This story is about breast cancer. I know for some it might be difficult if not impossible to read. I understand. I’m not one who likes to give or get spoilers but there are times when they are appropriate. Should you need to know any details before you make the decision to read this please contact me.

Chapter Twenty

Friday, February 3, 2006

The night passed uneventfully. Trixie managed to sleep for about five hours before she woke up to an upset stomach. Bob was able to get her to the bathroom, but fortunately enough time had passed there wasn’t much in her stomach to find its way to the toilet bowl. Trixie was able to head back to bed after a quick clean up and slept until eight o’clock the next morning.

When the alarm went off at seven o’clock, Bob quietly left Trixie to make sure Matt and Lizzie were up and getting ready for school. He then went down to the kitchen to find something, quick, simple and healthy for the kids to have for breakfast. He was met with the smell of fresh blueberry muffins baking in the oven and his mother mixing up some orange juice. Jenny was sitting in the high chair trying to feed herself some Cheerios, and milk out of a sippy cup.

“This is a pleasant surprise,” Bob said.

“Well, I did have an ulterior motive. I’ve been in charge of Jenny and Stella for the last day and haven’t been able to get up here. I wanted to see for myself how Trixie is doing,” Moms replied.

Just then what sounded like a small herd of elephants came bounding down the stairs. “Tone it down a little so you don’t wake up your parents,” said Bob as Matt and Lizzie entered the kitchen. When they saw Grandmoms, they ran into her arms for a big hug.

“Sit down and eat your breakfast,” Moms said. “The bus will be here soon. This evening Grandpa and Aunt Hallie are going to take you and your cousins to see Chicken Little at the Budget Cameo.”

Both kids were excited about seeing the movie. They’d been begging to see it for months.

With a little prodding the kids were out of the house in time to catch the school bus. Bob left shortly afterwards. He volunteered to take Jenny to daycare before he headed for his home to take a shower and then into his office for a few hours.

Moms was just getting ready to write a note to Jim when she heard footsteps on the stairs again. She looked up to see Trixie coming through the kitchen doorway. Dressed in a fleece robe, her curls were in disarray. Her skin was pale and the dark circles under her eyes had lightened. In Moms’ eyes Trixie looked wonderful because her blue eyes showed a spark of hope that she might just survive.

Moms walked over and gently hugged Trixie before leading her to the kitchen table.

Trixie sniffed the air, and for the first time since Monday her stomach was quiet. “Those blueberry muffins smell wonderful, Moms,” she said.

“Help yourself to one,” Moms offered. “What would you like to drink?”

“My taste buds say coffee, black, but my head says just water for now,” Trixie replied. “I think I’d better stick to one food at a time for now.”

More footsteps were heard on the stairs. As Jim entered the kitchen he stopped suddenly when he saw Trixie sitting at the kitchen table. He was already dressed in his casual Friday school clothes.

Before he could even give his wife a morning kiss, his mother-in-law was interrogating him. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

To this day none of the Bob-Whites could face down Moms. Jim stammered, “I thought I’d head to the school, if Trixie was feeling better.” While Jim looked one hundred percent better than last night, he still looked tired and pale.

“Your sister left strict orders for you not to even think about Ten Acres Academy until Monday. The school can survive for a few days without you,” Mom said.

Jim had enough sense to look repentant. Trixie’s eyes started to show a twinkle as Moms had gotten to Jim.

“What are you laughing at?” Jim asked as he bent down and placed a kiss on her head.

“It’s the look on your face. You would have thought someone had told you that the school had to close,” Trixie responded.

Jim started to sit down across from Trixie.

She continued to tease him, “What? Are you afraid to sit next to me? I haven’t done much in projectile vomiting. Maybe I should practice.”

“That’s just plain sick, Mrs. Frayne,” Jim replied. “You better be careful, or I’ll make you clean up any mess you make.”

While the exchange was going on Moms was leaning against the counter observing and enjoying the banter. It was good to see her daughter getting back to herself.

The rest of the weekend went by without any incidents. The kids enjoyed the Friday night movies with their grandfather and their “aunt”. They made a night of it. Peter Belden picked up Lizzie, Matt and Mickey while Hallie picked up Mart and Di’s kids. They met at Wimpy’s for dinner. Mike, the counterman, laughed at the antics of the cousins. Even without the stark resemblance to their parents, Mike could pick out who belonged to whom. Lizzie showed the same curiosity as her mother. Her eyes didn’t stop moving, trying to take in everything that was going on. Alex and Tommy polished off not only their hamburgers and fries but finished off their sisters’ as well, reminiscent of their father. The twins, Jill and Jody, were almost as quiet and reserved as their mother but showed a little of the daring their Aunt Trixie had. Matt and Mickey could have been clones of their dads, watching over the group to make sure they weren’t getting out of hand and being their most honorable.

