A Love I Didn't Expect.

Authors Note: Welcome to my submission for the Valentine 2025 Contest. Some of the characters may feel familiar from my previous work, but this is very much a stand-alone piece that can be read on its own. I hope you enjoy it.

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I woke up on New Year's Day feeling off. I knew I was probably still in a funk from my mother's relentless questioning about when I was finally going to settle down. Now that I was 36, she deemed it high time I found myself a wife and gave up my bachelorhood. It didn't help that my younger brother George had used Christmas dinner to announce that he and his long-term girlfriend Charlotte were engaged.

Adding further fuel to my mother's campaign was that all of my friends were married with kids or in long-term relationships. I was happy and didn't see the need to compare myself to them. I had a solid career as the sales manager for a high-end car dealership in a posh part of suburban Oxford, and I owned my own house not far away. Well, the bank still owned half of it, but I was working on that. I was in decent shape from visiting the gym 4 times a week, and when I did decide to go out, I typically did well for myself in finding female company.

"But they never last, do they Harry?" My brain argued.

My brain wasn't wrong. My relationships typically didn't last. The longest one had been for a year, and even then, it had really been over after nine months. We stumbled to the end, waiting for the other to be the one to call it quits, neither of us wanting to take responsibility for the end of another relationship.

The girls in my friend group, Sarah and Mandy, teased me, calling me a serial dater and a womaniser. I could see their point, but it wasn't really like that. I was very open to the idea of finding someone to settle down with; I just hadn't found that person who made me want to take the plunge.

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I went to make some coffee and start on my New Year's list. I wasn't a big one for resolutions, but I liked starting the year with a list of goals. As I waited for the coffee to brew and tried to arrange my goals and ideas for the year, my mother's voice kept on intruding.

"I mean, really, Harry, at this rate, the only way I'm going to get a grandchild out of you is if you knock up a one-night stand," Mum said after I made another comment about how I was in no rush. "Seriously, if you wait much longer, you're going to be the weird older Dad when your kids get to school," she had continued.

I had thought about telling her that maybe I didn't want to be a father, but the truth was, a part of me did. I had spent the better part of a decade watching my friends enjoy being parents, and I wondered if maybe I was missing out. I loved being 'Uncle Harry' and playing with the kids at our regular get-togethers. I also enjoyed the fact that I wasn't responsible during the tantrums, or when the day was over, I could take a break and go home.

As I poured my coffee, I thought about my friends' evolution to parents. These had the people I used to go out drinking with at least once a week and often more. But seemingly overnight, they had settled down and moved on. Mandy and Adam had gotten married, Mike and Sarah, Penny had moved to Botswana, and Beth had moved to London until just Tom and I remained. Then Tom had met a nice girl in the last year, and if Mandy and Sarah were to believe Jackie would be a permanent addition to our group before long.

Again, I cleared my head and settled down at my table to begin writing out my goals for the year. Some were fairly easy, especially the career ones. I already knew my health and fitness one: I was going to run a half marathon with a view to running a full marathon afterwards. It was only when I got to my personal goals that I drew a blank. Not wanting to go down that rabbit hole again, I got up and began getting ready to head out.

Mike and Sarah were hosting an afternoon get-together so their kids could have some New Year's fun. It was just a bonfire in the garden, but since none of the kids were allowed to stay up until midnight, this was their compromise.

Facing the cold January air, I briefly thought about going back inside and ordering a taxi but stopped myself, thinking the walk wasn't that far and it would do me some good to clear my head before I had to be sociable. As I made the walk, I allowed myself to contemplate why my relationships always failed. They were always fun to begin with: the initial excitement, the dating and getting to know each other, the thrill of sex with a new person. But that always faded, and I had never learned to keep the spark alive. Once the fancy dates and the need to impress each other fell away, I just lost interest.

