And they would have stayed like that for the rest of the night, but unfortunately, they were interrupted. At 2 am, the phone on Andy's beside table rang. Andy sat up with a start, rubbed her eyes, and reached for the phone.

"Campbell residence," she answered groggily.

"Is this Dr. Andy Campbell?" A gruff voice asked.

"Yes it is, who is this?" She asked, wondering why he was calling in the middle of the night.

By this time, Milo had woken up, and had his head propped up on his elbow.

"This is Admiral Harmon Rabb Jr. I'm sorry to be calling you in the middle of the night, but I'm afraid I had no other choice ma'am. The reason I'm calling is that you've been assigned active duty in Iraq for no less that six months. You are to report to the Dannon Army base in Philadelphia at 0630 this morning. You are to be in uniform, and you will pick up your pack and instructions there. We will fly out at 0700 sharp. Is that clear Colonel Campbell?" He asked her.

Andy was shocked. "Yes sir," was the only thing she could manage to sputter. The line went dead, and Andy slowly hung up the phone. Her face went pale. Here she thought that her life was finally perfect. Milo had come home, they were getting married. She had her dream job, wonderful, caring friends, and perfect children. Her dreams were suddenly ripped apart. She was going to Iraq for six months...which meant even if she was lucky, she would only get home a month before the wedding. She and Milo had been apart for 4 years...and now it might be another year before they would be seeing each other again. Andy started sobbing and ran into the bathroom. She fell to the floor in front of the toilet and emptied her stomach into the porcelain bowl in front of her. She flushed the toilet, brushed her teeth, and got back in bed. She was still sobbing, but she trued not to wake up Milo. But she didn't know that he was already awake, and had heard the whole conversation...or at least Andy's side of it, and had seen her reaction.

Milo rolled over and put his arms around Andy, trying to comfort her. "What's wrong baby? What happened Andy?" He asked...confused about what was going on.

"Oh Milo! I'm so sorry! I had no idea this was going to happen," she said through her sobs.

"It's okay Andy...but I don't know what you're apologizing for. Who was on the phone and what did they say?" Milo wanted to know who had made Andy so mad.

"It was a Commander Harmon Rabb Jr. He informed me that I have been assigned to active duty in Iraq for no less that six months. I have to be at the base in 4 and a half hours. Oh god Milo! How could this happen?" She put her head on his bare chest, and let her tears fall freely.

Milo was shocked, but he tried to remain calm for Andy. "Oh Andy...I'm so sorry.... it's going to be okay, I promise.... shhhh."

Andy shook her head. "It's not going to be okay. I might not even make it back in time for the wedding! And who's going to take care of the children...and you Milo! You just came back...who knows when we'll see each other again!" Andy was overwhelmed with sadness.

Milo began to cry too, but he wouldn't let Andy see it. "Andy...I'll wait for you for as long as it takes. I promise. I love you Andy; I'll wait for you. I'll take care of the children...of our children Andy. You have no choice. I know you don't want to go...but I'll take care of everything here. You just keep yourself safe." Milo was genuinely worried about Andy going out into a war zone, even if she was only going to be a surgeon.

Andy nodded. Milo was right. She had no choice; she had to do this. "I love you to Milo...always. No matter what happens." She looked at her watch, and saw that she only had 3 and a half hours before she had to be at the base. She picked up the phone again. "I have to call Lu and Lana," she said to herself. She realized how hard it would be to tell them...much less wake them up in the middle of the night. She called the RWHC and left a message on both of their answering machines. "Hi guys, it's Andy. Please go into my office and check my answering machine. It should explain everything."

Then she called her own office and left a message on her own answering machine. "Hi guys, it's Andy. You're probably wondering why I'm not at work. Well, I'll explain it to you, but I have to make it short. It's 3 o'clock in the morning, and I've just been informed that I have to go on active duty in Iraq. The plane leaves the base at 6:30, so I'm afraid I won't be able to see you before I go. The commander said I will be gone only six months if I'm lucky...but we'll keep our fingers crossed. Please tell Bob about this, and let him know how sorry I am. Please watch over Milo and my children. I love them, and I love you so much. I'll be back, I promise." With that, she hung up the phone and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I've got to get ready Milo. I have to leave in 3 hours. I'm going to take a shower, okay? When I get out, we'll make breakfast, and wake up the children. I want to talk to them before I leave." She kissed Milo, and went into take a shower. Once she was done, she put on her freshly pressed light blue and navy uniform. A tear fell down as she remembered when she wore it to her first day at the RWHC. She put it on, and put her hair up into a neat bun. She walked back out into the bedroom, but didn't find Milo there. She took out her army pack, and packed her three pairs of fatigues, underwear, and other things she would need. She added a Bible, pictures of her family, a journal, and her laptop. She made her bed, picked up her bag, and walked downstairs. She deposited her bag in the front hall, and found Milo in the kitchen. He had made her breakfast, and she ate it in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. They were both close to tears.

After she finished, she put her dishes up and Milo woke the children up and brought them downstairs. They were all still half-asleep when Andy walked into the living room. It tore Andy's heart out to think that she would have to leave them.

"Girls...I've been assigned to active duty in Iraq. I just found out an hour ago, and I have to leave in two hours," she said, choking up.

"What?! They can't do that! You have children.... you have to stay here!" Lizzy said. Jesse began to cry. Neither of them wanted Andy to leave. Andy explained to them that she had no choice. She picked up the boys, who weren't very coherent, but would remember this conversation later. "Boys...I have to go away for a while, okay? You're going to have to stay here with Daddy, Jesse and Lizzy. Be good boys for me okay?" The boys nodded. They had their thumbs in their mouths, and Andy hugged them. She went to put them back to bed for the last time in a while. She began to cry at the thought of having to leave her beautiful, innocent little boys. She sat in their room for about an hour before going back downstairs. Milo was going to drive her to the base, and it was time to leave.

"Girls, behave while I'm gone. I know you will. Take care of your father and your brothers. I'll try to write you as often as I can. I'll pray for you every day okay? Don't forget...I love you more than anything...always and forever!" She gave them both kisses and hugs, and they all cried as she walked out the door.

"Jesse," she added, "Please call Walker...and tell her I'm sorry." Andy was going to miss her friends and her family so much.

She got in the car, and waved to the girls as Milo drove her to the base. Andy held Milo's hand the whole way. They didn't say anything, because they didn't know what to say. When they got to the base, Andy and Milo walked out onto the tarmac along with the other families and soldiers. Andy took her engagement ring off, and slid it around her dog tags. She looked at Milo. "You'll always be in my heart," she said. She kissed Milo passionately a few times, and hugged him as long as she could. Soon, everyone was loading up onto the planes.

Andy remembered what Milo had said to her when he visited those four years ago, and she recited it back to him. "It's not goodbye my love...it's until we meet again."

They didn't lose eye contact until Andy boarded the plane. She blew him one last kiss, found her seat, and broke down into tears. It broke her heart to be leaving those she loved. She could only hope that she would come back alive and well.