A/N: I know it's been over two months and I'm so sorry about that. I won't bore you with the details but my mental health took a massive blow and I just haven't been okay so I took some time off. You all have been so supportive of me when I've talked about this sort of thing before so I felt safe in knowing that I could take the time that I needed and I thank you all so much for allowing me the safety to do that. I so severely needed it. Thank you.

And in my absence I wrote quite the update for you, over 22k words, hope you enjoy xx

Harry's P.O.V

"Babe do you know where my car keys are? I can't find them anywhere" Elena mumbles as she enters the living room, her hands fumbling through her handbag as she walks into the room. Today's the day, the day she's going back to work for the first time since Juni was born.

"Have you checked by the front door?" I suggest as I sit up from the couch with Juni in my arms, ready to help her hunt them down. I think she's a bit nervous and anxious about going back into the office, frankly I am too. I know that Juni and I will be fine, I know how to look after my daughter, but I don't want Elena to have a bad first day back and then give up on the idea of going back forever.

"Ugh, of course. Here they are" She calls back to me after retrieving her keys from the bowl by the front door where she always leaves her keys. I would love it if Elena wanted to stay home with us, but I know that's not what she wants. She wants to work and to make a difference, so I'm going to support her.

"I don't know why I'm so scattered. It's just going back into the office" She mumbles to herself as she makes herself a cup of coffee in her takeaway mug.

"It's okay to be a little scattered. Nobody will be expecting you to go back in like nothings changed. Most of your coworkers are parents right?" I suggest in an attempt to calm her nerves. Elena has always had a subtle expectation of herself to be perfect at everything she does and kicks herself when she doesn't meet that goal.

"They are" She responds with a slight sigh. "And I know they'll all be so lovely to me when I come back, but part of me is just dreading the whole thing" She admits after securing the lid on her coffee mug before walking over to me. Juni immediately stretches her arms out towards Elena, who picks her up with a sad smile and cuddles her to her chest. I fight the urge to encourage Elena to drop the whole 'back to work' idea as it goes against the promise I made to her. I promised her that I would push her to go back to work no matter what, because we both know deep down that it's what she wants to do.

"You're only dreading it because you've not done it before. Once you see that you can handle the work and I can handle this little one you're going to feel so much better about it" I tell her with a reassuring tone, placing a hand on Juni's back as she lays her head down on her mum's shoulder. Elena looks to me with a sad smile as she snuggles Juni closely into her chest.

"The only thing I'm sure about today is that you're going to be amazing with her. I have complete faith in you" She tells me with a much warmer smile than before. When we told our family and friends that I would be stay at home dad'ing it for a while, some of them expressed some doubt and uncertainty around the plan. It's not exactly the traditional route, but Elena and I definitely aren't traditional so why should this be any different. It's going to be tough not having her around all day everyday, we've been in this great bubble for the last few months since Juni was born. But it makes me feel really good that Elena trusts me so much with looking after her on my own for a full day. I know some dads kind of take 'accidental back seats' when it comes to the ins and outs of everything but that's definitely not me. I'm glad I'm helping her with her worries and not adding to them today.

"And you are going to do great as well. Just take it one step at a time, your coworkers are nice like that" I say gently as Elena leans her cheek against my chest. I wrap an arm around her shoulder and gently stroke my fingers through her hair. She has a really lovely workplace and a lot of nice coworkers, so I know that when she goes back today they will all be really supportive and encouraging. "Just don't take on more than you can handle, ease back into it" I continue.

"Good idea. And my boss said that I can leave at four so I can be home with plenty of time to see this one before she goes to sleep" Elena says happily as she cradles Juni closely to her chest. She's had her on a schedule from practically day one of Juni's life. At first I thought it was pretty ridiculous to think that you can put a baby on a schedule; babies do what they want when they want, but Elena somehow managed to work it out. Now, Juni eats and sleeps and wakes up according to the clock, it's kind of insane. Even now I can see her getting more tired and she has a nap coming up in about an hour.

"You won't miss a thing, I promise" I tell her as Elena places soft, gentle kisses on Juni's cheeks. Elena closes her eyes for a moment as she presses her lips to the top of Juni's head, probably savouring the moment. Neither of us have left Juni's side for longer than a trip to the supermarket since she's been here, I definitely don't envy Elena's position right now. I'm so attached to this tiny baby it kind of blows my mind.

"Well, I better go then. Don't want to be late" Elena says with a slight sigh as she walks over to the living room and lays Juni down in this little basket cot thing that sits beside the couch and turns to me. I can see that she's on the brink of crying, I feel like I could be too. I want her to stay home with us so badly, but I need to be a supportive partner more than anything.

"Call me at any point today okay? Anytime you need me" I tell her gently as she wraps her arms around my shoulders and buries her face into my neck.

"I probably will call at least nine times so just prepare for that" Her voice is muffled against my neck and I can feel a small smile on her face as she speaks.

"Do it" I reply before I press a kiss to the side of her neck, her perfume subtly overwhelming my senses. "I'm really proud of you bub" I add. I really am proud of her. I'm proud that she's been able to achieve the things that she wants to achieve, and I'm even more proud that I haven't stood in her way. I've quite rapidly altered her life over the last four years, I'm just so happy she hasn't lost who she is through it all.

"I love you so much. Thank you" She whispers against my ear as her arms squeeze themselves around me once more before she steps back and picks up her bag and glances over at Juni, who calmly lays and blinks up at the ceiling. I look back over to Elena and catch the saddest smile on her face as her eyes well up with tears again.

"Okay I can't pick her up again or else I won't leave. So when you do pick her up next can you give her a big cuddle from me please?" Elena asks me as she quickly blinks away her tears and presses her lips together. I know how she feels, I probably can't hug Elena again or else I might not let her leave. We're all so attached to one another, it's simultaneously stabilising and obstructive.

"I will bub." I tell her with a reassuring smile. Elena lets out a small sigh before looking back up at me and giving me an adorable smile.

"Okay. I love you. I have complete faith in you, you know exactly what you're doing but if you aren't sure about something then call me" Elena says in a lighthearted tone.

"I love you too" I tell her simply before she blows me a kiss and hesitantly walks down the hall and through the door that leads to the garage. A few moments later I hear her car start, drive out of the garage and travel down the driveway. Juni senses it and immediately begins to let out small cries and whimpers.

"Thank you for waiting until your mum left the house to start this. She might not have left if she knew you were upset" I tell Juni as I pick her up out of her basket and cuddle her close to my chest.

"It's alright, I'm here, I've got you" I whisper to her as I start to slowly walk around the room, bouncing her gently as her cries continue. "Mumma will be back later I promise, dads got you" I reassure her as I walk down the hall and back again.

"It's alright darling, I'm not going anywhere" I continue to reassure her. I read all the baby books Elena made me read so I know that even though she doesn't totally understand me, this shit works. And eventually it does, eventually the cries even themselves out and stop before she drifts off to sleep against my chest.

I know I should lay her down in her cot and let her sleep there, but I'm just not keen on putting her down right now. So instead, I carefully lay back on the couch and hold her against my chest as she takes her nap. I take my phone carefully out of my back pocket as I feel it start to vibrate. It's Elena, she's wanting to FaceTime. I sit up slightly and take my AirPods off the coffee table and place one into my ear before answering the call. Elena's bright smiling face appears on the screen a few seconds later.

"Hey, where are you right now?" I ask as she comes into focus. I don't recognise the background behind her. I've been to her office before and her desk is in the middle of the office in a little group with a few other co-workers. It didn't always make much sense considering Elena's job was completely different to theirs. But now there's a bright window with light pouring in behind Elena's head.

"Apparently they did some renovations when I was on maternity leave. Bought the floor above us and expanded. So this, is my office" Elena explains excitedly as she reverses the camera and slowly tracks it across the room. It's a very small, plain office with a few seats in front of her desk, a small couch in the corner and a relatively empty bookshelf beside her.

"That's great bub. Is it just you in there?" I ask her as she reverses the camera back to herself.

"All me! G and Samara are next door which is awesome. I'll have to get some things together to decorate it because it's a little sad looking at the moment but we'll get there. Anyway, how's Juni? Is she napping?" Elena tells me as she sets the phone down and props it up so she can take a small sip from her water bottle. I answer her question by angling the phone down to show her Juni asleep on my chest. Elenas lips pout out with a sweet smile.

"Aww that is so sweet. Was she okay when I left? Did she even notice?" Elena asks as I angle the camera to show both Juni and I as I softly rub Juni's back to keep her settled.

"She got a little upset but she's okay now" I assure her as I watch the screen. Elena props her head up with her hand and smiles warmly back at the phone.

"Sophie told me this morning that you and Juni are welcome to visit anytime" She informs me of her boss' words.

"Sounds like she's desperate to keep you on" I remark with a proud smile. I've been in business a long time and sometimes when women go on maternity leave, others use it as an opportunity to make their lives better by taking their promotions. I was worried this might happen with Elena but I shouldn't have been, it looks like everyone is grateful that she only took a few months off and was willing to come back. Now they want to keep her for good.

"It's a charity about families, they can't exactly be 'anti-family' and tell me not to bring my baby into work" Elena says with a small giggle.

"Seems to me that they're doing whatever they can to make sure you stay. It's exactly what I'd do. You should ask for a raise" I say with a slight chuckle at the end. I watch as Elena rolls her eyes before clicking something on her computer screen.

"I'd rather not take up more money in the budget for a raise when I don't exactly need it" She replies with a soft smile as she sits back in her chair.

"I told you this when you first took the job and I've been telling you the same thing since; for the amount of work you do you are being underpaid" I inform her for about the hundredth time. It's always the same answer with Elena: 'I don't care about the money'. But I still think they should recognise how hard she works and pay her accordingly, regardless of how well off she is.

"I'm not exactly going to return from maternity leave and demand a pay rise. I will eventually I guess, but I'm still just trying to figure out how to do my job again after months of pumping and peekaboo" She responds with a wide smile as Juni stretches her arm up above her head and lays it on my neck, still fast asleep.

"How's the work feeling?" I ask her after I tilt my head down and place a kiss on Juni's fingers. Elena gazed at the phone for a few seconds before answering my question.

"It's a lot right now, but in a really good way. Most of my projects stalled while I was away so getting back into them feels really good. Plus I'm opening a lot of 'Congratulations and Welcome Back' emails so that's always nice. I think I'll need a few days until I feel like I'm fully back" She tells me with quiet delight.

"So you're feeling good about going back?" I ask. I knew there was always a slight chance of Elena going back to work, feeling unable to handle it and handing in her notice. It was a small possibility and ultimately I'm glad it's not the case. Even if I do want her home in our little family bubble, her feeling good about herself and her work is more important.

"I feel really good about it. But I miss you two so much" She tells me with a wide smile. Even all these years later, hearing phrases like 'I miss you' and 'I love you' still send a wave of warmth through me.

"And we miss you too. I can always bring her in today if you want?" I offer although I'm pretty sure I know what the answer will be.

"Maybe not today, I might be a little too emotional for that. Later in the week definitely, we can all have lunch in my brand new office" Elena says proudly.

"You should spend some of the day doing some online shopping for stuff that you want to get" I suggest. Elena gasps and picks up the phone.

"How dare you suggest that I would be online shopping when I am supposed to be working! That is a shocking claim! I would never!" She retorts as she flips her camera around to show her computer screen. She scrolls through her shopping cart of one particular website, showing me a rug, some photo frames and cushions. As she scrolls, I can hear her quietly giggling in the background. She's on her midmorning break so she's not exactly breaking the rules but she's adorable when she thinks that she is.

