The next few days passed by in a blur. Bob spent much of the week following his dad's death planning the funeral and dealing with his estate. Linda and the kids held down the fort in the restaurant. Despite Linda's pleas for her to relax and repeated attempts to help her. Louise did most of the work. She had the best business mind in the family. Apparently, another thing she had inherited from Grandma Lily. Her cooking skills had vastly improved since the burger cooking fiasco. Bob had taught her when Jessica first got sick. Cooking was how he coped with his mother's illness and when Jessica fell ill. He passed his skills down to Louise. Louise was actually a naturally gifted cook. She just did stupid things when Gene got involved.

Big Bob's funeral was nothing of note. Just a small service in the church where Lily and he had got married, and where Lily's funeral had been held. Mort handled the service and Pete delivered the eulogy. Bob had offered to do it, but Pete was insistent.

After the funeral things quickly settled back to normal. Bob took over again at the restaurant but would still go to the diner every day or two to check in. He had been left his father's business in the will and was still deciding how he wanted to proceed. Part of him wanted to keep the diner but if he did that, he would likely have to sell his own restaurant. It was not a decision he could make lightly.

Things went back to normal for the kids as well. Tina soon found herself busy with senior committees, while Gene and Louise spent most of their time at home. Courtney and Alex were still Gene's closest friends. He still loved them and wanted to spend time with them, but he felt like a third wheel anytime they hung out, outside of school. Benj, Megan, and even Kaylee had made numerous offers to hang out with Louise, but she refused each time. She was depressed and just wanted to be alone. Everybody was very worried about her but in typical Louise fashion. She completely closed herself off.

It was now about a week until the Huxley High homecoming festivities. Both the older Belcher children were single and wondering if they wanted to attend the dance. Tina desperately wanted to attend but was nervous about going stag after being with Jimmy Junior for so long. She was one of the first kids to be in a serious relationship. Now she was one of the few in her class who was single. The Wednesday before homecoming week she was working her shift at Fresh Feed. She had to let her manager know by the end of her shift if she would be available to work homecoming night or not.

"Girl just say you are working. Come work with me and count how many Freshman boys come in to buy condoms. Watch them squirm when they recognize you and panic when you ask for an ID." Brooke pleaded from her register. Dillion was getting her wisdom teeth removed two days before homecoming and doubted she would be up to attending the dance.

"I don't know I mean this is my last homecoming. I know if I don't go, I will regret it." Tina sighed.

"Tina Belcher doesn't have a date to homecoming. How is that possible? I thought you were all hot and heavy with that Jimmy Pesto kid." Josh commented placing a carton of milk on her register.

"Oh hey, Josh." Tina replied.

"So, what happened?" Josh asked.

"Jimmy dumped me last spring." Tina sighed.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Josh apologized.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you in forever. Are you still with Douglas?" Tina questioned.

"I've been OK and yeah Douglas and I are still going strong. We have our fall dance next week too. They call it homecoming, but I mean there's no football game. So, I just call it a fall dance." Josh explained.

"Oh well I hope that Douglas and you have a good time." Tina sighed.

"Actually, we are not going. Douglas's uncle is having surgery next Friday. Nothing serious but he's going to be in the hospital all weekend. So, Douglas is going to have to babysit his cousins all weekend." Josh explained.

"I have an idea. How about we go together? I mean how about you come to the Huxley High homecoming with me? You can invite friends from other schools, and we did go to one of our first dances together. Why not go to one of our last together?" Tina suggested.

"I would like that." Josh replied.

Gene had less problem going stag. They had gone alone Freshman year and had a delightful time. Except Freshman year Alex and Courtney were just friends. They had gone as a friend group. Last year it had been Alex, Courtney, and Gene. This year it would be Alex and Courtney, and Gene. Gene was happy for their friends. They really were. They just felt alone.

"You, OK Genie Weanie?" Linda asked.

"Just thinking about homecoming." Gene sighed.

"What about it?" Linda questioned.

"Well Courtney and Alex are going together. I just feel left out." Gene explained.

