Fran's Secret

by BinBagBrain

Fran has been keeping a secret and has been suffering all alone. Can Max get her to open up to him? *Total soap opera drama! Remember, none of this is real or even necessarily accurate! Have fun with the fantasy! This is a work in progress, so let me know if you want me to keep going!

34. Chapter 34

Max woke up before the alarm the next morning. His dreams had been filled with anxiety and worry, and once he saw Fran asleep next to him, he couldn't get back to sleep. He carefully moved closer to her and wrapped his arm over her back and settled next to her. She sighed in her sleep and it made him smile. He loved her so much, he could have stayed there with her forever. He couldn't help but let his mind obsess over the details of what they needed to do that morning, and how he needed to make sure Fran followed her restricted diet through the weekend. He knew that was likely to be very difficult for her. They also needed to make all the preparations for her recovery and make sure she had everything she might want or need in the bedroom to keep her busy. Then he went through a mental list of everything he might need C.C. to do during the next week, and as long as Fran was recovering and might need him nearby. He didn't want to leave everything to Niles to do, and preferred to be the one to keep Fran company, even though he knew he would have to make some room for Sylvia and Val to help. That made his stomach twist.

After trying his best to settle back down and grab the last few minutes of sleep that he could, he realized that it just wasn't going to happen. He rolled onto his back just enough to look over at the alarm clock and see what time it was. Still another thirty minutes before the alarm. He looked over at Fran, then decided he would just go ahead and get up and get a shower. He was too restless and nervous to stay still, and he didn't want to wake Fran.

Max slid across the bed away from her and got up. He tiptoed to the closet and stepped inside, then closed the door most of the way so he could turn the light on. He gathered up the clothes he was going to wear, then shut off the light and stepped back out into the bedroom. He could barely see Fran, her soft form stretched out under the covers. He almost wished she was awake so he could crawl back in with her and let his hands roam over her body. He had to shake himself out of that thought, then turned and headed for the bathroom, and quietly shut the door behind him.

The alarm clock went off before Max came out of the bathroom after his shower, waking Fran up from her deep sleep. She lifted her head from the pillow in a daze, then crawled across the bed to shut it off. Max wasn't in the bed with her, so she looked towards the bathroom and saw the light shining under the door. She turned on the bedside light and turned off the alarm completely then rolled over onto her back in Max's spot. It took her a moment to realize that it was the morning of her appointment to discuss the surgery with the doctors. Once she remembered, it woke her up fairly quickly. She wondered why Max had gotten up so early, and figured it must be because he had a lot on his mind. She knew how much everything was upsetting him, but he put on a strong demeanor to help her and the others get through it. She really loved him so much, and she wished she could have woken up in his arms.

The bathroom door opened and Max came walking out, his pajamas in his hands and his hair still wet. Fran loved how his hair curled when it was wet. He smiled at her and walked towards the bed.

"Good morning, darling," he whispered to her, then reached his hand out to take hers. She covered her mouth as she yawned, then stretched a little.

"You're up early. Everything okay?" She asked him.

"Yes. Just couldn't sleep anymore. I didn't want to toss and turn and wake you up." He shook her hand a little, then let go and headed for the closet to toss his pajamas into the hamper. "Did you sleep well?"

"Hmmm… I think so. I think that massage chair must have helped. I remember some weird dreams, but I don't remember waking up at all during the night."

"Well, that's good. I imagine the fever probably wiped you out a little, too."

"Yeah, probably." Max came out from the closet with a pair of socks and sat down on the side of the bed to put them on. Fran pushed herself up and scooted over next to him. He cocked his head and looked over at her after getting his socks on, then smiled. She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him. He leaned back a little and put his arms around her waist.

"I love you, Fran," he whispered, and gave her a squeeze.

"I love you. I missed not waking up in your arms. I really like that."

"Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart! I didn't think of that. But I did think about crawling back into the covers with you- if you had been awake." He held her to him and kissed her cheek. "When we come back, let's come hide away up here as long as we can. I know I'm going to need to cuddle up with you then."

"Okay, that sounds good to me. I'm sure I'm gonna need that, too." She kissed his cheek, then squeezed his shoulders. "Okay, I better get up and find something to wear today."

"Okay. Let me run back in there real quick and get my hair dry, too, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all." Max helped her up from the bed and then headed back to the bathroom as she headed for the closet to get her clothes. The sound of the hair dryer came on in the bathroom as she grabbed a pair of slacks and a sweater, then her underwear and a bra. She didn't want to get too dressed up today, she felt like she'd have a better day if she was more comfortable. She tossed a pair of warm socks on the end of the bed and headed for the bathroom.

Max was tussling his hair as he ran the hair dryer over it, and saw Fran enter behind him as he looked in the mirror. She smiled at him, set down her clothes on the counter and then wrapped her arms around him from behind. She squeezed him tight and he stroked her arm. He shut off the hair dryer and set it down.

"You doing alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. I just couldn't resist." She squeezed him again and patted his stomach, then let him go. Max smiled.

"Um, could you take your temperature before your shower?"

"Yeah, I will." She pulled him close again and hugged him. "I'm feeling good right now, sweetie. And thank you for looking after me."

"You're welcome. You know I worry about you."

"I know. I worry about you, too. Why don't you go take it easy for a little while. We still have a lot of time before we have to go."

"Alright. I suppose I can do that. See you in a bit?"

"Yeah. See you in a bit." They smiled at each other, then Max kissed her forehead softly and let go of her. He gave her hand a squeeze as he left the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He thought about what she said- about taking it easy for a little while. She was right, there was time to rest for a bit and maybe try to settle his mind before checking on the children. He looked over at the new massage chair and headed over to it, then sat down. He turned the time to fifteen minutes and started it, then settled back into the chair. Immediately it began to roll up and down his spine and squeeze into the muscles of his calves. He had almost forgotten how good the chair felt when they tried it out at the store. He closed his eyes and let the chair work it's magic on him, forcing out the stress and tension from his body. He tried to push some of the worry over Fran to the back of his mind and think about how much he loved her instead. He thought back to their intimacies and how attracted to her he was, and decided he better put that to the back of his mind as well or he would have other issues to deal with. He sighed as the massagers on his back stopped in one area and began to push even harder into a spot that really needed the work. He held his breath a moment, then exhaled hard, and sucked in his breath again.

"Uhhh…" he exhaled, not realizing he said it out loud. The massagers moved again, slowly up and down his back. As he relaxed, he paid attention to his calves. It was intoxicating. Why did he never think to get one of these chairs before? Just as he felt like he might fall asleep, the massaging stopped. His fifteen minutes had ended. He looked over at the controller, just to make sure, then listened to the sounds in the bathroom. Fran wasn't finished with her shower yet. He looked back down at the controller and set it for five minutes and started it again. He smiled and closed his eyes, and let out a long exhale.

Fran shut off the water and wrung out her hair. She stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her. She was feeling so much better than the day before, and the thermometer showed a normal temperature. Looking in the mirror at herself, she thought she looked a lot healthier, too. It made her smile. She wasn't going to let this day get to her. She already knew what she was up against, and the possibilities she might face in the near future, so there shouldn't be any unexpected news at the appointment. Fran decided right then that she was going to take her power back. She had a great medical team who she was certain could handle the surgery well, and that they had plenty of knowledge of what the risks were, as she did. She had an amazing man at her side, and a big family there to support her in whatever way she needed. Reminding herself of all of that made her feel more empowered. She just needed to get through the surgery and then recover, and her life would be great again. It would be even better than it was, because now she had so much more love in her life. She had a partner who she was crazy about, and who was crazy about her.

Fran bounced around the bathroom, got herself dressed and perfumed, combed her long, wet hair, and brushed her teeth. She was ready to face the day ahead. She opened the bathroom door and shut off the light and came out to find Max slouching in the massage chair with his eyes closed. It made her chuckle. She was glad he took some time for himself that way, and it looked like it had done wonders for him. She tiptoed over to him, leaned over, and kissed his cheek. He cocked his head towards her and peeked at her through his eyelashes, then grinned.

"Feeling better?" She asked softly.

"Mmm hmmm! No wonder you slept so good last night!" She laughed and then headed to the closet to toss her pajamas in the hamper, then came back out and picked up her socks from the bed. "Hey- come here, sweetheart," he said, reaching an arm out towards her. She walked around to the front of the chair and took his hand. "Come sit with me a minute." Fran smiled, then sat down on his lap and stretched an arm across his shoulders. He looked up at her with his drowsy eyes, and she reached a hand up to stroke his cheek.

"I love you, Max. I really do," she whispered.

"I love you, Fran." He clutched her lovingly around the waist.

"My temperature's normal. And I feel pretty good. I'm ready for today, I feel ready to face everything. You know? I'm not feeling scared or nervous at all. I'm sure we know what they'll be telling us, just maybe in more detail this time. It's just a surgery I need to get through, so I can get my life back. I'm grateful for everything I have right now- for you, for the kids, my family. I want to build my life with you all, and once I have this surgery, we can start doing that." She was making Max get choked up, but as he thought about what she said, he knew she was right. He was proud of her for standing up like this- for showing her strength and resolution. It made him begin to feel stronger, as well.

"You know something, Fran? You're amazing. You really are. I'm so proud of you, and impressed by you. But you know what? We already are building our lives together. Right now. We're partners. We're raising children together. We're opening up to each other. And we're taking care of each other. I'd like to think we've already got a pretty nice foundation to build a future on." Fran gushed. She leaned towards him and gave him a kiss. It was a firm kiss at first- assured, and strong, then softened into a deep, loving kiss. She held his face to her, and he let her kiss him however she wanted. She took his tongue with hers, and she showed him how much she really loved him, and how crazy she was for him. Max clutched her waist tightly, then reached a hand up to her shoulder. They kissed each other tenderly for several minutes, then let their kisses taper off as they remembered they needed to finish getting ready for the day. Fran gently let go of his lower lip and they both exhaled, trying to catch their breath.

"I think you're pretty amazing, too, Max. I'm so glad we met." She kissed the tip of his nose and he smiled.

"Me, too." He ran his hand across her hip and thigh as they looked over each other's faces for a moment. Then Max grumbled. "I'd love to continue this, darling, but I think I ought to go make sure the children are up and getting ready. It's not too long before Gracie will need to leave for school." Fran checked the watch on his wrist for the time, then scrunched up her face.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I need to finish getting ready, too." Max helped her up and off of his lap, then got up himself. He pulled her to him for a hug, and she nuzzled into his chest. "Mmm! I need to get some of your cologne on me. You smell so good!"

"I need some of your perfume on me. You always smell so lovely!" He hugged her tightly and lifted her off of her feet, making her laugh. He set her back down and they kissed again. "Okay, Fran, I better go check on things and let you finish. Do you want me to come back up to get you?"

"No, that's alright. You need to get yourself some breakfast, too. Maybe you still have a chance to eat with the kids. That is if Maggie and Brighton are down there, too. Oh! Before Gracie leaves- if I'm not downstairs yet, can you have her come up to say goodbye to me? I don't want her to be worrying about me while she's at school."

"Sure, I'll do that. I almost forgot about you not being able to have a regular breakfast today. Do you want one of your shakes?"

"Yes, I'll grab one when I come down."

"Alright, then. Well, I'll send Gracie up, and I'll meet you downstairs when you're ready." He slipped into his shoes, gave her a quick kiss, and headed for the door.

"I'll be as fast as I can, sweetie!"

"No worries, there's time before we need to leave." He smiled at her, then unlocked and opened the bedroom door, and pulled it shut most of the way behind him. Fran took a deep breath and smiled from ear to ear. His kisses always filled her up so much! His kisses- and his cologne. She could still feel him in her arms. She turned to look at her dressing table, then hurried over to it and sat down. Now, she wondered, what in the hell am I gonna do with my hair today?

Max hurried down the front staircase, then through the hall to the dining room where he found everyone at the table, quietly poking at the food on their plates.

"Good morning children! Niles," he said. They all looked up to greet him, trying to put smiles on their faces.

"Good morning, sir!" Niles said, jumping up from his seat. "Will it be coffee or tea this morning?"

"Definitely coffee, thank you, Niles."

"Very good, sir." Max pulled his chair out and sat down, then looked around at the children's long faces.

"Gracie, sweetheart, Fran said if she wasn't down here by the time you were headed to school, for you to go upstairs and say goodbye to her."

"Okay." It was quiet again, and the children glanced at each other.

"Fran is doing really well this morning, which I'm sure you're wondering about. And I'd like to keep it that way, okay? Her temperature is normal, she slept well, and she said she's ready to face the meeting today. She mentioned that they probably won't tell us much that we don't already know. They'll just have a few more details on how they'll do the surgery. She's feeling strong right now, and I'm really impressed with her. She's looking at this surgery as just something to get through before she can build a life with us, and I told her she's already building a life with us. We're already a family, aren't we? So I'd like you all to try to take something from her example, like I will, and take charge over some of the worry you are certainly feeling. She said she wanted to get her power back- so she feels empowered and more certain that she can handle all of this. So can you children try to do that? I want her to keep this feeling of strength going, but if she sees you all caught up in the negative, it will surely affect her. So can you three work on that? And you, too, Niles." The children looked back at forth at each other, then nodded to him.

"Okay," they said.

"Well, that's hardly enthusiastic. We need to be her cheerleaders. Let's get Fran pumped up and help her stay positive. It'll do all of us some good!" Max smiled at them.

"Yes, we will!" Maggie said, and she elbowed Brighton.

"Of course, we can do that. We'll do that," Brighton said, trying to muster a smile. Gracie smiled at her father.

"Is she really feeling good today?" She asked.

"She is. It's good to see her like that, too, after everything she's been through. So let's enjoy it, shall we? Let's keep her feeling good."

"We can do that, daddy! I like it when she's happy!"

"So do I, Gracie! So do I!" The mood lightened quite a bit after their chat. Niles set Max's coffee in front of him along with a plate of food, and everyone got back to eating, a little more enthusiastically this time.

"Oh, sir, if I may ask- do you know what Ms. Fine will be wanting to have this morning?"

"Yes- she said a shake. She's got to start being careful what she consumes today. So let's all try to be supportive of that as well, alright? Don't wave any junk food or anything in front of her. Be mindful of that sort of thing, so she isn't reminded so much that she can't have it." The children nodded.

"Is she going to sit with us for dinner?" Maggie asked.

"Of course. But even if what we eat is really good, save your excitement for another day. Just carry on eating, and maybe starting some conversations to distract her a bit," Max advised. The children nodded again. "So tell me, do you all have your things ready for today? Gracie, are you done with your testing at school?"

