I woke up far too early the next morning. I didn't sleep well at all, given the previous night's argument. What a rotten way to welcome Harry home. I wanted to say I was sorry, but I wasn't sure what to be sorry about. I hadn't done anything wrong in accepting Zayn's gift, had I? Or in giving him a gift?

Speaking of gifts, it was Grace's birthday, so instead of sulking at 5:00 in the morning, I decided to clean the house. Even though I had already cleaned it before Harry came home. I put the finishing touches on Grace's presents, I mixed up her cake and put it in the oven, and then I found myself cleaning things like the grooves in the kitchen faucet handles or the burners plates on the new stove. They didn't really need cleaning, I just needed something to keep my mind busy.

I often enjoyed my alone time first thing in the morning, but I was glad when the kids woke up.

"Good morning, birthday girl!" I said to Gracie as she stumbled into the kitchen. I picked her up and kissed her cheek, but I could barely lift her off the floor – she was almost as tall as me at only eight years old. It wouldn't be long before I couldn't pick up any of my kids anymore. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Can I have blackberry pancakes and white grape juice? Oh, and thick bacon? Do we have all that, Mommy?"

"Of course we do, lovey. I knew your birthday was coming up!" I winked at her. "Why don't you all go in and wake Daddy up? I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

I heard them laughing and talking with Harry for a long time while I quickly got breakfast ready. I didn't want today to be awkward between Harry and myself, but I was finding it hard to let go of my anger.

When all the food was finished and I had put the finishing touches on the breakfast table, I poured a mug of coffee for Harry and went into our bedroom. "Kids, would you please give Daddy and me a moment alone? You can go and pour yourself some juice while you wait for us."

They left and closed the door behind them. I put Harry's coffee on his bedside table and then I sat down beside him.

"I'm sorry," I simply said.

He reached his hand up to caress my cheek. Then he pulled me down to kiss him, which I gladly allowed him to do.

"I really didn't think anything of exchanging gifts with Zayn, but if it bothers you, babe, I'll have to be more careful. Please believe me when I say that I meant nothing by it." I ran my fingers through his hair and then placed both hands on the sides of his face. "You are the love of my life, Harry Edward Styles, and nothing will change that."

"I know," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I over-reacted. I just really want you to be careful, especially when I'm gone. Don't want anyone else sniffing around." Then he just smirked and I burst out laughing.

I leaned down to kiss him again and he met my lips with his open ones, gently deepening the kiss and making me melt with his taste and touch, morning breath and all.

He gingerly slid his hand up inside my pajama shirt and I batted his hand away. "Harry, the kids are just in the other room."

"Lock the door, then," he said, pulling me down to kiss him forcefully, causing my heart to start racing.

"Oh, Harry," I whimpered. "I wish we could. But it's Gracie's birthday. Her special breakfast is on the table," I told him.

"Then we'll just have to take a nap together later, won't we?" He smirked.

"Yes, now get up and let's party!" I giggled and walked out to the kitchen.

Grace's birthday celebrations went off without a hitch. All of the extended family came over for cake and ice cream and the opening of gifts. Danny and my niece Ava were enthralled with each other, toddling after each other all evening. She's a year older than him, but they were probably both tickled to have someone their own size in a house full of big people.

Harry happily filled everyone in on the details of his blossoming career, and he reminded everyone for the umpteenth time that his album was coming out two days before Thanksgiving. And that was only a few days away.

"Oh, by the way, girls," my mom said, addressing my sister Maggie and myself, "Ryan and Jess are coming for Thanksgiving."

"What?!" I shrieked. "That little snot! Why didn't he tell us himself?"

"Don't know," my mom shrugged. "But he said he has a surprise for us."

Maggie and I looked at each other – that could only mean one thing. He and Jess were going to have a baby! We both screamed at the same time and Maggie's husband Jim said, "Tone it down, ladies. I still want to have eardrums so I can hear Harry's new album."

I was so excited and couldn't wait to see my brother. We were close, but his visits had always been few and far between.

"When are they coming in?" Maggie asked.

"Their flight arrives tomorrow night," my mom said without flinching. I knew she was hiding something. She was too calm and collected about this.

