Over the next week, they all had adjustments they needed to make. Aria missed Nana so she was grumpier than her normal self. It took her forever to get ready in the mornings and even made Elizabeth late for work a couple times.

For Elizabeth, being her mother needed to be separate from being her friend. So, she needed to adopt a no-nonsense attitude when motivating Aria to obey. That, however, made Aria push back a bit which frustrated all involved.

For Lucas, he was working mostly at Charlton but occasionally he'd need to go to Rose Memorial too, keeping him away from his girls more.

Needless to say, frustration was in everybody and they needed to talk about it as a family.

But first, on a rare Saturday where neither had to work, two weeks after returning from their honeymoon, Elizabeth and Lucas sat down and talked about everything and how they would handle it.

"I'll take care of it," Lucas told her, after hearing again how Aria had misbehaved the previous week.

"How about WE handle it? Lucas, I'm one of her parents now. She is testing me and I need to also be involved in this. No good cop/bad cop."

"That's not my intention to make you the bad cop, honey."

"I already am. She's pushing me away and that is something I'm not used to."

She fought her tears, knowing hormones from her period were making her emotional. That made her sad too which meant she wasn't pregnant yet. Yes, they'd only been married less than a month but it was still emotional.

In addition to all of that, she missed her husband. He was so busy with his work, they had not taken time for themselves in almost a week.

"Hey, why the tears?"

"So many reasons. Let's just go talk to her. Please?"

"Now who's pushing who away? Elizabeth, you can tell me anything."

"We haven't made love in six days, Lucas. I miss you. I miss how we communicated so well on our trip but life has gotten away from us. We can't lose each other."

"It is life, honey. I miss you too. We are not going to lose each other."

"I'm sad that my relationship with Aria has suffered too and I'm hormonal and upset because I'm not pregnant and I just want chocolate!"

He smirked but made sure he didn't show that until he hugged her and she couldn't see his face.

"It may not happen right away, baby. We just have to be patient." He dipped his head down and softly but thoroughly kissed her. "Let's go talk to Aria and then after we've done that, all three of us can go to Scoops and get you some chocolate ice cream."

….

"Its not the same!" Aria shouted.

"Aria, tone," he told his daughter.

"Before you got married everything was fine. Now you always work and I miss Nana and Elizabeth isn't the same either!"

Elizabeth noticed she hadn't called her Mommy. She wasn't sure if it was intentional or just a slip but either way, it hurt.

"You're right, honey," Elizabeth began. "Its not the same. We are a family, all three of us. We have to talk about our feelings and make sure we listen to each other. You can tell me anything, sweetheart and I promise I'll listen."

Aria started crying which of course made Elizabeth cry. "Come here, bugs." She opened her arms and invited her into her space.

Aria accepted, sitting on her lap, allowing herself to be cuddled and consoled . She was really much too long and gangly to fit well, but Elizabeth loved it just the same.

"I don't remember my first Mommy but you're my friend. I thought you being my Mommy would be the same as that."

"Its better, Aria," Lucas told her, seeing Elizabeth struggling. "Can you tell us the things you love most about Elizabeth?"

"She's fun!" she smiled, sniffling.

"Okay. What else?"

"She is nice to me and she loves me and you."

"I do, very much and I will always love you. But you know what else?" Elizabeth asked.

"What?"

"Being your Mommy means that I want what's best for you. I will always try to protect you if you need me to. I'll teach you how to grow and change into an even more amazing young woman when the time comes. I'll listen to you and help you whenever you need help."

"That's a big job!" Aria said, reaching up and drying Elizabeth's tears.

"It is. It's hard to be your mommy first and your friend second. I'm struggling too."

"But you know how you can help Elizabeth do that?" Lucas asked.

"By obeying," Aria said. "I'm sorry I didn't listen, Mommy. I'll do better."

"I appreciate that, bugs. I'll try to listen better too."

Lucas' heart was filled with love by the two girls in his life. He hoped they were always this close.

"What do you say we go get ice cream? Mommy needs chocolate," Lucas said, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Yay! Can we go to the bookstore too?"

"Absolutely."

They spent the rest of that day as a "family day" and just hung out and had fun. They played board games and watched a movie and ate popcorn and got takeout. It was exactly what all three of them needed.

…..

On Monday, things went much smoother. Aria woke up on time, got dressed, ate breakfast and was ready to leave at the time they were supposed to. There was no grumbling or crying or pouting.

When Elizabeth got to work, she found Faith chatting with Lucas in the doctor/nurse lounge.

She walked over and apparently surprised them. "Hello, sweetheart," Elizabeth said, kissing her husband. "What are you two up to?"

"Nothing," they said in unison.

"I don't believe you, but I don't have time to try to figure it out. Just grabbing a cookie before I head to my first patient."

