"Okay! Chop chop! Everybody out the pool!" I yell walking out into the back garden. With a little last-minute help from Sara I think I've found outfits all the kids will be happy with, meanwhile said kids and my husband have been playing in the pool.

"Jus' five more minutes!" Daniella yells and my heart literally jumps into my mouth as Harry and Mac backflip from the ledge the artificial waterfall runs off. My breathing momentarily pauses until they pop their heads up above the water, whooping and cheering. It was a seriously tough call identifying which one is supposed to be the adult sometimes.

"No more minutes. Come on!" I clap my hands to get their attention.

"Mummy!" Madi's voice almost screams. "Look, me and Robi be-laxing." She grins while laying back down on the giant rainbow floaty they were sharing. "I'm trying." I just catch Robin's groan as she shifts her bright pink Gucci sunglasses, that I'm positive she's pinched from her Dad's wardrobe, down over her eyes. My own eyes drift towards my husband, trying to mentally convery that I could use some help here.

"Come join us for a bit?" He shrugs. "You've been gone all afternoon!"

"Actually, I've been -" I pause mid-sentence as he flicks me with water. "Harry!" I warn as I see the mischievous grin take over his lips. I gasp as my legs from the knees down are suddenly soaking wet, my skinny jeans instantly sticking to my skin. My eyes dart to my ten-year-old son who is giggling as if this is the funniest thing he has ever seen. "HARRY!" I yell as his hands suddenly wrap around my wrist and the next thing I know, my head is breaking through the water to the sound of laughter. "You're gonna pay for this." I smile up at my husband whose arms have wrapped themselves around my body. 

"Was worth it, just to see this." His thumb brushes over my lips. "Been walking around with a stressed little pout all afternoon."

"Mum! I think Dad and Mac should get clean up duty for that." Daniella says as she climbs on my back, her arms sliding around my shoulders.

"I like your thinking, Sweetheart." I smile, pulling myself away from Harry and making my way to the steps so I can climb out of the pool.

"Hey! No fair!" I can hear Mac yell.

"Ah, little brother, you should know better than to mess with us." I hear Robi say as she follows behind us.

"We rule, boys drool." Madison cackles like a little hyena and I smile in victory, three kids on their way to shower and the pool is getting tidied. Good job girls.

-----

"Baby, the kids look amazing." I call into our bedroom where Jess has been busy getting ready.

"H? Can you finish doing up my dress, please?" She says softly as she backs out of the wardrobe. Just from this view of her behind in the white dress I know she looks smoking hot. I take two strides to reach her, my left hand sweeping her softly curled hair to the side before my fingers splay out over her shoulder, my right hand makes light work of the zipper and comes to rest on her other shoulder. She smells so pretty I wish I could bottle it, she's wearing Daisy tonight, doesn't wear it as often as she used to, mostly just when we are going somewhere special but when she does, I'm instantly taken back to that first time we met and I fall head over heels in love with her. All over again. "You okay?" She asks as her fingers link with mine on her shoulders.

"Mmhmm... Just thinking about how lucky I am." I smile and place a kiss to her head.

"Mum! Oh wow! You guys match!" Robi's voice shatters my little daydream and Jessi's fingers slip from mine as she spins to face me.

"Oh, Harry! No! We can't..." Jessi's voice trails off and I can see the cogs turning in her head, trying to come up with a solution.

"But I like that we're both wearing white." I had on off-white Gucci trousers and an unbuttoned off-white shirt with a white vest underneath. Jessi's white dress was new, I haven't seen it before but it fits her like they made it just for her and she looks stunning in it, like I might cry if she doesn't wear it.

"It's actually kinda adorable." Robi adds.

"The car's here!" Mac and Dani yell as they appear next closely followed by Madi excitedly yelling, "My dress is sooooooooopoofy!"

"Oooh, Mummy pretty!" Our youngest then yells before patting Jessi's crisp white dress with her hands and I glance at Jess who is giving me the same look, the look which says we've made a terrible mistake. White and kids do not mix.

-----

"So Buddy, when am I going to hear this song you've been working on?" Mitch asks Mac who has just wandered up to my side, big crowds make him anxious and he usually sticks to his Mum like glue but as I look around and can't spot her, I assume she must be in the bathroom.

"Soon?" His eyes look up at me for reassurance.

"Up to you, Bud!" I smile and my hand messes up his blonde hair before resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah, soon." He nods. "We could add some of Uncle Mitch's guitar to it, right Dad?" Again his eyes drift up towards me.

"Well, why don't you ask him? He's right there." I nudge him as I give his shoulder a squeeze.

"Can we?" He says excitedly, looking up at Mitch.