"Yeah. We get to play games today. Some kids are even bringing games from home."

"Well, that sounds like fun. Will you be bringing any games to school?"

"No, we have chessboards at school, and I think that's mostly what I want to play, if anybody else knows how. Plus, if it isn't too cold outside we'll still have recess. So it should be fun today."

"Good! That does sound fun! What about you two?"

"Yeah," Maggie said. "I've got everything for class. I'll bring it with me. And after class I'll be going to the bookstore and some other places to get things for Fran. I should be back home in plenty of time for dinner."

"I think I have everything. I have a notebook to take notes, and that tape recorder. I'll ask them if it's okay to record everything, because I can't write fast enough to get everything on paper. When I get back to school I'll work on it a little bit, then I might go see what activities are going on. Maybe play some basketball with the guys or something," Brighton said.

"That sounds like a good idea. What about lunch plans? Do you want to have lunch with us?"

"I'll have lunch after class, there might not be enough time after the appointment and before I need to get to class to squeeze that in," Maggie said.

"Yeah, depending on how long things go, I might get lunch at school, if that's okay. Oh- how are we gonna do that? Are you gonna sign me back in?" Brighton asked.

"Oh- I hadn't thought of that. If we have lunch with Sylvia and Morty, then- well, we'll figure something out."

"Will they let me sign him in?" Maggie asked. "I'm eighteen, and I'm out of high school. If we both need to leave at the same time, maybe the driver can take us both." Max thought a moment.

"Maybe. That might be an option. Brighton, do you know if they would allow that?"

"They probably would. And my teachers know I was gonna be out this morning. But maybe if you write a note, too, just in case they need that."

"Sure, I can do that for you. Well, let's plan on doing things that way, and we'll see how the morning goes."

"Okay," Brighton said. Gracie set down her fork and wiped her mouth with her napkin, then set it on the table.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Gracie dear?"

"It's time for me to get ready to go. Can I go up and see Fran?" Max looked at his watch.

"Oh, yes! Certainly. Go up and say goodbye to Fran, and let me go out there and see if the car is here yet. I'll talk to the driver about today's plans." They both got up from the table and headed out of the dining room. Gracie ran to the stairs and up to see Fran, and Max looked out the front door to see if the car was waiting. It was. He grabbed a coat from the closet and hurried outside to talk to the driver.

After Gracie left for school, Max finished his breakfast and everyone hung out in the dining room waiting for Fran. Soon, her bubbly voice rang in the doorway.

"Good morning, everyone!" She exclaimed, making everyone smile. She put her hands on Brighton and Maggie's shoulders, giving them a loving squeeze, then walked around behind Max. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He patted her hands and smiled. She flopped down in the chair next to him and looked over at Niles. He jumped up from his chair.

"I'll grab you your shake, Ms. Fine! Would you like it in a glass, or just the bottle?" He asked.

"Ah… a glass would be good. Thank you, Niles!" Niles hurried into the kitchen to retrieve it. Fran looked from Brighton, to Maggie, to Max. They all seemed to have a bit of spark to their eyes this morning, and not the look of worry they'd had the whole week before. They all smiled at her, and she smiled back. "So- we all ready for this morning?" She asked.

"As ready as we'll ever be, I suppose. I've got my stuff ready to go," Brighton said confidently.

"Yeah, I'm ready, too. And we were just talking about how I might go with Brighton and sign him in to school when we need to go back. That way you guys can stay with your parents if you want to have lunch with them," Maggie said.

"Oh, that's a good idea. I hadn't thought of that. That's very considerate of you, Maggie."

"Well, it makes sense. Rather than you guys and the drivers going back and forth for no reason. Do you guys know where you might have lunch?"

"Um, no. It might depend on how worked up my parents get and if they have an appetite. We could end up just getting something at the hospital cafeteria."

"Really? Wouldn't that make them feel, uh, worse?" Maggie asked. Fran laughed.

"Actually, the food wasn't so bad there," Max interjected. "There was a good variety, I'm sure they'd find something they liked."

"Yeah, plenty of stuff for Ma. We'll have to see about daddy, though. I'm sure Ma will make him eat something, even if he's not feeling like it."

Niles brought Fran's shake to her in a tall glass, and right away, Fran took a gulp.

"Is there anything else I can get you, Ms. Fine? Tea or coffee, perhaps?" Niles asked.

"Oh- tea would be nice, Niles. Thank you! Man, I'm so hungry and I'm just starting my restrictions! This is not gonna to be easy, so I apologize ahead of time if I get cranky from being hungry. I hope you guys will understand." They all laughed.

"Don't worry about that, Fran. We're used to it!" Maggie joked, and they all laughed again. Max reached for her hand and Niles set her tea next to her, then began clearing the breakfast plates.

"Can we help, Niles?" Brighton asked.

"No, no- sit! You all have a busy day ahead, I can get this taken care of."

"Thank you, Niles," Max said. They sat quietly for a little while as Niles gathered things and brought them into the kitchen. Fran sipped at her tea and her shake and Max looked at her hand as he stroked it with his thumb. Brighton and Maggie glanced at each other off and on.

"Well, it got awfully quiet in here. Is there anything on anybody's minds they want to talk about? Or maybe a question you want to ask?" Fran said, looking back and forth at them. Brighton and Maggie looked at each other, and Max looked over at the both of them.

"Well," Brighton started, "I'm sure we'll go through things at the appointment, but I guess one thing I wanted to ask, for my project, was if it would be okay if I listen to the phone call you had that you recorded. I mean, I'm not sure if there would be something there I might be able to use, but maybe there would be. But I don't want to violate your privacy if you didn't want me to listen to it." Fran looked from him to Max, and Max raised his eyebrow.

"Well, I don't think there was anything really private in the call. It was pretty much asking about what the doctor had already told us, and you knew about all that. Maybe you could use that as the second opinion part- what things he agreed with. Maybe compare that to what we find out after the surgery," Fran said.

"Yeah, I guess I could do that. So it's okay to listen to that tape?"

"Yeah, sure. And if you have any questions about any of it, come talk to us."

"Okay," Brighton said, and shifted around in his seat. Fran looked at Maggie next.

"What about you, Mags? Anything on your mind?" Maggie sat up in her seat.

"Well, sure. Everything, I guess," Maggie replied. "It kind of seems like it'll be weird going to the hospital- where you're gonna have the surgery. And meeting the doctors. It just makes it more real, I guess. But I guess everybody seems to be talking about the surgery a lot, and then when you come home and recover, but I still worry about the what-ifs. What they might find out. I try not to think about it, but I can't help it. I tell myself I can't focus on that part of things, but depending on what answers we get, it can really change how things will go afterwards, won't it?" Brighton glanced at Fran, then looked away.

"You mean, if it turns out to be cancer?"

"Yeah," Maggie said softly.

"Well, we can't ignore that possibility. But even if it is, it sounds like, from what they've said, that if they get the tumor out intact, that things should be fine. It's only if there's a chance things spread at all that I may have to have something like chemo. I know that possibility is still there, but at this point it doesn't seem likely, so I want to focus on that. And that's a big reason I have to have the surgery right away. I know it might not help much if I tell you not to worry about that, but I understand why you would. I think about it sometimes, too. If you want to ask the doctors about it this morning, go ahead. Maybe they can tell you something that might make you feel a little better about things. But yeah, I get it. It's one of those things that we can't know until we do know."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But no matter what, we'll help you through anything. Whatever you might need, we'll help." Fran stuck her bottom lip out, feeling sappy.

"Aw, Mags!"

"We will, Fran. We don't want you to worry about anything," Brighton added.

"Well, I don't want you guys to worry, either! I feel pretty strong about that- it's just a surgery I need to have done, then afterwards we can get back to having a life together, like a family. I want us all to be strong. And I do appreciate you guys wanting to help. I don't know what the recovery will feel like, and I might need help with things, maybe even with a lot of things, but I hope I don't. I hope everything goes well, and I recover fast." Maggie got up from her chair and headed over to Fran, and Fran got up, too. They hugged each other tightly.

"We hope so, too, Fran," Maggie said.

"Aw! You guys! I love you guys so much!" Brighton got up from his chair, and Fran went to give him a hug, too, then Max got up and wanted a hug. Just then, Niles came into the dining room with the cordless phone in his hand and saw everyone hugging. Fran saw him.

"You want a hug, too, Niles?" She said, holding out her arms.

"Oh, well, thank you- but I was just coming in to let you know your mother is on the phone, she says the car is there to pick them up. Did you need to tell her anything?"

"Oh! Yes, here, let me talk to her a second." Niles handed her the phone and she stepped aside to talk, as Max hugged Maggie and Brighton, too. "Hey, Ma! The car's there? Okay, when you get to the hospital, the driver knows where to drop you off. Just go in that main entrance. There's an information desk there, and some seating. You can wait for us there if you get there before we do. That's where we have to check in. Yeah. Okay, Ma, don't keep the driver waiting. See you in a little while! Love you, Ma! Bye!" She handed Niles the phone, and turned around to face the others. "Well, okay, the car is getting them right now. So when does that mean we need to leave?" She asked Max.

"Oh, let's see- probably in about fifteen minutes. This time of the morning, we'll both be hitting a good amount of traffic. You children want to get your things together and get your coats?"

"Yeah, okay," Maggie said.

"I gotta finish my shake and go grab my purse," Fran said. She grabbed her glass and chugged down the rest of her shake as the children left the room, and Niles went back into the kitchen to put the phone back. When Fran finished her shake, Max took her by the waist, pulled her to him, and gave her a kiss.

"Mmm, chocolate!" He said.

"Mmm hmm!" Fran smiled. "Now don't get me started, we gotta get going in a few minutes!" She said, poking him in the belly.

"Alright. Here, let me take these things into the kitchen, you head up and grab your purse."

"Okay, thank you. I'll be right back!"

Fran, Max, Maggie and Brighton loaded into the limo a short time later and headed for the hospital to the appointment they had anticipated for so long. They sat in relative silence in the back of the limo, looking out the windows at the traffic and the people, trying to push the intrusive thoughts to the back of their minds. Fran rested her head against Max's shoulder and they held hands tightly. Brighton put on his headphones and listened to the tape of Fran and Max's phone conversation with Tommy's dad, in case it might help him come up with any other questions for the doctors.

"Fran," Maggie said, breaking the silence. "After class, I'll be going to the bookstore and wherever else I can think of to get everything for your scrapbook, okay? I'll see if I can find more magazines, too."

"Aw, thank you, Mags! I can't wait to go through everything! I want to work on that stuff the first chance I get, okay? Once I'm home and if I'm feeling good enough. Maybe you and Gracie can come sit with me and help me cut things out and stick them down on the pages. Oh! I can't wait!" Fran gushed. Maggie smiled and Max squeezed Fran's hand. He was happy that Fran was so happy about getting ready for their wedding. He really wanted it to be a special day for her. Max looked over at Brighton. He was completely engrossed in what he was listening to. He reached down for his backpack that sat between his feet and pulled out a notebook and pen, then scribbled something in the notebook. He must be thinking of more questions to ask, Max thought.

The limousine pushed through the traffic of the city and finally pulled into the drive in front of the hospital. Max helped everyone out of the limo, and they filed into the hospital entrance. Fran looked around and didn't see her parents anywhere.

"I guess they haven't gotten here yet, Max. What do you want to do?" She asked.

"Well, they should be here any minute. Do you want to go ahead and get checked in?"

"Sure, let me go do that, and see if they need us do to anything else since we have so many people with us." Fran headed to the check-in area and waited for someone to call her over, and Max found some seats for them to sit at while they waited. Before Fran came back to rejoin them, Sylvia and Morty appeared at the entrance- Sylvia all wide-eyed and nervous, and tugging at Morty's arm to get him to move faster. Max stood up and waved them over.

"Max! Where's Fran? Is she okay?" Sylvia squealed.

"Yes, Sylvia, she's fine. She's checking in over there," Max gestured towards the check in desk, and Sylvia seemed relieved when she saw Fran. "Good morning, Morty. How are you today?"

"Well, I guess I could say I've been better, but otherwise I'm alright. How about you?"

"We're doing alright. Fran is doing well this morning, too. She seems to be feeling confident and ready to deal with this meeting, so we're all trying to take on some of that confidence, too. I think she's growing weary of everyone being so worried about her. She's ready to tackle this situation and get past it."

"Frannie? Wow, I never would have thought she'd be that tough with this kind of situation," Sylvia said, looking back over towards Fran. "That's really good to hear, though. I know she doesn't really like it when people are upset."

"No, she doesn't. So we're trying to muster up some of our own toughness for her, too."

"That's wonderful. I'm not sure how well I'll do with that, though. I'm so nervous!" Sylvia crossed her arms in front of her and Morty reached over and put a hand on her back.

"Syl, it's just a meeting, okay?" Morty said. "She's not having the surgery today. Just remember to ask some questions. Everything will be fine." Max was touched at seeing Morty trying to comfort Sylvia. He expected to see it the other way around.

Fran got up from her seat at the check-in desk and turned around to look for Max, and saw him with her parents. Her face lit up and she hurried over to join them.

"Hey, you guys!" She stretched her arms out and hugged her parents, then showed everyone what she carried in her hands. "Okay, everybody- you have to put on these guest passes while you're here. You can put them on your shirts if you're gonna take your coats off." She handed out the passes to everyone, and they peeled the backing off and stuck them on their shirts.

"Don't you have one, Fran?" Brighton asked.

"Oh- no B." She held up her wrist and they saw her wrist band. "They said the doctor's gonna want some of my vitals again, so I have to wear the wrist band. And she's already scanned it, so we can go upstairs to the office. You guys ready?" She asked the kids. Brighton stood up from his chair and picked up his backpack, and Maggie did the same.

"Yeah, we're ready."

"Okay, let's go!" Fran said. She grabbed Max's hand and they led the way to the elevator with the others following, and headed up to the Oncology department. Once Fran was checked in, everyone sat in the waiting area while Fran was taken down the hall for the nurse to get her vitals. Max and the others sat quietly while they waited, trying not to let their nerves get the better of them.

After Fran's vitals were taken and another round of bloodwork was done, Fran was brought back to the waiting area. Max noticed the wrap on her arm and gave her a look.

"Yeah," Fran said, pulling her sleeve down over it, "I told her about the fever yesterday, so they just want to check and see if there are any changes. I'm sure it's no big deal," she tried to assure Max. He reached for her hand and she sat down next to him. Brighton nervously scratched the side of his head.

"Fran? Do you think they'd be able to get us a copy of that bloodwork?"