"I'm sorry babe, I apologise. Of course you're a total professional" I say sarcastically as Elena switches the camera around to face her once more.

"I should probably get back to work" She says before letting out a small sigh and pouting her lips together.

"I'll speak to you later my love. I love you" I tell her before I gently lift up Juni's arm and wave it carefully at the camera. Luckily she's a deep sleeper and doesn't even stir, plus it put a big smile on Elena's face.

"I love you. Speak later" Elena says sweetly before blowing me a kiss and ending the call. I let out a small sigh and sit the phone down on the couch beside me, now what do I do with the rest of the time? Juni will probably sleep for the another ten or fifteen minutes so I have plenty of time to kill. When it was Elena and I home together we would just hang out and talk while Juni slept, I didn't have to find things to do. But now here I am, trying to find a way to kill time until I can hang out with my daughter again.

I decide to pick my phone back up and see what's happening on instagram. I relented and got an account a year or so ago, mainly so my friends would stop bugging me about having one. I post on it very rarely, my last post was when Juni was born and the one before that was announcing our new hotel opening up in Lisbon. Which reminds me, I need to have a discussion with Elena about something tonight.

I follow very few people; my family, a couple of friends and some of my business partners so I see a lot of the same photos whenever I do log on. Today I'm greeted with a photo of Charlie and Theo finger painting posted onto Gems account, she seems to have leaned in to the whole 'mum-blogger' lifestyle on her page, nearly every single photo is of the kids. And I'm not mad about it at all, we'll sometimes go weeks without a visit so seeing them doing new things every other day is quite nice to see. I see Elenas already seen it and left a comment underneath:

elenarosegraham: impeccable artistry, so abstract. 10/10. give the little artists my love

Her comment makes me smile immensely, but my eyes keep getting drawn back to her username. Graham, I fucking hate the name Graham. It's her fathers name, that fucking vile man. We haven't heard from him in a while, though he did try his luck with slinking back in to our lives while he and Claudia were going through all the divorce filing paperwork. It was right after the news broke that Elena was pregnant so his lawyer asked Claudias lawyer (one of my lawyers) if there could be a meeting arranged between the two of them. Elena was furious and made it very clear that she had no desire to hear anything more he had to say. I was quite proud of her and her response, normally she bends to peoples wishes when she thinks that people are upset or in need. I don't think he lawyer used her exact words in the response but basically Elena said 'he can fuck off with this meeting bullshit and he better fucking think twice about getting into contact with me again'.

I still regret what I did with regards to their relationship, it put my whole future with Elena at serious risk. I'm damn lucky that she didn't throw her ring in my face and tell me to go to hell and I'll never forget that. But I'm grateful he's out of our lives, I do genuinely believe that he would continuously let her down over and over again if she let him back in.

So yeah, Graham. I hate that part of her name. Heather gave it to Benjamin as his middle name and it's Claudias last name still, but I hate to think that she's still attached to him like that. Elena does too, she's told me several times that she's dropping it the second we get married. So now Graham is also a constant reminder of the fact that we aren't officially married. We might as well be really; we have a baby together, a house, we've been engaged for nearly three years and I just really hate the word fiancée.

We said we'd get there eventually, had we not had Juni we probably would have gotten married but Elena didn't want to have people see it as a 'Shotgun Wedding'. It makes sense to me I guess, but it did really bother me when the headlines came out after Juni's birth:

'Harry Styles and longtime girlfriend Elena Graham welcome baby girl over the weekend',

'It's a baby girl for Arcadia Group owner Harry Styles and girlfriend Elena Graham',

'Harry Styles and girlfriend welcome baby girl: Juniper Ellis Styles this past weekend'

I hadn't thought of Elena as my 'girlfriend' for the longest time, but it was all that the media had deemed her to be. Elena paid no attention to it, I told her that there were reports out about Juni being born and she said that she wasn't bothered by it so I let it go. I don't know how to let it not bother me, it kind of just bubbles up randomly. Maybe I should have another therapy session, the last one I had was a few days before Juni was born. Just as I'm about to call and make an appointment, Juni stretches her arms up again and blinks her eyes slowly.

"Morning my little love, did you have a good sleep?" I ask her as I sit up slightly and hold her up, watching her tired eyes close for a moment as she lets out a small yawn. I kind of figured that my attachment to her would just be similar to the one I have with my nieces and nephew, only a little bit stronger. But it's a completely different experience, a completely different feeling. Her eyes open again as I support her to sit in my lap, smiling down at her as she looks up at me.

"You didn't miss much, your mumma is having a great day at work, she has her own office and everything" I tell her. She blinks. "I know, isn't that crazy, her first day back and she has her own little office how nice is that!" I tilt my hand to check my watch, it's about time to get her a bottle.

"I'll put you in your little chair thing and make you a bottle okay? How's that sound my love?" I say despite the fact that I'm already walking over to the little swing seat and laying her down in it. I secure the seatbelt around her and select a slow setting for her and stand back, waiting to see if she cries. Sometimes she hates being set down, she just wants to be held constantly. It's an adorable trait that I don't mind indulging. But today she seems okay, the seat gently rocks her in a small circle and her attention seems to be diverted to the small planet mobile that hangs over her head.

As I finish warming up some milk for Juni, my phone begins to ring. I pick it up off of the counter and check the screen. Max, wonder what he wants.

"Hey mate" I answer the call as I put him on speaker phone and secure the lid to the top of the bottle.

"Yo, you home right now?" His voices comes through muffled as he asks.

"Of course, why what's up?" I answer. I'm practically always at home these days, I wouldn't want to be many other places.

"I'm swinging by your place and I have something to show you so open your gate" He replies as I pick Juni up out of her swing seat and press the tip of the bottle against her lips. She takes it immediately and eagerly, right on schedule.

"You'll have to give me a minute I'm feeding my daughter" I call out to the phone as I make my way over to the control panel in the kitchen. I tilt my chin down and hold the bottle to Juni using my chin, freeing up my hand to select the 'Open Gate' option on the panel.

"That's fine, just make sure your tits are away before you open the door. It's too early for Harry nipple" I hear Max say with a chuckle before the panel shows me the camera positioned outside the front gate. Max drives up and through the open gate in what seems to be a new black Ferrari.

"You're an idiot" I say with a laugh before I walk down the hall and open the front door in time to see Max drive up and put the car into park outside the front door. I replace my hand back onto the bottom of the bottle and shake my head with a wide smile as Max gleefully climbs out of the car. He's wanted a Ferrari for years, seems he's finally pulled the trigger.

"How dare you assault my infant daughters ears with this noise" I say with a grin, referring to the loud roar of the engine only second earlier.

"Kids are resilient you don't need to wrap them in bubble wrap. Besides, she seems very unaware of any disturbances right now" Max says with a grin as he walks around the car and up towards the front door. Juni is blissfully undisturbed, eagerly drinking from the bottle.

"Yeah she hasn't looked up and seen you yet. But we all know what will happen when she does" I tell him with a grin before I start to mimic the sounds of a baby crying hysterically. Max rolls his eyes and puts a hand on my shoulder in lieu of shaking my hand.

"Your child is deformed if she doesn't grow out of this 'hating Uncle Max' phase" Max says with a grin as he looks down at Juni and waves to her with his free hand. Juni seems unimpressed or unbothered, offering no form of reaction positive or negative.

"I don't know. I hated a lot of my family when I was younger and that hatred still runs through me to this day so she may have inherited something from me after all" I tell him with a lighthearted grin as I nod my head towards the door, my way of inviting him inside. Max follows behind and closes the door behind himself

"Of course you would say that while holding your baby doppelgänger" He points out as I sit down on the couch with Juni. I would offer him a drink, but he's already opening my fridge and grabbing himself out a bottle of water so what's the point?

"Nah, she looks way more like Elena to me" I say as I look back down at Juni. All I see is Elena when I see her, she's all soft features and for the most part she's a very quiet and calm baby. Her eyes are dark, her nose small and button like and her smile feels very 'Elena' to me. The only thing I would say is definitely from me would be that the small amount of hair that she does have is slowly becoming lighter which seems to match what happened with me as a baby according to my mother.

"Speaking of, where's the lovely Elena?" Max asks as he settles into the couch opposite me and reclines back.

"The lovely Elena is back at work today. First day back" I answer as Juni downs the rest of the bottle. I sit her back up and rub her back. Max nods his head for a moment.

"How's she doing?" He asks with slight concern.

"She's okay I think. A little emotional this morning before she got there but she said she's feeling better and is happy to be back." I tell him.

"And how are you doing?" He asks in the same tone as his prior question.

"Miss her like effing crazy" I answer with a loud sigh as Juni lays her head against my chest. Max lets out a surprised chuckle.

"Did you just say the word 'effing'?" He says with surprise. I guess I don't normally censor myself, just another one of the many things that have changed for me the past couple of months.

"If my kid is some crazy genius and speaks at three months old then I'm going to make sure that her first word isn't a swear word" I explain as I press a kiss to Juni's cheek. Besides, Elena would kill me if I taught our daughter how to swear.

"Wow, I really have lost you haven't I?" Max states after he takes a sip from his water bottle. I smile against Juni's cheek as her hand tightly grabs a fistful of my hair.

"Yes I am a very happy man. As I assume you are, rolling up to my house in that fancy car. What prompted that purchase?" I turn the conversation back to him with a slight chuckle. I don't want my friends to think that I can only talk about my kid now that I have one, even though it's so tempting. I know I've made the right call when I see Max's face fall slightly and his eyes shift to his lap while he leans forward in his seat.

"What's wrong mate?" I prompt him when he doesn't answer my question. His shoulders sag slightly as he looks back up at me, suddenly looking a lot more tired than he did 10 seconds ago.

"Heather and I are done" He tells me solemnly. Not the answer I was expecting.

"Holy shi-" I cut myself off before I swear, making Max chuckle slightly. "What happened?" I press him for answers as Juni releases her titan grip on my hair and I give her a stray toy of plastic keys to occupy her hands.

"Judging by your reaction I'm guessing Heather didn't call Elena yet" Max states before running a hand through his hair.

"If she did she never mentioned anything to me so I'm assuming she hasn't told her. When did this all happen?" I ask. Elena is a pretty bad secret keeper, she told me about Heather's pregnancy the day that she found out and we were broken up at the time. So I doubt that Elena would have heard about Heather and Max's breakup and been able to keep it from me.

"Last night" Max shrugs. Well it makes sense why Heather hasn't called Elena then. Heather knows it's Elena's first day back at work today, she won't want to add anything onto her plate. I assume she'll tell her tonight or tomorrow, well maybe I'll have to now.

"What happened?" I ask my earlier question again, hoping for some kind of answer this time around.

"I asked her to move in with me. She told me that we were going too fast, that I wasn't really ready for that kind of commitment and then she dumped me" Max replies in a defeated tone of voice before he slumps back against the couch cushion. Fucking hell, that just doesn't seem right.  

"Seriously? You gave her some commitment and she dumped you?" I ask for clarification. Living with Max would mean being in a stable and committed relationship, something I know that Heather would want. It doesn't make sense for her to just end it when she's being presented what she wants.

"Yup. She said that she was happy with the way things were and didn't want to change anything. But now that she knew that I wanted to get more serious she didn't think it was fair to be with me anymore" Max informs me solemnly. Shit.

"I'm really sorry man" I tell him. Max and I have always been very similar, and up until I met Elena we were living very similar lives. We weren't ready to be tied down for any amount of time so real relationships just weren't really a thing that we partook in. For Max to want something more like that and for it not to work out...that really sucks. Max gives me a shrug.

