Pain 2: Him (H.S)

Chapter 43

I feel like I've already set an actor and name for Harry's real dad in the story but I can't remember and it's bugging me. So until I find it out, Harry's real dad's name is Rick and he's played by Patrick Dempsey. I just want you guys to picture the story as I do when I write just so you can feel a better connection. Last thing, this chapter is extra long because I wanted to fit everything in one chapter so that the next one gets right to what I have planned. So the point of views are going to change a lot along with the scenes just so I get it all out of the way. Hope you enjoy!

Anne's POV:

He was born pale--so calm and at ease in the chaotic hospital room. I remember Rick, who at the time couldn't let him go, held him in his arms for hours just smiling at him thanking God for blessing with the son he had always wanted. He held Harry and sang to him, kissing his forehead and he even made him smile for the first time. He was in love with him; so in love that the second Harry's tiny finger wrapped around his index, tears I've never seen before fell from his eyes. Rick. Of all people, he cried. I was with the man for years before Harry was born and not once had I seen him cry. He had always wanted children and a family because that was the kind of life he envisioned for himself. He grew up with a father who was never around because of work and a struggling mother who raised four kids on her own, and seeing that as child struck with him.

He always asked me to marry him when we were teenagers. We were sixteen when he asked for the first time and I thought he was playing a trick on me but he wasn't. After that, he would propose every other week. Out of nowhere, he'd pop up and just stand there with a smile and go, "hey, let's get married and have some kids. I'm bored." I loved him more than I loved anyone else in the world; more than my family, as insane as it sounds, and walking down the aisle with him was one of the most exciting and unnforgettful moments of my life.

The life that man bared was so rare and so unfiltered, nothing in the world could've brought him down. He spent every single day with Harry growing up. He taught him how to play football, ride a bike, fix a car, he even helped him win over his first crush in the second grade. He sat him down, and I remember every word so vividly, and said, "Listen rugrat, you want that girl? Get her, but be a gentleman. When you talk to her, look her in the eyes and smile then tell her she's pretty. If that doesn't work, give her your snack. Girls love food. You'll understand when you get older." And Harry, being the finest seven year old, went to that girl and did that exact thing and came home with a smile on his face and a thank you note for his dad. Yes, he wrote a note thanking his dad for teaching him how to be a gentleman.

That's why Harry is the way he is today. He takes after his father in every way possible it even scares me. His love for life and Alee reminds me so much of Rick, and it gives me hope because I know Harry will treat Alee the exact way Rick treated me. But every strong and humbled man has a flaw, and although Rick allowed his addiction to control him, Harry knows better than to leave behind something worth living for.

But it pains me. As a mother, nothing hurts me more than seeing my child's heart break because of me. He has never talked to me that way, never yelled or raised his voice, or disrespected me in anyway and it hurts me. It really does. I know he thinks I don't care because I'm leaving and I wish I could take him with me but I know him better than that. I would never leave my child behind but I'm confident in him. I trust him and know that he's smart and strong enough to care for himself which is why I'm allowing him to be on his own. Do you think I would leave my son alone in a world like this if I didn't have faith in him? He's one of the strongest and more humbled men I've ever had the honor of knowing and it makes me proud that it's because of me and his father that he has turned out this way.

I love my children and would give my life to save theirs and nothing in this world is more important than them. Not Leo, not anyone.

But I'm married and it's hard being by myself all day everyday and I expected him to understand because the way he loves Alee is the way I love Leo; regardless of his past mistakes.