Artie could only stand and stare at the suitcase that lay before him. He had no idea what was going on, yet he sensed that it had something to do with him. Was Marge planning a surprise visit today only to see him with another woman? That seemed like the most likely reason for Marge's sudden urge to pack, she knew about the dinner tonight so there could not be another explanation other than that she saw something.

"Uhhh…I can explain…" Artie said nervously wondering how he could actually explain something as bad as he had just done.

Marge grabbed a pair of jeans hanging in the closet and brought it over to the suitcase before wiping a tear from her eye. She then sat down next to it and looked up at Artie with a sad face. "You didn't do anything wrong Artie…it's my Dad."

Artie let out a sigh of relief, he was off the hook, Marge did not know what he had done thank goodness. But something else was wrong now, what was wrong with her father that would make her pack like this? They had never needed her like this before. "What happened?" He finally had to ask.

"He's in the hospital now. For about a week, he's been having these really bad coughs that make it sound like he has a bad cold and that's what Mom thought, he just had a bad cold. Until this afternoon when he had trouble breathing and nearly fainted after just walking to the car. Mom said I need to come back and visit for a few days and maybe listen to the doctors prognoses," Marge said with a heavy sigh. She was taking it well after what she explained, Artie knew what the problem might be and if his assumptions were correct, things would not be good for Mr. Bouvier.

"So there's no chance in going out to dinner tonight?" Artie asked as he reached into his pocket and felt for the box to remind him what he wanted to do with her tonight.

"Oh Artie, I would love to, but I'm not in the mood any more, I'm just too upset right now knowing that my Dad's health has gone downhill. And I know why too, it's from all that smoking! I'm so glad I never took that horrible stuff up," Marge said bitterly. This made Artie flinch a little, he would hate to see how angry she would sound if she had seen him with the girl.

Artie let out a sigh, he knew he could not force her to go out, otherwise if he did she would probably say no when the time came for him to ask. He had to let her go, as annoying as it was to change plans, he knew she had to go and see her father again. What if he didn't have much time left, Marge would never let Artie live it down if she didn't get to say goodbye. Oh what a horrible thought that was!

"When do you plan on heading out?" Artie asked.

"As soon as I'm done packing, if I leave soon, I should be back in Springfield by sometime early tomorrow," Marge replied as she wiped another tear out of her eye and rummaged through her clothes some more.

Artie stood there watching Marge do her thing, and as he did so, he got really concerned. She was leaving later in the day and would be driving most of the night. She would be sleep deprived by morning and it just wouldn't be a good thing for her to drive. She was also clearly upset, and crying was not a good thing to do while driving. Artie knew he had to be the good boyfriend and take action.

"Marge, do you want me to help you get there?"

Marge stopped what she was doing and looked back at Artie. She wasn't expecting him to help, she was just expecting him to be caring about the situation which he was doing a good job at, even though it messed up dinner plans. But of course, this act of kindness could be the next great idea for what was in store. She did need time to compose while getting there and maybe talk about what was going on. Yes, she needed him more than she realized.

"You don't mind?"

"Not at all, you can stay there as long as you want, if its longer than the weekend, I will just let the guys at work know that I will be missing for a few days," Artie replied with a concerned smile.

Marge must have been really stressed because to Artie it didn't sound like much of a big deal to him. But Marge overwhelmed by his offer because a moment later she let the tears fall down her face before leaping forward to hug him tightly. "Oh Artie it would mean so much to me if you did."

Artie let Marge embrace him for as long as she wanted, he knew she was upset and that she needed to let her emotions out, sooner or later they would have to and luckily it would not be out on a dark road somewhere. But as Marge hugged him, he began to get concerned, he had embraced Olivia only hours before and she had a very pleasant aroma about her from the perfume she wore, what if Marge could smell that? Finally he had to push her away and looked her in the eyes.

"I should shower before we get going, we probably should not waste valuable time," Artie said.

