September 11, 2022

Nataley wipes her face with her napkin. "That was delicious as always. I miss going to Café Habana in person."

"Why can't you go, Mama? Is it like when you and Dad got a divorce and he keeps going to the golf club but you don't?" Noah pipes in.

With a laugh, Nat reaches over and ruffles his hair. "Something like that. It's not like I'm banned or anything. There are certain things that don't feel right anymore when Harry isn't doing them with me."

"Ouch." Harry softly protests.

Twisting her head to regard him, Nataley arches an eyebrow. "You're saying you do everything we used to do together?"

Uh oh. Caution, Styles! Dangerous question. "Well since I live mostly in London these days, I'm not sure that's fair to say."

"Mhm. Good save, H."

"If I help with the dishes," begins Noah, "can we have family movie night?"

The word 'family' makes Harry grimace. How badly are they harming Noah with their little 'playcation'? The boy had been right to yell at him earlier. He's going to get hurt the worst of all. Until then, though, Harry can ensure that the boy has memories that make him happy. With a grin, Harry tacks on, "And maybe some of Mama's famous homemade mint chip avocado ice cream?"

"Ewwww. Gross, Harry. You can have that. I'll take the real deal," the boy whines with a grin that eclipses his whole face. Rising, Noah clears his own dishes plus Nataley's.

Fuck it all. "Hey," Harry approaches the sink, moving to rinse off the plates and hand them to Noah for placement in the dishwasher, "You know I'm always just a phone call away, right? Always and forever."

The boy ducks his head in a silent nod. "Yeah." His mumbled "not the same" reaches Harry's ears and breaks his heart again.

"Wow! Two helpers for cleaning the dishes tonight. I rarely get even one," Nat's cheery tone causes the eye crinkles to appear as Harry grins. Humming "Lights Up", she reaches for bowls and dishes up the ice cream. Before long, all three of them are singing to Harry's song, having a mini-dance party in the small kitchen area.

With the kitchen clean, Harry dance-carries his avocado ice cream to the sofa where Noah plants himself next to the musician. Grabbing the remote, Noah starts flipping through the movies on Disney+. After finishing wiping the counters and putting away the ice creams, Nataley picks up her own bowl and spoon. When Noah spies her approaching, he quickly rises and points to the space where he'd been sat next to Harry.

"Here, Mama. You sit there. I'm probably going to have to go to sleep first so I might as well be on the outside."

Sure, Jan. Harry smirks at Nataley, certain that she's onto the hijinx of her son, and she smiles back as she settles between her son and her ex. "Maybe 'Parent Trap' is on?" Harry wonders as his internal laughter continues. His sarcasm gets him a smack in the leg from Nat, and he yelps.

"Can we watch 'Avengers'?"

"I'm fine with it if your mama says it's okay." No response from Nataley has Harry glancing at her in concern. "Nat?"

"Hmm? What?"

"Can we watch 'Avengers'?" Noah repeats.

"Don't see why not," his mum brightly replies, and Harry sees her shaking her head as if to clear cobwebs. "We won't get to finish it before bedtime. School day for you tomorrow, young man."

"Ugh. But can't I stay up later tonight? You know, since Harry's here?"

She turns a frown in her son's direction. "You're really trying to take advantage of this, aren't you? We are not breaking any rules just because Harry is staying with us for a couple of weeks. Bedtime is still 9:00."

"But Mama..."

The temptation to jump in and say 'listen to your mother' is overwhelming, but Harry keeps his mouth shut. In the past, he might have felt more inclined to play the role of pretend stepdad; he hasn't had the right to that job in a couple of years. Instead, he slowly shakes his head a few centimeters either way towards Noah while Nat has her attention directed at her son.

"We can skip the movie altogether," Nataley reminds the pre-teen in her authoritarian voice. Harry knows that tone all too well, and he struggles to hide the smile that seeks to emerge.

"Ugh. Okay, fine. Bedtime is at nine." Only a pout indicates that Noah is disappointed in the outcome. Starting the movie, the boy switches off the lamp at the side table, effectively darkening the living room with the only light coming through the lace curtains at the front window. Harry watches the light streak through the lace and grace Nataley's face with a pattern of sunshine that makes his chest clench.

