Sweet Caroline - Flash Forward

Harry Hart was happy.

Not your stereotypically obnoxious happiness, but he knew what he had and he was thrilled that he had it.

As he came out of his office, he heard the squealing of a small child and laughter of a Scotsman, telling him exactly who was here. When he entered the showroom, he smiled.

In Merlin's lap was his daughter Emily Rose, and standing against the wall with a baby boy, Lee Hamish, in her arms was Caroline, whom he was quick to approach and relieve of her chunky burden. He gently kissed her and smiled when she smiled at him.

"Hello, love."

He whispered as much to the baby as he did his wife. Caroline was quick to kiss him back, this time on the cheek.

"How're you today, Harry?"

She whispered back, and he chuckled at her tenderness.

"I'm well, thank you. How are you? Have the kids been rowdy?"

He asked, genuinely worried for his stalwart wife. She could do a lot, but one kid, let alone two could be hard to manage. Of course, he wasn't surprised when she looked at him and smiled.

"I'm good. They're good. Emmy wanted to stop by the shop today because it's Merlin's birthday and she's the only one who remembered. We stopped by his favorite shop and got him some treats. Whether or not he shares them is totally up to him."

Harry laughed. If his dear friend had one weakness, it was sugar.

"It's his birthday. He can keep them."

He felt his little boy wiggle in his arms and prepared himself for what might be coming. However, he was surprised when his sweet little boy simply opened his eyes and smiled at him, waving his hands around as if to say hello to his father that he hadn't seen in all of 4 hours. Harry gently took his baby fingers in his large ones, cooing at the baby and in awe of the softness of his skin.

"There's my godson!"

They heard from behind them and smiled when Eggsy came into view. He always looked amazing, but today he looked especially sharp.

"Why look at you, hot stuff! You had brunch with Tilde and her parents today, didn't you?"

He nodded.

"Yes, I did. Nothing but the finest suit in the collection for that sordid affair."

Caroline didn't even want to ask, so she refrained, instead directing his attention to the baby in his mentor's arms.

"Hey, little Lee!"

Eggsy said and smiled when the little boy reached for his tie. Caroline was quick to intercede, taking the fine blue silk tie and wrapping it around to the back of Eggsy's neck.

"He may look cute, but don't let it fool you. He's a tie ruiner. Better to keep him off 'em if you can."

Eggsy looked to Caroline for more of an explanation. She sighed and pulled one of her husband's ties out of the stroller she'd brought with her. The first thing the younger man noticed was the hole on the end. The second thing he noticed was that it hung in two pieces like the seam had been ripped out.

"He's teething. As his teeth come in, he's looking for something to chew on. Harry was home with him one night and fell asleep with him on his chest. When I got home, this tie was ruined and Lee was asleep. Now we just let him chew on it. It soothes him well enough."

She said quickly, her embarrassment shining through the sentiment. Harry, however, was laughing. She glared at him, prompting him to explain himself before she decked him.

"That tie is my least favorite in the whole of my collection. I say let him have it and all others like it."

She rolled her eyes at him but smiled none the less. Over the years, she had seen him grow out of his stoic shell, created by years of isolating himself from the people he cared about in order to protect them from the nature of his work. His relationship with Caroline and the children that followed really opened him up to a world of possibilities he had never considered before: one with smiles and laughter and a family. One with people to come home to at the end of the day or the end of a mission. It was something they both didn't know they needed until it fell into their laps.

She was brought out of her thoughts when the door to the shop opened behind her. She turned her head and smiled and the man who entered. It was Champagne, who had just flown in to do a distillery survey at Kingsman. As lead distiller, she was responsible for the distillery's general upkeep and management, so, as she did every year, she invited Champ to tour the facilities. In addition to being a great spy, he had an eye for detail not rivaled anywhere in the world. It was also a good excuse to spend time with the man she considered a father, which was a plus she wouldn't take for granted. He was quick to approach her, smiling all the while.

"Caroline! It's good to see you, darlin'! Now, where's that little boy of yours? I didn't travel all this way to be deprived of him."

She laughed and took the baby from Harry and walked over to him, smiling as he squealed in excitement at seeing a new face.

"Champ, this is Lee."

Champ pushed his glasses up his nose and took a really good look at him before smiling hugely at her.

"Now I can say I met 'im first!"

He exclaimed, and Caroline rolled her eyes. The rest of the Statesman agents had been competing to see who could get to London first to see the precious little man, and Champ had won the battle. When Emily was born, Tequila had had an unfair advantage in that he had been with her when she had gone into labor. Harry had been out on a mission and had not made it back in time. This time around, Tequila was on a mission, so he had missed it. From that day forward, a gauntlet had been thrown down. Whoever got there first, got all the reward they needed: bragging rights. There weren't very many Statesman babies, so they took it very seriously. Champ reached behind him and grabbed a suitcase, which she could only assume was full of gifts from the others.

