Hi again babes. I’ve got something for you; it’s a single dad!harry (and single mum!yn). This is something I never thought I would even consider writing (because the thought of the MC having kids not with Harry kills me… I know 😂) but the idea has grown on me and I’ve finally got my shit together and put it down in writing. I think this is one of my favourite things that I’ve ever written so far so maybe you won’t like it but eh I’ll just post it anyway. Right I’m gonna stop rambling. Tell me what you think!
YN had it all; a cosy three bedroom house in the heart of Notting Hill (and by cosy it actually is cosy as in warm, comfy and inviting and not just some word a landlord would say to cover the fact that the place is either cramped, falling apart or has never been updated), a fulfilling job, a drop-dead gorgeous, loving husband with really nice icy blue eyes (and arms and broad shoulders and thighs and… she could go on forever but let’s not dwell on that right now) and the sweetest gurgling little baby boy. People say he’s YN’s twin only with his daddy’s eyes and hair colour.
Two years later, with a baby girl in tow, the cosy little family of three grows into a lively family of four. It all seems perfect, doesn’t it? Their marriage was perfect. They were what people would call the typical Hallmark family.
But nothing truly is perfect, isn’t it? Happily ever after only does exist in children’s tales. With two children, they were no longer “that cute couple plus baby”, they turned into a proper family overnight. James and YN were less of a couple and more of a mum and dad 24/7, which took a strain on their relationship. And as if that wasn’t enough, James was also in the run for a partnership in his firm, which would make him the youngest senior partner in Addleshaw Goddard, one of the most prestigious law firms in the City. Being one of the top lawyers in the City and working with high-profile clients such as large commercial companies or financial institutions, James had already been working long, unsocial hours. But that was nothing compared to the hours after he knew he was in the running for partnership. He basically lived in his office. He took more big cases to put his name on the map so weekends off were merely a myth. He got what he wanted in the end, full equity partnership in Addleshaw Goddard, six figure salary, £500 an hour, but little did he know that in order to get what he had always wanted, he had to lose what was matter the most.
“What? Now?” James lets out a heavy sigh. “I can’t now, YN. Av’ got to see a client at lunch. But I’ve already cleared my schedule from 3:30 to 4:30 so I’m still picking up Finn.”
This time, YN lets out a heavy sigh. She knows that she can’t get pissed at her ex-husband for not being able to pick up their three year old daughter at her nursery. It’s her fault after all; she’s the one who forgot that the nursery only opens for half-day on that particular Thursday. Pippa’s teacher had to call her to remind her to pick up the little girl. “Alright, thanks anyway.”
“Anytime. Give her a kiss f’me,” James asks her.
“Will do. Bye,” YN pinches the bridge between her nose as she hangs up the call. Glancing at the clock on the wall for a second, she tidies up some scattered papers and puts it aside as she stands up and walks towards the lift.
“YN!” One of her colleagues catches her as she waits for the lift. “The guests just got here and they’re all in their dressing rooms. Lisa already looked over the script a few times and she said everything’s good. Oh no, wait, I think they’re gonna need to look over the red chair again but other than that it’s fine. And- wait, are you going somewhere?”
“Yeah. Pippa’s nursery is closed at half twelve today so I need to go and pick her up now,” she answers as she takes another glance at the Kate Spade on her wrist. She knows she needs to go really soon. “I won’t be long but just in case anything happens before I get back, find Mike or Tom. Thanks!”
“Ah, alright then,” the crew nods at her. “See ya!”
How could she go from Wood Lane to Portobello Road then back to Wood Lane in less than half an hour, she’d never know. It’s in the middle of the day, mind you. But anyway, YN is back at the studio with her very excited three year old who gets to go with her mummy to work. No doubt, her older brother would be very jealous when he finds out later.
It’s not the first time YN brings her child to work, she had brought even both of them a few times before but she never brought them on Thursday. Thursday is always her busiest day at work because they’re filming the show every Thursday and not Friday when it airs even though the show is filmed as live. As a production coordinator, YN needs to be on her feet most of the time, making sure that everything is smooth sailing.
