Next To My Heart (Zarry AU)

Part 3

One of his habits is waking up much earlier than he needs to. It's a result of him going to bed extra early, just to make sure he gets enough sleep. He doesn't like feeling sluggish, especially not at work where he needs a lot of energy to deal with the kids. Today proves to be no different.

Children seem immune to the Monday blues, he thinks as he watches them play animatedly, spinning from side to side in his chair. It's a big chair, with pillows soft enough to completely sink into. The kids love it, but for now it's his turn to sit in it - with Meredith dozing in his lap. Her concerned mother told Harry about how last night the little one hardly got any sleep because she was so worried about the disappearance of her pet fish. Now she has permission to catch up on some rest, and because Harry was easily persuaded by a pair of big sad eyes, she gets to do so in his lap. Louis would probably joke about him being a softie, but Harry knows the man to be a sucker for children himself.

The door opens, and his colleague Cassandra rolls her eyes as soon as she spots him. "You're annoyingly early, as always."

Harry only raises his eyebrows challengingly, not saying anything so he doesn't disturb Meredith. His challenging expression turns into a frown when he spots the small patch of drool wetting his shirt.

Cassandra walks up to them, cooing at the sight. "Could be your daughter, with those curls," she comments, brushing some of the ringlets from where they had fallen in her face.

''You've got curls, too.''

She rolls her eyes and points at her hair. ''These are different. ''

''Yeah...'' Harry trails off, eyes flitting between the two girls. Cassandra's hair is very different; it has more springy curls. Plus, she dyed it a bright red, which contrasts nicely with her dark skin. The kids love it and keep telling Harry to dye his hair red, too. He doesn't think that would be a good idea.

"Why isn't she playing with the rest?"

"Her fish died." Harry grimaces, looking down to make sure Meredith didn't hear him say that. She seems to still be peacefully dozing, with her cheek pressed to his chest. ''But she doesn't know that.''

''Poor thing,'' she sighs, looking over at the rest of the children with a pained expression. ''I guess you're going to be pretty occupied today.''

''Sorry, Cass.'' Harry isn't really sorry. He doesn't mind doing this for Meredith, but he does feel bad for leaving Cassandra to deal with most of the kids on her own. At least for the morning. It's usually when they're still full of energy and up to all kinds of mischief. Harry's lost count of the amount of times he had to clean glue out of someone's hair. The glue is behind locked doors, now.

She waves her hand at him and shakes her head. ''Don't worry about it. You know I love these kids.''

Harry watches while she goes over to them, crouching so she's at their level. Cassandra is absolutely amazing with kids. Actually not just with kids, he thinks. She's a cool person. He lets his head fall against the back of the chair, and notices his eyes are starting to droop. Honestly, he can't really stop it. The chair is too comfortable and Meredith is like a warm blanket. It's not like he can actually do anything, so he might as well nap with her. Harry tiredly nods at himself, completely convinced by his own arguments. A nap seems like a good idea.

A nap might have been a bad idea. The first thing that makes him realise this is that he feels drowsy. His mouth is dry and he honestly feels like maybe he had too much sleep and it's now having a negative impact on him. No logic pops into his head to back this statement, but that may be due to the muffled giggles he hears all around him. It's distracting. And very suspicious. The fact that his eyes are still closed helps him concentrate on what he feels, and there seems to be a distinct itching feeling on his face. It feels partly wet and dry, which causes him enough concern to finally open his eyes. Meredith is gone from his lap, and he's surrounded by kids, staring up at him with giddy expressions. Behind them is Cassandra with her phone in her hand, and this could only mean bad things.