"Please take a seat, Mr and Mrs Ashton," Jarred Freeman indicated towards the chairs next to his desk and sat back in his own seat. "Right," he smiled. "My name is Jarred Freeman and I am the Oncologist in charge of your son's treatment."

Ben took Lilly's hand and held it tightly, not only to stem her shaking but his own too. "Okay," he smiled back, not really knowing how to respond.

Should he say 'hi'? No that wouldn't be appropriate. Should he introduce himself? No – that made things too personal at this stage.

Actually – okay covered most things.

Okay was, okay under the current circumstances.

Jarred pushed his notes to one side, leant forward and clasped his hands in front of him. "Doctor Lam has filled me in about your medical background so I am sure you know what is going on."

"Our son has Leukaemia," Ben nodded slowly.

"Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia to be correct."

"Okay."

There was that word again. Why say it? It wasn't okay. It would never be okay.

"We need to start treatment as soon as possible."

"Okay."

"I'm going to admit Finn straight away."

"Okay."

"And, I have scheduled him for surgery in an hour's time. We are going to insert a central line. His Chemotherapy will start in the morning."

"Okay."

"The first phase of Chemo will be intense I'm afraid, we have to get him into remission before we re–group to see which way we go from there. Finn will need to stay in hospital for at least a month if not more."

"Okay."

There was that word again. Why was Ben saying okay when it wasn't?

"We will be giving a cocktail of drugs to help with the side effects and keep him as comfortable as possible.

"Okay."

"I am also recommending radiation treatment alongside the Chemotherapy. His enlarged spleen is worrying."

Ben felt Lilly start to tremble even more. He knew that she didn't understand what Mr Freeman was telling them, that all the phrases and procedure names were like a foreign language to her. He gave her hand a squeeze, letting her know that he was there, that she wasn't alone.

"I am not going to hide the fact that Finn will be pretty sick for a while," Jarred continued "but the statistics for this type of Cancer point to a full recovery, in time."

"Okay."

Okay... okay... okay...

What else could he say?

Jarred continued with his explanation but Ben hardly took any information in. All he knew was his boy was sick, very sick and going to get sicker and you know what?

It wasn't okay. It really wasn't okay at all!

xxx

Finn's room was modern, very modern indeed!

Plush, brightly coloured sofa bed's and armchairs were welcome additions alongside the usual clinical hospital bed.

Being on the seventh floor, it had wonderful views of the city and the mountain range beyond. The floor to ceiling windows allowed the sun to bathe the room in natural light, giving it a very light and airy feel.

Lilly gasped in awe at the enormity of everything. She had forgotten how much more advanced Earth was and the plasma screen television, computer station and high tech medical equipment were a reminder of how simple life was back on Mandana.

Finn was going to be so confused by everything and she didn't know how to explain things to him. This will be a life changing time for him in many ways.

"You can put Finn's clothes in here."

Lilly quickly turned to face the porter who had opened the wardrobe to show her the storage.

"Right, yes. Thank you," she nodded.

"And you can personalise the walls if you have any photographs with you."

"I will. Thank you."

The porter hovered in the room for a while. Lilly wondered if she should ask him anything else but there was nothing to say really.

"Right," he cleared his throat eventually. "I will leave you to it," he smiled and backed out of the room.

"Thank you," Lilly repeated and watched him leave. After the door closed, she turned to look out of the window again.

Colorado stretched out in front of her, she could just about make out vehicles travelling along vast highways and strange metal birds flying in the skies.

She was a million light worlds away from home and felt so tiny and insignificant.

It wouldn't only be Finn's life that would be changed for good.

Xxx

"They're just bringing Finn up from recovery now," Ben wrapped his arms round Lilly's waist and rested his chin on top of her head.

"How is he?" Lilly asked as she continued to stare out of the window. The sun was beginning to dip behind the mountains, illuminating the room with a dusky orange glow.

"Sleepy and sore but fine," Ben assured gently. He had offered to go down with Finn for his surgery, knowing that Lilly needed some time alone to get her head round what was going on. As it was a simple procedure, Lilly hadn't put up an argument and that had spoken volumes to Ben about how she was feeling. All of this was so confusing and frightening to his wife and he felt so sorry for her. "He's a little nauseated from the anesthetic but they've given him something for it." He continued as he wrapped his arms tighter. "The first step taken, Lil."

"I don't think I can do this." Lilly's soft response shocked Ben.

"Of course you can," he replied equally as soft.

"I feel so out of my depth. I just don't know what is going to happen."

"What is going to happen is, we will put our son in the hands of the specialists and pray. We can do no more."

"But, what if our prayers aren't answered?"

Ben gently turned Lilly to face him. "We are not going to deal with what if's Lil," he sighed. "We are going to be positive and strong for our son."

