on pointe | l.s au | collab with chiseledstyles

4. harry and hannah

the next day, a drowsy and rainy sunday, hannah was up early. really early.

harry, sensing something was wrong even in his sleep, slowly opens his eyes.

and in the corner of his bedroom, sitting in a black bean bag chair, was hannah swinging her foot back and forth. her light brown hair (almost blond) ((too much like her mothers')) was naughty and sticking in up in so many directions.

harry groans and sits up on his elbow, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "hey, hanners." he says, "what are you doing up?"

"it's morning, daddy." hannah says quietly.

harry looks on his nightstand at his alarm clock. the red digital numbers show 6:58 am.

"right." harry says, the mental groan enlarging in his head.

he's not even sure his brain can function at this time of day.

harry swings his legs over the bed, when his bare feet hit the cold tile floor, he shivers and reaches into his nightstand drawer for a pair of black socks. (he keeps that single drawer filled with socks just for this reason).

"alright. ready for breakfast, pumpkin?" he says as he slides the black material over his feet.

when he looks at her, she's shaking her head, her foot stopped swinging, too.

harry gives her a quizzical look. "tv?" he suggests. another head shake.

"a game?"

she shakes her head.

"uh," harry says, completely out of ideas. "w-what do you wanna do, honey?"

hannah gets up, and reaches behind her. harry can tell she picked something up and when she turns back around, he can see a small children's book in her hands.

she climbs on the bed with a little bit of a struggle. harry picks her up under her armpits and places her beside him.

she hands him the book. "you forgot to read this to me last night." she says.

and harry's go wide. how could he forget to read her her favorite book?!

"oh I'm sorry, honey. I'll read it right now." he opens the book, but waits for her to get comfortable.

as she snuggles into his side, he smiles down at her. "ready?" she nods.

"the hungry hungry caterpillar." harry reads. and harry notices the thick pages and although it's a children's book, he's pretty sure it's the longest children's book he's ever read.

as he reads, harry can't seem to read anything correctly without stuttering.

"daddy, you don't have to read this. i can do it."

hannah, apparently having enough with her father's lack of speech, takes the book from him and slowly, but surely, begins to read.

harry is completely shocked. when did she learn how to read so well?! has he truly missed this much? harry feels a sense of guilt and swallows the lump in his throat.

he listens intently as she finishes. her small voice speaking such large words gets harry feeling weird and... well... not good.

"the end." hannah says, closing the book.

harry grins at her. "good job, hannah banana." he says. and her smile was so large and bright it was like staring into the sun.

"breakfast now, kiddo?" he asks, and hannah's growling stomach answers for her.