A smile curves Harry's lips upward. Thank goodness the boy is on his side. If Noah chose to fight against Harry, the outlook for the next two weeks would be dim indeed. When Nataley finishes her ice cream and leans back against the cushions, Harry slides an arm around her shoulders and she burrows into his side. Just like old times. This is almost too easy.

As the clock clicks closer to bedtime, Noah yawns and stretches. "I guess I'll go brush my teeth now. No reason to get up, Mama. I can do it myself." With that, the boy disappears, and they can hear him in the shared bathroom with his electric toothbrush.

"Night, Mama. Night, Harry." He calls to them before heading into his bedroom and firmly closing the door.

"Subtle is still not his middle name, I take it?" Harry queries.

"Hahaha." Her heartfelt chuckle is like pulling on his favorite sweatpants and hoodie. "Nope. His middle name is still Anthony, and I don't think I'll be calling him 'Subtle' as a nickname either."

Nataley reaches for the remote, pausing the movie and switching the television over to YouTube where she pulls up Prince's 'Sign o' the Times' movie. "I love this one. Watch how they use lighting in the opening here. Prince wasn't afraid of using color to create drama. It's glorious." She sighs, leaning into Harry again.

Fuck, he loves it when she geeks out on lighting. It's one of the sexiest things ever, and he's missed taking her to live concerts where she spends the majority of the night watching the lighting instead of the band. At one Fleetwood Mac show, she was so engrossed in the lighting that she didn't even hear Stevie call out their names and thank them for coming.

"Look at those silhouettes! So cool."

Harry doesn't even need to respond to her comments; her running commentary is sufficient. He simply admires the way she talks about her obsession.

"The way the fog diffuses the light -- ahhhhh!" This comment brings a raised eyebrow from Harry as he isn't sure if she likes the effect -- until she claps her hands in glee.

"Backlighting in that rich gold! It's an upbeat song, so the light matches the feel of the song." Harry is enjoying the music. It's been a while since he's listened to Prince's album, and once again he wishes he'd been able to see the legend on tour before his death.

"Cannot believe he made such a sexist comment!" Nataley curses when Prince introduces Sheila E on the drums and says, 'Not bad for a girl'. "You'd never say something like that about Sarah."

"True. But that's because she's the best drummer ever. Period. Doesn't matter who the competition is," Harry chimes in.

"That's one of the reasons I love you," Nat says, tilting her head back and pulling his face down to kiss her. Right now if the world were to end, he would die a very happy man. The kiss is quick but heartfelt. "You don't care about looks or gender or any of that artificial stuff."

"Notice how they mostly use warm colors, but occasionally they will throw in a cooler color here and there. Mostly for the slower songs. Oohhh! The purple underlighting on the drums is so sexy."

Chuck rolls over onto Harry's foot and starts snoring. Harry assumes the concert has been viewed enough times that the dog isn't interested anymore.

"The bulbs flashing on that sign to the beat -- fuck. So brilliant." Nat's joy in these small things fuels Harry's love for her. He gets to witness this passion all week long, too. Damn. It's beginning to dawn on him that he'll have a permanent hard-on for the duration. Quickly, he texts the one person he forgot to call about his hosting duties: Harry Lambert. Going to need some roomy trousers. Sue will understand what that means, and he'll likely have a dozen suits ready by noon tomorrow.

Picking up her phone, Nat opens IMDB. "Who was the lighting designer for this?" She scrolls through the cast and crew of the movie. "Damn! Leroy Bennet? No wonder it was such amazing lighting. He also did the lighting on that Yanni special. We should watch that tomorrow night!"

Harry smiles indulgently. "I'm not a Yanni fan, but I'll watch any concert with you."

"You will?"

"Fuck yeah. I forgot how sexy it is to watch you analyse concert lighting. Total turn-on."

"Seriously? Have you lost your mind, H? You get hard watching me talk about lighting?"

"Excuse me? You get hard watching me play music."

"Okay, okay. Counter argument accepted."

"In fact...if you need me to, I can sing you a song right now."

Grabbing his face and squishing it between her hands, Nataley presses her lips to his. Releasing the grip on his cheeks, she deepens the kiss before softly releasing him and feathering smaller ones along his cheek and down to his chin.

"You don't have to do anything other than be in the same space to get me in the mood," she whispers, straddling him.

Leave it to Chuck to whine at the most inopportune times. "Seriously, King Charles? You couldn't have waited 30 minutes?"

