Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth;

Lily was a pretty young woman, beautiful in fact, even if her mother did say so herself.

So it was with mild worry and enormous portions of curiosity that Poppy watched from the doorway as her daughter pulled out another outfit from her wardrobe and heaved it aside with something akin to a roar of frustration. Poppy Evans decided to step in when her daughter threw herself on her bed and looked close to tears.

"Honey? What's wrong?"

Lily glanced at the door, where her mother was leaning against the door frame and managed a hormone driven wail.

"I have nothing to wear! James is going to be here soon and I have a massive spot and my hair is greasy and I feel disgusting." The redhead flopped back onto her pillows and covered her face with her hands. Poppy gave a wry smile, thankful that her daughter could not see her amusement for fear of the redhead wrath.

"Lily, look at me." The teenager removed her hands from her face and watched her mother as she sat on the bed. Poppy stroked her daughter's hair and smiled gently. "You are a beautiful young lady." Lily rolled away from her.

"Eurgh. You have to say that; you're my Mum."

Poppy laughed and moved towards the wardrobe.

"I don't have to say anything of the sort." She began rifling through the remaining hangers in the closet. "Why don't you wear that nice summer dress your Aunt bought you? The yellow one?" She turned to her daughter and threw the dress at her, much to Lily's annoyance. "You always look nice in that." Lily plucked the dress from her person and eyed it critically. Her mother was right; it did look good on her. "And, dear, we both know that you could go out in a plastic bag and James would still think you were the most gorgeous girl on the planet." Lily blushed a pretty shade of pink and clambered off the bed towards her mother.

"Thanks, Mum." Poppy's arms fell easily around the shoulders of her youngest daughter but Lily stiffened in the middle of the hug when the doorbell echoed around the house. "Sh-" There was a sharp look from Poppy. "oot. That will be James! Can you stall while I get dressed?" Lily didn't wait for an answer and began bodily pushing her mother from her bedroom.

"Sure, sure!" The door was slammed behind Poppy and she smiled as she walked down the stairs to open the door.

"Hello, James." The boy, well, man really, grinned brightly as he ran a hand through his messy mop of hair. Poppy's fingers itched to get the scissors and give him a decent hair cut but she remained happy with the fact that Lily wasn't dating some biker dude with a ponytail. Small victories with a teenager were the only real victories. "Lily will be down in a second. Would you like to come in?"

"Thanks, Mrs Evans." He stepped into the hallway and she approved of the fact that he was wearing smart dress pants and a jacket, even if the shirt underneath was slightly wrinkled and the tie hung loosely around his neck. Small victories. "How have you been?"

"Very well, thank you, James. And yourself?"

"I've been okay. Just trying to get my head around being out of school." He smiled, he had a toothy grin that was infectious and she couldn't help but smile back. She turned at the sound of Lily skipping down the stairs.

"James, hi!"

There was a pause and Poppy glanced at James to see his glasses slipping from the bridge of his nose as he admired her daughter in speechless wonder as she slipped into a pair of sandals. Lily did not know the power she wielded over this poor, love sick boy that much was obvious.

"You look beautiful, Tiger Lily." James sounded slightly breathless and Poppy winked at her daughter in an 'I told you so' way.

Poppy felt her heart swell when she watched her youngest fling herself into the arms of the man lurking in their hallway with a muttered 'thank you but my hair is a total mess'. He briefly kissed her on the cheek as one arm wrapped around her waist in a tight embrace, remaining there even after she pulled away. The redhead looked at her mother, a bright smile plastered on her face and her eyes bright with happiness. Ah, to be young.

"Have fun you two." The teenagers left, already giggling and giddy with happiness, as Poppy watched them through the open door. As they got to the top of the garden path, Lily took his hand and interlaced their fingers, her delicate laughter floating back down the road with the light, summer breeze.

Oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked…

"I feel so old."

"What's that, dear?" Joseph had come in from the garden and snuck up behind her.

"Nothing. I just feel old." Poppy patted her greying hair with a wistful sigh and glanced down at her rather ample thighs. "I used to be as slim as Lily, now look at me. Gravity is taking its toll, that's for sure." She relaxed into his arms as he wrapped them around her from behind and rested his chin on her head.

"You look as stunning as when I first fell in love with you, my dear. And I wouldn't have you any other way."

She turned in his arms with a tinkling laugh and kissed him full on the mouth.

"You are such a sweet talker."

He wiggled his eyebrows at her roguishly.

"I know. And you love it."

"That I do, Mr Evans. That I do."

~*~