Gold Rush » Harry Styles

031

"Joey, be careful. Don't run on the road." Harry said as he was shutting the door. I kept up with Joey, trying to stay far away from Harry.

"Daddy, look! The duckies are in the pond!" Joey exclaimed and ran over to the pond, without even telling Harry that he was going there. He jumped, ''I love duckies! Did you know that a boy ducky is called a drake and a girl ducky is called a hen? And a baby, a ducking, of course! — Oh, Drake! I like Drake! I like his songs!''

I said, ''That's a very interesting fact, Joey.''

''You ain't heard nothin' yet,'' Joey grinned, ''Did you know boy duckies are very quiet? Actually, very few ducks quack! The sound is—''

''Joey, I'd love to hear all of this facts. But, come back," Harry said in a hurry. I remained quiet as I watched Harry run to keep up with Joey. He said, ''Don't wander off, please. We should've brought bread.''

''Daddy,'' Joey said, ''Bread is not good for the duckies' health. It can give them diseases! We went over this at the dinner table, Daddy! I'm an animal lover and I can't harm our beautiful creatures!''

I looked at him in awe, knowing our future was in good hands. Harry said, ''I'm sorry, baby. I must've forgotten. It's a good thing you're super smart and reminded me. What would I do without you?''

Joey nodded and took some treats that were in a plastic zipper bag out of his pocket, ''Never fear, Joey's here! I kinda figured you'd forget the treats so I brought snacks the duckies would like and that's good for them! Some lettuce and corn!''

''Perfect,'' Harry smiled, ''You go and feed that to the duckies while Grace and I sit down, alright? Make sure to stay where we can see you.''

The thought of being left alone with Harry, even if it was only for a few seconds, made me nervous. Joey nodded, ''Thank you. I shall proceed to feed the duckies! I'm gonna go and see Timothy now! He's a ducky here. I named him that because he looks a bit like a Timothy, doesn't he? He's always in the corner too!''

Harry smiled, ''That's cute.''

Joey excitedly ran off. Harry and I sat down on the bench and sat in silence. Harry asked, ''So, how have you been?''

I nodded, ''Good. You?''

''How's school?'' Harry nodded slowly, ''I'm good, thanks. Is Austin still annoying you?''

I answered with, ''No.''

''Look, it's Grace!''

I heard a familiar voice. Both our heads turned to see the little girl, that was now my friend, with dark brown locks and hazel eyes staring at us with excitement. She had a huge grin plastered on her face as she held her bunny to her chest. She battered her eyelashes and fixed the bright pink clips in her hair. Livia smiled, ''Hey!''

''Hi, Liv,'' I smiled, and she tackled me in a warm hug. I looked up and saw that Dylan came into sight. I greeted him, ''Hi, there.''

''Hey,'' Dylan said, ''What are you doing here?''

''We live nearby,'' I pointed at Joey, who was carefully feeding the ducks and chatting with them, ''I'm here with my stepbrother, Joey. He's right over there feeding the ducks.''

''Oh! He looks my age!'' Livia asked her father, ''Can I go play with him, Daddy?''

He rubbed her back, ''Sure thing, Livy.''

''I didn't know you guys knew each other pretty well,'' Harry said, ''She's really cute, by the way.''

''Thanks,'' Dylan gave him a nod, ''And yeah, after Grace returned her bunny, Livia's been extremely grateful and thanked her multiple times over tea parties and dress up.''