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 Thirty-three

Thursday, March 9, 2006

Tanya’s mother, Gladys Olsen, had shown up at the hospital first thing in the morning to see her new grandson. She arrived two hours before visiting hours began and insisted on seeing her daughter and grandson. Gladys Olsen was rather domineering. She had a difficult time accepting that her oldest daughter was no longer a six-year-old. From the minute she walked into Tanya’s hospital room, she criticized Tanya. It seemed like nothing Tanya could do was right. Gladys criticized how Tanya held Peter. She thought that since Tanya would have to go back to work in eight weeks she might as well not even try to breastfeed.

By noon, Tanya was in tears. Bob was beside himself and found himself physically biting his tongue several times so he would not yell at his mother-in-law. Fortunately, Moms arrived at the hospital around noon. After taking a quick peek at Peter and placing the two gifts she had brought in, she quickly assessed the situation.

“Gladys,” Moms tactfully said. “Isn’t this exciting? I remember when Alex was born. When you become a grandma it’s such an exciting time. You realize you have done your job well and raised wonderful children who have grown up to be wonderful adults.”

Gladys barely recognized Moms’ presence. “Tanya, make sure you support Peter’s head,” she criticized.

“Mother,” Tanya said through clenched teeth. “I am not a two-year-old. I began babysitting when I was twelve, and before that I had four younger siblings that I held a few times.”

Peter started to fuss. Gladys tried to take the baby out of Tanya’s arms.

“Oh, Gladys,” Moms started again. “I don’t think you’re quite equipped at this time to calm down Peter.”

“I don’t know why you insist on breastfeeding,” Gladys said. She whispered “breastfeeding” as if it was a four-letter word.

Trying to be encouraging without making matters worse, Moms said, “I think it’s wonderful that Tanya wants to breastfeed. There are so many benefits to breastfeeding, not only for the baby, but also for the mother.”

Gladys just harrumphed and started to reach for the baby again.

“You know,” Moms tried for a third time. “Why don’t we grandmas go find some lunch? That will give Tanya time to feed Peter without distractions and she can focus on bonding with her new son.”

Tanya sent Moms a look of appreciation. “That’s a great idea. You have to try Wimpy’s hamburgers. There’s nothing like them.”

Reluctantly, Gladys agreed to go to lunch with Moms. The two headed out the door. Moms turned back and looked at Tanya. “Don’t worry,” she mouthed just as the door closed.

As soon as the door closed Tanya burst into tears. “Why won’t she accept that I’m a big girl now?” she wailed.

Bob rushed to his wife’s side and pulled both his wife and baby into a warm embrace. “I don’t know, honey. Moms will keep her entertained for a while. Let’s take advantage of that. Why don’t you try feeding Peter?”

“I feel so clumsy, Bob,” Tanya sniffed. “It should come naturally.”

“Don’t tell her I told you this, but Trixie had a hard time breastfeeding. When Matt was born, she was obsessed with breastfeeding. I think it was because Diana had done so well with it. Anyway she tried and tried. I think she visited the lactation nurse every other day the first week after he was born. She stuck it out and was glad she did it.”

“But what if I can’t do it?” Tanya said. “Mom will find a reason to criticize me for not breastfeeding.”

For once, having a doctor for a brother, and a sister who wasn’t afraid to talk about any subject, paid off.

“Whatever you choose to do will be right, Tanya, because it will be right for you,” Bob said. He bent down and placed a kiss on his wife’s head. “Why don’t I go get the nurse to help? Then I’m going down to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. That way you can feed Peter without having an audience to intimidate you.”

“Thanks,” Tanya said. “You can read my mind so well.”

Bob went to the nurse’s station and asked a lactation nurse to check in on Tanya. He would have stayed to give her moral support if he thought it would have helped, but somehow he knew Tanya wanted to be alone as she tried to get the hang of nursing.

