Song: "Tell Her About It" by Billy Joel

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We walked into our family's favorite IHOP and again, it was easy to hear my family before we even spotted them. "There's the birthday girl!" Dad bellowed.

"Shh," I hushed him. "Don't embarrass me."

He just laughed and stood up to shake Harry's hand. "Hi there, Harry. Good to see you again."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said politely. He greeted my mom with a hug and everyone else with a friendly wave - Martin and Ilana, Charlotte, Lauren and Scott, Sean and Collin. Everyone was there - it was practically a crime in our family to miss a birthday celebration. Although the timing and festivities weren't huge theatrical displays, we had always been required to at least be present for the celebration.

We placed our orders for coffee and juice, and then perused the menu for a few minutes, one of the rare times we were rather quiet. When my mom closed her menu, she asked, "So where did you two go last night?"

I shot a grateful smile at Harry. "We went to the MGM Grand and had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's. . Then we played the slots and hung out in the lounge. It was a great evening."

"It was indeed," Harry agreed, squeezing my hand. My mom practically blushed with a pleased smile.

"You made pretty good time here today," Dad remarked. "You must have left earlier than usual." That was because I always thought I had more time to get to Troy than I did. I wasn't close enough to I-75 to just hop right on when I was at my apartment.

I couldn't tell if he was just making conversation or if he was fishing for information. I bit, not seeing any reason to hide it. "Yeah, It's pretty easy to take 75 from the hotel," I said as quietly as I could and still be heard.

"From the hotel?" Dad asked, freezing his fork in mid-air. All the siblings looked back and forth between Dad and me.

Thank goodness, Mom smoothed it over saying, "Of course, dear. I'm sure they were out late last night, and you probably had a few drinks, right?" She asked me at the end.

"Well, of course," Dad said, looking awkwardly at Harry and then back to his food. My parents weren't stupid. Still, I assumed it would be hard, especially for fathers, to think of someone with their daughters that way. It probably wasn't too comfortable for Harry to have Dad looking at him, knowing Dad was thinking of him violating me.

With perfect timing, the waitress returned to our table to take our orders. Once we had done that, my mom changed the subject entirely. "Harry, what are your holiday plans? We were just talking about when to celebrate Christmas."

I glanced at Harry and then at my mom with squinted eyebrows. "Don't we celebrate Christmas on...Christmas?"

"With our growing family," she smiled at the other significant-others at the table, "we want to take into consideration that you'll want to celebrate with your own families as well."

Harry answered the lingering question. "My parents are in England, but I'll be staying here. So I'm pretty flexible." I never thought about it, but I wondered why he wouldn't have been planning to fly back to see them. It seemed he would have enough money to do so.

"Okay," Mom said. "What about the rest of you?"

Ilana pitched in first. "My parents want us for Christmas dinner, which is usually around three in the afternoon. So we could do Christmas Eve or Christmas morning with you." She glanced at Martin who seemed fine with the idea.

We all looked at Lauren's boyfriend Scott expectantly, but Lauren spoke first. "He's flying out to California to be with his parents so we'll plan to be together for New Year's Eve."

"One less mouth to feed," my mom quipped and everyone's jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh, I was kidding! Can't you take a joke?" Then we all laughed as if we'd just been given permission. "We'll miss you, Scott," she said. "Maybe you two can come for prime rib on New Year's Day. Well, all of you, if you're free."

"Sounds wonderful," Harry said excitedly. It sounded like everyone else could make it, too. Celebrations with my family were always special. We loved each other and we always had fun playing board games, drinking a little too much. I couldn't wait.

At the end of brunch, the presents came out. I opened my parents' first - it was neatly tucked into a gift bag with a floral print that overlaid a pattern of book text. I pulled out a deep blue chenille pillow and matching throw blanket. They were both patterned in houndstooth, but it was subtle because of the darkness of the blue against the black. "Oh, they're beautiful," I gushed. "And so soft." I rubbed the material against my cheek and then against Harry's.

"For your drafty apartment," Dad said.

