Harry's P.O.V

"I think somethings happening" I hear Elena tell speak from the doorway of my office. I look up to see her clutching her rounded belly, her face contorted into a look of concern and confusion. I stand up immediately and walk around the desk over to her.

"Okay, tell me what happened" I say, trying to keep my voice calm and level. I take one of Elena's hands in mine as she leans herself against the door frame.

"I had this like weird feeling and so I walked into the bathroom, and all of a sudden I felt this like...gushing...down there. And now I'm feeling really intense pains that I feel like might be contractions." Elena explains in between deep breaths. My heart begins to pound in my chest, holy fuck this might be it. The timing is about right, it's a few days before Elena's due date so it wouldn't be bad if this was real labour.

"When did that happen?" I ask her as I help her walk over to one of the chairs in my home office and help her to sit down slowly.

"About ten minutes ago, I was scared of walking down the stairs so it took me a while to get down here" She tells me through a strained smile. I reach up and stroke a hand through her hair softly. "At what point do I get to go to the hospital and get all of the amazing drugs?" She asks timidly. I can't help but chuckle before I think about her question.

"When the contractions are 5 minutes apart, a minute long and they've been happening for over an hour" I recite the information I read in basically all the books I've read over the past seven months. Elena groans softly and leans forward slightly.

"Are you having another-" I don't even bother finishing my sentence as Elena nods her head quickly and squeezes my hand tightly. I check my watch, 4:18pm, and start to time it. "Let go of my hand when it's finished" I tell her gently, trying to see if I'm able to figure out the length of time using my watch or if we'll have to figure it out with my phone. After 38 seconds, she lets go of my hand and breathes out an exhausted sigh.

"How long was that?" She queries.

"38 seconds" I tell her, to which she groans.

"And it's the afternoon. Which means I'll be in labour through the night and probably the day tomorrow which means I don't even get to be fully well rested for labour. Our think our baby is kind of a bitch and I think this is her first act of defiance against me" Elena says with a small huff. Even in an incredibly physically uncomfortable situation, she's still making me laugh.

"At least she isn't boring" I point out with a small grin. Elena nods her head with a small giggle before tipping her head back completely. She seems exhausted already, and this whole process has only just begun.

"I should get dressed, I'm not in appropriate hospital attire" Elena says with a slight sigh. It's a good thing we packed the hospital bags last weekend and put it by the front door ready to go.

"Alright then" I agree and hold out my hands to her, helping to pull her to her feet and walking with her down the hallway. She doesn't necessarily need me to help her walk but I'm there anyway. We make it all the way up the stairs and down the hall into our bedroom before she has a second contraction. 4:25pm and 42 seconds long.

"Right now we're sitting at 7 minutes apart and averaging about 40 seconds long. So we're close but not quite there yet" I inform her as she strips out of her clothes and emerges from the closet in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.

"That's way toooo loonnnggg" Elena tells me with a small pout once she emerges from the closet as I pack some last minute items like our chargers, Elena's kindle and our wallets into a bag.

"Lie down on the bed, get comfortable" I suggest to her as I step back and help her climb up into the bed, watching as she lays down on top of the covers.

"Maybe we should call my mum, and your mum" Elena suggests as she lays her head down on the pillow. I take out my phone and call my mums number and put the phone on loud speaker.

"Is it happening?" She asks hurriedly the moment she answers the phone. Elena lets out a small laugh after hearing the response.

"Contractions are seven minutes apart. So no need to speed down here yet but just wanted to update you" I tell her. I know it's useless, she's not going to take the chance on missing this.

"Peter! It's time! Start packing! We're on our way sweetheart, how's Elena doing?" She asks, completely disregarding my words.

"I'm okay Anne, a little uncomfortable but I'm okay so far. I'm very nervous though " Elena admits to her as she shifts around uncomfortably in the bed.

"Oh you wonderful girl you're going to do amazing. You're a strong, powerful woman and you can do this" Mum says emphatically, bringing a soft smile to Elena's face.