"What about your friend Peter?" Linda asked.

"He's going with Rupa! Which makes everything worse because they are doubling. So, I am double alone! I'm even worse than a third wheel! I'm a fifth wheel!" Gene cried.

"Well, what about that Elijah kid? The new hunk whose name you keep writing on everything?" Linda questioned.

"Elisha and he's the hottest guy in school. No way he would go for a fat freak like me." Gene sighed.

"Gene, I know you are in love, but nobody is more handsome than you." Linda commented.

"You're my mom. Your supposed to say that." Gene sighed.

"Well, you are definitely more handsome than you let on. I am sure this Elisha would love to go out with you." Linda assured.

"It's not just my looks. He isn't mean to me. He just always seems like I'm bothering him." Gene explained.

"Well maybe if I talk to his mom." Linda offered.

"He doesn't have a mom." Gene replied.

"OK I'll talk to his dad." Linda offered.

"He doesn't have a dad either. He lives with his brother. He won't say why. He won't say anything about his past." Gene explained.

"It sounds like he has a hard life. He probably just has a hard time letting people in. If I were you, I would just step back. Be nice to him, make sure he knows you care about him, but give him space." Bob explained as he stepped into the kitchen.

"But if I do that. I won't have a date to homecoming." Gene sighed.

"I never had a date to homecoming, and I turned out fine." Bob commented.

"Because you didn't meet mom in high school. Imagine if you had to wait weeks, months, maybe even YEARS before you could have been with mom!" Gene cried.

"That would be pretty rough but Gene sometimes the best thing you can do for somebody else is the hardest thing for you to do." Bob explained.

"But I'm in love!" Gene cried.

"Gene remember when you were six and we went to that mother son ice cream making class. Remember how you thought the ice cream would be ready right away, but it took a long time to make? But when it was finally ready. You said it was the best ice cream you ever had. Well, that's how it is with Elisha. Maybe you won't have him right away but when you do. He will be the best boy you ever had." Linda explained.

"Aren't parents supposed to tell their kids to wait until marriage to "have" their partner?" Louise quipped.

"Get your mind out of the butter Miss Missy!" Linda warned.

"It's gutter" Louise scoffed.

"What?" Linda questioned.

"It's get your mind out of the gutter." Louise clarified.

"But putting your head in butter is dirty and your thoughts are dirty." Linda commented.

"I would say a gutter is dirtier than butter." Louise sighed.

"How's Jessica, Louise?" Bob asked desperately to change the subject.

"Not good" Louise sighed.

"What's going on?" Gene asked.

"She went into a coma last night. It's going to be any day now." Louise explained wiping away a tear.

"Oh, my baby." Linda cried.

"Louise I am so sorry." Gene apologized.

"God, Louise that is horrible." Bob replied.

"I don't get it! Leukemia is supposed to be survivable. It's supposed to be one of the easiest cancers to beat." Louise sobbed.

"Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is treatable. Jessica has AML that is a lot harder to treat and she has a sub type that is almost impossible to beat." Bob reminded.

"Logically I know that. I mean you have told me that a thousand times since she was diagnosed, but I still don't understand. I just don't understand." Louise sobbed.

"You should go lie down." Linda suggested.

Louise took her mother's advice and retreated to her room. She climbed the stairs to her loft-bed, she grabbed Kuchi Kopi and held him close. She buried her face in his vinyl skin. She remembered when she got that nasty flu bug in the fourth grade and her family accidentally melted the first Kuchi Kopi. Which had been thrown out two years ago when he finally shorted out and became a safety hazard. She longed for the days when her worst problem was a silly toy being destroyed. She missed Jessica already, she missed Rudy, she missed Kaylee, she even missed Millie. She missed things being normal. She reached for her hat and felt the ever-fraying fabric. One more wash and her hat would die. Just like Jessica was dying. She knew she was way too old for it to be cute and the hat itself was too old to be cute. She knew she needed to give it up but the idea of throwing it away made her sick to her stomach and the idea of shoving it in a closet or storage bin somewhere wasn't much better.