Til Kingdom Come [Harry Styles- Bk 4]

ch.42 Stared at her

I walked around the house, passing the kitchen and laundry room and everything in the damn house, just trying to make sure Niall wasn't stuck in  some closet, eating every snack on the shelves. But he wasn't there.

My chest tightened. What if Niall had just taken off and left? He had grown so secretive in the past ten years and it worried me more than it worried Harry or anyone else. I knew Niall better than Danny or Harry or Tony or Zayn could ever dream of. I felt personally obliged to make sure he was ok.

I bumped into someone behind me. I turned immeditaely, eager to hug Niall. But it wasn't Niall. It was Louis and Summer and a precious little baby.

"Sorry about that," Louis apologized, rubbing my shoulder in case he had pushed into me too hard.

I hugged Louis, then I looked down at the baby again.

"Wow. She's grown so much!" I gasped, waving at the baby in Summer's arms. Summer kissed her. 

"And she cries just as much," Summer shook her head.

Louis took the baby's hand and she curled her fingers around Louis' pinky.

"Charlotte," I whispered. The baby looked up at me with her soft blue eyes and her dark brows furrowed like a caterpillar. 

I tickled her belly and she giggled.

"How old is she now?" I asked softly, staring in awe at the baby. I may have had four children myself, but it's been so long since there was a baby in the house. I couldn't believe I was thinking this, but I almost wanted to be pregnant again...

Harry caught my eye from the other side of the room. He looked down at Louis' baby girl, then back at me. He smirked. I shook my head. He licked his lips.

"22 months" Summer answered. I nodded slowly.

Summer, Louis, and Charlotte sat to the side of the couch in order to take turns feeding Charlotte.

I sat down on the couch, waiting for Niall to come. He must have been late, that's all. It's not like he left the country or was hurt or anything...right?

A few minutes passed and I grew too anxious staring at the door, waiting impatiently for Niall to burst right in and laugh his contagious laugh. The kids all took to themselves. Most of the boys were outside, playing football. Harry was arguing with Des, trying to convince him to tackle people from lower on their waist instead of higher. Des shook his head. Harry glared at him and raised his voice. Des stood his ground. The boys, Des, even poor J.D. was dragged into this. Sephora joined more than willingly, but Harry tried to reason with her to sit this one out. He didn't want any of the guys to hurt her accidentally. She laughed.

"Just because I don't have testosterone doesn't mean I can't take pain," she reasoned confidently.

Harry was quiet. 

Des, Sephora, and J.D. took to one side. Danny, Harry, and Tony made up the opposite team. I sighed loudly as I watched them play, wishing Niall were in the mix, too. He could have bee the wild card, or maybe even the cheerleader that made everyone laugh too hard to play. But he wasn't there...

At first, Harry thought it was unfair to have the older, experienced men play against the young, little boys and girls and offered to join Des' team, but Des shook his head.

"I got this, dad" he declared smoothly.

Harry stared at his face and for a moment, I could have sworn I did not know my husband from my son.

Harry nodded. 

They started the play. Sephora hiked the ball to a fumbling J.D., who quickly threw it aimlessly at Des. Des ran like an electric eel high on acid. He slipped past Tony. He hurdled over Danny. He was staring at Harry. Harry stared back at him, ready to tackle him, ready to stop his son from winning. But Des was too fast and slick. He scored a touch down.