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Once Charlie was out of Pippa’s room, Lucy closed the door most of the way.  She left it open a crack so light could still shine in just in case Pippa woke up during the night.  Sometimes that would happen (usually because she would have to pee or something) and if the door was closed completely with no light coming in, she would cry because she couldn’t see anything.  It had never woken Charlie up - at least as far as Lucy knew - but Pippa’s crying was like some sort of alarm.  No matter how quiet it was or how far away, Lucy picked up on it immediately and could be awoken from even the deepest of sleeps.  So in the end, it was just much easier to leave the hallway light on all night than to have to wake up and soothe her daughter back to sleep for half an hour in the middle of the night.

Lucy leaned her head against Charlied wearily.  It was like she was always a thousand times more tired if he wasn’t around for some reason.  Everything just seemed… harder without him.  But she had to keep going and keep doing everything because it wasn’t like her world could just stop because he wasn’t around.  If her world stopped, then Pippa’s world had to stop, too, and that wasn’t something that Lucy could really do to her.  So, she kept going and kept pushing herself to do everything she needed to do until Charlie came back and then once he did, she felt like she could collapse because he could just take care of it or whatever.  Of course it didn’t help that she had the weight of her secret resting on her shoulders.  When was she going to tell him about that?  It had to be at the right moment, but was their really a right moment?  Not with that particular situation.  It seemed like every moment was the wrong moment to tell him.  She knew he wouldn’t be happy and she knew they were going to have issues with it for a while and she had just finally gotten him to come home to her…now, because of her stupidity, she was going to ruin that.  She wanted to kick herself.

“Hi,” she said back.  Her voice was equally quiet, although she didn’t think Pippa was going to wake up at that point.  The poor thing was over exhausted and probably dead as a log already.  “Want to go to bed and not sleep?” she asked.  She looked up at him with a smile, hoping he’d say yes.  No matter how tired she was, she’d always make time (and energy) for sex.  It was like the one thing she figured they could, and would, always agree on and the thing they both mutually liked an eequal amount.  “We don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’s been a while so I figured I’d just throw it out there.  If you’re tired and want to sleep, we can do that, too.”

Charlie smiled at Lucy, and kissed her hard. “Why would we sleep?” he asked, when he pulled away again. He obviously knew exactly what she meant, and he wanted to go along with it, because she was right. It had been kind of a long time. He remembered their days back at school when it was practically nonstop, sighing nostalgically. “We’re getting old and boring, aren’t we?” he asked, a smirk playing at his lips. He pulled her closer and ran his hands through her hair, looking into her eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you two so much, Lu. Really. I should be around more.” He kissed her again, and took her hand, walking them both to their own room which wasn’t very far. 

When he got there, he closed the door behind them. He kissed Lucy and pressed her against the wall. “I love you” he said, between kisses. “You know that, right? You know that past al of the things I do?” Sometimes he worried that Lucy thought he stayed with her for kicks. That she’d think he didn’t really like this life or her at all, and it was all fake. And he was sure Pippa thought that at least sometimes. Her question about his favourite Pippa had pretty much shown him that. As much as they both tried to hide their doubts about him, he knew they were there. It was inevitable, with him being the way he was. And it wasn’t like he regretted being like that, because he didn’t, exactly. But he did sometimes wish he could make it better for Lucy, and even Pippa. 

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Lucy made sure Pippa was all situated in bed, with her animals in the right positions, and laid down next to her to begin the story.  Eloise had given the book to Pippa about a week before and mentioned how it had been Charlie’s very favorite when he was a little boy.  It had made Lucy’s heart warm up to know that her husband’s favorite book had a princess with red hair on it.  She wondered if that was why he loved her hair so much.  Maybe one day she’d have to ask him.  Or she’d just ask Eloise.  Charlie might get touchy about questions about his childhood - especially if it was pre-insanity.

