The classic overprotective mom, always has to be in control since the birth control obviously wasn't.

Is super authorative at times and in most cases, you know, not a virgin, let's be real here.

Moms usually got a name like Jill, or maybe Edith or even-

"Natalie, what the hell you still doin' out there babe?" I heard Aaron call me from behind inside our house as I furiously tugged at the stubborn plant in the backyard.

I ignored him, gritting my teeth in determination before I finally pried the growing weed from the roots.

"Oh what! Who's my bitch now little weed, who's my bitch now!" I exclaimed in celebration, shooting back up onto my feet as I slammed the derooted plant down onto the ground like a touch down, stomping the shit out of it before jumping up and down.

Took me weeks to finally get the weeds out of my backyard, especially this one in particular.

I smiled down at my work with pride, wiping a layer of sweat with the back of my hand before picking up the discarded plant up and turning around, lifting it high in the air with a crazed smile to show my family my triumphant vivtory as Aaron and little Haz watched me from inside the house, giving me slow thumbs up as they plastered on forced creeped out smiles.

Haz turned his tiny head up to Aaron, his wild circular afro bigger than his small body as he asked his father a question I couldn't quite hear.

"Not now, mommy's having a breakdown." Was Aaron's response as I dropped the plant at my side, placing a hand on my hip and sending him a look with a raise of my brow as they both turned, catching me staring at them making them put on their smiles for me once again before Aaron slowly slid the back door close, leaving me outside.

He reopened the glass door just a crack, sticking his lips out.

"So when are you gonna get dressed cause I'm pretty sure I hear their car outside." Aaron whisper yelled at me, trying to be cautious with his words as I frowned and looked down at my attire when I approached him.

"Well Harry's just gonna help out with the gardening here so I don't think I should really change. And what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" I asked as he opened the door again, both him and Haz looking over my dirt stained oversized overalls and tangled hair.

"Nothing." The two simply said in unison with innocent voices.

"It'd just be a little nice if you cleaned up, all I'm saying, that and you've got manure on your cheek." Aaron said as I joined them inside the house, grabbing a clean towel from the kitchen and quickly washing my hands before I looked over at Haz who was fluffing up his afro, making me finally notice the oversized adult black tux that was ten times bigger than his six year old body.

"Well damn, someone's lookin' sharp." I said with a teasing smirk, wiping my hands as I nudged my chin at my son.

Haz looked away from the mirror to send me a brief glance, his blueish green eyes that were much too similar to his father's connecting with my brown ones for a moment before a slow smirk identical to mine appeared over his pudgy face before he gave me a slow nod, turning back to fluffing his hair like a boss.

"Hey, did you put all the take out into actual plates and bowls so it looks like I tried and actually made something for dinner?" I casually asked as Aaron passed by, setting up the table.

"Yup, hey Natalie, don't take this the wrong way or anything..." He began as he fixed his gaze on the utensils he was straightening on the table before he went over to me.

"Just please don't embarass me, or say anything that you would usually say, you know or do-" He started off, trying to lean in to kiss my cheek before I moved back with a look of confusion.

"Don't embarrass you?" I repeated in disbelief.

"Oh come on Natalie you know I don't mean it like that... It's just- Cynthia is from a really uptight high class kind of family, trust me, I remember when I first met her parents back in highschool and I know it might be awkward for you that we used to date but I just don't want you to look bad is all-"

"Are you wearing cologne?" I suddenly asked, leaning forward and sniffing him before making a face as his body stiffened at my side.

Aaron never wore cologne.

He opened his mouth, no words coming out as his eyes shifted from me to the wall before the doorbell rang.

"Haz, can you get the door?" I asked my son, not even looking at him as I continued to glare up at Aaron.

"Oooohhh, you's in trouble...." Haz trailed off with a cheeky laugh that sounded way too adult like for his age before he walked out of the room to get the front door, the oversized black pants he was wearing dragging across the floor as Aaron took in a deep breath, practically sweating under my gaze.

"I understand and won't embarrass you." I promised, patting his cheek as a look of relief washed over his features, especially when we heard the sound of the front door opening and closing as new voices filled the house.

"Really babe?" Aaron grinned with hope.

I smiled.

"No, suck my dick I ain't changing shit about my personality for you." I laughed out, giving his face a "playful" slap as the smile on his face dropped into one of annoyance before he shoved my hand away.

"For once can you just act like you're an actual lady-" He glowered, lowering his voice when the sound of footsteps in the hallway neared us.