Marge only nodded as she sat back down on the bed and stared into the suitcase as if she was wondering what else to bring, while Artie quickly made his way to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. For a moment he stood against the door, a little glad that Marge was too upset to notice anything strange about him, he still felt a little guilty about it all, but then again he knew that it wasn't as bad as the first time and that was in the past. What Marge didn't know couldn't hurt her. For now, he just had to worry about getting her back to Springfield and hopefully proposing to her soon.

"If you want, we could go to dinner in Springfield," Marge said to Artie while he drove the car down the highway.

"Huh?" Artie replied as he looked back at Marge. They had both been quiet for a good hour now; Artie knew that Marge had a lot on her mind and that she needed time to think before seeing her Dad. He of course was thinking about the events that went on that day, unsure if whether there really was no harm done after nearly giving in to temptation.

"We can go to dinner in Springfield if you want," Marge said again.

Artie thought for a moment, it had been a while since he spent some time in a good restaurant there. He wondered if the Gilded Truffle was still around, that place was sure to bring in some good romance and a good time to pop the question.

"If we find the time, how about The Gilded Truffle?" Artie finally asked.

"Oh that's very fancy, even fancier than the one we were supposed to go to tonight, do you think we can afford it?" Marge asked.

"I'll figure something out," Artie said with a sigh. He knew Marge was right, that place was more for rich people than anyone else. He could probably pay for it, but then he would most likely be very broke after all was said and done. It would probably be a few days before they decided on anything any way. Marge would be too busy with her family while he sat on the sidelines and waited for her to come to him for comfort. He knew he had to be patient even though he wanted to propose to her.

"Sorry this happened at such a bad time, I know how excited you were about tonight," Marge said as she wiped away a few tears that were falling down her face. Not only was she upset about her father, but she also felt bad for the change in plans. She wanted to go out with Artie for some time and when both realized that four years were coming up, both jumped to the idea of a good romantic restaurant

"Eh these things happen, there's always another day I guess," Artie sighed trying not to sound upset about the change in plans.

"And thank you for caring enough to want to drive me home," Marge said calmly as she leaned over and snuggled Artie.

He looked down at Marge, her head was pressed against his shoulder and her hand was on his chest. Artie quickly returned the gesture by putting his arm around her shoulder while her frown turned into a very satisfied smile as she closed her eyes.

"Go ahead and sleep, we got a long drive ahead," Artie said as he gave Marge's shoulder a little squeeze.

Marge murmured quietly while Artie kept his eyes on the road. It really was going to be a long night and he hoped he could be up to the challenge of driving so far for so long. He knew he could do it though, there were a lot of questions forming in his mind from Olivia to Mr. Bouvier, he had all the time in the world to think about it all.

Olivia was especially an important priority; he wondered why she was after him and not the other guys at work. Maybe it was because she liked how he did it, maybe she was just testing him. Whatever the reason, she would be gone in two months, both going their separate ways in technology. He would be back in Springfield and Olivia who knows where. Sure she was a beautiful woman and friendly at times, but so was Marge and Artie cared enough to go all out and do something for the woman he cared more about. If Olivia needed something, he would only walk away from the idea, hopefully if she didn't drag him along. Women, they were such a strange bunch, why did he have to give in to so many urges around them? So many times he wanted to just grab Marge and have his way with her, but of course she was tougher than she looked and she was never really into any sort of monkey business unless she wanted it. This of course was probably the reason for what he had done to Olivia months ago. Marge had not been in the mood for a while and finally he just couldn't contain his urges and went for it.

He was amazed Marge did not expect something was up; he was two hours late getting home and blamed it on a project he had to finish on time. He could have done it tonight too and come home late, Marge probably would not care then either, she probably would not even notice being so worried about her father and all. Cheating was apparently easier than it sounded.

But cheating of course was wrong and it didn't matter if it was easy, he loved someone he had known for a very long time. Ever since prom he wanted to marry Marge, and as the years went by the idea of having a family down the road sounded nice. He could see it happening, a son or two and maybe a daughter, he would work at a good company where he would be happy and thriving. Life would be grand. Too bad he could not get the really good job he wanted from Capitol City instead of Springfield, he had the power to, but Marge didn't want Capitol City, it was too big to her and she wanted to start out small and of course stay closer to family.

