A/N: Thanks to celrock for some chapter suggestions. And for the longest PM's I have ever gotten on this site lol :P Anyway, I'm very sorry for this chapter, but it had to happen, we all saw it coming... I didn't want it to happen, but we all know this had to happen at least some point or another. I'm also going to use some elements that I know from my biological grandmother (Grandma Mary) from what I think happened when she was dying from her breast cancer. I was only a baby when she died, but I heard a lot of things before she passed away. Anyway, read & review. Also, Melinda's mother is kind of based on my grandmother, though my mother was a full-grown adult when my grandma died and her father died when she was 17.


About a couple of months passed since Chuckie was born, but it wasn't long for him to be showered by the Finster family, mostly Marvin and Shirley. They had nearly begged for grandchildren and were very glad that Chaz had found Melinda, even if they had met at an early age. It was a good couple of months. One day, Melinda was in her garden and baby Chuckie was there with her with a sun hat to protect himself.

Melinda found a nice spring flower and showed it to Chuckie. "Here, sweetie... Your grandmother from my side loved azaleas."

Chuckie took it, curious about his other grandmother. He had only known his paternal one, never his maternal one.

"Oh, you can't meet her Chuckie, I'm afraid, but don't worry, she's up there in Heaven looking down at us," Melinda told the baby as though she could understand his worried gestures. "Don't be afraid, Chuckie... You never have to be scared as long as your mommy is there with you." she picked him up as a butterfly fluttered by and landed on the tip of the infant's nose. Melinda laughed a bit.

Chuckie laughed at this too. He felt very safe to be with his mother.

Melinda checked the time as she came inside the house. "Oh, it's almost time for my doctor's appointment." she gently handed Chuckie to Chaz.

"Do you want a ride?" Chaz offered, taking their son.

"No, thank you, Charles, I'll handle this, I'm sure I'm healthy, I haven't felt anything wrong... Though, I do have these odd dreams about what Chuckie could grow up to be like," Melinda tickled the boy with a warm, nurturing smile. "I'll be right back, Chuckie... Be a good boy for your Daddy."

Chuckie, of course, did not say anything, but cooed and babbled.

"We'll look out for each other, Melinda, have a good doctor's visit." Chaz smiled and waved her off.

Melinda smiled, then went out the door and into the car. She buckled herself up and backed up to drive to the doctor's office.

Chaz smiled and looked over at their bedroom with the closet. "I wonder if we can bring that old fish out..."

"And don't even think about bringing out that fish, Charles!" Melinda quickly added as she drove off.

"How does she do that?" Chaz sighed, but still smiled. He loved Melinda, even if she were against his favorite piece of furniture.


Melinda was called next in her doctor's place. She smiled as she sat on the seat as instructed, took her heartbeat and blood pressure. Everything you normally do in a doctor's office. Within a few moments, they were done and the doctor was looking over some results.

"So, should I see you in a few months, sir?" Melinda asked.

The doctor looked at the results and had a scare. He then heaved a sharp sigh and looked at the woman. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Finster, but your tests didn't go so well... You tested positive for cancer."

Melinda's face paled at the word. "Cancer...?"

"Yes, it says that your mother had breast cancer."

"Yes, she died when I was very young and we had to move away from our old family farm. My father died as well, but it was a car accident."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Finster, but I'm afraid that your mother's disease is hereditary."

"S-So, I'm going to die?" Melinda's face paled even more and her eyes widened. "B-But, what about my husband and my son?"

The doctor understood her worrying and he wished he could tell her that she would be just fine and live forever, but it was his job as a doctor to burst that bubble and give her a dose of reality medicine. "Don't worry, ma'am," he said in a grave voice. "I'm sure your husband is stronger than he seems... Just tell him, it's worse if you hide it."

"You do have a point..." Melinda nodded, though she was still a little broken over having to tell everyone this kind of news.

"I'm really sorry, ma'am... But we haven't found a cure for cancer... Hopefully someday we will. Who knows? Maybe your son could be the one to find it."