"I should have seen it coming really, with Benji and everything. I just thought that maybe she would want us all to be under the same roof. Benji and I get along great and...I dunno man" He tells me. I don't know if I've ever heard him sound so defeated.

"I didn't know that you were thinking about that sort of stuff" I say, slightly ashamed at how much of an absent friend I seem to have become. Max shakes his head slightly.

"It's been a recent realisation. But I mean, maybe she's right maybe I'm not ready for that sort of responsibility. After all, I did just go and buy a fucking Ferrari because my girlfriend dumped me. Sorry for swearing Ju Ju" Max holds up a hand as I let out a slight chuckle at his slip up. Juni is completely unaware, happily fumbling with the toy keys.

"You're alright, you're going through it" I excuse him with a slight laugh.

"It just sucks. I thought I finally had it all together. But now I've ruined it for good" He adds a long sigh onto the end of his statement.

"You didn't ruin anything. You were honest about what you wanted, and that's not an easy thing to do." I try and reassure him by offering him another way of looking at the situation. "She could change her mind, you never know" I add.

"Yeah, maybe" Max replies with a half shrug. "I guess I just got excited, like I finally had what you and Mitch have." He explains as he takes another sip from his water bottle.

"You do remember that Elena and I broke up for a while in the beginning. And we've had some really rocky patches in the years since" I remind him in an attempt to make him feel better. He gives me a half smile.

"Yeah I remember. It was interesting to watch you go through all of that. Calling her practically everyday to tell her that you loved her while also simmering in misery about how she would never come back to you" Max recalls. Those were dark days, four months felt like a lifetime in the worst possible way.

"I couldn't give up, I physically couldn't do it. The thought of not having her in my life was just too unbearable to even consider it. I didn't deserve for her to come back, but I had a tiny piece of hope and I was holding on for as long as I was allowed to" I explain as I sit myself back against the couch cushion, cuddling Juni close to me. She's still absorbed in her set of keys, my sweet simple girl.

"And she came back to you" Max says with a small smile. "How on earth did you make that happen?" He asks in slight disbelief.

"To this day I still don't exactly know how I managed it" I say with a small chuckle. "I just knew that I loved this woman more than anything and anyone. And if time was what she needed to figure things out then that's what I would give her. But I wasn't just going to fade from her mind. She loved me, and I wasn't going anywhere" I tell him with a slight smile. And thank fuck I didn't give up, what would my life even look like if I had? If Elena had decided that I was too toxic to be in her life? I would probably still be a very bitter and lonely man as opposed to the man I am now. Juni holds up her clenched first to me, giving me her toy. I take them from her with a grin and sit them down beside me, I guess she's done with those.

"I would say 'and now you're stuck with a ball and chain and a baby' but this is totally the result that you were wanting" Max responds with a warm smile as Juni starts to make gurgling noises.

"You know what I'm like, when I want something I get it" I explain with a smirk before I lean over and take Rufus out of her bassinet and hold him to her chest. She takes him in her hands and becomes completely absorbed in him within seconds.

"I don't regret telling Heather what I want. I'm just pissed that she had the reaction that she did" Max states. It reminds me of a situation with Elena a few years back, when we had a pregnancy scare in Australia. I said it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if we had a baby, and she felt very differently. I agree with her now, we weren't in the best place and definitely had some shit to sort out. And I'm glad we got it together.

"You in love with her?" I ask him, and for a moment Max looks completely terrified. He stutters for a moment or two.

"I definitely was on my way towards that. Falling in love is a process, right?" He asks for reassurance. I shrug my shoulders.

"I can't speak for everyone" I say by way of an excuse. I'm no love expert, that's for sure.

"How long did it take you to say it?" He asks genuinely. I have to travel back in my mind quite a far way to figure that one out.

"I think it was around 5 months to say it to her, but I was sure that I knew at like 4 months" I answer honestly. I think that I would classify meeting Elena as being 'love at first sight'. She was stunning, completely ethereal when I first met her, but I wasn't in love with her right away, she was a stranger. Eventually I broke down her walls and she tore down mine and there it was, that feeling just lurking below the surface.

"Well we had been dating pretty steadily for 6 months so I guess that kind of lines up" Max contemplates aloud.

"You shouldn't compare your relationship to mine, two pretty different situations" I say simply. He didn't sign a contract and start paying Heather a salary within a week of meeting her, and Elena didn't have a kid when we first met.

"Yeah sure" Max says with a shrug before he rubs his hands over his eyes. "I just don't know what to do next" He adds.

"You do whatever you want to do, you just need to figure out what it is. If you want her back, call her and let her know. If you wanna move on, move on. And if you aren't sure of what you want then don't do anything. Just drive that nice Little car around until you figure it out"  I advise him with a smile. He chuckles and nods his head slightly. He doesn't know for sure what he wants, and that's okay, he didn't expect for his relationship to end so suddenly. He's in a bit of a shellshocked state, now he needs time to sort his head out and think of what to do next. Juni gives up on Rufus by gently tossing him onto the couch, apparently Rufus just isn't as good as a set of plastic keys.

"Yeah, I think I got a lot of thinking to do. What do you think I should do Ju Ju?" Max leans forward slightly and smiles directly at Juni as he asks her. I'm certain that she's about to start crying however he manages to wrestle a smile out of her.

"Wanna give her a cuddle and see how it goes? Things feel a lot better when you're holding a baby" I offer, standing up and walking over to his couch with Juni before he has time to object.

"Fine. But if she starts howling and screaming then I'm going to be super offended" Max stands up and holds his arms out towards me. I carefully negotiate the transfer, settling Juni into his arms to rest against his chest. She looks back at me for a moment, confused that I'm passing her off to someone else, but she doesn't make a sound. Max and I wait in complete silence as Juni surveys Max up close, her hands gently paw at his shirt before her head finally lays down to rest on his shoulder. The answering grin from Max is like one I haven't seen in a long time.

"For the love of God take a photo for evidence in case this is a fluke" Max says quickly as I chuckle and find my phone, taking a few quick pictures of the two of them before Max sits back down on the couch, Juni resting comfortably against him.

"Maybe she just got a bad feeling around you that first time" I say as way of explaining their first meeting, when Juni howled and cried the second he took hold of her.

"Are you implying that I didn't pass your baby's vibe check the first time around?" Max asks with an amused smile.

"Mate, we are too old to be using the phrase 'vibe check', you've got to stop hanging around with so many young people" I answer with a small laugh as I send the photo to Elena and Mitch.

"You're going to give me grief about hanging out with young people? Your fiancée is 23." Max retorts with a smirk, knowing he has a very strong point.

"Your ex girlfriend is 24 so ha" I retaliate with a smirk of my own. Max gently strokes the back of Juni's head with his hand as he stifles a laugh.

"Touché" He says with a chuckle.

—————————————————————————

The moment I hear the garage door open I feel a sense of relief and peace wash over me, and I can see Juni's ears catch it too from her swing seat across the room. I'm about half way through assembling a lasagna for later tonight, having known that Elena will be needing a good meal after the day she's had.

"Honey, I'm home!" I hear Elenas voice call through the house as she walks down the hall from the garage. I dry my hands and walk around the kitchen counter as she quickly sets down her things and jumps up into my arms. I catch her luckily, I wasn't expecting a jump, and hold her close as she hugs me tightly.

"Hey bub" I greet her as she dots kisses against my cheek. I turn my head and grin as she presses her lips firmly against mine, overwhelming my senses momentarily. It's like she's just been on a long trip and has finally come home, and she seems to be feeling the same thing.

"Aww you're making lasagna for me! I love you so so much" She coos softly as I set her feet back down on the ground and cup her cheek, kissing her lips softly. Her giddiness to be home completely thrills me.

"I love you too bub" I say against her lips before I place a kiss on her forehead. I can hear Juni becoming antsy, eager for her mum to cuddle her after being away from her for so long.

"There's my little love, I'm coming I'm coming" Elena says with a light giggle as she leaves my arms and hurries over to Juni's seat. "I have missed you so much my sweet angel" Elena coos as she in lips Juni's seatbelt and lifts her up, cradling her against her chest. I lean my hands on the kitchen counter and watch the two of them as they greet each other. Juni's hands grip onto Elena's blouse while Elena covers Juni's face in kisses.

"I bet that feels good" I say as Elena finishes with her kisses, cradling Juni and slowly rocking her back and forth. Elena lays her head gently on top of Juni's and smiles brightly back at me.

"Unbelievably good" She responds as she sits down at the island counter, cuddling a very content and calm Juni. "So, no mishaps that you didn't want to tell me over the phone?" Elena asks as I start clearing up the bench top of ingredients.

"No, all went according to plan, no mishaps. No work issues you didn't want to tell me about over the phone?" I ask in response. Elena shrugs and lets out a quiet sigh.

"It felt good to be back, but my brain was really foggy for most of the day" She admits softly.

"It's day one, I'm sure you did great" I try and reassure her as I open the fridge. "Wine?" I offer, she shakes her head so I take out a can of coke for her instead.

"It's not that I'm worried about what my boss will say about my work, it was more of a 'me' thing. Like, the further into the day I got the more overwhelming it felt to be back in it." Elena informs me before taking a sip of her coke. Juni peers up at her as she does, mostly because Elenas stopped rubbing her back to hold the glass. Elena notices it too and quickly puts down the glass and resumes to rub her back. Our girl is a little demander, she knows what she wants. And right now all she wants is her mums attention.

"I get it. It's not the same as it was before you gave birth, things are really different for you now" I reply as I take a sip of my beer. Elena nods her head enthusiastically.

"Exactly right. I haven't been 'work me' in almost 6 months, I just need some time to get back to that" She agrees as I lean forward on the counter and meet her gaze. I can see it in her eyes that she's really tired, but her eyes also have that glimmer of accomplishment that I haven't seen in a while.

"You'll get there, just got to give it some time" I say reassuringly as Elena rests her head on-top of Juni's again. Elena lets out a small sigh before she nods her head.

"Enough about work for now. That picture of Max and Juni was so adorable. Did she cry at all?" Elena changes the subject with a wide smile. I'm sure we'll get back to talking about her job later, I have a feeling she's still really unsure about it all.

"Not a tear. She was quite happy with him actually, it surprised us both" I tell her with a smile as Elena gives Juni a kiss on the forehead.

"Well done June bug!" Elena says to Juni with a slight giggle. "How was Max?" She turns her attention back to me, her eyes suddenly sincere. She knows, she definitely knows.

"Heather told you huh?" I say with a slight smirk as Elena nods her head immediately. I knew it, I have a good sense for when Elena is holding back information.

"She called at lunchtime to check in. She sounded off and so I asked her what was going on. She broke down and told me. Max okay?" She asks in a quiet tone.

"He's...well, I don't even think he knows how he's doing. He showed up in a new Ferrari though" I add before I take another sip of beer. Elena's eyebrows lift slightly.

"Poor guy. Probably using the Ferrari as a bit of a bandaid right now" Elena responds with a small pout. "Come with me while I get out of these clothes" She adds before standing up from the bench and heading for the stairs. I trail behind her.

"You said Heather broke down, was she upset?" I ask her as I climb the stairs after her and follow her into our bedroom.

"Very upset" Elena says remorsefully before she holds Juni out to me. I take her into my arms as Juni reaches back out for Elena. "Give me two minutes Ju Ju" Elena says to her before she disappears into the walk in closet while I sit on the bed and try to keep Juni from crying. I turn her to face me and blow a raspberry onto her arm. It only kind of works, she's not crying but she's not happy either.

