The new year had begun and it was time for the double birthday celebration for Matt and Lexi. Julie, Lily and Landon were getting the house ready.

"How old are you going to be, Lexi?" asked Lily, looking at her baby sister, happily sitting in her swing. Lexi held up one finger.

"That's right!" said Julie. "You are going to be such a big girl!"

"What about Daddy?" asked Landon, who was coloring a picture at the table. "How old he be?"

Julie said, "Twenty-nine."

"Dat's weally old," said Landon.

"Well," said Julie, "it seems old to you since you're not even three years old."

"Oh," said Landon, going back to his coloring.

Throughout the day, Julie, Lily and Landon put up decorations and blew up balloons. Lexi just sat and watched, as she was too little to help much.

On the day of the party, Julie brought two birthday cakes out to the table. She had them decorated to look like footballs.

"Okay," said Julie. "Let's sing!" The family sang, "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Lexi-"

Landon piped up, "And Daddy!"

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Matt picked up Lexi and said, "Thank you so much. It means so much to me to be able to spend my birthday with the four most important people in my life."

"Don't you mean five?" asked Lily.

"Five?"

"Yeah," said Lily. "You've forgotten Teddy." Teddy ran in the room and laid at Lily's feet.

"Oh, right," said Matt. "Hello, Teddy."

"Let's see how Lexi likes cake," said Julie, giving Lexi a slice. Lexi immediately wolfed it down and begged for more.

"Dear God," said Matt, jokingly, "What have you done?"

***
Despite happy times such as the double birthday, all was not well in the Saracen house. Matt and Julie had been under a lot of stress over the past year and it was starting to show. They found themselves fighting and arguing much more lately. Usually, the fights were over how they coped differently. Matt felt that Julie didn't realize how sick Landon and Lexi were. Julie felt that Matt was fixated on it and wasn't enjoying them as much as he should as a result.

Their tensions boiled over in late March, shortly after Landon's third birthday party. Lily had recently turned six as well.

The night of the party, Julie was cleaning up and called, "Matt, could you give me a hand?"

"With what?"

"Party cleanup."

Matt came down and said, "Toddlers really can make quite a mess."

"Isn't that the truth?" said Julie.

Matt said, "Julie, I don't know how you do it."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how you can go on planning birthday parties and weekend trips and all that and just pretend that things are okay when they aren't."

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to constantly fixate on our kids being sick and just trying to treat them normally!" said Julie angrily.

"They're not!" yelled Matt.

"I just don't constantly treat them like they're dying, the way you do!" screamed Julie, getting defensive.

"I do not!"

Julie, by now irate, said, "Then why didn't you want Landon to start preschool this year and why did you insist on not letting him out of the house practically the entire winter?"

"I don't want him to get another cold! You saw what happened the last time he got a cold. He could have died!"

"Listen to yourself! Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?" Julie was enraged. "We can't shelter Landon and Lexi forever. What kind of life is that, anyway, to be locked in the house for months at a time so you won't get a cold? That's not really living!"

"I was trying to protect him!" said Matt, now enraged himself.

"Well, you're being overly protective ," said Julie. "Landon and Lexi can't live life in a bubble. You need to get used to that." Julie walked upstairs to go to bed and said, "And don't follow me, Saracen!"

"Then where am I supposed to sleep?" asked Matt, obviously annoyed.

"The couch," said Julie, tossing him a blanket.

Matt knew he wasn't winning this argument. Julie calling him "Saracen" was not a good sign. Matt turned around and saw Landon in the kitchen. His face was blotchy and it was obvious he had been crying.

"Oh, Landon, buddy, did you hear that?" asked Matt. Landon nodded. "Well, it's okay. No one's yelling anymore."

"I want some water," said Landon. "Dat's why I came down."

"Oh," said Matt.

"Why were you and Mommy shouting?" asked Landon, obviously shaken.

"We just had a disagreement," said Matt. "It happens." Matt then got Landon a cup of water and said, "Landon, can I sleep in your room tonight? I don't want to sleep alone."

"Okay," said Landon. The two of them went upstairs. Matt hooked Landon up to his CPAP machine and said, "Good night, Landon. Everything's going to be okay."

"Good night, Daddy," said Landon, his voice muffled by the facial mask. He then fell asleep.

Matt was worried though. Although he had told Landon everything was going to be okay, he wasn't entirely sure if he believed himself. He and Julie had been married for six and a half years and while they had had minor disagreements and arguments, this was the first major fight they had had, and for the first time, Matt wondered whether or not their marriage would survive.

***
The next morning, Matt said, "Julie, we need to talk. Last night, after you went upstairs, I saw Landon in the kitchen. He had come down to get a drink of water, but he ended up hearing our fight. And he was clearly shaken by it. Julie, we really messed up last night."

"I think so, too," said Julie. " This is starting to get out of hand. I don't think we can handle this ourselves. I think we need professional help."

"Professional help?" asked Matt. "You mean, like a marriage counselor?"

"Yes," said Julie. "I think we may need to go to marriage counseling."

The marriage counseling session was helpful for both of them. Matt and Julie were told that the first year with sick kids was always the hardest, that they should probably just put aside their issues with each other and focus on the kids for now, and that people cope in different ways and they shouldn't hold that against each other. One session was all they needed.

When they got home from the marriage counseling session and had put the kids to bed, Matt told Julie, "I have an idea."

"What is it?" asked Julie.