Bob needed to get out and vent as well. While he loved his mother-in-law, he got very angry at the way she treated Tanya. It wasn’t just Tanya’s imagination. It seemed that everything that came out of that woman’s mouth was a criticism of her daughter.

When they were planning their wedding, the two of them were a plane reservation away from going to Las Vegas and getting married by an Elvis impersonator. Tanya had been so distraught one night that Bob had been beside himself. He finally called Trixie and asked for some advice. Trixie invited Tanya to lunch. Bob didn’t know exactly what they talked about, but Tanya made it through the wedding without having a nervous breakdown.

Bob knew a pep talk from Trixie would help Tanya. He just didn’t know if he should bother her. Her final round of chemo was scheduled for Monday, and he knew how stressful that would be.

As he headed to the cafeteria, he ran into Brian.

“Congratulations, Bob!” he said. He gave Bob one of his manly embraces. “How are Tanya and Peter doing?”

Bob hesitated before he responded. He didn’t want to be telling tales out of school. “Pretty well. Tanya didn’t have a long labor, and everything went smoothly. You’ve got to stop and see Peter. I can’t even begin to explain it. He’s so tiny.”

“Let me guess,” Brian said. “Gladys is here.” Bob just nodded and looked at his oldest brother miserably.

“No need to say any more. If you want me to, I can run interference for you. I could clue in Dr. Jackman.”

Bob chuckled. “No need for that. He’s already on to her, and let’s just say he is not Gladys’s favorite person. He practically threw her out of the delivery room because she was upsetting Tanya.”

Brian and Bob arrived at the cafeteria. “Do you have to get back to clinic or can you sit and have lunch with me?” Bob asked.

“I’m here all day. It’s my day to be in the hospital. I’m the pediatrician on duty today so I’ll be up to check on Peter in a professional capacity,” Brian explained. “In fact I’ll be circumcising Peter later this afternoon.”

Bob and Brian had a leisurely lunch. Bob wanted to give Tanya some alone time with Peter. He knew she just wanted to hold and feed her baby without a lot of distraction. The two brothers talked about a lot of different things, but inevitably, it came back to Bob’s mother-in-law.

“I’d love to ask Trixie to come and give Tanya a pep talk,” Bob said. “I don’t know what she told Tanya before we were married, but it helped Tanya deal with her mother.”

“Why don’t you?” Brian asked. “I’m sure she would love to help.”

“I don’t know. With Trixie’s chemo on Monday, I didn’t want to add any more to her stress.” Bob replied.

“I think you should call her,” Brian said. “It would be a good distraction for her to talk with Tanya. Honey told me that Trixie was going stir crazy. Since they finished up the McDaniels case with Dan, she hasn’t had a lot to do. She spent all week looking for new office space. Talking to Tanya will take her mind off the chemo.”

“Maybe I’ll call her later today.”

The two guys stood up and took their trays to the dish drop-off. They then headed back up to the obstetrics floor. “I think Trixie was going to the office for awhile today. Why don’t you call her there and invite her over?” Brian said.

“That’s a great idea, but what do I do with Gladys? Moms took her to Wimpy’s for lunch. Moms is good, but I don’t know how long she can stall her.”

“Why don’t you suggest that Gladys stay and hold Peter while Tanya and Trixie go for a walk? Tanya should be getting up and moving anyway.”

When they reached Tanya’s room, they quietly opened the door so they wouldn’t disturb Tanya. She was sleeping in her bed with Peter wrapped safely in her arms. Brian gently took the baby out of Tanya’s arms. She stirred and woke up a little dazed and confused.

“Tanya,” Bob whispered gently. “Brian’s on the floor today and going to circumcise Peter. Do you want to be there?”

A look of pain flashed over Tanya’s eyes, and then she said, “No, I think I’ll let you do that by yourself.”

Following hospital procedure, Brian checked the I.D.’s of both Tanya and Peter. He gently placed the sleeping baby in the bassinet and started to push it out the door. “Call Trixie,” he urged as he exited.

