"Who's ready for Disneyland?" Roger called out standing int the living room as the kids rushed down the stairs.
"We are." Adam and Anthony answered in unison excitedly as Cassandra laughed walking down the stairs.
"Daddy, are we picking Zach up on the way or is he meeting us there?" she asked looking over at him.
"We're picking him up. Where's your mom?" he asked looking over at her.
"She's gonna go with Uncle Mark and Aunt Hanna. She asked me and Zach to help you with the boys." she smiled looking up at him.
"OK guys, meet me in the mini van. I'll be right out." he said looking over at them before running up the stairs to his and Alexandra's bedroom. "Alex, you're gonna miss Disneyland with the kids?" he asked as she put her earrings in her ears.
"Roger, I can't make Mark do this alone. It's hard enough for him without him sitting in the waiting room for hours waiting for her to come out of surgery." she said looking over at him.
"I know, but Baby the kids were looking forward to you going with us. And you're gonna make me run around Disneyland with 4 kids?" he whined looking down at her.
"Roger, you can handle it. I wouldn't be surprised if you're worse then the boys and Cassie. Oh, Zach's gonna sleep over tonight to keep the boys minds off of Hanna, OK?" she said looking over at him.
"Baby, Hanna's gonna be OK you know." he said looking down at her.
"Roger, she's going into surgery. Anything could happen." she said looking up at him.
"Alex, listen to me, she's gonna be OK. She's going into the best hospital in the country and they said it didn't spread." he said leaning down looking into her blue eyes.
"I know Roger, but she's my best friend. I'm scared, you know?" she said looking up at him.
"Me too Baby. But she's gonna be OK. We'll take care of her, Mark and the boys." he said looking down at her.
"OK Baby. You better go. The kids are waiting for you.in the car." she said looking up at him.
"I love you Alex." he said leaning down to kiss her.
"I love you too Roger. Have fun with the kids, OK?" she smiled looking up at him.
"I will Baby. Take care of Mark and Hanna." he said looking down at her.
"I will Roger. Bye." she smiled as he left the bedroom. She looked in the mirror above her dresser before leaving the bedroom herself. She knocked on Mark and Hanna's bedroom door. "Are you guys ready?" she asked through the door.
"Yeah, we're coming sweetie." Hanna called out. Alexandra knew she had been crying.
"Honey, I'm coming in, OK?" Alexandra asked opening the door. "What's the matter honey?" she asked looking down at her as she and Mark sat on the bed. She could tell they had both been crying.
"Alex, can I ask you something?" Hanna asked wiping her eyes.
"I'll wait for you downstairs." Mark said getting up and leaving the room.
"Hanna, what's going on?" she asked sitting on the bed next to her.
"If something happens to me, can you take care of the boys for me?" she asked looking over at her.
"Honey, nothing is gonna happen to you. The doctor said it's a simple procedure. You're gonna be fine." she said looking over at her.
"Alex, please. Just say you'll take care of Mark and the boys, OK?" she yelled getting up from the bed.
"Hanna, of course I will. Mark's my brother and I love those boys like they were my own. I would never let anything happen to them, just like I know you would do the same for Roger and Cassie if anything happened to me. But you can't think that way. Everything is gonna work out. You'll see. You're gonna get this operation and they're gonna get all the cancer out." she said looking up at her holding back her own tears.
"We don't know that Alex. It could have spread and they can't see it. I may have to go through chemo therapy and then I'll get weak and lose my hair. Mark's gonna have to take care of me and I don't know if he's gonna be able to handle that." she said looking down at her.
"Mark's not gonna have to do this alone Hanna. Me and Roger are here for you guys. Roger doesn't go back to filming until next month, so he can help with the boys and I'll take care of you. Honey, we're here for you. Please don't think you're alone in this." she said getting up to go to her.
"I know we're not. I just want to make sure Mark and the boys are gonna be taken care of if anything happens to me." she said looking over at her.
"They will be sweetie. I promise. I'll do anything for you." she said leaning over to hug her.
"Thank you Alex." she said hugging her back.
"I love you Hanna. You know you're my sister." she said hugging her friend.
"You're mine too Alex. I love you." she smiled before they left the bedroom to go to the hospital.
"Is everything OK?" Mark asked wiping his eyes as he sat on the couch in the living room.
"Yeah sweetie. Everything is fine." Hanna smiled looking down at her husband.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked looking up at them.
"Yeah we're ready." Alexandra smiled taking her keys off of the table by the door as they took Mark and Hanna's rental car.
"OK Hanna, the operation is gonna last a couple of hours. We're gonna cut out the cancerous part of the colon and look around to see if it spread. Which we're sure it didn't and then we're gonna close up. You should expect to be here for a couple of days and I want you to take it easy for about a month after that, OK?" the doctor asked looking over at her.