"We need to start a foundation for cystic fibrosis. You know, a foundation to help raise awareness, to give money to patient groups, and to help science find a cure. We should do this to help other children with the disease who are suffering in anonymity. What do you think?"

"I think that's a great idea!" said Julie. "We need to get the word out."

"And with every touchdown pass I throw, a sum of money will be given towards CF research," said Matt.

"We can call it Touchdowns for a Cure," said Julie.

"Perfect name!" said Matt.

"Okay," said Julie. "Let's do this."

***
Time went by. Matt and Julie got Touchdowns for a Cure started and running. Landon was evaluated over the summer and was discovered to have gained five pounds since the feeding tube had been put in.

"Wow," said Matt. "That's great!"

"It sure is," said Julie. "Landon really was rail-thin before. I never really noticed that until he gained that weight."

"That's right," said the doctor. "I am very glad to see that weight gain."

The new season began in September. Matt threw for two touchdowns in the first game, one in the second, and three in the third. With each touchdown, a sum of money went to CF research and Touchdowns for a Cure.

In the fourth game, however, Matt ended up hurting his ankle. X-rays showed that the ankle was not broken, just sprained. But he would still have to miss a few weeks.

Two days later, Matt hobbled in the house and noticed Lily watching TV and looking very solemn.

"Hey, Lily, what're you watching?" asked Matt, sitting down next to her. He knew, somehow, that he had to find a way to give Lily enough time and attention.

"SportsCenter," said Lily.

"Well, what's with sad-looking face? SportsCenter isn't sad. You see me on it sometimes," said Matt.

"I know," said Lily. "I was watching the hockey news." Lily played hockey and was a huge fan and followed the NHL very closely.

"Well, what's sad about hockey?" asked Matt.

"There was an accident," said Lily, still looking very solemn.

"Accident?" asked Matt. "What do you mean, an accident?"

"Watch," said Lily. Matt did so and soon realized what she meant.

"It's amazing that those guys both lived," said Matt, after watching the story.

"Yeah," said Lily. "How awful that one player must feel."

"I know," said Matt, holding Lily close and marveling at how wise beyond her years she was.

"We need to follow this," said Lily.

"And we will," said Matt.

About a week later, when Matt came home, he noticed Lily once again watching SportsCenter.

"Did you hear, Daddy?" asked Lily.

"Yes," said Matt. "He died, didn't he?" Lily nodded.

Lily looked at Matt and said, as they walked upstairs to her room, "All day, I've been thinking about a team, a city, a family and a man that have to all be hurting real bad right now."

Matt stopped dead in his tracks, amazed once again at how wise beyond her years Lily was.

Lily continued, "Daddy, I want to change my hockey number to 37, because the guy who died was number 37."

Matt said, "How about honoring both of them? You could wear number 52. The player who survived is number 15, and 37 plus 15 is 52."

Lily said, "Okay. That works. 52."

Just then, Landon called, "Daddy, I think Lexi needs help."

"Then help her with whatever she wants, then," said Matt.

"No, I really think she really needs help," called Landon.

Matt hobbled into Lexi's room and noticed that Lexi's face was gray, she wasn't breathing and her eyes were full of terror.

Landon said, "See, she needs help."

Matt screamed, "JULIE! GET UP HERE! QUICK! LEXI ISN'T BREATHING! HURRY!"

Julie rushed in and got Lexi out of her crib, and said, "Lily, call 911! Tell them we have a baby who isn't breathing." She then starting performing CPR on Lexi.

"Does she have a pulse?" asked Matt.

"Let me check. You take over the breathing," said Julie.

As Matt did the mouth-to-mouth breathing for Lexi, Julie called, "Yes, she has a pulse."

"The ambulance is on the way," called Lily.

Matt and Julie continued to work on Lexi until the ambulance crew came. Soon, Lexi began to breathe on her own again, although her face was still gray.

"We need to get her to the hospital and figure out what caused her to stop breathing," said the medic.

Matt, Julie, Lily and Landon followed the ambulance to the hospital where Landon had spent a lot of time the previous fall. A chest X-ray was ordered and Lexi was diagnosed with pneumonia. Julie followed her to the PICU and told Matt, "You take Lily and Landon home and put them to bed. I'll stay here with Lexi."

"Okay," said Matt, who looked down at Lexi and said, "You're lucky you have such a persistent big brother. And a mommy that doesn't lose her head in a crisis."

In the car on the way Matt said, "I hope that wasn't too upsetting for you two. We had to take you because we'd never be able to get a baby-sitter on such short notice."

"It's okay," said Landon.

"Oh, and Landon, you are a real lifesaver," said Matt. "If you hadn't been so persistent in calling me, I probably wouldn't have gotten to Lexi in time."

Landon replied, "I don't know what I did, but I'm glad I did it."

When they got home, Matt called, "Okay, who's ready for bed?"

"I know Lily is," said Landon, looking at Lily, who had slept all the way home.

Matt said, "Lily, wake up. I can't carry you upstairs with my sprained ankle. You're too heavy."

Lily managed to briefly wake up, say good night, and go to bed.

"Okay, Landon," said Matt. "Here's a riddle for you. What has blond hair, blue pajamas, and is up way past his bedtime?"

"Would that be me?" asked Landon.

"Yes," said Matt. "You need to go to bed because you have school tomorrow." Landon did, and Matt was so exhausted that he went bed himself.