While Lucy read the story, she changed the name of the princess from “Amber” to “Pippa” every time it came up.  The name change made Pippa giggle to no end.  Her laugh was one of the cutest things Lucy had ever heard in her life.  It was so genuine and happy and it was practically impossible not to smile.  When the story was finished (it ended with the princess marrying the prince, who Lucy renamed Henry for entertainment purposes), Lucy kissed all over Pippa’s face and tickled her sides.  ”I love you, I love you, I love you,” she said as Pippa squirmed and squealed.  ”You’re just so sweet!  Like candy!  I’m going to eat you up, Buggie!”  Lucy pretended to bite all around Pippa’s face which made the little gil laugh harder.  Finally, they both quieted down and Pippa yawned.  ”Thank you for being the best mum in the whole world,” she said.  Lucy kissed Pippa’s forehead.  ”Thank you for being the best Pippa in the whole world,” she said back.  ”Goodnight, baby.”  She stood from the bed and went to the door to turn off the light and wait for Charlie to say goodnight to Pippa.  Once he did, she planned on bringing to their room, locking the door, and not letting him leave their bed for a very long time.  Part of her wished that he could read her thoughts so he’d know what she was thinking and would hurry up so they could start the sex marathon Lucy planned to implement for the evening.

Charlie leaned back against the wall, listening to Lucy tell the story. He hadn’t heard it in years, and listening to Lucy read it was extremely soothing. He could tell why Pippa liked her to read her bedtime stories, it calmed you right down. Lucy’s voice just had that to it, when she wanted it to, and it was marvelous. He tried not to giggle along with Pippa at the name changes, but it was quite hard, considering how contagious the little girl’s laughter could be. He watched Lucy say her goodnights to Pippa, and once again, marveled at their relationship. He had never seen a parent/child relationship quite like theirs, nor did he think he ever would. It was something completely extraordinary, something very very hard to find. 

As soon as Lucy was done, Charlie walked next to Pippa’s bed, and crouched so he was level with her. He kissed her on the forehead, and pulled the covers up a little inexpertly. “I’m glad you had fun today, Pip” he said, smiling. “Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” he said, and she nodded sleepily. She looked like she wanted to respond, but her eyelids were drooping and every time she tried to talk, a yawn would come out instead. “I love you, Daddy” she said, and to Charlie’s advantage, her eyes finally fluttered closed and she fell asleep. He pursed his lips and stayed there a moment, not really wanting to move from where he was. But finally, he got up from his spot, and walked back to Lucy, kissing her. “Hi” he said softly, not wanting to wake Pippa up already, so close to her having fallen asleep.

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Pippa went sort of cross-eyed as she tried to look down at her own mouth.  ”No, he didn’t do it on purpose.  He felt really bad and now he’s my boyfriend!” she giggled and her face started to turn pink with excitement.  ”His name is Henry and he’s really cute and nice and I kissed him just like how you kiss Mummy.”  Pippa poked her tongue through the hole.  ”I only cried for a little when it got knocked out, but I bled a lot.  They had to give me a new uniform shirt.”  Her voice was loud and bubbly but Lucy could hear the tiredness behind it.  ”Let’s get you into bed,” she said.  She motioned for Charlie to tuck Pippa in while she picked up the discarded bed time story book on the floor.  ”Do you want me to read it or Daddy?”  Pippa looked between her parents.  ”Whoever wants to,” she said and shrugged.  Lucy looked at Charlie, waiting to hear whether or not he wanted to read it.

She sat down on Pippa’s bed and started to pile stuffed animals around the little girl.  ”What’s this one’s name?” she asked, holding up a black and white panda bear.  ”Kitty,” Pippa responded.  Lucy smiled and lifted up the lion.  ”Charlie!!” Pippa giggled.  ”That’s my Charlie!”  She reached for the lion and held it close to her.  ”My Charlie is my favorite.  I love him.  And he loves me.  Just like me and Henry!”  Lucy leaned forward and kissed the top of Pippa’s little red head.  ”Yes, just like Henry.”  She looked up at Charlie and reached for one of his hands, holding it in hers.  She squeezed it gently.  ”I love you,” she mouthed to him.

