The Circle

23

"How are you feeling, Georgia?" Anne asked, her hand tightening its grip on my shoulder. I glanced up at her from my seat on the love seat in her living room.

"I'm fine," I replied quietly, shushing the baby in my lap. Joey and Jamie were playing quietly in the corner while Harry and Gemma sat with an older woman at the dining room table in Anne's house.

After burying their father last week, Des' will had been read and he had left mostly everything to Harry and Gemma save for a small portion of his estate and his house to his girlfriend at the time. But Harry and Gemma didn't want much from their father, save for a few items from his house so they decided to give what was given to them, to his current girlfriend. They both agreed as they had more than enough money that their father's money should go to the woman who spent the last few years of his life with him and that it would mean more to her than it would to the two of them.

"Ready?" Harry asked, joining me on the love seat. He took Marley from me, shushing her and rocking her gently in his arms. She was on the brink of sleep before he took her from me but her eyes were beginning to droop from the rocking motions from her father.

"I am, if you are." I glanced at Anne who had a tight lipped look on her face.

"Harry, won't you stay for dinner? It'd be nice to visit with you and the children for the evening. And I'm sure you don't want to make the long drive back to London this late in the afternoon. Gemma is staying the evening. You can all stay. You know we have the room for it.." Anne trailed off, looking to me for support.

Harry hadn't spoke much since the receiving the news of his father. To say he had been mourning in a less traditional way was putting it lightly. He had been doing nothing but working since, writing songs for what he said would be a solo album and when he was at home, all he wanted to do was have sex. That wasn't unlike him but I was getting worried he wasn't facing this head on. I was worried he was doing everything he could to not face this loss and it was beginning to take a toss on him.

He glanced at me before glancing down at Marley who was finally sleeping peacefully in his arms. "No, we need to head back to London. I need to work tomorrow."

"But, Harry-" Anne began to protest. She stared at me, willing me to say something. I wasn't sure what to say though.

"You could take the day off, love, you've been working non-stop for the last few weeks," I added, knowing full well it would do nothing to sway him.

He shook his head once again. "I need to finish this album. It's just something I need to do. Help me get Jamie and Joey together, please?"

"Of course." I watched as he put Marley in her carrier and began packing up the bag that had all of my children's things in it. Anne and Gemma helped gather their things as well, saying their goodbyes to Joey, Jamie and myself while Harry headed out to the car, starting it up and putting Marley safely inside. His mother and sister came out to say their goodbyes before we headed back to London.

The drive was longer than normal as we hit traffic right on the outskirts of London. The children were cranky and restless when we got home, the older ones on the verge of fighting with one another while the youngest was most likely going to begin crying the minute we walked into the door. Harry didn't speak much on the drive back, just asking what I wanted for dinner and if we had any plans coming up in the next few days. I spent most of the car ride staring down at the ring on my finger. Our last conversation before Harry had gotten the news about his father had been him asking me to remarry him. I hadn't had the nerve to bring up such a subject in the time since but every time I glanced at my ring, I was reminded of the question he asked me not so long ago.

"Beef stir fry, you said?" He asked, once he pulled in the garage.

"Yes," my voice was huskier than normal and cracked from not talking during the three hour drive back.

"I'll get that started. I have the feeling Marley is going to wake up as soon as we get her inside." Before I could reply, Harry was already out of the car and carrying the baby and two of the bags inside. I hurried after him, ushering Joey and Jamie inside, my arms full of the rest of the bags.

"When is daddy going to be fun again?" Jamie asked, following me upstairs. I wanted to quickly unpack before the baby woke up.

How did I even answer that question? "Jamie, my sweet, daddy is just going through a hard time right now because he lost his daddy," I replied, thankful when I heard the baby fussing and Harry calling up to me.

Jamie frowned but nodded. "I hope he gets happy again, soon."

I opened my arms to hug my son. "He will, my darling, he will."

Harry called up to me again and I could hear the baby's cries getting louder and louder. "How about you help daddy with dinner? That might help make him happy?"

"Ok!" Jamie hurried down the stairs ahead of me and into the kitchen where Harry was bouncing Marley in one arm and struggling to take a package of beef out of the freezer.

"Here, hand me Marley. I'll feed her."

Harry handed me to baby wordlessly and went to work at preparing dinner. I sat in the kitchen, feeding the baby while watching him and Joey and Jamie chop vegetables, defrost the beef and cook the noodles in the wok pan Harry had insisted we buy one drunken night while watching infomercials on the telly. It all seemed normal, like this was an every day occurrence in our lives. And normally it was, but Harry wasn't himself. And I didn't know how long it would be until he was himself again.

After dinner and playing with the baby and feeding her once more, I put her into the bassinet in our room and headed into our bathroom to take a shower. I left Harry downstairs, still watching the movie we had started once Joey and Jamie had gone to bed.

I let the water run a while before I stepped in, the bathroom filling up with steam and soothing me the minute the water ran down my body. I was so enveloped in the feeling of the hot water, I didn't notice the curtain being pulled aside, nor someone slipping into the shower until I felt Harry's hands on my waist. I jumped at the touch, unprepared for it but let myself melt into chest once I turned to face him.

"You didn't tell me you were showering," his voice rumbled deep in his chest and I could feel the vibrations from the close embrace we were wrapped up in.

I pulled back from his chest. "You seemed very into that movie and I didn't want to disturb you."

He laughed, running his hands up and down my back before gently squeezing my bum. I could feel his erection pressed against my thigh and within seconds he was lifting me against the wall of the shower and inside of me.

We both passed out exhausted in our bed, another night of no notable conversations from Harry. And when I woke up in the morning, he was already gone, a note on the bedside table saying he needed to take a few days to himself.

If I wasn't worried before; I knew I had every reason to be worried now.

A/N: long time no speak! Hope you enjoyed and will be updating again in the next few.