Hey Lovies... I hope you enjoy it!

Did you ever know that you're my hero?

"What if they don't like me?" She asks for the tenth time. Aliza has always been such a strong person. You'll never know how many fears she hides deep down. I do, I get to calm her storms. "I've got you. I promise darling, they'll love you." I assure her. 

She's been keeping me up for the last week. She had to wake me up from a nightmare more than once. After coming clean about everything, I've been struggling a bit, but she's always there, always telling me we'll be alright.

I couldn't have done it without her, It's something I put in a box, to never deal with. She gave me a safe space to finally bring it up. It's starting to heal but sometimes the scars in my side turn into the raw cuts they were almost a year ago.

I start from the beginning, that's until she takes my hand and grounds me. I look up. Thank you.

"What if I make a fool out of myself?" Her eyes go wide, she's about to spiral. "What if I become a mute or make a inappropriate sex joke. What if I burp very loudly or have a hole in the seam of my pants. I don't know how to handle parents. I'm going to accidentally offend them and talk to long about flowers or they'll think I'm a freak cause I can't touch them too much. The hugs, Harry! The introduction hugs. Oh My God, I'm going to throw up." She heaves, grabbing her stomach.

"Sunshine." She heaves again, her hand going to cover her mouth. "Sunshine, hey." I pull on her, but she doesn't budge. Her mind is going a mile a minute. "Aliza." I say sternly and her head snaps to mine. "You need to stop this right now." I say a little harder than I wanted to. 

I soften when I see the look on her face. "Tiny dancer." I say and pull her into my chest. She's breathing erratically from her rant. I smooth the back of her hair. "Can you just trust me for now?" She stares up at me. "All of those things you mentioned don't matter. They know that you'll initiate touch. You know who they adopted, right?" I ask her and receive a hint of a smile.  

"Well, if you put it that way." She says with a giggle. I lift her chin with my middle finger. "It'll be okay. Just be yourself." I tell her. The doorbell makes her snap her head towards the sound. She breaks away from me and starts in the opposite direction. I grab her, managing to clutch her shirt. I spin her around to face me. "The door is that way." I point over her shoulder. 

"My hiding place is that way." She points to the side. I let out a hard chuckle. "Come on." I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her into my side. "Flowers!" She yells and dances towards the kitchen counter. 

She clutches the pink tulips in her hand as we walk to the door. She's going to snap the stems in half from the force. "We'll be alright." She says sternly, perhaps more to herself then me. I'm pulled into a hug the moment the door is wide enough, and I inhale the smell of my mother's shampoo. 

"God I missed you momma." I tell her, pulling her even tighter. She pulls away to look at me. Her arms are on my shoulders. "Look at you, you look really good!" She gushes and my cheeks turn pink. She's shoved out of the way and Gemma takes her place. 

I receive a tight one arm hug from my dad. I look to the side and can't hide my laughter. Aliza is hiding behind the door, softly talking to herself. The flowers now against her chest, it looks like she's praying. 

"Sunshine." I sing out to her, and she snaps out of her trance. She moves away from the door, and I open it fully. "Well, come in." I gesture to them. "This is Aliza." I tell them, pulling her closer by the hand. There's a moment of silence until she pushes the flowers towards my mother. 

"Oh thank you dear, this is wonderful." My mom says and Aliza gets a smile on her face. "It's for a joyful occasion, like Christmas." She says. Aliza's eyes glaze over, her bottom lip disappears into her mouth. She steps forward slowly and her arms wrap around my mother, shocking all three of us.

Her body goes rigid for a heart beat and then she relaxes into her. She whispers something to my mom that causes her to look up at me. My mom whispers something back into her ear, but I can't make out what she's saying. 

 She pulls back after another moment and wipes under her eyes, turning to me. "Okay let's get this party started." She glides to the kitchen, leaving us behind.

I turn to my family. "If you don't marry that girl soon, I will." My mother says and the tension disappears from our loud laughter. We find her in the kitchen making tea. "So Aliza." Gemma draws out her name. Aliza looks up from where she's stirring the tea. "You'll have to tell me all of Harry's embarrassing childhood stories from when you were kids."

Oh no you don't. I reach for Gemma but she ducks away from me, prancing over to Aliza. She grabs the milk on the counter that Aliza insisted we bought for my parents because 'not everyone likes almond milk in their tea Harry.' 

"Well, I'll start with the time he decided to correct our English teacher's grammar mistakes on the board." Oh fuck forgot that one. "While she was teaching, with the correct proofreading marks." Aliza laughs. I groan loudly. "NO! Sunshine behave." I scold her which makes her laugh even more. 

She turns to Gemma, nearly doubling over from laughter before even telling her next memory. "We went to some kind of school function. We were about fourteen I think?" She looks at me for confirmation. Oh God, maybe this was a bad idea. "We were thirteen." I tell her.