The others would say it wasn't about fancy dates or impressing each other but finding the person you were just happy to be around without trying. Watching them, I could see the way Mandy and Adam intrinsically knew what the other was thinking or the way Mike and Sarah were seemingly connected by an invisible rope, never far from each other, mentally or physically. But I needed the thrill, the excitement. I wanted the show, paying for dinner at the best restaurants and weekends away, but after a while, they weren't enough, and I just couldn't keep the relationship alive without them.

A cold gust of wind hit me just as I turned onto Mike and Sarah's road, bringing me back into the present.

"Only Mike could plan an outdoor party in January," I thought to myself as I walked up their drive to knock on the door.

"Harry," Sarah smiled, opening the door for me. Come in. It's freezing. Why I let Mike plan these things, I'll never know."

"Cos it keeps him out of your kitchen while you gossip with your co-conspirators?" I replied rhetorically, stepping in and bending down to kiss her cheek before passing her the bottles of wine I had brought as an offering.

"Harry, you shouldn't have," she said, accepting the wine. "We have enough booze on the property without you adding to the stockpile."

"I wouldn't want to let Mike's nightmare of running out come true," I said, following her through to the kitchen.

"Come on, you know the rules, say your hellos to girls, then fuck off outside and join the rest of the men."

At one point, I was enamoured with Sarah. She had been the new girl in our group, and when Mandy introduced us, I thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen, which was quite an achievement in our group of friends. Typically, in order to protect her friend, Mandy warned Tom and me to stay away from her. That lasted for 15 minutes until Mike arrived, and Sarah set eyes on him. But she was and still is this incredibly beautiful human being who's become the most wonderful friend. They are the reason I believe love at first sight is possible.

Knowing the rules, I quickly made my way around the kitchen, sharing hugs and kisses on the cheek with the ladies who made up our strange family of friends before helping myself to a beer and heading outside into the cold. It was a pretty typical scene: the five kids in attendance running around the garden while Mike and the other chaps huddled around one of the outdoor heaters discussing whatever topic had been decided on that day.

"All right, H?" Mike asked, making room for me in the circle. "Good Christmas?"

"It was all right, cheers. Mum sends her love to you all," I replied, clinking my bottle against his and falling into a conversation about the latest football scores.

"You think Sarah would let me get an outdoor TV so we could actually watch the games when she expels us from the house?" Mike asked.

"I think she gave up trying to stop you from building your perfect outdoor entertaining space years ago," Adam replied, laughing. "Now, when are you going to build this fire? These heaters are great, but we need something more powerful if your wife won't let us inside."

I watched as Mike took over corralling the kids around him and conscripting them into helping him build the fire. It was so simple listening to him explain the type of fire they were building and the help he needed. It wasn't just the boys but the girls too, all with the jobs from collecting wood from the store to help him build the log pile that would become the fire. Even though I had seen it before, it still amazed me to watch the guy who had once set and still owned the record for most pints of beer consumed in a day at our local pub become 'super dad'. He included Mandy and Adam's pair, not just his own trio.

I watched Mike show Adam's son, Aiden, how to use a lighter safely before he put a fire starter between some tongs so Aiden could light it for him.

"You okay with him doing that?" I asked Adam quietly.

"Of course," Adam replied easily. "Mike's the only one us with any real outdoor skills; if Aiden doesn't learn from him, who's going to teach him? Anyway, we both know Mandy will kill him if anything happens to our kids."

As I watched the scene play out, I wondered if Adam would be as free with his trust if I'd been the one in Mike's place or if it was the sort of trust that was only shared between parents. I knew they had some level of trust in me. I had babysat all the kids at one point or another and taken them on little adventures, but those had always come with strict instructions and rules. Mike hadn't asked if it was okay to teach Aiden how to light a fire; he had just done it, knowing Adam and Mandy's absolute trust in him.

As the fire roared into action, I helped set up chairs around the fire pit while Mandy and Sarah took the kids inside to have their lunch. There were a few complaints, but those quickly ended with threats that there would be 'no marshmallows' for dessert and definitely 'no sleepover party' if they didn't listen. It seemed so effortless to them, and I just couldn't see myself having the same power or authority. I didn't understand how my drinking buddies had become these people, and I had witnessed most of the transition.