Jim and Trixie spent Saturday and Sunday with their kids taking it easy. By the time Sunday rolled around, everyone had regained their strength and their spirits. Trixie still was weakened by the chemotherapy but felt like she could function in the office for a little while during the week.

Chapter Twenty One

Monday, February 6, 2006

When Monday arrived, Jim was rested and ready to face all the Academy had to throw at him. Trixie was also ready to head back to the office. She really wanted Honey and herself to be able to make some progress on hiring an additional investigator as well as the office help.

Trixie came bounding down the steps dressed in navy blue pants and a light blue sweater that complemented her eyes. Jim was already in the kitchen pouring coffee for both of them and getting cereal out for the kids. He looked up and stopped in his tracks. He was amazed at the transformation Trixie had made since Thursday. The sparkle, although not as bright as it always had been, had returned to her eyes and her smile encompassed her entire face.

Trixie stopped to give a kiss to her kids and then walked into Jim’s open arms and embraced him. “It feels good to feel like a human being again,” she said.

Ever the cautious husband, Jim replied, “I know you feel well now but please don’t overdo it and end up run down. We like having you back to your old self.”

Trixie sighed, “I promise to take it easy. When I feel good I want to get as much done as I can so Honey doesn’t have to carry such a heavy load when I’m not feeling well.”

The two of them finished eating breakfast and got Lizzie and Matt off to the school bus. Jim bundled up Jenny as Trixie finished gathering up her things. While Trixie may have been able to drive herself to the office, Jim couldn’t quite let that happen. With the three of them buckled into Jim’s Prius, they headed into Sleepyside.

Trixie arrived at the office before Honey did. She put on a pot of their favorite hazelnut coffee and then sat down at her computer. She checked her e-mail and then decided to reread the applications for the investigator positions.

She had drunk her first cup of coffee and was ready to start with a new case. The only problem was she wasn’t sure what that case was. Wanting to keep busy she decided to tackle what she had been putting off for months – her filing system.

When Honey came in she was startled to see Trixie already there. “This is quite a surprise,” she said.

“Well, by Sunday afternoon I was starting to feel like myself again and I was getting restless. If I don’t do something soon, I’m afraid my mind will turn to mush.”

Honey put her laptop and purse down at her desk and made her way over to pour herself a cup of coffee. She groaned with pleasure as she took the first drink. “Brian’s been on me to cut back on my caffeine, but I just can’t get a good start on the day without my morning cup or three.”

“Your secret’s safe with me,” Trixie replied. “Were you able to set up any interviews?”

Honey walked back to her desk and hooked up her laptop as she spoke. “Mart is working on the student applications and resumes. He hopes to have them ready for us to look at by Wednesday.”

“Is he going to screen them first?”

“We talked about it a little last week when you were not feeling so well,” Honey started.

Trixie choked on her coffee, “That’s an understatement.”

Honey continued, “But we felt that it would be better if you and I made all of the decisions. Then they wouldn’t accuse Mart of playing favorites.”

“It’s still going to be hard. I’ve known most of those kids for a long time. I just have to go with an open mind.”

“Well, Mart said your dad mentioned something to the Chamber of Commerce about hiring some of the students. They were all enthusiastic about it. Hopefully, that will mean several other students will have the opportunity to earn some money as well.”

“That’s great!” said Trixie. “Now what about our other new hire. Have you been able to set up any interviews?”

“I spoke with Jack Palmer and Riordan Grant on the phone last week,” Honey replied.

Trixie sighed when she heard their names. “I don’t know what those two look like but if they look half as good as their names sound, I don’t know if I’d be able to interview them without a drool cloth.”

“In that case, it’s a good thing that both of them withdrew their names from consideration,” Honey said. “And their voices sounded as sexy as their names.”

Trixie exclaimed, “Honey Wheeler! I can’t believe you just said that and you married to my big, honorable, brother.”

“So it’s okay for you to drool over good-looking men and not for me?” Honey teased. They both started laughing and couldn’t stop for a few minutes.

Finally, Trixie was able to get back to the task at hand. “So that means we’re down to just two candidates. There’s Todd ‘the Octopus’ Roberts and Shelby ‘am I a male or a female’ Jacobson.”

“That’s right. Joe hasn’t found any other candidates that meet our requirements.”

“I know I’m not supposed to ask this but did we ever figure out if Shelby is a male or female?”

