That night Adrian lay in bed next to Trudy stroking her hair. He didn't say anything for a long time. His mind went back to all the things they had been through together.

"Honey," Trudy asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm more than okay," Adrian replied, "I'm fantastic. Just eighteen short days ago my life changed in an incredible way."

"Oh yeah," Trudy agreed, "And tomorrow we'll be heading to Spain. I can't wait to check out Barcelona. It is supposed to be incredible."

"I heard that Menorca is amazing too," Adrian said checking the list.

"The sunset at Es Vedra is something I've always wanted to see," Trudy exclaimed.

She paused.

"What is your favorite part about this trip," she asked.

"My favorite part about this trip is that you're going to be there," Adrian replied without hesitation.

Trudy blushed. She was so excited about going on a trip with Adrian. They would be gone for two weeks. One week they'd be in Spain and the next week they'd be in Argentina. The phone rang. Trudy picked it up.

"Hey mom," she said.

There was a short pause.

"Not much," she said, "We're just relaxing in bed right now."

She laughed.

"Not at the moment," she said, "What about you?"

Another pause and Trudy burst into laughter.

"That wouldn't surprise me," she said, "But yes, I see your point. Anyway, what's up?"

"Hang on a second," Trudy said, "Let me check with Adrian"

She took the phone away from her ear.

"Honey mom said that Evita is playing at the theater near their home. She and dad can get tickets for the night show. Do you feel like going?"

"Sure," Adrian said without hesitation, "What time is the show?"

"It starts at eight," Trudy replied.

Adrian looked at the clock. It was 6:45.

"We should get going now," he suggested, "It takes about ½ an hour to get to your parents' house without rush-hour-traffic."

"Come on," Trudy said brightly.

It took them only a few minutes to get ready.

"I'll drive," Trudy offered, feeling brave.

Adrian smiled and handed her the car keys. She didn't even flinch when starting the car. The drive to her parents was about 20 minutes because there was no traffic. They hit every green light. Marsha and Dwight saw them pulling up and came out to greet them. Trudy hugged her parents and Adrian hugged them too.

"Sorry we're a little early," Trudy said, "The show starts at eight so we thought we might hit traffic and-"

"Don't be ridiculous," Marsha laughed, "You don't have anything to apologize for."

"Your mother is right," Dwight added, "You could come at 4 in the morning, and it wouldn't be too early."

"We love you," Marsha said.

"I love you guys too," Trudy replied.

They walked to the theater.

"So," Dwight said on their way, "I heard that Ethan Rickover moved."

"He moved to Rome," Adrian said and filled them in on what happened.

"Wow," Dwight grinned, "That's amazing."

"I hear when we get to Spain it will be close to sunset," Trudy changed the subject, "Can we check out Es. Vedra? It's supposed to be beautiful."

"Of course," Dwight and Marsha said in unison.

"Thanks," Trudy smiled.

The show was magnificent. Trudy couldn't take her eyes off of it. Adrian couldn't take his eyes off of Trudy. Marsha and Dwight couldn't take their eyes off of her either.

"That was a great show," Trudy said as they left.

"I wouldn't know," Adrian replied, "I was busy watching you."

Trudy blushed.

"Can you guys stay for dinner," Marsha asked, "I made chicken cacciatore."

"That sounds great mom, but we have to get going right after dinner. We need to finish packing and we need to get a full night's sleep in order to be able to get to the airport on time."

"Of course," Dwight nodded in agreement.

The next day Trudy sat on Adrian's lap while they watched the sunset at Es Vedra. The colors mixed together as though GOD had used the sky as a canvas and painted a majestical creation. Trudy breathed in the air.

"This has to be what heaven is like," she whispered.

"Yes," Adrian agreed, "You are."

"This was such a great idea," Marsha's eyes lit up as she watched her daughter and son-in-law watching the sunset.

"What is," Dwight asked.

"Inviting them on our trip," Marsha said, "Just look at how much they're enjoying it."

Dwight put an arm around his wife.

"In the past three weeks," he said, "Everything has become about Trudy and honestly I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

He sighed contentedly.

"She never takes advantage of it either," Marsha said.

"Trudy never took advantage of anything," Dwight responded, "Even when she was sick and pretty much got everything-"

"She literally got everything she wanted," Dwight reminded Marsha.

"She never got to skip chemo," Marsha said.

"She couldn't. That medicine was getting rid of the cancer."

"I know," Marsha said, "But you're right. That girl never takes advantage of anything. She's so perfect."

When Leland got up that day, he had a bad feeling. Something wasn't right. Karen woke up a few minutes later.

"OH, MY GOODNESS," Karen exclaimed.

She pressed both hands to her abdomen. Her stomach was cramping. It felt hard.

Baby Caroline started crying.

"Leland," Karen asked, "Could you get her? I have to make an appointment with Dr. Richard for as early as possible."

"What's wrong," Leland asked.

"I'm feeling symptoms of it again," Karen said.

"Okay," Leland said, "Whatever's going on we'll get through it together. You're not alone honey."

Leland was trying to remain calm, but he was terrified.

"Can you come with me," Karen asked.

"Of course,"

Two weeks later Karen and Leland sat in the office of Dr. Richard. Earlier that week he had performed a biopsy on a tumor in Karen's ovary. Leland held a 2-week-old Caroline. The older kids were at various activities.

Dr. Richard walked in and sat down.

"I'm sorry," he said, "It's Ovarian Cancer."

Karen looked like she'd been shocked even though she was expecting that news. Leland felt a wave of nausea run through him.

"Did it spread," Karen asked.

"No. The good news is it's contained. I'd recommend a hysterectomy as soon as possible. I can schedule it for tomorrow at 4 o'clock PM."

"We'll do it," Karen replied.

"You'll be in the hospital for about a week," Dr. Richard said.

"It's fine," Leland replied putting a hand on Karen's back, "We'll do whatever it takes to get her better."

"The good news is that we caught it early," Dr. Richard said, "The hysterectomy should cure it. We'll do a round of treatment to make sure we've got it all and kill off any cells that might have escaped.