Charlie raised his eyebrows, and looked at Lucy. He wasn’t one hundred percent thrilled at this information, but he supposed, they were only little children. It didn’t really make too much of a difference now, as much as it would when Pippa got older. “You were very strong, then, Pip” he said smiling. “And make sure this Henry boy isn’t bad to you, okay? You’ll let me know if he is?” Obviously, in Charlie, defensive instincts were one of his top qualities, and he couldn’t help but show them. His eyes widened a bit when he realized what book Pippa had chosen. That book had been his when he was a kid… Before he’d become who he was now. It featured a red-headed princess, that he had been very interested in as a child. The fact that Pippa had it now confused him. It had been a very close thing to him… so he supposed, her having it was the best possible outcome for it. He wondered if his mother had ever told Lucy about it. He cleared his throat. “Uhm, I think, your mum should probably read it. She does it better” he said, trying not to sound like he despised the idea of reading it himself, because he didn’t. It would just be… strange.

Charlie smiled at the lion, moving its paw a little with his index. He squeezed Lucy’s hand back, and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, too” he whispered in her ear, before pulling away. “You really love all of your stuffed animals, don’t you, Pip?” he asked. She slept with about a thousand of them, all crowded around her. It was a little ridiculous, but mostly just very endearing. He wondered where she’d even gotten so many of them. He’d never had so many as a child, although, he was a boy. That changed things.

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Pippa laughed when Charlie picked her up and suggested they go shopping for something the next day with her piggybank money.  ”Don’t be silly, Daddy!” she said, still giggling.  ”I’m not going to buy myself things.  You have to buy me things because I’m your Pippa.”  She held on tightly to him, very unwilling to even consider letting go any time soon.  She couldn’t even remember the last time he’d held her, although she was pretty sure it was when he’d come home from his long trip and they went to the park and those boys had been mean to her.  ”Are you happy I’m your Pippa and not somebody else’s?  Or do you have another Pippa that you like more?”

As Pippa spoke, apparently enjoying referring to herself as Charlie’s Pippa, Lucy couldn’t help but laugh to herself.  Their daughter could go from completely sweet to positively hysterical at the drop of a hat.  ”Stop bothering Daddy and put on the nice jamjams he picked out for you,” she said.  She pulled Pippa away from Charlie and threw the little girl on her bed playfully.  ”Hey, did you show him what happened to your tooth yet?” Lucy asked as she started to undress Pippa and replace her soccer uniform with the cozy pajamas.  Pippa shook her head but remained still so Lucy wouldn’t have too much trouble changing her.  ”Such a lazy girl,” Lucy commented, but smiled.

The second her pajamas (and princess pull-up, because diapers were for babies and pull-ups were for big girls) were on, Pippa ran over to Charlie and tugged his hand to signal that she wanted him to be closer to the ground where she was.  Using two fingers, she pulled her lower lip down to show that she had a missing tooth.  ”I got it during a game because someone kicked the ball really hard and then I fell into the metal of the goal and my tooth came out and then Mummy took me to the doctor and he said that because I’m so little still, my tooth isn’t going to grow in for a while so I’m gonna have a hole in my teeth for, like, ever!”  Since it had happened, Pippa had been obsessed with the hole in her teeth.  She would poke her finger through it and loop spaghetti through it and show it to anyone who even looked her way.  She was very proud of her battle wound.  ”It’s cool, right, Daddy?”

Charlie laughed, nodding. “Right, right. Sorry” he said, smiling. He still had to get the hang of it, he supposed. As far as this effort thing went, he really would have to be getting some tips from Lucy and things like that. He shook his head, smiling. “You’re the only Pippa for me. I’m very happy you’re my Pippa, and you’ll always be my Pippa. Right?” he asked, smiling. He watched attentively what Lucy was doing, and how effortlessly she seemed to handle the little girl. Of course, they spent a lot of their time together, so it wasn’t a surprise. Still, Charlie couldn’t quite comprehend how one got to that level of parenting. He doubted he’d ever be able to, but then, he had doubted he’d ever love Lucy, hadn’t he?