After Brian left, Bob called Trixie and explained what was happening. She was more than happy to come over and visit with Tanya for a while. She also asked Bob if it would be okay to bring dinner over to their house on Saturday. She explained that Lizzie could hardly wait to meet her new cousin, “Peter Rabbit”.

The two siblings chuckled over the nickname that Lizzie had inadvertently given baby Peter.

“I’ll be over within a half hour,” Trixie promised. “Hopefully, I can get there before Moms and Gladys get back from Wimpy’s.”

After he had hung up the phone, Bob sat down in the chair next to Tanya’s bed. He closed his eyes and soon he was sound asleep.

Suddenly, Bob felt someone gently shaking him. “Bobby,” his sister teased. “You aren’t supposed to fall asleep until I’ve read Peter Rabbit at least six times.” She placed a copy of said book in his lap.

Bob wiped the sleep from his eyes as Tanya stirred. When he finally got his bearings he said, “Thanks for coming so soon, Trixie.”

The two embraced before Trixie turned to Tanya and gently gave her a hug as well.

Bob chuckled. “I suppose I’d better start practicing reading this. I can just hear Peter now, ‘Read, Daddy, read.’”

“So, where’s that new nephew of mine?” Trixie asked.

For a second Tanya looked confused.

Bob said. “Dr. Uncle Brian took him down to the nursery for an exam and to take care of the circumcision. Why don’t I go down and see if he’s done?”

After Bob left the room, Trixie sat down next to Tanya. “So, tell me how you’re really doing.” Trixie and Tanya had developed a special bond. Neither one of them ever beat around the bush. They just told it like it was.

Tears started to roll down Tanya’s cheeks. “I don’t know. All I want to do is cry. What’s wrong with me? I’m supposed to be happy, but all I want to do is cry. And then Peter doesn’t want to nurse. I’m going to starve my baby. Don’t even get me started on my mother. She’s at her best. Nothing I do is right. If I did everything she said I should do, she’d find something else to be wrong.”

Trixie stood up and embraced Tanya. For several minutes, she let Tanya cry. Trixie just murmured words of encouragement. When Tanya calmed down enough to listen, Trixie spoke.

“First of all, there’s nothing wrong with you. Your hormones are all over the place. It’s natural to cry, but if you are still crying in a week, tell your doctor. Post-partum depression affects a lot of people.” Tanya sniffed and nodded her head.

Trixie continued, “And don’t fret so much about the breastfeeding. It takes a while to get the hang of that. Just relax and if it you end up not feeling comfortable with breastfeeding then switch to formula. There’s no right or wrong way.”

“But won’t everyone think I’m giving up?” Tanya asked.

“No one’s going to think you’re giving up. As far as your mother is concerned, she is not going to change. You just need to stick to your guns. Don’t let her manipulate you,” Trixie advised.

Tanya chuckled bitterly. “Easier said than done.”

“Well, you need to be firm, starting now. If you don’t, she’s going to be running your lives. Bob will stand behind you. Just form a united front.”

Noise could be heard outside the door. Tanya quickly wiped the last of her tears from her eyes and looked up as Bob, Brian, Moms and Gladys came in.

“Where’s that nephew of mine?” Trixie asked.

Bob walked over to his wife and squeezed her hand in encouragement. “He was sleeping peacefully in the nursery. I thought maybe it would be a good idea to leave him there so that Tanya can get some rest. Might was well take advantage of the help while you can.”

“Well, I’m going to go take a quick peek at my new nephew and then head home. Tomorrow will be a big day for all of us. You guys will be heading home, and I’ve got a birthday party with ten princesses and one prince attending,” Trixie said. She grabbed Gladys by the arm and continued, “Come on, why don’t you join me and we can walk out together?”

Brian made his excuses about needing to make a few more rounds before leaving for the evening and Moms followed, after embracing Bob and Tanya.

