The Parent Plan » Harry Styles

Chapter 26

- Athena & Jake -

As children grow it is natural for their curiosity to grow with them. Having so many questions about this and that - how this works, what is this, what's that, what does that mean, who is that, what about that, why is it like that, how do you make that, why can't I have that? Being human brings on curiosity, it's natural. Where do babies come from? What's a curse word? It's unavoidable. Of course, Athena isn't curious of those things, just yet, she was curious about Katelyn.

In class today came the topic of family relations with the assignment of making a family tree. The blonde didn't get too far with hers as she pondered the idea of actually putting the mother she never knew onto the construction paper. When she went to ask Jake what she should do, she saw his paper where he hadn't included his father. (Then again the two five year olds have two very different situations.)

She left the 'Mother' slot empty and continued filling out her Aunt Gemma and her five uncles. (That being Gemma's husband and Harry's old band mates.)

When nap time came around, she let her thoughts consume her. She wanted to know more about Katelyn, her knowledge of her mother is very small; only limiting to her name, how her parents met, a couple traits and her appearance. She wanted more. She wanted stories - a connection.

As her gaze stays trained on the ceiling, Jake scoots closer to her, wondering what she was thinking about. He couldn't fall asleep knowing that from that look in her eye that she was thinking about something. It was the same look he'd seen when she wanted his help in coming up with a plan to make Harry happy. When he takes grasp of her hand, she turns and meets his eyes. "Mummy and Harry are having alone time again."

"Yeah," she replies uninterested much to Jake's dismay, looking back to the ceiling. He was hoping to see that pretty smile with the news. It was one step closer to getting a father, a step closer to getting Athena a mother, a step closer to have a sibling - why isn't she happy? This was the plan all along. Did she not want it anymore? Just as he parts his lips to speak, she meets his eyes again. "I wanna know my Mummy."

Oh.

At that moment, he wish he understood what she was feeling. His father was still very much alive but Athena's mother is gone - and despite either of them not knowing their parents, this was a very different situation. Monica had told him that she was gonna see daddy again, it made Jake giddy with excitement because not only will he have his real daddy but he'll have two daddies. (His thoughts sometimes got carried away on viewing Harry as his future father.) And if things do go well between their parents Athena will have one mother - one that she actually knows.

He bites his lip when she speaks up.

"Daddy doesn't like talking about it," she mumbles now fiddling with Jake's fingers. She recalls him telling her that maybe when she's older, he'll tell her more - but she wanted to know now. With the way things are going, with Monica coming closer, she feels he may never tell her about Katelyn.

"He will," Jake insists, squeezing her hand. "Just like Mummy told me about my Daddy."

"Maybe," she agrees before letting her eyes flutter close. Jake smiles at his friend and let's his eyes flutter closed as well. Maybe this time they'll take advantage of nap time.

However, just as Jake was about to fall asleep Athena opens her eyes and smiles, leaning over to kiss his cheek, "You're my best friend." Jake's cheeks flush at the affection he's only received from his mom and repeats her statement. Athena closes her eyes once more as Jake just smiles to himself, thinking about how great it is to have a friend like her before he officially drifts into sleep.