"Thank you Anne. I love you" Elena tells her in response.

"I love you too sweetheart. We'll be there soon" Mum responds.

"Mum seriously we haven't even left for the hospital yet. Just drive down in the morning, it doesn't make sense for you to leave now" I try and convince her, hearing a sigh at the other end of the line.

"Alright fine, we'll leave first thing tomorrow. But I want updates every time something changes you hear me mister?" She presses further. I roll my eyes.

"Yes of course mum, I'll keep you updated. We'll see you tomorrow" I assure her.

"Elena sweetheart, just remember to breathe nice and deep. Everything is going to be okay, the pain is temporary and you will get through it" Mum calls out down the phone, resulting in Elena nodding her head quickly and squeezing her eyes shut for a second.

"Thank you Anne, We'll see you tomorrow" Elena speaks with a soft smile. The phone call ends and I bring up Claudias number as Elena sits up and takes a sip from her drink bottle beside the bed.

"Hello Harry sweetheart, you okay?" Claudia sweetly answers the phone, her voice bringing an immediate warm smile to Elena's face.

"Hey Claudia. We're okay, but Elena's begun to have contractions. We're not going to the hospital yet but will probably be heading there tonight" I inform her. I've found that it's always best to just be completely straightforward with Claudia to avoid her feeling unsure or increasing her worries.

"How is she feeling?" Claudia asks excitedly.

"I'm okay mama, I'm not loving the contractions though" Elena calls out with a giggle.

"Aw I know sweetheart, but you're going to love the end result of it all more than anything in this whole world" Claudia tells her sincerely. Elena grabs my hand and blinks back some tears as she nods her head.

"You're right. But anyway, don't drive down here yet. Wait and come down tomorrow morning or else you'll just be stuck in an uncomfortable chair for the whole night" Elena adds as I reach my hand up and stroke her cheek gently.

"Alright darling. I'll pack myself a bag and leave first thing in the morning. But I'll have my phone on all night and if anything changes and it starts moving any faster you let me know" Claudia replies.

"I'll keep you updated Claudia don't worry" I assure her.

"Thank you Harry. I love you both so much. Harry, you look after my darling girl" She responds. I smile back at Elena and nod my head.

"Of course Claudia, we love you too" I tell her before the call ends. A few seconds later, Elena tightly squeezes my hand as her face contorts in pain. I check my watch, 4:31, 54 seconds.

"We're getting there, slowly but surely" I advise her when the contraction ends and she lets out a long sigh.

"I know this is going to take so much longer than this but this is already exhausting" She breathes out heavily with a warm smile on her face.

"You can do this bub" I reassure her as I stroke the back of her hand.

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We don't end up leaving for the hospital until 8pm, and by that point Elena was already so exhausted and my hand felt like it had been broken in around sixteen places. But I wouldn't dare complain about that out loud, I'm not completely stupid.

It's now the early morning on the day that my daughter will possibly be born. Elena has finally been able to get some sleep after receiving her epidural an hour ago. She's at 5 centimetres, halfway there apparently. In contrast, I haven't slept yet. I'm worried about falling asleep and missing something happening or not being there for her if she needs me. So I'm awake, re-reading the labour section of one of the pregnancy books Elena packed into the hospital bag. The phone in my lap buzzes to life and I check the notification:

'Parked in the car park now, what's her room number? X' The text from mum reads. I reply back with the room number and advise them to be quiet when coming up to the room as she's finally getting some sleep.

They've put us into quite a lovely room, it's massive and has an amazing view of the London skyline. They've even made up a bed for me on the couch and have a catered menu available if Elena wants to eat anything when she wakes up. Outside I can see the early morning frost, it's possible that it's going to snow today, and I can't help but smile at how fitting that sounds for a day like this. Elena adores the snow, she could watch it snow outside for hours, so it feels right that our daughter would be born today.

