Against the Odds

A/N: I know the anticipation for the actual engagement interview is high, but I realized there was a bit more ground that I wanted to cover before we got there so I split this chapter into two parts. Here is part one and it does have some very important things for Harry, Alex, and Emma :) Enjoy!

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Harry was still a bundle of emotions when he pushed the door to his room open later that night. He had tucked Emma in after they had finished their ice cream, Gus snuggled right up next her, and the tears as come again when he went to step from her room and Emma had called out quietly, “Good night, Daddy.”
He heard the shower running in his bathroom and he moved towards it without thought, pulling off clothes as he went. If that’s where Alex was, that’s where he wanted to be. He opened the door of the bathroom and moved straight to the glass door of the shower, pulling it open and stepping in.

“Hey,” Alex smiled as she turned to him, not surprised at all that he was joining her in the shower. It had become a particular habit of his. But her smile faded when he saw him, saw the tears shining in his eyes. “Harry?”

But he didn’t answer, instead he moved straight through the steam of the shower to her, gathered her face in his hands, and pressed his lips to hers.

Alex gasped into his mouth at the passion behind the kiss, at the intensity with which his lips covered hers. And when his tongue teased at her lips and then pushed into her mouth, she moaned; whatever was going on with him, whatever he was trying to communicate with her was filled with a heat that made her ache for him.

“Harry…” she breathed, her hands moving into his hair, now wet from the water pounding down on them, and tugged his lips from hers, wanting to know what was going on, wanting to share with him whatever emotion he was so overcome with. “Harry, what is going on?”

His eyes slid open to hers and he smiled softly. His thumbs stroked the soft skin of her cheeks and he leaned forward again, pressing a kiss to her nose, her cheeks, and one more soft kiss to her lips. “Alexandra,” he whispered hoarsely. “Emma just asked me if she could call me Daddy.”

Alex’s eyes went wide and she felt tears spring to them. “Oh my God…”

“Is that okay with you?” Harry asked softly as he pushed a piece of hair back from her face. “Is it okay if she calls me Dad?”

“Oh God Harry, of course it is!” Alex nodded, a happy laugh falling from her lips as her smile grew wider by the second. “I’m so incredibly happy for you.”

“Happy for us,” Harry grinned, moving in closer and wrapping his arms around her. “Happy for our family.”

“Our family…” Alex echoed with a whisper, her heart beating wildly in her chest at the word. “Our family…”

And suddenly his lips were back on hers and he was moving her back and pressing her into the tile wall behind her. Her arms moved around his neck and she sank into him, kissing him back with every bit of passion and want that he was kissing her with.

His hands moved over her hungrily, taking her in, worshipping her, this woman who had given him everything; this woman who had given him a family.

His hands rounded over her curves; her hips, her waist, moving up to cup her breasts in his hands, running his thumbs over her sensitive nipples, bringing a gasp from her.

“Please Harry…” she moaned, arching against him, against the onslaught of his lips and hands on her.

“Please what?” he teased her. One hand remained at her breasts, pinching and pulling her into madness while his other hand trailed downward, sliding over her flat stomach and then lower until his fingers slid over her center.

“Oh God,” she moaned. Her fingers pressed into the wet skin of his back and her eyes flashed open to his, full of want and desire. “I want you,” she whispered her demand.

“You have me,” Harry smiled, moving in closer. His fingers parted her folds and then sank into her wetness, dipping down and then running a slow, methodical stroke up her slit until he found her nub. He ran a devastating circle around it and watched as she fell further into passion they shared together.

“No…” she shook her head, gasping as his fingers continued their maddening assault on her. One of her hands left his back and she reached in between them, finding him and wrapping her fingers around his incredibly hard length. “I want you inside of me.”

And with a smirk he obliged. His thumb remained steady at her clit and his fingers slipped down. He slipped a single digit slowly inside of her and he groaned even as her eyes rolled closed at the way he felt inside of her.

“Oh God,” she moaned, squeezing his length In her hand as he stroked that single finger inside of her warm, wet body.

“Is this what you wanted, baby?” Harry teased. He loved watching her like this, turned on and wanting him as badly as he wanted her.

Alex pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and her eyes opened slowly to him again. She smiled at the look his face. He was such a tease. He knew what she wanted; but she loved when he was playful like this and she could play just as good as he could.

