- Athena & Harry -

There is a moment in everyone's life where they just feel like they're floating on Cloud 9. That when they look up at the sky there is no sign of a storm coming their way. Maybe they're blindsided and something huge is coming or maybe it's just a good day - it's kind of hard to tell when the good is so great that it puts you in a good state of mind and everything else seems irrelevant. Athena and Harry certainly felt this Cloud 9 moment, and from where they stood, there was no gray cloud in sight.

Christmas and New Years breeze by bringing the two into January. But not any ordinary day in January. No, today was Athena's birthday. And what did she want? Well, it involved wanting to spend the day with her father and the Highlands and agreeing with her best friend's begging to go to McDonald's as a birthday dinner. Monica was about to object before Harry reminded her that it was his daughter's sixth birthday - she may get what she pleases. Tomorrow would be her birthday party.

"Jake made her though," Monica says from the passenger seat with a pout. She was honestly not a fan of how many calories McDonald's was shoving down kids' throats. (Okay, maybe they weren't forcing it down childrens' throats but they weren't really trying to stop it either.)

"Nu-uh!" Jake pipes from the back seat making Harry smile and shakes his head in amusement.

It was already noon on this surprisingly sunny, yet still cold, day in London. And just a few hours prior to picking up Athena's best friend and Monica, Harry had visited the cemetery where his late wife's tombstone laid. He informed Katelyn how much Athena was growing to be more like her and what has been going on since his last visit. He even found himself talking about Monica and how they've kissed a few times. He then told her about how Athena is so much like her Uncle Louis that it's quite overwhelming with their Cupid ways. When the clock hits ten in the morning, Harry gives a goodbye by pressing his lips to the stone (ignoring that a bird may have pooped there) and whispers "I love you so much" before making his way back home to wake his daughter up with a birthday breakfast (Cheerios).

"I older than you now," Athena says to Jake once he wins the 'nu-uh--ya-ha' battle with his mother. She plays with her blonde hair when he looks over to her, eyes narrowed when he realizes that his friend is indeed five months older than him.

"Well I'm older than all three of you," Harry pipes from the driver's seat with a smug grin. All three roll their eyes at him.

When they arrive to the McDonald's building and start walking in, Athena is still teasing Jake and Monica is grumbling under her breath. Harry chuckles before slinging an arm around her shoulder. "You know you secretly love all that McDonald's has to offer."

"Not one bit," she mutters once they step into the building. Both kids dart for the play place after saying they both want a kids meal leaving Harry to order and Monica to pick out a place to sit. He watches her pick a booth before walking up to the register a friendly smile forming on his face as he politely asks for his order - of course involving many please and thank you's.

Harry waits by the counter until his order is called and then marches his way to the booth that Monica had picked out. It was a booth next to the window with a good view of the play place. Without having to call them, the two five year olds come running towards the table in excitement over their kids meal. Jake attempts to get Monica and Harry sitting on the same side of the booth but fails when Monica shakes her head and takes the window seat in front of Harry.

"So what would you like to do after this, cupcake?" Harry looks to his left to watch as his little girl sits on her knees so she can hover over her food that's set on the table. She is currently dunking a chip into her ketchup.

She hums and moves her head making her pigtails swing. "Can we go see the fishies?"

"I love fishies!" Jake shouts before shoving some chips in his mouth. He looks at his mother before meeting Harry's eyes. "I've never seen the fishies in the big cages before."

"He's never been to the aquarium," Monica clarifies while looking down at the table. "Never really, uh, had the money to take him to places like that."

"Well, he can see the fishies today," Harry says with a smile making Monica look up and meet his eyes. She smiles as well, muttering a soft 'thank you' to which Harry nodded at. He admired Jake so much and wanted nothing but the best for him and right now, going to see the fishies seemed like the best for him.

It's not long before the kids have finished their food and had headed back to the play place as Harry ordered two McFlurries for himself and Monica. When he comes back to the table with their frozen dessert he doesn't hesitate to claim the seat beside Monica that once belonged to Jake. He hands her her M&M flurry as he keeps the cookies n cream to himself.

They both dig into their desserts before keeping an eye on the play place where they can see Athena and Jake playing with the other kids in what seems to be a game of tag.

"So how was your Christmas?" Harry asks, curious since he hasn't seen either Highlands since before the holidays. (To be honest, he was a little disappointment they - 'they' being Jake and Monica - couldn't come over for New Years.)

All the lads had come over to Harry's house, as they do every New Years. His mum, Gemma and her husband all came over as well. It was a very exciting get together. Harry got to see Zayn's wife and kids after so long as well as Louis' wife. Niall even brought a girl to the party, her name was Jasmine if he could recall correctly. Liam even gave a sneak peek to the song him and Harry wrote together to all the party guests. Everyone had a great time and though Harry didn't have someone to kiss as the new year came by, he just hugged his little girl and gave her a kiss on the forehead, promising himself, Athena and Katelyn that this will be a good year.