"Thirteen then, some kind of formal, but anyway, there was this girl who just wouldn't leave him alone. He dodged her the whole evening, but somewhere in the night, she sneaks upon him, and he gets frightened so badly he starts to run from her. I'm standing off the side, seeing the whole thing. He looked back and runs right into the wall." She has tears in her eyes from laughing.  

Everyone is in stitches by now except for me, the one who's being bullied. "That's not the funny part. He jumps up and looks her straight in the eyes and mutters,' Houston, we have a problem' then he just turns and runs again, leaving her standing in the middle of the dance floor, shocked."

"I warned you!" I groan and rush towards her. I grab her by the waist and she squeals as I push my fingertips into her rib cage. She squirms to get away but her laughter is stealing her strength. "Okay, I'm sorry I'm done." I release her. "After this story, So one day-" I cut her off by launching at her, but she's quicker this time and gets away.

I run after her, up the stairs and through the whole upstairs. She's fast and very agile so she dodges me whenever I get close. She runs back downstairs and into the dining room. She slips and glides through the room in a typical Jerry McGuire move. 

She holds her hands out to steady herself and I bump right into her, taking us both down. She falls with a thud and a groan. She's breathing harshly, tired from running. She swipes the hair out of her face. 

I hear the footsteps and my parents come into view, Gemma just behind them. She takes a moment to catch her breath and looks up at the curious eyes. "Did Harry ever tell you about how he thought that uncurl-" I place my hand over her mouth. She licks it but I don't budge. "Good God it's like you're still two teenagers." Gemma utters. Aliza is laughing so hard she's snorting in between. Her body arching from the ground.

I move my hand away and she mouths the word 'later' to Gemma. "Get off me you filthy animal." She says and pushes me away. "Welcome to the mad house." I tell my family as I get up.

***  

After dinner we assemble in the living room. Aliza shifts the piano so that it faces the couch. I pour everyone some wine and join her on the piano bench. "Any requests?" I ask as I crack my knuckles dramatically. 

"Wonderful Christmas time. " Gemma says and Aliza's fingers start to tinker. I look at her, the way her brow always has a little crease from concentrating. There's always a loose piece of her dangling from her head.

We continue like this for a while, playing together or switching it up when I play on the guitar. The atmosphere is light and joyful. My parents dance around the room when we play some of the slower songs. It's nothing short of a hallmark family night in. 

Aliza's emotions seem to shift through each other quickly. She's smiling all the way, a genuine smile but I notice the small crack in her voice or the little shudders that runs through her. I see when her bottom lips slip into her mouth and she has to close her eyes to overcome the emotions. 

I look at my family and back to her. She's never had this, not even before her parents gave her away. There was no family dinners or any sort of event. They abandoned her from the beginning. Regret dwells over me, I took it all for granted. I had family dinners and Christmas and thanks giving.

Even after I moved away, I always flew home for Christmas. They gave me the opportunity . Her hands start to shake as she looses her composure. "Look at me." She does. I push her hands away gently, taking over. They fall into her lap as she looks down.  

It must have been cold there in my shadow, to never have sunlight on your face. You were content to let me shine, that's your way. You always walked a step behind.

Her head snaps up to me and her frown is exchanged for a blinding smile. 

So I was the one with all the glory. While you were the one with all the strength.A beautiful face without a name for so long. A beautiful smile to hide the pain. I continue. She's just staring and when I look at my parents they are too. 

Did you ever know that you're my hero, and everything I would like to be?I can fly higher than an eagle, for you are the wind beneath my wings. She sings with me, conviction in her voice, making it sound raw and powerful. 

It might have appeared to go unnoticed. But I've got it all here in my heartI want you to know I know the truth; of course, I know it. I would be nothing without you.  She sings, she wiggles her eyebrow at me. "Stop flirting with me, I have a girl." I whisper to her and she giggles. The room disappears, it's only me and her. "Come on, wanna year that power." I say to her. 

Did you ever know that you're my hero? You're everything I wish I could be.I could fly higher than an eagle. For you are the wind beneath my wings.
God does she deliver, her words are strong and filled to the brim with emotions. I can only do harmonies because her voice is perfect. I play the final chords and the music stops. 

A silence falls over the room, it's like a soft coat, that hugs just right. "Well that was..." Robin trails of. My mother has tears in her eyes and Gemma pretends to stick her finger in her mouth. Aliza gives a quick burst of laughter when she sees it and then a string of giggles follow. 

"You guys are amazing." My mother says. "Thank you Anne." Aliza tells her. "You're really soppy."Gemma says. "You're tainted leave our love alone." I growl at her. Aliza plays the intro of tainted love, making everyone laugh. 

***

CHRISTMAS DAY.

I'm woken by feather light kisses, trailing down my back. I lean into Harry, still enjoying the fact that I get to wake up next to him everyday. "It's ten minutes to Christmas." He tells me, still halfway sleeping. I turn around in his embrace. 

