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Henry’s heart nearly gives out at the sound of Alex’s bedroom door opening. He jumps and then winces, thinking that he might have jostled Alex. But if an intruder is breaking into Alex’s home, he would want Alex to be awake for that. Alex is laying on his stomach, knocked the fuck out, and snoring up a storm. Henry had been propped up against the headboard with the bedside lamp on, reading the copy of Pride and Prejudice he keeps on him at all times.
The intruder in question is Alex’s five-year-old daughter, Ellie.
And she’s crying.
“Ellie,” Henry breathes, setting his book on the bedside table.
“Henry?” Ellie sniffles.
“What’s wrong?” Henry asks, his arm hovering over Alex’s back to wake him up.
“What are you doing here?” Ellie asks, slowly approaching the bed.
“Uh,” Henry’s cheeks flare up and his arm drops to his side.
This is the first time Ellie has realized he’s stayed over. Usually, when Henry stays over, he’s out before Ellie wakes up. Alex has never asked him to not stay for breakfast but Henry thinks it’s the polite thing to do in a new relationship with a single father. He never wants to force Alex to explain who he is to Ellie, not until he’s ready.
But tonight, they all had dinner together and watched the new Pixar movie. It went extremely well despite Henry’s neverending nerves. Alex had this beaming grin on his face the entire night. After Ellie had gone to bed, that grin turned into a salacious smirk as Alex opened a bottle of wine. Henry is now ridiculously grateful that it’s winter and he borrowed a jumper and pajama pants from Alex to sleep in after…everything that occurred.
“Are you and Dad having a sleepover?” Ellie asks.
“Yes,” Henry agrees easily. “A sleepover, yes.”
Ellie giggles. “He fell asleep before you. Not a very fun sleepover.”
Henry bites his cheek to swallow back the barking laugh he’d like to give. He just nods instead and says, “Yeah. He’s a real bore.”
Ellie shrugs, “He works hard. Makes him sleepy.”
“That it does,” Henry responds. “Are you alright though?”
Ellie is at the foot of the bed now and reflexively, Henry moves away from Alex’s body, patting the spot next to him. Ellie crawls onto the bed, careful to not step on any of Alex’s limbs. Henry half expects her to finally poke her dad awake but instead, she lays down in the crevice of their two pillows and blinks up at him.
She has her father’s eyes and even inherited his ridiculously long eyelashes. They look even longer now that they’re wet with tears.
“Ellie,” Henry says quietly. “Do you want me to wake up your‒”
He’s cut off by one of Alex’s deep-rooted snores that practically vibrates the entire room. They both burst into giggles and try to cover their mouths to stifle them. Alex doesn’t move an inch, completely unperturbed by the noise and the extra addition to the mattress.
“I don’t think you could if you tried,” Ellie says after she regains her breath.
“He’s out cold,” Henry agrees and shakes his shoulders while mouthing, “Brr”.
Ellie laughs again and mimics him. Then her face falls. She sniffles and Henry’s heart breaks in two.
“Did something happen? Are you okay?” Henry asks, moving so he’s at eye-level with her.
“Nightmare,” Ellie whispers, chin wobbling.
“Oh,” Henry whispers. “I’m sorry. Would you like to talk about it?”
Ellie shakes her head vigorously and Henry nods in understanding.
“Why are you awake?” Ellie asks softly.
“Ah, well,” Henry sighs. “I have trouble sleeping sometimes.”
“Nightmares?” Ellie gasps.
“Not exactly, though everyone has nightmares sometimes,” Henry assures her gently. “I just have a restless mind so books help me calm that down.”
“What were you reading?” Ellie asks softly.
Henry turns over enough to grab his book. He hands it to her and watches her examine it. The very loose spine, the dog-eared pages, the haphazard highlighting, the little scribbles of notes in the margins.
“It’s very broken,” She states matter-of-factly.
Henry chuckles. “Yes, well, it’s my favorite novel. I take it with me everywhere. Would you believe that’s my seventh copy of that book?”
“Seventh?” She asks, eyes wide and eyebrows raised.
Henry hums. “Seventh. I still have the others but they are in tatters, unfortunately.”
“My librarian, Miss Laurie, can fix broken books! She has this cool machine with glue and big wax paper that she uses to put them back together,” Ellie demonstrates by pressing the book closed between her palms, “I bet she would fix this one for you if you asked her.”
“Well, that’s very kind. She sounds like a great librarian.”
“The best. She always hides the new Pete the Cat books until I check them out. But don’t tell anyone that,” Ellie says fiercely.
Henry smiles as he mimes zipping his lips closed. Of course, Alex’s daughter is so charming that she has elementary librarians stashing books for her. Nothing could shock him less. Ellie nods firmly and returns to examining his book. She holds her finger over the words on the cover.
“Pride and,” Her lips press together as she tries to sound out the last word.
“Prejudice,” Henry finishes.
“What does that mean?”
“It means having an opinion on something or someone without any real reason.”
