"I'm so glad you're all here tonight", Miss Anne starts what it seems to be a speech, once we all finished our plates. "A true pleasure. I gotta tell a short story about it."

"Mom?" Harry suddenly yells at her. "What are you gonna do?"

"Last Christmas my son came home. And he was all smiles to everyone. But as soon as the midnight hour came in, he was a bit... melancholic. Or something like that. I could tell there was something wrong with him, but I didn't have the guts to ask about it. I could also tell he would never tell me, his mother. Because he's just like that sometimes."

"Mom..."

"Everything changed when Niall surprised us in New Year's eve. There was a shine in Harry's eyes, and I knew immediately what was going on", I look at my boyfriend while she's still talking to us.

"I didn't... know that part", I whisper to him. "I thought you were fine with everyone."

"I feel too shy to talk about it now", he tells me, his lips forming a thin line.

"And here we are, almost a year later, reunited for this special night. I just wanna say I'm very thankful to see each one of you here. Especially Niall", all the attention in the table turns to my shocked face. "You reminded my son of loving himself. You reminded him of happiness, the kind of happiness no mother in the world can give to a son. You reminded him of why he's so special, and you showed to all of us how a smile can change an entire mood. Thank you for being here."

And there she is, miss Anne Twist, crying in front of me. My first instinct leads me to get up from my chair and embrace her in a tight hug.

"I love you too, Anne", I say, and it seems like she's way more emotional now. "I love this entire family. I felt like I was a part of this home even before Harry became my boyfriend, and you know it very well, huh?"

"I do. Thank you."

"It's okay now", Harry also gets up, coming to put his arms around both of us. "It's okay now, but I want the dessert."

"Harold!" I slap his cheek, and he starts laughing. "Her house, her rules. You can order anything when you're in LA."

"It's okay", she says, "I'll bring the dessert for everyone."

Once everyone finds themselves in different rooms of the Styles' home, Harry leads me to the tree in the backyard. I sit down first on an exposed root of the tree, and he clings to my body, his hands on my waist, his nose on my neck, his love next to mine.

"You smell like home", he mutters to me, "I like that."

"I didn't know you were that sad last Christmas, babe."

"I thought it was everything okay at the time. Nothing much going on, I was taking a break from everyone and I thought that's what I needed. My mom just worried to much about a little thing." He gently kisses my neck in between the sentences. "It's okay now."

"I know it's okay now. Everything about you screams PEACE OF MIND or something like that", I hear Harry laughing straight to my ears, and I swear, it sounds like a song. "I was thinking about something."

"What?"

"Once both of our tours end, we should settle down in a new apartment and... maybe, just maybe... adopt a dog."

Harry's lips find mine two seconds later. His smile is so contagious I end up smirking back to him.

"Sounds like a plan", he says. "An amazing one."

"Sounds like a plan."

"But I'll name the dog."

"Hell to the motherfucking no", he jumps in scare of my sudden scream, and it's my turn to laugh at his eyes wide open. "I'm not gonna let you name the dog. Mark my words."

"Why not? What did I do to deserve that?"

"Harry, you literally had a dog on our tour bus for three days and you called him 'Blue Power Ranger'!"

He stops caressing me, trying to find words to say now.

"No way you're still gonna try to defend yourself at this heartless act", I cross my arms in front of me, raising an eyebrow to Harry. "Harold."

"Okay, you'll name the dog. But I'll choose her."

"Oh, you're getting a female dog?"

"We are getting a female dog. Daddy."

We just stare at each other's faces after the daddy thing. 

"Stop calling me daddy. My family is here."

"Okay, daddy."

"Harold."

"Guess we should go to the bedroom so I can properly call you daddy."

[quick author's note: next chapter is the last one.]