Better for You

I awoke on Christmas morning in a state of blissful serenity. The past few days that Harry and I had spent with his family had been filled with laughter and fun activities. We even went Ice-skating on the second day that we had arrived which was the funniest thing I had done all year. Watching Harry’s usually calm and collected character become the clumsiest figure I had ever seen was a rare and yet hilarious sight; not that I had been much better myself.

Spending time with Harry while he was with his family had also been a very pleasant experience as Harry was more carefree and relaxed than I think I had ever seen him. Harry seemed to smile a little deeper and laugh a little harder when he was around his family, which I assumed was due to the lack of pressure to act a certain way that Harry feels when he is around his ‘friends’.

I myself had also felt slightly better after spending time with Harry’s family. The pressures that I usually felt with my diet and my appearance had lessened considerably and I found myself able to finish the majority of what Anne cooked us, something which would cause Harry to smile slightly and squeeze my hand under the table.

“Happy Christmas.” Harry whispered next to me, his breath fanning across my cheek and I popped one eye open to look at him and his painfully attractive morning appearance before a smile spread across my lips.

“Merry Christmas.” I murmured back at him and I leaned upwards to peck his soft lips. “What’s the time?” I asked Harry as I moved on the bed slightly so that I was sitting up right.

“Around nine.” Harry answered, looking at me with a devilish glint in his eyes.

“Ok, do you think we should go down then?” I asked Harry, confused as to why he was staring at me the way that he was.

“I had some other things in mind that we could do before, just to get Christmas day with a bang.” Harry said, emphasizing the word bang and causing me to chuckle and roll my eyes.

“Oh really, and what did you have in mind?” I countered, catching onto what Harry was referring to.

“How about I show you?” Harry asked as he climbed on top of me and began kissing me passionately and allowing fire to ignite in my body.

A good 30 minutes later Harry and I walked down the stairs to find Anne and her boyfriend Keith in the middle of a conversation as they both cradle cups of coffee in their hands.

“Well, colour me surprised, I was sure that Gemma and Ryan would be down first.” Anne commented as Harry and I walked into the kitchen.

“I was half sure that Gemma would come and wake us up at the crack of dawn.” Harry commented as he walked over to the coffee jug and poured himself and me a cup of coffee.

“Oh, how the tables have turned.” Anne chuckled and shook her head as she placed her mug in the sink.

“How do your Christmases usually work then?” I asked.

“When everyone’s up we open the presents under the tree and then we have a late Christmas lunch.” Harry answered and I nodded my head.

“Anne, if you need help cooking I’m more than willing to lend a hand – I was always praised for my gravy making skills back home.” I told Anne who gave me a wide smile.

“That was be fabulous if you could, unfortunately none of my kids or Leith can cook to save their lives!” Anne exclaimed and Keith held his hands up in mock defence of Anne’s comment.

“Hey, you said that my pasta was the best pasta you had ever tasted!” Harry defended, looking genuinely taken aback by Anne’s confession which caused me to snigger slightly.

“Harry, that was when you were 13 and I didn’t have the heart to tell you that the pasta was crunchy because you had cooked it in cold water for 5 minutes.” Anne exclaimed and we all burst out laughing as a light blush coloured Harry’s cheeks.

“You’re meant to cook pasta with boiling water?” Harry asked in shock and I held my face in my hands in shock.

“Oh my goodness Harry, cooking pasta in boiling water is like the most basic cooking knowledge there is.” I stated, shocked at Harry’s apparent lack of any cooking knowledge whatsoever.

“Well how was I supposed to know that?” Harry asked me.

“It says so on the packet.” I quipped just as Gemma and Ryan came wandering into the kitchen.

“Merry Christmas!” Gemma cheered with a large grin of excitement on her face.

“About time you woke up.” Harry mumbled and Gemma simply walked past him and pinched his arm before walking through and into the living room by the Christmas tree.

“Ok, let’s open up the presents then!” Gemma announced excitedly, as we all filtered out of the kitchen and into the living room. I sat down with Harry beside me and Ryan next to him and then on the other sofa Anne and Keith sat down next to one another.

The presents were handed out individually to everyone. Gemma loved her polaroid camera and took multiple photos of it of everyone and even took one photo of myself and Harry that was definitely one to keep. I was wrapped up in Harry’s arms with my legs curled up by my side and my head resting on Harry’s chest. I was grinning at Gemma in the photo and Harry was looking down at me with a loving smile and the two of us in the photo simply resonated love and happiness.

Anne was also very grateful for her present of a tablet and was already requesting for Harry to show her how to download books onto it. Keith and Ryan both chuckled also when opening their present and Gemma even took a polaroid of both of them wearing their matching socks from me.

Gemma had gotten me a really nice pair of running shoes as well as a pair of good quality ear phones, which she had said that I could use when I went to the gym as Harry had told her how I frequently exercised and loved music.