"Did she give you a better indication about why she did it then?" I call out to Elena before I kiss Juni's cheek and rock her slowly. I can see her eyes begin to well up despite my best efforts. Luckily, Elena re-emerges from the closet in a pair of sweatpants and my old Ramones shirt with her hair thrown up into a pony tail. I turn Juni around in my lap as she reaches out for her immediately. Elena coos softly at her before picking her up and cuddling her tightly.

"It's okay, mumma's back" She speaks quietly to her before turning her attention back to me. "You know what Heather's like. Benji is her number one priority and she's scared that if she and Max got super serious and then break up that it would affect him negatively" Elena explains as she slowly rocks Juni in her arms.

"I understand that I guess. Just sounds to me like she made a bit of a rash decision" I say with a small shrug. This was always going to be the issue with her best friend and my best friend dating. I love Heather, but I'm always going to back my mate and I know she'll do the same.

"Oh she's definitely made a rash decision, even she realises that. She's just scared" Elena replies. "Do you think I should give Max a call? Not to talk about Heather but just to say that he doesn't need to feel awkward around me?" She asks in a slightly worried tone. I find myself holding back a smile after she asks her question.

"I think that would be nice for him to hear bub" I tell her as I walk over to join her and Juni by the door, leaning my head down to press a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'll call him after dinner, I don't want him to not come this weekend" Elena explains with a warm smile as she carries Juni down the hall towards the stairs.

"Right. Now that he and Juni are getting along he can't miss her christening" I state as we climb back down the stairs. After weeks of my mum asking and asking, we finally agreed to have Juni christened in Manchester this weekend. It doesn't mean all that much to us but it means a lot to my mum. She's very aware that she's not being brought up with any religious influence in our house and she's okay with that. Once she told Elena that it was a family tradition, Elena jumped on board. She's always loved a family tradition.

"Exactly! Your best friend Uncle Maxy will be there, and so will everyone else. All for you my little love" Elena tells Juni with warm enthusiasm as she presses her forehead against hers. I never thought I could fall in love with Elena more than I already was, and then I watch her with my daughter and it blows my fucking mind.

"Want me to get her bottle ready?" I ask Elena as she sits down with Juni on the couch, picking up the set of plastic keys and offering them to her.

"No that's okay I'll just feed her" Elena says as she starts to unbutton her shirt with one hand. I grin and sit down on the coffee table opposite her with my head in my hand, watching intently. I feel a swift kick to my leg that nearly knocks me off the table as Elena laughs and shakes her head.

"You're ridiculous" She giggles as I sit back down on the couch beside her and put an arm around her shoulder as Juni latches herself onto Elena's breast.

"It's more jealousy I think" I say with a smirk, watching as a noticeable blush rises to Elena's cheeks.

"You really have missed me today haven't you?" Elena says with a soft giggle as I brush my nose against her cheek before placing a soft kiss to her jaw.

"A little" I reply quietly, gently brushing my fingers through her hair. Elena turns her head and nudges her nose against mine before pressing a soft kiss to my bottom lip.

"I missed you today too" She says with a whisper. It's at this moment that I fully realise that this is my 'happy place'. You know, like when you're mad or upset and someone tells you to picture that you're in your happy place. For years it was me all alone at the top of a building in New York, eventually when I met Elena she joined me there. But now it's right here; in my home on the couch with Elena in my arms, Juni in hers. And to think how I met her by complete chance in the most abnormal of circumstances.

"What are you thinking about?" Elena's soft voice cuts through my thoughts, her smiling eyes blinking up at me as she rests the back of her head against my shoulder. I suppose I got lost in my head for a moment or two there.

"Just how much I adore you" I tell her with a grin. The blush returns to her cheeks as the corners of her mouth lift up into a grin of her own. Even after all this time and all that we've gone through, I can still make her blush with a few simple words.

"If somebody had told you when we had met that we would be here one day, what would you have said?" She asks with a cheeky smile after placing a kiss to my jaw. If someone had told me that I would be living in suburbia with a daughter and a woman I am desperate to make my wife, I would have told them that they were fucking crazy. That was never the way my life was going to go. But after meeting Elena...

"How soon after we met?" I ask for clarification. Elena lets out a laugh, probably about how technical I'm asking her to get with this question.

"Lets say, the next day" She clarifies with a smile, eagerly awaiting my answer.

"I would have probably thought they were crazy" I say with a small smile. "But I would have been so curious to figure out how you managed to tie me down" I add with a chuckle as Elena rolls her eyes.

"I've just been playing the long game to get your money all along" Elena says jokingly with a quiet laugh. I can't help but chuckle too. Elena has a five minute guilt session if she leaves a store without thanking all of the staff for serving us, it's absolutely ridiculous thinking about her being a gold digger after all.

"Now all you need is the divorce and you're good to go. Set for life" I add with a grin. Elena shakes her head.

"Who could be bothered with divorce? You're so old I'm just waiting on you to go peacefully in your sleep and then I get everything" She replies playfully, I lean my hand down and tickle her sides, causing her to squirm and laugh as she tries to bat my hand away while feeding Juni at the same time.

"Sorry Ju Ju, dadas being silly" Elena giggles apologetically as she settles back down into the seat beside me, Juni completely oblivious to our conversation as she continues to feed.

"So, if you're just waiting out my death, explain Juni?" I ask with a chuckle. Elena bites her bottom lip with a grin.

"Um, it got super easy playing the long game so I thought I'd throw in a challenge and make things a little more interesting. Plus, we're both super hot so of course we'd have a gorgeous baby" She explains. The smile on my face is making my cheeks ache, she has a way of making every conversation so fun.

"We are both insanely hot" I admit as I press a kiss against her head. "So why are you not pushing the wedding if you think I'm gonna die in my sleep then?" I add.

"It makes you want it more, further convincing you of the ruse I'm putting on for you" She giggles as she speaks. That's definitely something she learned in school, showing someone all that you have to offer so that they want it so badly and makes an offer before anyone else can.

"Genius. Completely inspired" I say with a happy sigh before I feel Elena's lips softly kiss up my neck.

"Of course you know I'm kidding I love you so much you're my everything" She tells me quickly in between kisses. Even thought we've obviously been joking around, she never wants me to think that any ounce of it could be true. My sweet girl.

"I know honey, I love you" I reassure her as I press a kiss against her temple. Juni makes a gurgling noise as Elena sits her up in her lap. "And I love you too June bug" I say to her, stroking her cheek softly. Now that she's feed she looks properly exhausted.

"I'll get her into bed, you can finish making me dinner" Elena decides with a grin as she stands up from the couch. I stand as well and place a kiss to Juni's cheek.

"Sweet dreams my love" I whisper to her before Elena walks over to the stairs, quietly telling her how much she loves her.

—————————————————————————

Elena comes back downstairs about 20 minutes later with a tired smile on her lips and the baby monitor in her hand.

"She go down okay?" I ask as I take the lasagna out of the oven and place it down on the bench. Elena sits down on one of the stools at the counter and watches me.

"Like a breeze, I miss her already" She responds quietly. I grin to myself as I serve us each a slice of lasagna and a bit of salad.

"I'm sure she'll wake up in the night and she'll be all yours" I say with a chuckle as I place one of the plates down in front of her and place my plate in front of the seat beside her. I hear her say a very quiet 'thank you bub' as I walk to the fridge and take out another bottle of beer.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." I say as I slide into my seat beside her. Elena raises her fork up but pauses it as I speak. "Nothing bad I promise" I add, placing a hand on her shoulder as they sag slightly when I speak again.

"Okay, what's up?" She asks before she takes a bite of her food.

"I wanted to know what you would think about maybe signing on to be co-owner of the Arcadia Group with me." I tell her. It's been something I've thought about for months now but Juni has proven to be very distracting so it's always slipped my mind before I've hand the chance to mention it to Elena.

"You want me to co-own your hotel?" Her eyebrows knit together as she asks the question. She thinks I'm just referring to the one in town that we used to live in.

"Not just one of them, all of them." I reply proudly, Elena's eyes go wide.

"Why?" She asks in complete surprise, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Because you're my partner, we do things together" I tell her. I never liked working with investors or board members, you have to when you run a business as big as mine but I've had most of the control and that's the way I like it. But over the past few years Elena has given me a lot of great advice when I've had to make big decisions and I value her input more than anyone else's. I want to share in this with her, officially, on paper.

"What would that mean? What would I have to do?" She asks as her smile grows wider.

"Well, you would own some shares which means you would be one of the owners. There are a few other investors but I individually own over half the shares so I have majority control. If you owned some all it would mean is that you can input your opinion on and vote for major decisions that get made. It's not a massive undertaking." I try to explain as simply as I possibly can. If I make it sound like a massive deal then she'll have anxiety about it and the last thing I want is to give her anxiety. Her head tilts to the side slightly.

"Is this another sneaky way that you give me money?" She asks with a small smirk. I suppress a laugh, ever since I've met her I've been trying to give her more money than she's willing to take. I had to get creative in a lot of ways.

"It's better than the way I used to do things. You know for the first six months of our relationship I used to slip a few £20 notes into your pockets when you stayed over at my place" I confess with a smirk of my own. I even hid some notes around her apartment the few times I actually went to that dump. Her eyes widen.

"No way" She gasps in disbelief, shaking her head microscopically.

"Yes way." I grin as I answer.

"I knew it! I knew I didn't have that much cash, I never have cash! You sneaky devil!" She laughs quietly, her eyes still wide as she digests the information. "Always taking care of me, even when I didn't realise it" She adds in a much dreamier tone, gazing at me with a wide smile and wonder in her eyes. The first time i saw that look I remember thinking that I would crawl thousands of miles over broken glass for her to smile at me like that. Now she does it everyday.

"I tried" I say with a smile, reaching my hand out to brush the hair out of her face. Money was, and sometimes still is, the way I showed love to people. I held off on telling Elena I loved her for so long and instead just kept buying her jewellery and clothes, hoping it would say it for me. Now I'm in a place where I can express how I feel about people without throwing money at them, and that's a big step for me. "So what do you think?" I get us back on track to the conversation at hand. Elena pauses for a moment as she takes a mouthful of food.

"I wouldn't be taking these shares from anyone would I?" She asks, never wanting to disadvantage someone else.

"From me. I'd still own majority even if I gave some to you" I clarify. She pauses again, the smile and doting look remain.

"And this is just something you want me to be involved in?" She queries. I nod my head. "Okay then, I'm in" She tells me with quiet glee.

"Yeah?" I ask, almost in slight disbelief.

"Sure, if it means a lot to you and it's something you want me involved in then yes I'm on board." She answers, giggling slightly at my excitement at her decision. I know it seems stupid, but it does mean a lot to me. I've felt very alone for most of my life and that's how I liked it. But now that I have Elena, I never want to be alone in anything. We're partners, a team, a package deal, a family.

"I'll get some papers drawn up for you to sign" I say with a grin as I hold up my bottle of beer. "Welcome aboard, partner" I say. Elena laughs and lifts up her glass of coke, clinking the glass against mine as we maintain our eye contact.

"Now that business has been handled, can we watch tonight's episode of Love Island?" She asks me with a wide smile as she clears away her empty plate. It's something Elena started watching after Juni was born, apparently mindless drama about dumb people wearing bikinis all day was the peak of entertainment for her while she feed Juni at all hours of the night. I still don't know how she roped me into watching it with her, I really just sit there and scroll through unanswered emails while Elena squeals and gasps at the drama next to me.

"Alright then" I say with a slight groan. Elena responds by leaping out of her seat, pressing a kiss to my cheek and hurrying over to the couch. I clear away the rest of the dishes and follow behind her, taking the baby monitor with me.

"Casa Amor starts this episode and I'm nervous about these boys" Elena mumbles as she switches through the channels.

