It had been four years since Julia and her family had moved to West Newbury and they were thriving. Julia and John were best friends and they always hung out at his house or his treehouse. Even though everything seemed to be going good with everyone else's life, one family was having problems of their own. Jeff and Matt's mom had a brain tumor and it seemed that she wasn't going to make it. She had been to the hospital so many times and there was nothing the doctors could do. The children didn't know the severity of it and since they were sheltered from it, they continued on with their normal routines. Julia, Nora, Stacy, Randy, Jeff and John were all nine and Nicolai, Amy and Matt were twelve.
One day, after school had just gotten out for the day, all of the kids were walking home and talking. Even though they all lived on the same street, they walked in different groups. Julia and John walked side by side all the time and they were still very close. They were in the same class and sat right next to each other and Julia's father did not approve of their friendship. And for some odd reason, neither did her brother Nicky. Julia didn't even notice it and Natalya was glad for that.
"So are you gonna come over," John asked.
"Yeah, as long as Nicky doesn't say anything."
"What do you mean," John asked.
"He always tells my dad that I've been at your house. I don't get it. We're just friends."
"Yeah, I know," John said quietly.
They all got to their houses and walked in. Nicky and Julia did their chores and then started on their homework. When they finished, they went outside and all the children of the nieghborhood were outside and playing. Julia went to find John and when she found him, they went straight to his tree house.
"I'm having a sleepover this weekend. Do you think your parents would let you come over," John asked.
"Who's all gonna be there," Julia asked with bright, green eyes.
"The whole group and if your brother wants to come, he can," John said.
"Well I think if my brother comes my dad will let me go."
"Great. So what do you think is gonna happen to Jeff and Matt's mom," he asked quietly.
"I don't know. I hope she gets better. If she died, I don't know what I would do," Julia said.
"Yeah I know. She's so nice."
They continued talking and when they heard their mothers voices calling for them. They got out of the treehouse and walked to the front. They went in their houses and Nicky was sitting at the table with his arms crossed over his chest. Julia looked at him and he looked at her. Julia went into the kitchen with her mother and looked at her.
"What's wrong with Nicky, mama," Julia asked.
"He's mad because I told him not to tell your father that you were at John's house after school. I told him if he told I'd ground him and take away his after school privileges."
"Oh."
They went back into the dining room with food and sat down as soon as their father came in. He sat down and they all ate and talked about what they did and afterwards they watched TV and went to bed.
That weekend, Nicky and Julia got ready for John's sleepover. They were already in their pajamas and they had their sleeping bags and their pillows and everything else they needed. They walked over to his house and Margaret opened the door and they all went upstairs to John's room to put their stuff up. They went back downstairs and outside to the tree house. They were all talking and eating S'mores. Nicky and Julia sat down and they all started laughing and talking. Two hours later, John's mom called them all in and they went upstairs to his room. They all got in their sleeping bags and continued talking until they fell asleep. John and Julia were sleeping side by side and she was holding his hand and when his mom came upstairs to check on them she sighed to herself. They all looked so peaceful, including Matt and Jeff. She had just gotten a call she hadn't wanted to get. Their mother was failing and the doctors were saying she wasn't going to make it through the night. Gil, their father, had called her and asked her to keep them. If he knew Betty, he knew she would wait until the next day to say good-bye to them. Margaret closed the door quietly and went to her room and went to sleep.
The next morning, after everyone had breakfast and got dressed, Margaret got a call. Gil said that Betty wanted to see all the kids. It was something she had wanted when she knew she wasn't going to live through this. The children meant so much to her and she wanted to see them all before she died. Margaret rounded up all the kids in her van and she drove off. When they got to the hospital, the kids all knew something was wrong. They got out the van and walked to the area Gil was at. He asked for all the kids except Matt and Jeff and they went inside and stayed in the room for ten minutes and then Jeff and Matt went inside the room. They came out twenty minutes later crying and holding Gil. All the others started crying and they ran to Gil and held onto him. Margaret left with the kids five minutes later and she said she would watch over Jeff and Matt for however long Gil wanted her to. When they all got back home, the kids went to John's treehouse and sat and thought about what had just happened. It was hard to believe that someone they loved so dearly was gone. They all looked at each other knew that there was nothing that should or could be said.
Two hours later, Margaret came to the tree house and called them all down. They climbed down the ladder and went inside the house and got their stuff and the rest of the kids went back to their houses and Jeff and Matt stayed at John's house. The parents and the kids knew that their lives had changed and would never be the same again.
Six months later, Gil got a new job in a different state and they were going to be moving. The day that all their stuff had been packed up was a hard day. They all went to John's treehouse and sat in it for the last time and talked.
"So where are you guys moving to," Julia asked.
"Cameron, North Carolina."
"I wish you guys weren't moving," Amy said sadly.
"Me too. But I think it's going to be easier on my dad. There's too many memories of our mom in that house," Matt said.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"You'll write us, won't you," Stacy asked.
"You know it. My dad got all your addresses," Jeff said.
They all smiled and climbed down the ladder and went to the front of the house and stood in the yard. All of the parents were standing around Gil and shaking his hand and hugging him. All the kids held each others hands and tears started falling down their cheeks. Gil looked at them suddenly and smiled. He walked up to all of them and hugged them. He stopped at Matt and Jeff and they looked at him sadly. All the kids hugged each other suddenly and when they broke the last hug, Jeff and Matt walked to the car and got in it. Gil started the car and Jeff and Matt rolled down the windows and looked out them as they drove off. The kids waved at them until they couldn't see them anymore and they sighed. The parents left the children alone and the children just stared at where Matt and Jeff's car had been. They went inside when their parents called them in and they were all quiet. Their lives had surely changed in the past six months.