'How's our girl doing ? 😊' Heather's message comes through on my phone.

'She's finally getting some sleep, 5 cm, when things start to pick up I'll let you know' I respond to her text. Heather made it very clear that she wished to be there for Elena throughout the process, as she knew that had it not been for the car accident that Elena would have been by her side throughout everything when she had Benjamin. Being in this hospital room, with Elena on the bed and me on the couch is reminding me a lot of that time period. Those few weeks after the accident were some of the worst in my whole life, watching her struggle through so much pain simply to stand up and walk around was horrible to watch.

"Hiii" Mum pops her head in through the door as she whispers her greeting. I smile and stand up, beckoning for them to come in. Mum and Peter walk in, carrying a bouquet of sunflowers and a small teddy bear.

"Good to see you guys" I tell them as I give my mum a kiss on the cheek and hug her as Peter sits the flowers and bear down on the table along the wall.

"How long has she been asleep for?" Peter asks as I give him a quick hug.

"About an hour" I whisper back. "She got the epidural which definitely helped with the pain, she's doing amazing" I tell them as they sit down on the other chairs that are positioned around the couch.

"And how are you feeling?" Mum asks me with a knowing smile. I shrug my shoulders.

"I think I'm okay. Of course I'm sort of freaking out about becoming a dad soon but I'm trying not to freak out just yet" I say with a quiet chuckle. I know at some point today I'm going to freak the fuck out about how unprepared I am to be a dad, but I'm not going to do that in front of Elena. Not while she's going through all this pain, the last thing she needs is to worry about how I'm feeling.

"Don't worry so much, you have been reading and studying those parenting books for months. You're ready for this" Mum tries to reassure me before she takes her phone out of her bag and checks the screen. "That's your auntie, I'll take it outside" She tells us before quickly leaving the room. I roll my eyes, the last thing I want is to have to deal with my extended family today.

"I really hope they don't all want to come down here. Between you and me, your aunt is a nightmare" Peter whispers to me conspiratorially. I cover my mouth as I let out a quiet laugh.

"Glad I'm not the only one" I respond as Peter grins back at me. I let out a slight sigh before I shake my head.

"You're going to have to help me with all this stuff. You know, the dad stuff" I inform him with a small smile. "I know you're not my real dad or anything, but you've been like a father to me the last few years." I begin to explain as a grin sweeps across his face.

"Whatever you need, I'm always going to be here for you" He tells me sincerely. I nod my head.

"Elena doesn't have her dad around anymore, and all I've got is you. So as far as I'm concerned, you're my daughters only grandfather. And I hope that's something that you're okay with" I tell him, we've not really discussed whether he was okay with being referred to as the baby's grandad and it's something I want to have cleared up before she's born. Peter blinks and nods his head, the grin remaining on his face.

"I would be honoured to be her grandfather. And I promise you I'm not going to let her down" He tells me warmly. I feel a weight lift off my shoulders as it all falls into place.

"You brought Rufus" Peter and I both turn towards the bed as we hear Elena sleepily mumble as she points in the direction of the bear sitting beside the flowers. It takes me a second to realise that it is in fact Rufus, the bear I had growing up.

"Your mum thought you might like to pass it on to your daughter" Peter tells us before standing up and making his way over to the bed. "You should still be sleeping" He tells her before leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

"I feel well rested. I'm happy you guys are here" Elena replies sweetly, glancing over to the doorway as Anne walks back into the room smiling widely.

"How do you feel sweetheart?" Mum asks her as she gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"So far I'm okay, the flowers are really beautiful. My favourites" Elena tells her sleepily as mum adjusts Elena's blankets, making sure her feet are covered up properly.

"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful day" Mum states gleefully as she strokes a hand gently through Elena's hair.

"Have you guys been here long?" Elena asks. Peter shakes his head.