"What?" I ask, completely perplexed. I have absolutely no idea how this show works meanwhile Elena could write a doctoral dissertation on it.

"The boys and the girls split for a few days and go to another villa where they bring in new people. It's like a test, even though it's a stupid way of putting it. The boys usually fuck up everything good they have and bring back a new girl then live to regret it" Elena curls her legs up underneath her as she sits directly beside me, her head laid gently on my shoulder. I lift up my arm and wrap it around her shoulders, pulling her close against my side.

"So in other words you're about to become very upset about strangers acting stupidly for the next few days?" I ask with slight bemusement.

"That's exactly right" She answers with a giggle as her foot gently taps to the rhythm of the song playing in the opening credits.

Indeed they do start acting stupidly almost the minute the show starts. The 'lads holiday' kicks off with a bang as almost all of them cheat within hours while the girls lay about on sun loungers missing the guys they've known for at most four weeks.

"I'm so disappointed in them" Elena sighs and shakes her head, wrapping an arm around my stomach and cuddling herself in closer to me.

"It's like none of them want to win" I say with a chuckle, completely perplexed about how stupid these boys are. Elena turns her head back up to face me and furrows her brow.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"It's kind of an easy game to win if you think about it. Couple up early with a girl people like, don't cheat, don't be two faced, have a few funny moments and get the public on your side. Boom, easy win" I explain. It's not exactly Jeopardy, you don't need much brains to win this show.

"The prize at the end doesn't really matter that much, they all become influencers after this so the £50,000 is kind of just a cherry on top" Elena replies with a gentle smile.

"Yeah but the longer you're in the better right?" I ask before she nods her head. "So these boys are all idiots, cheating and getting others to cheat, because the moment they get the chance the public will punish them for it. So there goes a big chunk of followers." I gesture to the TV as one of the village idiots climbs into bed with a new girl.

"Sometimes it's not up to the viewers though, the producers will often times keep the more controversial and drama filled couples in for longer to keep viewership through the series. So you also have to be strategic in that sense" Elena joins in with my gameplay analysis.

"So you become the anti-villain, as soon as you see this sort of bullshit behaviour you call them out on it and you don't keep it from the others once you're back in the main villa." I tell her before taking a sip of my beer.

"I love that you're so into this show" I turn my head to look at her as she speaks and see her gazing gently up at me. I want to roll my eyes and say that I'm not into it but when she's looking at me like that I can't help but for lack of a better word, melt.

"Lets not oversell that idea, I tolerate it because you enjoy it" I tell her, brushing a few strands of hair that shield part of her face.

"Your noble sacrifice has been duly noted" She tells me sweetly as her lips lightly kiss the base of my neck. I never want to presume that I'm about to get lucky, since Juni was born we've both been pretty busy and very tired so we aren't having sec quite as regularly as we used to. Maybe 3 times a week instead of at least once a day.

"Pause it" Elena whispers before she moves her leg across my lap and straddles me, as though she can read my mind. I fumble for the remote and quickly stop the TV before tossing the remote to the floor and losing myself in her kiss. Her tongue flickers against mine as her hips rolls delicately against my lap, teasing me at an agonisingly slow pace.

"I like that I have an effect on you, even after all this time" She purrs softly before she slides her hand slowly down my chest, clearly feeling the growing bulge that only took a few moments of attention to arouse. My body instinctively flexes up towards her as she palms me over the top of my pants, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

"You always have this effect on me. You always will" I say with a soft moan as I reach my hand up towards her and push some of her hair back over her shoulder. My fingertips move across her neck, down to her collar bone as I move quickly to unbutton her blouse. I'm itching to touch her skin, to hold its curves in my hands while I lift my hips up as she tugs down my pants.

I sit up straighter and tilt my face up closer to her and kiss her neck, all the way up to her ear as i push the blouse off her shoulders. On top of all of the amazing things that have come with us becoming parents, Elena's breasts are definitely one of them. Somehow they're still the same petite teardrop shape but sit up higher on her chest, more perky and full than they ever have been. I try not to make a big deal out of them because I don't want her to feel self conscious about when they do change their shape again one day, but I'd be fucking lying if I said that I wasn't slightly obsessed with them, her whole body in general really. Her hips have more definition and shape, small white stretch marks pull their way across the bottom of her stomach. She's perfection still, but in a completely new way.

My view of her body is obscured slightly as Elena's fumbling hands lift up my shirt and toss it over my head before leaning her head down to kiss me roughly. I hold her tightly against me as my hands find the button and zip of her pants, quickly pushing them down her thighs along with her panties. Her hands are in my hair, knotting themselves through my curls in a way that has driven me mad since she did it for the first time so long ago.

Her breath comes out in hot whimpers against my mouth as I pull her back onto my lap once all the clothing that remains of either of us are my boxers. With the aid of my hand on her hip she starts to grind her body against mine.

"I want it, please sir" She mumbles against my lips as our movements both become rather frantic and impatient. My hand leaves her chest as I tug my boxers down my leg, feeling my length spring back up and sit against my stomach. Elena's back on the pill so no worries about another surprise baby, though I don't think I'd exactly mind if that happened...

I shake the thought out of my head with a little help from my love, as she takes my length in her hand and lowers herself down onto me. I press my face against her collar bone and grunt against her soft skin as she fully envelopes me, her arms wrapping around my shoulders as she begins to rock her hips against me.

"Oh fuck, I wanted this all day" She moans as her forehead rests against mine before I frantically press my lips against hers, absorbing her moans as my hands find her hips. It's not surprising to hear, we mostly have sex when Juni is sleeping in the middle of the day, we're both fairly tired by the days end so we make time for it just before lunchtime. It hasn't become boring or routine like, something I think we were both afraid would happen. She's surprised me with sex in my office, in the kitchen while we make lunch, I've interrupted her run on the treadmill and even ate her out once while she was on the phone to Sarah. I think it's fair to say we're still pretty obsessed with one another.

"So did I baby, you feel so fucking good" I groan as we pick up the pace, our sweating bodies grinding against each other at a quick pace. Her hand reaches up to grasp the top of the couch behind me as she starts to move, really move. I trail my lips down her neck to her chest paying special attention to the dip between her neck and her collar bone. Her lips whimper out small curse words while she presses her body closely against mine, I can feel her legs quivering already.

My lips move down her neck and to the swells of her breasts, my tongue flicking her nipple softly as I dig my fingers into her hips. My movements elicit a loud moan from Elena as her head falls forward, her forehead leaning against my shoulder.

"You're mine, all mine" I tell her as I palm at one of her breasts, my lips enclosing around the skin of the other.

"All yours" She confirms with a low moan, a hand pulling on my hair as her other hand releases the top of the couch behind me. It's placed on my shoulder, her nails pressing deeply into my skin. I fucking love it when she scratches me.

"You gonna cum for me baby?" I bring my mouth up to her ear and demand. The rhythm that we've made is driving me fucking crazy, and though I never want it to stop I know that I'm so closing to exploding. I need her to cum first, I always have. Elena's mouth hangs open as she lets out a series of soft moans, nodding her head quickly. I decide to help along with the process, releasing my hand wrapped around her breast and sliding it down across her stomach to the apex of where our bodies meet.

"Fuck" Elena loudly moans as her nails scratch a long line down my shoulder and chest. I've always loved it when she swear, especially when I know that I'm the only one who's ever going to make her feel good like this. Elena tips her head back up to the ceiling as she rides me hard, moaning loudly as my fingers start to quickly rub her where our bodies connect.

"Can I please cum sir?" She whimpers as her hips begin to rock unsteadily against mine. I slip my tongue into her mouth and claim her completely, making my fingers ache with how quickly they rub against her.

"Yes you can, good girl" I say with a groan before I thrust up roughly into her and she disintegrates against me, my mouth absorbing her loud moan as her body begins to shake and stiffen while she reaches her high. Her skin radiates heat against mine as she rides out her high, her lips lazily slipping from mine while her nails deeply scratch the back of my neck. I firmly hold her waist as I continue to flex my hips deeply up into her, watching her face as she slowly begins to come down from her high. I find my own release a few moments later, calling out her name in a blind ecstasy as I hear her mumble how much she loves me in my ear.

—————————————————————————

"Well that went smoothly" Elena says quietly to me as we exit the church, a sound asleep Juni cradled in her arms. Mum got her wish; Juni is now 'cleansed' and christened and Elena got her wish; it was done in my family's church. Heather is her god mother and Max is her godfather, slightly awkward considering they haven't spoken to each other since their breakup but they were great. They didn't cause a scene, I was very proud of them.

"Yeah but now comes the worst part, the family party" I whisper to Elena as we walk down the path heading in the direction of our car. Mums hosting all of the family at hers for a 'post christening family celebration' and I couldn't be dreading it more than I already am. She's invited our whole family and it looks like everyone showed up. The only good thing about this whole thing is that all of our friends made the trip up as well, including Claudia which is a plus. It's the first time we've all been together in a really long time.

"It won't be so bad" Elena assures me as I open the backseat for her so she can strap Juni into her car seat.

"Your confidence in that is truly endearing my love" I tell her as she closes the back door, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek softly. I already know what's going to happen when we get to my mums house; my extended family are going to be all over us wanting details about Juni, they'll judge us for some of the choices we've made, I'll get pissed off and then I'll see an article from a 'source close to the family' with every little detail about the day.

"It's a christening, how bad could the after party be?" Elena says sweetly with a small shrug of her shoulders before climbing into the car.

"Such a lovely little church, I can see why Elena is so fond of it" Claudia says cheerfully as she finally splits off from my mum and climbs into the backseat with Juni. I get into the front seat and start the car.

"It reminds me of something out of an Austen novel. And it's part of Harry's family so it always has such a lovely energy about it" Elena twists around in her seat and replies to Claudia.

"And our lovely June bug did such a good job" Claudia coos quietly. I stop at the intersection and briefly check in the rearview mirror to see Claudia dotingly smiling at Juni in her car seat.

"Everyone did. I'm very happy it went off without a hitch. Do you think Heather and Max were okay?" Elena asks with a wistful sigh.

"It's hard to say. They have a lot to talk about but I'm guessing neither of them want to say it while at a christening" I explain. It was hard not to catch them both glancing at one another throughout the ceremony.

"Such a shame about those two. I hope they work it out, Max is a great match for Heather, he's a lovely boy" Claudia adds, leaning forward slightly. I'm always thrilled whenever Claudia approves of anything to do with me so her approval of one of my best mates is a very good feeling.

"I have faith, it might just take some time and they have plenty of that" Elena says gently as she looks out the window. Her words remind me of the watch she gave me for my birthday a few years ago with 'for all the time I get to love you' engraved onto the back of it. And now here we are some time later, driving back to my mothers house after our daughters christening.

"All good things take time, that is for sure" Claudia agrees with her daughter as I turn into mums driveway. There are already a few cars parked outside that I recognise from the church. Mums car is also in the driveway which means either she raced home to make sure everything was ready or I've become a slower driver now that I'm a father. Either is a possibility.

"I can bring her in sweetheart" Claudia tells Elena as we all climb out of the car, before she unclips Juni from her seat and cradles her close to her chest. Claudia is a very hands on grandmother, something I was very much anticipating. She spent months of Elenas pregnancy knitting Juni multiple items of clothing and a large collection of beautiful blankets. She's still living up in Highcliffe but I'm almost certain that she'll one day want to move to London just to be closer to her grandchildren.

"Thank you mumma" Elena says gratefully as we all head inside through the open front door, soft piano music filling the room as some of my family members are mingling in the dining room and living area. We've caught the weather on a good day, you never know with July honestly. We have spent so much time in mums back garden celebrating events over the past couple of years.

