Beth's POV

"How do I look?" Chloe asks, spinning around before placing the back of her hand under her chin and giving me a pose.

"Fine," I reply, as I give her a once over, "except for that t-shirt, your belly button's hanging out."

"No it's not," she says as she tugs the end of it down.

"You're growing, it is," I reply, "go and change it please, besides, it's cold out there."

She stands there and glares at me.

"Do you want to go?" I ask.

She nods.

"Then I suggest you go and put a longer top on," I reply.

She huffs and turns on her heel, stomping off to her bedroom to change before returning moments later with her belly covered.

"Better?" she asks.

"Much," I smile at her, "excited to go shopping?"

"Yes!" she says, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement, "I wonder what he'll buy me?"

"Now listen," I hang up the tea towel and walk around the other side of the kitchen bench and lean my back onto it, crossing my arms over my chest, "just because we know Harry can afford to buy you anything-"

"Doesn't mean he has to," Chloe finishes for me, "mama I know."

"Good girl," I reply, "just try and keep the excitement level down so you don't get too caught up in it."

"You know I don't get too excited mama," she says.

"I wasn't talking about you," I reply, "I was referring to Harry."

She giggles in response before stopping, her eyes lighting up and I can she's thought of something and instantly I know it's not going to be good.

"Can I get a pony?" she asks.

Knew it.

"No, you cannot get a pony," I reply, "and don't you dare ask for one!"

"But Harry has room for it in his backyard and I promise I won't ask for anything else for my birthday or Christmas until I'm twenty!" she pleads.

"You are not getting a pony!" I raise my voice slightly to let her know it's not up for discussion.

Her face falls and she looks down at her shoes.

"Sweetheart," I say in a softer voice, "we can't take a pony home with us anyway, it wouldn't fit in a seat on the plane..."

A small smile plays on her lips as she tries not to let it happen.

"And it would never be able to pull that tray table down in front of it I'm sure," I add, causing her to giggle.

"But we're not going home are we?" she lifts her head and looks at me.

Shit.

"Well, yes we are," I begin, "our visas run out after six months so we have to I'm afraid."

"Don't you want to stay?" she asks.

Christ it's too early for this type of conversation.

"It's complicated," I reply, "there's a lot more to it..."

"Do you want to stay?" she asks me again.

"I...yes...but..." I stutter before I hear a noise coming from the lounge then footsteps as Harry appears in the kitchen.

Shit.

I hope he didn't overhear us.

"Ready to go I see?" Harry smiles chirpily at Chloe who beams at him, nodding enthusiastically.

Lord these two.

Harry walks over to me and wraps his arms around me, planting a long kiss on my neck before pecking my lips.

"What are you going to get up to today while we're gone?" he asks.

I shrug my shoulders in a non-committal.

"Bit of housework, might go for a walk with the boys, just potter around..." I reply.

"Well try not to get up to any mischief while I'm out eh?" he smirks.

"You'd never know," I return his wink, "you better get going, I'm sure you've got a full day planned if I know you."

"Maybe," he smirks as he leans in and kisses me on the cheek before grabbing his car keys and holding his hand out for Chloe to take.

"Behave," I say sternly.

"She will," Harry says over his shoulder.

"I was talking to both of you," I explain.

"You got told," Chloe giggles.

"She said both of us so that means you as well," he retorts, "bye love," he calls out to me as they head outside.

I hear the noise of the car start up before the garage opens and closes and then fade as they drive off.