"Just a couple of minutes. You should have seen how excited this one was this morning. Running around like a headless chicken trying to get everything sorted" Peter tells Elena with a chuckle, referring to mum. That really doesn't surprise me, Mum has wanted Elena and I to have kids practically since the first day she met her.

"I'm just excited, my baby is becoming a dad today, it's a big deal" Anne says with a small laugh. Elena sneaks a glance at me and smile widely. A knock on the door causes us all to turn and see as Claudia walks in with a bouquet of flowers that I'm fairly certain are from her own garden.

"Hi mumma" Elena grins widely as Claudia puts down her flowers and bag, gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and hurries over to Elena's bedside.

"I can't believe it's finally the day!" Claudia says excitedly as she wraps Elena in a tight hug.

"Neither can I" Elena giggles softly as she hugs her mum back tightly.

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Our daughter arrives at 8:14 pm that night. Elena was an absolute champion throughout the entire process, while I was a sobbing mess. Hearing our daughter cry out for the first time was perhaps the greatest noise I have ever heard in my life. And now we sit together on Elena's hospital bed, wrapped up in complete bliss as we gaze down at our daughter.

"Look at how little she is" Elena whispers in complete wonder down at the little bundle in her arms. My daughter, our daughter, holy fuck.

"It's insane" I agree as I sit down on the edge of the bed, pressing a kiss to the top of Elena's head.  "She needs a name now that she's here" I remind Elena gently as Elena adjusts the blankets around the baby sleeping soundly in her arms.

"I kind of thought of one that wasn't on our list" Elena tells me quietly. I turn my head away from the baby to watch Elena gaze down at her daughter. I take a thousand mental images, this is the fucking greatest day of my life.

"Tell me" I say to her. We have a list of names that we both like a lot and I'd honestly be happy with any of them, but I'm always open to hearing a new contender.

"Juniper" Elena states softly, bringing her eyes up away from the baby and up to me. "It's sweet and unique enough that not a lot of people will have the same name but not weird enough that she'll be made fun of for it. She can have a hundred different nicknames; juni, june, june bug, little j..." She begins to explain.

"And we met on Juniper Street" I say softly, the realisation of the origin of the name hitting me. The London Arcadia Hotel, where Elena and I met, is located on Juniper Street. The name brings a tear to my eye and my heart begins to pound in my chest. "I love it. That's it, that's her name" I tell her quietly. Elena smiles widely up at me, tears in her own eyes as she looks back down at our daughter. Our Juniper.

"Welcome to the world little Juniper" Elena says softly to her, I reach my hand down and gently stroke Junipers chubby cheek with the back of my finger. She sleeps so peacefully, the blanket gently rising and falling with her breaths, I can't look away.

"We should get everyone to come meet her" Elena says softly after a few minutes. They have been waiting around for a while, and I'm eager for them to meet her.

"I'll go get them" I say as I carefully climb off the bed.

"We'll be here" Elena responds with a tired grin, laying her head back on the pillow. She must be so exhausted, I can't even imagine, but I know there's no way she's going to sleep anytime soon. I lean down and press a soft kiss to her tired lips, feeling that same rush I always get when her lips are on mine. I then lean down and kiss Junipers forehead, the realisation hitting me that this will be the first time I'm not around her since she was born. The thought sounds stupid, but I can't help feeling like I'm going to miss her so much even from just walking down the hall to get our families.

"Two minutes" I say as a promise to the two of them before I walk over to the door and out of the room, heading down the hall to the waiting room. I feel so completely different than I did an hour ago, like there has been a monumental change in every single thing about me. I know becoming a father is a big change, I just didn't expect to feel it in my body so quickly. I turn around the corner to see our family sitting there immersed in their own worlds; Heather, Gemma and Peter are all sleeping in their seats while Anne and Claudia are in the midst of a deep conversation clutching coffee cups. Claudia spots me first, leaping to her feet excitedly.

"Is she here, is everything okay?" She asks me breathlessly as Anne works on waking everyone else up and bringing their attention up to me.