"The others didn't want to be left out, so they did ask that I bring you their gifts. First off, this is from Tequila. He made it himself for the little guy."

When Champ pulled the item out of the bag, she almost laughed. Almost. In her hand was a brown teddy bear, dressed in his own little double-breasted brown tweed suit with glasses, a bowler hat, and an umbrella. The note attached to his little foot, however, is what made it extra special.

Hey Scotch and Arthur,

Sorry I missed it this time. You know how work can get. Anyways, I thought that exposing him to bespoke tailoring at a young age might be good for him. After all, with parents like you, he's destined to do something great. I've made sure to find the most durable material for him, just in case his want of something to chew on gets the best of him again.

Congratulations you two. If anyone deserves this kind of happiness, it's you.

Teq

P.S. You can tell Merlin that I made sure to leave plenty of seam allowance in the jacket too. He always got onto me for that.

Caroline wiped the tears away from her eyes and passed the item to Harry so he could look at it. The gentleman handled it with the utmost care, looking it over to ensure that it was fit for his little son. After a moment of introspection, he turned the bear's little face towards his son, who was happy to have something to play with. Champ then passed her a tissue wrapped bundle.

"That's from Whiskey and Tonic. It's made of some new fabric they've been working on. It's designed to keep you warm even in the coldest of conditions. Apparently, they remember how easy you get cold and made a blanket out of it for ya."

She unwrapped the tissue and laughed when she saw the Kingsman Scotch emblem on the front. A little note fluttered to the floor, which Champ was quick to pick up.

Hey, Scotch!

We thought you'd like this one better than the last one we tried to give you. Lesson learned: Camo is not an appropriate pattern if you want something to be used in an office.

This fabric is a hyper-insulator. It takes the body heat you produce and multiplies it so that you're always warm, no matter what. There's also a built-in heating element that's solar powered so it'll charge during the day when you aren't using it. We've included little ones for Lee and Emily too. Theirs are a bit more kid-friendly, but they work the same either way.

Congratulations, friends!

Whiskey and Tonic

When she opened the ones for the kids, she smiled. Little Emily's was red with white polka dots and her name embroidered on the corner as an unspoken tribute to her mother, while Lee's had a dragonfly on it with his name embroidered across the top in a tribute to his father. The two looked at each other and smiled, happy that they had friends who knew them well enough to design these things for them and their children. Not everyone cared to remember that Emily hated pink, but Whiskey did, and that made all the difference.

Speaking of Emily, no one had heard a peep out of her since before Champ had arrived. Harry was quick to scan the room for her, both delighted and humored when his eyes landed on her sleeping form in Eggsy's arms. It seemed she had exhausted her time with Merlin, who was really making an effort for the girl's sake. He did love her, but he was so used to being alone that he didn't know how to handle her for longer than an hour or two at a time. Eggsy, on the other hands, had long since taken a seat and was happy to hold her while she took her nap. There had been so many people in and out of the shop that she had exhausted herself, despite thinking she was too old for naps. Harry tapped his wife on the shoulder before she continued to open the gifts, pointing her in the direction of their sleeping child and reaching for her new blanket all at the same time. Caroline understood his plan immediately and placed it in his hands. As Harry approached, he couldn't help but laugh at his fortune. Sitting in front of him was two-thirds of his legacy. Eggsy, who was like a son to him in so many ways, whom he had plucked off the street and made into a Kingsman, and Emily, his sweet and unassuming little girl who had always been drawn to the younger man's fun sense of life, and who made it her mission in life to make people happy, especially when they seemingly had no reason to be.

Harry pondered all of this as he wrapped the blanket around her small shoulders. How had he been so magnificently blessed? He'd never know for certain, but he accepted it without hesitation. Then he looked over at Lee, his son by love and by blood. Named after the man he had failed, the man who had died because of his oversight, the man who had fathered the brilliant young man holding his daughter right now. In hindsight, he owed the man so much. If he had never met Lee Unwin, he'd have never met Eggsy. If he had never met Eggsy, he'd have never met Caroline. And if he hadn't met Caroline...he didn't like to think about it. He'd be alone, is what he'd be, and that was the last thing he wanted. He was broken out of his reverie by his wife, who came over and placed something in his hand.

"It's from Vodka. The note on top said that only you could open it."

She said and prompted him to look down at his hands. It was a non-descript looking parcel, but he had a feeling it held something extraordinary. If he had learned anything about the Statesman over the years, it was that they could be unassuming, but they had a flair that couldn't be denied. He gently pulled the bow, letting the silk ribbon fall through his fingers and hit the floor. He rotated the package in his hands, gently pulling up the tape that held the paper in place. He recognized it as the back of a picture frame and when he flipped it over, he felt like he'd had the air knocked out of his lungs. It was his favorite picture of Caroline, one that had been taken by Vodka himself when she had been pregnant with Emily.