"I'd be honoured." My friend bows and Mac breaks out into a laugh.

"I wanna be as good as Dad when I'm older," are his next words and my eyes are suddenly glassy, "but I'll need to find somebody who can sing them. I can't sing as good as him." That statement hits me just as hard as the previous one, I wish he knew how talented he was.

"I'll bet that's not true." Mitch says.

"I know, that's not true." I add.

"Besides, aim big Buddy! You're gonna be much better than this idiot!" Mitch chuckles as he pushes my shoulder.

"That was mean, Uncle Mitch!" Mac says but I can see the smile on his face.

"Just a little." Mitch smirks. "Hey, Auntie Sarah is over there with Jazzy, you wanna come say hello?"

"Sure." My son replies as he takes Mitch's hand and I watch as they walk through the crowd together. Him and Sarah's daughter, Jasmine, is a year younger than Dani and just like Mac she doesn't enjoy big crowds of people so I was happy she was here. I can't help but wonder how I've managed to be stood on my own at my own god damn party though. I look around the room aimlessly. I spot Fred & Jamie, Gemma & Michal, my Mum, Pam and Danny look thick as thieves as they sample the drinks on offer, my eldest is chatting to Anlon as they scroll through their phones and Dani is holding court on the dancefloor as she bosses around her little sister and Orla and Una, Niall and Lori's daughters. I frown when I can't see my wife anywhere. Where the hell is she?

-----

I locked the cubicle door and closed the lid on the toilet before I sat down and took a few deep breaths. I'd just purposefully ran away and hid from my friend when I saw her coming. Come on, get a grip Jessi! It's just Glenne. I stand up and open the door and quickly wash my hands in the sink before heading back to the party. I pause to look at the pictures on the walls, one of me and Harry dressed as Elton John and Kiki Dee, loads of us with the kids but a photo from our wedding day takes pride of place and I can't help but feel incredibly lucky to have Jeffrey and Glenne as friends. They'd gone to so much effort arranging all this for us. I rushed around the corner and almost fell flat on my arse as I collided with somebody.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

"It's alright. I wasn't watching where I was going, too busy rushing." I smile up at the stranger to show there was no hard feelings, but he stumbles back from me. "Shit, are you okay? I gave you quite a whack, huh?"

"No, it's just - uh. Has anyone told you, you are really beautiful?" His words make me chuckle and I feel bad for laughing but this guy clearly didn't have a clue who I was.

"MUM!" The loud tone to Daniella's voice makes me worry something bad has happened but then she grins widely as she comes to a halt at my side. She looks so cute in her pink dungarees, they really were a great find, still girly but she could run around in them barking out orders at the boys until her heart was content. She'd never been one for dresses like her sisters. "Dad says you've to get your butt back beside him. He says if he's got to schmooze your guests then you have to."

"Oh shit, you are -" he gestures around the room, "this is..." his words trail off and just as I'm sure he's done talking he blurts out, "oh fuck, you're my bosses wife, I'm going to get fired and I haven't even met him yet."

"Hi, I'm Daniella but everyone calls me Dani, 'cept Mum. Dad won't fire you, he's really nice." She holds out her hand towards him.

"Hi Dani, I'm Ford. It's really nice to meet you. I hope you're right, I really need this job." He shakes her hand and the grin that covers her face makes my heart happy. She loves it when people validate her own feelings of importance.

"She's right. You'll be fine." I smile as grip Dani's shoulders. "OK. Show me where your Dad is, is your brother with him?"

"No. Oh well he wasn't." She holds her arm out and points towards Harry who is chatting to woman but I can't tell who as she has her back to me and my husband doesn't exactly look happy about it. But the thing that has caught my attention is our shy and timid son is standing in front of his father as if this woman is some sort of threat. I don't like that so I quicken my steps towards them, weaving my way through the crowd and their smiles and mumbles of congratulations. But by the time I get there, she's gone, and I didn't memorise enough about her to pick her out while I scan the people closest to us.

"There you are." Harry grins as he wraps his arms tightly around my waist.

"Here I am." I smile, rubbing my nose against the bare skin above his vest, he smells so yummy.

"Come on, Mac! Let's go play!" Daniella says, gripping her brothers hand and pulling him towards the doors that lead to the patio outside.

"Wait!" He yells before patting my arm. "You're gonna stay here, with Dad, right?"

"Yeah, Sweetheart. Are you okay?" I wriggle free of Harry's hold to hug Mac tight. "Do you wanna stay with us?"

"No, I'll be okay, if you stay with Dad?" His arms squeeze me tight before he rushes off with his sister.

"What was that about?" I ask as Harry's hands grip my hips.