"Oh you mean like this," I said, making a show of doing the splits in the middle of the kitchen behind the island counter as Aaron rolled his eyes at my childish manner.

"Natalie get up, seriously get the fuck u- oh hey, Cynthia, Harry. Wow you look, you look amazing- I mean you both do of course." Aaron suddenly moved his attention to our guests from over the counter where I couldn't see since I was on the floor.

"You look great too, and your house, it's lovely." I heard Cynthia's voice say with a small giggle.

I struggled to raise myself off the floor, getting back up on my feet right as I heard a British voice ask "Where's Nat?" as Harry went around the island, making the both of us bump and crash into eachother in surprise as whatever dish he was holding in his hands flew off the tray and all over hi face and shirt.

Cynthia gasped as Aaron slapped the palm of his hand over his face from the side.

"Oh shi- dude Harry that was my bad, I was getting up and I didn't know you were walking over I'm so sorry I-" I began, feeling flustered under his surprised gaze as I looked at his red marinara stained face and shirt, chunks of what seemed to be lasagna over him before I paused, blinking up at his hair.

"Hey... you got a haircut." I suddenly said in realization, stepping back in awe as Harry's face broke into a dimpled smile.

"Yeah," He chuckled, looking down at the tray of smooshed lasagna in his hands before looking back up to meet my gaze.

"Yeah I did." He said as I stared up at his now short hair, chopped like a military haircut but not a full on buzz cut as I observed how full his hair still looked, slight strands hanging over his forehead as I had to mentally stop myself from pushing it away from his face like I used to.

"I told the man not to make lasagna for tonight's dinner with you guys but he insisted. It's such a mess really." Cynthia tsked at Harry in a teasing tone, making him glance at her briefly with a somewhat forced smile before looking back at me.

"I personally don't see what's so good about lasagna to be honest." Aaron said at her side.

Well it's not just lasagna, it's Harry's lasagna.

"I heard lasagna!" Haz yelled when he entered the room, Talie, Harry's daughter following close behind with her nose buried in a large book that seemed much too big for her.

Haz walked over to Harry, making both Harry and I look down at the little boy as he took the large dish of pasta from Harry's hands.

"Oh we finally eatin' good tonight!" Haz laughed maniacally, walking away with the food as Talie crashed into the wall, walking right into it since she was so entranced with whatever she was reading before she shook her small head and blinked a bit as if in a daze, pushing up the rim of her large magnified glasses before continuing to walk and read as if nothing happened.

"Here, I'll go get you an extra shirt and then we can all eat. How about that?" Aaron smiled, patting Harry roughly on the shoulder as if they were life long friends as Harry turned his head to him, making me blink in confusion when I saw him glaring at my husband.

"Oh Cynthia, you really need to see the walk in closet I built in. I know you're a sucker for those." Aaron then turned to the blonde curvacious woman in a tight red dress, making her clasp her hands together with a delighted smile on her face.

"Oh can I really?" She practically squealed, looking between me, Harry, and Aaron.

"Yeah you two go ahead." Harry shrugged.

"I'll help clean here." I said when Aaron moved his gaze to me, making him smile as he nodded before he lead Cynthia out of the room upstairs.

I waited till I heard their footsteps reach the second floor, checking on Haz and Talie who were sitting in the dining room already eating the squished lasagna before turning back to Harry, doing something I wanted to do the moment he came into my house.

"You brought lasagna I cannot thank you enough holy crap. I missed your food so much and lasagna is my favorite, thank you thank you." I smiled, gripping onto the side of Harry's arms as his body tensed, his green eyes wide with surprise when I dragged a finger across his chest, taking the sauce and tasting it before closing my eyes.

Ah memories.

"Soo good...." I mumbled with a dreamy smile as Harry watched me with an uncertain look before he just broke into laughter.

"Your face looks like you just hint a blunt, you really like my cooking that much?" He chuckled in that same teasing manner that I had missed so much, my heart warming at the sight of his smile and the sound of his voice.

"Of course, number one fan right here." I said, pointing at myself as I got a towel from one of the kitchen drawers, dampening it with warm sink water before switching it off and going to him.

"Okay hold still," I ordered in a soft tone, wiping the marinara sauce from his face as he watched me intently, squirming slightly away from my persistent hand.

"Nat I'm not a baby," He laughed, scrunching his face at me making me suddenly remember all the times Harry would always point out I had food stains around my lips everytime I ate when we were married.

