No Choice || H.S.

Chapter 132

Harry's P.O.V

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself facing the back of Tahira's neck as she slept on her front. I was actually sleeping on half of her back with my arms wrapped around her, now clothed, waist.

I got up from the bed, reluctantly pulling myself away from Tahira but not before placing a kiss to the back of her neck.

After doing my morning routine and having a bath, I wore my pyjamas I decided to wear for the day and walked out of our room before downstairs into Ameera's.

"Awe, my princess is already awake!" I said when I saw her standing there on her bed. When she saw me, she made an excited sound and walked into my arms when I opened them for her. I placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Good morning, princess. Sleep well? I know I did." I said and chuckled while Ameera leaned her head against mine. I walked downstairs towards the kitchen to fetch us both some breakfast.

"What do you think, princess? Should we prepare breakfast in bed for your mum?" I asked her and she clapped her hands with a toothy smile. I chuckled, taking that answer as a yes. I set her down on the counter and started preparing breakfast for all three of us. I placed Ameera down from the counter and took the tray which had our breakfast.

"C'mon, Ameera. Let's go wake your mum up." I said and slowly Ameera started following me as I walked towards the stairs. Our progress was slow on the stairs as Ameera had a few troubles climbing them but she used my pyjamas as support and pulled herself up on them.

When we entered the room, Tahira was turning around from her front to her back and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes when she did with a sigh.

"Good morning, darling." I said and she slowly sat up, giving me a sleepy smile.

"Good morning, Harry. And look who's awake!" She said happily once she spotted Ameera beside me and helped Ameera climb on the bed. Once Ameera was on the bed, Tahira hugged her close and kissed her cheek.

"Did you sleep well?" Tahira asked Ameera but she just placed a kiss on Tahira's cheek in return before placing her forehead on the same spot, mumbling something.

"We got you breakfast." I said and placed the tray on either side of her legs. She gave me a smile.

"I still need to brush my teeth." She said and I chuckled. Removing the tray from her legs, I picked Ameera up in my arms as Tahira went into the bathroom, quickly coming out within a few minutes.

We all quietly had our breakfast, laughing when Ameera did something as she sat on her own on the bed. She'd get up and try to walk away but Tahira restrained her until she finished her breakfast and thankfully, she ate it without a fuss.

Once we were done with our breakfast, I took the dishes down to the kitchen and started washing them while Tahira went and got Ameera ready for the day.

"Harry?"

"Yes, darling?" I asked Tahira once she had finished her afternoon prayer. She was still sitting on her prayer mat while Ameera was taking a nap in her cot and I was laying down on the bed.

Tahira moved closer to where my head lay and crossed her arms on the bed before resting her chin on them.

"You know, ever since Ameera fell ill, my thoughts have been wondering around Patrick." Tahira said quietly and I lay on my side to look at her.

"What do you mean?" I asked and she sighed.

"It's just... Looking at how ill she was, I keep wondering how Patrick is in his new orphanage. After seeing him so frail..." Tahira trailed off and I placed my hand on her arm in understanding.

"You want to go visit him?" I asked and she looked up at me.

"Can we?" She asked and I smiled, nodding.

"Of course."

"Hi. We want to meet Patrick. He's about five years old, blonde hair, green eyes, clutches a teddy to him." I told the caretaker of the orphanage after she gave us confused looks but nodded when I mentioned the teddy.

"Sorry about the confusion, we have two Patrick's here. But yes, he's here. You can follow me." The caretaker said and nodded before walking towards the hallway.

"May I ask how do you know Patrick?" The caretaker asked as we walked.

"We met him in court. It was my lawyer who got him here." I told her and she nodded, her face taking a sad expression.

"Yes. He was very timid when he first arrived. He didn't interact with any of the other children. Still doesn't." The caretaker said and Tahira and I exchanged looks.

"Did he get adopted?" Tahira asked and to our surprise she nodded.

"He did. But the parents returned him saying that they couldn't take care of a child who needed so much attention and didn't even talk to them." The caretaker said but before anything could be said by any of us, she opened the door and children's chatter and laughter filled the air.

It was easy to spot Patrick in the midst of those children. He was the only one sitting on the far corner of the table, away from everyone. He was clutching the teddy to him and his other hand played with his food on the tray. He looked much smaller than I remembered him.

Before any of us could move in the hall, Ameera started wriggling in my arms and when I let her down, she ran towards Patrick.

Once she reached him, she started tugging on his teddy with a whine which made Patrick's attention immediately divert from his plate to Ameera and I saw his eyes widen when he recognised her.

"A- Ameera?" Patrick said hesitantly as if trying to remember her name and that's when Tahira and I reached them. I rubbed my hand on Patrick's head, ruffling it.

"Hey, buddy. How have you been?" I asked and his head snapped up to me, his eyes widened even more.

"I'm sorry we couldn't introduce ourselves the last time. I'm Tahira and this is my husband Harry. You already know Ameera. Stop it, Ameera." Tahira chided and pulled Ameera away from Patrick's teddy.

"It's... It's nice to meet you again." Patrick said quietly and Tahira and I smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too, Patrick. Why aren't you eating anything?" I asked and he shrugged but before he could say anything regarding it, the caretaker called out

"Lunch time is over kiddos. Out to the playground. All of you." She said but nodded towards us. "You can stay here with them, Patrick." She added and then assembled all the kids before taking them out of the hall.

"I don't like the food here... It's yucky." Patrick said and Tahira and I chuckled.

"Have you tried eating it?" Tahira asked and he slowly shook his head. I internally chuckled.

Typical kid. Not wanting to eat anything.

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