"How about if you all come over on Tuesday for cocktails?" I offered. "Then we can celebrate Harry's album and everything else that needs celebrating." We would all be together again on Thanksgiving, but our families were so close, I didn't want to celebrate without them, especially now that Ryan would be home.

After everyone had left, I suggested to Harry, "Why don't you invite your professor from Fitzhugh? And some of your classmates? I'm sure they would love to celebrate with you."

"That's a great idea," Harry agreed. Then he slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me tightly against him. "How did I get so lucky, finding a woman like you?"

He kissed me and then led me to our bedroom where we locked the door and resumed the previous night's activities, the ones that started before our fight began.

Harry and I allowed the children to stay up late on Monday night, since the album would be offically released at midnight. Since it was Thanksgiving week, they didn't have school, so we told them they'd have to get a nap on Tuesday afternoon before our guests arrived.

The house was practically buzzing with excitement – Harry had his own house full of fans. We all gathered in the living room and Harry set up his laptop, his ipod and his phone. We turned on the radio on and tuned it to 99.5.

At about 11:30 PM, Harry's knees were shaking and his hands were drumming all over the place, just like Charlie.

"Harry," I laughed. "Settle down!"

"I can't, Mummy, I'm too excited," he said in a falsetto voice, causing the children to burst into laughter.

At exactly 12:00 midnight, the radio DJ announced, "And now, the hottest new song from the hottest new artist on the airwaves. And in case you didn't know, folks, Harry Styles calls the Twin Cities his home. And now he's released his first album, making us all very proud. Here's his popular single, Be Careful With My Heart!"

The song started playing and the kids got up and danced around the room. Harry burst out laughing and picked me up swinging me around. The children laughed and then started begging, "Swing me around, Daddy!" He set me down and obliged the other children.

After his song was over, the radio station played some Katy Perry song and Aurora stopped suddenly, asking, "Daddy? Why aren't they playing the rest of your album?"

"Well, that's not how it works, lovey. They don't play the whole album on the radio. But people can buy it in the stores and download it on iTunes."

"So, when do we get to hear your whole album?!" She asked, clearly distraught about his news.

"Oh, did you want to hear the whole thing?" He teased.

"Yes!" She and all the other kids screamed.

"All right, if you insist," he said, strolling over to the tall bookshelf in the corner of the room. He reached up and grabbed a CD that he had hidden. He walked over and popped it into the CD player.

They cheered like they were actually at a rock concert. Harry shushed them and said, "Okay, now let's sit down and listen."

He sat in the overstuffed recliner and pulled me into his lap. He handed me the CD and I gasped, "Oh, my gosh, Harry! It's amazing!" The cover was a simple and absolutely stunning picture of Harry in a light-colored hat, with only a small smile on his face, but it was enough to show off one of his dimples. Oh, dear, my husband was hot.

So excruciatingly hot.

"How am I going to keep all those women away from you, Harry?" I whispered into his ear. "You're so unbelievably sexy."

He chuckled and kissed my cheek. "It will be easy, love. I don't want anyone else but you."

We sat that way and listened to several songs, all of which I loved, of course. I couldn't believe it was my handsome husband's voice coming out of those speakers or that the whole world now had access to the talent I had seen in him so long ago.

Danny fell asleep on the floor before the album ended, and Rachael was dozing off in a chair. "Don't be offended," I told him. "It's quite late for them."

"No offense taken," he smiled. "I'm sharing the best moment of my life with my family. What more could I ask for?"

We all went to bed well after 1:00 AM, and I hoped the children would sleep in. I would have to tidy up my house again before the cocktail party. Luckily, I wouldn't be hosting Thanksgiving in two days, so I wouldn't have to be cleaning the house the entire time Harry was home.

The children did manage to sleep in, all except Danny who seemed to be trained to wake up at 6:00 AM. I'd survived on four hours of sleep before, and I could do it again with the help of copious amounts of coffee, but I hoped that I would be able to finagle a nap later in the afternoon before our guests arrived.

We had also arranged for Officer Horan to come and talk to Harry, just so Harry would feel better about leaving me alone again when he had to return to LA. Niall arrived around 11:00 AM, just in time for my second pot of coffee.