"I hope you're hungry, mate. I've got a lamb curry slow cooking," Mike said, catching my attention.

If one thing was true about the Smith house, you never left hungry; if the kids weren't around, you rarely left sober. Mike never seemed happier than when he was feeding large groups of people before proceeding to drink them under the table with seemingly little effort.

Slowly, the fire settled, and the kids, having been fed, came out to roast their marshmallows while the adults idly caught up over what they had got up to over the Christmas break. I purposely didn't contribute much, not wanting to get into Mum's campaign or me to find a partner and settle down. While the ladies weren't so blunt about it, I knew, given the opportunity, they would happily join Mum's cause. It would come out eventually; Mandy and Sarah were like bloodhounds when it came to looking after their friends. They would get it out of me before the day was over, but I could put them off for a while.

Slowly, the day came to an end. Mike stoked the fire one more time before going inside to set up the air mattresses for the kids' sleepover party. Once the kids were settled, Mike came back with a bottle of brandy. He poured everyone a drink before Mandy turned her attention to me.

"Everything okay, Harry? You've been unusually quiet all day."

"I'm good, just thinking. Mum's having her usual campaign about me settling down and finding a wife," I answered honestly.

"Carol has a point; you're not getting any younger, mate," Mike added unhelpfully.

"Michael, leave him alone; you don't need to be married with kids to have a full life," Sarah defended me. "Harry is happy, well, at least as happy as a serial dater with commitment issues can be." She laughed.

Brushing off Sarah's joke, I turned serious. "I know I don't need kids; it's just watching you lot. You used to be some of the most irresponsible people I knew, and now you're all grown up and parents. Is it worth it?"

"It's the best thing I've ever done," Mike answered. "You just have to hate having time or money."

"Mike, I'm pretty sure money is the least of your worries. Be serious," I said, waving at the house.

"I'm being serious, though. I love my kids more than anything, but there's always something. Will has his rugby; Kate has tennis lessons, and Lettie wants to start horse riding, which means she'll want a horse in a couple of years if she sticks with it."

"You could always say no," I countered.

"It's not that easy," Mike replied. "Part of being a parent is giving them every opportunity you can. I can refuse to buy them toys or other things, but when it comes to expanding their horizons, we've got an obligation to give them a chance. Look at Kate; she has only been playing tennis for a few months, but they're already talking about accelerating her and her chances of going pro. Imagine denying her that opportunity. That's what being a parent truly means: sacrificing yourself to give your kids the best chance you can."

Mandy and Adam were nodding their heads in agreement. Accepting his words, I brought the conversation back to me.

"I don't know. I've never thought about it like that. I can't see myself giving up my life like you guys have done. But sometimes I think Mum has a point, and I do like the idea of having someone to share every day with."

"Harry, if you want a real relationship, you need to stop breaking up with people when the fun ends," Sarah said seriously. "You need to find the person who makes you happy for no reason except that they're next to you."

"Maybe that life isn't for me," I said. Don't get me wrong; I can see how happy it makes you guys, but I lose interest without the fun parts of dating. I can't see the point when it starts to feel like a friendship more than a relationship."

"You're a moron," Sarah replied. "More than anything, Mike is my best friend. Yes, he's my lover, my life partner and the father of my children, but the foundation of it all is the fact he's my favourite person. We wouldn't be what we are without our friendship. My favourite part of the day is the little window of time we get after the kids are in bed, and it's just about us."

"Sarah, I'm happy you have that, and it sounds amazing, but I've never had that; I don't even know what it looks like," I told her.

"You've never tried to have it," Sarah retorted. "It's not something that just happens. You have to work on it. You spend too much time worrying about the good parts and not enough time thinking about the things that actually matter."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Think about it like the cars you sell," Sarah replied. "They all have add-ons that you upsell, right? But before you get that far, you have to get your customers interested in the base model. The add-ons and extras mean nothing if you can't sell the car itself. Relationships are like that, too. I love date nights and all the little extras Mike does, but they're bonuses. They'd be irrelevant if I didn't love Mike just for being him. You've never been interested in basics. Once the date nights and fun ends, you run."