"It felt so... complete," Monica says before scooping some ice cream into her mouth. She kneads the rest with her spoon as she explains. "It's been so long since I've spent a holiday with my parents - or Matt and I don't know... Just seeing everyone there - together just seemed so right. Jake was ecstatic to see his grandparents and Matt with us after all of his life it had been holidays of only Jeff and I. New Years was the same, as well, I even contacted Harper and she came over and brought Danny. It was nice catching up with them."

"Harper and Danny?"

Monica blinks when she realizes she failed to mention them to Harry before. She flushes a bit. "They were the match makers that brought Matt and I together. Harper was my best friend and Danny was his best friend. I haven't spoken to them since Matt had left."

"That's good, then," Harry shifts in his seat before turning his head to look at Monica. "So Matt is really committed to being involved, eh?"

"Yeah," she smiles, "he is."

Harry frowns for a second before shaking his head. Don't be jealous. He forms a teasing grin and nudges her shoulder. "Hope you didn't kiss anyone on New Years."

"Oh, was I not supposed to?"

That makes Harry freeze. He looks at her with parted lips and wide eyes, ready to ask various questions on who she had kissed but stops short when Monica starts laughing. He then realizes that she was joking making him pout and look down at the ice cream in his hands.

"That wasn't nice." Harry continues to pout.

"Sorry, babe, it was right there."

Harry smiles at her , noticing that she didn't seem fazed at what she just called him. He scoops up some ice cream and smears it across his lips before leaning over and pressing a kiss to the corner of Monica's mouth. "You're lucky you're cute."

She looks at him and pouts making him chuckle. "I hate you."

"No you don't," Harry murmurs before picking up a napkin and wiping off the mark he'd left. Once her face is clear of the custard he leans in for a proper kiss that she gladly returns.

The former boy band member hums as they pull away. And for the next five minutes, he tells her about how his holidays went before the kids come running back yelling that they're ready to go see all the fishies.

.

"Look! It's Nemo!"

"Mummy, look! Big shark! Fish are friends not food!"

"Look 'thena, it's a turtle!"

"It's Patrick!"

Athena runs behind a very excited Jake who happened to take the job of leading the way as everyone trailed behind him. Harry was grateful for his tall frame other wise he'd lose sight of the rambunctious boy and his little girl that murmured 'cool' after every exclamation Jake would make.

Ever so often the blonde girl would look over her shoulder and peek at the parents who were very amused by Jake and were walking hand in hand. Athena smiles to herself before running up to Jake's side since he had stopped running to press his face against the window that peered into the penguin exhibit. When she does, she grasps his hand and tells him to look at their parents.

"They're in love," Athena whispers to him just before Harry and Monica come to a stop behind the two kids.

But Jake pays no mind since he's too occupied with looking at the penguins.

"I hear that they're letting people pet the dolphins today," Harry remarks looking at the two children. When Jake finally removes his face from the glass and turns around, Harry releases Monica's hand.

The small brunet smiles widely at him and starts chanting, "Dolphins! Dolphins!"

"I wanna pet 'em!" Athena grins along with her best friend, squeezing his hand that she had yet to let go of. And frankly, she didn't want to let go of it.

"Well then let's go!" Harry grins before gesturing the kids in the direction of the sign he'd seen a while ago announcing that they were allowing people to pet the dolphins, Magenta and Marco. He follows close behind this time, and smiles when Athena pauses to grasp her father's hand with her free one. When he turns to his right, he sees that Jake has grasped Monica's hand.

And Athena does the same thing as her father by looking to her right before looking to the left, noticing just how much of a family they look like.

Apparently, Harry notices it too as he looks down at his daughter with an unreadable look on his face. Even though he had accepted his wife's death and had decided to move on, it doesn't mean he was ready to see and think this way. Him, Athena and Katelyn are a family. Not him, Athena, Jake and Monica - at least, he wasn't ready for that to happen just yet. Athena squeezes his hand and smiles up at him and he doesn't hesitate to return the smile.

When they reach the dolphin exhibit, Athena and Jake quickly take off towards the small line that had formed to pet Magenta and Marco. Monica chuckles and folds her arms. "I really appreciate you bringing us along, Harry."

"It's not a problem." He shrugs as they stop behind Athena and Jake in the queue. He smiles at an ecstatic Jake. "Athena had requested for you two to come along and I'm glad I complied because being able to see you and see this amazing smile on Jake's face... It's a good day."

