“Harry, you have to get on!” Charlotte said running over to him to pull him off the park bench, toward the skateboard.

Penelope joined in, also rising off the bench. “Try it! I’ll take a picture.”

“I’ll try it once, but your Aunt Nelly should probably pull the car ‘round in case I need to be rushed to the hospital.” Harry tapped the top of the skateboard with his foot as if to see if it were dangerous.

This made Penelope giggle, “It’ll be sick.” She pecked him on the lips before taking a few steps back, her phone poised in her hand like a camera. “Make it look like an action shot or you’re doing a trick or something!”

Harry looked down at the board at a loss for what to do, “I can’t even pretend like I know what I’m doing right now.” He laughed.

“Just fake like you do!” Charlotte pushed his leg to try and make him go, a difficult task for an eight year old. However, Harry did wobble back and forth atop the board when it moved what must have been a measly five centimeters. He stopped himself from swearing as he waved his arms around for balance. Nell and Charlie laughed hysterically.

“Oh, dear,” sighed Penelope. “You really have no grace at all do you?”

Harry scoffed, “I have grace! I have loads of it! Check this out.” On top of the board, he wavered on one leg as he stuck the other out behind him like a ballerina. He slowly spread his arms out to either side of him and grinned widely when he completed the pose. Penelope snapped a picture as she smiled at how cute he looked.

“You really suck at this,” she laughed, walking up to him to show him the picture.

He smirked at the picture, “Well that’s cause I need your help!” Harry grabbed Penelope’s arm.

“Oh my goodness, I’m not kidding, Harry! Stop it!” She managed to shriek out in between her laughing.

“But I need your gracefulness to guide me, Nelly!” Harry literally swept Penelope off of her feet and placed her on the skateboard, hugging her tightly around the waist so she couldn’t get off. “Try to push us, Charlie!”

“Got it!” She immediately put one hand on the deck and the other on the back of Harry’s leg. Charlotte got them moving at a pretty decent pace for being such a small girl.

“Oh, gosh, how do we turn?” Nell giggled.

“I don’t really know, but if we don’t find out, were gonna hit a tree!” Harry and Penelope both let out over dramatic screams. “Abort mission!”

The pair jumped onto the grass and the skateboard crept to a stop before it even touched the tree.

“Are you okay?” Harry yelled in a fake panic.

Penelope pretended to be distraught, “That was so scary!”

Charlotte went to get her skateboard that was nearly her height, then ran the short distance to where her aunt was. “I want to try!” She tugged on Harry’s arm. “You guys aren’t very good.” She added laughing.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot we were dealing with a professional.” Her aunt said sarcastically.

“Come on!” Charlotte tugged at their arms, attempting to pull them off of the ground. “We should all try!”

Harry jumped up immediately, “Let’s try! Get up, Nell!”

“I don’t fancy a trip to the hospital.” Penelope laughed rising off the ground. “The pair of you should try it though. I’ll sit on the bench and take pictures.”

Charlie took Harry’s hand and dragged him back toward the pavement while her aunt went over to sit on a bench. She watched as his gangly body towered over her nieces. He crouched down and wrapped one arm around Charlotte as he pushed off with his hand. They went up and down the hill several times together. Once, Charlie jokingly pushed off on the skateboard before Harry could get on. He caught up with her and lifted her off the board while it was still moving and held her up in the air like she was flying. He carried her and her board back up the hill.

“That was so much fun!” She giggled.

Harry set Charlotte on her feet and crouched down in front of her. “I’m gonna go sit with Nelly okay?”

She tilted her head to one side, “but I still want to play!”

“Awh, well we can still play later, but don’t you want to practice turning? You can’t practice if I’m on the board.” Harry said, feeling guilty for leaving the small girl to play by herself.

Charlotte pursed her lips, “I guess you’re right.” She sighed and picked up her skateboard. As she bent over, her helmet fell over her eyes. She giggled and gave Harry somewhat of a defeated look.

Harry laughed and fixed her helmet, “Look,” he took both of Charlotte’s hands, “you practice your turns for thirty minutes and when the thirty minutes is up both me and Nell will come play. Does that sound alright?”

“Sounds good,” Charlotte said grinning.

“Okay, we’ll be right over there,” Harry said before shaking Charlie back and forth by her arms. She laughed as her whole body shook. Harry stood up and fixed her helmet again then walked off toward the bench.

“Don’t go past the swing set, Charlie!” Penelope called to her niece.

“Okay, okay!” the young girl said with her usual sassiness.

“You two are adorable,” She told Harry as he sat down next to her. “She’s so thrilled you’re here. I’m shocked she even let you leave.”

Harry put his arm around Penelope and pulled her over so she was leaning against his chest. “She’s so cute. I almost cried when she said she didn’t want me to go.” He said laughing. “It’s not fair.”

“Yeah, sometimes you just have to run away from her,” Penelope joked. Harry looked at her with a weird face. “What...? I was only kidding.”

“No,” Harry laughed. “It’s not that. You just sounded really French just then.”

“Oh, really?” She said with a worried look. She covered her mouth and laughed, “I’m sorry.”