"I know, but..."

Ben placed his finger on his wife's lips, halting her words. "No butt's Lilly Aston. Come on my love, you know what we tell our patients in situations like this. We have to take our own advice and be positive."

Lilly hung her head, took a deep cleansing breath and then turned to face Ben. "You are absolutely right," she nodded and patted his chest. "Take no notice of me; I'm going to be fine as is our precious boy."

"Good girl," Ben smiled and kissed her forehead, and at the sound of the door opening, the Platon Ashton's plastered smiles on their faces to greet their drowsy son.

It was time to stop feeling sorry for themselves and concentrate on getting their son through the next few months.

xxx

Lilly watched Connie as she immediately ran over to the doll's house, plonked herself down, picked up a doll and started to play.

The creative play area and sibling crèche was located on the first floor of the hospital and, again modern furniture and technology was prominent for the children's use.

As she waited for the nursery nurse to come back with the form she needed to fill in, Lilly looked around the room, hoping to find inspiration for the hospital back on Mandana. It was one area they needed to look at as more and more families had started travelling a long way for the expertise they provided. Most families bought with them extended members to help look after siblings of the sick children, but – like in Ben and Lilly's case now, many didn't have the luxury of inbuilt childcare, so to speak.

Ben and Lilly had been concerned about how to occupy their young daughter while they spent time with Finn but, when Connie started to play happily with another little girl, Lilly knew she didn't have to worry about her and could put all her effort into supporting her son.

Daniel had dropped Connie off as promised, along with a key to an apartment, which was only a block away. The hospital had wonderful facilities for families and they had been most comfortable sleeping in Finn's room but they had agreed that a complete break from the sterile environment was very important, especially for Connie and, hopefully, in a month or so Finn as well.

She was just grateful that the crèche seemed so wonderful; it would take a huge weight off their minds.

"Here we go Mrs Ashton," Lilly turned and smiled at the young nursery nurse who called her over to the main desk.

"We just need a few details." The nurse grabbed a pen and then turned over the first sheet. "I need your full name."

"Lilly Hanah Ashton."

"Address?"

"Oh yes – of course," Lilly reached into her pocket and retrieved the contact details Ben had written down for her. "830 S Cinmarron Way, Aurora, Colorado."

"Contact number."

"Um..."Lilly fumbled in her pocket and pulled out the cell phone Ben had given her. Her husband had given her a crash course on texting and phoning while they stayed with Finn last night. Although technology bamboozled her, she was beginning to take everything in her stride.

"Right," she pressed the button to switch it on. "I'm not very good with these things," she glanced up and smiled. "I'm sure my husband has put my number somewhere," she mused, pressing different number combinations.

"Do you want me to have a look?" The nurse held her hand out as Lilly started to get more and more flustered.

She sighed heavily and passed it over. "Thank you. It's new and I'm just trying to get used to it," she smiled gratefully.

The nurse then made quick work of opening the contact menu and soon found both Lilly's and Ben's numbers. She then turned to the paperwork again.

"So, Constance has a brother in the hospital at the moment, yes?"

"Yes, Finn."

"And he is in the Rick Wilson Centre?"

"Yes. He has Leukaemia and starts his chemo today." Lilly found herself shaking slightly as she explained Finn's condition to the nurse. She had been so occupied looking after Connie this morning while Ben saw to Finn that she'd almost forgotten that, in an hour's time, her son's treatment would be starting.

Everything seemed to be moving so fast and her head was spinning with information overload.

Knowing that her place was with Finn now, she answered the rest of the nurse's questions as quickly as she could and reminded her to contact them immediately if there were any problems at all before hurrying over to Connie.

"Hey sweetie," she knelt next to her daughter. "Mami is going to see Finny now," she smiled and brushed Connie's hair out of her eyes.

"'Kay Mami," Connie replied, not evening looking at her as she continued to play.

"Be a good girl."

"I will."

"We will come and see you later."

"'Kay." Connie picked up another doll and handed it to her new friend. "This is fun, Mami," she turned and grinned. "Can I stay here all day?"

Lilly smiled back, feeling relieved that Connie seemed more than happy to stay here. "Of course you can, if you want to."

"I want to!" Connie beamed and crawled over to the back of the dolls house.

Lilly stood and followed her. "Have fun," she said and kissed the top of her head.

"I will!"

With Connie occupied in play, Lilly took a deep breath, checked the time and then walked purposely towards the elevator.

Her daughter was more than happy.

Her son needed her now.

xxx

"So," Jarred double checked the IV settings. "You're all set," he smiled at Finn and then pushed the IV stand back slightly.

"So, that's it?" Lilly frowned, taking a seat at her son's side and taking his hand.