The minute Harry looks up he could easily detect Monica's blush which causes him to chuckle, revealing those deep set dimples that would make fans swoon.

"You think they're still pursuing their little plan?" The woman questions after her face cools down.

"No doubt in my mind." Harry shakes his head.

When they're in the front of the queue, Athena climbs up the steps with the others in tow and smiles as she sees the worker whose name is Peter. He gestures for the two children to come closer to the edge of the pool beside him where two dolphins have their head popping out of the water with smiles. Athena squeals in excitement and takes grasp of Jake's hand when they kneel on the edge of the platform. Harry and Monica stay on the top step, watching their child interact with the worker and the friendly creatures.

"Wave hello, guys," Peter says to the dolphins while picking up fish from a bucket to feed the mammals. Both dolphins wave at Athena and Jake making them laugh and wave back. "What are your names?"

"Jake!" The brunet shouts before leaning closer to the dolphins when Peter gives them the okay to pet Magenta and Marco. Jake immediately places a hand onto Magenta and rubs her snout, mumbling how soft she is under his breath.

"Athena," the blonde calmly says while hesitantly touching Marco's head.

"Siblings?" The black haired worker questions while keeping a close eye on how close they're getting to the edge of the tank.

"Best friends!" Jake shouts once more before removing his hand and turning around to look at Monica. "Mummy! Come pet the fish!"

Peter turns and spots his mother before his eyes drift to Harry, his eyes widening.

And after Monica pets the dolphin, Harry gives Peter an autograph for his girlfriend, Athena tells Jake that dolphins are not fish - to which Peter helps her out by saying they're mammals, they head for the gift shop where Monica purchases a dolphin plush for Jake and Harry buys Monica a seashell necklace and the same dolphin plus Jake got for Athena. They name their dolphins Magenta and Marco.

"Any last wishes, birthday girl?" Harry questions once they're in the car about to pull out of the parking lot. He glances in the rear-view mirror to watch as Athena ponders with pursed lips.

Athena looks at Jake who is playing with Marco before letting her eyes drift to Monica and then to the rear-view mirror to meet Harry's eyes that matched her own. "Ice cream! And I want Uncle Lou-Lou!"

Harry laughs. "Alright, we'll go get some ice cream and then I'll give Uncle Lou a call."

So they do just that. Harry drives everyone to Nardulli's and they all settle into a booth as they enjoy their gelato. This time, Harry and Monica did sit beside each other as Athena and Jake sit in front of them, their faces already being coated with the frozen dessert.

"All the boys are posting photos of you and wishing you a happy birthday, sweetie," Harry says to Athena who is too focused on her gelato to hear her father. Harry places his phone down after thanking the lads and scoops some of his dessert into his mouth.

"Wow, six years old - must've went by really fast, huh?" Monica eats some of her gelato before turning to look at Harry.

He smiles nostalgically and nods. "My little girl is growing up and God, I turn twenty-nine next month. Can we stop aging?"

"If only." Monica laughs before leaning over and wiping Jake's  face with a napkin. "I don't want my little boy to grow up nor do I want to become older."

"I bet you could be fifty and still look beauti-" Harry's cut off by the sound of Monica's mobile going off. Harry flushes and looks between the two kids thankful that they didn't hear what he was about to say before looking over to Monica who picks up her phone and mouths 'Matt' before answering the call. He sighs before shoveling more gelato into his mouth.

- - -

(A/N): NOT EDITED I know some of you will say it so here: Don't you dare hate on Matt for calling. I love Matt so much and he's doing no wrong by calling Monica (and because I won't mention it in the next chapter, Matt was calling to check up on Jake because he's missing his son - take it easy, he hasn't seen his son in six years). Anyways, I really love this chapter too because they are acting like a family (even if they aren't) and Harry is so cute and Jake and Athena - ugh, too much cuteness to handle. Hope you liked it!

Importance of Chapter: Our little girl turned six! And this chapter is to show you that they are indeed still going with the plan despite Harry and Monica knowing about it. Even though it was another step in a plan, she still wanted to see Jake and Monica. This chapter shows you how well these two cracked families mesh together and more insight of what's going on between Harry and Monica as well as Athena and Jake. Also, Harry's getting a little green monster showing up - but he's doing well of controlling it. What do you all think of that last sentence? Hmmm...

SONG OF CHAPTER:  BEST DAY OF MY LIFE - AMERICAN AUTHORS

Importance of Song: Well, this was indeed a very good day for each of our characters. Especially Athena and Jake who had let their parents spend time with each other and the fact that it was Jake's first time going to the aquarium and Athena was excited just about her day.

540 VOTES & 230 COMMENTS! (it'd be cool to reach the comment goal c: )

p.s. pic of Magenta and Marco (I freaking love dolphins)

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