"He seems to have nominated himself as my bodyguard." Harry chuckles deeply as he pulls my hips flush against his body. His long fingers wiggling themselves so they're resting on my arse.

"Aww that's adorable. Who's he protecting you from?" I smile.

"River. The new girl." He rolls his eyes and I smile as I grip his biceps. I give them a squeeze just because I can, he'd been working out a lot recently, and I was definitely enjoying the benefits.

"Hmm... new girl has a crush on the boss, does she? Can't say I blame her." I smirk as his green eyes narrow at me.

"Oh, really?" His cocky grin and wiggling eyebrows make my smirk deepen as he's walked right into my trap.

"Yeah. I mean Jeffrey's pretty cute." I giggle.

"Jessi..." His tone and his cheeky little tap to my arse tells me I'm gonna pay for this later but it was worth it to see the pouty look on his face.

-----

"So how are you?" Anne asks when Danny and Pam finally release me from their hug.

"Good." My smile widens as my eyes fall on my wonderful children, dancing circles around their Dad on the dancefloor. Madison is giggling like crazy as Harry bounces her on his hip in time with the music. Robin and Daniella look like they could be in a music video and Mac and Jasmine are jumping up and down and swinging their arms in the air.

"Quite a nice picture, isn't it?" Anne says as she links her arm through mine.

"The best." My heart continues to grow as I watch them, the joy on each of their faces only serving to brighten the entire room.

"Oh, sorry." I hear the voice before I feel the wetness seep through my dress, I look down in horror to see the dark plum colour from the wine soak in. Fuck! I'd almost made it through the entire party without ruining it. "I'm so clumsy." The voice adds, and she stumbles into me again, sending another splash of liquid over my dress. 

"You're fine, Love." I force a smile as I look up at the brunette, she barely looks older than Robin and her black dress certainly doesn't leave much to the imagination. "Your drink seems to be empty, just head to the bar and they'll give you a new one, yeah?" Her boobs almost bounce out of their skimpy confines as she saunters away.

"Bloody bitch, she did that on purpose!" Anne snarled. "Your poor dress, the dry cleaner will get it out for you though."

"Yeah." I frown but what I could really use was my husband.

"Aww, baby. Are you okay?" His voice soothes as if he could hear my thoughts, without even hesitating he wraps me up in a tight hug and I know the stain is now marking his nice white outfit too but I don't care. This is exactly what I need and exactly where I need to be. 

-----

"Oh, it's so quiet." My wife whispers as we walk through the door to our home. My Mum, Danny and Pam had insisted on taking the kids for the night and to be honest I don't know who was happiest as all four of our kids barely even waved us goodbye. Little monkeys know fine well they will be spoilt rotten.

"Yeah. I don't know that I like it." I say as I look around, half expecting a little terror to come greet me. "C'mere." I reach for Jessi as she toes off her heels. I grin from ear to ear as she sinks to her usual height, her body melts into mine as I slide my arms around her middle. "I love you so fucking much, baby." I sway with her as we move across the hallway towards the stairs.

"You too." She hums into my chest, placing a chaste kiss the same spot. 

"No. I mean seriously. Like, I FUCKING LOVE YOU!" I yell into the emptiness.

"Harry, you bloody idiot!" She playfully smacks my chest as she wiggles her finger in her ear.

"Sorry, but I do. You're wonderful. An amazing mother, a fucking fantastic wife. I'm so grateful that you're mine. I'd marry you all over again in a heartbeat."

"Okay, stop!" She giggles as I pick her up by the waist and spin her in a circle as we climb the stairs. "You're making me blush, Styles." She grins, her fingers squeezing my biceps, I love it when she does that, makes me feel grounded. "You know you're rather wonderful yourself." She pulls herself closer, her forehead resting between my swallows. "I don't like to picture what my life would be without you."

-----

Harry's soft snores fill the quiet room and I tighten my arms around him, his back pressed up against my front, he wiggles slightly and I hiss as his skin brushes over my still sensitive nipples. The room smells of sex and my body still aches from where we had so recently been joined as one. My right hand slides between his left arm and his ribcage, feeling the gentle rising and falling as he sleeps. My left hand is splayed out over his tummy, just below his butterfly tattoo, my pinky finger slips into his belly button as my eyes slowly drift closed. I twist my head so my cheek is pressed up against the warm smooth skin between his shoulder blades and I smile as I listen to his heart beating. I shift my body so my chest is pressed even closer to him and I imagine our hearts are having their own conversation, sharing feelings of love and moments of pure joy. I love this curly haired man more than I ever thought possible and yet somehow I manage to love him more every single day.