"Sure, sweetie. I don't know exactly what they're checking or how long it'll take to get results, but yeah, I'm sure they can get us a copy. But it might not be today," Fran said, and Brighton nodded. Sylvia and Morty glanced at each other, then back to Fran.

"Well, everyone, I suppose when we go in there to meet with them, we might hear everything they have to say first, in case they answer some of our questions. Then- Sylvia? Would you and Morty like to ask any questions you may have first?" Max asked. Fran squeezed his hand in agreement.

"Well, uh," Sylvia looked at Morty and he slightly shrugged his shoulders, then nodded to her. "Alright, I guess that would be alright, if you're sure."

"Yeah, Ma, that might be good for you guys to start. Then Brighton and Maggie, if you have questions. I think we asked most of ours before. But this way, if you guys ask something we wondered about, too, then they'll cover it." Everyone nodded, then it got quiet again. Brighton took out his notebook, a pen, and the mini tape recorder from his backpack and zipped it closed again. Then, the medical assistant appeared and smiled at all of them.

"Hello! Are you all for Fran Fine?" She asked.

"Yes! Yes, I'm Fran Fine. We're all together."

"Well, if you all will follow me, they're ready to get started. My name is Candace, so if any of you need anything, just let me know."

"Thank you. Okay, guys! Let's do this!" Fran said, standing up. Everyone got up from their seats and gathered their things, and let Fran lead the way behind Candace as they made their way to the doctor's office. They filed through the door, and Max gestured for Brighton to sit in the chair on the other side of Fran, with Fran in the middle and Max on the end. Sylvia, Morty, and Maggie sat in the chairs behind them. Sylvia shifted around in her seat and then pulled out a folded paper of questions from her purse. Several minutes later, Dr. Carter and Dr. Gallahan entered the office, shutting the door behind them.

"Hello, everyone! How are you all today?" Dr. Carter, the oncologist, asked. The two doctors sat down in rolling office chairs on the other side of the large desk, and Candace sat down in a chair nearby with a notepad in her hands, apparently ready to take notes if necessary. Everyone mumbled that they were doing alright.

"So, Fran, the nurse tells us you had another fever yesterday. Are you feeling better now?" Dr. Gallahan, the G.I. surgeon asked.

"Yeah, feeling much better now. But it sure took that medication a long time to kick in. I've been getting the fevers almost every other day or so now."

"Every other day? Well, that's good to know. Hopefully it was one of the last, if not the last, and we'll get this resolved for you in a few days. So, why don't we make some introductions first? I'm Dr. Gallahan, the G.I. surgeon, I'll be assisting Dr. Carter here with Fran's surgery on monday."

"Oh, yeah," Fran said. "This is Brighton- he's the one doing the school project on all of this. He's Max's son. And back here, this is Maggie, the oldest, and my parents, Sylvia and Morty Fine." The two doctors nodded to everyone, and then got down to business. They moved some stacks of papers and large envelopes to the middle of the desk and turned on the monitors on the wall.

"Oh, um, excuse me-" Brighton interrupted nervously. "Would it be alright with you guys if I record this meeting? That way I don't miss anything in case I can't write notes fast enough."

"Sure, that's fine with me," Dr. Carter said. "Dr. Gallahan?"

"It's fine with me, too. I've heard a bit about you and your project, and I think it's commendable what you're doing. I would just advise you to remember the privacy issues that may come into play with that tape. Make sure you keep Fran in the loop on what you do with it, and don't let others listen to it without her permission in writing."

"Oh, yes, sir. Absolutely." Brighton looked at Fran and she nodded to him, and he started the recording, then set the tape recorder on the desk and got his notebook.

"Well, let's begin, then." Dr. Carter started. "First, we'll go over the plan for monday, and the details of the surgery. And we have an envelope here for you to take home. It's full of the documents we need you to read through and sign and bring back with you monday. Then, the biggest part of this meeting- your surgery. We've had our meeting with the surgical board and formed a plan based on what we know about your tumor and it's location, and allowed for some of the unknowns that could happen. Dr. Gallahan, would you like to give Fran and everyone the details?"

"Sure- so, Fran, and everyone- Fran needs to be here at the hospital by seven in the morning. We'll get all the paperwork from you and get you back to one of the surgical prep rooms. You can have one person with you there, but anyone else who may want to be here for you will have to stay in the waiting room. You'll get changed into a gown, and then you'll be brought back to surgery. We'll use ultrasound to mark where the tumor is, and where the incisions will be. You'll be able to see that before we proceed and get you prepped for surgery. Something you might consider doing is before you come to the hospital, mark the general area where the waistband of your underwear would be, or of a favorite bikini, if that's something you want us to be mindful of, to minimize the scar that will be visible. We want to try to keep it just low enough to be out of site, but we still need to be able to get the instruments to the location of the tumor."

"Oh! Certainly, I can do that. I'll try to see if they all go across the same area," Fran said. She unconsciously reached for Max's hand and he held it tightly.

Dr. Carter took over explaining the surgery. "Once that's done, we'll have the anesthesiologist give you the mask with the gas to put you under, then we'll get an IV going, and I'm sure you've been wondering- yes, we'll have to intubate you. You'll have a breathing tube inserted into your throat." He paused to see how everyone took that information. Fran glanced over at Max, then at Brighton. Brighton was busily taking notes.

"Is there any risk with that?" Fran asked.

"There's a small amount of risk, yes. Damage to the vocal cords is always a risk. But expect that you may have a bit of a sore throat, so you'll have some ice water you can sip after you're moved out of recovery. And given the type of surgery, we ask that you not try to talk until the next day, because it could trigger some coughing and we don't want you to pop any stitches. Okay?" Fran nodded. Dr. Carter continued. "When you're under, and stable, we'll make the incisions and insert the camera first. We will locate the tumor and will sort of scope out everything near it, and how it is attached, to see if we can still follow our original plan for removing it. Then, we'll get to the actual removal. Little by little, the tissue that is holding it in place will be cut, and we'll check everything with each step, to make sure we don't encounter any surprises. When the tumor is free, it will be removed through the larger incision and will be sent immediately to pathology where we'll have a pathologist waiting to examine it. Then we'll turn back to making sure everything around your intestines is fine, then we'll begin stitching the incisions up, and we'll be placing an adhesive patch over the outer incision so you won't have scars from any stitches. You'll have to keep that area dry for the rest of the week so it can begin to heal properly. Everyone understand everything so far?" Everyone nodded, but Brighton timidly raised a hand.

"Yes, Brighton?" Dr. Gallahan prompted.

"Um, with the pathologist- how long will it take them to do their analysis?" He asked.

"That's a good question. We expect to have a preliminary report sometime in the afternoon, but the full, final analysis and report can take a couple of days. They'll check it with a microscope to make sure the walls of the tumor haven't been compromised, then they'll begin a dissection and will make a number of slides from the tissues and cells, and they'll analyze those under microscopes as well. They'll also send some off to be analyzed at another lab. We will likely come talk to Fran sometime monday afternoon to discuss what we know, and see if anything else will need to be done. She'll stay in the hospital that night, still on an IV and pain management, and will have a restricted diet. But we hope to be able to send her home the next day."

"Hope to?" Max asked. "So there could be a chance she wouldn't be able to come home the next day?"

"Yes, there is that possibility. We'll watch her vitals, make sure she isn't showing signs of infection, that sort of thing. That's why we say our patients will stay 'at least' one night in the hospital."

"Can I ask something?" Maggie said, lightly waving a hand to get the doctor's attention.

"Sure, go ahead."

"You guys took some more blood from Fran earlier. What was that for?"

"Well," Dr. Carter began, "With her having more fevers, we want to know what her numbers look like right now, you know- to make sure there isn't a significant change that might make us have to come up with a new plan, and make sure there isn't anything creating an urgent situation. We aren't expecting for there to be, but we'd like that information all the same." Maggie nodded. Sylvia looked at the paper in her hands.

"Um, can I ask a question?" She said.

"Of course," Dr. Carter replied.

"Will she be allowed to have visitors? Not just after the surgery, but can someone stay with her all the time she's in the hospital?"

"Yes, she will be allowed to have a few visitors at a time when she's moved to her room, but likely only for a short period of time. We do allow for one person to stay in the room with her all the time, including at night. There's space for someone to sleep there if they're able. It's not the most comfortable, but it's better than a chair, and we can provide a blanket and pillow. We would also ask that there be no visitors under the age of eighteen, so I'm sorry about that Brighton. But she'll be out of the hospital soon enough and back home."

"So we can visit you sweetheart! Oh, that makes me feel better!" Sylvia said. "We need to see her after the surgery, to make sure she's okay. And Max, you'll stay with her all night, won't you?"

"Absolutely! They'd have to drag me out to keep me away from her. I'm very glad to hear that it'll be possible to stay with her." Max looked over at Fran and squeezed her hand in his.

"Yeah, I'd hate to have to stay there by myself. So what exactly is the room like? The one I'll be staying in after the surgery?" Fran asked.

"Well, we know you've requested a private room, and that should be possible providing we have one open for you. It has the bed, a couple of comfortable chairs, a small couch, and then the long cushioned sleeping area by the window. There will also be the machines in there to monitor your vitals and your IV pole," Dr. Carter said.

"What about a television?" Fran asked, and everyone chuckled.

"Yes, there is a television in there, too. And in the private rooms, there is a full bathroom, with an accessible shower. But while you won't be able to take a shower in there, you may be able to do a bit of washing up in there, as long as you protect that incision. There's a shower chair in there if you need it."

"Oh, good!" Fran sighed. "So what will be going on while I'm in the hospital? Do I have to meet some expectations before you guys let me go home?"

Dr. Gallahan nodded. "We'll monitor how you're doing after the surgery, and if things look good we may allow you to have something like Jello, maybe some tea, that sort of thing. But you will likely still be reclined on the bed- not sitting upright. That might be frustrating for you, but it's necessary. We want you to get as much rest as you can that first afternoon and night. The next day, we'll see how you do with sitting up a bit more, and possibly even getting out of the bed to walk a little. But if there are any issues with blood pressure or anything else, you'll be right back in the bed and we'll have to give you more time before we try it again. We want you to be okay walking under your own power before we let you go home."

"Okay, that makes sense." Fran turned around in her seat to look at her father. "Daddy? Did you have anything you wanted to ask?" Everyone turned to look at Morty.

"Uh, well," he began, quietly. "You said she might start by having Jello or something, but how long will it take before she can eat regular again? She's gonna wither away to nothing if she doesn't get to have a real meal for a long time." Morty was serious, but everyone laughed just the same.

"True, we want to make sure she takes it easy at first so we can see how her body handles it, to make sure there aren't any complications. And she'll also be weaning off of the pain medication, so she may begin to feel a lot more discomfort and not want to eat. It will all be a little at a time and see how she feels, then step it up a little if she's doing well. If things look good at her follow-up appointment at the end of the week, then we may turn it over to Fran and let her decide what she feels like eating."

"Oh, okay, that's good. That's not too long. I just don't like her getting so skinny. She's looking so thin lately."

"Aw, daddy! I'll be okay. Once I get past this, you better believe I'll be eating enough to put the weight back on!" Everyone laughed again, and they all started feeling much better about things. The laughter had lightened the mood quite a bit. "Ma? What about you? Do you have any other questions?"

"Well, yeah. You talked about her going off the pain medication- will she have a lot of pain to deal with? And what about complications, like when she's in surgery? What things can happen then?" She asked. And with that, the lighter mood was instantly killed, and everyone went back to having serious expressions on their faces.

"Alright, fair enough. It's perfectly reasonable to be worried about those things," Dr. Gallahan said. "The pain medication should take care of any pain right after the surgery, so she should be able to rest and sleep comfortably. But yes, she'll be weaned off of it before she leaves the hospital, and then we'll send her home with a prescription she can take if she needs it, as well as antibiotics. Fran, you shouldn't experience any pain while in the hospital, so if that happens, make sure you let someone know, alright?"

"Sure, okay. But what about when I leave the hospital?" Fran asked.

"Once you've tapered down a bit, then yes, you will likely start to feel some pain from the surgery kicking in. If you can tolerate it, then try to avoid taking medication. But don't try to be a hero, either. If it keeps you from relaxing or getting sleep, then please take the medication."

"Okay, I will." Fran looked over at Max, who was unconsciously staring at her. She clutched his hand in both of hers and gave his hand a squeeze.

"As for other complications, there would be a low risk, but of course the risk is always there. There is a risk of having a reaction to the anesthesia. If you've been put under anesthesia before and had no complications, then I wouldn't worry about that risk. That would be very minimal. As for the risks during surgery- this is part of why we don't want to put it off. If the tumor is safely separate from any organs and your intestines, then that will be a huge help to us in being able to remove the tumor without causing any damage, like having to remove any other vital tissues or potentially compromising your intestines. So you are very lucky right now that it shouldn't be an extensive surgery. But having said that, given the tight quarters we'll be working in, there can be a chance of an instrument nicking tissue unintentionally. We can't be completely certain of how the tumor is attached or if it will be difficult to get to. But we have many years of experience in this type of surgery, and we won't be rushing through it. If we need to stop and reevaluate our plan before we move ahead, then we absolutely will." Fran nodded, and the others stared blankly, contemplating the what-ifs. Brighton raised a hand slightly to get the doctor's attention.

"Yes, Brighton? Do you have a question?"

"Yes. Um, how long do you expect the surgery to take?" Everyone looked over at Brighton, then back at the doctor.

"Ideally, it could be done in a couple of hours. But we never expect things to be ideal, so if we include the preparations we need to do, like using the ultrasound to assist in marking the location of the tumor, then the anesthesia and intubation, we can give a ballpark figure of two to four hours."

"Four hours?" Fran repeated. "Gosh! So everyone will be in the waiting room for four hours? I'm sorry, you guys! Are you sure you're gonna want to be here that long, waiting for the surgery to be over?"

"Yes! Of course!" Max and Sylvia and Morty assured her.

"Darling, no one would be able to keep us away! We'll be fine," Max said, trying to reassure her.

"He's got that right, Fran! We'll stay through the whole thing until we can see you again. Don't worry about us!" Sylvia patted Fran's shoulder, and Fran reached a hand up to clutch her mother's hand.

"What exactly happens after? After the surgery, and all that," Brighton asked.