“Actually,” Alex purred, her face moving into a look of determination that made Harry’s entire body stand on alert. The hand she had on his back flexed and she pressed him closer to her. “What I had in mind was a lot closer to this…” Her hand left his back and moved between them. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist and to his surprise she pulled his hand from her body, a small gasp leaving her mouth at the sensation. And then she squeezed his cock in her hand, pulled him a bit closer, and pressed the tip of him to her folds.

“Fuck,” Harry groaned, the heat of her sending shocks through his system. And then, in a moment that made his entire body pulse, she guided him up her slick center until the head of him met the swollen ball of nerves. She moaned as she circled him around it, using him to give herself pleasure in a way that made his blood boil.

“Jesus Christ, Alex,” he hissed. His hands moved to the wall on either side of her head and he watched her, his breathing harsh. “If you keep doing that…”

She turned heavy, dark eyes up to his and her lips curved up into a smile. She had effectively turned the tables on him and she knew it. But really, in the end, she just wanted him. She didn’t care who had the upper hand; she just wanted the man that her daughter wanted call her Dad, she wanted the man who had come straight into that shower with tears in his eyes, his desire to share this huge news and be with her larger than anything else.

She wanted him.

In the most basic, instinctual way possible.

And so, she dropped the tease and asked for what she wanted.

“Harry,” she murmured, her hands leaving his throbbing cock to slide up his chest and around his neck. “Please…I want you inside of me. Please…”

“God I love you,” Harry groaned as he moved into action. His hands ran down her sides and over her hips to her thighs and he lifted her, his knees going just a bit weak as her legs moved around him. He took just a couple of steps backward and his legs met the built in shower bench. His lips tilted up at the sides and he sat, adjusting her legs on either side of him. “Don’t you understand, Alexandra?” His hands gripped her hips and his eyes held hers as he moved her into position above him. “You can have anything you want, Alex. Anything. You made me a father.”

“I…” Alex stammered, her fingers tightening on the damp skin of his shoulders. “I didn’t…”

“Yes,” Harry nodded. His arms moved around her, one around her hips and the other around her back, pulling her wet, slick body against his. “You did. In all the ways that really matter, love…you did.”

Tears pricked in Alex’s eyes and she had to take a deep breath. She sucked in the steamy air around her and focused on Harry. She focused on the man who had this amazing ability to wreck her body and her emotions at the same time. “Harry, in all the ways that matter, you made yourself a father.”

And then she slid her hands up Harry’s neck and into his damp mess of red hair and tilted her head over his, her mouth covering his with a passion she wasn’t quite sure she could contain.

Harry moaned and his mouth opened under hers, welcoming her tongue into his mouth to tangle with his. And then, not sure that she could wait another minute for him, Alex reached between them, guided him to her, and ahe began to slowly sink down onto him.

“Oh God Alex…” Harry groaned into her mouth. His fingers tightened on her hips as she took him in and settled herself into his lap. “You feel so amazing.”

“So do you,” she breathed, her lips tearing away from his and her head tilting back as she wrapped her brain around the feeling that came with this; the fullness and completeness that only came when he was deep inside of her.

But Harry couldn’t have that; he couldn’t have her eyes closed to him, not then. “Alexandra, look at me baby,” he commanded gently. His hands tangled in her hair and he lifted her head just as her eyes slid open to his.

“God…I love you, Harry,” Alex sighed. She leaned forward to rest her forehead on his, holding his bright blue eyes with hers. “I love you so much.”

She was almost too weak, too overcome with the way she felt about him to even move, to give them both the precious friction they craved. And Harry, as if sensing her struggle, pulled her closer and shifted her up slightly, ready and willing to give her what she wanted but couldn’t quite find the strength for.

His eyes held hers and then in a deep, throaty voice he whispered, “I love you too, Alexandra.”

And then he moved, thrusting up into her hot, wet center and bringing moans from both of them.

Alex could do nothing but take deep, steadying breaths as Harry continued, lifting stroke after heavy stroke into her. It was slow and hot and so incredibly deep within her that it made everything else disappear. She no longer heard the spray of the shower behind them. She didn’t hear the sound that her hands made when she slapped them against the tile on either side of Harry’s head as she tried to gain leverage against his sweet assault. The steam that swirled around them felt like a product of their lovemaking, an effect from the heat that they produced, rather than from the hot water they had abandoned in favor of each other.

The only thing – the only sense – that Alex had was Harry. In that moment he was her entire world; the only thing that she needed to survive. She fed off of that, and as her body absorbed each delicious thrust from him, as he pulled her closer and closer to the edge, the inability to move that she’d felt moments before was replaced by an intense desire to give him what he was giving to her.