"It's not drafty," I argued. "It's airy." It was true - the tall ceilings and open floor plan made it seem spacious and not at all suffocating, just the way I liked it.

"Same difference," he shrugged.

Next was a gift from Martin. It was a custom made rubber stamp in whimsical letters, stating, From the Library of Regan Flannery, perfect for staking my claim on my hundreds of books. Charlotte gave me a canvas tote bag which had a cartoon of a giraffe carrying a stack of about twenty books, piled up under its long neck to its chin. Definitely more creative than the generic library tote I'd been using. Lauren gave me a charcoal gray sweater with a loose white Fair Isle pattern around the neck; it came with matching slippers. Collin and Sean combined their resources and gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble. Clearly my family understood my obsession with books.

Harry shyly pulled out his gift last. He had been successful at hiding the small, flat box in his coat pocket.

"Harry, you really didn't have to," I said.

"Of course I did," he said very softly. "I love you." I didn't know if he had only wanted me to hear that, but everyone else did and gave us a sappy "Awww."

I unwrapped the box and opened it, hoping it wasn't something too extravagant. The box held a pair of dangly earrings with stacks of tiny books hanging from them. "You know, because we met in the stacks," he said with a smirk. "Well and because you work in a library."

"You're so sweet," I said.

"There are two more layers," he said. "Keep going."

I felt a little tug at my heart because of his thoughtfulness. I peeled back one layer of cotton and gasped. There lay a white gold and tanzanite Faberge brooch in the shape of a firefly. "Harry, it's gorgeous!" I kissed his cheek quickly  and then focused on removing the pin from its backing.

"I liked Martin's nickname for you," Harry said Martin sent Harry a thumbs up from across the table. "But you really do remind me of a firefly. You're not loud or obtrusive, but you still make yourself known by you steady presence and your compassion. You warm my heart with your special brand of fire and you light up my life just be being part of it."

I was close to crying while my shaking fingers attached the brooch to my sweater. "Thank you, Harry. It's very special."

"One more layer," he said.

"It better not make me cry in front of my family," I said, giggling lightly.

"You're already crying," Martin called from across the table.

"Oh, shut up," I laughed, wiping a tiny tear that had escaped out of the corner of my eye. I peeled back the final layer of the box and found two tickets proclaiming Detroit Symphony Orchestra. I opened them, discovering they were for a performance of Handel's Messiah, coming up in a few weekends.

"Thank you," I gushed to Harry and spontaneously pulled his face into my hands and kissed him, lingering a little longer than I normally would in front of my family. My younger brothers' wolf howl caused us to pull apart.

"Grow up," I hissed playfully at them while I attempted to stop the blush that was coloring my face. "Thank you all," I said one last time. "Thanks for making my birthday so great."

~*~*~

Harry came back to my place and threw his dirty clothes into the wash. He kept some things in his overnight bag, and then he sneaked something out of one of my drawers, where he kept a few of his things. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing," he said, sidestepping over to his bag.

I lunged at him and threw my arms around his waist. I groped at his hands, trying to figure out what he had. Finally I tugged at something that felt like nylon, maybe? "Are you bringing your swimsuit?" I asked teasingly.

"Um, no, why would you ask such a silly question?" He said, trying to inch away from me.

"Because I'm bringing a swimsuit. I don't know where we're going, but Beth told me to bring one. It would be pretty mean of her to bring me somewhere on my birthday, where we could swim and not tell me to bring a suit!"

He smiled cheesily. "I guess so." He freely carried his swim trunks to his bag. "But I do have another surprise, so no peeking."

"Harry," I whined. "You've already done so much for me."

"Not enough," his smooth voice carried across the room. He walked over slowly and said, "Don't blame me if I want to spoil you."

"Okay," I whispered. Then, in a burst of playfulness, I jumped at him and he caught me. I clasped my legs around his waist and clumsily pushed my tongue into his mouth. He groaned and walked us over to the wall, pushing me firmly against it. I hummed in delight as we kissed deeply. Finally I said, "Okay, I have to finish packing. Again." He let me down and I pulled out my favorite blue bikini and held it up for Harry to see.

