The following week, I attended Harry's graduation. My parents came with me, both to help with the girls and because they had gotten to know Harry well enough in the past year that they wanted to congratulate him on his achievement.

I purposely steered clear of Harry's family, for obvious reasons, but also because I didn't want anyone to slip up and mention mine and Harry's clandestine relationship to my family. I wasn't quite ready to broach the subject with my parents, although I knew I had to talk to them about it sooner or later. I had promised Harry that our year apart would be partly for the purpose of slowly warming our families up to the idea of us. I still had no idea how my parents would react.

River Haven High School had a decent sized senior class, around 500 students. Therefore the ceremony took a long time. Even though it was early June, the weather was already heavy and hot. I smiled to myself to remember that it was around this time last year when Harold first moved in next door. I found it hard to believe I had thought maybe there could be something more between us, and I found it even harder to believe that I ended up falling in love with his teenaged son.

The girls started to get squirmy because of the long ceremony and the heat. My dad offered to push Rachael around in the stroller, and I gladly allowed him to do so. He roamed around behind all the chairs and I didn't hear a peep out of Rachael. I hoped he would still be able to see the graduates who would soon be walking across the stage.

When it came close to Harry's turn to receive his diploma, my mom and I stood the girls up on our laps so that they could see him. As soon as he walked on stage, before the principal even announced his name, both Grace and Aurora screamed, "Harry!" Their tiny voices sailed clear over the crowd and Harry looked toward us and laughed and waved. The girls were delighted.

After the ceremony finished, we waited for the crowd to thin out before trying to find Harry. Soon I spotted him in his silky red robe and graduation cap and I pulled the girls along behind me to get to him. As soon as he saw us, he rushed over and gave me a hug. "I'm so proud of you," I said quietly into his ear, and he responded with a light kiss to my cheek. Then he picked up each one of the girls and squeezed them. Finally, he greeted my parents and thanked us all for coming.

Not two minutes later, Harold strolled up, giving me the coldest possible greeting ever. He simply nodded and didn't even say hello. He did the same to my parents. I quickly excused myself and my family and we left Harry to celebrate with his own family.

"Harold seemed a bit rude," my mother commented as we walked away.

I just nodded my head in agreement.

"Why do you think he acted like that?" She asked.

"Don't know, Mom," I said, trying to be nonchalant, but I think she could tell I was fibbing.

"Did you two have a fight?" She pressed. Yes, mom, he found out that I'm in love with his son and he freaked out, and Charlie accused me of being a gold-digging whore, I thought.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," I said, and she dropped it, to my relief.

About a week after his graduation, I invited Harry over for a celebration dinner. I didn't go to his graduation party, even though he begged me to. I just wasn't ready to mingle with his dad and his brother as if nothing had happened.

But when he came for dinner, he had some big news to tell me. "I got accepted to the Fitzhugh College of Music and Performing Arts."

"Harry! That's wonderful!" I screeched, launching myself into his arms. He picked me up and squeezed me. When he put me back down, I could tell he was absolutely thrilled at the opportunity. Several Broadway composers had graduated from Fitzhugh, as well as a few top 40 singers and songwriters. I knew that Harry would excel there, and I was thrilled for him.

"When do classes start?" I asked.

"Well, here's the thing," he began. "The person who interviewed me works at a music camp in Michigan called Interlochen. He offered me a summer position as an intern, helping him run some sessions at the camp.

"And?"

"And....I'm leaving tomorrow," he said gingerly.

I gulped down my astonishment and forced out a "Congratulations!" But inside, I knew I would miss him like mad. I had no idea how hard this "waiting for a year" deal was going to be, but I was already finding out. 

"I'm really happy for you, Harry," I said, and I meant it. "But we're going to miss you terribly, so we'll have to Skype, okay? So the girls don't forget what you look like?"

"What's Skype, Mommy?" Aurora asked.

"Remember when we talked to Uncle Ryan on the computer?"

"Oh, yeah! We'll definitely have to Skype, Harry," she said, making him laugh like crazy. She was turning out to be quite the precocious child, always saying something to throw us off.

"Princess, I promise we will Skype," he said while kissing her forehead.

As he got ready to leave, he squeezed all the girls and gave them big kisses. "Now, you be a good girl for your mummy and I will bring something back for you from Interlochen," he told them.

I wanted to say good-bye to Harry privately, so I told the girls to go into the other room and play together. I laughed as they raced off with Rachael toddling behind them. They were getting so big, I hardly had time to process it.

When I turned back to Harry, I was holding back tears. "When I suggested we wait a year, I didn't realize it would be this difficult," I whispered.

He pulled me in close and kissed the top of my head. "I know. But ten weeks isn't much. The summer will be so busy, you'll hardly miss me at all."

"I'll miss you like crazy," I corrected him.

"I'll miss you too," he said, kissing my head one more time and then heading off into the warmth of the night.

As promised, we Skyped with Harry the first weekend after he left. I was holding Rachael in my lap and when his face popped up on the screen, she squealed, "Hay-ey!" He couldn't stop smiling after that, and he cooed into the webcam, "Hi Princess!"

The girls had a wonderful time talking to him, although I had to remind them more than once to speak clearly and wait for his reply. When they had talked with him for several minutes, I sent them into another room so Harry and I could talk.