She lifted her head from his and hands moved back to their home at his shoulders. Then, with a look that made Harry’s entire body pulse, she took control and began to move over him.

“Oh God,” Harry groaned, watching her as she rose up and sank down on him. “You look…fuck…” His hands smoothed over her wet skin and hers moved into his hair. “I could look at you like this forever.

Her mouth pulled into a sultry sort of smile and she moved closer, her hard nipples brushing against his chest. And just like that, she pulled him right to the edge, right to the place he so often found himself with her, fighting to hold on long enough for her to get there with him.

And she was. She was so close to there with him she could almost taste the pleasure that was threating to break and wash over her.

“Harry…” Alex panted. Her fingers clenched in his hair. “I’m so…please. I’m so close…”

“Yes,” Harry nodded. His fingers spread out over her hips and his thumbs slid down to her hot, slick center. And when he pressed in, when his thumbs began to work together in a devastating pattern over her swollen nub, Alex couldn’t help the primal cry that fell from her lips.

“Oh God,” she moaned, her hips moving faster, bringing not only herself closer and closer to the end, but taking Harry right with her.

“Come on, Baby,” Harry encouraged in a hoarse, needy voice. His thumbs pressed harder and then, just as Alex felt the first flutters of her release deep in her belly, Harry leaned down and captured a nipple between his lips. And with a swirl of his tongue and a soft bite of his teeth, Alex came completely apart.

He head fell back and she cried out, the sound reverberating against the tile walls as the mind-numbing waves pulsed through her. And Harry, who had barely been hanging on to himself since the moment she sank down on him, had no hope against the way her body clenched around his, with the way she cried out his name over and over again. With a gasp and a groan his fingers tightened on her hips, his head dropped to her chest, and he followed her over the edge, everything he had pulsing up into her, this amazing woman that he loved.

The woman who really had given him everything he ever wanted.

***********

Two Days Until the Announcement

“What’s that?” Alex asked, pointing to the thick manila envelope in Harry’s hand when he stepped through the front door of his home.

“Good evening to you too, love,” Harry laughed, shaking his head a bit as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, his head dipping for a kiss.

Alex giggled against his lips and kissed him back, her arms moving around neck. “Sorry…” she sighed when he pulled back a bit, keeping her close but looking down on her. “It just seems like every time I turn around there is a new envelope with something new to look at or remember or…my brain is going to explode soon.”

Harry chuckled and pressed another kiss to her lips before he stepped back and took a deep breath, his face growing a bit serious. “This is actually something new to look at, but I want to make sure that it’s why you want before you open it.”

Alex tilted her head to the side, her brow furrowing slightly. “Okay…what does that mean?”

“It means…” His fingers flexed on the envelope for a moment and then he continued on, his voice dropping a bit. “It means that the family lawyers drew up adoption papers, or what’s needed to start the first part of the process. And I wanted you to look at them before we have to start signing things.”

Alex’s eyes fell to the envelope as her heart beat a furious pattern in her chest. “I told you months ago that’s what I wanted,” she said softly, her eyes turning up to his. “And since then I’ve agreed to marry you and…my mind hasn’t changed, Harry. And considering Emma called you Daddy…” She trailed off at the look of pure happiness that crossed Harry’s face and it made her smile wider before she continued, “I think she’d be absolutely okay with that too. But we need to talk to her first. And we definitely need to talk about the…” She laughed a little nervously and whispered, “The Princess stuff.”

Harry lifted an amused eyebrow. “Why are you whispering?”

“Because it doesn’t sound so real that way?”

Harry’s eyebrows knotted together. “You don’t want it to be real?”

Alex’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, no. That’s not what I meant. It’s just that it’s almost unreal that my daughter could be a princess. Not that it’s a bad thing.”

Harry bit his lip and leaned back against the table behind him, crossing his arms over his chest. “You do know that your fiancé is a Prince, right?”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Harry…”

“And that soon enough you’ll technically be one too?”

And Alex’s entire thought process drew to a halt. “Wait. What? I thought I was going to be a Duchess.”

“You will be,” Harry nodded. “You’ll automatically take my highest ranking title, which will at that time be the Duke of Sussex. But technically, although you won’t be referred to as such, you’ll also be the Princess Henry of Wales.”

And suddenly Alex burst out laughing. “Oh my God,” she breathed between giggles, clapping her hand over her mouth.

“What’s so funny?” Harry asked, although he was amused at her reaction.

