The Weeks Between • HS

Week 7 • Nola

I woke up to Hattie crying, the calls coming from the iPad, propped on my dresser across the room. I didn't leave that there. I look down to recognize that I am still in the clothes I wore last night to have drinks with Harry. Wait, how did I get home? No, how did I get to bed?

I try my best to maneuver from my room to next door. When I bend down to pick Hattie up, it's then that I notice my is head pounding and I still feel at least partially intoxicated. I probably shouldn't feed her.

I head downstairs and shuffle into the kitchen, noticing that the clock reads 4:19am. I down a glass of water and some Advil as I warm up some breastmilk from the freezer. I can hear her screams intensifying from the kitchen. I dance around having to pee before I give in and run to the downstairs bathroom to relieve myself. On my way back to the kitchen, I trip over some shoes and look down to see Harry's shoes.

Why the hell are Harry's shoes in my living room?

Then, I spy a long arm draped over the end of the couch. At the end of that arm is a hand with a cross tattoo in the meat of it. Attached to that hand, and arm, is the rest of a sleeping Harry, hugging the couch pillows against his body as soft snores leave his lips. I swear even his snores have a British accent. I am pulled from my observation of Harry by the timer beeping for her bottle warmer. That and Hattie losing her damn mind.

I rush upstairs, feeling dizzy from taking the steps too quickly. I steady myself in the doorway before I reach the crib to pick up Hattie. "I know, Hattie girl. I'm sorry, but I am all ready for you now." I give her the bottle and skip changing her diaper until after she is full. After I'm finished and she is back to bed, I pump to relieve myself, and tuck back in just after 5am.

Mia and Lottie will be up in the next couple of hours, so I just pray that the Advil kicks in before they need me. Like clockwork, at 6:40am, Lottie climbs into my bed, looking for someone to get up with her so she can start her day. It's times like these that I want another parent to defer to. "Alright, Charlotte. Calm down. Can you watch some Peppa on my phone until Mia wakes up?" I beg her, unlocking my best parenting skills and handing over my cell phone to keep her happy long enough for me to doze a few precious minutes more.

Mia saunters in nearly thirty minutes later. I got thirty more minutes of semi-peaceful bliss with Lottie laughing against my side. In case I wasn't sure that I'd have to finally wake up, Hattie starts to make noise in her crib. "Are you girls ready to go and say good morning to your sister?"

The girls run ahead of me and keep her entertained until I can pull myself together enough to mom through the morning. Once I have the basic skills down, I grab Hattie and we head downstairs. As I reach the last step I remember that Harry is sleeping on our couch.

The girls runs over to him and I whisper-shout. "Don't wake him."

"But, mama why is he on our couch?" Mia asks.

"Maybe there were monsters under his bed, so he came here to get away from them." I say and my words elicit a smile from the obviously no longer sleeping Harry. The girls just stand there and stare at him as he wakes up. What little creepers.

"I'm going to go outside and feed her. Can they watch Peppa with you?" I ask him and he nods as the girls climb onto the couch with him and find spots against his body. Is it wrong that I am jealous of my daughters proximity to him right now?

I leave the house to feed Hattie on the bench out front. Normally, I would watch the world wake up, but today I message Hope.

----- Message to Hope -----

Nola: Harry slept on my couch last night.

Hope: WHAT THE HELL? I need more than what.

Nola: I have no idea. I think we were both drunk.