I opened the door for the baby-faced officer and motioned for him to step inside. "Niall, it's good to see you again," I said, initiating a friendly hug. I wanted to demonstrate to Harry that it was possible for two mature adults of the opposite sex to be friends and nothing more.

Niall was one step ahead of me when he turned to Harry and said, "Don't take it the wrong way that I hugged your wife now." With that, he winked and gave Harry a disarming smile. Then he continued, "Officer Niall Horan. I've been investigating your wife's case and she's been through a lot. I hug all the victims who seem to need some comfort, even the guys, which isn't always a pretty sight."

Harry laughed and reached out to shake Niall's hand. "No problem, Officer. I'm glad to know that someone is looking out for Lise while I'm gone."

"It's the way I'd want it if it were my wife," he smiled.

"Ah, so you're married, too?" Harry asked. He was probably thinking what I was thinking, that Niall looked like he had just stepped out of high school.

"Not yet, but I'm working on it," Niall chuckled.

I went to pour some coffee for all of us, and Harry and Niall followed me to the kitchen and took a seat at the table.

Niall got right down to business, explaining everything he'd done so far in the investigation. But it seemed like the trail was now running a little cold. Niall assured Harry that Harry could contact him any time he wanted to know what was happening.

Then the discussion turned to Harry's album and his newfound stardom. Niall was a little awe-struck at how fast things happened for Harry, and we assured him that we shared the same level of bewilderment.

Niall laughed a bit and said, "I've been playing guitar for years, singing at some local pubs and the furthest I've gotten has been to the Battle of the Bands over in Green Bay. I took seventh place. Not too bad out of 35 bands. I can't complain anyway because that's where I met my girl."

"Oh, so there really is a future Mrs. Horan?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Her name is Hope. She's from Michigan, but she was visiting family in Green Bay. That was two years ago. I proposed to her in the summer, on our two-year anniversary. She's moving here in the spring."

"Ooh," I cooed. "That's so sweet. Let me know if she needs anything, okay? I used to be a realtor, so I can definitely give you some good tips on houses or neighborhoods."

"Thanks," he grinned.

While he and Harry finished up their chat, I got up to work on some of the hors d'oevres for the evening's festivities. Then, as an afterthought, I turned to Niall. "Would you like to come to a little get-together tonight? We're celebrating the release of Harry's album. It's just family and a few friends of Harry's, but it would be great to have you."

Niall looked at Harry and then back at me. "Sure, that sounds great. Hope is flying in this afternoon to spend Thanksgiving here, so would it be all right if she came with me? I'm sure she'd love to meet a real rock star," he teased.

Harry smirked. "Ain't no rock star yet," he said in a faux southern accent. I had no idea where that came from, but it seemed to hit Niall's funny bone, because the two of them laughed and joked all the way to the door.

Good work, Lise, I said to myself. Now Harry could be jealous of one less person.

Quite a bit later in the day, I was just about to take that coveted nap when the doorbell rang. It was still three hours until the party started, so I wondered who it could be. My parents had offered to come early to help, but it still seemed far too early for them to arrive. My eyes were already closed, and I hoped that Harry would shoo away whoever was at the door. But moments later, he peeked into the room, saying, "Someone is here to see you."

So much for my nap. However, I wasn't disappointed when I saw my big brother standing in the dining room.

"Ryan!" I ran to give him a hug and he squeezed me tightly. I then turned to Jess and hugged her as well. "I didn't think you were coming until the party started!" I said.

"Do you want us to leave?" He asked.

"No, you dork!" I said, hitting him playfully. "I just wasn't-" Just then a yawn completely took over before I could finish. "I wasn't expecting you," I said, laughing. "Sorry, we stayed up too late listening to my husband's new album. Can you believe it?! Harry has an album out already!"

"No, it's really fabulous," Ryan said. "I've already listened to most of the songs, too. Nice work, Harry," he said.

Then Ryan turned back towards me and told me, "We actually came early because we wanted to tell you something."

Oh, here it comes, I thought excitedly. They're going to have a baby!

"Okay!" I said, waiting for the news to fall from his or Jess's mouth.

"Well, let us show you instead," Ryan said. "Come and take a walk with us."