"Do you all agree with her?" I asked, turning to the group.

"As a rule, I don't disagree with my wife," Mike said honestly. "The real question is whether or not you believe she is right. It honestly doesn't matter to me as long as you're happy, but if you're serious about finding a partner, she might have a point. Now, I'm going to check on the kids. They've been suspiciously quiet."

As I walked home, I thought about what Sarah had said. I would never tell her, but she was right. I didn't think about relationships without the exciting parts. It had definitely never occurred to me to build a friendship with my partners. I could see what she was trying to tell me. She had always been a big believer that successful relationships were the result of hard work, while I still believed that love should be this effortless, easy thing.

On track record alone, I was losing, but I wasn't prepared to give up on the idea that love should be easy. On the other hand, I thought Sarah was slightly unrealistic. As part of the dating app generation, I was more used to being ghosted for no reason than building something.

Thankfully, I only had a day to think about it before I returned to work. I loved my job. Due to the high-end nature of the cars, we rarely had a customer come in who was 'just looking', and even then, turning a window shopper into a buyer wasn't particularly difficult. As the manager, I spent more time approving deals than I did actually selling, but I still loved it when I got the chance to get on the floor and turn a prospective buyer into a customer.

As January turned into February, I forgot about my mother's determination for me to settle down and my view of relationships. It only occurred to me as the girls started painting the office red in anticipation of Valentine's Day. Without a partner, Valentine's wasn't a big deal for me; all my friends would be busy celebrating the hallmark holiday while it was just another day to me. I even offered to look after the showroom to give my guys the day off.

"Cheers, boss man," Jack, one of my salesmen, told me. "My housemates and I are having an anti-Valentine singles party if you want to join after your shift."

"Sounds good. I'll let you know."

I had a great relationship with my guys. At least once a month, we went out for drinks that I would pay for. I was a big believer that being a good manager meant caring about your employees as people, and all of the sales staff knew they could call me if they needed anything.

I still had doubts about the party. I was at least 10 years older than most of my staff, but it was still a better proposition than staying home on my own while all my friends had special plans to mark the day.

Before I got to the party, I made my taxi driver stop at a supermarket so I could buy an extra case of beer. I remembered being young and just starting out, sharing a house with Tom and Adam, and never having enough booze. I wasn't prepared to bankroll the party, but I could provide a few extra cans.

At the party, I missed my friends. It wasn't a big deal. I was just aware that I was much further along in life than most of the people I had chosen to spend the night with. I cleared the thought by reminding myself it was better than being home alone. I was watching the boys chug the party mix, trying to impress the girls in attendance, when a voice caught my attention.

"Hey, you look a bit too mature to be at this meat market," She said.

"If I was too old to be here, I wouldn't be, so I have no clue where you got that idea," I replied, smiling.

"I didn't say you were too old to be here; I said you looked too mature for this meat market. There's a difference. I'm Alana."

"I'm Harry," I replied, taking her in. She was a pretty redhead with green eyes and a killer smile. I had always had a weakness for green eyes. She seemed a little bit older than the rest of the party guests. She was not quite my age but a bit further along in life than the others.

"I'm not going to make any assumptions about a lady's age, so why don't you tell me why you picked me out of the crowd?" I asked her.

"It's my good deed for the day, looking after the old man who's out of place at this party," Alana laughed. "Seriously though, I don't know anyone here. I just moved to Oxford, and my housemate dragged me here to get me out of the house; the last time I saw her, she was sneaking into a bedroom with one of the hosts, and you seem a bit more worldly than the other representations of the male species here. You're better dressed, and it looks like you know how to separate your laundry."

"Wow, that's a really low bar," I laughed in return. "I'm not sure my friends would agree with you, but I'll take it."