"Now you just behave," I said seductively, "and you might be the first one to see me in it." In two large steps, he was in front of me, leaning in and saying, "I'm sure it will be lovely. But what I'm really looking forward to..." he trailed off momentarily. "Is seeing you out of it." Tingles shot down my spine as he kissed my neck. Then he moved back completely and said, "That is, if...I mean when you're ready."

"I think I'll be fine," I murmured, giving him my bedroom eyes as I walked away.

We we finally hit the road with the others around one o'clock, this time with Lisa chauffeuring us in her father's SUV since it had a little more space than Beth's. Once we were on the road, Harry was allowed to tell me, "We're heading up to Frankenmuth. We're staying in some Bavarian-style hotel with a waterpark inside of hit. I've never been there."

"Really? You're in for a treat. Frankenmuth is one of my favorite places," I squealed, but I hadn't specifically been to Zehnders Splash Village. "But aren't you guys worried about people looking at us weird. The place is for mainly for little kids, isn't it?"

"Oh, look who knows so much," Beth teased. "It just so happens that the waterpark closes at 8 PM for families with small children. From eight to midnight, it's for 18 and over. They dim the lights a little and play popular music."

"Wow, that will be amazing," I said excitedly.

Frankenmuth was affectionately dubbed Little Bavaria. Two German Inns dominate the small town, and it's packed with gifts shops, fudge shops, and Bavarian history. On the outskirts of town was Bronners, "The World's Largest Christmas Store." Frankenmuth was a favorite around the holidays because of its Christmasy-nature. We'd been there numerous times as a family, but this would be a unique twist, just me and my friends.

"This is so cool, I'm really excited!" I enthused. "But if we're going to eat German food, please give Philip some Beano."

Everyone laughed and Philip weakly defended himself. "I can't help it - it's the way my body's made."

"Yeah, we heard that's what you told Lisa," Malcolm teased and Lisa giggled.

"Shut up, man," Philip said.

"Remember that time, at that restaurant in Hamtramck? When the manager actually asked us to leave because it was so bad?!" I giggled.

"Yes, they all remember," Philip muttered. "By the way, thanks for helping me make a good first impression on your boyfriend, Red."

"Red?" Harry asked.

"Yes, that's Philip's very unoriginal nickname for me," I explained. "It was the first thing he called me when we were in line at registration for college. Very creative, right?" I giggled.

"Shut up," he muttered again. "I was a hormonal freshman standing next to a pretty girl, what do you expect?" Harry shot him a funny glance but said nothing.

We arrived and got settled into our suite which had three separate bedrooms, thankfully, instead of all the beds in one room. That could get weird really fast. Then we got our suits on to go and play in the waterpark, even with the young ones splashing around. I went into the bathroom and put on the blue bikini that that I had shown Harry earlier. I purposely walked out without anything over my suit. I walked directly in front of Harry and flipped my hip a little.

"Bloody hell," he groaned. "You look immaculate. I'll just go tell the others to go on without us." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Nuh-uh," I teased. "You have to earn it."

His shoulders slumped like a little kid who was just denied ice cream, and his mouth formed into a silly pout. "Why do I have to earn it? After all the nice things I've done for your birthday?" He was purposely being very pathetic, which made me burst into a fit of giggles.

"Of course you don't have to earn anything," I relented, kissing the top of his head as he was still slouching like a monkey. "I just want to play with my friends. It's my birthday after all. I'll play with your friend later," I said, giving him a cheeky grin.

His look of shock gave way to a full belly laugh. "Why Ms. Flannery, I had no idea you had such a naughty side."

"Neither did I," I shrugged and went out into the suite to gather with everyone else.

The waterpark was pretty quiet, being that it was a Sunday afternoon and the weekenders were leaving. The new wave of guests wouldn't be coming in til after 4. We all started by lying in tubes in the lazy river, just floating and relaxing for a long while. I closed my eyes and was almost lulled to sleep when Harry tugged at my inner tube and said, "It's time for the slides, don't you think?"

