Chapter 6

School had begun on a Wednesday for Lizzie and Matt. Their mom was to begin treatment, chemotherapy, the following Monday

The family spent the weekend together. They did everything Jo loved to do. Sam prepared a picnic on the beach with all of her favorite foods: turkey sandwiches with mayo, ripe green grapes, warm oatmeal raisin cookies, and raspberry lemonade. Her appetite would be dramatically altered during treatment, and she savored all her favorites because she knew it might be awhile before she could enjoy them again. Lizzie and Matt chased each other down the shore; dancing in the waves as the water licked their feet. Jo watched with great thanksgiving for the two blessings God had given her. Then the whole family walked down the shoreline, hand in hand, feeling insignificant next to something so grand. They remained on the beach until the sun set; watching every shade pass by; every color offered by Mother Nature.

The garage was ransacked and dozens of family photo albums were flipped through. Embarrassing pictures were brought to light. Matt discovered more than enough naked-baby pictures of Lizzie to use as black mail for the rest of her life. The whole family laughed over pictures of Matt who had managed to knock out both front teeth by age three. Jo treasured dozens upon dozens of pictures of her children. Sam fell across several wedding photos of his beautiful bride. She was still just as beautiful; maybe even more beautiful.

Sunday afternoon Miranda and Gordo came over. They were as much part of the McGuire family as Lizzie and Matt. Mrs. McGuire had always treated them as her own. And in turn, Mrs. McGuire was just as much their mother. A fare amount of tears were shed amongst the teenagers as they remembered fun times with Mrs. McGuire.

"Remember the time she helped us plot against kate at the eighth grade dance so we could get our pictures in the yearbook?" Lizzie questioned her friends through giggles.

"Yeah, we thought she was just about the coolest mom after that!" Miranda offered, a grin beginning to appear across her face.

"What about the time she participated in our mystery dinner? Do you remember that accent she put on?" Gordo put in.

"Don't remind me!" Jo shot back through laughs.

"Oh, I thought it was attractive," her husband responded as he kissed his wife.

"Dad!"

"Sorry Sweetie"

But eventually the weekend came to a close. The weekend that had made the whole family forget about their troubles quickly came to its end; the whole family once again faced with the hardships of reality. Everything they had all been dreading was about to begin. They could hide from it no longer.

That Monday morning all members of the family rose promptly. Even Matt who generally needed coaxing from his mother, rose with no complaints. Sam was to take Jo to the hospital for her first round of chemotherapy. Lizzie was to take Matt and herself to school. Then after school, she was to bring them home and start something for dinner. Jo and Sam weren't sure what hour they would be home, and how they would feel when they returned.

The whole family sat together at the dining room table in silence. The air was full of anticipation. Matt and Lizzie wondered how they would make it through the day with their mom on their minds. No one ate much as they sat their. Matt picked anxiously at his waffle. Sam stirred his coffee nervously as he looked at his wife and children. He was the father, the husband, the man of the house. He was to take care of everything, to hold everything together, but he wanted so badly to run; run as fast as he could wherever he could. He loved his wife more than life and was terrified about what might happen to her.

Lizzie broke the silence. "Are you sure you don't want Matt or I to come with you? We can miss a day of school for you, Mom. We want to be their for you."

"NO, Sweetie. You need to go to school. But thank you so much, I appreciate it. But you two aren't just going to forget about everything just because of me. Matt, you need to practice don't you, you're our star on the JV baseball team, aren't you?"

"It doesn't matter. You're more important."

"Thank you, Sweetie. But you're not going to stop playing because of me. Ok?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now you two eat your breakfast and finish getting ready for school."

The two listened to their mom, and hurried to finish up. Lizzie checks the clock. It was 7-30, they should leave soon. Putting her last book into her backpack, she went back downstairs. "Matt! Hurry up." Her younger brother quickly appeared at her side. "Let's say bye to Mom and Dad."

The two dropped their school bags and found their way back into the kitchen.

Lizzie approached her mother and stretched out her arms. "Mom, good luck, and I love you." She offered as she held her mom in a warm embrace. A tear managed to escape.

"I love you, too. Thank you, Sweetie."

Matt did the same and the two made their way to the front door, and outside into their car. As they were driving away Lizzie looked back at the house. "Lord, please let everything go well today."

A/N:

Thanks for the reviews. I get more reviews for this fic than any of my others, so thank you very much. I'm going to keep chapters coming pretty steadily now that I'm on summer vacation, so please read and review.