“I did some checking,” Honey said. “I re-read the resume. It said something about being a national advisor to the Alpha Beta Zeta sorority. I’m guessing Shelby’s a female.”

“Is there any way we could get interviews set up with them for Thursday or Friday?” Trixie asked. “Hopefully, I’ll be feeling even better by then. It will also give us all of next week to make some decisions before I have to have my next round of chemo.”

“Great minds are thinking alike again,” Honey replied. “Last Friday I called and set them up for this Thursday. I was being optimistic.”

The morning went by swiftly. Trixie worked on developing questions and benchmarks for the interviews and Honey was doing some research on a case she had just started on.

Pretty soon Trixie was getting bored. She had managed to wrap up most of her cases and hesitated to get too involved with a new one. So she went to work cleaning up her files again. By noon there was some semblance of order to not only her paper files but her electronic files as well.

Trixie stood up and stretched as the front door opened and a UPS driver came in with a package.

“Hi, Roger,” Trixie said. “What do you have for us today?”

“It looks like a package for you from someone in Pennsylvania,” Roger replied.

Trixie groaned. The only person she could think of who lived in Pennsylvania was her mom’s sister Alicia. A package from her usually meant some sort of knit or sewn piece of clothing that had never been in style.

Trixie signed for the package but waited until Roger left the office before she said anything else. “Well, it looks like Aunt Alicia has struck again.” Trixie grabbed a scissors and started to open the box. “Maybe it will be something that Diana can use in the theatre department.”

Trixie was going to continue on with her commentary when she looked into the box and gasped.

“What is it, Trixie?”

Tears started to form in her eyes as she started to remove the contents of the box. The first thing she pulled out was a fleece hat that was the color of her eyes. The fabric was some of the softest she’d ever felt. Then she pulled out a knit cap, with matching hat and mittens similar to the ones Alicia had been knitting for each of her nieces and nephews for as long Trixie could remember.

Both Trixie and Honey laughed when she pulled out a hat that looked like it belonged on the head of the Cat in the Hat. There was a black beret and a jester’s hat with jingle bells on it. There was a pink one with pink ribbons attached to it. One of the ribbons had “Cancer Sucks” printed on it. When she had emptied the box Trixie had counted a dozen different hats. Some of them whimsical and some of them very elegant but all of them designed to keep her head warm and all of them handmade with love.

When Trixie pulled out the last hats she collapsed on the floor laughing. “Look at this. Aren’t they adorable?” In her hand were a set of five matching hats of various sizes. The hats were deerstalker hats like Sherlock Holmes wore. Instead of the traditional brown plaid Aunt Alicia had found pink plaid. There was one for every member of Trixie’s family. Under the hats were five red licorice pipes to go with the hats.

“I can’t believe it!” Trixie exclaimed. “I think it’s the first time Aunt Alicia has sent a box where everyone of her creations will be used and appreciated.”

“I just love the blue fleece one. It’s so soft,” Honey said. She grabbed the jester hat and put it on Trixie’s head and then put the Cat in the Hat one on her head. The two friends started to laugh at how the other one looked when they heard the door to their office open. It was too late to remove the hats so they just turned in unison and put on their most professional smile.

It was Dan. He laughed out loud when he saw the two of them. “What is this, the Trixie and Honey comedy hour?”

“We’re just checking out the stash of hats Aunt Alicia sent me,” Trixie said. She walked up to him and placed the pink-ribboned hat on his head. “It’s so you, Mangan.”

Dan was surprised to see Trixie in such good spirits. A closer look revealed the fatigue that showed in her eyes. “It is, isn’t it?” he replied.

“We need a picture,” said Honey. She reached into the file cabinet for a camera. The next few minutes were spent taking pictures of the three friends. They even figured a way to place the camera so they could get a photo of the three of them using the timer.

“So, what really brings you here?” Trixie asked.

“I’m off today as I worked the weekend. Since my lovely wife is in the middle of a huge project, I decided to come and ask two of my favorite girls to lunch.”

Trixie’s eye twinkled. “And it wouldn’t have anything to do with my red-headed husband asking you to check up on me?”

Dan had enough grace to look a little sheepish when he replied, “You got me there.”

Much to both Dan’s and Honey’s surprise Trixie just laughed. “Hey, he’s getting better. I expected to see him coming through the door an hour ago.”

“So, can I fulfill my mission and take the two of you to lunch?” Dan asked.

“Well, I made tentative plans to meet Brian for lunch,” Honey said.

“He’s more than welcome to join us,” Dan said.

Honey's face turned red and started to sputter. Trixie couldn’t figure out why Honey was so embarrassed, but Dan caught on right away.