Hopefully they'll have a non-eventful day out.

~~~~~~

I've tidied up the house, been out for a walk with the boys and resisted the urge to text Harry and see how they're going multiple times.

I did however buckle and open Twitter up because let's face it, if I want to know the whereabouts of Harry, that's the place to go.

Besides going to him personally that is.

But I don't want to encroach on their time together and I also don't want to make him feel like I don't trust him.

I have to just let them be.

And there it is.

Photos of Harry and Chloe inside a store and he's looking pretty happy and relaxed.

So everything must be going along nicely.

Okay.

Stop stalking him and find something to occupy yourself with woman.

Just as I'm about to wander off and try to think of something to do, the doorbell sounds, almost making me jump.

I walk over to where Harry has an intercom and camera installed at the front of his property and I can see a delivery van and someone holding a parcel.

"Hello?" I push the button and speak.

"Hello there," comes a cheery reply, "I have a package for an Elizabeth Westlake.  Would you like me to just leave it here for you?"

"Yes thanks, I'll be done to pick it up in a minute," I answer, "thank you."

"Have a good day ma'am," he says and I watch as he leaves the parcel at the gate.

I realise it must be the underwear I ordered for Harry's birthday from Victoria's Secret as I open the front door and head to the gate.

Really, how cliché could he have been.

Victoria's Secret.

I suppose that's the kind of labels he runs with.

I have my labels too.

They just happen to be Target and Kmart.

I open the gate and grab the parcel, almost dropping it when I hear a couple of shrieks from nearby.

"Harry! Harry!" a handful of young girls scream and I quickly shut the gate to keep them out.

Christ on a cracker.

"Is Harry here?" they yell.

"Uh, no he's not sorry," I reply with a tight smile and quickly back away.

"When will he be back?" one yells.

"Why are you here?" another asks.

I say nothing and walk back inside the house.

What if they'd been crazy enough to have grabbed my package and opened it?

Twitter would have surely known what was going on in Harry's house and it wouldn't have been pleasant.

I close the door behind me and lean on it, clutching the parcel to my chest as my heart beats hard and fast.

Yeah that's right.

Worry about then finding your parcel rather than actually getting into Harry's property.

You idiot.

This is crazy.

I was just going out to get the mail.

My mind is running wild with so many thoughts and questions but nothing's coherent.

Instead I shake my head and head up to Harry's bedroom to open the parcel.

Closing the door behind me I open the box up and pull out the underwear.

Well what there is of it.

That's not gonna cover much at all really.

What was I thinking?

I'm going to look like an absolute idiot in this.

I can't even bring myself to try it on for fear of what I'll look like so I decide to quickly hand wash it and hang it up in Harry's closet to dry before I have to wear it.

He better not fucking laugh at me I swear.

I then decide I better ring Anne and see exactly what she has planned for Harry's birthday and whether she'll be able to look after the kids for me.

She picks up after a couple of rings.

"Hello Beth!" she chirps down the line.

"Hi Anne, how are you?" I reply.

"Fine love, fine, how are you?" she asks.

"Well thank you, have I caught you at a bad time?" I ask.

"Not at all, what's going on?" she replies.

"I'm just wondering what plans you might have for Harry's birthday?" I ask.

"He normally doesn't want too much of a fuss, probably just a dinner with the family and some friends," she answers, "did you have something in mind?"

"Well I was hoping to make him a special dinner, but just for the two of us..." I trail off and realise what I'm saying and that I'm saying it to his mother.

"Of course!" she replies, "we can do the family dinner one night and then you can do your dinner another night and we'll have the kids, how does that sound?"

I'm stunned.

Not only has she offered to take the kids but she actually sounds like she wants to.

"Beth?" Anne says my name.

"Uh...yes, yes that sounds wonderful, and only if you'd like to have them," I reply, just to make sure.

"Course we're happy to have them, anytime, you know that love," she says kindly.

Okay.

Right then.

It's still weird hearing someone say it.

"Well if you want the family dinner on his birthday and maybe I can do my dinner the night after if that suits you..?" I trail off, leaving the ball in her court.

"Sounds perfect Beth," she says, "I'm sure Harry's going to love whatever you've planned for him."

Oh if you only knew.

"Okay, do you want me to let Harry know about the family dinner or would you like to?" I ask her.

"You might as well let him know love," Anne says, "tell him I'm happy to book unless he wants to, just tell him to let me know as soon as possible."

"Absolutely," I reply, "I'm looking forward to catching up," I add.

"Same here Beth," she says, "well I'll let you go and talk to you later love."

"Thanks Anne, bye," I reply.

"Bye love," she says and hangs up.

Okay then.

That was fairly easy.

What to do now?

I could probably make some sort of attempt at a nice dinner and dessert.

I wander over to the fridge and browse through it as well as the freezer and spy enough ingredients to put together a beef stir fry and possibly a chocolate pudding.

I pull everything out and get to work, prepping the ingredients for the stir fry before moving onto the pudding and getting that into the oven.

Glancing at the clock I see that it's just after 5pm so they shouldn't be too far away I'm assuming.

Maybe I should ring just to confirm?

Beth.

Okay, maybe not.

I decide to aim for dinner being ready at 6pm and as it's already dark outside, I go around and draw all the curtains closed, put my comfy pyjama pants and slippers on before heading back to the kitchen and start cooking the stir fry.

Half an hour later the aroma brings the boys to the kitchen who immediately tell me how hungry they are so I ask them to set the table.

In my mind it must have brought Harry and Chloe home because I hear the sound of the garage door open and his car drive in and turn off.

Doors slam shut and moments later they enter the kitchen, Chloe loaded down with bags looking tired but happy.

I feel relief flood through me but I don't let it show as I spoon the rice and stir fry into large serving bowls and place them onto the table.

"Seems you had a productive day," I say, "judging by the number of bags she has."

Harry doesn't answer but smirks as he throws his keys and wallet onto the bench and walks over to me, wrapping his arms around me, his hands wandering down to lightly squeeze my bottom.

"I like these on you," he says before giving me a kiss, "I'm surprised you didn't call me today," he goes on as he pulls away.

"I didn't feel I had the need to," I shrug in what I hope is a cool way before I try to walk around him but he moves to block me and wraps his arms around my shoulders so I can't move.

"You wanted to though didn't you?" he leans down and whispers in my ear.

"Multiple times," I whisper back, earning a chuckle and another kiss on my temple.

"I wouldn't have blamed you, thank you for trusting me," he says as he releases me, "dinner smells amazing love."

"Let's hope it tastes amazing," I reply, "sit down and dig in, I'll just get dessert out."

"You made dessert as well?" Jamie pipes up, "you never make dessert."

I glare at him as I set the glass dish on the kitchen bench.

"Maybe I just never had the time before," I counter, "you don't have to eat it though."

"Oh yeah you know I'll have some of that, food is my jam," Jamie replies before shovelling in another forkful.

The table is quiet which I can only assume means that what I've cooked isn't too bad and it seems to extend through to the chocolate pudding.

Yay me.