She fans the pages between her fingers. “It doesn’t have any pictures.”
Henry clicks his tongue against his teeth. “No, I’m afraid not.”
“It should.”
“It would be more fun that way, wouldn’t it?”
“All of my favorite books have pictures.”
“Would you…” Henry hesitates. The words “like me to read some to you” get stuck on the tip of his tongue. He’s caught in the middle of wanting to make sure Alex gets a genuine night of sleep but not wanting to overstep by providing Ellie comfort from her nightmare. He’s only formally met the child a few hours ago.
“Do you have kids?” Ellie asks, steering the conversation in a whole new direction.
“Uh, no,” Henry replies. “I do have a niece and a nephew though.”
“Where are they?”
“England with my brother and his wife.”
“Right,” Ellie processes. “That’s where you’re from.”
“Yes, it is,” Henry smiles.
“Do you miss them?” Ellie asks.
Henry's smile softens. “Oh, all the time. But I make regular trips back when I can.”
“Are they my age?”
“Well, George is only a year older than you. Mary is a little bitty baby.”
Ellie’s eyes light up, “You should have them come here. I have loads of toys that I can share with George. And I hold my baby dolls real gentle so I could hold Mary too. And I have a trundle bed so George can sleep over in my room. I don’t have a crib but we can probably go buy one! Then we can all be together and you won’t have to miss them anymore.”
Ellie paints a wonderful picture. One that makes Henry’s heart glow and ache at the same time. He’s only been dating Alex a short while, only just became his boyfriend a few weeks ago, but the feelings he harbors for that man are steadily growing hour by hour. As much as he wants to keep them at bay, to let more time pass, to be casual and cool, his heart is practically banging on Alex’s door. Now, this adorable little girl with Alex’s eyes is telling him that his beloved niece and nephew could fit in well here. And he can’t help but agree.
“That sounds incredibly fun,” Henry says. “You are quite the wonderful host.”
Ellie beams, “I learned from my dad. He says we’re too social for our own good, so we might as well be good at it.”
Henry snorts and thinks about all the ways Alex is effortlessly social. Talking to strangers in a 30-second elevator ride. Finding out where the waitress goes to college. Knowing the name of every person that works in his office.
How he noticed a writer at the coffee shop he stops at every morning to get his cup of jet fuel. How he struck up a conversation with the writer who was nervous and shy around arguably the most beautiful man he’s ever met. How he continued to greet him every morning until one day he asked if he could join him, though he was certainly already running late for work. Now, months later, they sleep in the same bed for short spurts of time throughout their busy weeks.
“The classic Claremont-Diaz charm,” Henry says finally.
“Works on everybody,” Ellie finishes his father’s iconic little phrase.
Henry pokes her stomach and she giggles brightly. She hands him back his novel with big puppy eyes.
“Could you read some to me?” Ellie asks.
“Of my book?” Henry asks, surprised.
“Mhm. Looks like it’ll put me right to sleep,” Ellie grins teasingly.
Henry gasps. “Jane Austen is rolling in her grave.”
“Please,” She whines, dragging out the ‘e’ until Henry finally agrees.
“Alright,” Henry says. “Would you like me to start at the beginning?”
“No, that’s okay,” Ellie says, finally getting under the covers and making herself comfortable.
Henry nods and opens up Jane Austen’s world for the millionth time. He clears his throat and starts reading the words aloud. He’s rusty at this, he keeps forgetting to breathe regularly, but Ellie doesn’t seem to mind. It doesn’t take long until his eyes start to grow heavy. He glances down and sees Ellie is already asleep. He wonders about taking her back up to her bed but his body is starting to feel heavier and heavier against the mattress. He turns out the light and gently falls asleep.
When Alex stirs in the morning, his eyes feel crusted shut. Jesus, he hasn’t slept that deep in a long time. He groans quietly and uses the one arm that’s not asleep underneath him to rub at his face but it collides with another body. His heart stops. He scrubs hurriedly at his eyes and turns his head.
Henry’s still here.
More importantly, Ellie’s here.
Somehow.
Henry is lying on his back, one hand holding his copy of Pride and Prejudice, sprawled open on his chest. The other hand is on Ellie’s back who is curled up into his side, sleeping peacefully. He hadn’t even heard her come in. The morning light shines in from the windows, cascading them in a warm yellow. His heart feels like it’s going to burst at the seams.
Dating as a single dad has not been the easiest. Alex vowed years ago to make sure he’s certain about someone before he brings them around Ellie. No one had fit the bill until Henry Fox.
He’d been waiting to see what Henry would be like in the morning. It always stung a little bit that he didn’t stay. He’d accept the goodbye kiss at 4 in the god damn morning anyway. Alex understood why he was being so polite but as Alex’s feelings started their fast and reckless tumble into love, parting from Henry was getting harder and harder. When Henry passed with flying colors meeting his daughter last night, he didn’t think it could get better than that.
The sight before him tells him that he was so, so wrong.
Alex moves slowly, careful not to wake them, as he places his arm across his two loves.