They had been walking around the Kingsman distillery. Caroline, taking great pride in what she had been able to build since she arrived, took Vodka though every building and every part of the process, talking them both through the intricacies of distilling they had never considered. Harry had been there many a time, representing the tailor's shop, but Vodka had never seen it before. It was beautiful, situated right on the coast of the island and surrounded by the most beautiful landscapes he had ever seen. He almost wanted to move here to help out but he knew Champ wouldn't let him. He was needed in New York.

Lost in his reverie, he almost missed it when Harry stepped in front of his little wife and held out his hands for her to take, in an effort to ensure her safe descent down the slope in front of them.

"I'll be your eye if you're my legs, Harry"

She said with a smile. Vodka chuckled and stuck close behind her, just in case a loss of balance sent her backward instead of forwards. Once they were down the hill, Harry pivoted around her with what can only be described as practiced ease and pulled her into his side. Caroline rested her head against his shoulder, gently whispering something in his ear. The smile he gave her back was radiant, and when Caroline turned to look up at him, he took a picture with the camera he'd been carrying, trying to play it off as him taking a picture of the landscape for his own records.

When Vodka got Harry alone that evening, he showed him the picture, smiling all the while.

"Did you know it took her almost 2 years to start talking to us agents like we weren't going to get mad at her every time she opened her mouth? That sorry excuse of a boyfriend had her thinking no one cared about what she had to say. But when I look at her now, leading and managing a whole distillery pretty much by herself, with you at her back? I've never seen her so happy, Arthur, and despite everything it took for you guys to get here, I couldn't be happier for you. You keep takin' care of her and you and I will always be friends."

Harry turned and poured two glasses of scotch. Handing one to the agent across from him, he smiled.

"Here's to friendship, then."

He said, and the southerner smiled back.

"I'll drink to that."

Harry smiled at the memory it conjured and held it out for his wife to look at.

"Well, look at that! Where'd he get that from?"

She asked, and he chuckled.

"Remember his first visit to the distillery?"

She nodded, intrigued.

"We'd just come around the back of the still house, where it gets steep right before the cliffs. It was right after you told me we were having a little girl, and he took it when we weren't looking."

She gently ran her fingers over the image. She would definitely have to send him a bottle of Kingsman reserve as a thank you for sharing the beautiful moment with them. Harry smiled down at her, kissing the top of her head as he did so.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll be keeping this on my desk."

He said, and she nodded.

"Of course! I'll see if he's willing to send me a copy for mine."

Champagne, who had been watching the whole exchange, grabbed the last parcel from the case and stood up. Walking over to Caroline, he placed it in her hands.

"These are from me, Birdy."

Caroline looked at Champ like he'd grown a second head.

"Champ...you didn't have to."

He rolled his eyes at her.

"Of course I didn't have to. I wanted to. There's a difference. Now open the damn box!"

What she saw when she removed the lid warmed her heart. Resting inside was a set of crystal glasses, each one etched with a monogram. Each one represented a different member of her family. CHE for her, HHJ for Harry, EHR for Emily and LHH for Lee. She knew the reason behind this purchase, but looked up at Champ, anxious to hear him say it out loud.

"It's a tradition in my family. We've been Statesman as far back as Statesman has existed, and every good Statesman has exceptional glassware for their spirits. Waterford has been my families crystal of choice for generations."

She was quick to pass the box to Harry, anxious to hug her friend and mentor. She unceremoniously threw her arms around his neck and held on tight.

"Thank you, Champ. They're beautiful."

He wiggled out of her grip, taking her by the shoulders and looking her in the eye.

"No, Caroline. Thank you. Ever since you came to Statesman, I've seen nothing but the best from you. And not just as an agent, but on all fronts. Your work as Tonic was revolutionary, and your work as Scotch is unparalleled. You've blossomed, and I'm so glad that I got to and continue to get to play a role in that. These are the least I can give you for all that you've given me."

She wiped away her tears, touched by the fact that he had thought of her and her family. She would never be able to thank him for everything he had done and continued to do for her. Without him, she wouldn't be the person she was today, and she owed him more than she could say. She tried to say something, anything really to express the depth of her love for the man, but he just smiled and took her hands.

"Caroline, I know. I've always known. I love you too, kiddo."

She hugged him again but was quickly pulled from the embrace by the sound of her hungry baby crying out for food. She looked at Harry, who had quickly picked him up from the stroller, and smiled when she noticed he already had the situation under control and right at hand. Eggsy noticed too, attempting, but ultimately failing to suppress a snicker. Harry looked over at the younger man, perplexed by the sound. Eggsy just shot him a shit-eating grin.

"Oh come on, Harry! Never in my life did I think I'd see you swaddling a baby, and here you are! Not just one baby, but two!"

He looked down at his son and shrugged. Looking from Caroline to Lee to Emily and then back to Eggsy, he smiled.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Galahad."

He wouldn't, and he would never have to. His world was perfect just the way it was.