year three

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age: 8

harry walks into his mom's room that morning, his back pack filled of his necessities for when he goes to victoria's. he doesn't know if he could go yet, but just in case he is allowed to he has his bags ready. anne looks up from her book to smile at her son, putting down her book.

"good morning, sweetheart."  anne greets him.

"good morning! can i go to victoria's?" harry asked his mother, giving her his best puppy eyes. she thought about it and remembered the date. today was the day that victoria's father left, three years ago. feeling bad for the poor girl, anne nodded.

"yes, go get dressed. gemma can take you." anne said, picking up her cell phone to tell victoria's mom. victoria's mom and harry's mom had a feeling that they would want a sleepover on this day for some reason. harry sighed when his mother said that his older sister is taking him. harry loves her to pieces, yes, but gemma always says that harry loves victoria. yes he does love victoria, just not like that. harry walked into his room to get ready. his mom laid his clothes out last night, before she tucked harry in. he put his clothes on and tied up his shoes. after he was ready to leave harry went into his big sister's room.

"hey, harry." gemma greeted him when she noticed that he walked in. "need something?" she asked.

"mom said you have to drop me off at victoria's. let's go!" harry said, grabbing gemma's hand in his and pulling it to get her up from her chair. she laughed and stood up from her desk chair, taking harry outside and walking to victoria's house. gemma knocked on victoria's front door, still holding harry's hand.

"hi." victoria said, smiling at the two siblings in front of her. gemma waved down at her with a wide smile.

"hi, victoria. i'm here to drop your boyfriend off." gemma teased, making both eight year olds groan in annoyance. victoria is used to this, but it bothers harry to no end.

"he's not my boyfriend!" "she's not my girlfriend!" they shouted at the same time to gemma, making her laugh.

"obviously you haven't seen the picture." gemma said, winking and walking away leaving the little kids confused. they shrugged it off and walked inside of victoria's house and going to her room to play. they sat down on victoria's wooden floor, play-doh in their hands.

"have you talked to your daddy at all?" harry asked victoria, trying to sculpt a cat out of yellow play-doh but failing miserably. victoria, on the other hand, was sculpting a shark and it looked pretty good. she frowned at the mention of her dad, but quickly recovered.

"no.. do you think he remembers me, harry?" victoria asked, looking up to meet his emerald green eyes. harry also looked up. harry saw the sadness in his best friend's eyes, and it made his heart ache. he hates to see victoria sad, it makes him sad too.

"i don't know." he honestly answered. "but maybe he does, i bet he misses you. he loves you still, i know it." harry gave her a small smile, which she returned. victoria hopes that her dad still loves her, because she still loves him. yeah, he left her, but he is her dad.

"what if he never comes back?" harry knew that he was probably not coming back, but he didn't want to tell victoria that. it could hurt her too much, he knows how she is. she would hide her pain when really at any second, she could burst into tears. to harry, victoria was a bomb ready to explode, and he was ready to clean up the mess.

"no, he will come back one day. i promise." harry felt bad, like he had lied to his best friend. it wasn't totally a lie though, victoria's father could come back.

victoria got excited when harry said that, she had a bit of hope. hope that her dad will come back to her and be the dad that he used to be. the one who would tuck her in at night. the one that would wake her and watch cartoons with her. the one that would cook her the worst chocolate chip pancakes ever, but victoria would eat them anyway. he was her superhero.

"i'm done!" victoria cheered when she finished her very detailed shark. she held up the blue and red creation, showing it to harry. harry looked down at his pitiful cat, holding it up also. victoria knew that he felt self conscious about his creation, and she felt bad for showing off hers.

"it's beautiful!" she gasped, pointing to his cat. harry's eyes went wide in surprise.

"r-really?" harry asked, looking back down at his cat then looking up again. he felt better knowing that victoria liked it. she nodded, trying to seem excited for his sake. victoria took it from his hands and ran to her shelf. she reached up and set it down carefully in a special spot. harry smiled at victoria. "do you really like it? it was for you actually, but i didn't want to give it to you. i thought you were going to hate it."

"i don't like it, i love it. thank you, harry." victoria wrapped her arms around harry, hugging him. when she let go, she handed harry her shark. "this is for you!" harry grinned down at it, rolling it around in his hands carefully so it didn't mess up. he ran his finger over the gills she made with her finger nail, admiring the small but thoughtful gift.

~

it was night time, and both kids were laying on the floor like they usually do at their sleepovers. mrs.carter tucked them in and gave both of their cheeks a peck, shutting off the light and closing the door. victoria was still trying to get used to sleeping without a nightlight, but she felt safer tonight. harry was with her.

"sing for me?" she asked. harry smiled, knowing that this question would come up.

"hush little baby don't you cry, everything's gonna be alright. stiffen that upper lip up, little lady," victoria pouted her lip playfully, but harry poked it like he has done these past three years."i told ya' i am here to hold ya through the night. and your daddy's not here right now and we don't know why, we feel how we feel inside. it might seem a little crazy, but i know daddy's gon' be alright." small snores left victoria's parted lips, and she snuggled closer to harry in her sleep. harry was asleep also, but lazily wrapped his arms around her like he sensed that she had moved.

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