"Well, she'll be moved to recovery- that's a separate room where the surgical patients are taken to be monitored as they come out of the anesthesia, to make sure they're stable and doing well before we let them be moved to their rooms. That may take around an hour or so. And someone will be allowed to come back there to be with her and keep her company. And if her room is ready for her, and she's waking up just fine, then she'll be moved. She'll still have an IV in her, and she'll be hooked up to the monitoring equipment. Once she's set up in her room, and if she's feeling up to it, we can allow the others to come in and spend a little time with her. I know you'll all be anxious to see her. But we will have to limit the length of time she has a room full of visitors. She might be drifting in and out of sleep for a while, anyway. But the next day she should be fine for visitors, and that's when we'll make a decision on if she's ready to be discharged yet."

The room grew quiet again as everyone processed the information.

"There is one other thing," Dr. Carter said, looking over at Fran, and then at each of the others.

"What's that?" Fran asked.

"We do have the images of your tumor- if anyone wants to see exactly what we're talking about."

"Well, I think Ma and daddy are the only ones who haven't seen that stuff. Brighton was able to get the software and go through what we had on that CD. And you saw it too, didn't you, Maggie?" Fran asked, turning around in her chair.

"Yeah," Maggie nodded.

"Do you guys want to see the images? They did the MRIs, and there's ultrasounds, too. It kinda makes it a little more real to see that stuff." Sylvia looked over at Morty and he went a bit pale and shook his head. She patted his arm in understanding.

"I think that might be a bit too much for us right now, sweetheart. All this is a lot to think about," Sylvia said.

"That's fine. We won't push it on you. But if you change your mind, we have the CD and can still show it to you at home, if you ever feel like you're up for it." Sylvia nodded, then looked back at Morty who seemed like he was trying to hide his fear.

"Does anyone else have any questions, or anything you want to see?" Dr. Carter asked.

"Yes- just one last thing, I think. Maggie's taking me to the library at Columbia tomorrow so I can look up some medical articles for my research. You know, on the computers there where they have access to the journals and stuff? Um, can you guys recommend anything I should look for?" Brighton asked, a little more confidently than before. Dr. Carter looked over at Dr. Gallahan and raised his eyebrows, then looked back at Brighton.

"Well, I guess I would say you should find some basic information first, maybe if you can check out a medical textbook that explains the biology, even the chemistry if you want to understand how something like chemotherapy works. And the medical journals should have some very good data on tumors like hers- I'd search for several types of tumors and articles explaining how they come to be, and how they operate. Then see if you can find anything on the latest treatments - make sure you get the most recent articles you can find. Be sure to check the dates on them." Brighton nodded, and scribbled some notes.

"Yes, and if you need to do any of the history of research and study of those tumors, you should be able to find plenty. A librarian may be very helpful in finding the right words to search with, so don't hesitate to ask for help. They may even know of other publications they may have on the shelves there that you can look at and make copies from. And you can look up a bit about pathologists and what they do- what their procedures are when they need to determine what type of tumor cells are there, like making the slides that they look at under the microscope, or taking other samples and how they might test those, that sort of thing." Brighton nodded again, and scribbled in his notebook some more.

Dr. Carter remembered the large envelope of papers on the desk in front of them and pushed the envelope towards Fran.

"We can't forget about this. Make sure you read through all of this material, and sign where it's marked. It's all pretty standard stuff, privacy and all that, plus consent forms, that sort of thing. But there are some other things in there that you may want to discuss with family, should something happen." He didn't want to spell it out for Fran, but with his tone, everyone knew what he meant. They knew Fran might have to put on paper what her wishes were should the surgery not go well, and if something terminal were to happen to her. Fran swallowed hard, reached for the large envelope, and nodded her understanding. Max watched her eyes closely. He knew what the doctor meant, too.

"Do you guys have any other questions? I think everything I was thinking of has been covered. Ma? Was there anything else you wanted to know about?" Fran asked.

"Well, let me see…" she looked over the things she had written on the piece of paper in her hand. "No, I don't think so. I think we got everything. Morty? Anything you can think of?" Morty shook his head.

"Well, there is one last thing…" Dr. Gallahan said. He reached for another piece of paper and slid it across the desk. "This is your diet for the weekend, Fran, starting now. They'll have a couple bottles of the drink you need to get through at the desk on your way out. It won't be that pleasant, but just keep in mind that next week you should be back to eating like normal, without the discomfort or the fevers. This is just an added precaution to prevent anything worse from happening should there be any complications in surgery, like if your intestines were injured. We don't expect anything like that to happen, of course, but it is just another possibility that we can alleviate from everyone's mind."

"Do you mean, like an infection? If she had something in her intestines and it got in her abdomen?" Brighton asked.

"Yes, that's right. We don't want to take that chance in surgeries like this, so the restricted diet is necessary." Brighton nodded his understanding. "Well, if no one wants to go over the imaging, and there aren't any other questions, I think we might be done here." Everyone looked back and forth between each other, not able to come up with any other questions.

"Alright, then," Dr. Carter said, getting up from his seat. "I appreciate- and I'm sure Fran appreciates- all of you coming in today to support her through this. And Brighton, I have to say I'm impressed with your efforts in learning more about this, too. I know it will serve your future well, and I'm sure if you learn things that you can explain to others, they'll appreciate it, too. If you have any questions for us as you work on this research, we'd be glad to help."

"Thank you very much," Brighton said, and extended his hand to shake hands with both of the doctors. Max was pretty impressed with him, then shook hands with the doctors himself.

"Yes, thank you very much for your time, for helping all of us understand what's going on with Fran. It's very reassuring to know she'll be in good hands," Max said.

"Yeah, it makes me feel better, too. I'm sure I'll be pretty nervous monday morning, but I do want to get this surgery over with and get back to my life. And I really could do without those fevers. I'm really tired of that."

"I'll bet. And you can still take the medication if it happens again before the surgery, even without much in your stomach. That shouldn't be an issue. But just take it easy this weekend, get a bag packed for your hospital stay, and make sure things are ready for when you go home. You'll need a lot of rest at first, before you can start resuming your normal activities," Dr. Carter informed her.

"Oh, yes- that reminds me, we have to pick up the wheelchair and the walker, too, before we leave. We reserved them for her to help during the recovery," Max remembered.

"Very good. That should definitely help." The doctors shook Sylvia and Morty's hands, too, as everyone got up and made their way out of the office door. "Now don't forget to stop at the desk on the way out, Candace can take you all out that way. And we'll see you monday morning, Fran, bright and early at seven A.M., alright?"

"Yes, we'll be here. I'll be as ready as I can be." Fran tried to muster a smile, and the doctors waved goodbye to them as Candace led them back down the hallway to the desk to check Fran out and to get her the drinks she would need for the weekend. They all headed out to the elevator next to try to decide what they would do for lunch. Max checked his watch to see what time it was.

"Well," he said, "What would you all like to do for lunch? And Brighton and Maggie, you're welcome to join us if you're able to."

"I don't know if I'll have that much time. I was thinking I'd head to my class and get something afterwards, then I'll go get all the stuff for Fran before I come home," Maggie said.

"Would you guys mind if I just got lunch at school? I want to try to talk to my teacher, too, to get ready for going to the library tomorrow."

"If one of the drivers can take us, I don't mind signing him in, then I can head to the university," Maggie said.

"Well, alright. Brighton, make sure you have that note, too, okay? And your teacher could vouch for you, too."

"Yeah, that should be fine. They knew I was gonna be out in the morning, so yeah, Maggie should be able to sign me in." Max looked over at Fran and she nodded her approval.

"They should be fine, and they can call us on the cell phone if there's a problem," Fran said, taking Max's hand.

"Alright. I'll call the driver to come get you two, then he can come back up this way to pick us up later. So Morty, Sylvia- would you like to have lunch somewhere? We could even grab something in the cafeteria here if you don't want to go somewhere else."

"Yeah, the food isn't too bad down there. Daddy, I think you'd like what they've got in the main cafeteria. But we can go to a restaurant too, if you'd like that better."

"Oh, I'm sure the cafeteria here will be fine. I might need to work on getting an appetite back, though," Morty said.

"Aw, daddy! That's okay, we can take our time there, and talk about things, too, if you want." Max took the phone out of his coat pocket while they waited for the elevator and called for the driver to come get Maggie and Brighton and take them to school, then they all got in the elevator and rode down to the ground floor.

"Fran, remind me about getting the wheelchair and walker before we leave today, won't you? I think that medical equipment place is right by the gift shop."

"Okay, sweetie, I will." They waited for the driver to show up with the limo, and then Max hurried out with the children to speak with the driver and let him know to wait for Maggie at Brighton's school, then to get her to Columbia before coming back up to the hospital. He hurried back inside to Fran, Morty and Sylvia, then they all headed over to the hospital cafeteria.

Fran was bummed that she couldn't join in in enjoying a meal with the others, but she tried not to let it show. Max got her a tall glass of iced tea, Morty and Sylvia had pasta, and Max got himself a chef's salad. After the previous night's meal, he was feeling like he should start getting back on track with a healthier diet. He took Fran's hand under the table as he ate, occasionally giving it a squeeze of encouragement.

"So, I was thinking maybe we should talk about a schedule for next week. I'll be keeping my work schedule light, but I know you'll be wanting to spend some time with Fran. Sylvia, since Val will still be working through the mornings, would you be willing to come see Fran in the morning, and then trade out with Val so she can see Fran in the afternoons? And Val said she would take Gracie to her therapy appointment next week, too. If I might have to do any work next week, I'd like to at least be able to have lunch with Fran every day. Would you be able to come over after the children go to school, and spend a few hours with Fran?"

"Sure! I'd love to do that! I can come over in the mornings and help out, if you're sure I won't be a bother," Sylvia said, her eyes lighting up.

"You won't be a bother, Ma. But it's just for the mornings, okay? I want time with Max at lunch until Val comes over. And you can help me put together some ideas for the wedding, and go through all the magazines and everything. That'll be fun!"

"Oh, it sure will! But how long do you think you'll be wanting me to come over in the mornings?"

"Well, at least through next week. I have a followup appointment Friday morning. But I think I might want you to come by the week after, too. Maybe up until we go to that bridal expo. Do you think you could do that?"

"Absolutely! And if you're doing good by then, maybe we'd be able to do some other outings, too, if it isn't too hard on you."

"What kind of outings?"

"Oh, I don't know… looking at wedding gowns, maybe…?" Sylvia grinned, and Fran and Max laughed.

"We'll see how she's doing by then, Sylvia, and what the doctors will let her do. But if she's confined to bed for a good while, I know she'll be wanting some company."

"I might want some sleep, too, so we'll see how that goes. But yeah, I'll want some company, too. Thank you, Ma. And daddy, you can come, too, if you want to see me. Maybe we can have dinner together when I can eat regular food again. That might be nice. Oh! I almost forgot about Valentine's Day! I want that day reserved for Max, okay? I gotta tell Val that, too."

"Yes, we need to figure something out for that day, too. Maybe Niles can make us a nice meal, or see if we can have something delivered. We'll have to talk about that some more." Max smiled at Fran, and she smiled back. Sylvia and Morty glanced at each other and grinned. They continued to eat their meals, and Max and Morty sat silently as Fran and Sylvia got caught up on the gossip from Queens.

When they finished their meals and Fran finished sipping her tea, Max cleared their plates and they all got up and put their coats on again. Max called for Sylvia and Morty's car, then called his regular driver to see if he was close by yet after dropping Maggie off. Fran and Max accompanied Sylvia and Morty to the entrance of the hospital to see them off, then went to pick up the wheelchair and walker Fran would need from the medical equipment rental office. Fran pushed the wheelchair with her bag of drinks from the doctors' office and the big envelope of paperwork in the seat, and Max carried the walker. The limo pulled up outside just as they got back to the entrance again, and the driver helped them put the equipment in the trunk, then they hopped into the warm car and headed back to the house.

Niles greeted them at the door and helped them bring the walker and wheelchair in, then helped them with their coats.

"So, may I ask- how did everything go?" He said, a little nervously.

"I think it went well. I think we mostly talked about exactly what will happen on monday. What they'll do during surgery. Oh, and they said it could take anywhere from two to four hours!" Fran said, clutching at Niles' forearm.

"Two to four hours? Oh, my goodness! I wasn't expecting that! It sounds like it's more complicated than I guess I imagined it was."

"Yeah, me too. But I don't think they are expecting it to go that long. I think there's only so much they can know before they go in and really see what's there. Oh! Niles- here's my dietary restrictions. And I'm gonna have to start this drink soon, too. This is when it really doesn't get fun. But at least I can have clear fluids this weekend, like broth. I can try to pretend I'm eating with you guys." Niles read through the sheet of paper and nodded his head.

"So- no more shakes until you come home from the hospital?" He asked.

"Nope. No more. I'm gonna be so hungry this weekend!" Max wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder.

"Oh, Niles- we probably won't need that wheelchair for a while, at least until after she's home. Could you maybe put it in the study for now? That way it's out of the way," Max said.

"Absolutely, sir! What about the walker, do you want me to put that there, too?"

"Oh, no, Niles," Fran interrupted. "We can take that upstairs with us. I might give it a few tries to see how I'll have to use it to stand and sit."

"Oh, alright, then. Will you two be needing anything? A drink or something?" Fran shook her head, and so did Max.

"No, Niles. I think we'll just head upstairs and rest a bit before dinner, and take some time to process everything they told us. And we can talk more about it all at dinner. Brighton and Maggie may have some things to talk about, too. Would you be able to keep an eye on the children when they come home?"

"Yes, sir. That's not a problem. I'll sort out what to make for dinner, and Ms. Fine, I'll see what I can do about a broth for you, would that be alright?"

"That would be great, Niles. Thank you." As Niles headed for the hallway with the wheelchair, Max picked up the folded walker and took Fran's hand, then they headed upstairs to the bedroom.

Max shut and locked the bedroom door behind them, then walked over to Fran's massage chair and set the walker nearby. She sat down at the end of the bed and he looked over at her, then approached her and took her hands. She smiled at him as she sat looking up at him, then pulled him in for a hug. She rested her cheek against his waist and wrapped her arms tightly around him, then closed her eyes. Max stroked her shoulders and her back lovingly.

"You doing alright?" He asked softly.

"Mmm hmm…" she mumbled into his belly. "Just glad we can be alone together for a while."

"You were awfully quiet on the ride home. Is there anything you might want to talk about?" Fran turned her head to look up at him.

"You were quiet, too, you know."

"Yes," he agreed. "I suppose I was. A lot of things to think about."

"Yeah. I think I just needed to process it all a little more. You know- to see if there was anything else that maybe I didn't ask about, or anything that was bothering me still."

"Is there anything? Bothering you?" He caressed her jaw with his thumb as he looked at her. She took a breath and exhaled.

"I don't think so. I guess that kind of surprised me. After everything that's been going on, and all the uncertainty, I guess it's finally settling in. I'm feeling different about it all."