“Nothing,” Alex said, shaking her head as she tried to keep her laughter under control. “It’s just that it’s so silly. When I think of myself being any kind of Princess, it’s so silly. It’s just a title, it’s not who I am. I just let it build up bigger in my head though when it came to Emma. I know it’s utterly ridiculous…”

“I love you, Alexandra Morgan,” Harry interrupted, his tone reverent and making Alex’s lips tilt into a soft smile.

She tilted her head to the side. “Yeah? And why is that?”

“Because you’ve taken everything that comes with my life so well over the past two years, but you’ve never been afraid to say it right out loud when something isn’t so easy for you to deal with. Because you’re strong enough to do those things.”

Alex sighed and then she moved to Harry, tipping her lips to his for a kiss. “I love you too, Prince Harry of Wales.”

He chuckled and kissed her softly. “When do you want to talk to Emma?”

“How about now?” Alex offered. “She’s done with her homework and is playing with Gus in your garden. We can pull her in.”

Harry took a deep breath, kissed her once more, and then nodded. “Okay, let’s talk to her.”

**********

It would become quite the tradition over the years in Harry and Alex’s household for important conversations or talks that needed to be had to take place in their kitchen over bowls of ice cream. It had started the night Emma had asked Harry if she could call him Daddy, and it continued again when Harry and Alex sat Emma down to have the conversation which would most likely impact her in a bigger way than any other in her life.

“Okay Emma,” Harry started, even though his stomach fluttered nervously. “You know in a couple of days your mum and I are going to announce that we are going to get married.”

“Yeeeeeees,” Emma drawled, well aware how many more days she had before she had to stop keeping the secret.

“Okay,” Harry chuckled, his eyes finding Alex’s with humor for a moment before he turned back to Emma. “Well, when that happens there will be an announcement that goes out all over the world and there will be a big TV interview.”

“Wait.” Emma’s eyes widened slightly. “Do I have to be on TV?”

“No,” Alex moved to assure her. “It will just be me and Harry.”

“Okay,” Emma said with a bit of relief. That would make me nervous.”

“It makes me nervous too, Em,” Alex said with a soft smile.

“Really? Why?” Emma asked with a bit of surprise.

Alex glanced to Harry for a moment. He gave her an encouraging smile and she turned back to her daughter. “Well, they are going to ask questions that Harry and I have never had to talk about with anyone other than our friends and family until now.”

“What kinds of questions?”

“Questions about me and Harry; about our life together and our life with you. They will want to know about my life before Harry as well and will probably ask questions about your dad. It makes me very nervous to tell the whole world those things.”

“Oh…” Emma murmured. Her bottom lip pulled between her teeth and Harry smiled, knowing her brain was working over the situation. “What will they want to know about me?”

Harry spoke up, wanting to make assurances to his little girl. “I don’t think they’ll pry too much; they know that there are strict boundaries when it comes to children. But they will probably want to know how well you and I get along, what type of relationship we have, that type of thing.”

“Well that doesn’t seem so hard,” Emma giggled. “You love me.”

“Ha!” Harry laughed, his head tipping back. He reached over to ruffle her hair, amused as always at her sass. “I do. And I’m incredibly proud to have both you and your mum and I can’t wait to tell them that. But they might also ask some things that I don’t know the answers to yet, and that’s why we wanted to talk to you. We need your help in making some decisions.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “My help?”

“Yep,” Alex nodded. She reached down and tucked a piece of blonde hair behind her daughter’s ear. “Baby, I know you asked Harry if you could call him Daddy…”

Emma smiled and turned a sweet glance to Harry, who beamed back at her before she turned back to Alex. “He told you?”

“Of course he did,” she smiled. “And it made me so happy.”

“Me too,” Emma grinned.

“Me three,” Harry chimed in, bringing laughs from both of his girls that warmed his heart.

Alex let the laughter move the room and settle before she took a deep breath and continued, “Emma, Harry and I have talked quite a bit about this and I’ve already told him it’s what I want, but we need to ask you too. Harry would like to officially adopt you as his daughter.”

It took several seconds for Emma to fully process the information, to be sure that she had actually heard correctly. In those seconds Harry didn’t breathe and he wasn’t quite sure his heart even kept beating while he waited for Emma to say something.

And then finally she turned from Alex and to Harry, her big blue eyes finding his, and she broke the silence in the room.

“Really?” she whispered and Harry almost cried at the hope in her voice and on her face.

He nodded slowly. “More than anything in the entire world.”

