No1butjoe: Yup, I agree. There's no good time to get news like that but the holidays make it seem especially worse.
Iola: Thank you so much! I do try to get inside the characters heads and make them as real as possible.
Helen: Thank you! I did a lot of research for this story as I wanted it to be as believable as possible. (And I'm SO SORRY I've gotten so behind on reading and reviewing your wonderful story! I don't allow myself to read a chapter unless I have ample time to comment. But I WILL get caught up! I promise!)
Penguincrazy: Thanks for reviewing. Hope it lives up to your expectations. :-)
MissMe113: ROTFL!!! Your reviews always make me laugh out loud!! :D Thank you!
Josie: You're a chicken!! :p
Cheryl: Uh… I think you've read it before. But maybe not. It's a few years old. Coulda been posted when you went off to get married and have babies and get yourself a real life! :p
Miss Fenway: It was Laura's turn… ;-) And really, I only pick on characters if I truly love them. So the only characters who are really safe in my stories are the ones I don't like. I just pretend they don't exist. :p
Pandora: HI! Welcome back! I totally understand – there are stories I just can't read because of the subject matter. Glad you're enjoying this one though! :-)
Thank you to everyone who is reading! :-)
Angel Wishes
Chapter 2
Arriving home, Laura Hardy sat in her car, still reeling from the news. The shock and disbelief she'd initially felt had been replaced by fear – raw fear. Dr. Tanninger and his staff had gone out of their way to make sure she understood that finding a lump did not automatically signal cancer. But what if it did? How would she tell Fenton? How would she tell her sons? And how would they react? Laura found herself caught between wanting desperately to be in the arms of her family and not wanting to burden them with this kind of news so close to the holidays.
She took a few minutes to collect her thoughts, trying to figure out how you dropped this kind of news on someone you loved. She'd already decided to tell Fenton first, privately, knowing she'd never be able to tell their sons without his support. She still wasn't even sure she wanted to tell them just yet. What if the mammogram showed it was nothing more than a cyst? Why put them through the roller coaster of emotions she'd been on for the last hour if there was no reason to? Besides, she was worried – and scared – enough for all of them! With a shaky resolve, she got out of the car and walked through the front door. Immediately she heard footsteps thundering down the stairs. Looking up she saw Joe taking the last few steps in one jump.
"Hey, Mom, where've you been? I'm starved!" he exclaimed, his blue eyes sparkling. Leaning down he gave her a quick peck on the cheek, at the same time helping her off with her coat.
"Where is your father?" Laura asked as Joe hung her coat and scarf in the closet.
"In his office. We made…"
Whatever else Joe said was lost as Laura walked towards her husband's office. Knocking on the door she waited a few seconds and then opened it, poking her head inside. "Hi," she said softly. Pushing the door open, she walked inside and closed it behind her, oblivious to Joe who was still standing by the front door, staring at her open-mouthed and confused.
Fenton got up from his desk and came around to envelop Laura in a tight embrace. "Where've you been, honey? I was starting to worry. You said you'd be home around four."
"I know, but something…unexpected…came up."
"At the doctor's?" he asked, immediately concerned. "I thought it was just an annual check up?"
"That's what it was supposed to be," she replied softly.
Suddenly Laura felt as if she were in some strange time warp. When she'd left the house that morning she'd been obsessed with everything she had to do that day – finish up her Christmas shopping, stop at the supermarket to pick up the last few things she needed for tomorrow's baking, pick up the dry cleaning…was that really just this morning? It felt like that had been years earlier. Now the only thing she was obsessed with was three words – lump… biopsy… malignant. Taking Fenton's hand she sat down on the couch, pulling him to a seat next to her.
"Honey…what is it? Is something wrong?" Fenton stared at her, clutching her hand tightly in his.
"Dr. Tanninger found a lump…in my breast."
Fenton gasped sharply, his face suddenly pale.
"It's probably nothing," Laura continued quickly, amazed at how calm she sounded. "He's scheduled me for a mammogram first thing tomorrow morning. He'll be able to tell from that whether it's serious enough to warrant more testing." Seeing the devastation on her husband's face, she reached out and stroked his cheek. "It could be nothing more than a harmless cyst."
"If…if that's so, why did he schedule the mammogram so quickly? That sounds like he thinks it's more serious than he's telling you," Fenton replied.
"Boy, you're suspicious of everybody," Laura smiled, quirking an eyebrow. "Even my gynecologist has ulterior motives," she joked, even though she'd had the exact same thoughts only a short time earlier. "They had a cancellation for tomorrow morning. And he thought we'd like to know for sure, one way or another, before the holidays, so if there really is nothing to worry about, we could relax and enjoy them."
Fenton was silent for a moment, finally nodding although he didn't look entirely convinced. "I suppose that makes sense."
After all these years together Laura knew exactly what her husband was thinking. He was scared. Scared for her, scared for him…scared for their sons. She sighed and stared into his deep brown eyes. "I think I'd rather wait until after the results of the mammogram before I tell the boys. I mean, if it's really nothing, there's no sense in worrying them for no reason."
Fenton nodded in agreement. "How soon after the mammogram will they have the results?"
"Dr. Tanninger said he should be able to tell me something in a day or so."
Fenton was quiet for several minutes. As the words sank in and he realized just what his wife was facing, he pulled her close, held her tightly and stroked her hair. "I love you, Laura," he rasped, his voice breaking.
oooOOOooo
"Did I hear Mom?" Frank asked, coming up behind his brother.
"Yeah," Joe replied distractedly, staring at the closed door of Fenton's office. "But she was acting…I don't know – weird!"
"Weird how?"
"She barely said a word to me. And when I was talking to her she just walked away! Went into Dad's office and shut the door." He turned and frowned at his brother.
"Did you hear any yelling?"
"Nope, none. Been totally quiet. Too quiet if you ask me."
"Well," Frank shrugged, "if they want us to know what they're talking about they'll tell us. In the meantime, let's go set the table for dinner."
"So whaddya think's going on in there?" Joe asked, dogging Frank's footsteps.
"I don't think anything is going on."
"But Mom completely ignored me! It's like I wasn't even there!" Joe griped getting the plates out of the cabinet.
Frank grinned at his younger brother. "I hate to break it to you, Joe, but you're not the center of the universe."
Joe picked up a handy dishtowel and threw it at Frank. "I'm the center of Vanessa's universe," he shot back smugly.
"Then she needs to move to a new solar system." Frank dodged another towel as he hurried to the dining room and began setting out the silverware.
A short time later, Fenton and Laura emerged from his office just as the boys were setting dinner on the table. Once they were all settled and had begun to eat the meal Frank and Joe had prepared, Laura cleared her throat.
"Boys, something came up tomorrow morning that I need to take care of, but I should be back by nine-thirty or ten," she said.
"What is it?" Joe asked bluntly.
"Just something unexpected," Laura replied, glancing at her husband. "So if you and the girls can get everything ready, we can start baking as soon as I get back."
"Sure, no problem, Mom," Frank said quickly, throwing his brother a warning look.
Joe obviously wasn't happy about being brushed off, but Frank got the sense their mother wanted to keep whatever it was to herself. 'It's a week before Christmas. Lots of secrets are kept this time of year,' he told himself, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling that had suddenly descended upon him.
However, as the meal wore on, Frank became acutely aware that his parents were trying a little to hard to act 'normal'. By the time dessert was finished, Frank had come to the conclusion that Joe's feeling their mother was acting 'weird' might actually have some merit.