I sucked in a loud gasp and wailed, "Oh, Harry, no!" I dragged him roughly by the arm to sit down with me on the couch. I gathered him into my arms and sobbed while he began to tremble. "Oh, my god, Harry, what happened?!"

He whispered shakily. "He...was..driving home from the pub...and he was drunk...and he veered off the roadway."

"Oh, Harry," I whispered, stroking his hair.

"H...his car tumbled down a steep embankment, and...h..he..."

"Harry, shhh, don't say anymore, shhh." I pulled him close so that his head was resting on my chest. He slid his arms around my waist while he cried.

He wept against my chest for the longest time, until I thought he couldn't possibly have any tears left. Once he had quieted, he stayed still against me. All I could do was to try to soothe him. I couldn't make this better for him. It felt awful for me, and I'd only known Harold a short while.

Finally he sat up and looked at me, his eyes completely red and swollen. I used both of my hands to brush back the strings of hair clinging to his face and to wipe the remaining bit of moisture from his cheeks. Then I finally cupped his face with my hands and made him look at me.

"Harry, I can't tell you how sorry I am."

He just nodded wearily.

"Where's Charlie?" I asked quietly.

"He's at the house; his girlfriend is there."

I dialed my phone. Charlie picked up and I could barely hear his voice. "Charlie, please come over," I requested. "I can't leave the girls alone or I would come over there."

Charlie and his girlfriend appeared at my door in less than two minutes.

I pulled Charlie into my grip and he broke down. I soothed him the way I had with Harry. "I'm so sorry Charlie. You have no idea how sorry I am."

When he finally stopped crying, he pulled away. "Lise, you remember my girlfriend, Courtney."

"Of course I do," I said, pulling Courtney into a hug. Then I told her, "I'm so sorry about Harold. I'm glad you're here with Charlie." I could tell she'd been crying with him.

"Me, too," she said.

I put some water in the tea kettle and put it on the stove to boil.

I sat down and asked, "Have you made flight arrangements yet?"

"No," Charlie said. "We just found out a few hours ago."

"Who called you?" I asked.

"My aunt Bev," Harry told us. "She was a wreck. And my grandma..." he stopped to catch his breath. "She said my grandma wasn't taking it well at all."

"Of course not," I agreed. "But they have each other right now, and you and Charlie have each other. And you have to get home," I insisted as I got up to pour the tea.

"Will you please come with me?" Harry asked me. I widened my eyes in surprise. I suddenly knew I had to go. I wanted desperately to be there for Harry, but how could I get away on such short notice?

I dialed my parents' number, and hoped I didn't scare them too much by calling in the middle of the night.

"Mmm, hello?" My mom's sleepy voice answered.

"Hi, Mom, it's Lise."

"Lise!" She cried. "Is everything okay?"

"The girls are fine, Mom, but..." I began to get choked up. Harry put his arm around me. "Harold was killed in a car accident," I said through a teary voice.

"Oh, no!" my mother exclaimed, and I could hear my father in the background asking what was going on.

"He had been drinking," I told her.

"Oh, dear, no. That's terrible, Lise. I'm so sorry. Oh, please give Harry and Charlie my condolences," she said.

"I will, Mom, but I need to ask you a rather large favor. Harry has asked me to go to England with him for the funeral." I paused, but my mom said nothing just yet. "I have to be there for him," I said, squeezing his hand.

"Well, yes, of course, I think that would be the right thing to do," she agreed. "How long do you think you'll be gone?"

I looked at Harry and whispered, "How long will we be there?"

He shook his head, completely lost.

"I don't know yet, Mom, but we have to leave as soon as possible. I would guess maybe a week, but I'll know for sure once we make the reservations."

"Okay, Lise. Dad and I will come to stay at your house so it will be easier on the girls. And we can get Aurora to school more easily that way, too. We'll pack up and we'll be there first thing in the morning."

"Oh, mom," I gushed in gratitude. "What would I do without you?"

I hung up and looked at Harry. "Okay, I'm coming with you." I looked at Courtney and asked, "Are you going as well?" It seemed that she and Charlie were getting pretty serious, so I knew it wasn't a strange question.

