Harry and Arlo.
"No monkey, please don't do that."
Harry placed Arlo in her den. He was tired, he was thirsty and a little peckish but Arlo's needs came first, his current issues were not so important.
"Dada, naa na?"
"I know you want a na na, bug, but daddy really needs to go for a wee." Harry spoke so gently to Arlo, although he knew that didn't understand half the things he muffled on about. But Harry still carried on.
"I'll be 5 seconds." He told her and rushed to the toilet. Jogging back, Harry soon found a den with an open gate and no Arlo inside. His eyes darted around the room.
She's so tiny, she could be anywhere, she's always beating me at hide and seek.
Harry sighed softly and tried to think rationally, where would his 13 month old daughter be?
"Arlo, monkey.. bug.." he started, leaving a pause in each nickname Arlo has.
"It's not funny to be hiding from Daddy." Harry said his voice a little stretched but nowhere near abrupt.
He walked around the living room filled with every toy you could think of. Harry looked under the sofas, in the toy boxes. "Monkey." Harry said every now and then. "Bug, please, daddy really doesn't like this game anymore." Harry tried to calm down, but he hated the fact that his precious baby girl, was out of his sight.
Ten minutes.
Harry couldn't hear anything, alarm bells ringing in his head, giving him a slight nauseous feeling and possible migraine, he needed to sit down.
"Arlo, daddy doesn't want to play anymore, he's feeling kinda icky and needs a big cuddle from his love bug."
The little patter of footsteps and muffles of laughter became louder and louder, turning his head to the door of his bedroom he saw her, running towards him chewing those chubby little fingers that he loves to hold whenever he can.
"Da da."
Her long golden-y brown locks bouncing slightly in the air. Her piercing blue eyes looking him dead on.
Arlo was hers. Harry knew it, and so did she.
-
"Yeah well, things are a little 'tough right now, s'tryna find the uh, perfect outfit for Arlo's birthday, and s'yeah I know... - s'this just means the albums gonna be on a... 'spose the word is 'pause' for 'the uh, uh time being." Harry said into the phone, he was warming up Arlo's milk in the microwave. He looked back to his laptop screen and continued to scroll through various items, occasionally looking at his emails.
The other end shrieks down the phone, Harry moves it away from his ear. "S'well if ya gon' s'talk to me like 'at, I'm s'not gonna listen, s'look... It's 'meh daughter's birthday, and I'm taking time off, to be with her, simple as that, s'this just uh s'not as uh im- important anymore, she is, Arlo is." Harry put down the phone and just sighed.
He bent down and picked the toddler that was sitting at his feet, up, and kissed her.
"S'just you and me, bug."