"Oh well," Artie thought "the things we do for love."

It was almost eight in the morning when they finally reached their destination at the Springfield Hospital. Artie lead Marge into the main entrance where it was already hustling and bustling with people. Marge did not have to go to the receptionist to ask where her family was; her mother had already given her instructions on where to go and quickly made her way to the elevator with Artie in tow. It wasn't a long ride up the elevator and it wasn't a fast one either, Artie did wish it would finish quicker though; Marge was getting very anxious as she kept pacing back and forth. As soon as the doors opened, she burst out leaving Artie behind to fend for himself.

Of course Artie had spent all night driving, so he was a little exhausted and in no mood to move too fast as he slowly left the elevator and followed the sounds of Marge's shoes on the linoleum tile. After a few moments though, the sound vanished and Artie had to rely on sight rather than sound. He made his way down the hall, peeking in and out of all the rooms to look for any familiar faces. He finally found where Marge ran off to in the second to last room and entered to find Marge hugging both her sisters while her mother sat in a nearby chair watching them before turning to see Artie walking in.

"Oh you came to visit too I see," Jacqueline said as she got up to hug him.

"Yeah I thought I should help your daughter get here," Artie replied as he hugged her back.

"Well thank you so much for doing so, the doctor wants to talk with us in about an hour about Clancy's condition in a separate room, so you can keep him company while we do that," Jacqueline said as she nodded at her husband.

Artie turned to look at Clancy Bouvier, expecting to see someone very fragile and sick looking. Instead though, he actually didn't look too bad at all, he did look tired but that was normal for anyone who was on medication and stuck in a hospital bed. For some reason though, Artie could sense optimism in his face, as if he knew it was nothing too serious. Hopefully that was the case.

"Hello Artie," Clancy said in a voice that didn't sound exhausted at all either.

"Hello Mr. Bouvier, how is everything?" Artie asked.

"Oh, I've been coughing on and off and my breathing is not the same but I'm alright, I think I'll live a few more years," Clancy chuckled a little before starting to cough heavily. Artie flinched, it sounded like he was about to cough up a lung.

"Hrmm, wasn't that what Uncle Merl said after he croaked a week later?" Asked Patty. She tried to whisper it to her sister but Marge, Artie and Jacqueline could all hear it.

"Patty! Show some respect please," Jacqueline said.

Artie saw Patty roll her eyes before she walked out of the room, a carton of cigarettes in tow, apparently seeing her sick father in the hospital due to too much smoking didn't phase her one bit. Selma seemed to stay put and watched worriedly as her sister walked out of the room. At least one of the twins had the idea that kicking the habit would be a good idea.

The hour ticked by and the family talked a bit about what Marge was doing and how excited they were about her being done with school soon. They were proud of her for being able to finish college and get a nice career and that Artie had been a great help throughout the entire time. As they talked, Artie took a seat near the window listening quietly and nodding in agreement from time to time. But after a while he drifted off and took a nap until the doctor showed up to take the girls to his office and discuss what was going on.

Once all four girls had left the room, the atmosphere got amazingly quiet, something that Artie was happy about so he could sleep a little bit more and so could Clancy if he wanted to. But before nodding off, Artie decided to check his coat pocket to make sure the ring box was there. He was so busy helping Marge that he thought he forgot about it, but it was there in his coat pocket waiting to be shown. Artie let out a sigh and took it out to inspect it really quick, he tried to do it secretly but apparently Clancy was watching him.

"Well it's about time," Clancy exclaimed while Artie tried to put the box back into his pocket as quickly as possible. Artie then sat there smiling at Clancy, not sure what to say about the idea. "You were going to propose to her last night weren't you?"

"Yes sir," Artie said quietly.

