When I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks. Peyton was at the stove, her long hair pulled back into a ponytail, and she was flipping my strawberry pancakes. My mom sat at the kitchen table and sipped a cup of tea, both of them chatting away about something. I cleared my throat to get their attention. Peyton turned to me and smiled. A smile so bright, it warmed my heart.

"Good morning." I walked over to the stove and kissed her on the cheek. She cut her eyes in my mother's direction, as if she were trying to silently tell me something. I took a seat at the table, where my mom sat now, with her head in her hands. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Oh, a little queasy and achy. It feels kind of like you do when you have the flu." She pushed her teacup away and looked as if even the sight of it made her sick.

"Where's the doctor's number? We should probably call him." I got up and started for the old phone hanging on the wall. The one, I never could get my mother to update. Sure, she had a cell, but she refused to let go of the old thing, so I didn't argue.

"There's no need to call. It's just the normal side effects of chemo. I think I should just go lie back down." She tried to stand on shaky legs and I rushed to her side to help. This was a huge a difference from yesterday.

Luckily, my mom's room was on the lower floor at the end of the hall. I helped her back into bed and got her everything I could think of that she might need—a glass of water, and an empty wastebasket, in case she couldn't make it to the bathroom in time.

Then, I made my way back out to the kitchen where Peyton stood leaning against the counter, with a worried look on her face. She knew as well as I did, this wasn’t good. "Do you think you should call the doctor, just to be safe?"

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. She placed a kiss on my chest before pressing her face in the same spot.

"Yeah," I said into the top of her hair, still holding her close, taking comfort from the woman I loved. I held her tighter as it dawned on me, she'd just met my mom, but she loved her, too. I could tell. My heart broke for her, thinking about the kind of mother she had, and the life she grew up in.

The doctor confirmed everything my mom told me last night and earlier today. The fever, chills, and flu like symptoms, were all common side effects of chemo. He too, didn't feel that the chemo would be very beneficial, but the doctor told me something that my mom hadn’t. He'd explained to her, there was nothing they could do, except keep her comfortable. She wanted to try the treatments for me. Mom knew I'd want her to fight, and even though she knew it probably wouldn't do her any good, she was putting herself through that hell for me.

I broke down, there in the doctor's office, for the first time since my dad passed. Peyton wrapped her arms around me and held me close, until I wiped away the last tear. Once I was able to get myself together, we discussed what was really best for my mother.

Hospice. Twenty-four hour around the clock care, and meds to keep her comfortable, because you see. The doctor told me that she might have a month left, if we were lucky. I felt like a zombie when we left the office that day. Peyton took all of the information from the nurse, regarding which agency would be coming to the house, along with a few other items that we'd need to purchase. I didn't know what I would have done without my girl, because I was of no use right now.

Peyton

I woke to a light tapping on the bedroom door. I cracked one eye open and realized that it was barely light outside.

"Peyton," Levi said in a low voice from the other side of the door. I padded across the room and opened up, to find Levi leaning on the doorframe.

"Get dressed. There's somewhere I'd like to take you this morning,” he said in a quiet voice. My guess was, so that he didn't disturb his mom's rest. She'd been so sick the day before, with vomiting and chills from her recent chemo treatment.

I looked into his sad, tired eyes and said, "I'll meet you downstairs in ten minutes."

He gave me a nod and then disappeared down the stairs. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt, because this early in the morning, the air tended to have a chill to it.

I made my way downstairs and found, Levi, in the kitchen with a black backpack and a silver thermos in his hand. We said nothing. I could tell by the look on his face, that he was really struggling this morning. We were friends, and friends were there for each other in a time of need. Right now, he needed me, and I was there in any way needed. I followed him outside to a garage-type building at the back of the property. He placed his hand on the doorknob and looked at me, with what I knew were tears in his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away.

"I thought we'd go for a ride this morning. There's someplace I'd like to show you."

"Okay," I nodded and gave him a warm smile. He walked over to a large, black, and yellow, four-wheeler and jammed the key into place. He climbed on and then patted the seat behind him.

"Climb on," he said and handed me the thermos, of what I'm guessing was coffee, this early in the morning. I positioned myself behind him and wrapped my free arm around his waist, as he backed out of the garage and headed down a tree-lined path leading away from the house. I was right, the weather was cool this morning and bit at my cheeks as we rode the bumpy path. After a short ride, he turned right into a clearing and a mist-covered pond came into view. It was beautiful and breathtaking. It reminded me of something out of a movie.

"Where are we?" I asked, as Levi shut off the motor to the four-wheeler. He stood on the pegs and held his hand out to me for added stability so that I could climb off the back. He quietly reached for my hand and led me over to a large smooth rock at the edge of the water. He pulled me down beside him, where we sat silent for a moment, just staring out over the smooth glassy water where a mother and her ducklings sat. It was so quiet, that when he finally spoke, I jumped slightly.

"My dad used to bring me here to fish when I was little. He did it every day for as long as I can remember." And right on queue the plopping sound of a fishing jumping in the water sounded as the sun was rising above the trees. My stomach knotted into a painful ball at the mention of his father because he'd told me that he lost his dad at a young age." I had that little, red Spider-Man pole, which my dad bought at the local hardware store. I remembered I was so excited when he brought it home that afternoon. He packed us a picnic and grabbed his tackle box and we headed for this pond. We came every chance we got which was just about every day after he got home from work. It didn't matter what kind of day he'd had. He always made time for me. He was my idol." He said, with pride in his voice. He pulled the backpack from his shoulders and unzipped it and handed me two travel mugs.

"Here, You pour the coffee and I'll get the rest." He reached into the bag and pulled out what looked like two breakfast sandwiches and handed me one.

"Thank you," I said. "Your father sounded like a wonderful man." I added, my voice soft.

"He worked as a policeman in our town so he worked some long hours, but I knew that no matter what time of day or how stressful his day had been, we'd fish. I remember waiting for him everyday beside the front door, staring through the glass. I'd be holding that silly little red pole waiting for his cruiser to pull into the driveway." He paused for a moment and swallowed hard. When his eyes met mine, there were un-shed tears in his pools of blue.