together – and this isn't either," Harry calmly rebuts.

"True, but last time – well, last time we were in this position, you disappeared and left me a note. And then didn't return my calls so that I had to track you down in London."

"Babe." He jostles me until he's sitting up in bed, looking down at me. "That's water under the bridge. Over and done with. We're in a different place now."

"Only because I'm a giant whale!" I wail.

He laughs, and I snap my jaws shut, glaring at him.

"Anna, you are not a whale – even though you are wail-ing." He crosses his legs and rests his hands on my belly. "I am with you. We are together. I'm not going to disappear and leave you a note this time."

My heart wants to believe him, but my experience keeps rearing its ugly head. "You're going to the big cities: London, New York, Los Angeles. What if you find someone better there?"

"Better in what sense?"

He's genuinely curious, it seems, so I answer. "Well, someone thinner for starters. Someone prettier. Someone who knows how to cook. Someone who doesn't have to clean up each night by washing literal shit off themselves. Someone who isn't stubborn or desperately independent. Someone who –"

"Whoa!" He holds up his hands to stop the tide of words flowing from my mouth. "All of those things you just mentioned are the reasons why I love you. You. Not some random woman you think I'm going to meet on the street. I will be thinking about you the whole time I'm gone."

"I hope not."

Clearly exasperated, he blows air out through his mouth. "Anna, why wouldn't I be thinking about you?"

"Because you need to be thinking about your music. What the interviewer is asking."

This sweet man rudely rolls his eyes. "I'll be thinking about you in between those times, okay?"

"I'll allow it," I say primly, and he rewards me with a kiss on the lips as he leans over me before resting his head on my belly.

With one hand he rubs at my baby bump. "I'll miss you, little one. Watch after your mum. Make sure she eats. Kick her when she doesn't. And make sure she gets her sleep too. Deal?" He listens for a minute, then nods. "Glad we're in agreement. Oh!" He jumps from the bed, his gloriously naked body flying to the dresser where he grabs his headphones and iPhone.

Returning to the bed, he puts the headphones on his ears, adjusting the sound as he fumbles with the buttons on the phone. Once he appears satisfied, he removes the headphones and places them around my belly.

"That tickles, Harry!" I giggle, but then I still as it occurs to me what he's doing. "Is that your new single?"

"Mhm," he mumbles.

"And the baby gets to hear it before I do? That seems unfair."

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" He blinks at me, biting his lip.

"I think I have a right to hear it before you play it to the masses, don't I?"

With a chuckle, Harry removes the headphones. "They didn't really fit anyway," he grins. Turning up the sound on his phone, he presses start and puts the phone back on my belly.

I close my eyes so that I can really listen to the song and not be distracted by my handsome boyfriend. The beat is uptempo, and I can hear his voice in the background vocals. As it comes to a close, I open my eyes and catch Harry's gaze.