"Happy Christmas Willow." I whisper to him, giving him a soft kiss. "First Christmas." He smiles, the moon rays just enough light for me to see him. "You know that feeling, when you're toes curl and it feels like your hearts going to burst?" I ask him, my heart beat accelerating to proof my point. 

"Get it all the time sweets."He says, kissing my neck. "I'm feeling it now." I tell him, sighing from his lips on my skin. His hands travel down my sides, hitching my leg over his waist. My hand wraps into the hair at the nape of his neck, bringing his lips to mine. Christmas has never felt this good. 

I'm in the kitchen, getting everything ready for Christmas dinner. My nerves has settled since getting to know Harry's family better. I was a complete mess, to put it lightly. A shaking ball of atoms for the first day. 

They're lovely, of course. I just had a hard time dealing with the new experience of having to impress someones parents. I have the recipe in my hand for beef roast. I have no idea what I'm doing. I've never cooked meat before. 

Strong arms wrap around my waist and kiss my hair. I lean into him, like I always do. "Morning love." He says to me. "Morning." I voice back. I get distracted by the recipe again. He plucks it out of my hand to look it over and then tear it up. "Hey!" I scold him. "I'll do the roast, you cook the veg." He commands. I turn around. 

"You think my food will be bad?" I challenge him. He retreats, literately stepping back. "No, just wanted to be nice." He says nervously. I giggle at him and he gets a frown on his face. "That's mean, it's Christmas." He whines. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'll play nice." I tell him.

He grumbles under his breath but leans in for a kiss right after. We busy ourselves for a few hours and I go to take a shower once the food is slowly cooking. Harry is keeping guard, so something will probably burn. 

We're sitting in the living room, open presents. We're almost done when Harry suddenly jumps up. "I'll be back." Are the parting words he leaves me with. The day has been somewhat of a whirlwind for me. I broke down at the dinning room table because it was my first Christmas dinner.

Now I'm sitting in the living room, alone with Harry's entire family. Robin and Anne sit on the couch softly talking and Gemma shifts closer to me. There's silence at first as we sip on our wine. She doesn't take long to break it. "He use to have nightmares." She says, still looking in front of her. 

I turn to her. "He still does." I share. "No, he use to have them so bad that he got asthma attacks, every single night for over two months after he came home, seventy two days to be exact." She turns her head to me, tears in her eyes. 

"He'd yell so hard that he'd lose his voice, for months it sounded like someone was torturing him." She blinks and her tears fall, her lips drawn in a thin line. "It was you." She said and I furrowed my brows in question. "You tortured him, he yelled your name." My heart speeds up, thinking about the boy crying for me at night. 

"It's always been you." My own tears fall. "He's who he wants to be now, I can see that. He's never been this happy." She tells me, smiling softly. "It's always been him too, I'd look for him everywhere, in every shop window. In every room and in every art gallery I've ever been to, it was him I wanted."

She can't say anything else cause Harry storms back into the room. I quickly wipe my tears. "Close your eyes Sunshine." I do it immediately, bending forward with my hand over my eyes.  "Okay open." I move my hands away and slowly lift my head. 

There he stands, right in front of me with a puppy in his hands. He's holding it under it's arms, like a little child would. His arms straight while the puppy dangles from his hands. I  grab the dog, cuddling it into my neck.

"We have a dog?" I ask bewildered. He nods, smiling big. "I found him outside the bakery and since everything seems to find me I just thought he did too. He's been to the vet so he's okay." The puppy can't be older than a few weeks. "He's an orphan?" I'm still slightly shocked. "He was, not anymore." Harry says, coming to sit next to me. 

I look at the puppy, he's light gray, half of his face is white and he;s just completely adorable. He's chewing on my sleeve. I look at Harry. "This is my present? He's so perfect." I lean in to kiss Harry as a than you. 

"The vet says he's a pitbull, I  was a little skeptic but he assured me that they're very misunderstood. He's been living with Elijah for a week. I did a lot of research and it should be okay if he has enough space to run and gets a lot of love and we have both."

"Well look at you being all dad-like, it's adorable." Anne says. Harry blushes. "Momma!" He whines but I know he secretly loves it. "Well I wanted to give you your present today but you'll have to wait till tomorrow cause I need to tend to him for the rest of the night." I tell him.

"No way!" He yells dramatically. "Oh come on Harry, look at him." His eyes soften when he does. The puppy barks for the first, the puppy barks time as if he's agreeing with me and everyone goes to mush.

"Alca." I tell him. "Hmm?" He's still playing with the puppy. "His name is Alca." I tell him and he nods. "Perfect name. Welcome to the family Alca." He says softly and I melt right next to him. We have a family now.

Quote: "Houston, we have a problem." - Apollo 13, 1995

Alca

We are so close to the end babes... Thank you all so much!

Mkay Bye!