“Hey! Who have we got ‘ere, eh?” Elliot, one of the camera operators, greets them with a smile as they walk into the set. He looks down at the little girl with a teasing smirk. “D’you work ‘ere, miss?”
The little girl shakes her head and giggles. “No.”
“Pippa!” One of the crews, Chloe, calls her name as she walks towards them and the little girl smiles, turning around to see who has just called her. “Golly! Look at how big you’re getting, sweetheart! That’s a very pretty dress you’re wearing, can I borrow it sometime?”
The little girl let out another fit of giggles. “It won’t fit!”
“YN,” another crew walks towards them, but calling her name this time instead of her little girl. “We’re going in five and Mike asked for you.”
“Ah shoot,” she mutters under her breath, realising that there were things that still need to be done and she’s only got five minutes left. Even less because she needs to find her boss first because apparently he’s been looking for her. “C’mere darlin,”
“I’ve got spare time if you want me to watch her?” Chloe offers. “Props all done for now until red chair and it won’t be for a while.”
“You won’t mind?” YN looks up at Chloe as if she were Mrs Claus and Chloe shakes her head, smiling as she takes the little girl’s hand. “Oh Chloe, you’re an angel! Thanks! Pippa darlin’, mummy needs to work so you’ll stay with Chloe for a bit, alright? Be a good girl and listen to Chloe.”
Knowing her daughter is in good hands, she crosses the list of things that she needs to do before they start filming without worry. Fortunately for them the guests are wonderful this week—yes, some guests could be a pain in the arse. One time some Hollywood A-List (YN truly believes that the A stands for arsehole) demanded not one, not two but TEN dressing room. That’s right, TEN.
YN is still supervising the set as they film when she sees Chloe walks in without her daughter. She knows that someone probably calls her to prep the set for the red chair segment but she thought Chloe was just going to drop Pippa with her before she started working. “YN!” Chloe calls her as she walks towards her. “We bumped into Harry Styles’s daughter in the hallway earlier with her nan. Pippa and her have been playing together since then. I asked Pippa to come with me but she refused and Harry’s mum offered to watch her, so I left her in his dressing room.”
“What?” Her eyes widen in surprise. Her daughter? Playing in the dressing room?
“I’m so sorry. I could go back and-“
“No, no, it’s fine,” YN cuts her short, smiling so Chloe won’t feel like she’s upset, trying to mask the fact that she’s not actually happy about the situation. It may or may not get her in trouble after all. “Thanks for watching her earlier. I’ll just go and get her now, I don’t want her to bother them.”
“They’re having fun, YN, really. ‘Sides Harry’s mum is so nice,” Chloe reassures her.
“I know she must be, but I’ll just go and check on them regardless,” she insists. “We’re gonna have a break in three anyway.”
Standing in front of Harry’s dressing room, YN takes a deep breath before she knocks on the door. She hears a soft woman’s voice, no doubt Harry’s mum, saying “come in!”, before she opens the door.
“Mummy!” Pippa giggles and runs towards the door with her arms wide open and ready to wrap her mum’s legs.
“Hi darlin’,” she looks down at her daughter before turning her head to smile at Harry’s mum and daughter. “Are you being nice to your new friend?”
“She’s wonderful. They’ve been playing nicely for a while,” Harry’s mum chimes in.
YN apologises. “I’m sorry if she’s disturbed you.”
“Oh, not at all!” She smiles at YN. Her smile is so warm and it reminds her of her own mother. “Pippa is so sweet and they’re having fun. Nothing to apologise, love. In fact I have to thank you for bringing her because otherwise Anya would get bored.”
YN chuckles. “Glad you think so. But I can just take her with me-“
“No, no, no, you can absolutely leave her here. I can watch her. They’re having fun and I don’t want to separate them if you don’t mind,” Anne reassures her, looking at the silly little girls who were giggling at each other as they poke each other’s nose.
“Oh that’s really sweet of you, but are you sure?” She hesitates. “My daughter can be a handful.”