He would always get a napkin and wipe my mouth for me, and I would always say the same thing.

'Harry I'm not a baby,' even though I would let him clean me up afterwards.

And then he would make a show of licking the napkin or his thumb, or whatever he was using to wipe at my skin and say one thing in response.

"But you're my baby." I mouthed silently to myself, quoting him from the past deep in the memory before I blinked, realizing where I was as Harry stared down at me in shock, my hand with the damp towel hovering over his stunned face as his gaze fell to my lips.

"What did... what did you just say?" He began, his cheeks flushing before I quickly licked the towel.

"Nothing, now c'mere." I said, quickly trying to change the subject as I threatened to wipe Harry with the now saliva infested towel, making him grin as he tried to dodge it just like I had done many times before whenever he did it to me.

"No, you're gross." Harry chuckled, although he was actually leaning forward so I could hold his chin in my hand to keep him still with me repeatedly chanting "just one more wipe" before we both completely froze.

And that's when we finally realized just how close our faces were, and just how fast it was for us to become so comfortable with one another again.

His green eyes bore into mine and he grabbed my wrist, slowly bringing my hand that was holding the towel down as he searched my face.

At that instant I knew, even after all these years.

I wasn't over Harry.

At all.

"Sorry, this was- that was weird. Uh, I'll get you a new towel." I apologized, looking away and swallowing as I turned away from him, leaving his grasp and taking out a new towel while trying to control the shaking of my hands.

"I-it's fine." Harry stuttered out, the both of us not looking at each other, averting our gazes to the floor as I blindly handed him the towel which he clumsily took.

"I'm gonna check on the kids." I swallowed, bolting out of there before Harry could even answer as I entered the dining room, only to find Haz sprawled across the table with a slightly portruding stomach and an empty dish of lasagna at his side.

"You did not just eat all the lasagna." I began, approaching his small body as he lifted his head up, marinara sauce all over his lips while he gave me a drowsy smile.

"I regret nothing," He hiccuped, bringing his tiny fist high up into the air, his voice slurred and his eyes droopy before he dropped his head back onto the table and fell asleep with a light snore.

"Told him not to do it." Talie's small voice said from one of the seats at the table, not looking up from her book as she flipped the page.

"Told him twice." She added, gazing up to send me a look as she lowered her oversized glasses at me.

"Let's get you cleaned up." I laughed, shaking my head at my son as I carried his sleeping body into my arms.

"Mrs. Turner." Talie said, making me turn back to her when I realized she was addressing me.

I never got used to people calling me that.

I only ever answered immediatly when they called me by my name or.... Mrs. Styles, a few years back.

"You can call me Nat babe." I grinned at her, cradling Haz in my arms and making her smile as she placed her big book down onto the table.

"Nat," She rephrased in a polite tone, checking my face to make sure I was okay with the new name as she readjusted her glasses.

"What's up Talie."

"What makes you special?" She suddenly asked, catching me off guard as I tilted my head to the side and looked at her, wondering why she would randomly ask that.

"What makes me special?" I repeated under my breath, pursing my lips in thought.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Well, I'm double jointed." I shrugged making her furrow her brows at me.

"Is that it?" She asked with a slight hint of disppointment in her voice.

"Uh... well, one time I ate this whole subway sandwich in like five minutes." I added, wanting to impress her before I smiled, shifting my weight when Haz began to slip from my hold ever so slightly.

"Huh," Talie said after a few moments, looking away in thought before turning back to me with a grateful grin.

"My daddy must really love double jointed people who can eat really fast." She shrugged with a careless expression before she took the book from the table, opening it and reading where she last left off as my eyes widened at her words.

"What do you mean?" I questioned with a light laugh before Talie looked up from her book to stare at me.

"You must be special," She explained with a convinced tone.

"And why's that?" I tested, wondering if I should show her my thumb joint trick just to entertain her even more before she giggled and looked down at her book.

"Because my daddy says you're special."

++

My daddy says you're special. My daddy says you're special. My daddy says you're special.

"Nat, not that I don't love you breathing really heavily down my neck like you're having an asthma attack but, I really don't." Harry joked, slowly turning his head as I stared down at him with wide eyes while he checked which tiles would look better in my backyard as Cynthia and Aaron cleaned up the dinner inside.

Dinner wasn't as awkward as I thought it'd be, except for that one instance when I asked for those dumplings...