"I need to get up to oncology," Lucas said, squeezing her hand and kissing her again. "See you at lunch?"

"Yep. Love you."

"Love you too."

Faith grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down. "So how did things go this morning?" Faith asked, aware of the previous couple weeks' challenges.

"Perfect. Back to normal."

"Great."

"What's new with you?" Elizabeth asked. "If you had something to share, I can take a minute."

"Same old thing. Nothing really new."

"Okay. Well, see you later?"

"Yep, have a good shift."

Lucas sighed as he walked off the elevator towards the oncology wing. His mind needed to be on his patient but his mind and heart were on keeping a birthday surprise for Elizabeth from her, without making her too suspicious. Thankfully, Faith was assisting.

"Good morning, Joseph and Minnie," he greeted. "I am still waiting on the results of your blood test this morning. How are you doing?"

Minnie was the quietest, sweetest lady and the fact that she was very ill didn't change that about her. She always found a way to smile and look on the bright side.

"Lucas, Joseph and I want to speak with you about my treatment."

Lucas pulled up a chair and sat next to her bed. Joseph reached for her hand and nodded.

"If this round of chemo doesn't work, I don't want to do radiation."

Lucas was shocked. At being just 47 years old and the mother of 2, he never expected to hear her giving up. Not yet anyway.

"Well, there are different studies we can get you into. Try to find alternate therapies."

"Perhaps but I'm at stage 4. If the chemo isn't successful, I'm not sure anything else will be either."

"You're okay with this, Joseph? I'm sorry to ask."

"I wasn't at first. Minnie is my world, the mother of my children. But, if she just keeps getting sicker and the medicine isn't helping, its ultimately her decision if she wants to spend the rest of the time she has left with her family or whether she wants to go through more treatment."

Lucas was stunned. He couldn't imagine giving up. Giving up the love of his life and not urging her to fight as hard as she could to stay with him and their kids.

"I appreciate your honesty, Minnie. And yours, Joseph. If that is your decision, we will make sure to do everything to make sure that you are comfortable and pain free."

"Thank you, Lucas."

He nodded and stood. "I will come back as soon as I have your test results."

This was the reality and terrible part of his job here at Charlton. He fought for his patients, as much as he could, but sometimes it wasn't enough. Being part of the research team at Rose was less difficult because he wasn't in touch with the patients. He was looking at the bigger picture.

Minnie still had eight more chemo sessions over the next four months and then they would see where she was at. So until then, he would continue to fight.

…..

"Minnie Canfield? Cancer?" Elizabeth asked, in shock. "How bad is it?"

Faith nodded. "Cam Carver told us this morning at the morning meeting. He said that the Canfields had given permission to let everyone know. Joseph will be taking family leave so that he can be with her and take care of the kids. Good thing Lucas is here. If anyone can figure it out, he can."

"Lucas is here for the Canfields?"

"Yes. He didn't tell you?"

"No, he never mentioned who his patient was."

"The Canfield's probably asked him not to say anything for a while."

Elizabeth had known Joseph and Minnie and their kids for years. They had been long time friends of the Thatchers.

"Aren't you supposed to meet Lucas for lunch?" Faith asked.

"Yeah. I'll be back shortly."

….

"You didn't tell me," Elizabeth mentioned as they sat in the on-call room and ate their lunches.

"I couldn't, love. They asked that I keep it quiet for a bit."

"What were you chatting with Faith about?"

"I just had a question for her." He took a big bite of his sandwich and looked in her eyes.

"Its a secret?"

"Not a secret."

"But you won't tell me."

"I will if you want me to but I'd rather not yet."

"I guess you don't have to."

She stood and threw away the rest of her food.

"You're leaving?"

"I need to get back."

He stood up and put his sandwich down, walking over to her. He reached for her hands and kissed her forehead.

"Elizabeth…"

"Lucas…"

"My intention is not to make you suspicious so I'm going to tell you what I was talking to Faith about."

"Its fine." She kissed his cheek.

"Your birthday is Friday," he said as she reached for the door handle.

"I know."

"I needed to ask Faith if she and Carson would watch Aria so we could stay overnight out of town. At a B B in Rhode Island."

"A B B?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

She rushed forward and hugged his waist. "I'm sorry, Lucas. Thank you so much for wanting to surprise me."

"You'll love it, honey. It's beautiful and according to the forecast, it may snow while we are there. Our room has a fireplace and a jetted tub."

"Oh my goodness. I'll go ask Carrie to see if I can get the weekend off."

"I already asked and you just have to work Monday. So we will leave Friday afternoon and come back Sunday night."

"Wow. Two nights away?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you, babe. I can't wait."

After kissing him goodbye and heading to her shift, she decided she needed to get something special for their trip. She'd pick up Aria from school and head to the mall.