Anne laughs. “She’s been wonderful with me, darlin’. Really, it’s great for my granddaughter to have someone around her age to play with.”
Everyone’s head turns towards the door when they hear someone twisting the handle. The fact that they don’t even bother to knock makes YN realise who’s behind it even before the person enters the room.
“Hello!” Harry smiles as he closes the door behind him. “Got a new friend, huh?”
“Daddy!” Anya beams. “S’my friend, Pippa!”
“Hi Pippa!” Harry sweetly crouches down to be at their level, before reaching out his hand to shake Pippa’s. “I’m Harry, nice to meet you.”
“Hi!” Pippa grins and shakes his hand.
“And you must be Pippa’s mum,” Harry smiles as he stands up and walks towards YN. “Sorry, I’m really terrible with names but you do look familiar. Think I saw you last time I was here as well.”
“I was,” she nods, the corners of her mouth quirk up. She chooses to apologise instead of acknowledging his comment. “I’m sorry my daughter has disturbed yours, she’s not supposed to be here. One of the crews tried to get her to leave but she wouldn’t budge.”
“Oh nonsense!” Harry counters. “I’m sure she’s not, they look like they’re having fun. Just let them play, s’nice for them to have someone around their age. If Pippa weren’t here, my daughter would ask for that, and I’m trying to cut down screen time,” Harry says, tilting his head to where the iPad is sat on the table.
YN chuckles. “Alright then if you’re fine with it too. Mrs-“
“Just call me Anne, dear,”
YN smiles at her. “Anne, would you like to save my number so you can just call me the second Pippa starts being a little terror?”
Anne and Harry laugh. YN thinks that even if you don’t know them, you probably could have guessed that they’re related somehow, seeing how similar their facial features are especially when they’re laughing. “I’m sure she won’t, but I’ll save your number just in case she asks for you.”
YN’s phone is buzzing for the second time in the span of five minutes, and the same unknown number appears on the screen. She continues to ignore it; first, because she simply hates answering calls. Second, because it’s bloody Saturday so if it’s turn out to be work related, she’s got an excuse not to pick up. Third, she just really really—and she couldn’t stress this enough—hates answering calls.
James picks the kids up every Saturday morning to spend the whole day with him and brings them back every Sunday morning. It wasn’t easy at first for YN; she ended up on his bed with the kids and him on his own couch more times than she would like but she has grown to be alright having the whole day for herself. In fact, now she likes it. And she won’t say this out loud of course but she secretly looks forward to it.
After the third call ten minutes later goes unanswered, she blindly searches for his phone on the end table next to the couch without tearing her gaze from the magazine that she’s reading. Looking at the screen for a second, she sees a notification for a new voicemail and she plays it.
“Hi YN, it’s Harry. We met the other day at the studio. I’ve got your number from my mum. Anyway, Anya has been asking for Pippa nonstop so I was just wondering if you guys are up for a playdate sometime soon? Please call me back if you’ve got time. Thanks! Have a good weekend!”
She’s just realised that she has been ignoring calls from Harry sodding Styles.
YN sits up straight immediately before she dials his number and he picks it up after only the second ring. “Hi YN! Y’alright?”
“Hello, sorry I didn’t hear when you called earlier. I’m good thanks. You?” YN tries her best to sound nonchalant and it’s going well so far.
“Good, thank you. Nothing to complain really,” he chuckles. “Anyway, I was just wondering if you’re up for a playdate sometime soon?”
“Of course! Pippa would love it. They really did get along the other day,” she agrees and she tries to stifle her giggle. If someone told her last week that Harry Styles would call her and ask for a playdate she would definitely laugh at that person’s face and say, ‘you joking?’.
“Great! When’s best for you?”
“Probably on the weekends. Is that alright for you?” She asks.
“Yeah! How about today? Are you busy? Have you got any plans? Anya and I are just chilling around the house and I could tell that she’s bored. She thinks I’m less fun now that she’s made a friend,” Harry jokes.
YN laughs politely. “I’m sure she thinks you’re just as fun. And I’m not busy right now but my kids are with their dad every Saturday. How about tomorrow? Or if you’re busy maybe next weekend?”