"You are?" Max asked, a little surprised. "Would you mind if we talked about that a bit? Here- hand me your shoes and I'll put them in then closet. Let me put my blazer away, too." He let go of Fran so he could take off his blazer and so she could remove her shoes. She handed them to him and he headed for the closet. As he put things away and took off his own shoes, Fran crawled back to the pillows at the head of the bed and made herself comfortable. Max shut the closet door, then joined her on the bed. He scooted up next to her and took her hand, then rested his head against her shoulder.

"How are you feeling about everything, sweetie? I mean, after the meeting? Do you have all your questions answered?" Fran asked.

"All my questions? Well, I suppose all the ones that could be asked right now. They explained things pretty well. I think I was a bit shocked at how long the surgery could be, but I suppose that makes sense given all the things they have to be careful of, and the kind of surgery they're doing."

"Yeah, that surprised me a little, too. But I think just thinking of it as a two hour surgery might be more accurate. Any extra time is maybe a just-in-case, like if there's a delay for some reason, or maybe something they can't account for ahead of time. So I think two hours isn't so bad."

"I suppose not. But it'll still feel like an eternity waiting. Maybe that's what I'm dreading. Not having any control over that." Fran squeezed his hand and they turned to look at each other.

"I'm sorry you guys have to go through that. I know it would bother me, too, if I was in your shoes." She kissed his forehead, then rested hers against his. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"When you had your appendix out- I guess I kind of felt guilty afterwards that I should have done more. I should have helped take care of you. I should have done more to make sure you were okay when you weren't feeling well, too. But I just- I don't know. I guess I didn't know enough about it at first to know how dangerous that could be. I mean, if we weren't taking it seriously and it had ruptured- that would have been really bad. I should have come to see you in the hospital afterwards, you know? I know that technically I'm supposed to focus on the kids, but I don't want you thinking I didn't care, because I did. And then, when you came home and were recovering, I just let Niles do everything for you. I was nervous to come check on you, because of what happened in the hospital before the surgery. I mean, you didn't know what happened, but I did, and I guess it crossed that line again and kinda freaked me out. I thought I should treat you like my boss more than I should treat you like my friend, and it just made things weird. I felt like such an idiot for not just letting that doctor know I wasn't a nurse, but I guess I was worried more about getting caught."

"Getting caught by whom? By the doctor, or by me?" Max cracked a little grin.

"Oh, I dunno. He was already yelling at me, maybe that scared me and made me keep going along with it. And you were pretty doped up, so I didn't think I'd get in trouble with you. But then he said to shave you for surgery, and boy howdy! That freaked me out! But I promise, I didn't see anything! I didn't look when I was spraying the shaving cream." Max laughed.

"It's alright, Niles reenacted that bit for me later. You know, if you hadn't been making that sundae that night and sprayed the whipped cream, I don't think I would have even remembered any of it. I don't know why that sound triggered me remembering."

"Well, maybe it wasn't just the sound." They were quiet for a second, then burst out laughing.

"You mean about the part that Niles reenacted?" Max asked, and Fran laughed.

"Well, he did burst through the door post-spray, so he only saw that part. Oh, god! I was mortified! But at least him coming in there gave me a chance to make my escape. I thought he'd never let me hear the end of it. He could have used that to blackmail me, but he never did."

"Because you're his friend. He might tease you about it, but not blackmail you. I'm sure he got a kick out of it, anyway. I know he was trying to get us together even back then."

"Yeah…" Fran smiled. "But aside from that embarrassment, I did feel guilty about not helping out with you. I know you were in a lot of pain."

"It's alright, Fran. I really wasn't expecting that from you. I was glad you were watching the children, and leaving work to C.C. meant I could relax and work on recovering. So please don't worry anymore about that." He squeezed her hand and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure."

"What was that pain like? I mean, at the beginning, and when it got worse? How did you know you needed to go to the hospital?"

"Well," he started, "I thought it was just something I ate at first. I'd get a twinge, maybe a burning feeling. It came and went, then it just stayed and got worse. I didn't realize I had a fever starting. The pain became a lot sharper, and that burning was constant. I left that night with C.C. and once we got to the building we were supposed to go to, I couldn't get out of the limo. I really thought I was going to be sick. That's when she noticed the fever- I guess I was sweating. I told her I thought something was really wrong, so she told the driver to take us to the hospital instead."

"I'm glad you went. I felt bad because I told you to go ahead and go out that night. I was worried more about you catching me covering for Maggie than I was about you being sick. But I never imagined it would be something that could be dangerous. I really felt bad about that later."

"It's alright, sweetheart. None of us figured it out until the doctor did. Sort of like what was going on with you. And it all happened pretty fast- I didn't have much time to think about what was going on. I was just glad they finally gave me painkillers. I think that was all that mattered to me at the time. Then suddenly I was out of surgery and in the hospital room. I think I slept most of the time I was there, didn't I? And then they let me come home."

"I wish things were a little different with us back then. I would have done more to take care of you, if you wanted me to." Max looked into her eyes and rubbed her arm.

"I would have liked that. But yes, it was a bit of a different dynamic between us back then. But I know if no one else was there, that you would have taken care of me. I know you would have. I would have done the same for you."

"You did. You have. Now. I'll always be grateful for that." She looked at Max in a way that melted him, and he leaned in for a soft kiss.

"Well, everything's out in the open now. We can take care of each other all the time. And I promise I'll take care of you, not just through this, but always." Fran smiled, and reached up to clutch his face.

"I love you, Max."

"I love you, too." They kissed again, then smiled at each other. Fran turned and reached for a pillow behind her and tossed it aside, and then another one. Max did the same, then they stretched out on the bed and curled up together- Max's arm around her shoulders and her arm stretched across his chest. She softly stroked his chest a few times, then looked down his body towards his waist, then a bit lower.

"Max? When you came home from the hospital… Did it feel weird? I mean, where the incision was? Could you feel anything inside?" Fran asked. Max thought a moment.

"Well, I was on pain medication at first, and antibiotics. I had to take it easy for a while. I was careful like when I got out of bed, or up from a chair. I don't think it hurt at first, at least not too much. But then when I didn't have the pain pills anymore, it started kicking in. But it was nowhere near the pain I had before, when it was really bad. I suppose it was more like that constant feeling, dull, maybe like a burning there. But if I was still and stopped moving, it was much better. So that's what I did most of the time, stayed still, until I felt like getting back on my feet. But it healed fairly quickly. I just had to remember to give it time. Like with exercise, I had to be mindful of that- that it might not be fully healed inside, or in the muscle, for a while longer. I expect you'll be going through something similar, at least close to the incision. I can't say how it might feel where the tumor is- if that might cause some pain. But just remember, if anything hurts at the beginning of recovery, it will likely be better each day after that. The beginning is the hardest part. You don't want to do anything that might create a problem or make the recovery take longer."

"Yeah."

"And I think it was when I started feeling hungry again that I knew everything was really getting better. I didn't feel like eating much those first couple of days."

"That's understandable. I'm just hoping after all this that I get my appetite back! But not until they say I can eat like I used to."

"Yes, be careful of that. But maybe we can plan a special meal for you when you're better."

"That sounds good!" She rubbed his chest again, then slid her hand around his waist. She enjoyed quiet time like this with him. "I'm glad you were with me today, and the others, too. That was really important to me. And you know, this morning I wasn't sure if I was nervous, or- I dunno, having a sort of out-of-body feeling maybe? But once we were at the meeting and listening to what the doctors had to say, I think once people asked their questions, and we couldn't think of anything else to ask- I started getting this feeling that came over me."

"What kind of feeling?"

"Well, like I wasn't scared anymore. I knew what had to be done. I know what needs to be done. I understand better how the surgery will go. And I trust that the doctors are good at what they do, and they can handle it. I'm tired of being sick- of feeling sick. This surgery is what has to happen to make me better. I feel ready now- not scared and nervous anymore. I don't know if that will change on monday, if I'll get nervous again or not. But right now, I feel okay with everything. I'm ready to get it done and over with." Max tightened his grip on her, giving her a hug.

"Really? That's pretty wonderful, Fran. I think that's a good sign. You sure have a lot more information going into your surgery than I had going into mine, and a bit more time to think through everything. I'm glad you're feeling more certain about things. I really am."

"I'm feeling more certain about so many things, Max. So many things." She ran her hand back and forth over his chest and belly and sighed. Max turned his head and kissed her forehead.

"So am I." They rested quietly for a while, letting their conversation sink in. Knowing that Fran was feeling more confident made Max begin to feel better about the situation. He felt himself relax more, and he wrapped his arms around her, caressed her, held her to him. She moved next to him, and he opened his eyes. She shifted up closer to him and looked into his eyes and smiled. She rested on her elbow and reached for his cheek with her other hand, then caressed his cheek slowly with her thumb as she looked over his face, then back into his eyes. She crept up to him slowly, then let her lips graze over his before giving him a kiss. "Mmmm…" he sighed, then he returned the kiss. They kissed each other passionately and he ran his hands up her sides, then back down to her waist. They let their tongues wander over each other's, then Fran pulled his lower lip gently in between hers. She shifted up further onto him as he watched her through his eyelashes, then she kissed his cheeks lovingly.

"God, Max, why do you drive me so crazy?" She smiled at him, then rested her forehead against his.

"I could say the same about you, sweetheart. I could kiss you forever and it wouldn't be enough…"

"Mmmm… that sounds wonderful…" she whispered, then kissed his lips again. "Max?" She asked.

"Hmm?" Fran lifted herself up to look at him.

"You know, we've got at least a couple hours before the kids start coming home. And even longer than that before dinner…"

"Mmm hmm…" he smiled, as he gazed up at her.

"I could easily rip your clothes off right now, but I'll save that for a little later… that is, if you might be in the mood…"

"In the mood to have my clothes ripped off?" He grinned.

"Well, not ripped. I don't want to ruin your clothes. Yanked off, maybe!" She laughed. "Then I could go exploring, and see what I find…" she grazed his lips again, turning him on.

"Mmm… do I get to do the same to you?"

"Well, I suppose… I mean, if you feel like it. If you're in the mood, too…" she teased.

"If?" He grinned.

"So, you're saying you are in the mood?"

"Darling," he gently pushed an errant curl behind her ear. "When you look at me the way you do, and kiss me the way you do… I can't help but get turned on. I love that we can be like this with each other now. Yes, you've got me in the mood. As long as you're feeling alright."

"I'm feeling very good," she grazed the tip of his nose with hers. "Very good. I wanna be with you every chance I can get before monday, Max. If you want that, too."

"I do," he whispered, and kissed her firmly on the lips. He clutched her body tightly to his and she wrapped her legs around him. Their tongues slid over each other's, turning both of them on even more. His hands crept up her sides into her sweater. They briefly gasped for breath, then Fran sat up, straddling his lap. He pushed himself up to kiss her again, then let his lips wander across her cheek, her jaw, and down her neck. She tugged at his shirt and slowly pulled it off of him, then tossed it away. She watched her hands as she ran them over his chest and shoulders, then she clutched his face and kissed him hard. He squeezed her thighs as they kissed, then slid his hands around to her buttocks, then up the back of her sweater. She helped him remove her sweater, and she tossed that aside, too. Fran wrapped her arms around Max's neck and he kissed her throat, then ran his tongue over her skin, making her moan in pleasure.

"Ohhh…!" He worked his way to the other side of her neck, making her gasp. "That feels so good!" He was getting himself worked up too fast, and thought Fran might be, too. He needed to slow things down and make it last. He held on to her and rolled her over onto the bed. She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him to her for a long kiss.

"Mmm… Fran… Your skin feels so good!" He whispered, as he went back to her neck and shoulder.

"Your lips feel so good, Max! I just want them all over me! And your hands, too!"

"Mmm… okay…" he kissed his way down the center of her chest, letting his hands grasp her sides near her breasts. He clutched her ribs and pulled her body to him- it was like he couldn't get close enough to her. He felt like he wanted to consume her. His kisses and his wandering tongue pressed more firmly against her. She arched her back and moaned and grabbed his shoulders. He paused to catch his breath, his lips against her soft skin. He moved down the bed further so he could rest his head on her belly, and he slid his arms up alongside her body. Fran took a deep breath and exhaled, and stroked Max's hair tenderly. She glanced down at him as he rested on her and smiled.

"It's okay to slow down, baby, if you need to. I like this… I really do…" she whispered, and stroked his hair again.

"Mmm… I don't want to rush through anything… I don't want to go too fast. But it's hard to control myself. You're so wonderful, Fran! I'm so crazy about you. And I love it when you do that with my hair. It gives me goosebumps!" He sighed and buried his face against her belly and she chuckled.

"That's good to know. We can take our time. But just know that I do want to be with you… so I don't know how long I can hold back from you…"

"Mmm…okay…" he sighed again.

He raised his head off of her and looked over her body in front of him. He kissed her belly softly several times, working his way down. He kissed her just over the waistband of her pants, back and forth across her skin, then carefully unfastened them. He kissed her sides below her ribs and worked his way back to her chest, pausing to look over her tempting breasts. He grazed his fingers over her bra- first one side, then the other, making Fran catch her breath, then he dragged his lips over each nipple, making them perk up even more through the fabric. Fran grabbed his shoulders again and squeezed his hips between her thighs. He was making her feel so good! She pulled him up to her and kissed his lips. She hugged him to her tightly, her hands pulling his back, her fingers almost digging in to his skin. They kissed each other slowly for several minutes, consuming each other's mouths and tongues and lips. Their heavy breaths were the only sounds in the room.

"Hmmm…" Max sighed. "Are you going to kiss me like this at our wedding?" He asked between kisses. When she heard him say our wedding, Fran felt such a rush through her she couldn't help but smile.

"Mmm… maybe not at the wedding… but definitely on the honeymoon!" She teased, and he laughed. He pushed himself up on his elbows so he could get a better look at her. She wrapped her arms over his shoulders and looked into his gorgeous hazel eyes. The light from the sun coming in the window made the bits of green in his eyes glow. It was mesmerizing to her.

"I like the sound of that- our wedding. What do you think it will be like? Do you want something really big and over the top, or more formal…?" Fran smiled and tightened her arms around him.

"Definitely big… and at least a little formal. It'll probably depend on the dress. I want the dress to be the star of the show."

"Darling, you'll be the star of the show. All of your single cousins are just going to stuff their faces after they see you walking down the aisle, dressed like a glamorous Hollywood star!"

"Aw! They'll be stuffing their faces the second they get a look at the gorgeous guy I'm marrying!" Fran kissed him again and they laughed, then let their eyes wander over each other's faces again.