As Trixie walked down the hall with Gladys, she chatted about everything but Tanya and the baby.

When Trixie paused to take a breath, Gladys spoke, “Trixie, I was surprised to see you here. Shouldn’t you be at home in bed resting?”

Trixie smiled through gritted teeth, “I let how I feel dictate what I do. I’ve been trying to work as much as I can, and do as much as I can when I feel well. Next week is going to be another crummy week. I have another round of chemotherapy on Monday and no one knows how I’ll react to it.”

“Oh, it’ll be a piece of cake. My friend, Edna, had chemotherapy. I don’t know why they say it’s so horrible. She had a slight upset stomach the first day but was fine for the rest of it. I think people just make a bigger deal than what it is.”

Trying to take the advice she had just given Tanya, Trixie decided to ignore Gladys. Instead she said, “Oh, look there’s Peter. He looks a lot like both Tanya and Bob.”

“He looks just like Tanya did when she was born,” Gladys insisted.

They stood by the nursery window for several minutes. Then Trixie guided Gladys out of the hospital.

“Well, I’ve got to go,” Gladys said. “I have so much to do tomorrow. I want to get some diapers and wipes for the baby as well as some more outfits. Then I want to go over to Tanya’s and get everything in order for when they come home. I’ll have to get cooking as well.”

Innocently Trixie asked, “Diapers? I thought Bob had told me a month ago they had everything ready, right down to the diapers. Tanya also said she had made a bunch of meals and frozen them for this week.”

“Oh, I know that, but they didn’t get the right diapers. I don’t mind helping out. The kids want me to.”

By now they had reached Trixie’s vehicle. “Well, this is my stop. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”

“Well, good luck with your chemo. I have bridge club on Monday. Could you go over to Bob and Tanya’s that day and help out? Tanya just can’t handle it on her own.”

Trixie bit her tongue and didn’t say a thing. There was no amount of explaining would convince that woman she would not be available to help out next week. Later in the evening, she would place a discreet call to Bob warning him of what his mother-in-law was planning. She knew that even if it took dead bolting the front door, Bob would not be pushed around.

Chapter Thirty-four

Friday, March 10, 2006

The princess party was a huge success. Lizzie was in all of her glory. When she got home from school, she couldn’t wait to put on her pink taffeta dress that resembled Aurora from the movie, Sleeping Beauty. Her aunt Honey had made it for her for a birthday present. She donned her tiara and sat in the living room, waiting for her friends to arrive.

Dan came over to the house early so that he could greet all of the princesses as they arrived. He had even gone to a costume rental and found a Prince Charming outfit including tights. When Trixie opened the door, she had to stifle a laugh.

“Don’t say a word,” he warned. “I would do this only for my bestest princess, Lizzie.”

“I’m not saying a word,” Trixie said. “I know Jim would have raised a huge stink if he was asked to wear that outfit.”

About that time, Jim walked into the house. He took one look at Dan, shook his head, and didn’t say a single word. Lizzie came in and launched herself into Uncle Dan’s arms.

“You look like a perfect prince,” she said excitedly.

Dan placed Lizzie on the floor and bowed with a flourish. “At your service, your highness,” he staidly said.

The doorbell rang. Dan and Lizzie went to greet their first guests. Jim took on the job of herald and opened the door. “The Princess of Aquaria, Princess Ashley,” he announced. Princess Ashley bowed to Lizzie and Dan, and then she took her place in the receiving line.