"Just another reason why I know I am not dying yet," Clancy said as he adjusted his bed so that he could sit up a little better to talk to Artie. Artie let out a sigh; apparently it was going to be a while before he got any real rest.

"I like how you are optimistic," Artie finally said.

"Of course I am, sure I still feel lousy but I know the doctor will help me and I can stay in top form for him. Besides I want to see at least one of my daughters succeed with a man in the long run, looks like Marge wins at that one. Of course you have to promise me one thing," Clancy said as he pointed a finger at Artie.

"What's that?"

"You'll give me a grandchild."

Artie stared back at Clancy; apparently he had been waiting for this for a long time. Patty and Selma never found anyone, so now he was forced to wait and Artie seemed to fix that for him. Artie had thought about kids before, but he wasn't in a rush to have one right away. He wanted to be in the right position for that first, maybe a year after marriage would work but only if Marge was up to it too. Having a baby would be a huge change in their lives, so it was best to plan things ahead.

"I promise, just stay with us a few more years," Artie smiled.

"Oh I promise that too, and I thank you for being there for Marge. You have helped turn her into a lovely young lady, who knows what would have happened if she did not follow you on the path of college. I don't think she would have done it; I'm not sure what she would be doing now either. I just know that she did the right thing and that you are to thank for it. Now if only the other two would follow her example, but you know how they are, so stubborn those two," Clancy said before letting out a heavy cough. "Oooh, thought I was gonna hack something up there for a second."

Artie stared at him nervously, he really hoped that nothing life threatening would happen while alone in the room with him. Of course the nurses and doctors were just outside the door but Artie knew he would probably panic before even thinking about going outside to tell someone. Luckily though, Clancy didn't have that problem yet and kept right on talking. "Just remember, Artie, you got a good woman there, take care of her and love her like I do with my Jacky. It's an unbinding love that will span for years; you'll never want to be apart from her. And always remember the most important word you need to say to a woman is, you know what it is?"

"I love you?" Artie asked.

"What? Hell no! ...Well they love that, but they also love it when you say 'you're right honey,'" Clancy grinned.

"I'll try to remember that," Artie said as he tried not to laugh.

It wasn't long after their conversation came to a close that Dr. Langley entered the room with the girls in tow. As soon as they walked in, Artie could tell that something was wrong, the girls were very quiet and Jacqueline had a very sad look on her face that Clancy noticed right away before turning to the doctor for news.

"Well Mr. Bouvier, it's not lung cancer," Dr. Langley began.

"Then why do the girls look so upset?" Clancy asked as he sat up worriedly.

"Because Mr. Bouvier, even though it is not cancer, it is another disease that is close to it. It's a long term progressive disease known as Emphysema. There are small airways in your lungs that collapse when you exhale and that was probably the reason for your fainting yesterday," Dr. Langley explained.

"Well then is it treatable?" Clancy asked.

"Well first of all, you need to rid yourself of the smoking habit, that's what caused it. If you smoke more, the quicker your lungs will fail and your body will go downhill quickly after that."

"So I just need to stop smoking, then and I'll be fine?"

"I wish it were that easy, but unfortunately due to your smoking habit, your quality of life has dropped significantly and if we don't do surgery soon, you might not survive more than a year."

Clancy looked at the doctor worriedly before turning to the family, all of them looking very upset, especially Jacqueline who finally ran up to him and hugged him tightly. The girls only watched from the sidelines as tears formed down their faces. Artie only stood there, realizing that it was more serious than Clancy thought; his life was definitely changing significantly.

"So what are the options?" Clancy asked once Jacqueline let go.

"Well the first option we all agreed not to do because, most patients don't make it and that is a lung transplant. The other one is a wedge resection where basically we remove a piece of the lung that is damaged. You're quality of life will increase, but by only a few years."

"And by a few years, how long is that?" asked Clancy.

"Five, maybe eight at the most," Dr. Langley said sadly.