"Babe can you pass the dumping please." I said, drowning my food in soy sauce before refilling Haz and Talie's cups of water.

"Sure," Harry said at the same time as Aaron mumbled a "yeah," before they both reached out for it in unison.

Haz was the only one who burst into laughter.

And then no one even passed me the dumplings, I didn't even get a sniff.

"You okay?" Harry asked, now looking concerned as he rose from the ground and observed my face before I snapped out of my thoughts.

"What? Oh yeah, yeah I'm good- I'm good I was just, just checking out your hair is all." I lied, quickly waving my hand in the air dismissively as Harry raised his brow at me, looking unconvinced but playing along.

"I can tell, you always touch your own hair whenever you stare at it." He said with a slight smirk, making a show of running his hands through his short hair capturing all my attention before he went back to evaluating my backyard for what it will need.

"No I don't." I mumbled under my breath like a child, my eyes going back to his hair before I unconsciously touched my own, playing with a few of my strands.

"Do you uh, do you not like it?" Harry cleared his throat awkwardly, his back facing me so I couldn't see his face as he crouched in front of one of the untamed dry bushes near the fence.

"What? Your hair?" I asked, walking over to his side as he shifted a bit to the left to give me some room while I crouched near him, wondering why he was staring so hard at the bush.

"Uh- no, no I mean uh-" He began, awkwardly rubbing his hands together, the metal of his wedding band gleaming under the moonlight making me smile before I looked away.

Even though I wasn't the one who he ended up with, I was happy and proud of Harry.

He moved on, got the child and family he's always wanted and I couldn't have asked for anything more, I was totally okay with just staying as friends or neighbors, or garden buddies.

As long as I was still somewhat in his life watching over him and his family I was okay, as well as having my own with Haz and Aaron, even if my heart stays with Harry.

"This bush, yeah this bush." Harry suddenly said, pointing at the plant as I gave him a look.

"You see it's branches and leaves are really long and untamed, and you know. It's always been like that, so you're probably used to that look. But what if I- what if I trimmed it, made those branches and leaves shorter. Do you uh, do you like the shorter leaves or the longer ones?" He asked, his adams apple bobbing up and down as he patted his knees, shifting his eyes between me and the plant as I stared at him for the longest time.

"It's a bush..."

Harry gave me a deadpanned look, an expression that just said "really bitch, really."

"Well, it's the bush's decision, heck it looks good both untrimmed and trimmed. It can even be a bald bush and I'd still think it's the most beautiful plant in my backyard." I told him, my voice genuine as I patted his back and rose to my feet, knowing he caught on to what I was getting at as he smiled at the ground before standing up by my side as well.

"I like your bush." He smiled, looking at my hair as I let out a small laugh.

"It sounds like we're talking about pubes." I couldn't help but snicker, biting my lip and making a childish face as Harry just stared at me.

He then bit his lip to keep from laughing as we exchanged looks.

"I know right." He laughed, making the both of us snicker like middle school pre teen boys who laugh everytime someone says the number '69' in class.

Then, there was a rustle in the nearby shrubs a foot away from us.

And that's when we saw the monster.

Harry and I both screamed at the sight of the wild creature, jumping up and down hitting eachother not knowing what to do before full on running back into the safety of my house, still screaming as the both of us hurried to slide the back door close.

"Woah, where's the fire?" Aaron asked as both him and Cynthia attended the two of us, Harry and I both hypervenilating, frantically pointing out the glass door for our spouses to see.

"It's out- it's out there." I panted, making Harry nod, trying to catch his breath as Cynthia and Aaron leaned closer to the door to see what was outside.

There in my backyard the monster came out, prancing among the shrubs following a butterfly.

Or should I say...

It's next victim.

"A deer?" Aaron and Cynthia said in unison, turning to give Harry and I looks as we both nodded in horror.

"The Devil's spawn." Harry reiterated in a bitter tone, glaring out the glass door as I nodded.

"You got that right." I agreed, both of us raising our hands as we subtly high fived one another, not taking our eyes off the deer outside.

"Ridiculous." Aaron said, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation as Cynthia sighed with a hopeless frown.

"My mama's afraid of deers." Haz explained to Talie.

"So is my daddy." Talie replied.

They both exchanged looks.

"Grown ups are so weird." Talie then said, scrunching her face up as Harry and I turned our heads to look at our children.

Haz popped the cherry lolipop from his mouth, smacking his lips together as he gave us a once over.

"You got that right toots." He said, sticking the candy back into his mouth.