As each princess arrived, they were announced by Jim, bowed to the other princesses and prince and then joined the line. After everyone had been greeted, they decorated their thrones for the evening. The table in the dining room had been pushed in the corner for the ball. Prince Dan danced with every princess and awarded prizes for the best thrones. They played “Pin the Slipper on Cinderella” and several other games. After a feast fit for ten princesses, they opened gifts and played for awhile before it was time for all of them to leave. It was important that they all left by the stroke of eight o’clock, for then their magic spell would wear off and they would return to little girls again. Lizzie was so wound up after everyone left that it was ten o’clock before she fell asleep

On Saturday afternoon, the Fraynes visited Bob, Tanya and little Peter. Lizzie could hardly contain her excitement. Even the birthday party the previous night did not take away from the excitement of meeting her new cousin. She couldn’t quite understand why he couldn’t join them at her party.

When Bob opened the door, Trixie knew things had been worse than she anticipated. She had called Bob on Thursday night after she had rested, and warned him about what Gladys had planned. Bob had groaned when he realized that all of the discussions he had had with his mother-in-law had fallen on deaf ears.

It had done no good to call Howard, his father-in-law, and ask him to help discourage Gladys’s actions. He just sat in the corner, kept his mouth shut and let his wife walk all over him.

Bob looked as though he had only slept for about two hours out of the last twenty-four. His curly locks were disheveled, the t-shirt he was wearing had food stains on it, and when Trixie looked down at his feet, she noticed he was wearing one white sock and one black one.

“Come on in,” Bob said. “Tanya and Peter are in the family room. She just finished feeding him but I think he’s still awake.”

Lizzie immediately ran to find her new cousin. Matt followed more sedately, shaking his head the entire time. Jenny struggled in her father’s arms trying to wiggle out so she could follow her adored siblings. Jim set her down, and keeping a hold on her hand, headed to the family room.

Trixie came in carrying a large basket of food.. “Come on and help me put this in the kitchen,” she said to Bobby.

Once she had put the basket on the counter, she embraced Bob. “Where’s Gladys?” Trixie asked hesitantly.

“Tanya sent her on her way,” Bob said. He tried to hide the smile on his face.

“What happened?”

It was like the floodgates had opened. Once he started talking, there was no stopping Bob.

“Well, I slept at home on Wednesday night. Tanya and I decided it would be best if I stayed here and got a good night’s sleep. I got up early and headed over to the hospital. I found I couldn’t wait to see both Tanya and Peter. I left the house at six o’clock and when I got there, Gladys was already there. I could see she had her car loaded down with diapers, wipes, even a car seat.” Bob paused to take a breath. “Now I could tolerate the diapers and wipes because it’s not like we won’t use them, but they were purposely not the type we had chosen to use. And the car seat was completely unnecessary. It wasn’t even for her car. She insisted that the one we purchased was not adequate.”

Bob started to get worked up just thinking about what his mother-in-law had done.

“Oh, I’d have lost it a long time ago,” Trixie said. She and Gladys had never hit it off, but she kept her opinion to herself. She knew that she was very fortunate in having the mother-in-law that she had. “So what happened when you got to the hospital?”

“Well, somehow, she had wormed her way onto the obstetrics unit. Visiting hours don’t start until ten o’clock, with the exception of the father and any other children, who can be there anytime. When I walked into the room, she was already riding Tanya about how she was doing things. The diapers weren’t tight enough, the baby was going to starve because he wasn’t nursing, she should quit breast feeding, she should breast feed. In five minutes she managed to just rip down Tanya’s self-esteem!” Bob exclaimed.

“Poor, Tanya,” Trixie consoled. “So what did you do?”

“Well, I headed back out the door before anyone noticed me and solicited the help of the head nurse on duty. I explained the situation and she came in and told her she had to leave,” Bob said. “The nurse had brought Peter down to be fed so I decided to take the bull by the horns and confront Gladys.”

“I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when that conversation took place,” Trixie said. She went about putting the pot of stew in the refrigerator and rolls in the breadbox.

“Well, I’m afraid I wasn’t very nice, but nice hadn’t gotten me very far in the past. I told her I would not stand for her belittling Tanya and forcing her opinions on our family. If we wanted her opinion, we would ask for it, but until we did she could kindly keep them to herself.”