“Oh,” Harry pauses before he continues. “Tomorrow’s perfect! What time is best for you? We haven’t got any plans so we can go anytime.”
“Say 3pm-ish?” She suggests.
“That’s perfect for us!” Harry answers excitedly. “Have you got any idea where we should go? Pippa is basically Anya’s first friend so we’ve never done any playdates before.”
“How about the Heath? Is it too far for you guys?”
“Not at all! We live in Hampstead,” Harry informs her.
“Oh, that’s brilliant! We can meet on the east side of the Heath. See you tomorrow, Harry,”
“See you tomorrow! Bye, have a lovely day YN,” says Harry.
“You too!” YN says before she hangs up.
“Anyaaa!” Pippa wiggles her hand out of her mummy’s so she can run towards Anya who’s holding her daddy’s hand. Anya grins at her new friend and the two of them share the sweetest hug like two old mates who haven’t seen each other for years instead of two strangers who have just met three days prior. It really is precious to see their friendship blooms in such a short period of time.
“Hello!” Harry smiles as he walks towards YN and the kids. “Y’alright?”
YN nods and smiles back at him. “Yeah, thanks. How are you?”
“Good! Who’s this little man?” He says as he reaches out his hand towards the little boy. “Hi, I’m Harry. What’s your name?”
The little boy, much shyer than his little sister hesitates to shake Harry’s hand. He looks up at his mum and YN has to nudge his shoulder to make him reaches out his hand and shake Harry’s. “I’m Finn,” he says at last.
“Nice to meet you Finn!” Harry says before he turns his head towards his daughter. “Anya, come and say hi to Pippa’s brother.”
The weather is quite nice for early October. Shorts season is definitely gone but the autumn breeze isn’t quite bone-numbing just yet. The colour of the autumn leaves make the scenery as if it comes out of a painting, it’s simply beautiful wherever they look. They ask if the kids want to go for a walk, but they spot the playground and can’t help but run towards it before Harry and YN have the chance to convince them to go for a walk instead. All three of them.
Trying to be discreet, Harry takes a quick glance at YN’s hand as they walk into the gated area of the playground to see whether or not she has a wedding band on, but he’s not quick enough to fight back the smile that’s creeping onto his face when he realises she hasn’t got one. He recalls back to Thursday when they met at the studio as they filmed The Graham Norton Show and he realised that she didn’t have a ring on that day either. Harry knows that once, maybe she forgot. But twice? She’s not putting that on.
They play with the kids on the playground. Harry patiently helps them to climb onto the slide one by one and YN waits patiently for them at the end of the slide. Then they put them on one of those large net swings where they can put all three of them on one swing and Harry pushes them higher every time, earning a shriek of giggles.
When the kids finally had enough of the playground, Harry and YN take them for a walk towards Parliament Hill. Luckily, Anya warms up rather quickly with Finn as well as Pippa so the three of them have been playing together nicely. Finn walks in front of Harry and YN, holding Pippa’s hand on one of his hands and Anya’s on the other.
“Pippa is so sweet,” Harry begins when he realises that it’s the perfect time to start a proper conversation. It was just not possible when they were looking after the kids on the playground. He looks over to YN and smiles at her.
YN lets out a chuckle. “You’re just being nice, she’s a handful.”
“I’m not!” Harry shakes his head. “She’s really sweet. Finn, too. He’s a great big brother.”
“Well, they have their moments,” YN tells him. “But I’m lucky, I guess. They rarely fight. Pippa can be quite bossy sometimes though, so when they fight it’s usually just because Finn has had enough.”
Harry laughs. “Do you know where she gets that from?”
“Definitely her nan,” YN chuckles.
“Is she close with her nans? Both sides?” Harry asks as he waves at his daughter when she looks over her shoulder to see him. “Do you see them often?”
“Quite close, yeah, and with both sides. Both of our parents live in Surrey, mine in Farnham and James’s in Virginia Water so we see them at least once a month,” YN answers. “How about Anya?”
