Getting Caught in the Rain

After an extremely long day of anxiety and leg-jiggling, five o'clock finally comes and Harry grabs his stuff and practically flies out the door, calling, "See you tomorrow, Leanne," to the secretary at the front desk.

"Have a nice evening, Mr. Styles," he hears her say, and it sounds like she's laughing. Leanne's always there before he arrives and when he leaves. Sometimes, he wonders if she just lives at the office, and sleeps at her desk.

He hurries into the station, fumbling with his MetroCard, and hops onto the train. There's a few empty seats in his car, for once, but he prefers to hang onto the pole. He's too keyed up to stay still.

Yes, he realizes that he's being completely irrational. Caroline and Olivia probably had a really nice time. But there's no harm in wanting to get home and see his daughter, is there? No. Of course not.

He gets off at the station and finds his car before driving home. He goes into the lobby and climbs up the five flights of stairs (the elevator has been out of order for a few months now) and reaches his apartment. He's about to knock when he remembers he has a key, so he pulls that out and sticks it into the lock and opens the door.

Caroline is sitting on their couch, looking at Olivia's open door. She turns when she sees him and smiles and Harry's brain short-circuits for a small second. "Hi," she says.

"Uh, hello," he says, ducking his head a little in greeting, "how was your day?"

"It was good, thanks," she says. "We went out and bought all of her school supplies, and then we went to the park afterwards and played on the swings."

"That's good. Did you see the money I left on the counter for the supplies?"

Caroline nods. "Yep."

"Cool. So, uh, where's Livvy?"

Caroline smiles again. "She's modeling her new school supplies." Before Harry can even ask, she calls, "Olivia!"

Olivia comes strutting out of her room, and Harry has to stifle a laugh, because she's wearing a pink striped shirt with a silver bow on it, but instead of pants, she's got a blue tutu and a pair of boots. She's walking with an air of sophistication that dies once she sees him. "Daddy!" she screeches, and then she's running at him full speed. He bends down and catches her, lifting her up and swinging her on his hip.

"Hey, you," he says, giving her a kiss. "What are you wearing?"

"I'm modeling, just like Mummy," Olivia tells him importantly. "This is my new shirt, do you like it?"

"Yeah, babe, but why aren't you wearing pants?"

She gives him a glare and yeah, she's definitely taking after Cara right now. "Because, Daddy, I've already modeled those."

"Olivia," Caroline interrupts, "why don't you show Daddy the outfit we liked? The one with the daisy?"

Olivia perks up. "Okay!" She squirms until Harry sets her down. Once she's on her feet she goes zooming off into her room.

"So, was she good?" Harry asks.

Caroline nods. "She's great. She didn't want to eat the apple at first, but once I put peanut butter on it she was hooked, so I said I'd tell you to start doing that." She laughs a little. "She also has an affinity for going really high on the swings and jumping off, which she forgot to tell me about."

"Oh, God!" Harry says, shocked. "I'm so sorry. I knew that, too, she's done it a few times but I didn't think to tell you -"

"Oh, no, it's fine!" Caroline says quickly. "It just scared me, because I was pushing her and then suddenly she goes, 'watch this!' and flies off the swing. I thought she was gonna fall, but -"

"She landed on her feet," Harry finishes.

She nods. "It was amazing."

Olivia comes back, and this time, she's wearing a black sweater with a big daisy on it, black leggings, and pink slip on shoes. "See?"

"You look lovely," Harry says.

"I know," Olivia nods, and then she goes rushing back to her room.

The two of them watch her go. "She's stunning," Caroline says after a moment. "Like, I've been a nanny for three years now, but it's so strange, because there's just something about her that's just so . . . I don't know, magentic, I guess. She's so loving, you know? Like when we were sitting on the bench in the park she'd wave and say hello to everyone who passed by, just for fun."

Harry nods and smiles a little. "Yeah, she likes to do that."

"And she talks about you all the time," Caroline adds. "You should hear it. She adores you."

"The feeling is mutual, then," Harry grins.

Caroline smiles. "You've got a really great kid, Harry. She's one of a kind. And I'd be happy to come back whenever you'd like me to."

"I would really like that," Harry says, a little quietly. They just sort of look at each other for a bit before Caroline says, "Okay, well, I should be going then."

"Oh, right, here," Harry quickly pulls out his checkbook and writes her a check, ripping it off and handing it to her. "So, I could email you tomorrow or the day after and we can set up another day?"

Caroline nods. "That would be great."

"Olivia!" Harry starts to call, but she stops him, smiling.

"No, it's fine. She's having fun, and besides, I'll be seeing her pretty soon anyway. Have a good night, Harry."

"Yeah, you too," he says, and she shuts the door behind her as he leaves. He sort of stands there, watching it long after it closes and Caroline's footsteps have faded down the hallway, until Olivia comes rushing in, wearing the same clothes from before. The only difference is her hair is pushed back with a pink hairband.

"Look at me," she commands, tugging on his shirt. He snaps out of it, looking down at her and scooping her up.

"You look gorgeous," he exclaims, and Olivia beams like the sun. "So what did you and Caroline do today? Did you have fun?"

She nods vigorously. "We went to the park and I swang so high, Daddy, I touched a cloud, and we went to the store and I got a pink pencil case and some new crayons and new clothes. And we had mac and cheese for lunch and it was so good. I had so much fun."

"That's great, babe. So do you want her to come again?"

"Yes!" Olivia shouts. "She's got long hair, like a princess."

"All right, good. I'm glad you had a nice time."

"I did," Olivia agrees. She winds her tiny arms around Harry's neck, and he can feel her fingers feeling his hair. "I like her very much, but I missed you a lot, Daddy, and I'm very glad you're home."