Anne had bought me tickets as well to see The Weeknd live on tour in March with Harry which got me squealing with excitement. Evidently Harry had obviously told his mum what a big fan of The Weeknd I was and so I was already setting a countdown for when Harry and I would be seeing him.

For Harry, I had bought him a framed photo of the two us together from when we were at Harry’s tree house. I had my hair blowing in the wind and Harry’s hair was also misshapen lightly by the wind and we were both smiling widely at the camera as I took the photo of the two of us. I had then bought him with that I trip for the two of us to go up to New York for the weekend before Valentine’s day which Harry had been very grateful for and seemed truly excited for our trip.

What Harry had bought me made my heart melt. Harry had bought me a silver locket with an intricately designed box with the letter H imprinted in the centre of it. I couldn’t hold back the smile that melted across my face and then I turned over the locket to find on its back the engraved lyrics ‘we keep this love in a photograph’ from my favourite Ed Sheeran song. Tears started collecting in my eyes which I quickly blinked away as I turned to face Harry and gave him the largest smile I think I have ever given anyone. “Harry, thank you so much, I don’t know what to say!” I told him and he chuckled at my reaction.

“So you like it?” Harry asked me and I nodded my head ferociously in response.

“I love it, thank you! Can you put it on?” I asked Harry, handing him the necklace and then turning my head and holding my hair up. Harry’s fingers ghosted around my neck as placed the cold necklace onto my skin and then I heard the sound of a camera click and turned to find Gemma collecting the polaroid photo.

“I’m sorry you two looked too adorable to not take a photo of it.” Gemma explained and I laughed and shook my head.

“Don’t worry, so long as you didn’t catch my double chin in it you’re good.” I replied and Gemma looked at me as though what I had just said was the most absurd thing that she had ever heard.

“What double chin, Izzy? You want to see a double chin, then you should check out my baby photos.” Gemma pointed out, causing everyone to laugh. Gemma then checked the photo which was now developed and she let out a squeal. “Oh my goodness, this is the cutest photo guys!” Gemma cried and I chuckled at her but when she handed me the photo and I looked at it I saw what she meant.

I was still smiling intensely as I stared ahead and held my hair up and Harry was also grinning to himself as he focused on putting on my necklace. It was an un-staged photo of the two of us and we both looked so comfortable and happy with each other that I could definitely see why Gemma was so smitten with the photo.

Around 15 minutes later when all of the presents had been open and all of the wrapping paper had been cleared away, Anne and I began preparing the Christmas dinner in the kitchen while everyone else watched the Christmas movie “Elf” in the living room.

“That is a lovely necklace Harry got you, Izzy, I don’t think Harry’s ever done anything close to as romantic as that in his whole life!” Anne exclaimed, and I nodded my head and chuckled as I peeled the potatoes.

“Oh really? What was he like growing up then?” I asked, curious to hear Anne’s stories about Harry as a child.

“He was a lovely kid, Harry was – he always wanted everyone to be happy and everyone was always saying what an amazing child I had and what a good role model he would be for Gemma, but then when Harry’s father and I divorced it all changed and I worried that he would never move past this dark phase that he was in.” Anne explained and I could hear the upset in her words and how painful it was for her to retell this story.

“He stopped calling me mom, instead he would call me Anne and he wouldn’t have any contact with me for months on end and I truly thought that I had lost my son. Then he went away to College and he started calling a bit more often, every month or so, and then about 2 months ago I got a call from Harry and in the call, he said that he was seeing you and he spoke to me about you and told me about how you forced him to watch all of the Chick flick movies and how you dragged him out shopping. And then when you were ill he called me to ask what food would be best to buy you to get you better and I felt like I was getting my son back and there was no better feeling than that. And then a couple of weeks ago Harry called me and apologised for everything that he had done to me, and he even thanked me for everything that I had done.” Anne revealed and as she turned to face me I saw tears pricking in her eyes and she then wiped one tear away with the back of her hand. My heart broke for the strong woman that stood before and I admired her greatly for her resilience towards her family.

“I can’t thank you enough, Izzy, I’ve got my son back and I’m sure that a lot of that is thanks to you so thank you.” Anne thanked me however I shook my head at her.

“Anne, you have raised to amazing children, and that is all down to you. As much as I would love to take credit for what Harry has done, it is actually all down to him.” I replied and Anne chuckled but shook her head at me.

“You may not have instructed Harry to do it, Izzy, but I’m sure you were part of what inspired Harry to reach out to me. You’ve changed Harry more than you think Izzy, because there is no way that Harry would have been the way that he has been this Christmas if it wasn’t for you.” Anne told me and my heart warmed in my chest at her words.

The rest of Christmas day was spent with plenty of laughter and conversation. The Christmas dinner turned out very well, and everyone complimented me on my gravy. In the evening, we all sat down and watched Love Actually, despite all of the men pushing against the idea. And as I laid down in bed next to Harry at the end of the day, my heart was filled with happiness and my body felt light and I knew that I was right where I needed to be.