"Hey Harry, that soap show you like is on." Cynthia suddenly teased when Aaron gestured for all of us to move to the living room as both Harry and I turned to her with wide eyes.

"The Trails of Tomorrow's Tears!" Harry and I both exclaimed in unison, making us slowly turn our heads to each other in surprise.

It was like falling in love all over again.

Except now married to other people.

"You know that show!?" We then said at the same time.

"I love that show!" We screamed again in unison before jumping and bumping our chests together, only making me stumble back a bit at Harry's strength as I rubbed at my boobs, totally forgetting I had those there.

"I don't understand. The show is cheesy and overdone and the acting and dialogue is terrible." Aaron said, heading to the kitchen to get some snacks as Cynthia helped him, nodding in agreement.

"That's the point. You make fun of it." I laughed as Harry added a "yup" from behind me before we both headed to my living room, plopping ourselves down on the large couch in front of the tv with a great amount of space between us.

"Love this show." Harry said, relaxing back into the cushions with a satisfied smile as I said "sameee..." and turned up the volume with the remote.

I tensed up when I felt Harry grab my ankles, lifting them up before we both froze right as he was about to put my legs over his lap, a position we always did whenever we watched tv on the couch together back then.

We looked at one another with wide eyes.

He immediatly dropped my feet.

"Cynthia love can you come here please!" Harry quickly turned his head, looking over the sofa in desperation as his voice cracked at the same time I turned, calling for Aaron and the snacks to escape the awkwardness.

Luckily our partners came, making me let out a breath while Harry rubbed the back of his neck as Aaron sat besides me and Cynthia besides Harry, keeping the two of us at the far ends of the couch while the kids decided to sit on the floor, scribbling and coloring on the coloring books Talie brought.

"Got us some drinks." Cynthia smiled at her husband as Harry slung his arm over her shoulder, thanking her and taking the glass of wine from her hand while Aaron rested his head on the crook of my shoulder as I ate from his bowl of popcorn.

"Rosella, I am back, back for you." One of the horrible actors in the television drama began, dramatically bursting into the room in tight leather pants before making his way to the sobbing woman across the large room.

"Oh Dante, but it's been years," She gasped, her lip quivering uncontrollably and her eyeliner running down her cheeks making her look like a very sad racoon as they embraced, holding hands.

Dante leaned in to kiss her.

"Dante no!" Harry and I mimicked out as Aaron and Cynthia exchanged looks.

"Dante no!" Rosella protested just like we had predicted, placing the back of her hand over her forehead.

"We cannot, it's been eight years since we've last seen one another, we have seperate lives now, different lovers, our own kids." The actress sobbed as Harry spit out his drink while I inhaled sharply, ultimately getting a kernel stuck in my throat as I choked on the popcorn.

"Harry honey, are you alright?" Cynthia cooed, rubbing his back, liquid dripping from Harry's parted lips as Aaron patted my back while I dry heaved, thumping my chest with my fist.

"Yeah I just- just didn't realize how strong this wine was." Harry coughed out, wiping his lips and putting his wine glass down as Cynthia tried to soothe him.

"You okay?" Aaron asked with uncertainty as I finally swallowed the food lodged in my throat with a loud painful gulp.

"Yeah, I uh- I just have bad gag reflexes that's all." I nervously laughed, trying to recollect myself as everyone let out small light hearted laughs.

"It's true she does." Harry added.

Then everyone became dead silent as we all turned to look at Harry.

"What?" Cynthia said.

"What?" Aaron repeated.

"What?" Haz asked.

"What?" The actors in the soap drama television exclaimed- only for me to later realize it was just part of the show dialogue that coincidentally fit with the situation at hand.

And I swear to god, we all heard a small "what" from outside in the backyard, only for us to turn our heads behind the sofa to find the deer in the backyard staring at Harry with wide eyes.

"What?" Talie was the last to speak up as we all looked at her flushed father.

"No really what. I don't get what's wrong with what he just said." Talie further explained as Haz placed his tiny hands over her ears.

"We have children here." Haz scolded us as Talie growled, prying his hands away from her in annoyance.

"We're the same age! You don't even know what they're talking about either!"

"Uh, yeah I do!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yah-huh! Your daddy knows about my mommy's bad gag reflex!" Haz exclaimed in triumph, not really getting the real meaning behind it as Talie scowled.

As for Harry and I, well, we slowly began to sink lower and lower into the sofa under the glares of our spouses.