Life is strange. Sometimes you're dealt a hand that you're so sure of. You're positive that everything will be a smooth ride. You coast easily until you reach the end, and that's usually when things get a little tricky. But if you're good, and you know how to play your cards right, you can manage with as little struggle as possible.

And then there are those who end up with the short end of the stick. They may have a beautiful, loving family, and a nice home, and maybe even a pet, but do they have their health?

"Just say it already, you know I hate when you drag this on," she complained. Her head rested in her left hand as her right continued to squeeze the strap of the purse sitting on her lap.

"At this point there's nothing we can do. Chemotherapy can buy you more time, but it will also put you through Hell and back again. That's basically it."

"So then having a double mastectomy pretty much did nothing."

"Actually, most of the cancer cells were removed due to the double mastectomy. Losing your breasts right when you did gave you an extra year and a half to spend with your family."

"So now what? Do I just pack all my shit and hope it happens quick? Less time to suffer?"

"One year. An additional couple of months if you're especially diligent in eating right and getting the proper exercise. And that's with chemo."

"I see… I think we're done here. I'll be in the food court, staring at the vending machine." And with that, she stood from her chair and stormed out of her doctor's office.

After a moment of silence, the doctor looked to the man sitting across from her. He was hunched forward in his seat, staring at his shoes, obviously gritting his teeth.

"You haven't said a word since you got here," said the doctor.

He looked up slowly. "She didn't even cry this time."

"Do you want your wife to cry, Levi?"

"I just want her to feel something. She's been putting on that stupid smile for the past year and it pisses me off."

"We've been over this dozens of times. If Hanji wants to hide what she's really feeling about this, then you can't stop her. Just… keep her comfortable. And don't waste her time."

"Can we pull Petra out of school early today?" asked Hanji. She'd been silent since they left the hospital.

"Why's that?"

"I want to spend the day with her. We could take her to lunch, maybe see a movie. It'd be nice."

"And then we sat down for reading circle and I got to pick out the book today and it was the one about the old woman who swallowed a fly and right before recess we got to have animal crackers and we played Duck, Duck, Goose! And I never even got tagged!"

Their little girl bounced excitedly in her booster seat as she described her morning at school. She had what Levi hoped was chocolate and not dirt smudged on her left cheek. And on her right knee was a band-aid, haphazardly slapped over a poorly cleaned, and fairly large scrape. There was a bit of dried blood around it.

"What happened to your knee?" asked Levi as he readjusted his rear view mirror.

"That mean boy at recess, he pushed me down when I was playing with a jump rope!"

"Do I have to call someone's parents?"

"No. But I got some of my blood on his shirt. He cried."

"That doesn't sound very sanitary. Or nice."

As the little girl went on about her day, Levi glanced up at Hanji. She was asleep with her head leaning against the window and her arms wrapped tightly around her daughters brightly colored backpack.

When Levi pulled into their driveway, he turned around to look at Petra.

"Is Mommy sleeping?" she asked in a whisper.

Levi nodded and then whispered back to her, "Go wait by the front door for me while I wake her up."

The girl eagerly unbuckled her seat belt and quietly climbed out of the car.

Levi turned back to Hanji and stroked her hair. "We're home," he said softly. "Come on, Four Eyes, Petra's waiting for you by the door."

She began to stir and slowly opened her eyes. "Hmm?" She looked around and saw that they were in fact home. "That was fast," she said with a laugh.

Levi got out and opened her door for her.

As they entered their home Petra quickly kicked off her shoes as she dashed into the living room and jumped onto the sofa.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," Hanji said as she hung her coat on the rack by the door. She left to the room without further comments.

"I don't think your mom and I cleaned this living room just to have you leave your smelly shoes in the middle of the floor," said Levi as he stood in front of the television.

"But Sleeping Booty is on!" the girl whined.

Levi did his best to hide his smirk when he was trying to act stern. "Petra, it will literally take you twenty seconds to take your shoes to your room and come back."

"Fiiiiine…"

As she left the room, Levi sorted through the mail that he'd tossed onto the counter minutes ago. All medical bills, save for one internet bill.

Just as he saw his daughter running back to the sofa he called out to her again. "Have you got homework today?"

"I've got a bit…"

"Care to show me?"

She pulled her backpack off from the back of the chair and unzipped it. Then she proceeded to pull out a light pink folder with a crayon drawing of a flower. As she shuffled through the pages in the folder she set aside a few loose pages. "I have to draw a picture of my family, and I have to write a story to go with it."

"Then I suggest you get started on that."

After Petra started on her work they spent the next twenty minutes in near silence, save for the sound of the television on low volume.

When she was almost done with her drawing, Petra looked up at her father who was sitting across from her reading a large hard cover book.

"Daddy?" she squeaked as she set her green crayon down. He looked up at her and waited for her to continue. "Is mommy still sick?"

Levi pursed his lips and then nodded.

"Is she going to get better?"

"I certainly hope she does," he said quietly.

A few more minutes passed when Levi looked at Petra again. She'd finished drawing her picture. For a six year old who favored crayons, her drawing abilities were remarkable. It was definitely a trait passed down from Hanji. She'd drawn each member of her little family, including the puppy, with great detail. She even added various freckles and dark circles.

"Well I know what Santa's getting you now," he muttered under his breath. "Petra?" She looked up from her story. "Do you want to spend the weekend here or would you like Nanaba and Mike to pick you up tonight?"

Petra had been living with Mike and Nanaba since she turned five. Levi and Hanji were spending so much time at the hospital that they would lose track of time and forget to pick her up from school. They didn't want to feel like neglectful parents so they ended up arranging a solution with their closest friends, who also happened to be her godparents. Luckily when things with Hanji started to settle down they were able to see her more often.

So far the last three months have been the smoothest and they were able to make time to see her every single day.

"Well… Banana wanted me to clean my room today… I would rather stay here."

Levi smirked. "If you think staying here is going to get you out of cleaning your room, you are sadly mistaken. I saw the state you left this one in before you left here last night."

"I just can't catch a break with you adults," she groaned into her hands.