Note: Sorry that it is taking so long to post, my computer has been down.

The Dinner

Sam and David had gotten up 30 minutes after they had laid down and left Bethany to sleep for the last 15 minutes. Both boys trotted down stairs into the kitchen to help their mother set the table. When they entered the kitchen Lucy and Kevin where just greeting Annie.

"Oh Mom I am so excited that Bethany is back! I can't wait to see her again. Oh, hi Sam and David where is Bethany?" Lucy asked as she set her bags on the table and Kevin began to rummage through them.

"We let her finish sleeping." David said and Sam added, "Yea, I think we should keep it a secret that she is here."

"You now what boys?" Annie asked, "I think that is a wonderful idea." She winked at Lucy and Kevin.

"So what is this Bethany like?" Kevin asked as he pulled out the plates and handed Sam and David one plate each to put on the table.

"She was such a sweet girl when she lived with us and she left when her mother had died. She stayed with us when her mother was sick so that her father could help her mother through treatment. They didn't want her to remember her mother in a bed and sick and stuff like that." Lucy said as she grabbed the bag that had Bethany's gift and put it in the dining room.

"Yea, but the part you left out was that she left as well to start treatment for leukemia and visited off and on." Annie added.

"She sounds like a very fortunate young lady." Kevin said as he picked up a piece of the salad and ate it.

"Yea and she no longer needs treatment, her cancer is completely gone and the doctors think that it is gone for good." Annie said as they all smiled.

As they were conversing Eric walked in as Roxanne and Chandler entered. "Hello Lucy, Kevin, Sam and David, Chandler and Roxanne. Watch what you say everyone is coming." He warned them trying not to ruin the surprise.

Everyone took their seats and Matt was first to ask, "Why did you set an extra plate at the table Mom, do we have a guest?" he couldn't think of who else could possibly be there.

Annie smiled, "Sam, David why don't you go wake up our guest and tell them to come down?" she looked at the two boys.

"Ok." Sam said as the two of them left the room.

After a few antagonizing minutes the twins returned. "She said she will be down in a minute." David answered his mother's look and they both took their seats.

Everyone turned to see a young woman with long brown hair and emerald green eyes entering the doorway.

"Hello." She said as she took her seat feeling everyone's eyes on her.

The room was quiet as Lucy, Kevin, Eric, Annie, Roxanne, Chandler, Sam and David all sat with smiles on their faces. Mrs. Camden looked frustrated and was first to speak.

"Well don't any of you, and when I say you I mean my kids, recognize her?" she looked at them.

"I do." Simon slowly said, "What is she doing here?"

Bethany looked at her plate. She had feelings for Simon once and they had dated, but before she left she had an argument with him and they split up.

"Simon that is no way to greet a friend." Mr. Camden said.

"Friend? What friend?" he said as all the Camdens frowned. By now they all remembered her except for Sam and David because they hadn't been born yet.

"Alright, why don't we say grace and eat? That way you two can finish your conversation later." Mrs. Camden said as she looked at Simon and Bethany. Everyone held hands and said a prayer, once they were done they all dug into the delicious looking food.

Bethany looked at her plate as she remembered her last day here. She remembered how she had left during school and she never got the chance to apologize for the day's earlier incidents. They had pulled her out of class and she was sent home to stay with her father and she started painful treatment. Her mother had died the day before and she was young enough to understand death, but not to understand that her mother was never coming home. Sure she was about 10 years old, but she never wanted to believe her father. She even wrote her mother letters once a week that she never sent. Now here she was being reduced to nothing by a past friend while her father fought for his country, her life, and his life as well.

They must not have told Simon why she had really left. That she had left because she had been diagnosed with leukemia, the same thing that killed her mother. They put her right into treatment and she spent two years wearing a wig. Until her hair grew back and her father was departed she had thought that she was going to live. Now here she was debating on weather or not she would have been happier dead. Considering the fact that her bestfriend and ex-boyfriend wasn't very happy that she was here.

No, she couldn't think like that. If she had died her father would have had no reason to fight for his country. She thought through all of this while she was eating then she realized that she had been asked a question. She looked up and noticed that everyone was looking at her.

"I am sorry what was the question?" she asked looking at Mr. Camden.

"I asked how your dad was doing?" he looked at her with a little concern.

"He is doing good. He was diploid about a month ago and he will visit in five months." She answered as Martin looked up.

"Where was your father diploid to and what branch is he in?" He asked as Bethany finished her last bite of food on her plate.

"He was diploid to Iraq and he is in the Army. Why?" She handed her plate to Kevin who was helping Lucy and Mrs. Camden clear the table.

"That is cool I guess. I want to know because my father is in Iraq right now also." He smiled as he got up to clear the table.

By now everyone was up clearing the table and the kitchen was getting crowded. Bethany stood in the doorway and offered he hand at helping, but she was told no and Lucy pulled her into the dining room.

"What is it?" Bethany laughed as she looked at Lucy.

"Well Kevin and I where out we picked you up something. Do you remember that one time your mom came to visit while you where living with us? Well I got you something to remember that day." Lucy handed her a bag as she took a seat in on of the chairs.

Of course Bethany remembered that day, how could she forget? The Camdens had let her spend the whole day with her mother. She remembered how beautiful her mother looked and had actually thought that her mother was getting better. Lucy had taken a picture just before her and her mother left to go out.

Bethany opened the bag and pulled out a picture frame. The frame was made out of maple wood with a design in the wood and the picture was of Bethany and her mother. They where sitting on the couch and smiling, that was the last day Bethany saw her mother... alive. Bethany held the picture close to her as she looked up at Lucy with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you so much!" Bethany said as she stood up and hugged Lucy.

"Your welcome." She said as she embraced Bethany.

"It is so beautiful and I will put it next to my bed." Bethany said as she walked up stairs away from the crowed that was forming. The argument with Simon was going to have to wait.