Charlie put out his fist for Pippa to bump. “It’s very cool, Pip” he said, looking at the hole in her teeth she seemed so proud of. “Did that someone do it on purpose, or was it an accident?” he asked, mostly out of pure defensive nature. He couldn’t help it. “Did it hurt you?” He could tell she had probably not gone through that hard of a time with pain, because of the way she touched it with her tongue and her fingers and just the way she had it in general. But he did think it was great that she was so into soccer and her wound or whatever it could be called. “Maybe the tooth fairy will visit” he said, shrugging, not knowing if that kind of thing was still used, or if it was even used at all in the magic world. His parents had never done things like that, and he’d only heard it from muggle stories and things.

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Lucy kept her arms around Charlie’s neck and kissed him a few more times.  ”Well, I’ll be glad to have you home for a bit,” she said.  It was the least clingy way she knew how to tell him that it made her happier than anything in the entire world that he was going to be home with them more often - at least for a bit.  Even if he hid in his office all day and continued to do work, it would just be nice to know that at least he was in the house and she could go kiss him if she wanted to.  ”I love you,” she said.  She could feel herself starting to warm back up to him a little bit.  She didn’t feel as upset towards his absence.  ”I think Pinky missed you a lot while you were gone, you know.  She’s been absolutely devastated without you yelling at her for no particular reason.”

When they made it to Pippa’s room, Lucy laid her down on the bed.  ”Can you get a pair of pajamas out for her?” she asked Charlie.  She turned her attention back to Pippa and started to take her shoes off.  ”Hey, Bug, get up.  You need to change into jamjams.”  Pippa’s eyes fluttered open, but she didn’t move.  Lucy lifted her up so her daughter was sitting and then pulled her so her legs were on the ground.  Pippa yawned.  Instead of taking off her soccer uniform, though, she walked through her pink room to her book case.  She pondered what she wanted to read for a moment and then finally made a decision.  With the book tucked under her arm, she grabbed the piggybank on top of the bookshelf and carried it to Charlie.  It was like pink and shaped like a bunny rabbit.  ”Daddy?  I want you to have my piggybank,” she said.  She lifted it up higher for him.  ”So now you’ll have money and you won’t have to be gone all the time working because you have money.  Okay?”  She blinked her large brown eyes (that were identical to his) innocently.

Lucy stared at Pippa silently, her eyes slightly glassy with a thin layer of tears.  No matter how many times Pippa said things she shouldn’t or did something annoying like a throw a fit in the middle of a store because she was bored, it didn’t change the fact that at the end of the day, she was the sweetest, most loving little girl in the world.  It made Lucy absolutely melt.

Charlie smiled. He knew she would, but it was still nice to hear it. It was usually nice to hear Lucy talk about him like that. He kissed her, running a hand through her silken red hair. “I love you too, Lu” he said, then kissed her forehead. Looking around to see if the house elf was with them, he laughed. “I’m sure she has been” he said, shaking his head. Pinky was nowhere in sight, but Charlie was sure she could hear them from wherever she was. He wondered if house elves even had a sense of humour. “I bet she’ll be ecstatic for me to be around more” 

Charlie followed her to Pippa’s room, then obediently followed her orders to get Pippa’s pajamas for her. He got out the ones he liked the best, because they looked like the most comfortable ones. He brought them over to where they both were, then crouched so he was more at Pippa’s level. When she gave him the piggybank… he was at a loss for words, basically. He opened his mouth a few times, closing it back again right after. He looked up at Lucy, who was almost crying, then back at Pippa. 

Instead of taking the piggybank, he set it back down where it was, smiled, and picked Pippa up. “You know what, Pip? I’m already done with working weekends. I think we should go buy you something you love with that piggybank money tomorrow, don’t you?” he said, kissing her on the forehead. He never did this kind of thing, but… that gesture from her had been… something else. “Thank you, Pip. That was a fantastic thing to do, so you deserve to get something lovely with your money, don’t you think?”