"There's the lady of the hour" I hear mum say excitedly as we all walk through the front door. She appears from the kitchen carrying a large tray of mini quiches before she deposits them onto the dining table amongst an enormous array of foods.

"Anne you didn't have to go to this much effort, it's so wonderful" Elena says in quiet awe as she steps forward and wraps my mum in a gentle hug. Luckily she hasn't gone too overboard with the decorating, just some pastel coloured balloons and lots of flowers.

"It was no trouble at all, anything for our little Juniper" Mum says in quiet glee as Claudia stands beside me, offering a slowly waking Juni out for me to hold. I take her and cradle her close; she'll be my 'get out of jail' free card if someone wants to talk to me, can't talk have to change her nappy.

"Can I do something to help?" Elena offers sweetly to which my mum gently puts a hand on her cheek and shakes her head.

"Absolutely not this is your day as a family, you enjoy yourselves. Mingle, spend time with Juni, do whatever makes you happy" Mum tells her delicately. The snarky side of myself wants to say 'if we can do what we want then can I leave?' but I refrain, for now. I'm not going to become one of those annoying sullen husbands who make a big deal about going to events they don't want to go to. I'll put on a smiling face and brave the storm, lord knows I've made Elena accompany me to enough charity auction dinners to last a lifetime.

"You okay?" I ask Claudia who stands closely beside me, a sad smile on her face as she watches her daughter cover her mouth as she laughs at something one of my mums friends has just said. She doesn't answer me, so I put my free hand on her shoulder and guide her towards the back door, leading to the garden outside. "Let's talk outside, away from my idiot relatives" I mumble quietly to her.

"Your family are wonderful" Claudia states gently as she blinks away some tears that have welled up in her eyes. We find the backyard empty as we sit down at the table set up underneath a giant red outdoor umbrella beside mums vegetable garden. Juni settles quietly, seemingly comfortable to lay her check against my chest.

"Sure, when they aren't asking for money or selling stories to the media" I answer with a sarcastic smile. I still haven't confirmed whether or not my family are the source of some of the leaks that get out to the media sometimes, but I haven't ruled out that possibility. Maybe it's confirmation bias, I don't like them and therefore I believe the worst, but I still keep my guard up and spend as little time with my extended family as I can. "So what's up?" I ask her as she tips her head back against the cushion behind her head.

"I think it just hit me all of a sudden that she's actually a mother. I know that seems silly, but I just never thought I'd see it happen for real" Claudia says with a soft sigh as she swipes at her cheek to collect the tears that seem to be drying up. It makes sense to me, sometimes I wake up and it takes me a second or two to realise that I'm not dreaming up the sound of my daughter crying down the hall.

"You didn't think she'd have kids?" I ask her lightly. I know Elena never considered having kids before me because she thought she would be looking after her mother for the rest of her life. I just didn't know if that was something that she'd openly discussed with Claudia.

"No, not really. I thought I ruined the idea of motherhood for her, after all I did to her" Claudia replies with a soft shake of her head, clearly still wrapped with guilt about Elena's childhood. I've heard bits and pieces over the years, only what Elena has felt comfortable sharing. But I know there's more she's never said, more that she might never be comfortable with sharing. And that's okay, I'd never push her to tell me more than she's comfortable with.

"You can't torture yourself about what happened in the past Claudia" I advise her gently, watching as she keeps her gaze fixated on her lap.

"I know I can't, but I also can't help it. Because I see what a wonderful life you've had with your family, and I know what a beautiful life you two will give Juniper. It just makes me wish I could have done more for her" Claudia says mournfully. I almost scoff when she mentions my childhood, I guess we haven't gone in depth about my past before.

"No ones childhood is perfect, mine certainly wasn't" I admit quietly. "If it helps at all, Elena speaks a lot about the good times she had as a child" I add to try and help and it seems to work, Claudia lets a small smile slip onto her face. Elena has some happy memories from her childhood and so do I. Our lives weren't complete nightmares when we were young.

"That's very sweet of you to say. I'll say it for the rest of my life, I will always be eternally grateful that Elena has you to love her" Claudia states happily. I thought for sure that Claudia was going to hate me before I met her, that I was some predatory narcissistic asshole who would take her daughters innocence and ruin her life. But that wasn't the case and she welcomed me in with open arms. It's funny to see Claudia and Elena together because finally Elena's personality and mannerisms start to make sense. We've managed to forge a really wonderful friendship over the years.

"And as I'll say for the rest of my life, I'm the lucky one out of the two of us" I say back with a small chuckle.

"I won't disagree with you there" Claudia replies with a beaming smile. "It so crazy how you two found each other, the universe has a beautiful way of throwing people together" She muses to herself with a nod of her head. I would agree with her, except for the fact that she, just like practically everyone else in our lives, is completely unaware of how Elena and I first met. I don't know if I could ever live it down if her mother found out how we really met, she'd be so disappointed by the man I used to be, I know I am.

"Its funny how things work out" I state as I rub Juni's back gently as she lets out a small yawn. "I didn't fancy myself as someone who would have kids, but things changed when I met Elena, quite rapidly really" Claudias smile grows wider as the words tumble out of my mouth.

"You're a very caring man, Harry, very supportive, loving too. All the qualities a good father needs" Claudia tells me. Fuck am I glad this woman hasn't figured out how to google my name, she wouldn't have found a lot to support her theory.

"You don't ever wish she had ended up with someone else?" I ask with a slight smile. Even if she did, I know Claudia is too polite to say so but I ask anyway.

"Goodness no! I will admit that the age difference and your different personalities threw me at first. But there is no denying the love that you two have for one another. I truly think you're perfect for her" Claudia answers with a warm smile I've come to recognise.

"You think I'm perfect for her?" I ask with slight disbelief.

"Absolutely." She answers with a simple warmth.

"There you guys are, thought you might want some tea!" Elenas sweet voice interrupts our conversation as she steps out from the back doorway, a cup of tea in either hand. She places both of the cups down opposite Claudia and I before sitting down close by my side, her sweet perfume briefly overwhelming my senses as she gently strokes Juni's cheek with the back of her forefinger. "What are you guys talking about?" She asks with a curious smile as Juni stretches her arms up and blinks softly, obviously excited by her mums presence.

"You, obviously" I say with a grin that has automatically taken over my face as I gently pass Juni to her. Elena grins and holds Juni up to her face, kissing her cheeks softly before settling her to sit on her lap.

"How much we both love you to be exact" Claudia adds with an endearing smile as Elena tilts her head softly. Elenas cheeks redden slightly as her smile grows wider.

"Aww, I love you guys too" Elena says softly as I put an arm around the back of her chair. "People are starting to arrive now, we should greet them" She adds softly as she turns her head to speak directly to me. I let out a soft sigh, my peace and tranquility coming to a swift end as I do indeed hear multiple family members making their appearance known inside the house.

"Just a couple of hours okay?" Elena reassured me sweetly, placing a hand on my cheek and gently stroking her thumb across my jaw. I'm a complete melt when she smiles at me this way, as though I'm the thing that she loves the most in the world. I lean into her touch, allowing it to comfort me the way it always does.

"Alright fine" I say with a defeated smile as I pick up the cup of tea and take a sip, it's perfect, of course it's perfect. Although I feel as though I'll need something a little bit stronger than tea pretty soon. Elena's hand slips from my cheek before placing it onto Juni's back, supporting her as she stands up and settles Juni against her hip.

"You okay mumma?" Elena asks Claudia with a small look of concern as Claudia stands up, her smile still beaming.

"Of course I'm okay, I'm wonderful my sweet girl" Claudia promises as she presses a kiss to Elenas temple, causing Elena to close her eyes and savour. As Claudia moves past her and back into the house, Elena turns to me.

"She's okay?" She asks me in a gentle whisper as I stand up and join her at her side. She's probably concerned about Claudia wanting to sit outside as opposed to being inside with everyone, Claudia can get overwhelmed sometimes.

"She's good, she's really good. We had a good chat" I reassure her, placing my hand on her shoulder and giving it a gentle rub. She doesn't need to deal with her mums guilt over Elenas childhood right now, it will only plague her mind and upset her for the rest of the day. Plus, Claudia is okay, she's with the people who love her.

Elena lets out a slight sigh of relief and cuddles Juni close to her side. Juni lays her head on her mums shoulder, completely content at staring at the world around her. Juni's eyes seemed to have settled on being brown just like Elenas and I'm absolutely thrilled by it, they're captivating and deep and take up so much of her gorgeous little face.

"Come on then, let's mingle" I put an arm around her back and lead her inside with a warm smile, into a packed room filled with the people I simultaneously love and hate the most in the world.

"I'll take one corner and you take the other? Cut down on time?" Elena suggests with a small smile. I like that idea, the faster we say hi and thank everyone for being here the faster they're likely to leave.

"Good idea. Good luck" I tell her before placing a swift kiss against her lips, feeling her smile grow wide against me.

"Good luck, and be nice" She warns me with a heartfelt smile before she splits off from me, diving straight in and making a beeline for my aunt Sylvia and her sons.

"Harry! Hi!" Emily nudges her way past one of my cousins and holds her arms out, waiting for a hug. Fuck, I thought I'd at least be able to get a beer in me before it all started.

"Hey Emily, it's nice to see you" I answer politely. It's not that I don't like Emily, I do, I guess, I don't know. The first time she and Elena met she really got under Elena's skin and when we do see each other at events she hardly even acknowledges Elena. So I guess I'm a little bit wary of her now.

"Look at you in your amazing suit, you look very handsome" Emily says with a giggling purr, fucking hell is she actually going to try and hit on me at my daughters christening? That's bold.

"Thank you for coming today, it's a special day for all of us" I tell her, trying to keep the conversation in a safe territory. I crane my neck around and try to spot Elena and Juni, no luck, I could have sworn she was right there a moment ago.

"Of course, come on I wouldn't miss it for the world, I'm always going to support you" She responds with a sickeningly sweet smile. Was she always like this? Even if I was single I wouldn't be into this at all, I can almost smell the desperation radiating off of her.

"Well, we appreciate the support" I say with a strained smile.

"I just cannot believe you're a father now, that's so unbelievably crazy, I did not think you would get there" She tells me with a small sigh, the grin still sitting on her bright red lipstick.

"Honestly I didn't either. But when you meet the right person, things change" I answer with a small smirk, quite proud of my answer. I see her smile falter slightly, but she's quick to regain her composure.

"There you are" Elena appears by my side, a very clingy Juni in her arms with a wide smile as she takes in who I'm standing opposite with. "Emily, it's great to see you" She addresses her with an upbeat tone.

"El! You look incredible, congratulations!" Emily tells her as she gives her a half hug. El? No one in the world has ever called Elena 'El'. Everyone knows her nickname is 'Lena' but otherwise everyone just calls her Elena. I think the first time they met she called her 'Ella' or some shit like that, even though I know she knew what her name was. And I've never really understood the way that some women choose to fight with each other by using snide comments and dirty looks but I feel like I'm seeing a low key version of it as Emily compliments Elena's appearance.

"Thank you, that's so sweet. How have you been? What are you up to?" Elena asks, breezing past what just happened.

"Oh, just the same old stuff for me. I've been doing a bit of travelling this past year, really investing in some 'me time'. But other than that I've been stuck at work but you know how that goes Harry." Emily answers with a small giggle.

"Well actually, Elena's back at work and I'm staying at home with little bugsy" I say, leaning over to kiss the top of Juni's head as she remains curled up against Elena. Emily raises an eyebrow.

"Bugsy?" She asks with slight concern. Elena giggles before explaining the nickname.