Clancy stared back at Dr. Langley with a sad face, he was definitely not expecting this diagnoses, he thought it was just a small cold that sounded worse than everyone realized. But his thoughts were wrong and now he was paying the price. He then turned to his family, his wife Jacqueline was staring back with tears in her eyes; obviously upset knowing that he would not be around for old age. Marge was sitting beside Artie, her head on his shoulder crying while he comforted her the best he could in his exhausted state. The twins looked down at the floor sadly, rarely did they cry but it was very obvious that they were saddened to learn of their father's condition.

Clancy knew though that if something could be fixed to extend his life, he needed to try it so he could be with his family for as long as he could. He could not leave Jacqueline so soon, they needed each other and Jacqueline would be heartbroken. Of course she would be either way, but the more time they had together, the more time his wife would learn to cope through the situation.

"When can we do the surgery?" He finally replied.

"The earliest I can get you in is tomorrow morning at eight, the surgery will take a few hours and you will be in the hospital for about ten days afterward," Dr. Langley said.

Clancy only nodded and let out a sigh, in twenty-four hours he would be under while the doctors cut him open to save his life for more years to come. He knew it was a good thing for Jacqueline to be there when he fainted because if she wasn't he would have dismissed it as nothing and went about his normal routine until something worse happened. Of course now he needed to make a few changes as well, no more smoking was one of them and he wondered if he would be able to do it. That tobacco really was addicting, too bad it was so life threatening too. But it was better to stay optimistic, maybe the doctor was wrong and the surgery would save his life and he would live longer than what he was telling them. Yeah it was better to keep your chin up.

"Now guys, don't cry for me, I'm not dead yet. Just keep your chin up and look on the bright side," Clancy told them his voice never cracking.

"We will do our best Dad," Marge replied as she made her way forward and hugged him tightly. Clancy returned the gesture and looked over at Artie while he was doing so.

"Just remember, even during the bleakest times, a new hope will shine for you."

Artie knew exactly what Clancy was saying.

A new day arrived; Clancy was prepped for surgery and went in with a brave face right at eight in the morning. For the first hour, the entire family remained silent as they sat together in the waiting room waiting for any news of what was going on. Artie sat with them; he had actually let the Bouvier's be together for the rest of the day while he went home to see his family and get a nice long rest. Now that the new day was here, he was well rested and willing to be with them as they waited for Clancy to come out of surgery safely. Of course he had other plans in mind as well.

As the hour ticked by, Artie knew he could not hide the hope of proposing with Marge any longer and finally decided he needed to go for a walk with Marge.

"Hey Marge," He called out in the silent waiting room.

"Yes Artie?" Marge looked up startled.

"Ummm…would you be willing to wander around the hospital with me?" Artie asked.

Marge stared at him curiously for a moment before responding. "Sure," she finally replied.

Artie lead the way out of the waiting room and together they walked down the lonely halls of the hospital, passing doors filled with people just like them hoping for their family member to get better. But like Clancy told him yesterday, even during the bleakest times, a new hope will come. He realized that eating out wasn't that important and how often could you propose to someone in the halls of a hospital wing? Well maybe not in the hall but somewhere better. He just had to find it.

"You gotta admit, this is better than sitting in the waiting room for hours," Artie said while looking around for the perfect place.

"Yeah it kind of is, helps you clear your mind a little any way," Marge replied with a sigh as Artie led her into a nearby elevator.

Artie only nodded while he tried to figure out where a best place to propose would be. And that's when he remembered the front entrance near the gift shop and chapel where a lovely water fountain stood and people could be by it to watch the water fall through the many sluices it had, it would be perfect. As soon as the doors of the elevator opened, Artie grabbed Marge by the hand and led her toward the fountain.

"Artie slow down, I think I know where you are taking me and truthfully I know what everything looks like now," Marge said as she tried to keep up with him.

"Oh you haven't seen everything Marge," Artie replied with a smile.

Marge stared at him curiously as he made his way toward the fountain and stopped right in front of it where he watched the water flow all around it for a few seconds. It was a very pretty fountain, mostly green with three cascading layers that the water flowed down on. On the top stood a cross and all over the water were pennies that many threw in for luck. At the moment, the lighting in that part of the wing was just right, making the water shine as it fell into the pool below.