"I have to see if I can get the time off of work, but yes, I'd like to go," she said quietly.

"Should I call the airline?" I asked, knowing the boys were in such shock that it would be hard for them to think of the simplest things. Harry nodded.

"Which airline, Harry?"

"Lufthansa," he replied in a daze. He got up without a word and came back with his wallet. He dug out his credit card, handed it to me and flatly stated, "First class."

I instructed Courtney to go home with Charlie so she could help him get packed. Then I searched for the number for the airline. I told the airline representative that we were traveling due to the sudden death in the family member, hoping we could get a bereavement fare. They gave us a discount, no questions asked, even though Courtney and I weren't family at all. The reservations were for that evening out of Minneapolis - St. Paul. I was glad my parents would be arriving in a few hours because I would have to hurry to get ready.

"Harry, you should go and start packing, too." I told him, but his eyes were glassy and dazed. So, instead, I led him to my room and motioned for him to lie down on my bed. I pulled a warm quilt out of the chest at the foot of my bed and draped it over him. He was asleep within minutes. I went to the basement, found my suitcase and dragged it back to my room. I carefully laid it on the bed so as to not disturb Harry, and I began to pack. I had no idea what to bring. Obviously, a few black outfits were in order for the visitation and the funeral, but I wondered if I should bring some dressy clothes for my entire stay. I couldn't imagine traipsing around England in yoga pants, but I packed a few pairs of jeans and some exercise clothes, just in case.

Right about the time that I finished packing my suitcase, I heard the girls whispering in their room. Rachael had moved into that room around the time that she turned one. I didn't want any of my girls feeling lonely, and they loved being together. I realized I would have to go in and break the news to them about Mr. Styles. What could I say to make it seem not so terrible?

I peeked in and saw Aurora and Grace snuggled on Grace's bed, reading a book together. Rachael was still sleeping, thankfully.

"Hi, Mommy," Grace whispered.

"Hi, loveys. You're up early!" I said, joining them on the bed. "I have some news for you and I need you both to be big and brave, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy," Aurora quipped.

"Well, Mr. Styles – my friend Harold – you remember him, right? Harry and Charlie are his sons and he lived with them for a while, and then he went back to England a while ago."

"Yes, of course, Mommy. I remember Mr. Styles. He was so nice to us."

"Something very sad has happened to Mr. Styles. He...um...Mr. Styles died last night," I said, my voice cracking.

Rory and Grace simply hugged me and let some tears fall. I'm sure they couldn't fully understand what had happened, and in a way, I was glad that Harold had gone back to England before it happened.

"That's so sad, Mommy," Rory finally said.

"I know, lovey. Harry and Charlie are going to be sad for a long time, so make sure you're extra nice to them, okay? In fact, Harry is taking a nap on my bed right now. He found out about his daddy last night, so he didn't get much sleep."

Aurora and Grace nodded in understanding.

I went on, "I have to wake him up soon so that he can go and get packed because he has to go back to England for the funeral."

"What's a funeral?" Grace asked.

"It's a special church service that they have when people die, so all the family can come and be sad together and then they remember good things together, too. Like the happy times they had before that person died."

"That sounds like a good idea," Aurora said and I giggled at her precocious remark.

"I have something else to tell you girls, and this is where you have to be brave and very helpful. Grandma and Grandpa are going to be here this morning and they're going to stay with you for a week, because Mommy is going to go to England with Harry and Charlie for Mr. Styles' funeral."

Aurora looked okay, but Grace was tearful. "How long is a week, Mommy?"

"Seven days. It goes by really fast, and since Grandma and Grandpa will be here, you'll do all the things you normally do. And maybe Grandpa will take you sledding!"

That seemed to cheer her up a little bit, but I knew my kids would have to adjust to me being gone for several days. I was thankful that they were so comfortable with my parents. And my parents knew very well how to handle my kids.

"Do you want to come and wake Harry up?" I asked the girls. Their eyes lit up.

"Now, be gentle, and be really nice, okay? He's really sad. The proper thing to say is, I'm sorry for your loss. And then give him a big hug."