"Yes, that's it." Jarred confirmed, reached for Finn's chart and started to make notes. "It will take four hours to drip through so you're going to be bored more than anything, Finn."

Lilly hadn't really known what to expect. She had been warned about the side effects and how potent the regime Finn was going to have was but as she watched the clear liquid drip into the tubing and then into her son, it seemed innocuous enough.

She and Ben had been on tenterhooks, waiting and worrying for the past hour, trying to keep Finn from worrying as well but now that the treatment had actually started, there seemed to be an air of calm in the room.

"Can I walk round?" Finn asked as stared at his chest and then up at the IV bag.

Jarred placed the chart on the end of the bed, clicked his pen shut and popped it in his top pocket. "I'm afraid not," he sighed. "You need to keep as still as possible Finn."

"What if I need to, you know – go?"

"You tell someone and we'll help you."

"Oh," Finn sighed and Ben reached and placed his hand on his son's knee.

"Remember when I caught your youthspots and had to stay in hospital?"

"Yeah."

"Well, uncle Conrad made me pee in a bottle because I couldn't get out of bed. At first it was strange but I soon got used to it," Ben smiled confidently hoping that some of his confidence would rub off on Finn.

"I will, only if I had to," Finn grouched with a scowl.

Jarred leant on the end of the bed. "You have to keep the fluids up while you have the medication Finn so you have to get used to the bottle I'm afraid."

"Well, that's no fun." Finn's expression was one of disgust as he continued to complain. Ben felt so sorry for him but knew that this was just the start of what was going to be a long, hard, inhibition loosing process. Soon Finn would be too sick to care.

"No it's not fun but it is one of life's necessaries, I'm afraid," Jarred chuckled and pushed upright. "Okay, make yourselves comfortable. Finn – suck on as many mints as you want. The drugs might leave a nasty taste in your mouth. Apart from that, the first treatment shouldn't be too bad but if you feel unwell in any way you have to tell someone straight away, okay?"

"Okay," Finn sighed.

"I'll leave you to it then. Polly will be checking on things frequently so if you need anything at all or have any questions, just ask."

"Thank you," Lilly smiled and Jarred gathered his equipment together and left the family on their own.

For a while they all sat in silence, just watching the drugs drip into the tubing but eventually Ben grabbed his bag.

"Right, anyone for a game of cards?" He asked, holding up a pack.

"What's cards?" Finn frowned.

"Ah, young sir. You're in for a treat," Ben grinned, tipped the cards out and started to deal them out to his wife and son.

"Okay, you have four suits – diamonds, clubs, spades and hearts..."

xxx

"How is she?" Lilly turned at the sound of the door and smiled at her husband.

"She's fine but the crèche is closing in half an hour," Ben sighed, sat on the edge of the bed and began to pack away the cards.

They had managed to while away most of the time away playing, until Finn had snuggled down and fallen asleep. He was still out like a light as the last few drops of chemo dripped through the tubing.

"She's pretty tired but refusing to leave until she's finished the picture she's drawing," Ben continued giving the cards a shuffle before slotting them back in the box. "I said I'd go back in a while to collect her."

"Okay," Lilly whispered so not to wake her sleeping son and then moved to one side when Polly then entered the room.

"Ah, looks like he's all done," the young nurse smiled and crossed to disconnect the IV. "Has he been asleep long?" She asked as she pressed the buttons on the calibrating machine.

"Not long, about twenty minutes," Lilly confirmed.

"Okay," Polly nodded and moved to Finn's side and snapped on a pair of gloves. "Can I make a suggestion?"

"Of course."

"Why don't you both go and get some fresh air, perhaps something to eat? Finn will probably sleep for hours now."

"I really don't want to leave him alone..."

"We have him Lilly," Polly smiled as she capped off Finn's port. "This whole process is going to be long and arduous for the whole family, you need to learn to rest when Finn's does. He won't be alone and you know we'll contact you if there are any problems what so ever."

Lilly glanced at Ben. "Well..."she sighed. "...We do need to spend some time with Connie," she admitted. "And, maybe a shower and change of clothing would be good."

"I hear you have rented an apartment just round the corner," Polly placed all her rubbish in an emesis bowl. "Why don't you go home, unpack, eat something and then come back. By then young Finn here will more likely be bored again." She smiled.

"Actually," Ben sighed. "One of needs to stay with Connie. She's going to be very unsettled tonight."

"I know," Lilly agreed sadly. "I'd actually forgotten that we weren't staying here. We really need to discuss the logistics of the situation," she admitted.

"So," Polly lowered Finn's bed slightly. "Go home, sort yourselves out," she smiled and reached to dim the overhead light. "One of you stay with Constance and one come back."

"I think that's a very good idea," Ben agreed. "We won't be long and if anything..."