"From Juniper you get June bug, and then that sometimes just becomes bugsy. She has about a thousand different nicknames, I'm sure she'll pick her favourites one day but when she does she'll have a lot of options" Elena says while rubbing Juni's back. She does really have so many nicknames, it was one of the things Elena wanted when we were deciding on her name. I mostly stick with Juni, June bug and bugsy whereas Elena loves ju ju and Juni the most.

"Right, that makes sense" Emily says with a small laugh. "How long do you think you'll be at home with her for?" She asks, tilting her head slightly.

"Indefinitely. The company runs itself well enough with the team I've set up and I love being a stay at home dad. It works for us" I say with a proud smile as I drape my arm around Elena's shoulder. I'm a committed family man and I've settled down with my forever girl, surely Emily gets that now.

"Oh, that's nice. I know the early stages of new parenting can be difficult, I'm just glad that you guys are making it work so well" Emily answers with a kind hearted smile that would be a nice gesture if she hadn't just said what she had said.

"In all honesty it hasn't been that tough for us" Elena begins with a warm grin, clearly catching onto Emily's true intentions of making Elena feel small. "It's just brought us so much closer together, and watching him become a sad has just made me fall in love with him even more than I already was" Her tone is relaxed and casual but it was meant to be taken as a brag, and judging by the look on Emily's face it was taken as one. She blinks quickly before smiling widely back at us, clearly uncomfortable.

"That's wonderful for you two, I'm so happy for you guys. I'm just going to get some food but I'll talk to you guys again soon" Emily makes a rushed exit as she scarpers off through the crowd back towards the kitchen.

"Did she call me 'El'?" Elena asks with a disbelieving scoff, glancing up at me with a confused look.

"I'm so glad you caught that, yes she did what the hell no one calls you that" I reply in a quietly amused tone of voice. Elena lets out a small giggle and rolls her eyes.

"At this point I think she's refusing to learn my name, like my actual name" She replies with a lighthearted laugh as Peter approaches the two of us.

"How're you two doing?" He asks the two of us with a wide grin on his face. He's always such a happy man, something I think I judged him for initially but I've grown to actually really like about him.

"We're good, just had a lovely chat with Emily" I say her name in a hushed tone as I roll my eyes. Peter chuckles and nods his head.

"Apparently she thinks I like being called 'El'" Elena informs him as Juni lifts her head up from her chest and gazes around the party. Peter scrunches his face up slightly.

"Yeah no, that's weird. You're not 'El', never have been" Peter says with a confident nod. Elena puts a hand on his arm and grins widely at him.

"Right!? Thank you!" Elena gushes as Peter waves at Juni. "Do you want to give her a cuddle for a bit? She's being a little clingy but I think some grandpa time will do her some good" She suggests. The answering smile on Peters face looks like it could power the sun. He happily places his beer down on the table nearby and wipes his hands on a napkin.

"I'd love to" He answers as Elena gently shifts Juni into Peters awaiting arms, ready to take her back if she starts to become upset. But Juni is more than willing, happily laying her head down on Peters shoulder. "You guys hang out with your friends, I'll parade her around to everyone you don't like" He tells us quietly, gesturing to some of my mums extended family on the other side of the room. This is what's so great about Peter, he understands who in my family is genuine and who are not. And he's willing to take a bullet for me in the way of fake family niceties, 10/10 grandpa.

"Brilliant, I'm just going to check on Heather for a bit, make sure she's okay after this whole Max co-godparent thing" Elena says sweetly before she leans up on her toes and presses a kiss to my cheek and hurries off. Guess I'm not invited to girls chat, bummer.

"She really does love you" I admire as Juni remains happily settled in Peters arms. I've seen him be a great grandpa to Gemma's kids, but it feels a lot different watching him look out for my daughter the same way.

"The feeling is very mutual son. Now go on, get yourself another beer, you might need it" He tells me with a small chuckle. I haven't told anyone this, but there was a period of time when we thought that Juni was going to be a boy. And for that period of time we knew his middle name would be 'Peter'.

"Thanks mate" I tell him, stroking Juni's back for a moment before walking back towards the kitchen to hunt down a beer.

"Enjoying yourself Fran?" I ask her as I spot her investigating all of the photos my mum has fixed to the fridge door. Fran jumps slightly as I open the fridge, taking out a beer and offering her one. She takes it and laughs.

"I can't believe you've let your mother keep this photo of you" She gestures to a photo of me at four years old standing naked in a kiss paddling pool with green paint all over my face.

"The others have been burned, had to let her keep some good memories" I answer as I lean back against the kitchen counter and take in the other photos on the fridge alongside her. You can barely reach the handle for the door without threat of knocking something off of it, but that's the way mum likes it. I would estimate the woman has at least 10,000 photos in this house in frames, albums, boxes and magnetised to her fridge.

"This one's the best" Fran gestures to a picture up on the far left corner of the fridge and I instantly recognise it as being from Theos christening. Elena and I are sitting down on a bench outside the church after the ceremony, Elena is holding little baby Theo wrapped in a white blanket while Charlie sits on my lap, poking her tongue out at the camera. I remember when mum showed me the print out a few days later and commented about how wonderful it is to see what the future could look like for me. I rolled my eyes of course but it made my nervously excited because I knew that only a few days earlier I had bought Elena her ring, the ring that she's now wearing on her finger.

"Yeah I do look very handsome in that one" I say with a smirk. I can see Fran rolling her eyes out of the corner of my eye.

"Good to know you haven't changed too much" She answers with a slight laugh before I gesture to my favourite photo on the fridge.

"That one's my personal favourite" I tell her, pointing to a photo of Elena, Gemma, Charlie, Claudia and my mum on the day of Elenas graduation. I remember her being so overwhelmed and happy that day, that she was surrounded by so many people who loved her and were proud of her. I hate that she didn't have all of that growing up, but I'm glad that it's something I was able to give to her now.

"Such a superstar, I think she's probably the cleverest person I know. But totally in that understated way that doesn't feel braggy, you know what I mean?" Fran responds with a light smile before she has a long sip of her beer.

"I get what you mean" I answer with a proud smile. Elenas the kind of person who uses her smarts to help others, not to put herself first. She's not like me, and I couldn't be prouder.

"I'm just glad you didn't marry some random insta model or heaven forbid, Holly" She tells me with a small frown.

"Thought you and Holly were friends?" I ask with a raised brow. She and Sarah were the only reasons that Holly was in our 'circle', I have all that bullshit history with her and no-one else is really a fan so Fran and Sarah were really all she had.

"We were, but after everything that happened at the spa before Sarah's wedding, it just sort of left a bad taste in my mouth" She pauses and takes in my confused facial expression. "Remember? You and Elena were in that massive fight and Holly tried to smooth talk her way back into your life through Elena. Your girl really held her own that day, handled business like a boss I was so proud"

As she reminds me of all comes flooding back in a bit of a rush. Sarah and Mitch's wedding was not really a good time for Elena and I, that whole trip turned out to be kind of a disaster. But I do remember hearing about the incident at the spa the next day from Elena. And while she was ashamed of some of the things she said, I couldn't have been prouder or more attracted to her.

"Trust me, I'm grateful that whole thing with Holly is dead in the past. And you don't need friends like her, you've got way better ones here" I tell her sincerely. Fran has always been a good friend even if I fought against it at first. When we first met I wrote her off as just some vapid influencer who was looking for clout or a leg up on her way to the top of the socialite food chain. But the longer I've spent with her the better I see her, and it does help that she's been an amazing friend to Elena for these past few years.

"I've been thinking about moving to London, leaving that whole LA scene behind me. I mean, I'm here most of the time anyway because of Z, it just makes the most sense" She confides in me. I was sure that this Z guy would just be another guy in her long line of past relationships, not that I have any right to judge based on my history. But she and Zayn have been pretty solid over the past year despite the long distance and the ever invasive public eye. We've met him a few times and he seems like a decent enough guy, I think he's good for her.

"What would you do over here if you were to move?" I ask her curiously. It seems like if you're going to play the influencer game then the best place to be would be LA.

"Oh please, I can be Francesca Sutton anywhere and I'd find work. I'm kind of a big deal over here" She tells me with a coy smile and a dramatic flip of her hair. She's not wrong, her fanbase is crazy loyal to her, I wouldn't be surprised if some of her Manchester fans were camped outside of my mums house hoping for a glimpse of her this afternoon.

"Well, I think you should do it. It'd be nice to have us all in one place for once" I tell her with a warm smile. Now that Sarah and Mitch have bought a place near ours, we all are in somewhat driving distance from one another, all except for Fran.

"I have some things to figure out, but I'm feeling more and more sure about it by the day. I'll have it figured out by the end of summer, just do me a favour? Don't tell Elena until it's all sorted out?" She asks me with a conspiratorial smile. Keeping things from Elena isn't exactly something I'm fond of doing these days, been burned by it too many times before. But I guess it's a nice surprise and not something malicious or harmful this time.

"Sure thing kid" I promise her with a smile and clink my beer against hers before lifting the bottle up to my lips and taking a sip.

"Speaking of kids, where is yours right now?" Fran asks with a slight laugh. I point over to the other side of the room, where a jovial Peter is introducing Juni to a group of distant cousins whose names I can't be bothered to remember.

"Fucking hell she's cute, I'm so glad that birth control is only like 90% effective and Elena gets easily confused by time zones" Fran states with a happy sigh. I watch as Peter lifts up Juni's hand, waving over at my mum on the other side of the room. Mum laughs softly and waves back joyfully, completely enamoured watching the two of them.

"Same" I say simply.

"Please tell me you guys aren't going to 'one and done' this whole parenting thing" Fran responds quickly.

"Nah, definitely not. We didn't buy a nine bedroom house to only use two" I say with a chuckle. Elena and I still haven't quite settled on a number yet, I guess it will just be one of those 'let's see what happens' situations. But in my mind, Juni won't be an only child.

"Sometimes I forget how rich you really are" Fran says with a sense of wonder.

"Don't worry, I'll keep reminding you" I say with a smirk as she playfully shoves my arm. I'm about to ask her something when I spot Elena at the edge of the party, seemingly trapped in a conversation with my aunt Jen. Damn it, I can't let her deal with that all by herself.

"I'll check back in with you later, gotta save my girl from my bitchy aunt Jen" I tell Fran quickly, hearing her laugh fade into the background as I make my way across the party to stand by Elena's side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close into my side. Don't worry baby, I'm here.

"Harry! There you are my sweet boy, you've been socialising up a storm I've barely seen you this whole party" Jen says joyfully as she clasps her half empty wine glass like it's a life raft and she's on a sinking ship.

"Just been mingling, how are things" I say with as polite of a tone as I can measure. I can already feel the headache this woman is about to inflict upon me.

"Things are going well for me dear thank you for asking. Elena was just telling me she's gone back to work full time" Jen says with a lighthearted tone that I don't buy for a fucking second. Uh oh, she's doing a terrible job masking her judgement.

"Almost full time. Basically I leave the office around 4 each day to get home in time to do the nighttime routine" Elena responds with light enthusiasm and pride.

"How can you bear it? When I was a new mother I couldn't be away for more than 10 minutes without feeling as though I was dying" She gasps dramatically. I don't appreciate what she's insinuating, and I'm about to say something about it when Elena responds to her.

"It can definitely be tough. But I'm very lucky that I have Harry at home with her" Elena answers diplomatically as she leans into my side.

"I would have thought that Harry would be the one back in the office, he is the one with the empire of course" Jen states with what some onlooker might see as pride but we all know she's making a dig at Elena, which I will not stand for.