"Sure," I said, standing up mid-river and pushing back against the current to the landing. Harry laughed as he followed.

"I think you're supposed to go around again and hop off there. You're obstructing traffic!"

"What traffic?" I called back, motioning to our friends, a mom with a toddler and about three 10-year-olds. "There's no on here." I climbed out and waited for Harry as he fumbled with his float. Finally I yanked it out of his hand and helped  him up.

The entire indoor water park was constructed of glass - very strong glass, I assume - and steel walls and ceiling. Harry and I watched the snow land in giant plops onto the see-through ceiling which would soon by occluded by darkness and snow.

We grabbed a 2-person float for the larger, completely-enclosed slide and we awkwardly boarded while the attendant held us in place. Once he made sure the people at the bottom were out of the way, he gave us a shove and we were off, crashing over white water rapids, screaming through tunnels that went outside the building where we caught the distinct chill of Michigan air in wintertime. We laughed and screamed until we came to an abrupt halt in the catching pool below. We got off, panting and giggling and agreeing to go one more time before we connected with the others for dinner.

Dinner, of course, was mainly German in theme, but there was also the standard American fare. Philip looked at me defiantly as he ordered a platter of three different sausages with sauerkraut. I pinched my nose with out speaking, but then I just about died laughing when Lisa pulled out a bottle of Beano from her purse and waved it behind him. I think that was a good sign for their relationship if she was already carrying a stash of it for him.

We casually chatted throughout dinner, mostly with my friends getting to know Harry. He shared a little about his life - they all knew about his wife, so they avoided that topic pretty well. Lisa said she loved Harry's accent - I didn't blame her. Malcolm told Harry about his job as a sales executive for Art Van Furniture headquarters in Warren. Beth, of course worked at the library and was finishing her bachelor's degree. Philip was a high school teacher and Lisa was working on her Masters in Social Work.

Harry simply told them he was "in between jobs" at the moment and changed the subject quickly, probably not wanting to go into all the details of his current situation. I had started out in the college of Education with Philip, which was where we had originally met. I only lasted a year before I decided that education wasn't the field for me. But Philip and I had always been close, so we had an endless string of inside jokes. Every time we laughed about something only he and I understood, I could feel Harry getting tense beside me. In turn, I placed my hand on his thigh or just held his hand to reassure him, but I wasn't sure it was working.

When Philip suggested that we rest a bit and hit the waterpark again after dinner, I was game but Harry pulled back and said, "Why don't you go ahead? You'll have fun with your friends and I'll just go back to the suite. I'm pretty tired."

"Harry, what's going on?"

"Nothing," he lied. "I'm just really tired."

When we got to our room, I asked, "Now, what's really wrong?"

He shrugged, reminding me of an ill-tempered child. "Maybe I just don't want to go." He sat hard on the bed in rebellion.

"Well, I don't want you to stay here," I told Harry. "It's my birthday and I want to celebrate with you. Remember? I thought we were planning to come back and have more fun later."

"Are you sure you want to be with me?" he grumbled.

"What?! Where were you when I was nuzzling your cheek and had my hand on your thigh?" I said, trying to lighten his mood. I went to the bathroom to see if my suit was dry from earlier.

"I thought you were trying to make Philip jealous," he snapped.

I spun around to face him head on. "Don't be silly! I told you before that Philip and I dated for a very brief time, when we first met over four years ago, and then decided there was no spark. But we still have a great friendship. That's all. Besides, he's really happy with Lisa."

Harry's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry, I guess I misread things."

"Yeah,  you did," I said. "But I forgive you. You don't know much about our relationship but Philip is really not my type. You, Mr. Tall, Dark and British, are exactly my type."

Harry chuckled then. "Tall, Dark and British. Does that mean I'm not handsome?"

I pulled his face down to where I could whisper in his ear, "You, Mr. Styles are so handsome that I have to squeeze my thighs together every time I look at you." It was a very bold thing for me to say, but with the two glasses of wine I'd had, I wanted to give him something with a little shock value.