"We will contact you straightaway," Polly nodded. "Please don't worry; we know what we are doing. Finn is in very good hands. Rest while you can because there will be times when he will really need you." She picked up her equipment and made her way out of the room, pausing to lay a comforting hand on Ben's shoulder before she left the family alone again.

Lilly and Ben exchanged glances, neither really wanting to leave Finn but both knowing that Polly was absolutely right. Finn was in very good hands and they had a daughter who must be very confused and scared.

They needed to find a way to find the correct balance between their children.

xxx

"Right. I think this is it." Ben doubled checked the paperwork and then turned the key. The apartment the SGC had rented for them was literally a five minute walk from the hospital and, judging by the lobby it was obviously very luxurious indeed.

He flicked on the light. "Oh wow!" He exclaimed taking the enormity of the large open planned living area.

"This is too much." Lilly appeared at her side with a sleepy Connie in her arms. "You could fit our cottage into the space at least four times!"

"Yes, well," Ben tossed the keys onto a glass table. "This is Earth," he shrugged in way of explanation and then made his way further into the apartment, opening the doors off the living quarters as he passed. "Okay, this is obviously the master bedroom," he stated, popping his head into the first room. "It has an en suite which will be useful."

"What is an en suite?" Lilly asked as she quickly scanned the room for herself.

"It's another bathroom," Ben grinned before pulling the door shut and reaching to open the adjacent door.

"You mean we have more than one bathroom?"

"Most houses here do," Ben confirmed and then stepped into the next bedroom. "Look at this Connie boo," he turned and grinned at his daughter. "You and Finn have bunk beds!"

"Now, that is a good idea," Lilly nodded and moved over to the beds. "This would be most useful back at home. It would give their bedrooms much more space."

"I'm sure I could make something like this." Ben patted the wooden frame and then held his arms out for his daughter. "What do you think, sweetie?" She asked as Connie quickly clambered into his arms.

"It's nice," she grinned. "Look papi, look at the animals on the walls." She pointed towards the bear and lion prints on the walls.

"Really cool," Ben grinned back and then crossed to the closets. "Good old Daniel," he nodded when he noticed that Connie's clothes had been unpacked and put away. "Actually, good old Sam too," he added when he realised that a few Earth style articles had been added as well.

"I like that!" Connie reached over and grabbed a pink dressing gown and Ben put her down and helped her into it.

"I look like the princess in that princess and that pea book, don't I mami," she giggled as she spun around.

"Yes you do," Lilly smiled. "And, look," she walked over to the bookcase under the window. "There are plenty of books here for you and Finny."

Connie dashed over, plucked a book of the shelf, plonked herself down, sat crossed legged and started to flick through it. "This is sooo cool, Finny is gonna love dis!"

Lilly and Ben stood and watched their daughter for a while with huge smiles on their faces, Constance was happy.

Ben eventually took a deep breath. "Well, while she's occupied," he stated and let the breath go. "Let's explore the rest of the place," he wrapped an arm round Lilly's shoulders and stirred her out of the room.

"How could you give all this up," Lilly sighed as they walked into the plush leaving area. "I mean, all the technology and wealth. Why give this up to come and live on Mandana where everything is so simple? I don't understand."

Ben sat on one of the huge leather sofas and patted the space next to him. Lilly sighed again and then sat down. Ben took her hand in this.

"All this," he waved his other arm around the room. "Means nothing to me," he shrugged. "All of this is decorative but has no substance. It is skin deep. What I have on Mandana is riches beyond my wildest dreams, Lilly."

"I don't understand," Lilly repeated.

"What I have on Mandana is family and I wouldn't trade my life there for any technology or luxury that Earth offers me."

"You wouldn't?"

"No, I wouldn't. Mandana is home for me because of you," he reached and caressed Lilly's cheek. "I am home when I am with you, Lils."

Lilly stroked the hand that stroked her face. "What if we move here?" She suggested tentatively.

Ben shook his head. "I wouldn't be happy."

"You wouldn't."

"Nope."

"Why."

"Because you wouldn't be happy."

"I would try."

"I know you would but your family is not here."

"Yes it would be. You Finn and Connie are..."

"Only part of your family," Ben smiled softly. "I would never ask you to give up your family for me, Lils."

"But you did, for me."

"I know but, apart from Conner and don't forget, we hadn't spoken for years, there was nothing to keep me here."

"Not even wealth and luxury."

"Especially wealth and luxury." Ben tipped Lilly's chin and then kissed her passionately. "I am the wealthiest man in the universe," he said as he pulled away "because I have you."

Lilly smiled and then rested her head on his shoulders. "I love you Benjamin."

"And I love you Lilly."

The young couple then enjoyed a few quiet moments together, away from the stresses and worry that the hospital bought.