"Morning, Lei." Tanalei stared at her niece. "What?"
"You're up. At six-thirty am. On a Friday."
Gail giggled. "We're goin' to the amusement park and maybe the water park today."
She hugged the eighteen-year-old. "Do I need to stop and get a box of condoms today?" she whispered in her ear.
"Lei!" the girl gasped. "Niall has his own."
"Birth control?"
She held up her arm. "Depo shot. You?"
She nodded. "And Harry has his own too."
"Bout time."
"You know why nothin' has happened."
"Please tell me you at least gave him a blow job to relieve tension."
"Gail!"
"What? When have we ever not talked freely about stuff like this?"
"True."
"Well?" Tanalei just smiled. "Okay. Tomorrow we're gonna do a girls' day and dish."
"Harry, Tanalei, we're home," Paul said to the couple in the backseat. They wearily raised their heads and opened a car door. Slowly they made their way inside and were greeted by the others.
"Here," Gail said, thrusting ibuprofen and a Coke at her aunt. She wrapped the shorter woman in her embrace. "Was it bad?" Tanalei nodded.
"You look like shit, Hazza," Louis said.
"Feel like it too."
"Why don't you two go get showers. We're almost finished with dinner."
The twosome shuffled upstairs. At the landing, Tanalei paused. She gently pulled Harry into her room.
"Lei?"
"I can't let go, Harry. I've been tryin' for the last few minutes." She glanced down at their entwined fingers.
He led them into the bathroom. "Shower or tub?"
"Shower."
They quickly showered, touching only to give comfort. He watched as she brushed her hair. Dressing a simple T-shirt and boxers, she followed him to his and Louis' room. After putting on a pair of lounge pants and running a brush through his hair, they descended the stairs to find dinner being set out. Lasagna, along with salad and bread, was on the table. Gail came up to them and hugged them both.
"Thanks, sweetie."
Dinner was a quiet affair. Only the sound of silverware on china filled the silence. Zayn and Niall began washing the dishes as Gail and Liam cleared the table. Gail set down a bottle of beer and a glass of wine before she picked up Harry and Tanalei's plates. Grabbing them by their hand, Louis pulled them to their feet and into the living room. On the big screen TV, the menu for Love Actually was showing.
"Settle in and relax. We'll finish cleaning the kitchen."
Looking at each other, Tanalei curled up on the couch, pressing play. Harry settled beside her. It was nearly an hour before everyone else joined them, carrying a cheesecake. The couch was large enough to hold only five of them. Louis snuggled in next to Harry while Gail did the same to Tanalei, with Niall next to her. Liam and Zayn stretched out on the floor.
Hours later, Zayn woke to the sound of The Princess Bride menu. He stood and stretched. Glancing down at the couch, he smiled. Everyone was cuddling together, Liam at their feet. He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. He tweeted it as he went to bed.
"I'm back!" Louis yelled out.
Liam quickly met him at the entrance to the kitchen. "Shh. They're still asleep."
"They need to wake up anyway. I got everyone a surprise." He was bouncing from foot to foot.
The younger guy eyed his band mate. "What did you do?"
"Come see." He grabbed Liam's hand to lead him to the front door. Two boxes sat there, making noises. "Look!" He opened the biggest box to show off seven puppies. "They're for us."
"Oh, Lou. Who's gonna look after them while we're on tour? Our mums?"
"No. That's the best part. They're all small breeds. They can come with us!" He clapped with joy.
"Seven puppies on a tour bus." He rubbed his with his hands. "Louis . . ."
"Only four of the puppies are for us. Lei and Gail will get the other three."
"Who's left out?"
Louis opened the smaller box and pulled out a gray and white tabby kitten. "This is for Harry." He rubbed his cheek with the ball of fluff.
"Four puppies and a kitten. Louis, did you even think?"
"Yes, Daddy, I did. After reading the script, we knew this was going to be emotionally hard. Look at yesterday. And it's not over, with them adding Gail as Harry's sister." He put the kitten back in the box. "The girls picked them out. This wasn't a spur of the moment idea. And our mums will look after them if needed. They're on board."
Liam sighed. "Let's wake the others up. Breakfast is ready."
"Hello, everyone!" Louis waved at the camera on the computer. "We have an odd day off today where we're gonna swim and hang around the house. Yesterday Harry and Tanalei had a bad day. So this morning I went to get their surprise."
Harry plopped down beside his friend then revealed the tabby. "This is my baby, Sabrina."
"And this," Louis reached down and pulled up an apricot toy poodle mix, "is my Pumpkin." He glanced at the screen at a question typed. "Everyone got a puppy. Liam, Zayn and Niall will be on in a few hours. Tanalei and Gail will be on tonight."
"I don't know how to do this," Tanalei said nervously, wrapping a curl around her finger.
"They type questions and we answer them," Niall said as he logged on to do a Twitcam.
"Tell me why I'm doin' this again?"
"Cause everyone else has and Louis promised. Here we go." He sat back and put his arm behind her. "We have a lot of viewers already. Hi, everybody. This is Harry's lovely co-star, Tanalei Granger. Say hi, Lei."
She waved. "Hi."
"We're not gonna be on here for very long. We have an early day tomorrow," he answered. "What were our gifts from Louis?" He turned to Tanalei.
She moved the blanket to reveal two yorkie-poos. "This is Melody," she said holding up the blond, "and this is Wicket." She showed off the dark puppy. She squinted at the screen. "Niall, what's this question?"
He picked up her glasses and handed them to her as he read, "Where did the names come from?"
"I like the name Melody and Wicket is from Return of the Jedi. I thought he looked like an Ewok." She read the next question. "What was Niall's gift?"
He pulled his puppy from beside him. "She's a miniature greyhound. We decided on Eirinn."
*&*&*
"I'm not comfortable with you drinkin', Gail," Tanalei said as she mixed up a daiquiri.