"Darling…?" Max whispered to her, as he let his nose graze across her cheeks.

"Mmm hmm?"

"I feel like if I get started again… I might- well, I feel like I might not be able to slow down enough, like I might not be able to be careful enough- with you. I want you to take over, to let me know what you want. I want to make sure we're both being safe, so we don't cause any problems. I want to make you feel good, but I still worry." He looked into her eyes and stroked her cheek.

"I know you worry, baby. I kinda do sometimes, too. I can't see you doing anything that would hurt me. But I don't mind taking the reigns. I want to make you feel good, too. I feel like I could easily lose control with you, so we just have to remember to slow down. Take our time. There's a lot of things we can do for each other, and do together. And I want to do all of it. If we have to stop for a little while, that's fine. But right now, I just want to explore you… all over…"

"I think that sounds wonderful…" He carefully rolled off of her and sat up on the side of the bed. Fran sat up with him and guided him to take her place on the bed. Max moved over and laid down in the middle of the bed, then Fran looked over his body and made a small grumble. Just looking at him like that reminded her of everything they had already done before- on the bed, and in the shower. She straddled his body, then laid down on top of him. The feel of skin-on-skin was almost too much. As he slid his hands around her waist, she kissed his cheek and neck, then slowly worked her way to his lips. Max had to keep telling himself to try to stay still, and let Fran do what she wanted. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers over her lower back as she gave him the softest, sweetest kisses he had ever felt.

Fran pressed her body against his- occasionally pressing her hips against his, making him gasp. She kissed him deeply, then moved to his neck, running the tip of her tongue over the most sensitive areas, then almost consuming the larger muscles and she took his flesh in and sucked at him, licked at him. Max groaned and turned his head to the side, wanting more. She was turning him on so much that he couldn't hide it anymore. He didn't want to hide it. Almost reading his mind, she pressed her hips into him again.

"Mmmmm…" he moaned. Fran smiled to herself. She loved that she could make him feel this good. She moved to the other side of his neck, and then back to his lips for a while as she shifted her position, then ran her fingernails gently up his side and his belly. He tightened up from the tickling, then relaxed, letting himself experience everything she was doing to him, letting himself enjoy everything she was doing to him. Fran ran her hand up and down his body, feeling every muscle, and coming to rest at his pec. She squeezed it in her fingers, teased his nipple, as she played with his tongue with hers. He grasped her bare sides in his hands and pushed his hips against her, then she made her way back down his neck with her lips and tongue, then further down to his chest. As she kissed his skin and teased him with her tongue, she wrapped her legs around his and propped herself up on her elbows. She could feel his arousal beneath her belly so she moved herself back and forth against him. Max reached for her shoulders and squeezed them gently. She looked over his body in front of her and it filled her with desire. She still couldn't believe that he was finally hers- she could touch him, she could turn him on, she could love him- as much as she wanted.

"Does this feel good?" She whispered.

"Yessss….." he sighed. Fran smiled, then looked back at his pecs and attended to them some more- especially to his nipples. She shifted herself further down his body, raising herself up on her knees and elbows, then kissed his belly and ran her tongue over his ribs, then down the center of his torso to his belly button. He glanced down at her, then closed his eyes and put his head back on the pillow. His hands clutched at the bedcovers. She was making him feel so nice! Fran ran her hand down his body and over to the waistband of his slacks. She unfastened them, then spread them open and kissed Max's skin between his belly button and the waistband of his underwear. God, she thought. She couldn't get enough of his body! She loved every wave and contour of every muscle, and the way she could see his ribs as he breathed heavily, letting her do whatever she wanted to do to him. She sucked and kissed his abdomen, then slid her hands under his sides, letting him know to raise his hips so she could start to slide his pants off. He did as she wanted and lifted his hips up, then she pulled at his pants and slid them down to his legs. She moved off of him and removed his pants the rest of the way, then climbed back over him. She looked up and down over his body, then focused on the mostly erect penis covered by his underwear. She couldn't help but reach for it, and gently stroked her hand back and forth over it, making Max moan again.

Max barely opened his eyes and watched her through his eyelashes. He put an arm behind his head, lifting it up just enough so he could see her better. He tried to relax as he watched her hand grazing over the front of his underwear, but she was turning him on so much he couldn't help but tense up. He wanted her hands on his bare skin. She moved off of him and removed her own pants, and threw them to the floor with purpose. She focused intently on his crotch again, then clutched him in her hand and rubbed him back and forth. She straddled him again and sat on top of him, and moved her hips back and forth. She was getting herself turned on as she rubbed against him.

"Max…?" She whispered.

"Mmm hmm?"

"Come here," she said. He opened his eyes and she held her hands out to him. He sat up with her and she kissed his lips, wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"You're turning me on so much, Fran!"

"Good…" she smiled, and kissed him again. They rested their foreheads together and tried to catch their breath. "Go ahead and take off my bra…" she whispered. Max looked into her eyes, and they grazed each other's lips. He ran a hand up over her back, then around to the middle of her chest. He popped the fastener open, and she lowered her arms so he could remove the bra. He ran his hand over her breast as he pushed one cup off, then did the same with the other breast, then gently pulled the bra off of her arms and dropped it to the side. He stared at her bare breasts in front of him, still amazed at the beauty of her body. She reached for his shoulders and moved her hips on him again, making him close his eyes. He reached for a breast and brought it to his lips, taking her nipple in. She let out a small noise as he sucked on her nipple. He tended to it carefully, gently, wanting her to feel every bit of arousal that she could. He worked his way to the other breast, treating it just as tenderly as the first.

Fran pushed him back down on the bed and laid on top of him. Part of her wanted to slow things down, but the rest of her didn't. She kissed him almost furiously, and he clutched her buttocks in his hands, pulling her against him. The weight of her body on top of him felt so good. They kissed each other for several minutes until Fran couldn't take it any more. She wanted him so bad! She kissed and sucked at his neck, then let her tongue and lips work their way down his torso, until they arrived at the waistband of his underwear again. She caressed his erect penis through the fabric, then kissed him softly there, making Max gulp and clutch at the covers. She slid her hands under his buttocks, grasped the back of his waistband, and pulled the underwear down over them. She reached for the front of his underwear and carefully pulled them down over his penis, then slid them down his legs and he kicked them off. He moaned as she took his penis in her hand, and slowly moved her hand back and forth, then teased the head. She kept a hand on him, getting him fully erect, as she kissed her way back up his body to his lips. It felt so good he could barely remember to kiss her back when her lips touched his.

Fran then let go of his penis and straddled him again. Max held onto her buttocks, letting her move back and forth against him, then he ran his hands slowly up her back, around her ribs, and to her breasts. He clutched them in his hands, playing with her nipples, as she kissed him hard. The suction of her kiss was like nothing he had ever felt. He knew it must be because the way he fondled her breasts was really turning her on. He was crazy about her breasts. She let loose of his mouth and gasped, then moved her body up, encouraging him to take her breasts into his lips. She moaned as he worked on her nipples one at a time, then he clutched her breasts together and took both nipples into his mouth at the same time.

"Oh god!" She gasped. "Ohhh! Yes!" She let him continue for a minute, then lifted his face back to hers for another kiss. She wanted him so bad! She briefly climbed off of him to retrieve a condom from the bedside drawer, opened it, then set the condom nearby. She looked back at his naked body, climbed back over him, and clutched his pecs in her hands. She ran her hands all over his chest and belly as she sucked on his nipples, then let her lips work their way down. Max tried to watch her as she made her way to his penis, but once her lips took him in, he groaned so hard he couldn't keep his eyes open.

"Ohh! Fran! Oh, god!" He moaned. She slowed down and ran her tongue over his penis, then gently pumped him with her hand. She didn't want him to come yet, she just couldn't help herself. She wanted to consume every inch of him. She stopped going down on him and reached for the condom and put it on him, then laid down on top of him.

"I want you so bad, Max! You turn me on so much, I just can't get enough of you!"

"I want you, too, Fran! Right now! Please, can we take off your underwear? I don't know how much more I can take!" Max kissed her again and reached for her breasts for a moment, then Fran got off of him so she could pull off her underwear. Max looked over her beautiful nude body and reached for her thighs as she straddled him. He had to remind himself to let her take charge- to let her lead the way. He watched as she took hold of his penis, then she rubbed the head back and forth against her clitoris and they both moaned. Fran guided him into her and he arched his back in pleasure. She moved up and down on him several times, then stopped. She leaned down over him, holding herself up on her hands. Max reached for her breasts as she kissed him, then let her begin slowly thrusting against him.

They gasped in pleasure as Fran got them worked up, then eased off for a few minutes, then started again until they both couldn't take it any more. Max tried hard not to thrust against her, but it was driving him mad. He suddenly felt her tighten her internal grasp on him and he thought he might pass out from the pleasure. She pushed against him again and again, a little faster, clutching tighter, until they both cried out and came hard. Max pulled her buttocks to keep her against him as the waves of contractions surged through them both. When the contractions eased, and finally stopped, they were both left almost shaking, then slowly they came back to reality. Fran was gasping for breath, as was Max, and she had to rest down on top of him. Max wrapped his arms around her as tight as he could and kissed the side of her head again and again.

"God, Fran! I love you so much!" He whispered to her. "Are you alright? Is everything okay?"

"God, yes! Oh my gosh Max! I wasn't expecting that! God, that was so good! And I'm fine, I'm sure I'm fine. Ohhh… that was amazing! I love you, Max! God, I love you more than anything! You're so amazing! I'm so crazy about you, baby!" Fran lifted herself up to look at him, and gave him a reassuring kiss. "Mmmm! You're wonderful, Max. Every bit of you! I'll never get enough!" They kissed again, and Max tried to relax. She said she was fine, so he had to trust her. She knew her own body. And by god, he thought, now he was getting to know it too!

"That was amazing, darling! You made me feel so incredibly good! You really drive me wild! I'm so crazy about you! Just let me hold you here for a little while. Let me catch my breath." Fran kissed his cheeks, then kissed him on the lips and smiled at him. She rested her head down on his shoulder and tried to let her body relax. Max ran his hands gently over her back, then hugged her, and finally let his arms relax around her.

"You feel so nice, in me. I wish I could keep you there!" Fran whispered, then let her muscles clutch on his penis from inside, and he chuckled.

"Mmm… yes, that would be nice, wouldn't it? But I'm afraid any second now that'll have to end. But maybe give me a little time to rest, and then, if you want…"

"Again? Yes, please! But I don't know if I can do all that again right away, but I'm sure I can do something."

"Don't worry about that, darling," he said, as he stroked her hair. "Next time, you relax, and let me take care of you."

"Mmmm… that sounds really nice…"

They rested for a while after they got under the covers. Max turned on the fireplace to it's lowest setting, and they held each other as they watched the flames flicker. Fran stroked his chest lovingly and Max kissed her forehead.

"Max?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we talk to the kids about spring break? About where we might be able to go, and see what they might want to do? I think that might be nice to think about, and give them something fun to look forward to, too."

"Sure, we can do that. You want to talk to them tonight about it?"

"Yeah, let's do that. I think that'll at least help Gracie. Brighton and Maggie, I'm not sure."

"Well, you know what you said to me earlier- that you're ready to do this? How you're ready to get this surgery done so you can get on with your life? Maybe it would be good to share that with them now, and give them time to think about that before monday. Maybe that will help, too."

"You think so?" Fran asked, turning to look at him.

"I know it kind of makes me feel better. Maybe that would be the thing to help Maggie and Brighton if they still worry about you." Max stroked her arm and pulled her closer. Fran wrapped her arm around his side and gave him a squeeze.

"Okay. Yeah, maybe that will help them some. Maybe Brighton especially."

"Mmm hmm." Max slid his hand over her back and under the covers, and ran his hand up and down her smooth skin. He kissed her forehead again and closed his eyes.

"How much time until the kids get home?" Fran asked, as she smiled from the feel of his hand on her back.

"Uhmmm… plenty of time…" he whispered. Fran kissed his chest and let her hand wander across his belly, then under the sheet and further down his body. Max lips formed into a happy grin and he sighed.

Maggie met up with Gracie after school, her hands loaded with shopping bags full of magazines and things for Fran. They hopped into the waiting towncar and hurried home, anxious to see Fran.

After most of the other kids had left school, Brighton was still talking with his teacher, preparing for his trip to the library the next morning. He filled several notebook pages with notes, then packed up his bag, said goodbye to his teacher, and headed out of the school to walk home. He could have gotten a ride back, but knew he needed the exercise to burn off some tension and think about everything. The morning meeting at the hospital consumed him, and he wanted to make sure he didn't forget anything. He needed to be sure he had asked about every possible thing, and that he knew what articles to look for the next morning. He was feeling like he was at the point of information overload and it was making him feel sick to his stomach.

"Hello, girls! Come in, come in! Give me your coats. You've got quite an armful there, Miss Margaret!" Niles said, as he shut the door behind them and they handed him their coats.

"Yeah, I got a ton of stuff for Fran to go through next week. Where is she?" Maggie asked.

"Oh, Ms. Fine and your father are upstairs resting, so we shouldn't disturb them. They'll be down to join us for dinner. Would you two like a snack before dinner?"

"Sure, I think I worked up an appetite shopping for this stuff. Let me go put it all in my room real quick and I'll meet you guys in the kitchen."

"Can you take my bag upstairs, Maggie?" Gracie asked, holding it out to her.

"Sure, Gracie. I'll be right back!"

"Now remember, don't disturb them in case they're asleep. I'm sure it's been quite the day for everyone," Niles reminded her. Niles followed Gracie to the kitchen as Maggie ran upstairs to her room. When they got to the kitchen, Gracie ran straight for the fridge to get herself a drink. "Is there anything I can get you to eat, Miss Grace?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe just fruit or something?"

"Alright. We've got leftover fruit salad, would that work?"

"Yes, please!" Gracie said, enthusiastically. Niles smiled and went to the cabinet to get a bowl, then back to the fridge to get the fruit salad. "Niles?" Gracie asked.

"Yes?"

"Was Fran okay when they came back home?"

"I believe so. Do you mean was she feeling well, or something else?"

"Well, yeah. Unless they looked upset or anything. Maggie said she thought Fran was fine, but she wouldn't tell me what they talked about at the meeting. She said maybe Fran might want to talk to everybody at dinner or something."

"Well, that's true, she might. But I don't think you should worry. I don't believe they would have found out any new information to cause any worry."

"You think so?" Gracie looked concerned.

"Yes, I'm sure it was just to get her ready for the surgery, and for everyone to ask any other questions they had. But you can ask them when they come back down."