“Boring Brian isn’t so boring anymore, is he Honey?” Dan teased. “Got a nooner set up?”

Honey’s face turned even brighter red. Trixie covered her ears and exclaimed, “TMI, TMI!! I don’t want to hear about this.”

“I guess that means it’s just you and me, Freckles.” Dan said. “Where would you like to go eat?”

Trixie sighed. Suddenly, she was extremely tired. “Moms brought over some homemade chicken noodle soup yesterday. I think I’d just like to go home and heat some of that up.”

“Your chariot awaits you then,” Dan said.

Trixie placed the jester hat on her head and the pink-ribboned hat on Dan’s head. She grabbed the rest of the hats and together they walked out of the office. “Honey, will you confirm the interviews for Thursday? If for some reason I can’t make it, I think you should conduct the interviews anyway. If we don’t, we’ll never get anyone hired.”

Silently, Dan and Trixie walked out the office and over to Dan’s silver pick-up truck. Dan placed the box of hats in the jump seat and then helped Trixie into the cab. Normally, Trixie would have given Dan a hard time about making sure she was safely in the cab, but it was difficult for her on a good day to get into his four-wheel drive truck. No one said anything for a few minutes.

Finally, Trixie couldn’t take it anymore. “Is something bothering you, Dan?” she asked.

Dan hesitated as he tried to decide what he wanted to say. “Not really.”

“If you think I believe you for one minute you are sadly mistaken,” Trixie prodded. “Everything okay with you and Hallie?”

“You know, surprisingly, that’s the one thing that’s going better than it has in years,” Dan started. “Spending time with your kids and finally communicating with each other have done wonders. Hallie has even started to cut back on her case load so we can do more together.”

“So what’s the problem then?” Trixie asked.

“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Dan started. “I was so excited when I was hired as a detective on the force. I’d been working so hard for that.” Dan paused again trying to formulate what he was feeling. “I like trying to solve cases, but it just doesn’t seem worth it sometimes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes I feel like the department is so afraid of frivolous lawsuits that we sacrifice good detective work. And don’t get me started on the paperwork,” Dan said.

Trixie chuckled, her “love” of paperwork was well known.

Dan continued, “I don’t mind doing a reasonable amount of it, but lately it seems like if we go to the bathroom we have to file a report in triplicate.”

By now they were pulling into Ten Acres. When Dan stopped the truck in the driveway, Trixie made no effort to open her door. She was trying to formulate a reasonable response.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Dan,” she finally said. “For as long as I can remember all you ever talked about was being a policeman.”

“That’s what makes this difficult. Financially, we could live very comfortably on Hallie’s salary,” Dan replied. “The other night Hallie said that if I was so unhappy with my job to just quit, take time to decide what I wanted to do, and not worry about it.”

“It sounds like the two of you are working things out,” Trixie said. She reached for the door handle and opened the door. Dan followed suit and opened his as well. He reached back and took the box of hats out of the back and they both headed into the house.

“Yes, we finally have really started to communicate with each other. I know that Hallie really wouldn’t resent it if she had to be the “bread winner” for a while and I wouldn’t either,” Dan explained. “I just don’t want to make a hasty decision and then regret it.”

The two of them were in the kitchen and Dan placed the box on the table. Trixie tried to stifle a yawn. Dan wasn’t fooled. “Okay, you need to rest. Let’s take a raincheck on lunch. We can discuss my career goals another time. Just vocalizing my concerns has put things into perspective. I’m going to at least dust off my resume.”

Trixie was too tired to even argue. Dan found his way out to his truck while Trixie headed to the phone. She knew that if she didn’t call Jim, he’d be calling her. After she made the quick call, she pulled an afghan out of the closet, turned on a jazz album and stretched out on a couch in the den to take a much needed nap. By the time Matt and Lizzie got home from school, Trixie felt rested and was able to help with dinner preparations, homework and family activities.

As Dan pulled out of the Ten Acres driveway his cell phone rang. He looked down and saw it was his supervisor. Dan groaned and was tempted to ignore the call, but common sense and honorability won out and he answered it.

Despite the fact that he had just finished working seven days straight, he was being called back in to work the evening shift. Dan swore under his breath, disconnected the call, and then placed one to Hallie to let her know what was going on. Then he grudgingly headed toward the police station.

Hallie trudged into the house she and Dan owned. While it wasn’t elaborately decorated it did have a homey feel that they had worked hard to attain. For the most part, everything was in order and the only things out of place were the breakfast dishes. She had been disappointed when Dan had called earlier in the day to tell her he would have to work until at least eleven o’clock tonight. She had been planning a quiet, romantic evening for the two of them.

