Rob unlocked his front door. This was by far his favorite part of the day. Sometimes he thought the only reason he went to work each day (besides seeing Buddy and Sally) was so that he could come home. As usual, Laura was right there to greet him.

"Welcome home, darling. How was your day at work?"

As they kissed, it took Rob a moment to remember where he was. He could still remember being at Camp Crowder with her years ago, when they first met. Slowly, his mind returned to the present. "Good, for once. Alan liked our sketch, so we had half a day to ourselves!"

"Oh, well, that's unusual, isn't it?" Laura laughed. Rob often came home with horror stories of how Alan would force his staff to rewrite a sketch, no matter how much time and thought they'd put into it.

"Yeah. Kind of a miracle, really. While Sal sat there and did her nails, and Buddy took a nap, I made some phone calls."

Now Laura was surprised. "Who did you call?"

"A couple of cemeteries."

"Oh, Rob!" Laura exclaimed in surprise. "After everything we just went through with our parents, why on earth would you call a cemetery?"

"Well, I got to thinking, honey. I know we said we didn't have to decide now, but we are eventually going to have to figure out where we're going. And, more than likely, I'll be going before you will."

"Rob!" Laura said. "I don't want to talk about this!"

Rob put his arms around her. "I know, honey. I don't either. But I'm just trying to be practical. Someday, you're going to have to figure out where to put me. And, although Buddy thinks the freezer is an appropriate place, I don't really agree." He forced a smile, hoping Laura would stop looking so horrified.

Laura said nothing. They very subject of her husband's mortality was something she didn't want to think about.

Seeing the tears in her eyes, Rob pulled Laura close for a moment. "Aw, honey, I'm not going anywhere. Not for a long time, I promise. But I just want to make sure everything's taken care of when the time does come."

Slowly, Laura pulled herself together. "So...what kind of place did you pick out?"

"Well, I haven't seen it yet, but the man on the phone said it's a very nice place. I got us two adjoining plots. By the time our time comes, both our parents will be long gone. They can't get mad at us for not going with either of them. I don't really care if I'm near my family or not. I just want to be near you."

Laura realized that, as much as she hated discussing it, this really was a very sweet gesture. He was making plans now, so that she and Richie wouldn't have to try to figure out where he would like to be buried when the time came. There would be enough to deal with then. "Oh, Rob!" Laura's voice broke, and she could only put her arms around him. He knew how much she hated to think about this subject, so he made sure she'd never have to.

Rob held her, rubbing her back as she continued to cry. "I just figured it was silly to let our parents, or even the military decide where we should go. There are just some things a man's got to decide for himself, and this is one of them!"

"Thank you, darling. I don't like thinking about...what's going to happen. But you're right, it is going to happen sometime. Now the decision's been made. And there's no way it'll upset our parents, because they don't have to know anyway. This is such a relief!"

The sight of his wife's smile warmed Rob's heart like nothing else. That, he knew, was why he'd done this. He and Laura had taken a rather unusual route to becoming a couple and starting their family, but that was all in the past now. They were together, and they had a family of their own now. Laura and Richie were his responsibility. It was something he could never take lightly. He'd do whatever he needed in order to take care of the two people who meant the most to him. As he looked into Laura's eyes, he knew he would never stop taking care of her, as long as he lived.

The End