She Lays Down [h.s.]

Twenty-Five

Author's Note: Only three chapters left! Ahhh!

Sunlight streams through the trees and creates a kaleidoscope effect on the ground. A gentle breeze ruffles the branches and scrambles the dead leaves that have already fallen. Laughter carries with the breeze and lifts Mary's smile. Ember and Harry went out to explore while she sets up the tent.

Harry tried to insist that he set up the tent because he's done it a lot on class camping trips and with his family, but Mary wants to do this because Alec never let her and because she wants him to spend some time with Ember. She's been a little off since she came home from Alec's a few days ago and Mary knows that Harry can cheer her up without really having to try much at all.

She loves how their relationship is. Alec was never that hands on with her and she finally gets to feel loved by someone who's like a father to her. She hates that six years of her life were spent with a father who was barely there, but she hopes that Harry will help her make up for that because Ember certainly deserves it.

A tent pole falls and Mary groans because it took her forever to get that one in place. She's reading the directions, she really is, but it still seems like she's doing something wrong. Nevertheless, she takes another look at the instructions and starts to fuss with the tent poles again.

It's a lot easier this time now that she's already had some practice, and pretty soon things start falling into place. Mary's just managed to successfully put the tent up when Harry and Ember return with bright smiles and hands full of...shells?

Before she can ask, Harry opens his hand to show her all of the shells, his smile lifting a little more to the left. "We found the lake. I taught her how to skip rocks and then we picked up some shells for you because we know how much you like to have mementos."

Ember steps up on her toes with a bright smile, "Look mom! Aren't they pretty!?"

Harry chuckles, "She took some for herself too."

He leans forward and kisses her cheek, "I'll set up the blankets and whatnot. Shells will be in the cup holder on your side."

Mary smiles and lightly rolls her eyes as he leaves. He's absolutely adorable and she sometimes forgets that they're both almost thirty. It's actually a little strange when she remembers how old she is because she feels like she's just made it out of college and she's starting the first chapters of the rest of her life.

Everything has changed and she's happy that it has, even if it meant getting her heart broken in the process. She won't get the time back that she spent with Alec, but she will have the time to make up for lost time and enjoy the new love that she's found with Harry.

She bends down slightly to show Ember that she's interested and to closely inspect the shells in her hand. "Wow! They are pretty! Tell you what, after we get everything set up, we'll go to the store up the street and get a nice bottle for them. You can put sand in it from the lake, or you can get some of the pretty white beach sand when we get home. How's that sound?"

Ember slightly bounces on her toes, "Awesome! Thanks, mom!"

She closes her hand and runs over to Harry to tell him the news and to lay in the blankets that he's already put down. She waves her hands excitedly as she talks and Harry responds equally as enthusiastically even though his hands are full of blankets.

Mary smiles as she heads to the car to grab the pillows for him since Ember will have him held up for a while.

"I brought presents."

Ember perks up at the word, but her smile falls slightly as she realizes that her mom was joking and all she's got is pillows.

Harry smiles as she kneels on the blankets and starts to disperse the pillows. When she's done he kisses her cheek, "Thanks, love."