"All of us?" I asked, wondering why we would have to walk somewhere for them to break the news to us.

"Of course."

I immediately called for the girls to get their jackets on, and I asked Harry to get Danny's stroller from the garage. Once we were all bundled up against the cold November air, we headed down the sidewalk with Ryan leading the way. He obviously had a clear idea of where he wanted to go.

"Ryan? Where are we going?" I called since he was at the front of the pack and I was at the back.

"Just wait, Lissy. I'll tell you when we get there."

We walked a few blocks, took a left and then walked another block over. We turned down the neighboring street and then Ryan stopped the parade in front of a house that had a realty sign out front. I had noticed it was for sale, of course. It fit with the Victorian theme of the neighborhood, but it was a much newer build. Even though I hadn't worked in the field for some time, I was still aware of what was selling and who was buying.

So, they wanted to stop in front of a nice house to tell us they're having a baby? I was so confused.

Especially when my brother took his wife in his arms and said, "You're looking at the new Bancroft residence."

We were all stunned speechless. I blinked several times and then asked, "Ryan, what are you talking about? Mom and Dad are moving here?"

Harry burst into laughter and then Ryan and Jess followed. Harry said, "Lise, I think they're trying to tell us that they're moving in!"

Ryan was laughing like a maniac when I screeched, "What?! How? Why didn't you tell me?" I ran to him and threw my arms around him, and the kids all followed, giving Ryan and Jess a very crowded hug.

Ryan finally said, "We wanted it to be a surprise. Jess and I have been talking about this for a long time. Since her family is in Iowa, we thought it would be nice to move closer to home. They're only a two-hour drive from here. And I just got a job with a law firm in Minneapolis."

"Ryan, oh my gosh, I can't believe it! I thought you were going to stay in Texas forever. Oh my gosh!" I laughed uncontrollably.

As we walked back towards our house, Ryan came alongside me and spoke quietly enough that no one else would hear. "I'm glad we're moving back. When you told me about the person who's been sending you threatening messages, I knew that we'd made the right decision. I'm going to be just down the street now, so that son-of-a-b***h had better watch out!" And he hugged my shoulders as we walked.

When we arrived home, there was no time left for a nap, so I brewed another pot of coffee. Ryan and Jess helped to get everything in order, so all the preparations went very smoothly.

Ryan came to help me in the kitchen and I told him, "At first, I thought you were going to tell us that you and Jess were finally expecting. When is that going to happen anyway?" I asked, nudging him with my elbow.

"Not sure, Lissy," he said quietly, his face becoming very serious. I didn't know whether I should ask him to elaborate, but then he lowered his voice even more. "Jess probably can't have children."

"Oh, Ryan," I whispered. "I'm so sorry. Are you sure?"

"We've had lots of tests done, and the doctors are pretty sure. We'll try to find a specialist when we move here, but it's been pretty hard on both of us," he said, his voice cracking a little. It was difficult to see my brother so vulnerable.

"I'm sorry, Ryan."

"Yeah. Thanks."

We didn't have any more time to continue the conversation at that moment because people came tumbling into the kitchen, ready to welcome guests for my husband's big debut party.

I was glad that some of Harry's friends from college showed up. Even Dr. Snider came with the biggest bottle of champagne I'd ever seen. He was clearly very proud of his protege.

Niall came, too, and introduced us to his fiancée, Hope. She was an adorable little thing, only standing about five feet tall, but I could tell Niall was head over heels for her. She seemed young, but who was I to talk? My own husband was barely 23. She had long, blonde wavy hair, blue eyes, a pixie-like face and a sweet personality. I was happy for Niall.

When everyone had arrived, we put Harry's album on for everyone to hear. It was an enjoyable evening until one more of Harry's friends arrived. I hadn't met him before, but Harry had mentioned Louis a few times. He was from England as well.

Harry had answered the door and I heard him say, "Hey, it's nice to see you again, Louis." And I arrived in the entryway just in time for Louis to introduce us to his guest.

"Harry," Louis said. "You remember Victoria, right?"

I scowled at Harry over Louis' shoulder. Why the hell would she show up here?

Louis continued, "Victoria is my girlfriend."