Emma’s face immediately split into a grin at the reference to what she had told him the night before and at the knowledge that he officially wanted to be her father. And just like Harry did the night before, Emma moved from her stool and into his arms for a crushing hug.

Alex sat back and watching the two of them, swiping at the tears in her eyes, loving that she was witnessing this beautiful moment.

Harry squeezed Emma tight and kissed the side of her head. “I take that as a yes, Em?”

Emma giggled and nodded against Harry’s chest before she pulled back and looked up at his face with a smile. “Duhhhhh.”

Harry laughed and tickled her sides, bringing another giggle from her before he stood and set her back on her stool. Then he took a step around her stool to Alex and his eyes met hers, emotion flying between them. He reached out and his fingers cupped her cheek for a moment before he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

“Hey!” Emma squeaked. “You are supposed to warn me before you do the kissing stuff!”

Alex giggled against Harry’s lips, accepting one more sweet kiss from him before he pulled away, a wide smile on his handsome face.

“Sorry Em,” Harry said, turning to ruffle her hair. He stayed where he was, choosing to stand by Alex so Emma could look at them both as they continued to the talk.

“I’m not sorry,” Alex teased with a wink at her daughter. “But I’ll do my best to remember next time.”

“Ooookay,” Emma rolled her eyes.

“Alright,” Harry chuckled. As much as he wanted to bask in the love and the fun that this moment was creating, they still needed to cover one more important topic. “Okay Emma, I can honestly say I’m thrilled with your decision, but we’ve got one more for you to think about and this one may be a little harder.”

Emma’s smile faded just a bit and she tilted her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“Baby,” Alex said softly, sweetly as she reached out for Emma’s hand. “When Harry and I get married, we want to have more children…” She trailed off when Emma’s entire face brightened and her eyes went wide. “Hang on,” Alex chuckled, trying to ward off the inevitable excitement about a baby brother or sister. “The thing is, because Harry is a Prince, and children we will have will be princes or princesses as well.”

“So I would have a little brother or sister that is a prince or princess?” Emma asked brightly.

“Yes,” Harry nodded. “But, when I was making plans to ask your mum to marry me, I thought about that a lot. I went and spoke to my granny about it. I told her how much you mean to me and how I would never, ever see you any differently than any other children me and your mum have.” He stopped and smiled when Emma blushed a bit. Then he moved a bit closer to her and crouched down so he was looking up at her, feeling like it would be less intimidating. He didn’t want her to feel any kind of pressure. “Emma, my Gran offered to make a new rule that would make you a Princess as soon as your mum and I are married.”

And Emma’s mouth dropped. “Are you joking with me right now?” she whispered, her eyes moving quickly from Harry to Alex and then back again.

“No,” Harry shook his head, his eyes radiating sincerity. “I would never.”

“Emma,” Alex called her daughter’s attention. “When Harry first asked me about this, I told him this was your decision alone. It’s a big change. You would become a member of the Royal family.”

“And that’s not always easy,” Harry continued where Alex left off. “It’s not like you see in Disney movies. Yes, there are many advantages but you do give up a lot in life. There may be times where you wish you were normal. I don’t want you to give up the chance you have to be normal without seriously thinking about it.”

Emma blinked several times. Her mouth opened and closed twice and she looked back and forth between Alex and Harry several times before she finally found the words she wanted to say.

“When you adopt me, I’ll be your daughter, right?” she whispered, her nerves evident.

“You already are, Emma,” Harry assured. “But legally…officially, yes you will be.”

“And if you would have been my daddy when I was born, I would have automatically been a princess?”

“Yes,” Harry nodded.

“Then that’s what I want,” Emma said softly. “I don’t think it’s right to decide not to be a princess because it might be hard. Lots of things are hard and you can’t get out of them before they happen.”

Alex couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her lips. She couldn’t help but beam at how proud she was of how smart and wise and calm her seven year old sounded. She squeezed Emma’s hand in hers and when her daughter’s big blue eyes – so much like hers – swung up to her she couldn’t help the tears that sprung to her eyes. “Emma Rose, are you sure?”

“Yep,” Emma nodded, already set firmly in her decision. “I’ve made up my mind. So now can we talk about brothers and sisters? I want a lot of them.”

“Ha!” Harry shouted his laughter as he stood and pulled Emma into a tight hug and then held an arm out for Alex, wrapping it around her and bringing her in. “Don’t worry Em, you definitely aren’t the only one.”

Alex smiled wide and nodded in agreement, completely in love with her family. “Definitely not.”