"So, how's it going?" I asked.

"It's beautiful here," he smiled. "Except that I'm sleeping in a cabin...with spiders." He made a disgusted face that caused me to laugh.

"I never thought you'd be afraid of spiders!" I giggled.

"I'm not afraid, really. I just think they should stay outdoors where they belong," he said. "But the camp is gorgeous. It's in the forest between two lakes, and it's only fifteen minutes from Traverse City. Have you been there before?"

I shook my head. "No, but I've heard it's an awesome town."

"It's perfect. Just the kind of place I'd like to settle down," he winked. "Some of my friends and I go into town regularly either to do some shopping or just to see the sights."

"You've made some friends already? That's wonderful," I remarked.

"Yes, and they're all insanely beautiful women," he teased.

I stuck my tongue out at him and then laughed. "Well, I have to be open to the possibility of you finding someone else, right? That's the reason I gave you a year."

Harry leaned in close to the camera, making his face distorted, and he said slowly, "Never gonna happen."

I smiled peacefully and then said, "Good night, Harry."

"Good night, luv."

The ten weeks passed more quickly than I had expected. Between Skype calls with Harry and a tremendous case load at work, I was almost too busy to notice he was really gone.

The night before he was supposed to come home, I went over to his house. I mentally prepared myself for the awkwardness that might happen, since I hadn't really spoken to Harold or Charlie since the day after Harold's party.

Charlie opened the door. "Hello, Lise," he said. He didn't sound angry or sarcastic, so I thought that was a good start.

"What time is Harry getting in tomorrow night?"

"Close to midnight," he said.

"Okay. I know he'll want to spend some time with you and your dad, but can you ask him to come over the next day. I have something for him," I told him.

"I bet you do," he muttered under his breath, but I heard it.

"Charlie!" I fumed. "You know that's not how it is with Harry and me, but I do love him no matter what you think or whether you approve. But we're not dating until he's had a year to experience college and figure out if this is what he really wants."

He nodded with somewhat of a relieved look on his face. 

"Please ask him to come over," I said again.

"If I know Harry, he'll come to your house first," he said. And I saw a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks, Charlie," I said, giving him a quick hug.

It turns out that Charlie knew his brother as well as I did. At 11:53 PM the following evening, Harry knocked on my door. I threw it open and jumped at him. He caught me in a giant hug and lifted me off my feet.

"Welcome back, stranger!" I grinned. When Harry walked through the door, it felt like my life was complete again.

"Can I see the girls?" He asked.

"It's almost midnight – they're sleeping!"

"Can I just look in on them? I promise I won't wake them up."

I nodded and followed him into the girls' room. He peeked at each one of them over the tops of their blankets, pulled tight around their sleeping faces, and he gently stroked their hair. My heart was so warmed by his affection for my children.

When we returned to the living room and sat down, I said, "Tell me everything!"

He smirked and said, "I told you everything every time we Skyped. But it was so amazing. I really enjoyed being with the students, especially the high school kids. It was neat to give them an opportunity to do something I never had the chance to do. Sure, my father has lots of money and he could probably have bought me entrance into Juilliard or something. But what I saw at Interlochen was teamwork and incredible creativity. It was quite inspiring."

"That's great, Harry!" I said, and then, "Oh, I got something for you. Kind of a welcome home and a late graduation present." I pulled out a guitar case from behind the couch. I had found a steampunk themed case that went with the guitar I had given him for his birthday.

When he saw it, his eyes lit up and he gushed, "Lise, you didn't have to." He thoroughly inspected the case, running his fingers over the designs and marveling at its unique appearance.

"One day, that will have your signature on it and it will be displayed in the rock and roll hall of fame," I said.

"I don't know about that," he said. "But I do know about this." He leaned over and kissed me firmly.

I had missed him too much to refuse, but finally I pulled back and said, "Harry, that's not part of the one-year plan."

"I know – I just missed you so much that I couldn't resist," he smirked.

"Oh, Harry, what am I going to do with you?" I asked playfully.

"Anything you want to," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"I really want you to be open this year, open to whatever you think will be good for your life and career. I would love nothing more than for you to come to me at the end of the year and tell me I'm the one you want. But I don't want you forced into it because you had no other options, you know? Just promise me you'll be honest with me and with yourself."

"I've already been 100% honest with you. I really do love you," he said.

I hugged him and he went to greet his family, if anyone was even home or awake.

The next morning, there was another knock on my door. I laughed to see that Harry was back already, not even having been home for twelve hours.

"Good morning, Harry," I said, opening the door.

"Come outside!" He said.

Luckily I was already dressed for the day, so I stepped onto the front porch. He took me by the hand and led me to the driveway. There sat a brand new red Lexus SUV.

"It's my graduation present from my dad!" He said, sounding like a little kid on Christmas morning.

"Wow, Harry, it's amazing!" I was beginning to think that Harold had a fondness for red luxury cars, since he drove a Lexus as well. But Harry's SUV was a deep red, almost maroon in color.

He opened the door for me to look inside. It was spacious and of course, it had that new car smell.

I turned back to Harry and said, "That was very generous of your father."

"I know," he said. "I guess he can be all right sometimes." A little smirk crossed his face and I playfully hit him on the arm.