"Thirty minutes? That's all I'm getting?" Nat smirks, standing from Harry with her hands on his shoulders so he can get a solid look down her shirt at her confined boobies. When she releases his shoulders, she trails her hands along his chest, grazing his cock as if by accident when it's clear that she's a vicious tease. "Come on, Chuck!" Snapping her fingers at the dog, she moves towards the door, causing the pet to run to her and impatiently allow her to connect his lead.

"I can take him out, Nat." Harry rises. "So you can, you know." Winking pathetically, he adds a head gesture.

"Are you trying to say you want me naked and spread-eagle on the bed when you get back?" Her right eyebrow rises.

"Nope," Harry crosses to her, holding out his hand for the lead. "I want the pleasure of taking your clothes off. But you've got to take your estrogen before you wash and moisturise your face."

As she passes the leash to him, Nataley rises on tiptoes, kissing Harry's cheek before she grabs his arse. "I see. Good plan. I'll be ready."

"Oh, love. I'm beyond ready." Opening the door on that perfect exit sign, Harry nearly has his arm pulled from its socket as Chuck takes off running. "Hey! Slow down, boy. I'm the one who should be in a hurry." Catching up to the dog, Harry continues, "After all, I've got something to look forward to tonight, and all you're getting is sleep."

Chuck snuffles.

"Right? Of course, you don't exactly have working parts so it's not like you understand what I'm talking about. After all, you're still a virgin."

This time, Chuck lifts his leg and wees on the tree as a response.

"Mhm. Piss off to you too, mate. I'm getting lucky tonight, and you're sleeping on the floor. Is that everything? Or do you need to poo too?"

The dog sneezes and guides them back to the condo. "Alright, alright." Once inside, Harry removes the leash. Chuck turns around and licks Harry's hand. "You're welcome. Now, off to bed." Pointing at the dog bed, Harry waits until Chuck twirls around three times in his bed before he settles down with a huff. "Night, mate."

Removing his shoes again, Harry picks up his duffel and suitcases, carrying them into Nat's bedroom. Their bedroom. Sitting on the bed, fully clothed but for her shoes, Nataley smiles at him. Her legs are crossed as she leans against the headboard. "Gonna unpack or just live out of the suitcase?"

He places the luggage on the bed, unlatching the smaller case first. "Have a few things that need to be hung. I'll put the rest away tomorrow." Removing two shirts from his bag, he crosses to the closet, hanging both up. "Gotta have something fairly unwrinkled to wear to work tomorrow," he says with a chuckle. "And Sue will get me suits to wear for the shows. Probs Gucci, but maybe something else."

"You know it makes a difference for the lighting, right? So please let me know if you'll be wearing light colors. Usually James stays within a range, so the lights have been set pretty consistently for his monologues, but if you're going to step out of the norm -- and I assume you will at some point for the next eight shows -- then I'm going to have to make changes."

"I promise, Nat." Using his right index finger, he draws a cross over his heart. From the same suitcase, he withdraws two pairs of trousers, promptly hanging them side by side with the shirts. "I've gotta do the washing soon. Since I was planning to head to London today, I've got one bag filled with nothing but dirty clothes." He kicks the larger case.

"Oh. I can drop it by the cleaners tomorrow if you want," Nataley offers, and he's transported back to the days when that was part of her routine since her preferred cleaner is on the route to Noah's school.

Rummaging through the duffel, Harry removes his shave kit. "Won't they have questions?" He peers at her over the suitcase's open lid.

"Nah. I drop off the clothes for all kinds of men there." Dismissively, she waves her hand in his direction.

"Nat..." Harry's voice hopefully conveys the warning he feels.

"Okay. Okay. The owner might suspect we're back together, but she wouldn't say a word. She's kept our secret in the past. Otherwise, you might have ended up with all kinds of pictures of your clothing flashed on the news."

"Truth," Harry agrees. Placing all of his luggage in the corner of the room furthest from the door, Harry holds his shave kit cradled like a baby. "Did you already brush your teeth?"

"Mhm," she purrs.

"Did you already wash your face?"

"Mhm," she smiles seductively.

"Did you already take your estrogen?"

"Mhm." Nataley licks her lips.

"So you're ready for me, love?"

Raising one shoulder in a half-shrug, she turns on her pouty face. "I am. But are you ready for me?"