"You know Marge, we have known each other for a very long time now," Artie finally said after staring at the water.

"Yes we have, and I have no idea what I would have done without you after first hearing about my father," Marge said with a sigh as she sat down on the water's edge looking rather lovely with the lighting and the sound of the water mixing in with her words. To any random person who did not know her or love her, she looked very haggard and worn, but to Artie she looked radiant and strong. He knew the family would get through this hard time and it would start with Marge.

"I think it would have been much harder for you, just imagine if I didn't even care and just let you go on your own," Artie said, thinking about how he could have been selfish enough to even spend a few hours with Olivia instead of her.

"Yeah it would have been a lonely drive," Marge sighed as she looked down at the floor not even thinking about why Artie was asking her these questions.

"But apparently I love you enough to want to take you all the way out here to see your father and I hope what I did made you realize how lucky you are to have a boyfriend like me," Artie said not really thinking through with what he said.

"Artie, don't be arrogant, now's not the time," Marge replied with annoyance in her voice.

Artie looked back at Marge nervously, realizing what he said was a bit arrogant and when he did that Marge was usually not in any mood to talk to him after that. "Sorry Marge, it's just hard to come up with the right words for what I am about to do," Artie said with a nervous grin.

Marge stared back at Artie and glared for a moment. But that grin brought her frown to a concerned smile. Whatever Artie was doing, he was trying his best to make her happy. And it was hard to do so when so many thoughts were brimming in her mind. "Go ahead Artie."

"Marge, we've been together for so long, we've dealt with tough semesters, long hours of studying, through thick and thin and yet we are still together no matter what. And truthfully I don't want to end yet, I'm willing to take our relationship to the moon and back if you let me. Remember what your father told us last night, that even during the bleakest times; a new hope will shine through. I don't know about you but I call that an opportunity."

Marge stared back at Artie hanging on to his every word. For someone who was known to sound a bit arrogant at times, he sure knew how to make up for it when he was really desperate. And even though he was arrogant, especially during times when she was under the most stress, he always knew how to change everything and make her feel better. It was true that they had many moments where they nearly split up from each other, but they would always make up within a few hours, knowing that they needed each other. Of course Artie turned his back on Marge with Olivia but he was going to fix that, she would be out of his life soon, and in the future it would just be a funny memory that only he had. He hoped he would never give into temptation again.

"What kind of opportunity?" Marge asked curiously.

Artie smiled and took the ring box out of his pocket before kneeling to the ground in front of the fountain. He opened the box revealing the diamond ring inside. "Will you marry me Marge?"

Marge stood there in shock for the longest moment while people around her watched with anticipation on what she was about to say. Yes this had to be the new hope her father was telling them about. For that amazing moment, Marge felt like she was on top of the world and everything was going to be alright. The man she had been with since senior prom wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. In truth, Marge had been waiting for this for a while now and she was also willing to spend the rest of her life with him, they've gone this far, why not? Then without a second thought, Marge leapt at Artie, hugging him tightly and excitedly said "Yes!"

A/N: Holy crap nearly six thousand words! Haven't done that in a while. But yes I kind of psyched you out up there with Marge packing and everything. Also before anyone gets all nitpicky on me, I have a few things I want to say. First off Clancy really is the name of Marge's father, that's what many sources say any way. I know it's kind of odd especially since Clancy is also the name of Chief Wiggum, I guess they weren't really thinking. Also since the next chapter is going back to Homer I just thought I should let you know that he does make it out of surgery so he is fine for now. And yes a Wedge resection really is a medical procedure. I did some homework, yay!

Any way I should probably get to work on part two of Hope and Expectations since it's been about a month and I promised one a month. So be on the lookout for that. I have no idea what I will be doing for the Lisa part so if anyone has any ideas feel free to shout it out to me. I don't mind help. I also find it funny that I can make the Simpson Fan feel awkward. Hee hee!

Any way please review when you all can.