On January 3, Harry showed up on my doorstep. The girls were besides themselves with excitement to see him. They threw the door open, letting the icy wind into the house.

“Harry!” They screeched.

“Hello, Princesses,” he smiled and put a large gift bag down on the floor. “Oh, I missed you all so much!” He picked each of them up and kissed them on the cheek.

Then he came directly to me. “Lise,” he smiled, pulling me into a hug. “I missed you the most,” he whispered in my ear. I couldn't help myself – I hugged him back, even while I knew he couldn't possibly be telling me the truth.

“Come here, Princesses,” he said, sitting down on the couch with the gift bag. He pulled out three intricately wrapped presents and handed one to each of the girls. “They're from England,” he grinned.

The girls swiftly unwrapped their treasures, revealing three adorable stuffed teddy bears with the British flag embroidered across their chests. Aurora's was turquoise, Grace's was pink, and Rachael's was purple.

“What do you say to Harry?” I nudged the girls.

“Thank you, Harry!” They said in unison, even my little almost-two-year-old Rachael. She was growing so fast.

Harry pulled out another package and said, “This is for mummy.”

I opened the package and found some elegant-looking tins of coffee. I laughed. “You remembered that I don't like tea.” There was also an assortment of English biscuits and cookies that I promised to share with the girls.

Then Harry pulled out another small wrapped box and gave it to me.

“Harry, you didn't have to get anything else for me,” I said. Inside, I was really wishing he hadn't gotten me anything. It would be easier to get over him if he wasn't so sweet and thoughtful.

“I wanted to,” he mouthed.

I opened the small package and gasped at the delicate silver necklace with a small rose pendant.

“It's an English rose,” Harry explained.

“Thank you, Harry,” I whispered back, feeling tears prickling my eyes. Why was he doing this? Why was he being so thoughtful?

I wondered what he bought for Victoria. I blinked hard, trying not to cry.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked, with concern evident on his face.

“Yeah, I'm just really tired,” I lied.

“Lise, I'm worried about you. You've been tired a lot lately. Maybe you should see a doctor.”

“I'm okay. Now that the holidays are over, I'll get some more rest,” I promised him.

Harry seemed satisfied with my explanation.

I pulled his gift out from behind the tree. “It's kind of hard to disguise it, but I hope you like it,” I told him.

He tore open the wrapping on the guitar and stared in amazement. “You really have a knack for picking out the best gifts for me. I love it.” He leaned over and placed a kiss on my cheek.

He stayed a little longer to visit and talk about England. He told the girls about some of the festive foods that they ate at Christmas time, he showed them pictures of his luxurious home decked out in Christmas lights, and he told them that he would take us all to England some day.

After Harry's gift-laden visit, the girls begged and begged to see him again, but its seemed that he launched right back into his busy school schedule. Or maybe he was busy with other things – and other people – but I tried not to think about that.

I finally succumbed to the girls' repeated nagging and decided to invite Harry to celebrate Rachael's second birthday with us.

I dialed his number. “Hey, Harry, it's Rachael's birthday. Would you like to come over for some cake and ice cream later today?” I left the message on his voicemail, hoping he would hear it before it got too late in the day.

My phone rang not ten minutes later.

“Hey, Lise, it's Harry.”

“Hi, Harry.”

“I'm so sorry, I didn't realize it was Rachael's birthday. I made other plans with Victoria and some friends from school.”

Oh, how I hated hearing that woman's name!

“That's okay, Harry. It was a last-minute invite anyway.”

“Can I come over tomorrow night instead? I want to make it up to her, and I haven't seen enough of you lately.”

“Sure,” I sighed. “We'll save some cake.”

I slammed my finger on the end button and threw my phone across the room.

Rachael's birthday celebration was delightful in spite of Harry's absence. How could I not take pleasure in my own dear children? My parents, my sister and her husband came to celebrate with us. We all enjoyed watching Rachael smash the cake and ice cream into her face, and everyone's pictures were uploaded immediately to Facebook.