We went into my room and I said, "Harry, the girls want to tell you something." He opened his eyes and groggily rolled over toward us. The girls climbed on the bed and began smothering him with kisses and hugs.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Aurora said, parroting the line she rehearsed. Then Grace said, "I'm sad your daddy died."

A little light returned to Harry's eyes as he embraced the girls. "Thank you, princesses. That makes me feel a lot better."

Then Aurora spontaneously offered, "Can we make you some breakfast, Harry?"

He laughed. "I'd love that."

I ushered them into the kitchen and instructed them to make toast with jelly, to cut up a banana and to pour a cup of juice. I started some coffee. Soon, Harry staggered into the kitchen and I went to put my arms around his waist in a comforting hug. He soon wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed me tight.

"Mommy, why are you hugging Harry?" Grace giggled.

"Because Harry's my friend and I'm comforting him, lovey, just like you were."

My parents arrived a bit later, and as soon as they saw Harry, they smothered him with hugs and sincere expressions of their sympathy.

"Thank you so much, Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft. That really means a lot to me."

I turned to my parents to fill them in. "Our flight leaves at 6:15 tonight out of Minneapolis – St. Paul. I'm sure we'll have to get there quite early since it's an international flight. The girls know what's going on; well, except Rachael, but she won't really understand anyway." I glanced at Harry who was already wolfing down his breakfast, and then back to my parents. "Do you mind if I go and help Harry pack?" I lowered my voice. "I think he's in a bit of shock. I had to make the airline reservations since Charlie and Harry have been in a fog since they found out."

My mom nodded. "Of course, Sweetheart."

I took Harry's hand and led him to the door, out into the cold winter air. I realized he hadn't been wearing a jacket when he came over last night, so we hurried to his house. When we got there, we found Charlie and Courtney drinking coffee at the dining room table.

"I noticed the suitcases by the door," I remarked.

"Yes, I got the time off from work," Courtney said. "So I ran home and packed a quick bag and came right back."

I followed Harry to his bedroom, where he tossed a suitcase onto the comforter. I began looking through his closet, thinking that's where I'd find his nicest clothing. I found some suits and some nicer casual slacks and button-downs. And of course, I grabbed a few pairs of his skinny jeans.

Then I went to the dresser and said playfully to him, "I hope you don't mind I'm going to see what kind of underwear you wear." I opened the top drawer and pulled out seven pair. "Boxer briefs," I commented. "I like these."

He started laughing and I joined him. I walked over and placed a kiss on his forehead. "It's good to see you laughing."

I went to return to packing, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back to stand in between his knees. "Thanks, Lise," he whispered. "I couldn't do this without you."

"I'm glad I'm here for you." Then I decided to ask a question that had been lingering on my mind since last night. "But just out of curiosity, why didn't you ask Victoria to go with you?"

He looked at me as if I had gone a little crazy and said, "Why would I ask Victoria?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "oh, never mind."

Either Victoria was grossly over-exaggerating her relationship with Harry, or Harry was still trying to keep their relationship a secret from me. Sure, he asked me to go to England with him, but I'd been a friend far longer than Victoria and I also knew his father. Maybe Victoria wasn't the type to be cuddly and consoling in a time of distress. I decided not to think any more about her. Harry was my friend and he needed me right now, and I would be there for him in any way I possibly could.

After helping Harry pack, I went back to my house to spend as much time with the girls as I could before leaving. I had never been without them for so long before, and I hadn't had time to process it yet, but I knew I would miss them like crazy. I promised them that I would Skype with them every night and that I would be home soon.

The day went by too fast, and soon it was time to leave for the airport. My father offered to drive us so we wouldn't have to park a car there, and that worked out just perfectly. He pulled up to the curb and helped us get our luggage out of the trunk.

I gave him a big hug and said, "Thank you so much, Daddy. You have no idea how much this means to me. And to Harry and Charlie. Take good care of my girls," I said.

"Oh, you bet I will, Sweetheart," he said, squeezing me tightly.

Harry, Charlie and Courtney also thanked him profusely, and then we entered the airport to find our gate.