The Weeks Between • HS

Week 7 • Harry

Last night, drinks with Nola ended earlier than usual when I realized she was getting a little too intoxicated on the mixed drinks I'd been serving up. So much so that I walked with her, holding her up, through the small distance back to her house. I got her tucked into bed and decided that I should probably sleep on the couch in the living room, just in case she was farther gone than I thought she was and one of the girls needed something.

While getting myself a glass of water from the kitchen, I spied some prescription bottles in the cabinet next to where Nola keeps the water glasses. Having had my fair share of run-ins with difficult life seasons, I recognized both an anti-depressant and a sleeping pill. Shit. Now, I'm standing in a dark kitchen Googling drug interactions with the drinks I mixed her. Thankfully, she should just be extra sleepy.

I think back to our time at Pinnacle. The only time, in all of our time together, that I think she has truly let her guards down was when we were in the pond. Seeing these bottles makes me realize that she is probably masking it well the rest of the time we are together, and that makes me incredibly sad.

I fished a blanket out of the cabinet and settled in on the couch, setting my alarm for 6:15am, so that I could wake up before the rest of the house. It was already a little after 3am, so tomorrow was going to suck no matter when I woke up as long as had to be before noon. Of course, instead of snoozing my alarm when it rings, I accidentally turn it off and I don't check back into the land of the living until I hear Nola whisper-talking to the girls.

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

Nola replies with, "maybe there were monsters under his bed, so he came here to get away from them." Her reply makes me smile and it's at that point that I open my eyes to find Lottie and Mia both starting at me like some museum display. Nola stands a little behind them with Hattie on one hip, tugging at her shirt for access.

"I'm going to go outside and feed her. Can they watch Peppa with you?" she asks, as Mia and Lottie don't wait for a response before tucking in next to me; Lottie behind the crook of my knees and Mia right in front of my stomach as I lay on my side, facing the T.V. I work the remote, selecting an episode. As it plays, I drift in and out of awake and alert as the cast of pigs teaches the girls riveting life lessons.

Mia leans over to lift my eyelid, obviously wanting me to wake up for good. "Harry, will you make us pancakes?" she asks and I fight the urge to sigh and say 'no' because I want to go home and sleep. "Of course." I tell her, fluffing her hair as I move her slightly so that I can sit up. I rub my face the rest of the way awake before lifting my tired body off the couch.

I leave the girls to watch Peppa and saunter to the kitchen, still in my clothes from last night. I sort through the cabinets, knowing that I put away flour, sugar and syrup when Nola bought groceries. "Girls, do you like blueberries in your pancakes?"

"Yes, we do!" Nola answers, and I peek my head around the corner to see her sitting on the couch in the spot I just vacated with the girls. Hattie is babbling as she scoots on her tummy on the rug in front of them and I take in the scene, suddenly feeling a tinge of something I can't explain or name. Perhaps it's happiness?

I go back to making the pancakes. I am able to locate everything I need in her kitchen, and whip up blueberry pancakes with a side of fruit and maple syrup. I set three spots at the kitchen counter, and one for myself standing across from them. "Breakfast is ready!" I yell and the girls bound in ahead of Nola and Hattie. As Nola enters the kitchen, she comes up behind me, laying her hand on my back while looking around my side to take in the spread. "Thank you," she whispers, just loud enough for me to hear and I instinctively kiss the top of her head.