Together

You And Me And A Song

Man, it's been a few days since I've updated... sorry about that. It's been crazy in both good ways and some not so good ways, and I'm getting that all sorted out... but we don't need to get into that right now. This is far from the best chapter but I hope you all enjoy it still. Comment and vote if you please. Love love love
-ab

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March 14, 2026

Patrick

Once Harper is gone, and the rest of the party is disbanded, I do minimal cleaning up, then I'm off to the hospital to pick up Harper's dad. With the sailor's coin necklace that we picked out tucked safely away in my satchel, I lock up the flat and catch the tube to the hospital.

When I arrive, his nurses are just finishing preparing him for his day out. He is all dressed up, and looks quite good, considering. Short of his bald head and slight paleness, I wouldn't be able to tell that this man is dying of brain cancer.

"How are you feeling?" I ask him.

"I get to go see my daughter perform today. That makes it a great day," he tells me.

"It's all that he's talked about for the past three days," one of the nurses tells me, causing me to smile. I'm so glad that I was able to pull this off, both for Harper and her father.

"She's going to be so surprised," I tell him.

We make our way to the theatre, using an Uber, not the tube, per request of both Cooper and his doctors, and as soon as we are there, I get him into his seat and situated. "Do you want anything? Snacks or souveniers?" I ask him.

"No, I'm all good," he assures me. "Thank you so much for bringing me, Patrick."

In spite of Cooper telling me he doesn't need anything, I end up purchasing him a programme, which he seems to appreciate.

We don't talk much before the show starts, but the silence is saying enough. He's taking in every moment at this performance. He knows that he might never get another opportunity to be in the theatre again, much less with his daughter onstage, playing the title role.

I know that Harper sees us, almost as soon as she steps onstage. I had told her were I was going to be sitting, so she stole a glance in my direction. Her look of surprise was unnoticeable to anybody who didn't know her, but I know her well enough to detect even the smallest expression on her face. It was probably an unconscious look, and I won't bring it up to her, because that will only worry her.

At the interval, I receive a text from my wife.

Harper: Is that my dad next to you?

Patrick: He wanted to come see the show...

Harper: Aw. Thank you, love xx

Patrick: You're welcome. You're doing amazing, sweetie. Keep it up. The show gets better and better every time.

Harper: I love you so much.

Patrick: I love you too.

I tuck my phone away after that, as I know that Harper needs to change her makeup, wig, and costume during the interval. The last thing that she needs is her phone as a distraction.

When the show is over, the entire audience applauds as the cast takes their bows, then I watch as Katherine and Toby share a cheeky look. Toby grabs a microphone from the pit.

"Hi everyone," he says. "For those of you who don't know, this is Harper, and she's our lovely Anya. Wasn't she amazing, everyone?"

The audience claps, and Cooper and I clap the loudest.

"Alright, well, today is her birthday, and she has two shows today, so we thought that it might be fun to get you guys to sing 'Happy Birthday' to her. Would you all be good with that?"

Everyone cheers, and Harper is blushing a bright red colour, but smiling, as Toby leads the audience in song.

"Alright, that's all I had to say," Toby laughs after we are done singing. "Thanks everyone. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Anastasia."

Toby hands the microphone back to the conductor, then, the cast starts to leave the stage.

"Shall we go catch up with Harper at the stage door?" I ask Cooper.

"That would be lovely," he tells me. I help him out of his seat, as he is starting to grow quite weak, then we walk out of the theatre and around to the stage door. Harper quickly ushers us inside, and tells us to go to her dressing room, while she signs some autographs and takes pictures. The path to her dressing room comes pretty easily to me, at this point, because I've been backstage so many times. Cooper needs a bit of help with the stairs, and as soon as we get there, he sits right down on her sofa.

After a few seconds, I hear a knock on the door, and I'm surprised to see Katherine there.

"Is Harper already outside?" she asks.

"Yeah, sorry," I reply. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, I was just going to ask if I could borrow her steamer. I'll catch her when she comes back in."

"Does she usually let you use it?"

"I borrow it almost every two show day," she explains. "I haven't gotten the chance to invest in my own yet."

"Just take it," I tell Katherine, picking up the device from Harper's dressing table and handing it to Katherine. "She won't be needing it for a bit anyway, since we are going to give her her gifts now."

"Perfect," Kath smiles. "Thank you so much. I'll bring it back soon."

She leaves the room, and I close the door behind her. Cooper and I wait, mostly in silence, until Harper comes back. When she does, she goes right for her dad, wrapping her arms around him in a massive hug.

"You were amazing, sweetie," he tells his daughter, kissing her cheek. "I'm so glad that I was able to come and see you one more time."

"Thank you so much, Daddy," she says, with tears forming in her eyes.

"Happy Birthday, Harper Elise Alwyn. I'm so proud of you and the amazing woman that you've become. Being your dad has been my greatest honour in my life."

"Stop it, Daddy. My mascara is going to run," she whines with a small smile forming on her lips.

"I'm just telling you the truth," he says. "You're an amazing young woman, and I know that you have the most amazing life ahead of you."