“Go, Bobby,” Trixie said, purposely choosing to use the name that he now despised.

“I thought I had finally gotten to her. She seemed contrite and said she would try. Then she begged to go in and see her grandson one more time,” Bob continued. “I hesitated, but figured I should give her one last chance.”

“So how long did she last?” Trixie asked.

“Less than a minute,” he replied. “We walked into the room. Tanya had just finished nursing and she was burping Peter. Right away, she started criticizing the way she was doing that. It wasn’t even veiled. When she pretty much said she didn’t know how Tanya and I could possibly handle the baby without her help. That was the end of it.”

Trixie stopped what she was doing and looked in shock at Bob. “Did you have to physically escort her out of the hospital?”

Bob’s eyes lit up as he told the rest of the story. “No, I didn’t have to do anything. It was the breaking point for Tanya. She told her mother she had had enough of her criticism. She was not welcome in the room or in our home until she changed her attitude. Tanya said that she didn’t need to have someone point out what they perceived as her downfalls when she had a whole slew of in-laws who were more than willing to help out where needed, and who wouldn’t offer their opinion unless they were asked to. Gladys started to protest and cry. Tanya didn’t buy any of it. When Gladys turned to appeal to me, I just told her that I stood beside my wife.”

“Bob, I’m proud of both of you. I know it wasn’t easy, but if you didn’t do something then, you would be dealing with it for the rest of your life,” Trixie said. She reached into the cupboards to get some glasses and prepare drinks for everyone. “So, how did the first night at home go?”

Bob looked a little sheepish. “Well, it wasn’t too bad, all things considered. Tanya is finally starting to feel a little confident in the nursing. It will take some getting used to, but I’m glad it was just the three of us last night. Of course, now I feel like a zombie.”

Trixie finished getting all of the drinks. She didn’t bother asking what everyone wanted because the orders never changed. She picked up a tray and headed to the family room. “Well, we came in two vehicles. The kids and I are only going to stay for a few more minutes, but Jim has volunteered to stay so you guys can get cleaned up, take a nap, or just relax. You know he’s great with babies.”

“He doesn’t have to do that, Trix,” Bob said trailing behind her.

“He knows that, but he remembers what it was like to be a new parent,” she replied. “He’ll stay out of your way. You won’t even know he’s here.”

As they entered the room, they spotted Tanya sitting in the rocker, her eyes half shut, trying to carry on a conversation with Jim. Matt had Peter in his arms on the sofa with Jenny on one side of him and Lizzie on the other. Lizzie had the Peter Rabbit book opened on her lap and was “reading” it to the baby. She could read some of the words, but she knew most of the story by heart. Peter was sound asleep.

As Lizzie finished the story, Jenny said, “More, more, more.”

Jim and Trixie laughed at how much Jenny sounded like her Uncle Bob.

Trixie got up and walked over to her son and gently picked up the baby. Tanya started to get up. “Just sit tight,” Trixie said. “I’m going to take him up to the nursery and turn on the baby monitor. Then the kids and I are going to get out of your hair. Jim’s going to stick around so the two of you can have some together time. If you’re lucky, Jim may even empty the diaper pail and do some laundry.”

When Trixie returned to the living room, Lizzie and Jenny were starting to get restless and had started fighting. Despite the noise, Tanya had fallen asleep and Bob was not far behind. Quietly, Jim and Trixie got their children bundled up and into the Expedition. Jim gave Trixie a hug and kiss and then helped made sure she was buckled in before he turned and went back inside.

Chapter Thirty-five

Monday, March 13, 2006

It was a typically hectic Monday chemo morning. Lizzie seemed to have a hard time dealing with her mother being sick and she showed it by being stubborn and crabby. When Jim finally realized what was happening, he took Lizzie aside and talked to her.

It took awhile for Lizzie to open up, but when she did, the tears rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t like it when Mommy is so sick, Daddy. It scares me.”