"We have a baby girl" I tell them, a wide grin on my face as their faces all collectively reveal their excitement. "Elena was amazing, everything went according to plan. Come say hello" I gesture to them as Gemma hurries over to me and wraps me in a tight hug. I watch as the relief immediately washes over Claudias face as she hears of her daughters well-being. Heather wraps an arm around her and together I lead them back down the hallway and open the door to our room.

"Hey everyone" Elena says quietly with a wide grin as everyone files into the room, all of them in stunned silence as they slowly approach the bedside. Claudia gives her daughter a kiss on the cheek and stares down at Juniper in amazement.

"She's so beautiful" Anne states the obvious quietly as she takes up the opposite side of Elena's bedside. Peter hangs back near the bottom of the bed with me and put an arm around my shoulder.

"Congratulations son" He tells me quietly as Elena carefully passes Juniper to a nervous Claudia, who takes her into her arms with the assistance of Gemma.

"Thanks, grandpa" I reply with a beaming smile. Elena gazes up at her mum as she rocks her granddaughter in her arms.

"How was labour?" Heather asks Elena quietly, giving her foot a small squeeze. Elena smiles tiredly back at her.

"It was no picnic thats for sure, but I'd do it again a thousand times over if I had to" Elena replies with a small sigh as Anne gives her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"This is absolutely amazing, she is amazing" Claudia states breathlessly, tears quietly streaming down her cheeks as she gently bounces the baby in her arms.

"Welcome to Club Grandma" Anne tells her as she walks around the bed, leaning up to give me a kiss on the cheek before crossing over to Claudias side.

"She got a name yet?" Gemma asks as she help with the transfer between Claudia and Anne. Elena and I exchange a look before we both nod our heads.

"You say it" Elena says to me gently. Peter gives my shoulder a small squeeze as everyone looks at me expectantly. 

"Her name is Juniper. Juniper Ellis Styles" I tell them proudly. A soft splutter of tears from Claudia sends her to Elena's bedside as the two of them wrap each other up in a tight hug. "Ellis is Claudias maiden name" I explain to the others.

"And Juniper Street is where the Arcadia is" Peter says with a sense of pride. I'm kind of surprised that he remembers the street where my hotel is. I nod my head and smile back at him.

"Where Elena and I first met" I confirm with him as Anne passes Juniper to Gemma before walking over to me and wrapping me in a tight hug.

"It's an absolutely beautiful name, for an absolutely beautiful little girl" Mum says to me in a small whisper. I lay my head on her shoulder as she holds me tightly, feeling an overwhelming sense of peace.

"So we can call her little Juni" Heather says with glee as she peers down at her over Gemma's shoulder.

"She can have lots of nicknames" Elena says after her mum finally releases her from the tight embrace, both of their eyes red. "Juni, June, June bug, little J. And you need to decide what your name will be" She holds her mums hand tightly as Claudia wipes up the tears from her cheeks and grins softly.

"Nana is fine with me, or Grandma. It doesn't matter what she calls me I'll take anything" Claudia says with quiet excitement as Gemma carefully passes Juniper to Heather.

"You're going to be amazing" Gemma tells Claudia with a warm smile before she turns to Elena. "I hate to just run off but I've got to get home" Gemma starts to explain sadly but Elena waves her hand dismissively and smiles at her.

"Of course, you have to get back to your little ones" Elena says before Gemma gives her a hug.

"Maybe we should all head out, give you three some family time" Mum suggests, I sneak a glance over at Elena who's eyes seem to be dropping more and more as Peter talks softly with her.

"I think that's a good idea. You guys should stay at ours for the night" I offer, referring to mum, Claudia and Peter. Mums just going to want to drive back down tomorrow anyway and so I don't see the point of them driving all the way back to Manchester.

"And you're not driving you're way too tired. I'll get John to take you back to Manchester" I tell Gemma as she puts on her coat, the last thing we need is for Gemma to fall asleep at the wheel. She gives me a grateful look as I take out my phone and send John a quick text asking him to drive Gemma.

