Joanie felt vaguely unreal as she walked back into the high school after being away for two weeks. Howard's condition had finally become stable enough that he had been moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center. Joanie had been reluctant to leave her family but knew that she couldn't afford to take any more personal leave time and that Tony and Lisa also couldn't afford to lose any more time from school.

The last time I was here, none of us had any idea what was about to happen to my father, Joanie thought to herself as she made her way to her classroom.

"Hi, Joanie. How's your father?" As Joanie looked into Jack's concerned eyes, things suddenly felt normal again to her.

"He's doing some better. He's in rehab now. They're teaching him a lot of exercises to strengthen his muscles on his right side, and he's learning to use a walker."

"I'm so glad to hear he's better."

"Thanks, Jack." Joanie smiled and continued on her way to her classroom.

Joanie was relieved to discover that the substitute teacher had proven to be quite competent and so the students hadn't fallen too far behind on their lessons. She did, however, have a mountain of exams and reports to grade, and had to work through her lunch break for most of her first week back. By Friday, she finally felt that she was just about caught up.

"Any plans for the weekend?" Jack asked casually when he saw her in the teacher's lounge.

"Chach and I are thinking about trying that new pizza place that just opened up. Anything to take my mind off the kind of week I've had," Joanie said with a weak smile.

"That rough, huh?" Jack smiled sympathetically.

"How about you, Mr. Carefree Bachelor?"

"There's a new movie out that Abigail wants to see. I'll probably take her to see it."

"You're dating Abigail Foster?"

"Why so surprised?"

"Well, I guess the idea of you two together just never occurred to me, that's all. How long have you been seeing her?"

"Couple of weeks."

Joanie decided to touch base with Abigail herself the next day. She knew Jack well enough that she trusted him not to take advantage of Abigail's naivete, but at the same time, she realized how truly vulnerable the woman was and felt very protective of her.

"Hi, Joanie," Abigail said when she had come to the phone. "How's your father? Jack told me he had a stroke."

"He's doing much better now, Abigail. Thank you for asking. How have you been?"

"All right, I guess. I think I'm finally getting used to things being so different now." The woman hesitated. "Jack's been helping me," she added shyly.

"How are things between you and Jack, Abigail?"

"They've been really great! Jack's such a nice guy. You know, when I was in high school myself and he was a teacher, he always seemed so much older, but now he doesn't anymore. What I mean is..." Abigail struggled to find the right words. "It feels like we're more on the same level now. Do you know what I mean?"

"That's because you're an adult now too, Abigail."

"I know. But I don't always feel like one. Sometimes I feel like I'm still seventeen, and then I have to remind myself that I'm twenty years older now."

"It'll get easier as time passes, sweetie."

"I sure hope so," Abigail said softly.

"I'm sure it will, Abigail. I'm so glad that you and Jack have become such good friends. He really is a wonderful person. I've been knowing him for years."

"Yeah, I know," Abigail giggled.

"Maybe the two of us could have lunch together again sometime. You know, catch up on things."

"That would be great! I'd love to have lunch with you again sometime."

"How about next Saturday afternoon?"

"All right. I'll be looking forward to it."

"So will I. You take care, sweetie."

Joanie felt a lot better about Abigail after she got off the phone. The woman seemed to be handling both her adjustment to the 1980's and her new relationship with Jack just fine as far as Joanie could tell.