Jim took Lizzie in an embrace and said, “I know. It’s hard on all of us, sweetie. We’re all so used to having Mommy take care of us when we are sick. We think that nothing will keep her down, so when she is even a little sick it makes it hard on us.”

“But Daddy,” Lizzie said. “She isn’t just a little sick when she has chemo. She’s really sick.”

“Yes, she is really sick when she has chemo,” Jim agreed. “But the thing is if she didn’t have chemo, she’d be even sicker and she wouldn’t get better.”

The two of them spoke for a few more minutes. Jim looked at his watch and realized that unless they raced around they wouldn’t make the bus. He decided they would take Matt and Lizzie to school today.

While the kids were finishing their breakfast, Jim went up to their bedroom and told Trixie about his conversation with Lizzie. Trixie’s heart broke when she realized how all of this was affecting her kids. “I can’t stand that my kids are hurting like this,” she said.

“We’ll get through it,” he said pulling Trixie into a comforting embrace. “It’s a natural reaction. We’ve got two more rounds and then hopefully the worst will be over.”

The family left for town. After dropping Jenny off at the daycare, they headed over to the elementary school and dropped off Matt and Lizzie. Lizzie gave her mom a hug and a weak smile as she got out of the car.

There were no complications with Trixie’s chemo. After it was administered, she and Jim headed back to the house. Jim went to the school until Trixie started to feel ill and then he headed back to the house.

It seemed that Trixie was going to react to the chemo the same way every round. She was violently ill for several days. Jim was careful to make sure she didn’t get dehydrated and they went into the clinic several times that first week to get an I.V. as well as have blood drawn. Dr. Weber had suggested an anti-nausea medication. Trixie explained to him that she had tried them when she was pregnant and had had a really bad reaction to them. It was decided to just wait it out. By the weekend, she was coming out of the nausea and was just weakened from the ordeal.

By the next Monday, she was ready to go back to work for at least a couple of hours a day. There was a lot to be done with the agency. The department had asked Dan to stay for an extra couple of weeks. There were some loose ends with the McDaniels case that they wanted Dan to tie up. They preferred it with Dan as a member of the department, instead of as a co-owner of a private investigating firm the department had hired. Dan agreed. Now that the case had been solved and McDaniels was still in jail, there wasn’t as much stress in the department.

Trixie’s main concern was finding new office space. She did help Honey out with some computer research, but wasn’t ready to do any fieldwork. She was surprised that she enjoyed looking for the perfect location. She treated it like a mystery. As she looked at each location, the list of desirables and wants changed. At one point, she thought they might never find what they wanted. The most important criterion was that it was located close to downtown.

Honey preferred an older building as opposed to office space in the new Riverview Office Complex. While her father may have preferred the sleek office building, Honey wanted something with more character.

Dan hoped they could find some place that had plenty of room for each of them to have their own office, as well as a reception area and meeting room space. He wanted to be able to work without the distraction of other people when needed, but also have space where they could work together to brainstorm.

Trixie was most concerned about being able to wire the space for the most up-to-date technology. As had been her way most of her life, she wasn’t too concerned about the aesthetics for herself, but recognized that if they wanted to keep clients coming in, they needed to have nice quarters.

They finally located an old Victorian home that was just at the end of Main Street. The house had been on the market for several months. It really wasn’t in a residential area anymore. The downstairs of the home was laid out so that with some renovations the house would make perfect office space along with a reception area, conference room and storage. The renovations would take a couple of months to finish, but they hoped they would be in their new office space by summer.

In the meantime, they managed to make some space for Dan in their current offices. It would be a little cozy for a while but they figured they could manage. Dan liked doing fieldwork as much as possible. All three of them also had adequate home office space so if it got too crowded they could work there.

By the time Trixie was ready for her last round of chemo, they had an accepted offer on the house and had started looking at architects to help remodel the interior.

 

 

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