"OK. Am I gonna be able to eat regular food?" she asked looking up at him.
"Not for the first couple of days, and after that you're gonna have to stick to a soft diet until I see you again next week." he said looking down at her.
"OK. Thank you." he said looking over at her.
"Are you OK Baby?" Mark asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I'm OK." she said looking up at him.
"I love you Hanna. You know that, right?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah Mark. I know." she smiled as he took her hand and kissed her hand.
"What time is it?" Mark asked pacing around the hospital waiting room.
"5 minutes after the last time you asked me. Mark honey, please sit down. You're gonna make yourself crazy." Alexandra laughed looking up at Mark.
"Sorry Alex. I'm just really..." he started as Alexandra interrupted him.
"Scared. I know sweetie. So am I. And I'm sure the boys are too, but we have to be strong for them. Roger's gonna bring them by in a little while, when they're done at Disneyland. So we have to be strong for them, OK? Tell me you can do that for them Marky." she said getting up to go to him.
"I don't know Alex. She's my life. You know how you and Roger are each other's lives? Well Hanna's mine. Without her, I wouldn't have the boys. I wouldn't have a lot of things. You know, it was her idea for me to do that documentary about Roger and Cassie? I was stuck, but she was the one who told me to do a documentary that people would care about. She said if I did it on Roger and Cassie, it would bring HIV and AIDS to the forefront and it would get the recognition and support it deserved because of who they were. You know, she's been trying to get a Life Support group going in Westchester?" he asked looking over at her with tears in his eyes.
"I didn't know that. Why would she do that?" she asked looking up at him.
"You, Roger, Cassie and Collins. Collins is still running the East Village group and Roger and Cassie are international role models. She wanted to do some good too like you are. She sees all the good you're doing with the pediatric AIDS fund raisers and she wants to do some good too. It's not much, but with the boys so young still..." he started when she took his arm.
"Marky, she's doing the best she can. And you know what? She's gonna go on to do even more. A lot of people are gonna benefit from her being on this earth. You have to believe that Mark. You just have to." she said looking up at him.
"I want to believe it, but I can't help but think about myself. What am I gonna do without her Alex?" he asked starting to cry.
"Oh honey, you are not gonna have to find out. At least not anytime soon. You'll see. She's gonna be OK." she said wrapping her arms around him.
"Mr. Cohen?" the doctor called out entering the waiting room.
"Yes." Mark answered taking Alexandra's hand and leading her over to him.
"Your wife is out of surgery. She did very well and we got it all. It didn't spread." he smiled as Alexandra wrapped her arms around him excitedly.
"Does that mean she's not gonna need chemo therapy?" Alexandra asked looking up at him.
"I'm still gonna recommend that she go through a few rounds of mild chemo therapy, but that's just a precaution." he smiled looking over them as Mark crumbled in tears.
"Oh thank God. Thank God. Thank God." he muttered over and over again as Alexandra held him in her arms.
"She's OK Marky. She's gonna be OK." Alexandra laughed looking into his blue eyes.
"She's gonna be OK. Can I see her?" he asked looking up at the doctor.
"Well she's in the recovery room and she's still sleeping, but you can see her in about an hour or so. Why don't you two go get something to eat and some coffee and she should be ready for visitors by then." he smiled looking over at them.
"The mild chemo therapy. Is it gonna make her tired or make her lose her hair?" Alexandra asked knowing that's what Hanna would want to know.
"Her fatigue should be minimal and there's no reason why she would lose any of her hair. She'll be fine. Just fine." he smiled putting his hand on Mark's shoulder.
"Thank you. Thank you so much doctor." Alexandra smiled as Roger and the kids came rushing into the waiting room.
"Daddy, how's mommy?" Anthony asked running over to Mark.
"She's great guys. She's gonna be great." he smiled hugging his sons as Alexandra smiled at Roger who was standing with his arm around Cassandra's shoulders.
"That's great Uncle Mark. When can we see her?" Cassandra asked smiling down at him.
"She won't be ready for visitors for another hour or so, so why don't we all get something to eat?" he smiled wiping his eyes dry.
"Sounds like a plan to me. I'll pay." Roger smiled looking over at him as Alexandra walked to him wrapping her arms around his waist.
"I'm gonna call my mom to pick me up, OK?" Zach said looking over at them.
"No way kiddo. You're part of this family too. You're welcome here anytime." Mark smiled looking over at him as Roger smiled at them.
"Thanks Mr. Cohen." he smiled as Mark looked over at him.
"Uncle Mark, please. My boys look up to you and you're an important part of this family. You're welcome anytime Zach." Mark smiled looking over at him.
"OK Uncle Mark. Thanks." Zach smiled looking up at Roger before looking at Mark again.
"You heard him kiddo. Let's go." Roger smiled looking over at Zach before they left the waiting room.