When it came time to open presents, Aurora and Grace happily assisted little Rachael as she sat on the floor. After all the gifts were opened and it looked like a Toys R Us truck had made a delivery in our living room, Maggie handed me an envelope.

“It's a gift for everyone,” she winked.

I opened it up and read out loud:

Rachael, Grace and Aurora will all be receiving a gift:

A new baby cousin!

ETA August 15

My mom and I both screamed at the same time while a wide grin spread across my father's face. The girls just looked at us like we were crazy.

I stopped and explained, “Aunt Maggie is going to have a baby!”

I have to admit that Maggie's news lightened my mood considerably. I was happy to indulge in my siblings' bliss for a while. I was thankful for my own family, too. Maggie's announcement reminded me that there is a lot to be thankful for. My girls were an incredible blessing, and I had to remember that. I couldn't let Harry dictate my happiness.

After the birthday festivities had ended, I went to bed feeling more content than I had in a long time.

When Harry came over the next night, he brought a huge pink bag. Rachael wanted to tear into it right away, so I allowed her to do so. She yanked out a castle-shaped tent that practically popped up by itself as soon as it was free of the confines of the bag. The girls all let out delighted squeals and went right inside. Their infatuation with Harry's cool gift gave us some time to catch up.

“So, I wanted to talk to you about something,” Harry began.

Oh, no. Here it comes, I thought. Prepare for heartbreak.

“I just wanted to tell you what's going on with my father,” he said quietly.

Oh.

“His trial is in a few weeks. It doesn't look good.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, there seems to be evidence to convict him,” he confided. He bit his lip and I thought I saw his chin trembling like he might cry.

“Harry, I'm so sorry.”

“I don't really care what happens to that selfish bastard,” he scoffed. “But we could lose our estate. That's where I grew up and it's been in our family for generations. I can't stand the thought of losing it.”

“Oh, Harry. That's awful. Don't you and your brother have your own inheritance money from your mother?” I asked, remembering how he told me that both his parents came from extremely wealthy families, and that he and Charlie had received quite a windfall after their mother died.

“Yes, but it's not enough to buy the estate,” he said sadly.

“I'm really sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”

“I know, Lise. Thanks for listening. I just needed to talk to someone about it,” he said.

“You can talk to me any time, Harry. You know that, right?” Of course, I wouldn't think to ask him, but I wondered what Victoria said when he talked to her about it. Or was she too shallow to listen to his concerns?

We ate leftover cake and ice cream and then we watched Rachael's favorite Disney princess movie. Harry snuggled with her the whole time and she eventually fell asleep on his lap. I basked in the beauty of the moment, temporarily forgetting my breaking heart. I just enjoyed having us all together once again.

Two weeks later, on another Friday evening, Harry came over. “My father's trial begins on Monday. I just thought you should know. And I shouldn't have said what I did about him. I really do care what happens to him and I'm saddened that he will likely go to prison. I was just angry about our estate, and I took it out on him."

“Thank you for telling me,” I nodded. “I understand why you'd be upset. Your father did something incredibly irresponsible. But of course, you love him. I know that." I squeezed his hand. "Would you like to stay for a movie? Maybe the Mission Impossible trilogy?” I asked, reminding him of the night he forced me to stay up far too late. “Or do you have a hot date tonight?”

“No!” he laughed. “No hot date. I can watch a movie, but I can't stay up too late. I have a study group in the morning and then rehearsal in the afternoon.”

“Oh, so now the tables have turned,” I said teasingly. “Now you know what it's like to have responsibilities!”

He gave me a fake frown and then we got settled in to watch a movie. I enjoyed sitting close, even cuddling a little with him. It brought my spirits up, just to be with him again.

The following day was filled with activities for Harry, as he had said, so I didn't expect to see him at all. However, when he showed up at my house late in the evening, I was alarmed.

His face looked ashen, either like he had seen a ghost or was about to become one. He was shaky and I was certain that if I didn't lead him inside to sit down, he might fall over.

“Oh, my gosh, Harry. What happened?” I asked in shock.

Harry looked at me with even more color draining from his face, which seemed impossible. Then he said hoarsely,

“My father is dead.”