Over the past two weeks, they had spent a lot of time rebuilding their relationship. They had shared hopes, dreams, and fears that they had never been able to discuss before. They also worked on starting that family they had been talking about for so many years.

Now one of Hallie’s biggest concerns was Dan’s job with the police department. It had seemed like the ideal job when he was offered it, but now the luster had wore off and it had become drudgery. Paperwork, politics, and personalities had made a once challenging job one big headache. It was getting so bad that they had even discussed Dan just quitting and making do on her salary until he could find a job that suited him.

Hallie knew that if Dan was considering quitting without another job lined up, he really hated the job. Dan liked to think of himself as a man of the twenty-first century, but he still felt the need to be at least a partial bread winner. She also knew that any change had to be Dan’s idea.

Waiting for Dan made Hallie restless. She wanted to do something to comfort Dan when he came home. She knew the importance of having a refuge when part of your life was in turmoil. While he would eat sometime during his shift, Dan would be hungry when he returned home. Hallie made some sandwiches, found a jar of mixed nuts, and cut up some cheese. Then she went into the family room and turned on the gas fireplace. She found took the large throw pillows that were on the sofa and placed them on the floor along with several afghans that Aunt Alicia had made for them. Even though she hadn’t spent a lot of time with the Bob-Whites, Aunt Alicia thought of all of them as nieces and nephews and treated them accordingly. It looked so inviting that Hallie decided to lie down and watch the fire. Before long she was sound asleep.

It was almost midnight when Dan finally pulled into the garage. He had been working non-stop since he arrived at the police station. Someone had tried to break into Crimper’s Department Store. When the security guard had come upon the intruder, the guard had been struck in the back of the head. The intruder had escaped but not before making off with a large amount of jewelry and electronics. The security guard was in critical condition and not out of the woods.

Dan was frustrated because the police officer who had originally responded to the call had made some serious procedural errors that destroyed valuable evidence. It was not the first time this particular officer had done something like this, but because his uncle was the mayor it was overlooked.

When he entered the kitchen from the garage, he noticed the food that Hallie had set out. He smiled at her consideration but was a little disappointed she had appeared to have gone to bed. Dan ate a few pieces of cheese and then reached inside refrigerator and grabbed a beer. He tucked the jar of nuts under his arm, picked up the plate of sandwiches and the beer, and started to head to their bedroom. When he passed the family room, he noticed Hallie asleep on the floor in front of the fireplace.

Dan quietly walked into the room, grabbed a coaster and placed the beer and food on the coffee table, and quietly knelt down next to Hallie. He bent down and gently kissed her on the lips. Slowly Hallie’s eyes fluttered open and when she realized her husband was home she reached her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. She could feel the tension in Dan’s neck and shoulders.

“Rough night?” she asked.

“That’s putting it mildly. It was a three ring circus tonight. McDaniels screwed up another case for the department. That guy is so incompetent. It makes my blood boil,” Dan explained. He sat down next to Hallie.

Hallie made her way behind Dan and began to knead the tension out of his neck and shoulders. She knew that he had to voice all of his frustrations before he could settle in for the night. “So what did the doofus do this time?”

As Dan told about the incident, Hallie continued to massage his back. When the knots were gone she grabbed his hand and led him to the sofa. Dan continued to vent about all of the frustrations he was having with his job. Finally, it was like someone flipped a switch and he suddenly stopped talking.

Hallie had inherited some of the same genes as Trixie had, so her first instinct was to try and solve all of Dan’s problems. Experience and wisdom had taught her to listen and ask the right questions to come to the solution that Dan would want.

For over an hour they discussed the pros and cons of what Dan could do. The sandwiches, mixed nuts and beer were long gone when Hallie looked at the clock and realized it was after one o’clock in the morning.

“I can’t believe it’s so late,” she said as she rose from the sofa and began to pick up the dirty dishes. Dan grabbed the empty beer bottles and followed her into the kitchen.

“Yeah, and I have to report in at 7:00 for a twelve hour shift,” he replied.

Hallie bit back a sharp retort, realizing it wouldn’t help matters. Instead she said, “Well, if I get some free time I’ll pull up your resume and start updating it. Can’t hurt to be prepared if that dream job should fall out of the sky.”

After rinsing the dishes and cleaning up the countertops the two of them headed to their bedroom where each of them fell into a restless sleep.

 

 

This website is © 2005-2025 Mal. All rights reserved. All graphics created by Mal and may not be used without permission. Original ribbon provided by Pink Ribbons by Carol Sutton. Buttons using image and background created by Mal and may not be used without permission.