"Elenas work is more important than mine. And besides, I have hired people who do my job for me" I answer with a fake smile. I could have sworn I just had a version of this conversation minutes ago with fucking Emily, now I gotta do all of this bullshit again.

"I don't know. Call me old fashioned I suppose, but I believe that mothers should be home with their babies. Especially when they're still so little. No offence meant of course". Jen responds with a slight laugh, seemingly oblivious to how awkward she is making this interaction. I can feel Elena tense up beside me, but she's not nearly half as tense as I am. I'm about to curse her out, throw the fact that her husband is half the time too busy eyeing up Waitrose check out girls to be a good father back at her face, but Elena speaks before I get the chance.

"Well this is the way we're doing things and it has been working out great so far." Elena answers with a smile. I know she's becoming more and more annoyed the longer this conversation goes on for. Jen shrugs her shoulders and narrows her eyes at the ground for a moment.

"Well then, whatever works for you two I suppose. Where is the little one?" Jen asks, craning her neck to look around the party.

"With her grandpa" I say with a shrug as I point to the other end of the room, where Peter cradles Juni to his chest as he chats to Max, Heather and my cousin Georgina.

"Is that how you'll be referring to him as? Grandpa?" Jen asks indignantly, as though the notion is bizarre. This bitch really does make my blood boil.

"Of course we are!" Elena says with a lighthearted laugh. "He's a wonderful grandfather, she couldn't be in better hands" I don't think Elena trusts me to speak right now, nor should she.

"Is your father here Elena? I'd love to meet him" Jen asks her. I don't know if I can blame her for that one, we've kept Elena's family situation well under wraps since the beginning. No one knows about Frank or Claudias struggles with mental illness and I don't want that to change. Most of my family are upper class judgemental pricks, and the last thing I want is for them to make Elena feel like an outsider.

"No, he isn't. My life doesn't involve my father. So that's why I am extra supportive of Peter and his role as Junipers grandad. He's been the father figure I've needed the past few years and I'm grateful for him everyday" Elena answers with a small smile. I tuck her closer into my side as she speaks, her words briefly smothering out the burning pit of rage that was building inside of me. As if on cue, Peter presses a kiss to the top of Juni's head as she rests her head on his chest, clearly very at ease with him. Juni will have a very different upbringing than either Elena or I had. She'll be forever surrounded by good people who adore her and would do anything to keep her safe and happy.

"Well then, that's nice. I'm going to get myself a top up, if you'll both excuse me" Jen smiles politely before heading back into the kitchen. I feel Elenas shoulders sag against me.

"I hate that woman" Elena whispers with an exhaustive sigh.

"Welcome to the club, we meet twice a year" I respond with a small chuckle as I lead Elena to the opposite end of the room, towards Peter and our friends.

"Why only twice a year?" Elena asks me with a confused smile.

"Because she doesn't deserve to be thought about any more than that. Just ignore her" I assure her before pressing a kiss to her temple. I can feel her relax slightly, but there's still a tense feeling around her. "Don't let what she said bother you"

"I'm not" Elena says in a slightly defensive tone.

"Bub, you're a terrible liar, come on" I say with a sigh as Elena stops walking and tugs on my hand, forcing me to stop in place as well.

"Did I make a mistake going back to work?" She asks in a rushed and quiet tone, her forehead creased. This is fucking ridiculous, I'm not going to let fucking Jen ruin how Elena feels about going back to work. I'm about to quietly reassure her just as Peter appears at our side.

"I think the little sweetheart wants her mumma" Peter says with a wide smile as Juni holds out a hand towards Elena. Of course, Elena doubts going back to work and Juni wants a cuddle, the timing seems almost perfectly written.

"She may want a feed, let's take her upstairs" Elena says as the slightly sad smile from mere seconds earlier slips away as Peter passes Juni to her. I thank Peter before I lead Elena up the stairs, down the hall and into my old bedroom, shutting the door behind us.

"We just fed her a short while ago she should be okay" I say as Elena sits down on the edge of the bed, facing me as Juni curls her head up into the crook of Elenas neck.

"I know, she's just a good excuse to get some time alone away from everyone downstairs" Elena says with a frustrated sigh.

"Have other people been saying things to you?" I ask her, more concerned that Jen was just the straw that broke the camels back and not just an isolated incident.

"Well no one has been quite as forward as Jen but when I've said that I'm back at work and you're staying home they seem so shocked and surprised. Like they're judging me" She responds with a shake of her head as her hand gently strokes Juni's hair. I'm retrospect, they probably are judging us for every decision we have made with regards to Juni.

"Who gives a fuck if they judge us and our decisions? They're our decisions. Sorry" I say emphatically before apologising for saying 'fuck' after Elena gives me a disapproving look. It doesn't last for long though, and her eyes return to their sad and vulnerable state they were in before.

"I know, I just don't want them to think less of me. They already think I'm a gold digger who trapped you with a baby. I don't want them to now think that I don't love that baby enough to be home with her" Elena sighs as she holds Juni close to her chest, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

"Okay, where has that all been sitting? Why didn't you tell me you felt any of that?" I ask quickly as I kneel down on the floor in front of her, reaching a hand up to rub her arm gently.

"It all just formulated today. It's the first time we've seen everyone since she was born. I thought that maybe now that they saw us as like an actual family unit that it would maybe change things" She tells me, keeping her gaze down at the floor. The soft sadness in her voice is completely breaking my heart.

"Darling, everyone with eyes and ears knows how much you love her regardless of whether or not you've chosen to go to work" I say to her gently. Elena nods her head slowly as she blinks her eyes quickly. I know she has her moments of intense anxiety, I just didn't think it would stem from a family event like this. "Who's said this sort of thing to you, or who made you believe it?" I query. If any of my relatives have seriously made her feel like this then I'll be fucking marching downstairs and knocking their lights out.

"I just-" Elena begins before she lets out a frustrated sigh. "I read some comments below an article about us the other day that got into my head, about how I trapped you and how people feel sorry for you. It sort of just got translated in my head, like surely that's what some of your family think of me too" She admits with a defeated look, cradling Juni's head. I let out a sigh, the internet can be a seriously cruel place sometimes. And it couldn't be more untrue, if anyone's trapped anyone here, I've trapped Elena. She was the young girl fresh out of University who could have gone anywhere and done anything with her life and instead she's an engaged mother stuck with me.

"You can't let the uninformed opinions of pathetic people with too much free time ruin how you view yourself" I tell her firmly as I stand up from my kneeling position and pull out the chair under the desk, sitting down on it in front of her.

"I know I know I know, the public haven't always favoured me that much anyway I don't know why it would be different now. I just hate the idea that I'm walking through a room of people who think that I'm after your money and that I'd use a baby to secure some of it" Elena replies with a slight frown. I want to laugh but I hold it in, the family that matter know Elena to be the angel that saved me from a miserable life, not some gold digging hustler who trapped me in an awful life.

"Bub, no one who knows you would think that you are capable of doing something like that" I tell her, I know this is personal for her. She's had insecurities about our relationship many times before but now that we have Juni it's different. People can say whatever they want about me I really don't give a fuck, but don't fucking say shit about my family.

"You don't think it's crossed Jens mind? Or Emily? Who knows who else thinks that about me and is just too polite to say anything" Elena answers with a frustrated sigh.

"You can't care about what they think, they're stubborn and they're selfish, they're going to think what they like and there's no changing that" I answer, watching as Juni lifts her head up and gazes curiously around the room. I stand up briefly and walk over to my desk, trying to find something to amuse her with.

"I know, I know you're right. I just can't help but feel like I'm not doing anything the right way. Like, maybe I should be staying home with her and letting you go back to work" Elena says with a slight sigh. I turn back around to look at her and watch as she lays Juni down on her back on top of the bed before presenting her with a small toy rattle from Elena's bag. Juni grabs it with both hands and is instantly transfixed by it, that should keep her occupied for the next hour or so if necessary.

"Do you want to work?" I ask her seriously as I sit back down in the chair opposite her. If this is her way of saying that she wants to stay home and isn't enjoying being back at work then I need her to be honest. Because if she's not happy then all of this stops working and it needs to be fixed.

"Yes I do, I really do. I love my job and I love having my independence and making a difference. I just feel guilty, like I should be sacrificing spending time with her by indulging myself with work. It's not like we need the money" She answers, keeping a hand on Juni's head as she delicately strokes her hair. Elena's gaze fixes on me, a sad and confused look that I haven't seen in so long.

"Yeah, we don't need the money, but you need to have something that you enjoy in life outside of us. That's not selfish, and you can't feel guilty about it. Do you know how insanely proud Juni will be when she is old enough to understand what you do for a job? She's going to think you're incredible" I put a hand on Elena's shoulder and smile, watching as the corners or Elena's lips quirk upwards slightly.

"Are you sure? Because if the arrangement we have now doesn't work for you then it needs to change" Elena asks me with a concerned tone, and I can't help but smile about how similar our thoughts have become these days.

Do I want Elena to be at home with Juni and I? Of course I do. I'm a selfish, clingy man in love who wants the woman he loves around him constantly. But what I want more than that is to know that Elena goes to work and feels a sense of pride and accomplishment in what she does before coming home to us in the afternoon. I couldn't bare the thought of keeping her locked away in our home when she truly wanted to be out in the world making a difference. I've done that shit for nearly two decades so I'm ready to sit at home with my daughter, cook dinner and get nursery rhymes stuck in my head.

"This works for me bub, I promise" I tell her, cupping her cheek gently as her head leans into my touch.

"I'm sorry" Elena says after a heavy sigh. "This whole motherhood thing has been a bit of an adjustment, it's making all of my insecurities act up again" She informs me with a sad smile before shaking her head and looking back down at Juni.

"Gemma always made it look so easy didn't she?" I say with a small smirk in an attempt to lighten the mood. Elena lets out a slight giggle and nods her head.

"She definitely did" She answers lightly before letting out a small laugh.

"Well, I just heard something that I think might make you feel better" I say with a slight smirk, her eyes widen slightly as she inches closer to me. "It's kind of a secret so you can't say anything okay?"

"Oh my god, is Gemma pregnant again?" Elena asks me with a gasp, to which I shake my head. "Sarah? If Sarah is pregnant I will bawl my eyes out" She continues asking. She loves having Gemma and Heather as fellow mums, but she's dying for Sarah to join the club too.

"No it's not Sarah. Do you promise to keep whatever I'm about to tell you to yourself?" I ask her with a grin, knowing that she'll do her absolute best but there are no promises. I wanted to keep Frans secret but it feels wrong to not tell Elena something that I know will make her insanely happy, even if it's only for a few minutes before we go back downstairs.

"I promise I'll try really really hard! Now tell meeee" She answers practically giddy, knowing her own limitations of secret keeping. My sweet terrible liar.

"Fran is possibly moving to London at the end of summer. She just told me like ten minutes ago. Things are going good for her in her relationship and she's wanting to get out of LA" I tell her, joyfully watching as a radiant smile spreads across her face.

"That is the best news I have heard in soooooo long. All my favourite people finally all living in the same country, it's unbelievably perfect" Elena says in a dreamy tone. There's my love, all smiles and sunshine, the dark cloud that was hanging around her head has now drifted away.

"I know, it's great. But you can't share it with anyone, Fran asked me to keep it a secret from you in case it falls apart and it doesn't end up happening" I remind her, to which Elena nods confidently and brushes her hand through Juni's hair.

"I can do it, I'll keep it to myself" She reassured me. I give it a week before she's revealed to Fran that I've told her, or she'll try to be subtle and start talking about how amazing the 'London Lifestyle' is and Fran will figure it out. Oh well.