"Okay." Niles set Gracie's snack on the table in front of her and she began to eat quietly.

Maggie entered the kitchen through the door, smiling, and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of soda.

"So what are we having for dinner tonight, Niles?" She asked.

"Well, that's what I've been trying to sort out. I wasn't sure anyone would want a big meal like last night, especially since Ms. Fine couldn't enjoy it with us. I've got some broth for her, but do you two have any recommendations?" Maggie and Gracie looked at each other, then Maggie looked back into the fridge to see what was there.

"What kind of broth are you giving her?" She asked.

"Chicken."

"Well, could we have something with chicken? You know, so maybe she won't feel left out too much."

"Sure, we can do that. Yes, maybe that would be a good idea. Let's see what else we have in there that we could have with it."

Just then, the back door opened and Brighton came through, the collar of his winter coat turned up to cover his ears and his backpack over his shoulders.

"Hi Brighton!" Gracie said, as she turned in her seat. Niles and Maggie turned around from the refrigerator as he shut the door behind him.

"Hi," Brighton said quietly.

"Here," Niles said, "Take off your coat and get yourself something to drink. We were just trying to sort out what to have for dinner. Would you like a snack?"

"Uh, no thank you. I'm not really hungry." They all looked at him, concerned for what he might be feeling after the morning meeting at the hospital and what was probably a full afternoon of preparing things for his project about Fran. Maggie turned back to the fridge and grabbed him a soda, then brought it over to him as he took off his coat and hung it over the back of a chair and set his backpack on the table. "Thank you," he said as he took the soda from her and flopped down in the chair. He popped the can open and took a sip, and Maggie and Niles gave each other a look. They let Brighton have a little bit of quiet for a few minutes as Gracie finished her snack and Maggie helped Niles get things for their dinner out of the fridge. Brighton sipped his soda and opened his backpack, took out a notebook, and began reading through it. Gracie rested her head against her fist and watched him, wondering about what he was reading. She decided to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Brighton? Can I ask you something?" She said.

"Yeah."

"What was it like today- at the hospital?" Brighton paused for a moment before he spoke.

"It was a little weird. I mean, I didn't really know what to expect. When you first go in the hospital, downstairs, I guess it was kind of like a hospital. But then once Fran got checked in, we all went over to the elevator and went up a couple floors. After that, it was just like going to a doctor's appointment, except that we went in to an office instead of an exam room. I sat in a chair in front with Fran and dad, so I could record stuff and take notes, and Maggie sat behind us with Morty and Sylvia. It wasn't like really scary or anything, but I think we were all still kind of nervous, at least at first. They mostly talked about monday morning, when she goes in and what they do to prepare her for the surgery, and how they would do the surgery. They said it could take as much as four hours, maybe, depending on what they find when they go in. I wasn't expecting that."

"Four hours? That's a long time!" Gracie squeaked.

"They said it might be more like two if things go easy, and remember they still have to do the anesthesia and stuff, that might take a little time. And they have to put that tube in her throat, too." Gracie had forgotten about that sort of thing.

"How were Fran and daddy? Did they ask a lot of questions?"

"They asked some. Dad was holding her hand a lot. He made sure to find out if he could stay with her, and they said he could. There's a sort of a sleeping area there. Oh, and they said afterwards, she might not want to talk because her throat might be sore. And I guess it might be some time in the afternoon that they should have some answers about the tumor from the pathologist, so we'll know a lot more then and if she's gonna need anything else later." Gracie got quiet after that, letting things sink in. Brighton went back to his notebook, flipping through the pages. Gracie leaned back in her chair, then turned to look at Maggie who was still helping Niles.

"Will they let us go see her?" Gracie asked Maggie. Maggie put a few things down on the counter and came over to Gracie.

"They might not. She might not be able to have many visitors, and it should probably just be daddy and her parents that stay with her a while. And I think only daddy can stay there with her at night. He'll go be with her when they take her to recovery- when she starts waking up, and when she's doing okay, they'll take her to her room. Morty and Sylvia can come see her there and stay a while. But we don't know what she might be feeling like, and if she can't talk, then it's probably better to not have all of us there bothering her. And anyways, if she comes home the next day, that's not so bad. You can help me get all of the stuff ready for her when she comes home- for when she's ready to start working on the stuff for the wedding. That'll keep us busy for a little while." Gracie nodded. "Are you worried about Fran?"

"Well, yeah," Gracie said. "I'm sure she'll be okay, but it's just gonna be weird, her not being here. And daddy being gone, too. And I don't want her to be scared about everything, or daddy either. I know daddy was really scared for a while before. I know he really wants to take care of her, like we do."

"Well, then, while they aren't here- we'll take care of each other, okay? We'll stick together, hang out together. We still have to go to school, but I'll come right back here after my classes, before you guys get home. And Brighton, I want you to have the driver get you monday, okay? I know the long walks can help, but it's too cold outside right now to be walking that far. You can use the treadmill like daddy was saying if you need some exercise. Okay?" Maggie said, and stared at him until he gave in.

"Okay. I'll get a ride. It is pretty cold out there."

"And maybe if I get home in time, I'll catch a ride when the driver leaves to go get you guys, especially if Niles has heard from them at the hospital."

"Yeah!" Gracie agreed. "I want to know if daddy called as soon as possible."

"Yeah, me too," Brighton said.

"Okay, then! I'll try to come get you guys monday, and then we can get everything ready for Fran for when she gets home. Sound like a plan?" Maggie asked, smiling. Gracie and Brighton nodded in agreement.

Max sat at the end of the bed, putting on his slip-on shoes, as Fran came out of the bathroom, her hair and makeup as impeccable as always. There was no evidence on either of them of what they had been up to earlier. He smiled at her and held out his arms, inviting her to him. She smiled and hurried to him, then they hugged each other tightly. He buried his face against her and she kissed the top of his head. Her engagement ring caught her eye as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you, darling! I love this time with you- being with you. I can't get over how crazy I am about you!" He turned his head to look up at her face and smiled. She stroked his cheek and gave him a kiss.

"Thank you for this afternoon, Max. I needed to be with you. I'm crazy about you, too, and I just want as much of you as I can get before we have to stop. I wish we didn't have to stop…"

"Me too. Me too. It'll seem like forever while you recover, but just imagine how nice it'll be once the doctor gives his ok."

"Yeah! I'll be so all over you!" They both laughed and hugged each other again, then gave each other several more kisses before Max got up from the bed and lifted her up in his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and they rested their foreheads together.

"Your temperature good?" He asked.

"Yeah, normal."

"Good. Good." He sighed, then kissed her lips lightly before lowering her back down on her feet. "You ready to head downstairs?"

"I am! Let's go see those kids!" Fran grabbed Max's hand and pulled him behind her towards the door. He shut off the light as she dragged him through the doorway and pulled him through the hallways on the way downstairs.

"Hey, you guys!" Fran yelled out, with a big grin on her face, as she and Max pushed through the door to the kitchen.

"Fran!" Gracie squealed, and jumped up from her chair to run to Fran and hug her around the waist.

"Hi, angel! How was school today?" Fran asked.

"Okay, I guess. I got to play a bunch of games of chess, and I got some reading time, too. So that was good."

"Oh, good! So you don't have any work to do this weekend?"

"Nope!" She grinned up at Fran and Fran hugged her close.

"Hey! What about me?" Max asked.

"I'm sorry, daddy!" Gracie grabbed her father's hand and he wrapped an arm around her for a hug.

"What about you two? You make it back to school alright?" Brighton nodded.

"Yeah," Maggie said. "They let me sign him in, it was no big deal. So just in case you ever need me to do that again, I can."

"Oh, wonderful. That's good to know. How about you, Brighton? Did you take some time to get some exercise at school?"

"Well, not much. The guys already had even teams picked out for basketball, but they said I could sub in after a while. But I started working on some stuff, and it was too loud in the gym, so I asked if I could go to the library and the teacher said that would be okay." Fran and Max both watched him closely, trying to see if they could read how he was really doing.

"What were you working on?" Fran asked.

"Um, well- I kind of made a sheet with some definitions, you know- a lot of the things the doctors talked about, I wanted to make sure I remembered what it all meant. And then with some of the other stuff I had, I looked up some definitions in the library. I also rewrote my list of stuff I want to look for tomorrow when we go to the university. I got some names of medical journals from Tommy's dad that I can look up." Brighton unconsciously started biting on the side of his thumb, then his eyes flickered in a twitch.

"B- I'm proud of you for working so hard on this, and that you seem to really be on top of things, but I think you should put it all away by dinner time, okay? Don't work on anything more tonight, except taking it easy, or maybe spending some time on the treadmill if you want. Okay?" Fran asked.

"Okay, I guess I can do that. I think I'm ready for tomorrow. I just want to make sure I can get all the copies of stuff I need, so I can bring it back to read through if I need to. I'm not sure if I'm gonna end up with a ton of stuff or what."

"You know you can always go back there to look up more things if you need to. And once- well, when we have more information… you might need to go back to look up some more things. Unless you can find what you need on the internet."

"Yeah, I didn't really think of that. Yeah, I might need to go back. I guess I can take a break tonight and do something else."

"Good!" Fran smile at him. "So what are you making for dinner, Niles? I know I can't have any, but I'll live vicariously through you guys for a few days."

"Well, I'll be making something with chicken. Miss Margaret has been very helpful with coming up with some ideas. And Ms. Fine- I've got some broth for you as well. If having a broth works for you, I've got several kinds you can have, just for a little variety. How would you like to have it- in a bowl like a soup, or maybe in a mug, if you want to drink it?"

"Oh… how about in a mug? I have to have my other drink, too, so maybe if I just start with a mug's worth of broth, in case it gets to be a little too much for me."

"Very well, a mug it is! But how about right now, can I get either of you anything?"

"I thought I might grab a drink, how about you, darling?" Max asked.

"I better hold off. I have a feeling I'll be plenty waterlogged later!" She rolled her eyes and the children laughed.

"Well, let me grab something. Would you children like to join us in the living room and maybe see what's on the television?" Max asked. He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of tea.

"Sure! I get to sit by you and Fran!" Gracie called out.

"Yeah, unless you need any help, Niles?" Maggie asked.

"I think I'll be fine in here. Thank you for helping me sort out a meal, though. I might call on you children later to help me set the table, though, if that's alright." The kids nodded, then gathered up their things and followed Fran and Max out to the living room.

They sat together watching the television while they waited for dinner to be ready- Fran leaned back against Max and Gracie cuddled up against her. Brighton and Maggie sat across from them in the big chairs. Brighton tried to pay attention to what was on TV, but found himself glancing over at Fran again and again. He thought that she seemed to be doing pretty well that afternoon, even after their important morning meeting, but he still worried. His father's arm was wrapped lovingly around her shoulder, and she held Gracie close to her. Grace clutched her arm for dear life, but she still had a bit of a smile on her face. He almost felt jealous of their affection for each other, but he knew that Fran loved him a lot, too. He was too old to be cuddled like that, even if she had been his actual mother. He caught Fran rubbing her stomach briefly, then moving her hand away, and he felt that annoying twitch around his eyes. He rubbed the corner of an eye to try to make sure it stopped before anyone saw. He wasn't sure how long that had been happening, but was pretty sure it started right after Fran broke the news to them. He was pretty sure the others must have noticed it at least once or twice, but was kind of glad they weren't calling attention to it. Maybe that's why they wanted him to use the workout room and get some exercise. He took a deep breath and turned back to the television to see if he could focus on the show.

Maggie had Brighton's notebook in her hands and was reading through his notes and questions and some of the things he had prepared for the next morning at the library at Columbia. She had half expected it all to be an immature jumble of things, but was very impressed at how organized and serious his notes actually were. She knew he could write well when he wanted to, but he always seemed to be afraid his buddies might find out and maybe they would tease him about it. It was obvious he was taking this very seriously. He had even made up a batch of consent forms for people to sign, including her. She looked over at him on the other side of the lamp. He was steadily rubbing his temple with the tips of his fingers as he leaned on his elbow on the armrest. He really did look like he was trying to hold back some stress, and it made her worry about him a little. She'd have to see if she could find some way to distract him or help him find a way to get all that tension out. She looked back at the papers in her hands, and then back at him.

"Brighton?" She asked quietly. He dropped his arm and turned to look over at her. "This paper here- do you need me to sign that before we go to the library tomorrow?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, that would probably be a good idea. But we need to write some stuff out on there first. It's um, mainly so we have some kind of agreement, so I know what your expectations are for me, and like what time we need to meet back up again and where, that sort of thing."

"Oh, okay, I get it. You don't feel like you'd be taking advantage of me- of my time- do you?" She asked. Brighton gave a slight shrug of a shoulder.

"I dunno. I just want to make sure that I don't take advantage of anybody. And maybe getting all the rules and expectations on paper will make sure that doesn't happen."

"Okay. And I don't feel like you're taking advantage. If you want to be the one to dig up all the information that we all want to know, then I think that's good. You're pretty good at that. If getting you in to the library at my school helps, then I'm glad I can do it. Everybody wants to be able to do something. And besides, it gives me and Gracie a chance to go do some shopping for Fran, and we don't get to hang out with each other as much these days, so that's a good thing, too." Gracie, Fran, and Max all looked over at them when she said that, making them all feel a bit mushy. Gracie smiled. She thought it was really going to be nice to get to spend some time with her big sister. Fran and Max glanced at each other and she squeezed his hand. They were both really moved that Maggie and Brighton were talking to each other like this. Brighton realized the others were looking at them and it made him self-conscious.

"Um, we can figure out what to write on it after dinner, I guess. If I need to go back there, maybe we can write up a new agreement."

"Okay." Maggie closed up his notebook and set the sheet she needed to sign on top, then tucked it all back into his backpack. "Hey- do you still have that Mario racing game for your Nintendo?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"You wanna race against each other later? I bet I can kick your butt!" Maggie smiled. Brighton cracked a grin.

"You wish! But sure, if you wanna torture yourself when I dominate the race, we can play Mario Kart later."

"Hey! Can I play too?" Gracie asked. "Is it like race cars or something?"

"It's more like go carts, with all the Mario characters. You'd probably like it. Sure, you can play, too. What about you, Fran? You wanna play Mario Kart later?"

"Oh, I dunno. I might just let you kids have fun with it. I gotta start that drink that might make me have a very uncomfortable evening, and weekend, so I'll have to wait and see."

"Okay. But hey, when you're recovering, maybe we can hook up the Nintendo to that big TV and we can play then, if you want."