~~~~~~

"I'm just gonna have a quick shower love," Harry says as I start to change out of my clothes, "unless you'd care to join me..?" he trails off with a wink.

"As much as I'd love to I was thinking that maybe we should wait until your birthday?" I reply.

"My birthday?  But's that's not for another couple of days..." he says in confusion.

"Well..." I get up off the bed, clad only in my underwear as I walk over to the bathroom doorway, "I spoke to your mum today and she thought we should have your family dinner with them on the night of your birthday and she's offered to have the kids the night after..."

"Why would she want to have them?" he asks.

I say nothing, just look at him.

"Oh!" I see the lightbulb go off in his head, "ohhhhhhhhhh," he smirks but then stops, "I still don't see why I can't throw you on the bed and have my way with you though, multiple times."

Glory be.

"Well I thought by not having any sex," I put my hand up to silence him, "or release of any kind would make our night together much more special, you know, waiting will make us want each other more?"

"I couldn't want you any more than I already do," he whines.

"Well a couple of more days won't kill you," I reply as I walk off to the drawers, "and besides," I undo my bra with my back facing him and throw a singlet on before I turn around, knowing full well the effect the cool air has had on my breasts, "I promise I'll make it worth your wait..."

His eyes rake over my body as I pull the covers back and hop into bed, settling myself in and looking over at him with fake innocence.

"You're evil," he glares at me before heading into the bathroom to shower.

I turn the tv on and flick through some channels aimlessly until I finally hear the bathroom door open.

"I've been meaning to ask how the day-" I start to say until he comes into view.

Water droplets covering his body, wet curls falling over his shoulders and a towel wrapped low around his waist, his fern tattoos clearly on display and his happy trail leading to a most definitely happy place.

"You were saying?" he asks as he heads over to the drawers where he takes out a pair of boxer briefs.

I swallow, so mesmerised by the sight in front of me that I start to bite on both my lips.

"Beth?" Harry calls my name.

"Yes?" I ask.

"You were saying?" he urges me again.

"Oh...I...uh...was going to ask you how your day with Chloe went," I finally finish.

"It was a really great day," he smiles, "oh I almost forgot!" he moves over to his side table and picks up a small gift bag, "I bought you a little something."

"You did?" I ask, my voice small, "you didn't have to..."

"I know, but I wanted to," he says as he moves to sit on the bed and pass the bag to me.

"Harry you really shouldn't have," I smile shyly as I open it up and take the small box out.

"Before you open it," his hands envelop mine just as I'm about to open the box, "I saw this and I kind of already have this in a different way and I thought you could have a little part of me wherever you go," he pauses, "like you can always have a piece of me close to your heart."

I look up at him and smile.

"Yeah that is some cheesy arse shit I know," he blushes as he lets go of my hands, "just let me have my moment."

I nod my head and smile as I take a breath and open the box.

"Oh Harry!" I take a second to admire it before he leans in and pulls it out for me.

"Do you like it?" he asks hopefully.

"Well I like the real thing of course," I smile as I hold it in my fingers, "but this is beautiful Harry...can you put it on for me?"

He then takes it out of my hand and I turn around, lifting my hair so he can put the necklace around my neck.

I feel the cool metal fall against my skin and I look down and let a dopey arse smile spread across my face as I admire it.

Then I feel a kiss on the back of my shoulder, then another moving closer to my spine and then finally on the back of my neck which causes me to visibly shiver.

He damn well knows that's my spot.

"Are you sure you want to wait until my birthday?" he whispers in my ear.

I close my eyes and let my head fall to the side as he places more kisses along my neck.

"Yes...no...I don't know..." I breathe out.

The strap of my singlet is slowly pulled down and his tongue replaces his mouth.

"Just a little something..?" he trails off, "I'm happy just to use my tongue and nothing else..."

"Um...I..." I try to form something coherent but I fail dismally.

His hands move to touch my waist before slipping under my singlet and slowly upwards, cupping my breasts as his thumbs runs over my already hard nipples, causing me to let out a small moan.

"Just a little play with my tongue, nothing more love," he says as his hands travel back down and grab the hem of my singlet, pulling it back up and over my head before he throws it away.

I look over my shoulder at him, his face just centimetres from mine.

"And you say I'm evil," I smile before my tongue flicks out onto his.

"Well let's be naughty together," he smirks before he kisses me.