"I'll bring the kids down to meet her when you guys are home from the hospital. Michael too, they're all so excited to meet her" Gemma says quietly as Heather brings Juniper over to me. I shove my phone back into my pocket after getting a confirmation from John and eagerly take Juniper back into my arms. My sweet girl, asleep this whole time.

"Congratulations Mr Billionaire" Heather says with a wide grin as we both stare down at Juniper. "You now officially have two of the best ladies in the world" She says confidently.

"I agree completely" I tell her before she gives me a kiss on the cheek and waves goodbye to Elena one final time and heading to the door.

"You call me if you need anything. If you've forgotten anything from her nursery or if you need any clothes or absolutely anything. I'll bring whatever you need, day or night" Mum tells us both as I walk back over to Elena's bedside after Claudia gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"We'll let you know" I promise her as I sit down in the chair close by Elena's bedside.

"You get some sleep sweetheart, you have to look after yourself too" Peter tells Elena warmly as he gives her a kiss on the forehead. Elena closes her eyes for a brief moment and nods her head before waving to the three of them as they head off for the car park with Gemma.

"Peters right, you need sleep" I tell Elena gently as she turns her head to watch Juniper and I.

"I know, I'm so fucking exhausted" She whispers before giggling quietly as she rubs her eyes softly.

"Of course you are, you just gave birth and you've been unable to sleep properly for nearly two whole days" I say as I stand to my feet and allow Elena to give Juniper a kiss. Elena smiles and lightly brushes her finger over the small bump of Junipers nose and across her chubby cheeks.

"I love you so much, both of you" She whispers quietly as she lies her head back after giving Juniper a big kiss on her forehead. I lean down and place a soft kiss to her lips, nudging my nose softly against hers.

"We love you too, so much. Now get some sleep" I whisper back before settling down back into the chair beside the bed. Elena's in a deep sleep within minutes, leaving Juniper and I some time to ourselves. She settles into my arms, stretching herself around slightly but remaining wrapped up like a little beautiful burrito.

"Look at you, look how beautiful you are. You're really here, you're a real person." I whisper in complete amazement down at her. "I'm your dad, you're my daughter. This is so crazy." The realisation is dawning on me more and more that I am now a father. I blink my eyes quickly as I try and keep the tears at bay. I know it's hopeless, I'm delaying the inevitable.

"I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have this. I think it's been something I've always wanted but I've never felt like I could admit it to anyone or even to myself. And for years I even told myself that it would be better if I never became a dad. Because I was too selfish and stubborn and angry, that I wasn't capable of real love and unworthy of receiving it." I whisper down to her. I don't really know why I'm telling her all of this, it's not like she understands me or anything. But I just feel so comfortable talking to her, I feel like she knows me, like I know her.

"But that's not who I am anymore. And a big reason why is because of your mum." I sneak a glance up to Elena, sleeping peacefully up in the bed. "Your mum, is the greatest person I have ever met in my whole life, and to me she is absolutely perfect. I could do a million incredible things and I would still never feel like I deserve the amount of love that she gives me every single day. And you are the luckiest little girl in the world, because you get to have her as a mum." I'm sure this is something that she'll realise as she gets older, but I want to make sure that she knows it's true from day one.

"I was a broken man when I met her. I don't know how long I'd been broken, maybe I always was, but it didn't matter until I met her. The day that I met her, I don't know how to explain it in any other way except that she let the light back into my life when I didn't even realise I was in the dark." Junipers eyes blink open slightly and I immediately become nervous that she's about to cry and want Elena. But she doesn't, she simply blinks up at me with her large dark eyes, her mums eyes. She seems to like me talking to her, so I keep going.

"She was the complete opposite to me; she was shy and sweet and kind to a fault. She believed the best in people even though her life had been hell. She put everyone's needs ahead of her own and did so without any complaints. And I fell for her within minutes of meeting her, minutes." I grin down at her.

