Aureate | Harry Styles

6

ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Birthday Bitch by Trap Beckham ────────────────⚪️──────────────◄◄⠀▐▐ ⠀►►⠀⠀ ⠀ 1:15/ 3:17

"fuck it up if it's your birthday bitch..."

•••

"Zoooooommmm," A little voice says, right next to my ear. I peek one eye open and see Lila Jane with a small toy plane in her hand running around the living room. My 2 o'clock nap had been interrupted 10 minutes ago when Lila had bounded into the house after being picked up from school. I tried to fall back asleep but failed miserably, as Lila talked loudly about her day to her mom.

"Lila Jane, be quiet" Scarlett whispers, and I open both of my eyes. Scarlett sits on the couch opposite me with her computer in her lap, glasses perched on her nose.

"It's okay, I'm awake now," I say, yawning and sitting up. As soon as I'm upright, my niece's little body comes colliding with mine with great force, "Oof, jellybean, that hurt!" I exclaim.

"Sorry Emmy," She beams at me, pushing her blonde hair out of her face. I reach up and fix her bow, pinning the flyaway hairs back.

"How are you, my girl? Was school fun?" I ask, as she settles down in my lap, pulling the blanket that had covered me a moment ago back over the both of us.

"School was boringgg," She draws out her words and I laugh. Her big blue eyes peer into mine, and I pinch her cheek.

"That bad huh," I ask her and she nods her head vigorously. I see Scarlett's head shoot up at Lila's response.

"That's not what you told me," Scarlett interjects, a grin on her face at her daughters drama, "You said that it was fun!"

"It was no fun mama, Luca AND Bella weren't even there," She tells us, with dramatic hand motions. I barely avoid a smack to the face.

"Did you learn anything at least," I tickle my fingers on her tummy and she giggles.

"I learned how to make a big snake with playdough and how to draw a S," Lila tells us shrugging, studying the toy in her hands. She looks back at me, and then back to the plane.

"Go grab your backpack LJ," Scarlett hums, "I need to make sure they didn't send you home with any work, sweet pea."

Lila Jane hops out of my lap and runs out of the room, flying her little plane through the air as she does so. We hear her humming as her bare feet slap against the wood floor going up the stairs.

"What're you doing Scar?" I ask, as she types away on her computer. Her eyes flutter up to mine quickly then back down.

"I'm finalizing some details for Harry's birthday party tonight. I got stuck with a lot of planning because both of our assistants were on vacation and Meredith is off today, and I'm not really working right now. If I wasn't hosting it and if it wasn't Harry, I might have hired out help, but I want to keep my own touch on it." She keeps her focus on the laptop screen and I stare back at her, until she notices my eyes on her, "What?"

"Harry is having his birthday party tonight?" I try to keep from sounding accusatory, especially because Harry already told me I would be invited to his birthday celebration. I haven't seen him in about a week, and my sister is one of the most forgetful people I know, so I attribute my lack of invitation to that, not Harry hating me—although it is tempting to think that.

"Oh shit, I didn't invite you," Scarlett's face blanches and she runs her hand over it, "Please don't tell him I forgot, I think he might literally stab me. He gave me this giant list, and I didn't send formal invites to you or Will because I thought I would remember."