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Lucy bit her lip.  ”You really don’t have to do that,” she said sincerely.  She knew it wasn’t really his thing to watch a bunch of small children kicking a ball around and then eating pizza after.  It wasn’t very thrilling.  It was adorable, of course, but Lucy could hardly recall a time that Charlie was interested in watching anything that could only be defined as adorable.  Besides, if he watched the video then he would know that Pippa had been kicking the ball into the wrong goal.  For weeks, both she and Pippa had been keeping it a secret that the small girl hadn’t been getting the goals into the correct net.  Lucy figured that all Charlie needed to know was that Pippa was scoring and having a good time and was tuckered out by the end of it all.

She kissed him a few times, happy to feel his arms around her once again.  It felt like it’d been a hundred years since they had even gotten to look at each other.  Was that what marriage was?  Never seeing each other, never talking to each other, never really being together anymore?  Everyone had said that marriage changed everything, but she hadn’t really thought it would be like this.  ”I miss you, too,” she said.  She touched his cheek lightly.  ”You don’t have to do that.  I know you need your space and your time and all that good stuff.  Don’t come home just because you think we need you to.”  Even as she said it, though, her arms tightened just a bit around him.  Really she wanted him to take a few days off and stay with her so they could cuddle and be together while Pippa was at preschool or maybe she’d send Pippa to his mother’s house for a night or two, even.  But then he’d still have to deal with her own clingyness which didn’t seem fair to her so maybe it wasn’t the best idea.

Lucy had to force herself not to yell at Charlie for being so mean to Kitty Claus.  She had never liked the way that he treated her cat.  It upset her to no end and she was pretty sure he knew that but he still continued to do it anyway.  Instead of saying anything, she reached her arms out for Pippa and took her from him.  Pippa’s chocolate brown eyes opened and a sleepy smile formed on her face.  ”Hi, Mummy,” she yawned out.  Lucy smiled back at her and kissed her forehead.  ”Hi, baby,” she said.  She pushed some hair away from Pippa’s face gently.  ”It’s time for bed, okay?  Daddy’s home so he can help tuck you in if you want.”  Pippa turned eagerly in Lucy’s arms to find Charlie and her smile grew wider, taking up practically half of her face.  ”Daddy!  Daddy, you’re home!  You came home!”  Her voice was very loud and excited but it was obvious that she was still utterly exhausted because her eyelids were starting to droop closed again.  Lucy rocked Pippa back and forth on her hip.  ”Bed time, Buggie, let’s go,” she said.  Lucy started down the stairs and before they were even back at Pippa’s room, her eyes were closed again.

Charlie shrugged. Of course, it’s not what he wanted to do the most in his life at the moment, probably ever. But if he was going to make an effort at all, then this was a part of it, and he would do it. “If she wants me to watch it…” he shrugged again. “It can’t be that bad. She wouldn’t want me to watch it if it was, right?” Charlie knew Pippa was always out to impress him and make him see her as all that she was, and maybe even more. And he was proud of her, really, he was. He just needed to find better ways of showing it.

Charlie kissed her back. “I know I don’t have to. But I want to. You’re my family, Lu, and I love you and I should be around more often, actually” He realized they were married, and that he was basically doing a shit job at being a husband so far. If anything had changed, it had been for the worst. Sometimes he though it hadn’t been such a good idea… but then he remembered how he had felt that day, and how he felt whenever he looked down at his ring. That reassured him. He kissed her again.

Charlie smiled at the little girl. “Yeah, Pip, I’m here. I’m going to be here more, I think, okay?” he said, but he wasn’t sure she’d caught that. She really did look exhausted. Charlie thought about taking her from Lucy, but he knew she was almost asleep and it would only wake her up, which he didn’t want. “Your mum’s right. You look very tired”