"I liked her instantly, and I don't normally like people that quickly. It can take me weeks to figure out if I like someone, but I knew within seconds. I liked her, I wanted her, I needed her. And I walked away from that first meeting and I knew that something monumental had just happened to me. And I was right. Because here you are, here we are. We're a family." I never thought that this is where our journey would lead to, I was sure that at some point I'd screw it up along the way and I'd never have this. But here we are. I did it, I got everything I've ever wanted.

"And she made me a better man, she made me want to be better. And now I am. I'm not angry or selfish or incapable of love anymore, that's all in the past now. I can't promise you that I'm going to be the perfect dad. I wish I could, because that's what you should have but I can't promise you that. I know I'll probably mess a lot of things up along the way. But I will promise you that I will never stop trying." Now I start to cry, thinking about how much I love this little girl. How I would do anything in the world for her. And knowing that I get to love her for the rest of my life.

"I won't ever stop trying my best everyday to be the best dad that I can be. You will never lose me. I will never give up on you. I will never leave you, ever. And I will always love you. I don't care who you grow up to be, where you go, what you do, who you love, I am always going to love you. You will never be alone my sweet girl." I implore, stroking my thumb across her cheek as she yawns looking back up at me. I don't care who she becomes in life, she's always going to be the most perfect thing in the world in my eyes. I swear I see her smile for a second.

I readjust how she's positioned, lying her on my chest as I sit back on the couch, looking back over at Elena.

"Look at how pretty your mama is. She was so sleepy, bringing you into the world was a lot of work for her. But I wish you could have seen how happy she was when she saw you for the first time, how instantly mesmerised she was by you. How happy you made her." I tell her, stroking my free hand down Juniper's back as she slowly blinks her eyes, probably minutes away from falling asleep again.

"And you have so many more people to meet. You had your immediate family here to meet you today but there are so many others to meet. You are so loved already my sweetheart. But lets go over who you met today." I say to her, as I gently stroke my hand over the top of her head, where a thin layer of dark hair sits on top of her small head.

"Your god mum, mums best friend Heather was here. She is fiercely loyal and protective over your mum, and now that extends to you. She helped your mum start down the path that eventually lead her to me, so I owe her everything. None of this would have happened without your godmother, so I am grateful for her everyday."

"And you met Auntie Gemma. Gem is my sister, and she took care of me so much when I was growing up, and even when I became a grown up I still needed her to help look after me. She's goofy and funny and so loving, and she adores you already. She has a lovely husband who is your uncle Michael who you'll meet soon, ans they have three beautiful babies, your cousins, who are so excited to meet you." Juniper let's out a small yawn but manages to keep her eyes open as I continue talking.

"Grandma Anne is my mum, the one who's probably going to spend the next month trying to convince me to have you baptised. She's a proud baker and a real stickler for traditions so get ready to put the star on-top of the Christmas tree at Christmas time. She has been praying for you for decades probably and she will be obsessed with you until the end of time." I tell her gently. We'll probably give in and get her baptised, but that's a conversation for another time.

"And you have Grandpa Peter. Well, he's not technically your grandad but he is a wonderful man. He loves my mum so much and treats her like a queen. And he didn't have to, but he's been an amazing fatherly support for me over the past few years. So as far as I'm concerned, you have one grandad and that's Peter, and he's wonderfully excited to have you." I tell her proudly.

"Then there's your mums mum, nana Claudia. You're her first grandchild so you're already the favourite no real competition there. But she is the sweetest person you'll ever know. She's a wonderful knitter, she's already made you a lot of clothing that you'll grow out of in ten minutes but they're made with so much love." I assure her, gazing down at her as she begins to blink her eyes faster and faster.

"That's okay my love, you get some sleep. I'll be right here. I love you so much" I whisper to her as I press a kiss to the top of her head. Eventually her eyes drift off to sleep.