Chapter Twenty-Eight

I see them everyday, we get along so why can't they?

If this is what he wants, and it's what she wants, then why is there so much pain?

"Why are we here Daddy?" A.J. groaned as we walked into the mall. Jemma was bouncing next to him, her hand grabbing his as she looked around excitedly.

"I have to get your mummy some new shoes..." I said, scanning the mall for the one store I needed. It had been quite some time since I had to do this, sadly this time really wasn't much different from the last time.

You'd think I would remember what kind of shoes Niall wore....

I blame the lack of sleep and extra stress.

"Why?"

"It's a long story." I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I did so. I couldn't find the bloody shoe store.

How am I supposed to raise two more kids?!

"Daddy?"

"What Alexander?" I groaned, really trying my hardest to be patient with my eldest child.

"Mummy likes that store." A.J. pointed down the hall where you could just make out the name.

"Thanks squirt. Grab your sisters hand." I said quickly, getting ready to make a break for it to the shoe store. I wanted to get this done as soon as I could, not wanting Niall to be alone with Jonah and Audrey too long. In my rush to get to the store I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I accidentally ran into someone.

"Shit, sorry mate." I said, blinking my eyes as I looked at who was in front of me.

"Luke!" I shouted, throwing my arms around my friend.

"Harry? Holy shit it's been ages!" Luke shouted back, hugging me tightly.

"It's been like three years... Holy shit."

"Daddy. Swear jar." Jemma said, tugging at my shirt before hiding behind me. She didn't like strangers and to be honest I didn't blame her.

"I'm sorry princess." I said quickly before looking back at Luke.

"You look great. Christ, I've missed you." I said again, completely astonished at the fact that Luke was here again.

"Yeah... I'm sorry that I kinda just disappeared. I tend to do that sometimes. Things here were a little too complicated for my liking so I took Brenna and we moved away for a little while." Luke smiled, shrugging as he placed his hands in his pockets. A.J. perked up at the mention of Brenna, a smile on his face.

"Are you living back here then?" I asked, grabbing Jemma's hand as she kept trying to grab it.

"Yeah, figured it was about time I came back. I wasn't really being fair to Michael and what not."

"Well I'm glad that you're finally back. We need to go out to lunch or something." Luke smiled at that, nodding his head.

"Definitely. And you can tell me all about the Styles family. I didn't know you guys decided to have another." Luke bent down to Jemma's level, sticking out his hand for her to shake. Tentatively she did, but took her hand away before he even got the chance to introduce himself.

"Yeah... There's two more at home." I said, chuckling a little as I looked down at Jemma.

"Four? Harry Styles had four kids?" Luke said, obviously surprised at the fact.

"I did... Got two more coming too." I said, shrugging like it wasn't that big of the deal.

But to be honest I was slowly starting to freak out.

"Wow... You guys sure got busy." Luke stood back up, looking at me in amazement. I just smiled at him.

"We did, but I wouldn't trade my family for anything in the world."

"Daddy. Shoes." Jemma groaned, finally growing tired of the conversation Luke and I were having. I chuckled a little, shaking my head at the three year old girl.

"I'll let you guys go. I'll call you?"

"Yeah. I should be free sometime this week."

"Sweet. See ya." Luke smiled as he pulled me in for one last hug. After he walked away Jemma finally looked at me.

"Daddy, who that?" She asked.

"That's your uncle Luke." I answered, picking her up as we walked the rest of the way to the shoe store. A.J. followed closely behind us, his hand gripping my free one.

"Do you think Brenna remembers me Daddy?" A.J. asked once we got into the store.

"I'm sure she does squirt. You remember her, don't you?" A.J. nodded before pointing towards a pair of shoes that looked exactly like the ones that I had puked on yesterday.

"Mummy likes those." I smiled at him before hugging him.

"You're the best squirt."

"I know."

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When we got home the house was completely quiet, which in all honesty surprised me.

Normally at least one of the kids were screaming.

Jemma was fast asleep in my arms, having fallen asleep on the drive home. A.J. was tired too, tuckered out from having to shop. I took Jemma upstairs to her room, gently laying her down and taking note that Jonah was also asleep. A.J. walked past the twins room and into his, shutting the door behind him. I took that as a sign he too was going to take a nap, so I went into my bedroom. Niall was fast asleep, Audrey on his chest as she also slept. I noticed dries tear streaks on his cheeks and when I climbed into the bed with him, his pillow was still damp.

I didn't think much of it though, pulling him into my arms as I too closed my eyes and fell asleep.

-----------------------------------

HEY. LUKE IS BACK.

I TOTALLY DIDNT FORGET ABOUT HIM. WHAT. NO.

NOPE.

Okay. I did.

But to be fair there's a lot of characters in this book.

And yeah.

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Connie xx