Julie always enjoyed whatever time she spent with Keith's family, although she had never spent one-on-one time with Henry. When she was younger, his Mom would enjoy finger sandwhiches with her, and listen to her rantings of life, but his Dad had never been super involved in them being friends. But it was Christmas Eve, and in January it would be the 3rd anniversary of his wife's death. Anything terrible the family ever endured always happened around the same time of year, and Julie hoped this time around she could be at least a small source of comfort.
Once they had made it home, Julie jumped out of Keith's truck and followed Henry inside. Locking the door behind him, he then threw his jacket and wallet on the couch.
"You can have Keith's bedroom, Jules." He said, smiling as he used the fatherly nickname for her.
She grinned.
"Sounds good to me."
"So, what would you like for dinner?"
"Henry, don't make anything; I'll pop in one of those TV dinners from last weekend."
He nodded. "If you're sure…" He stated slowly.
"Positive." She replied.
"Alright, then, I'm going to go take a quick shower, stay by the phone for now in case the hospital calls, please."
"No problem." She replied as they parted ways.
She sat alone at the kitchen table for a long time, merely thinking. Quite frankly, she wasn't worried about Keith- the chemo was working well, and they were able to remove the mass; things were running quite smoothly. She just didn't want to get her hopes up too high.
"No calls?" Henry asked, pajamas on, and a short towel hanging around his neck.
Julie shook her head.
"Good. Find any food that seems appealing to you?"
"Actually, no. I decided I would wait for you."
"Wonderful- I just remembered we left over pizza."
"Home made?" Julie asked.
"You know it, sweetie." He replied.
She smiled and got out a pan before pre-heating the oven.
"I can't believe it's going to be Christmas tomorrow already." Henry commented as he laid a couple of frozen pizza slices on the aluminum foil.
"Me either." Julie said, a look on her face Henry couldn't decipher. "When do you think he'll be home?"
"Well," he sighed, popping the pizza in the oven. "if the mass was cancerous and all of it could be removed, hopefully soon. If it spread, obviously he will need more surgery.
Julie nodded as they took a seat across from eachother at the kitchen table.
"In your fatherly gut," she tried to joke. "what do you think will happen?"
"Well, I hope the mass had no other areas to spread to, but they said it was quite large- it had a good chance of having spread already, Julie."
"Where to?" She asked, holding her composure.
"Maybe a lung." Henry stated solemnly.
Julie nodded, her face paling. For some reason, she had thought the chemo was all she had to worry about, but it wasn't. If he got sick, his immune system wouldn't be able to handle it, and if the tumor had spread anywhere else, she wasn't sure he would be strong enough to endure another surgery.
She gulped.
"Julie, let's not think about that. He will be okay." He assured quietly.
The timer on the oven went off then and Julie rushed to get the pizza out- she didn't want to stay in the conversation she had been engaging in with Henry any longer.
As they ate in silence, Henry's thoughts wondered to those of his son, and of his son's beautiful girlfriend. Henry really couldn't be more thankful for Julie; for once in his life, his son was happy…truly, happy, and there was nothing he could do to ever thank her. Truthfully, ever since they had become best friends in the 2nd grade, Keith's demeanor had changed; he always acted himself, and he didn't care what anyone thought. Keith was happy after making friends with Julie, and he finally fit in somewhere. Keith had always been somewhat of an outcast, but the sense of peace and acceptance he felt around Julie was something that even Henry could feel.
Once dinner was over, Julie offered to clean up and let Henry turn in early. He obliged, and offered to put a clean set of sheets on Keith's bed for her, but she declined. Of course she would want to sleep on his sheets, that had the form of his body, and his scent, but she thanked him for the kind gesture. Honestly, sometimes she felt a little bit awkward around Henry. Her heart always broke for him. What do you really say to a man who had lost his wife, and could be losing his son? She doubted he would want to talk about the weather, school, or her love life with his son…There was just nothing to really converse over.
"Hey Julie?" He asked, pulling her out of her thoughts as he entered the kitchen once more. She turned off the water and dried off her hands.
"Finished! What, Henry?" She replied.
"Well, I was wondering, maybe you'd want to catch up on some black and white Dracula? It's a classic, even better than Frankenstein- Keith used to watch it with me all the time, and I have some funny stories of his childhood to tell you."
Julie chuckled and nodded.
She supposed this was what you did for a man who was suffering like Henry- clean the dishes, and treat him like you would your own Dad.
a/n: not sure how fond I am of this chapter, but I really love Julie bonding with Henry, even if it is slow growing seeing as I can picture her having been closer to Sandra…*thinks of a great side story* Anyways, please review! Ideas are welcome! As well, how would you all feel about a story for Henry and Sandra's lives together from Keith's early childhood until her death? I'd love feedback, guys! God Bless, and until next time- Sarah!
