Harry Styles Imagines

#73 The Greatest

Summary: You and Harry's daughter, Shai, suffers from Secondary Dyslexia, but he proves to her that with time and dedication, she will become the greatest. It all starts when she comes home crying from an incident at school...

THE GREATEST

When Darcy trudges into the house with her backpack lazily hanging off one shoulder and tears running down her cheeks, Harry's first instinct is to scoop her into his arms. There is no worse feeling for a father than seeing his princess upset; especially over something he wasn't there to help prevent. Just like her's, there is now a heaviness in his heart. Painful and defeating.

"What's wrong, love? Please tell daddy what's got you like this?" he says. His hand runs up
and down her small back in a soothing gesture. A smile whimper leaves her mouth and her tiny hands grab onto his shirt in attempt to pull herself impossibly closer him. "It's okay, love. Daddy's got you."

"Idontwannagotoschool," she says. It comes out in such a way that he can't make out what she was trying to tell him.

Making his way to the living room with her, he says, "What was that? Breathe for daddy and repeat that, love." There's nothing demanding about his tone because he wants her to feel as safe and respected as possible.

Once she's seated in his lap on the puffy, brown couch, she rubs her nose and tries again. "I-I don't wanna go to school tomorrow. M'bad at it. Even my teacher said so," she says. His eyebrows immediately furrow in surprise and confusion. Miss Robinson was quite a strict teacher, but he knew for a fact that she'd never say anything that degrading to third grader.

Harry shakes his head a few times and tries to comprehend what she'd just told him. "Where," he pauses to gather his thoughts, "where is this coming from, Shai? Did somethin' happen at school today?" he says. His eyes look to hers for the obvious answer.

"Reading buddies," she says.

"What about readin' buddies?" Harry could feel himself growing impatient, but he kept collected.

"I said I was bad compared to my buddy Abby, and Miss Robinson agreed. Then she said if that's honestly what I think, I should stop at nothing until I'm better," she says. Small tears continue rolling from her eyes. Harry purses his lips and uses the pad of his thumbs to wipe them away.

At the age of six, Shai was professionally diagnosed with Secondary Dyslexia. When she was five, her kindergarten teacher had informed you and Harry that she was having a hard time recognizing and spelling simple words, unlike the rest of her peers. You two didn't decide to make an appointment for her until the first few months of her first grade year passed. Things hadn't been looking any better, and it turns out that's what it was. Since then, it's been mandatory for her to leave her regular class and meet with her speech teacher every other day for 30 minutes.

Reading has never been "her thing," but she's never gone as far as to say that she doesn't want to go to school anymore. That's the part that worries Harry the most. Shai will stay in school and be successful. She doesn't have a choice. But if she's not willing to learn, it's going to be one hell of a struggle for that to become a reality.

After taking the Peppa Pig backpack off of her shoulder, Harry gently turns her head so that she's looking directly into his eyes. Nowhere else. "Listen, you can't let words get to your head. Miss Robinson wants you to get better, but that's only gonna happen if you put in even more work than you're doin' now. School is important sweetheart, okay?"

"But—"

"Trust me, I know exactly how it feels t'not be the best at somethin'. You may want to give up and stop trying altogether, but that's exactly what not t'do, love. You have to push yourself to become the greatest. People may talk you down along the way, but as long as you keep your eyes on the prize, everything will be alright," he says.

Shai blinks out her last few tears, taking in everything her father had just told her. "I have to become the greatest reader?" She says. There's such a questioning tone to her voice that he can't help but give her a smile.
"You don't have to, pet. You automatically will if you put in a lot of hard work," he says.
"So m'bad at reading, but I have to read?" She says.

He nods in confirmation. "We can start practicing after we eat. I think we've still got those flashcards your speech teacher gave us. Going over those will help some," he says. It was clear that Harry wanted to waist no time.
The truth is that he doesn't feel bad for her anymore, instead, he can't wait to show her what amazing things she's capable of accomplishing.

"Okay," she says, voice still a bit unsure.

Harry smiles and his child-like dimples indent on his cheeks. "You're gonna do big things. Don't ever think you're not good enough, love. You gotta learn how to turn negative energy into fuel," he says.

"Okay."

"You all good?"

"Yes."

"Me and mommy love you so much. Never forget that. We'll call her later on to see how she's doing in Barcelona and to tell her about our little plan," he says. "Gimme a hug."
The beautiful smile Harry loves appears on Shai's face before she wraps her arms around his neck. He smiles upon feeling her small breaths fan over her ear.

"Love you too, daddy," she says. She pulls away. "I'm getting kinda hungry."

"Let's go eat then, shall we?"

Nodding, she hops off of his lap and stops mid-step as she plans to head towards the kitchen. She quickly turns around to see Harry pushing his tall self off of the couch with a grunt.

"Thanks for making me feel better."

"S'jus my job, love."

"I guess you're the greatest at your job then," she says.

—–

A/N

Something different from the pieces I've written in the past. Hope you guys enjoyed it it! Don't forget to like this!! :))

Also, don't forget, you're f:)cking beautiful and capable.

-Nic xx 🍂🎃🍂