51 Harry's POV
Tom's behaviour didn't make a single bit of sense. At least, not to us it didn't. He didn't usually spend that much time with Buzz, not during the night anyway. He wasn't... he didn't do affection right now, he did, well... routine, by the looks of it. So, this was odd.
But, I decided to take it as a good sign. A sign that he was getting more confident in his affections with his son, that he was starting to feel confident enough to spend 'unnecessary' time with him, time he could he spent being productive instead. Maybe he was just trying out this uncharted territory while we weren't around, to avoid potential judgement, getting himself used to it before he revealed anything else to us. Maybe, hopefully. God I hoped so.
The next day, Danny and Dougie were still confused, even when I explained my reasoning to them. They tried to agree, but were scared of what the real reason was. I didn't want them to think too much on that, but there wasn't really anything I could do to stop them from it really. They were scared, understandably, and maybe they were right to be worried. Worry was acceptable in situations like this, though I wanted to look on the bright side, and encourage it.
So, I decided to try and step in, at least give Tom some encouragement. No previous attempt had worked, but maybe this one would, now that I knew what Tom wanted. Or at least had an idea of what to aim at.
"Hey, need some help?" I asked, as Tom was washing up, despite having a dishwasher.
"No, no, it's fine." Tom shook his head, placing a plate on a rack to dry.
"At least let me dry this up, save you some time." I picked up the towel, not giving Tom a choice by drying up anyway. I was itching to do some cleaning for once, I felt like so entitled by letting Tom do all the housework around here. In mine and Dougie's house, I did all the housework, I loved it, I found it relaxing. Not doing it here was weird, even though it wasn't my own place. I was still living here and causing mess, I should have been helping to clear it up.
"Thank, thank you." Tom smiled shyly, I took it as a good sign.
"Not a problem. It gives you more time to spend with Buzz." I nudged him to look outside, where Dougie had picked Buzz up, and was carrying him around the garden, pretending the boy was flying like a superhero.
"I've got, there's a lot to do first." Tom shook his head, but he wasn't sure, he wanted to, it was clear to me that he really wanted to. I just had to weedle my way in there, convince him that this was a good idea. This was a good start though, I just had to keep it up. Even if it didn't work today, maybe I could plant the idea in his head, and get him to let loose a bit another day.
"You've already tidied and cleaned up, and now you've done the washing up, I don't think there's anything else to do today." I was sure there wasn't anything else, Tom had done it all in the last few days.
Then again, he always seemed to do the same things every day. He hovered, dusted, tidied, did the washing every other day, shopped for food once a week. What else could he possibly be doing on top of that?
"There is, there's always things to do. The house needs to be clean." Tom sounded like he was reciting instructions. I cursed his wife again, for trying to ingrain this in his mind, acting like he had to do these things every day, and not do the important things.
"Well can't it wait for after Buzz has gone to bed? He's not going to notice anything, and it's not like the house is an absolute tip." I asked, making it sound as much like an innocent question as I could.
"I..." Tom seemed to think about it for a second, come on, agree with me, please agree with me. He had to give in, he worked himself to the bone every day, and it was clear from last night how much he wanted to spend time with Buzz, he had to give in. He had to go and play, even if it was just this once. Just this once was better than nothing.
"Go on, spend some time with him, leave the housework for another time. You're working yourself to the bone, go and have some fun." I nudged again, watching him fight indecision for a few minutes.
"I, I really shouldn't." Tom shook his head, indecision warring on his face.
"And Danny shouldn't sneakily eat crisps and chocolate all day long, and that doesn't exactly stop him, does it? Go on, it's been an age since you've had fun with Buzz, go and hang out with him now." I encouraged again.
"O-Okay. After I've put Buzz's dry clothes away." Tom gave in, success!