Harry smiles. "I missed you, too, babe." She leans forward and rubs her nose against his. Ever since Liam taught her how to give Eskimo Kisses, that's all she wants to do. "What do you want for dinner?"

"Grilled cheese," Olivia yells, pulling back to look at him excitedly. "Please, please, please, Daddy, can we have grilled cheese, oh please, please?"

Harry sighs. It's been a long day, and he's tired, and grilled cheese is pretty easy. "All right," he says, and his daughter squeals. "But I'm gonna cut up some carrots and some celery and you're gonna eat those, okay?"

"Okay," she agrees, not even paying attention anymore. She squirms until he sets her down. "Daddy, can I flip the grilled cheesies? I know how to use a spatula now, don't worry . . ."

Harry sighs and follows his daughter into the kitchen.

* * *

A few days later, he and Olivia are at the grocery store, doing some weekend shopping. She's sitting in the cart, holding the list as he pushes her. "All right, kiddo," he says as they make their way down the aisles. "What do we need next?"

Olivia squints. Harry lets her tell him what to buy because he figures it's a good way of getting her to read. "Can . . . canalup?"

"Need help?" he asks. After a moment, she nods and shows him the list. "Cantaloupe," he tells her.

"Cantaloupe," she repeats.

"There you go, babe. Cantaloupe. That's the stuff you sometimes have with your waffles, it's a type of melon. Where do you think we can find it?"

She thinks for a moment before she says, "Where the fruit is?"

"That's right. Let's go." Harry high-fives her and they go to where the fruit and vegetables are.

"Daddy, is that a canalup?"

"Nope."

"What about that one?"

"Not yet."

"Canalup?"

"Cantaloupe, and nope." As they browse the aisle, Olivia points at random fruits, asking if they're the one they're looking for, and Harry always answers patiently. After a while, they start to gather a sort of audience, mainly old women and other moms. Harry can see them smiling and muttering to each other out of the corner of his eye. Olivia notices, too, and starts to really ham it up.

"Hey, Livs," he says as they come to a stop in front of the cantaloupe. "Guess what fruit that is."

Olivia looks at it before she asks, "Canalup?"

"Yup," Harry nods, and Olivia's face breaks out into a huge beam. All of the women near them sigh a little.

Later, they're in the frozen food section, and Harry is making Olivia laugh by pretending he's a basketball player, shooting the food into their cart and going, "He makes it! Two points!"

Olivia's laugh is like any little kid's laugh, it's loud and bubbly and it's Harry's favorite sound in the entire world. "My turn! My turn!" she shrieks, so Harry helps her out of the seat and gives her a package of frozen peas.

"Okay, babe, aim for the trolley," he says. Olivia imitates him and gets into a basketball stance, and he begins to narrate. "Here's Olivia Styles, world champion basketball player, aiming for the winning shot. Can she do it?"

Olivia throws the peas, and Harry angles the cart so it goes right in. "And it's good! Styles makes the basket and wins the championship! She's now the number one basketball player in the whole universe! The crowd goes wild!" He scoops her up and tickles her and she laughs and laughs and laughs and he likes holding her so much that he keeps her there on his hip as he gets some frozen corn and chicken nuggets.

"Excuse me," an elderly lady says, and Harry vaguely recognizes her from their cantaloupe incident earlier.

"Oops," he says, moving out of the way so she can reach inside. She grabs her groceries before turning and smiling at the two of them.

"It's so nice that your big brother takes you shopping with him," she remarks, and oh, boy.

Harry knows that he's extremely young to be a father; Olivia was born when he was nineteen and he's only twenty-three now. He's been mistaken for Olivia's big brother, uncle, and cousin multiple times by multiple people. He always took it upon himself to correct them politely and with a smile, and it usually went over fine.

But this time, before he can say anything, Olivia says, her eyebrows furrowed, "I don't have a brother. This is my daddy."

The elderly lady stops and looks at him. Harry smiles weakly. "Is he?" she asks finally.

Olivia nods happily. "Yes, and he's the best in the entire world."

"That's lovely," the woman says, but her facial expression gives it away. She moves away without another word. Usually, most people are understanding about Harry being a single dad, but there is the occasional person who doesn't approve, and he can never understand why. He knows he's probably too young to be raising a four-year-old all by himself, but so what? He and Olivia have got a good life, and he loves her more than anything.

Olivia is silent for the rest of the grocery trip, and it isn't until they're in the car driving home that she speaks up. "Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Why didn't that lady like me?"

"What lady, sweetheart?"

"The old lady in the frozen section. The one who thought you were my big brother."

Harry thinks for a minute, trying to figure out how to explain it to a little kid. "Well, honey, Mummy and I were very young when we had you. Younger than most people are when they decide to have little girls. And some people think that because we were so young, and because it's mostly just me raising you, that it means I'm not doing a very good job taking care of you."

"Oh." Olivia's quiet again, and then she says, "That makes me sad."

"Please don't be sad," Harry says softly. "It's not you she was mad at, it was me. It had nothing to do with you."

"I don't want her to be mad at you, either," Olivia whimpers. She sounds close to tears, and thankfully, they're right on their street. Harry quickly parks the car before he gets out and goes to Olivia's side, opening the door and pulling her out of her car seat.

"Babe, I want you to listen to me, okay?" he says. "Can you look at me, please?" Olivia meets his eyes, her lip quivering. "What that lady thinks about me doesn't matter. I'm very lucky to have you and that's all I care about. You're my sunshine, remember?"

Olivia nods a little. "Can I have a smile?" Harry asks. When she shakes her head, he says, "Oh, come on, not even a little one? Just a little one?" He tickles her a little and she laughs. "There we go. There's my sunshine." He gives her a kiss and she hugs him, her little arms winding around his neck.

That night, he emails Caroline and asks her to come over again, this time on Friday.