Pirouette [h.s.]

extra - dinner date*

Harry's POV

6 Months Later

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"Tate, I'm heading out!" I call out, hanging up my nametag in the break room and brushing off dog fur from my pants. Stitch is going to start hating me if I keep showing up smelling like other dogs.

"Have fun with the girls tonight, boss man." He appears in the doorway, fiddling with pieces of hair that fell out of the bun wrapped at the base of his neck. Tate started working at the vet's office a couple of months ago, just about the time that I came back after Aurora was born.

I'm taking my girls out for dinner to celebrate Bee's first full day back with Golden Gate. Joseph had been incredible since the baby, giving Phoeb free reign to work or stay home as she needed, or wanted. Of course, my Bee was itching to dive back into dance, but she couldn't bear to stay away from Ror, which resulted in lots of half-day rehearsals with the baby in tow.

Today, though, she went to hang out with Grandma and Uncle Nate while mama went back to the studio. And goddamn have I been itching to see them. I've been spoiled with pictures of my two angels throughout the day, so to not see flashes of beautiful sunlight radiating from my phone screen has only made the urge to see them that much stronger.

I don't remember the drive home, only the moment I pulled the car into the driveway and saw Stitch with his nose shoved against the glass of the front window.

"Did you hear Daddy come in, huh?" Phoebe's voice floats through the house like the warmest, gentle spring breeze across the ocean. I can hear Ror's incoherent babbles crafting the most beautiful symphony I've ever heard.

My girls.

"Hi, angels." I coo as they turn towards the front door. My heart flips in my chest, their pure luminosity burning into my retinas. Sunburn. A lingering vision of radiant light.

Rory, staring at me with her bright blue eyes, in her little diaper like she just got changed, fingers still stained blue from the pureed blueberries I know she had for lunch. Phoebe, having just gotten home from picking up our daughter, with a spit-up stain on the shoulder of the old t-shirt draped over her body, wet spots on the front from having leaked after feeding Ror, and her hair pulled safely out of the way of grabby baby hands. She's never looked more beautiful.

"Say, 'hi Daddy!'" Phoebe shifts Aurora on her hip, humming against my lips when I lean in to give her a kiss.

Pulling back slightly, I speak out against her skin, "How was work, pretty baby?"

"Good," she giggles as I interrupt her with another quick peck, "the older girls were excited that I was back." I hum in response, kissing her again, which erupts another giggle from her beautiful lips.

The sound causes a wave of goosebumps to wash over me. Just like home. I tickle my fingers against Rory's little belly, her laugh tying my stomach up in knots. I've never known a creature more perfect than my sweet baby, with the twin dimples on either side of her chubby baby cheeks, and the fine hairs decorating the top of her head. She looks just like her goddess of a mother, with those dimples that are all me.

"And how was spending all day with Uncle Nate, hmm?" I hoist Rory over my head, relishing in her giggles as I plant kisses across her little face, and a raspberry against her neck. "Was it good? I know, you had so much fun, didn't you, raspberry baby? Yeah, you got lovin' from Grandma all day long." Her fists grip tight to the collar of my scrubs, head nuzzling into the crook of my neck.