He let out a loud cackle and put on a fake angry voice, “Penelope, how dare you sound French even though you speak French!”

She hit his chest, “Shut up! I just know my accent gets really bad sometimes!”

“No, it’s cute!” Harry said smiling. “You said your mum is French, right?”

“Yeah, she was French and my father speaks it really well, so they taught me and my brother while we were growing up. I’m really fluent, but it’s basically my brother’s first language. His accent is a lot stronger than mine.”

“Nell, is your mum… alright?” Harry asked tentatively. Penelope shifted around uneasily. “It’s just that you never talk about her or your dad either really, but you always say like… she ‘was’ French or she ‘was’ sweet.”

Penelope had definitely avoided talking about her parents, but she realized that she felt comfortable with Harry and she trusted him. He must care if he’s so curious. Now it seemed a bit ridiculous of her to avoid talking about them for this long.

“Well my mum… she died when I was six,” Penelope turned her head up to look at his face. He looked in pain.

“I’m really sorry,” Harry said shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay, I had to tell you eventually.” She said smiling somberly.

He held her even closer, “What happened?”

“Well my mum had cancer for a really long time. My brother’s the one that told me the story. She moved here when she was sixteen and that’s when she and my dad met. Then when she was seventeen, she was diagnosed with cancer.”

“Wow, she was so young.”

“Yeah, she went into remission a few months later and then she had my brother and my mum and dad got married.”

“Really? Just like that?” Harry said as if the thought were unreal.

“Yeah, I guess it sort of put life into perspective. My parents loved each other so much. And they were just so relieved that she was okay, so they just decided they wanted to be together forever. But then when my brother was five, so she was 23, her cancer came back.”

“Shit, he said shaking his head again. “It ended up alright though, right? Cause you weren’t born yet.”

Penelope smiled at Harry. She wasn’t used to anyone being so genuinely interested in her life. It was really sweet. “Yeah, her chemo took a little while longer that time, but all of the cancer went away eventually. She got pregnant again after, but she lost the baby when it was three months.”

“Oh my gosh,” Harry said sounding heartbroken. “That must have been terrible for her… and your dad… and imagine your brother. That’s mental.”

“She was really sort of traumatized. She didn’t even want to try to have kids anymore because she was so scared that it would happen again. But one day I just happened.” Penelope said with a laugh. “She didn’t get cancer again until I was six. My brother took a gap year so he could take care of her. She passed away four months after. I was in school when I found out. Her name was Genevieve by the way. I don’t know if I said that. Everyone said I look just like her.”

“I bet she was beautiful then.” Harry wrapped both of his arms around Penelope. “I’m so sorry, Nell.”

“It’s fine. I coped pretty well because I didn’t know what was going on really, but my brother took it hard and my father was just awful. He started drinking all the time and he never used to before. He would just disappear for days and leave my brother to take care of me.”

“That’s absolutely insane,” he actually sounded annoyed. “I mean, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to lose someone you love that much, but why would it make sense to leave your kids? You both just lost your mum!”

“Anthony was exactly the same way. He and my dad got into a huge argument about it over the summer before he went to Uni. He didn’t want to go away and leave me with my dad, but he promised me that he’d come back for me once he graduated and got a good job and that’s what he did. He fought to be my guardian and I lived with him from when I was twelve until I was eighteen.”

“Sounds like a cool guy,” Harry smiled squeezing Penelope’s shoulder.

“Yeah, he is. It was such a change for him after our mum got ill because he was always more of a class clown before and then he just totally took over so much responsibility. He’s like my hero.”

“I was gonna say that he’s my hero!” he joked.

Just as Harry pecked Penelope on the lips, they heard the sound of wood hitting pavement. A split second later, Charlotte shrieked in pain. The pair both immediately jumped off the bench and ran over to the bottom of the hill where the little girl was sat on the ground crying.

“Awh, Charlie!” Penelope sighed kneeling down next to her.

“What happened?” Harry asked seeing a scrape on her arm. “Are you alright?”

“I was going down the hill and I turned, but I turned too fast and I hit the edge. I fell on my arm. It really hurts.” She explained with tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Oh that’s awful, Charlie,” Harry said wiping the tears off her face.

“Do you think it’s broken?” Penelope asked her.

She sniffled, “I don’t know. It hurts really bad.”

Penelope tenderly touched her niece’s arm, “Did that hurt?”

“Not really.”

She continued carefully tapping up and down Charlotte’s left arm. “Well, me touching it would probably hurt you if your arm were broken. I think you’re okay.” Charlotte nodded.

“I knew you’d be okay! Nothing could hurt the invincible Charlie!” Harry said high fiving her non-injured arm. She smiled and rubbed her eyes.

“Do you still want to practice riding on your skateboard?” Penelope asked rubbing her niece’s shoulders.

“No, I don’t feel like it anymore.” She said gloomily. Her aunt took her helmet off and smoothed her hair down.

Harry carried Charlotte and her skateboard up the hill just as he did earlier, but with Penelope by their side this time. “We can go to get frozen yogurt if you want.”

“I love frozen yogurt! Strawberry’s my favorite!”

