I'll Be Home For Christmas

December 28th

"Do you have to leave?" Poppy asked Piper. Harry was upstairs finishing up his packing.

"I'm afraid we do." Piper said kneeling to her height. "I don't want to leave, I love it here, but we have to." She said gently.

"I don't like it." Poppy said stomping her foot.

"Hey now, none of that." Piper said shaking her head. She gathered the young girl in her arms and hugged her tight.

"I'm going to miss you Piper." Poppy said into her shoulder. Piper tried not too tear up as she felt her begin to shake and tears hitting her shirt.

"I'm going to miss you too Poppy. So, so, much." Piper said squeezing her.

"Will I ever see you again?" She asked. Piper hesitated as she thought about the question. On one hand, she didn't want to lie to her, but on the other hand, she didn't know the answer herself.

"We'll figure something out okay." She promised. Poppy, satisfied with the answer, nodded and burrowed further into her embrace.

"Piper! Where on earth did you put your..." Harry trailed off from the top of the stairs as he saw Piper and his niece in a strong embrace in the entryway. His frown softened as he watched them talking softly with each other as Piper tried to calm Poppy down by rubbing her back and hugging her tightly. He should've known this would be tough on the girls, they were young and impressionable and of course they fell in love with Piper. Just as he had.

"You can't let her go!" Gemma whispered harshly yanking him back into his room.

"Jesus Christ woman!" He yelped straightening up. "Well I mean it's not like I want to." He snarled. "She lives in a completely different country." He pointed out.

"People have moved country before Harold." Gemma made a point to roll her eyes at him.

"What if she doesn't want to? What if she likes her life in New Hampshire? What I'm just a...a winter fling? Someone to keep her warm and company through Christmas?" He questioned. Deep down he knew she wasn't just using him to keep her company, but he was panicking and he had a tendency to go off the deep end whenever he panicked.

"If we were talking about Candice I'd agree with everything you're saying." Gemma nodded, "but we're not. We're talking about Piper who has been nothing but genuine since you met her." She said. "She has real feelings for you that aren't going to just go away come January."

"We'll have to see what happens. Best I can do at the moment is make the best of the time we have left. We'll cross the separation bridge when we get there." He shrugged.

"Don't let her get away Harry. Your heart depends on it." Gemma said before going to check on her two girls.

"We have to see Mary before we leave!" Piper reminded him as he loaded their bags in the back of Anne's car.

"I remember from the first time you mentioned it, don't worry." He said shaking his head. "And the second time. Also the third." He mumbled to himself.

"I heard that." She said narrowing her eyes at him.

"Good thing you think I'm cute and don't mind." He said shooting her a grin.

"Yeah yeah." She said moving to the passenger side.

"I'm so glad you came back to see me." Mary smiled.

"No way I could leave without saying goodbye." Piper said. They both looked to Harry who was flipping through the Sullivan music collection.

"He's just as I remember him. Sammy will be so pleased to hear that he's only gotten more handsome since school." She said smirking. "So you're going back home to America?" She asked.