Melinda heaved a sharp sigh. "If only..." she then smiled, but still was unhappy about this kind of news on what felt like a very pleasant day. "Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Finster, I'm sorry." the doctor shook her hand.

Melinda nodded, then took her leave. The woman walked out of the room and looked over to see a lot of children in the doctor's office waiting for their check-ups. She really missed childhood innocence, unless they were very sick, the doctor would never tell them they were going to die in a few days. Just, how long did Melinda have until she would get sick enough and have to leave her family and friends behind?

She remembered that her mother had lost her hair when she had the cancer. Of course, back then, she didn't know, she just thought her mother had a bad hair day and was hiding it with a bandanna. That's what she wanted to believe. Melinda took an uneasy ride home. Even though she was now sick, she knew she had to directly tell Chaz and not hide it like her parents did with her when she was very young. Hopefully Chaz won't make the family move once she passes away, after all, they had all their friends with them, why would Chaz make the family move?


Melinda came through the door and rubbed the back of her neck. She found Chaz in his office and she gently knocked on the door. Once she had approval to come in, she did and looked around.

"Chuckie asleep?" Melinda wondered where their son was.

"Yeah, nap time," Chaz told her with a smile. "How was the doctor?" he looked back at her, smiling, but then noticed how grim her face was. "Melinda, what happened?"

Melinda heaved a sharp sigh. "Chaz... This isn't going to be very easy to tell you, but... I'm not going to be on this world for very much longer... I have cancer."

Chaz's eyes widened. "What? Cancer? You?"

Melinda sadly nodded.

"But, why?"

"My mother had it, that's why we moved in this town in the first place... My pop didn't want me sad, so we moved away and I found out she had cancer later on in life."

"So, you're going to die...?" Chaz's worst fears had just been realized.

"I'm afraid so..." Melinda's eyes itched with tears as she quivered her lip.

Chaz stopped what he was doing and pulled the woman into a hug. He patted her on the back. Melinda hugged back, she tried not to squeeze Chaz too much. He was so frail and bony, she was always afraid she was going to break him whenever they hugged.

"I'm sorry about this, Charles..." Melinda whispered, taking her husband's hands.

"Not your fault," Chaz said while his heart felt like it was being pierced physically and emotionally. "I-I'm sure Chuckie will be fine."

"Chuckie... What's he gonna do growing up without a mother?"

"Melinda, he may not have you, but he still has me... I'll try my best to raise him after you're gone, but I'm sure we have plenty of time to worry about that."

"Oh, maybe he should stay with your parents..."

"Melinda, don't say that. Don't you believe in me?"

Melinda looked into his eyes, wiping some stray tears down from her cheeks. "Well, sure I do... But, a baby is a big responsibility, especially if you're a single parent."

"I'm sure I'll handle it," Chaz looked back into her beautiful, endless eyes. "It'll be tough the first few years, but I know I'll get through it. Speaking of my parents, do you want them to know."

Melinda sadly nodded. "It would be best..."

"Okay, I'll call them." Chaz patted her hand, and went to find the house telephone.


Melinda heaved another sigh and went into the nursery room. She looked in and walked in coolly as she heard the lullaby mobile in Chuckie's room, dangling over his crib. The cute star, moon, cloud, lightning bolt, airplane, and winged baby influencing his dreams. Melinda smiled as she peacefully watched Chuckie sleep, dreaming about many, many wonders and never waking up until he felt well rested. He would have no idea he was about to lose his mother at an early age.

Chaz went looking around for Melinda as soon as he called his parents. They were understandably sad and empathetic for their son. Though Marvin insisted he wasn't crying, Chaz knew his father was actually choked up once he spoke to the elder male on the phone. Chaz had never seen his father cry in person, but was sure that even if it was on the telephone, Chaz was sure Marvin was actually crying on the other end. Chaz finally found Melinda in Chuckie's room and smiled as he had found her asleep next to Chuckie's crib and holding his tiny fingers. Chaz smiled brightly, and went to give them some peace and quiet and go in his office to finish some work, but decided after a while, he should take some time off to be with his family more.