“Sound good to you, Nell?” Harry asked. He put Charlie down when they got to the top of the hill.

“Sounds great,” Penelope said brushing her niece’s hair behind her ear again.

The three of them spent a majority of the day in the frozen yogurt shop. Harry and Charlotte tried nearly every flavor with almost every topping while Penelope stuck to the healthy choices. She attempted to pay for herself and Charlie because she never really wanted people to buy stuff for her no matter how much money they had or she didn’t have. It made her feel bad. It was only her fear of looking rude that stopped her from refusing the adorable stuffed turtle that Harry got her. However, he convinced, or tricked, Penelope into letting him pay for their food. By the time they were driving back to Anthony and Mage’s house Charlotte was falling asleep in the car, so Harry carried her upstairs to her room. Now Penelope and Harry were in the living room lying on the couch, waiting for either Mage or Anthony to get home.

“Nelly, you’re really sweet.” Harry said matter of factly.

Penelope chuckled a little, “Thanks, Harry. So are you.”

“I really mean it,” he said brushing her hair out of her face. “You’re the sweetest girl I know. You’re beautiful too… and funny.”

“…Thank you...” She lifted her head off of his chest and looked at his smile, “but you’re the most beautiful and funny person on the planet!” She giggled playing with his curly hair.

He looked at her for a moment, “Do you really like me, Nell?”

Now she looked confused. “Yeah, I do. Of course.”

“Well, I was just wondering because some girls just pretend to like me or the guys so they can be famous or get money or whatever… and I really like you.” Harry’s eyes looked incredibly sad, but he put on a half-smile anyways.

It almost broke Penelope’s heart. “Harry, I’d never do that to you. I really like you a lot. I don’t care how many people know your name. You’re silly and caring and humble. That’s why I like being around you. And if I see those terrible bitches who hurt you, I’ll punch them in the face. All of them.” She said laughing, trying to put a real smile back on his face. It worked.

“So listen, Nell,” he began. “I know we’ve only hung out a few times and that I’m always gone and I’m going to be leaving again soon, but I really like you. I’ve kind of been wanting to ask you for a long time if you would be my girlfriend… like officially.”

Penelope smiled obscenely wide, “I’d love to be your girlfriend!” She moved from lying next to him to being on top of him. Harry grinned and put an arm around her waist before putting his other hand on her cheek to pull her in for a kiss. She put both of her hands under his jaw as their lips moved. The couple were smiling and laughing the entire time from happiness. Then they heard a car pull into the driveway.

“Probably Mage,” Penelope told Harry, pushing off of his chest to get up from the couch. Harry got up after her, draping his arm around her shoulder and kissing the top of her head. She laced her fingers into the hand that was over her shoulder and slid the other arm around his waist. They stood in the hall and surely enough, seconds later, Mage came walking through the door.

“Hello, you two!” Mage said brightly as she set her laptop and keys on the table near the door. “Bring it in for a hug!” She wrapped her arms around Penelope, then Harry.

“Since you haven’t actually met, Mage, this is my boyfriend, Harry. And this is my sister-in-law, Mage. She’s the absolute best.” Penelope said, excited to be able to introduce Harry as her boyfriend.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Mage said smiling. “Nelly is crazy about you. Well maybe not as crazy as my daughter, but pretty close.” She laughed. “How was she by the way? Thank you guys so much for watching her on your date. It was very nice of you to do.”

“Oh, it wasn’t a problem at all!” Harry said ecstatic. “Charlie’s awesome! She’s so funny!”

“Aww thank you, she’d absolutely die if she heard you say that.” She responded.

“I’ve been telling Nell all day that I’m using her to get to Charlie.” He said laughing.

Mage smiled, “That’s hilarious.”

“I’m pretty sure he was serious after the third time he said it though,” Penelope chimed in.

“Yes well that’s awfully cheeky of you, Harry,” Mage said patting his shoulder.

"By the way, Charlie did fall off her skateboard and scrape her arm up early on, but she seemed to be okay."

"Yeah, she falls off of that bloody thing all the time. I'm sure she's fine." She looked at the clock, “Oh dear, it’s quite late isn’t it? You’ve had a long day. The pair of you should be getting home!”

“Well, it was lovely meeting you,” Harry said hugging her.

“It was great meeting you as well. And, Penelope, we’re having a big dinner on Sunday. I want to see you here, alright?” She smiled hugging her sister in law.

“I’ll definitely be here if you’re cooking.” Penelope said beaming.

“Well, of course I will be, sweetie. Harry, you’re welcome to come too if you’ll still be here and you aren’t too busy.” She walked them to the door.

“I’ll have to check, but I really hope I can come over.”

“Have a safe drive!” Mage said waving to them as they got into the car. “I love you, Nelly!”

“I love you too!” She shouted out of her window right before turning her car on. Harry blew Mage a kiss as they pulled out onto the road.

Notes

Thank you guys so much for reading!
This chapter is soooo long because I didn't want to split it in two
I hope you like it!
Things are going to get a little more hectic from this point on ;)
Keep on reading, commenting, rating, and subscribing!
You're all awesome and I hope you're enjoying the story! <3