"Yeah, that might be fun! Let's keep that in mind if I get stir crazy." They all smiled, imagining Fran with a controller in her hands, zipping around the track trying to get ahead of everyone.

Niles popped his head around the corner just then.

"Alright, everyone. I'm just about ready to serve if I can get some table setters in the dining room!" They all turned to look at Niles, then Max reached for the TV remote and turned it off.

"Come on, children! Let's get in there and help out. I don't know about you all, but I'm hungry!" Max said. They got up from their seats and hurried towards the dining room. Brighton grabbed his backpack and set it by the stairs so he wouldn't be tempted to go back to it that night to work on more of his project. Fran came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders and patted him. She wanted him to know how important he was to her, and how proud she was of him.

They all did their part in helping to set the table, then helped Niles bring out the food and serve up their plates. All of them except for Fran. She had her mug of broth on a saucer, a tall glass of Pedialyte on ice, and another tall glass of The Drink From Hell- the one that would begin clearing out her insides to prepare her for her surgery on monday. Fran insisted Niles join them again, and when everyone was seated and ready to eat, they all looked at the food on their plates, then looked over at what Fran had in front of her and felt bad. No one wanted to be the first one to start eating.

"Oh, come on you guys! Eat! Don't let it get cold. I'll be eating food again soon enough, so don't make me feel bad. I don't want you guys feeling guilty. Now, eat!" She picked up her mug of broth and took a small sip, encouraging the rest to start eating, which they did. One by one, they each scooped or cut a bite of food and began to eat. Fran took a sip of each drink, one by one, as the others dug into the wonderful looking food on their plates. Fran tried not to be jealous, but she was. Her stomach had been growling all day, and it wasn't an easy thing to try to cover that up. And she wasn't looking forward to what the weekend might hold as she made her way through the rest of the big bottles the doctor had given her. She remembered what her mother had gone through before her colonoscopy, and it wasn't pretty. Fran wondered how she was going to handle things in front of Max. As if he read her thoughts, he turned to look at her and smiled, then reached for her hand.

"Darling," he said softly, "Do you want to talk to them about what you were telling me earlier? You know, how you're feeling about things?" He reminded her.

"Oh! Yeah, I do! And about the appointment, too, Niles- if you and Gracie have any questions about it. I think it went really well. I know my parents were a little nervous, but I think they got their questions answered, and we have a better idea about what monday will be like. Your father will be with me when they take me back to get ready for the surgery, and then when it's over and they take me to recovery, they'll bring him back there to be with me when I wake up. Then they'll take me to the room I'll be staying in. That's when my parents and Val can come see me. We don't know exactly how long they'll let them stay. But your father can stay with me the whole time I'm in the hospital. They said there's a sort of sleeping area in the room he can use. Oh, I might not be able to talk to you guys afterwards- at least on monday. Since I have to have that tube in my throat, it might make it hard for me to talk after it comes out. I might have a sore throat. But your father will definitely call to let you guys know everything's okay. And we might have that information from the pathologist that afternoon, so we can let you know what they say, Brighton. Okay?"

Brighton nodded, then began to feel his appetite dwindle.

"And it's not just all those things, all those details we'll work out when they happen. I need you guys to know something else. I was talking to your father about it after we got home today. This morning, before we went to the hospital, I guess I might have felt a little nervous, but it was a kind of a weird feeling- like I was facing up to something. I could tell how nervous my parents were, and your father, too. I don't think he slept a whole lot last night. And then Brighton- you and Maggie- I was pretty sure you guys were gonna be okay with whatever we had to talk about, and I'm really proud of both of you. You guys handled that really well, and even with asking questions. It was kind of weird, that whole meeting. Since we already knew a lot, I felt like I could handle any new information. Just getting the little details - all the little things about what would happen step by step, that made me feel better. It was like it was easier to picture in my mind, it wasn't such a mystery anymore. That made me feel better, and feel more sure of things. We know what needs to happen, and we can't move on until that's done. I guess what I'm trying to tell you guys is that I'm ready for the surgery. I'm ready to take this on, and I'm pretty confident that things will be okay. This surgery will be the hardest part, but I don't feel scared about it anymore. I might be nervous on monday morning, but it won't be long before I'm under the anesthesia and I won't have to think about it anymore. I hope you guys can feel strong too, and not scared, and I don't want you to worry that I might be really scared. I'm not. I think I'm as prepared as I can be. I can't know what things will be like afterwards, like if I'm going to have a lot of pain. I'm sure I'll at least have some to deal with. But I also know I have a lot of great people to help me get through it, and that makes me happier than you'll ever know. You guys mean everything to me, okay? Now before I get all mushy, I just needed to tell you that. That I'm ready to do this surgery, I'm not scared. It needs to be done, and I trust the doctors. Once we get through monday, then the hardest part will be over with. We can focus on other things, and we'll have more information. Okay? I know my being sick has been hard on everybody, and scary. But we're almost there, guys! A few more days, okay? And things will start to get better. I want you guys to feel strong, too, and sure of things. Because that's how I feel now." Fran's eyes were tearing up a little, but she managed to keep it at bay. She smiled at each person at the table, to see if they looked like they really understood. They all seemed to.

"Well, if I may say so, I'm very impressed with you, Ms. Fine," Niles said. "You've been through a lot in such a short time, and to see you having confidence like this, I know it makes me feel a lot better. And you're right, you know. We know what needs to happen, and that's the one big obstacle standing in the way of you being able to get on with your life. I'm so glad you're feeling strong, and sure about it. To hear you say you aren't scared anymore- gosh, that makes me feel so much relief!" Niles leaned back in his chair at the other end of the table and clutched his hands together. The children smiled and nodded.

"He's right, Fran. And we don't want you worrying about anything during your recovery, either. Let us all take care of you," Maggie said. "You've taken really good care of us, and we need to be able to do that for you. So don't worry that you might need to do something for us, or help us with anything. We can all rely on each other, right? We're a family, we'll be looking out for each other. So let us take care of everything, and you just focus on doing what the doctors tell you and getting the rest you need so you can get better real fast, okay? Even if you think you feel like you can start doing things, don't do it until the doctors say you can, alright?"

"Alright, I will. Even if I feel great, I don't want to take any stupid chances. I want to do everything right."

"Oh!" Gracie squealed.

"What is it, baby? You almost scared me!" Fran looked over at Gracie next to her and Gracie grabbed her arm.

"I forgot to ask you if you took your temperature!" Everyone laughed, and Fran hugged Gracie to her.

"I did take my temperature, angel, before we came downstairs. It was normal, so you can relax. But thank you for thinking about that- for thinking about me." Gracie hugged her tight and smiled, then sat back down in her seat. They all went back to eating again, even Brighton, though not as enthusiastically as before. As hard as he tried, it was difficult not to worry about Fran and what she would soon be going through. He couldn't understand how she wasn't scared, even though he was glad she wasn't.

Fran went through her drinks again, taking one big gulp of each, then dabbed her napkin on her mouth.

"There is something else I want you kids to think about though- and that's where to go for Spring Break. I really want us to be able to have a nice time together. I should be mostly recovered by then- I mean, I might not be able to do any kind of heavy activity, but I don't think there would be any need for me to lift heavy stuff on a vacation. I want you guys to be able to have some fun activities you can do together, or even with your father if I can't do them, and I want everybody to have time to relax, too. Maybe see the sights."

"And go shopping?" Maggie asked, and Fran laughed.

"Maybe, if we're near any shopping. Have you guys thought at all about maybe going to the desert? It should be nice in the daytime out there, and I bet the stars at night would be neat to see."

"I might like to do that, Fran. I think it would be neat to see if there really are a lot more stars to see at night," Gracie said. Brighton nodded.

"Yeah, that might be kind of cool," he said. "We're always going to beaches and islands for our vacations, so it might be nice to do something different."

"We should go through those travel things some more, and I can keep an eye out for more stuff. Maybe there's a nice resort or something, or even some place more private. Some place nice and quiet. That might be nice," Maggie said. Max smiled.

"Well, good! It sounds like we're narrowing down a plan! And Niles, of course you'd be welcome to come, too. You haven't been to the desert either, have you?"

"No, no I haven't. Blue skies, wide open spaces, and maybe mountains, too. That might be really beautiful to see," Niles said, smiling.

"Yea! Now we have something to look forward to, and to plan out. I'll make sure I do whatever the doctors tell me to do so I can recover fast and be able to do more things. Aw, that makes me feel so good, you guys! It really does!" They all smiled, and Max took hold of her hand again. "Oh, man, I hate to bust up this party, but that drink is kicking in. So if you'll excuse me, I need to get out of here quick!" Fran patted Max's hand and pushed her chair out, then jumped up and ran through the door to the kitchen and up the back stairs.

"Uh oh," Max said. "That was pretty quick. I hope it doesn't upset her stomach too badly."

"Oh, dear," Niles agreed. "Well, let's get these things cleared off the table, and I can get her another glass of that Pedialyte if she needs it. And water, too."

"Good idea. Poor thing. I really hate that she can't eat properly this weekend. She's going to wither away to nothing." Everyone got up from their chairs and began picking up as much as they could carry, and brought it to the kitchen. "Niles?" Max asked.

"Yes, sir?"

"Does that broth have much in the way of calories?"

"Oh, I'm afraid not. I wish she could have some more of those shakes, but she can only have clear liquids, from what that paper said. But she can have as much broth as she likes, and at least there's some nutrition in that. Just not a lot of calories." Niles noticed the disappointed look in Max's eyes, and he felt it himself, too. They both wanted Fran to eat more like normal and get her weight back up. They would just have to wait a little longer for that to happen, though.

They all finished clearing the table and putting the leftovers away, then helped Niles load the dishwasher. Fran still hadn't come back down yet. When the children headed for the living room, Max and Niles looked at each other.

"I suppose I should go check on her?" Max said.

"Are you asking me, or telling me?"

"Uh… both, I guess. She has to keep drinking some more of that tonight, doesn't she?" Max asked. Niles nodded. "Well, let me get a tray and let's get her drinks together for her. I'll take them upstairs and see if I can check on her. I really hope she doesn't get an upset stomach from it. She's had enough of that already."

"Yes, she has. Here, let me grab a tray and you can get the things from the fridge. Let's put some ice in all the glasses, too." Niles headed for the other side of the kitchen, and Max grabbed the three bottles from the fridge, then filled three glasses with ice. Niles set the tray down on the counter and Max poured out the drinks, then set each glass on the tray, and put the bottles back in the fridge.

"Well, if she isn't doing so good, I'll stay upstairs with her. Could you make sure the children are alright? It should be okay for them to come see her if they get worried and if we don't come back downstairs tonight. Oh- is everything ready for them tomorrow? For the car to come pick them up and take them where they need to go?"

"Yes, sir. They will probably be out of here by 8:30. I'll make sure they get a good breakfast, too."

"Wonderful, thank you. Oh, in case I don't do it tonight, can you make sure Margaret has the cell phone when they leave, and that it gets charged? I'd feel a lot better if we had a way to reach them if we need to."

"Yes, sir. I can do that."

"Thank you. Well, I better get up there and see if she's alright."

"Yes, sir. Don't worry about the children, just keep an eye on Ms. Fine tonight."

Max hurried with the tray of drinks up the back stairs to the bedroom to try to find Fran and see if she was alright. He carried the tray to their bedroom and pushed the door open further with his foot and walked into the darkened room. Fran wasn't there. He used his elbow to turn on the light, and everything in the room was the same as it was when they left earlier. Where was she? Max went to her bedside table and set the tray down, then moved each glass onto the table where she could reach it. He turned around and left the bedroom and wandered the halls to see if he could find her. Maybe she wasn't comfortable using the bathroom in the master bedroom? He thought. He checked the hall bathroom, and she wasn't there, either, so he thought he would take a chance and headed for her old bedroom. He turned the corner in the hallway and saw that indeed, the door to her old bedroom was closed. He was worried she might really be having a hard time with the effects of the drink. He stepped up to the door and listened. He couldn't hear anything. He tried the knob, but it was locked, and for a moment he got really scared.

"Fran? Fran, darling? Are you in there? Is everything alright?" He called out, as he knocked on the door.

"I'm here, I'm okay. Well, I'm not great, but I'll be fine." Fran was on the other side of the door, flopped across her old bed. Her arms were outstretched and her eyes were closed.

"Darling, why did you come over here?"

"Because! You know why…" Fran whimpered. She tried to sit herself up on the bed, and put her hand on her belly to watch for emergencies.

"Fran… sweetheart…"

"I'm okay, Max. I'll be out in a minute or two. Or three. Just let me get my bearings."

"Fran, you don't need to lock the door. It's perfectly normal for this to happen when you have to drink that stuff!"

"I know, I know. But it's not very sexy, what I'm going through right now. I don't want you to see me like this!" Fran rubbed her belly and stuck her bottom lip out. Max couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. He rested his forehead on the door, trying to think of how to handle the situation.

"Okay, I get it, Fran. I can see how it would make you feel uncomfortable. But really, I understand. But please don't lock the door, that worries me."

"I'm sorry. I just didn't think I'd be in here that long, I didn't want one of the kids finding me like this. I'll be out in a minute. I hope."

"Alright. Well, I'll be in the bedroom. I brought you your drinks. Do you want to stay up here, at least for a while?"

"Uh, yeah. I better. I'll be over there as soon as I can."

"Alright. But could you do one thing for me? Could you just unlock this door?" He asked, still concerned about her. Fran carefully got up from the bed and went to the door and unlocked it. Max stood back for a moment, and then Fran timidly opened the door a little so he could see her. He saw the look on her face, and she looked a bit pale. "Is it really bad?" He asked softly, wanting to give her a hug but not wanting to push it if she was still feeling embarrassed in any way.

"It's bad enough."

"I'm so sorry, darling! I wish you didn't have to go through this. I don't know that I can say anything that would make you feel better. I guess just try to remember that this is temporary."

"Yeah. I can understand that logically, but I also know that this might be my whole weekend, too. So I'm sorry for that."

"You don't need to apologize. Not at all. Well, I'll let you, ah, get your bearings, alright? I'll be in the bedroom."

"Okay. Thank you. I didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's alright, darling. Just let me know if there's something I can do for you, alright? Anything at all."

"Okay. Oh! Sorry, I - I, uh, think I…!" Fran grabbed her stomach and looked towards her old bathroom.

"Go! Go ahead! I'll see you when you're better."

"Okay" Fran shut the door with an unintentional slam and ran for the bathroom again, and Max stood there staring at the door, feeling helpless. He turned and slowly walked back through the halls to the master bedroom. He was getting the feeling it might turn out to be a long, sleepless night for the both of them.