“Well, she’s named after me mum so she’s definitely her favourite grandchild so far,” Harry grins. “She’s basically Anya’s second parent, my mum.”
“Oh, I thought her mother is Russian!” YN exclaims. “I love her name.”
Harry’s grin widens as he shakes his head. “Thank you. No, my mum’s name is Anne and I want to name my daughter after her, but having two Anne(s) would be confusing. So I opted for another version of Anne.”
“That’s a really gorgeous name. Your mum must be very happy,” YN says as she tucks her hands inside her pockets because it’s getting a bit chilly.
“Definitely made her my mum’s favourite grandchild for sure. Well, she’s currently her only grandchild so that may change sometime soon,” Harry says proudly, grinning even wider. “I’m gonna be an uncle in a few weeks.”
“Oh, congratulations!” YN gasps. “That’s so exciting!”
“It is! We all can’t wait to meet the baby,” Harry adds. “But we don’t know how Anya is gonna take this though. She has been the baby in the family her whole life.”
“I’m sure she’ll be just fine,” YN smiles at Harry reassuringly. “Anya is a sweet girl. Bet she’ll love having a little mate to play with. ‘Sides cousins are the best!”
“You’re right, cousins are the best,” Harry nods, chuckling a little. “Finn and Pippa are lucky. They’ve got built in best friend forever.”
“Both me and their father grew up as an only child so even before we got married we knew we wanted to have at least two. We both hated the fact that we haven’t got any siblings,” YN explains.
“Do you plan to have more?” Harry asks, testing the water as nonchalant as possible. He has an assumption but before he can be sure of himself, he needs to hear it from her.
“Uh,” YN clears her throat, pausing before she continues. “We’re separated.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Harry mumbles, looking down so YN won’t see the smile that’s creeping onto his face. He doesn’t even know why he’s smiling but he does. And he’s clearly having a hard time trying to hide it. “How different it is with divorce if I may ask?”
“Well, we’re just waiting really. Because one of the grounds for divorce is that we have to live apart for at least two years, and during that time we can get a legal separation. We haven’t reached that mark yet so we still have to wait, soon though. After that we can get decree nisi.” YN doesn’t let Harry respond before she continues. “How about you? I’ve never heard you talk about Anya’s mother but I don’t really follow celebrity gossips,” she chuckles. That’s a lie by the way, she reads glossy magazines like OK! and Hello! quite religiously every week.
“That’s because she’s not in the picture,” Harry smiles, pausing to clear his throat before he continues. “We weren’t together or anything, didn’t even know her to be honest. All I knew was that she got pregnant and that she was planning to give the baby up, so I stepped in and took her. Got sole custody. Nobody really knows about this so I’d appreciate it if you’d just-“
“Don’t worry, not my story to tell,” YN smiles at him reassuringly as she cuts him short. “So you took her on your own since she was born?”
Harry nods proudly. “Right from day one. Her mother didn’t even want to see her after she was born so after I got green light from the peds I took her home straight away. She was only five hours old, looking like a little pink sausage in a blanket,” Harry smiles, clearly reminiscing the day he got to bring his daughter home for the first time.
YN chuckles. “You’re bloody amazing. Just want to say this in case nobody has told you. But I’m sure they do.”
“Thank you,” Harry grins wider. “So are you. We haven’t got the easiest job, us,”
“I mean it Harry,” YN says, stopping abruptly from walking to look at Harry properly in the eyes. “Those early days are rough, I really can’t imagine doing it alone.”
“It was a blur,” he stops walking and lets out a giggle as he looks at YN. “T’was rough. But the good thing about being a single parent right from the start is that you’re used to being alone. I’ve never known what it is like to have a second set of hands. Well I’ve got my mum but it’s still different, I guess. And it must not be the case with you, so you’re the real MVP here,” he ends tamely.
YN lets out a chuckle and they lapse into silence. It’s definitely not an uncomfortable silence. They just look around at the magnificent view before them as they walk around, letting the kids take the lead. It has been a while since both YN and Harry feel at peace. They don’t know it yet, but happiness will be back within their arm’s reach very very soon.
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