I could hear his deep laughter and I felt it spilling warmly into my ear. "Okay, you convinced me. I probably shouldn't tell you what happens to me when I look at you, or else both of us will want to stay here and just skip the rest of your birthday with your friends."

We suited up quickly and put on our cover ups - the guys mainly just wore shorts and t-shirts over their suits while the girls put on terry cloth dresses. We made a point to go into the pub and have a drink before going into the waterpark. There was no drinking allowed in there, for obvious reasons, and they wouldn't turn you away unless it looked like you could be a danger to yourself or others.

We waded around a little while, waiting for food to settle, and then Harry suggested we try the big slide again. He got on and motioned for me to sit between his legs with my back resting against his chest. As soon as we were launched, Harry latched his hands around my waist so tightly, I could hardly breathe. Either way, I was laughing like crazy by the time we crashed into the pool below.

I kept shaking my head at him in disbelief while we swam to the edge of the pool. "It's a good thing for you I'm not bold enough to do something naughty while we're in the tunnels," I whispered in his ear after we climbed out.

He pouted playfully. "Aww, why not?"

I liked this frisky banter between us - it was just sweet and naughty enough to make me want him terribly. We took several more runs down the slides with various arrangements of all of us in different floats.

Exhausted from fun and water play, we finally headed back to our suite close to midnight. While everyone else opted for a hot toddy or some hot cocoa with Irish creme, I just wanted water. I was so thirsty, I polished off two and a half bottles. We sat around the fireplace and remembered some of the more classic, not to mention silly, moments of our water park antics. This was a huge plus for me - knowing that Harry enjoyed simple, child-like fun.

When the time came to say good-night, I crazed with excitement to be alone with Harry again, last night's little blunder already fading from my memory.

"I told you I had one more thing to give you," Harry said as I emerged from the shower. "Why don't you go and put it on while I take a quick shower?"

I opened the small gift bag that he had handed me - it contained a dainty pajama set, decorated in a muted pattern of tiny flowers; also a short, sheer robe to cover the ensemble.

I was nervous. I toyed with the idea of buttoning the robe up all the way to the top and then wrapping the blankets tight around me, putting on my reading glasses and grabbing a book from my bag, just to tease him.

But his shower was quite fast and soon I heard him fiddling with the door handle. So I casually leaned against the door frame on the other end of the bathroom, which led out to the bedroom. When he opened the door, he was just wrapping a towel around his waist but when he glanced up, he froze and let the towel drop.

"Bloody hell," he whispered in a shaky voice. "I'm sorry I bought those for you because you're not going to get much use out of them." I tilted my head slightly in question. "Whenever you wear them, I'm going to want to tear them off of you."

My heart launched into a race and made my breath come out unevenly. He strode over to me, picked me up and unceremoniously threw me onto the bed, where I landed with a giggle.

I was getting used to the view - seeing him entirely au naturel was at the same time exciting and a little unnerving. He was still far more experienced than me which made me feel like a naive little girl, but only in the slightest. He sat near the head of the bed and scooted near the headboard. Then he gestured for me to come to him, curling his finger enticingly.

I pulled the blankets along with me as I approached him, still feeling the chill in my bones from being in the water all afternoon. As soon as the blanket was tucked around him, I kissed him passionately, enjoying the fact that I had the upper hand. He tasted familiar, like home, and I wanted it to be the taste and feeling I knew for the rest of my life.

I trusted Harry when we united physically since he had the wealth of experience. It was still new and a bit scary for me. But he cared for me and loved me in a way I'd never experience before and that always calmed my heart. And this time, when he spoke, he simply said, "Regan."

My name. He said it.

"I love you so much," he said. "You're mine, Regan. I'm yours and you're mine."

Relief flooded through me, physically and emotionally. I hardly had a voice, but with what was left, I whispered, "I'm yours, Harry."

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Okay, is Harry forgiven? lol :D

If this is your second time reading through the chapter, you might notice I changed a few things, but nothing substantial, so no worries.