The same night Marissa was on her way home, Braxton had a restless sleep. With the help of his therapist, he had weaned himself off sleeping with an article of her clothing. He was now able to get to sleep with every piece of it put away in his closet and dresser, though he was not yet ready to put the items in his attic. Brayden was trying to get him to do that, but he just couldn't. He hoped to be able to some day soon. This particular night, he tossed and turned and had finally fallen asleep sometime around 2:00 but he only slept about a half hour, waking up from a dream in which Marissa had died from the kidney cancer and her father was yelling at him for not being able to talk her into getting treatment on time. It had been a few weeks since he'd dreamt of her and this one had him on edge. Did it mean something? Was Marissa's cancer too far advanced now?

He was very tempted to call Gael to ask if he'd heard from his daughter, but he knew Dr Harding would not approve. If he wanted to get over her, he had to take the psychologist's advice. He hadn't liked it when his patients ignored his recommendations, so he wasn't going to do it to his own therapist. If he talked to either of them again, it would have to be at their initiative. He knew that Logan would give his number to Marissa if she thought to call him. Hopefully, he would do the same if Gael called him.

-----------------------------

Marissa woke up at the sound of her father's voice. “We're home?” she asked, trying to sit up.

“We're home, sweetheart”, Irene replied. Stay there, we'll unbuckle you when we park.”

“Daddy, do my special beep. Please.” Marissa used to beep one long, two short, one long when she arrived home - just her way of letting everyone know she was there.

“No, baby, it's too early -it's not even 8:00. Everyone will be up by now, but the neighbours might not want to hear it this early.” Gael drove up to the house and around to the back, where he parked in front of the door. He would put the car in it's spot in the parking spaces later. “We'll get you in the house first, then I'll bring everything in from the car.”

Irene unhooked Marissa's seat belts and she sat up. She picked her crutches up from the floor and shimmied out of the back seat. A tear came to her eye when she looked at the house and farm. The milking cows were in a pasture across from the laneway. The grass would still be good for another month or so, then they would be brought up close to the barn and fed hay through the winter. When it got too cold for them to be outside overnight, they'd be brought into the free-stall barn and let out during the day when it was warm enough.

Marissa heard a loud mooing. She instantly recognized it. It was Charlie, her steer - the one she couldn't bear to slaughter even though that had been her plan. She had gotten so attached to him and they had a special bond. She heard thundering hooves and looked toward the sound. Charlie was running through the milking cows' pasture. “You kept Charlie!?” It was half question, half exclamation of delight. She'd fully expected that her parents would have slaughtered him when they realized she wasn't coming back. Almost every animal on the farm had to have a job. Even the dogs - they weren't just pets, they kept predators away from the other animals and helped herd the cows into the milking barn twice a day.

“We couldn't bear to .... well, you know...” Irene replied, unable to verbalize the word “slaughter”, even though the family kept some steers for the freezer and hunted every fall. “He was - is - yours and we just had to keep him.”

“But they all have to have jobs or be there for the freezers.”

“Charlie does have a job”, Gael piped up. “He takes care of the heifers after they get out of their hutches and until they are ready to join the milking herd. He just loves them - but he keeps them in line, too!”

By this time, Charlie had reached the fence closest to where the humans were. He jumped it with ease. “Charlie!!” Marissa exclaimed as the bovine ran up to her. She dropped her crutches and put her arms around his neck.

“Charlie, you need to stop jumping fences”, Gael admonished.

“Moo” was the reply.

Irene picked up Marissa's crutches and handed her one. “You know you can't stand without at least one of these.”

“I can when Charlie is holding me up, Mama.”

“Still, not for long. I don't want you falling.”

Marissa sighed. “All right, Mama.” She let go of Charlie and petted him with one hand while holding onto her crutch with the other. Her parents let them visit for a couple minutes, then felt she should get in the house.

“Okay, Charlie”, Gael said. “Marissa will visit with you later. Go to your babies.” The steer mooed, then turned around and ran off.

Marissa was astonished. “How...?” she began to ask.

“I taught him to 'go back to your babies'”, her father replied, anticipating the question. “It was easier than putting a halter and lead on him and trying to drag him back to his pasture. He knows he will get a treat later.”

“Aw, Daddy - you are spoiling him.”

“Your animals are all we have had of you for the last four years, baby. Come on, let's get inside. It's pretty cool out, I don't want you catching cold. You have no insulation on you.”

Irene put two pots of coffee on - their family was too big for just one pot - and they sat down at the kitchen table. Vicky was getting the youngest children ready to go meet their bus. She gave Marissa a big hug and introduced her to the foster kids - Matt, 8, Julie, 12 and Kyra, 15. They were siblings, put into foster care when their parents died in a car accident 3 years ago. Nobody wanted to take in 3 siblings, so the Brennans said they would do it, rather than allow them to be split up. They were now part of the family, and most likely, the Brennans would adopt them.

Vicky was shooing the children out the door in front of her just as Bill and Stan came in from morning milking. The farm dogs came in with them, including Marissa's border collie mix, Cooper. The canine was over the moon ecstatic to see his mistress again after such a long time. The brothers showered Marissa with hugs and kisses, then Bill poured them each a cup of coffee - or, as Marissa referred to it, the nectar of the gods - before sitting down at the table. Gael joined them once he finished unloading the car. Irene was cooking breakfast for them all - Bill ate before coming over at 5 but he was always hungry after the milking was finished and the milk house cleaned up.

“So, little sister, where have you been? What happened to you?” Stan said to her.

“Leave her be”, Gael told his son. “She's had a rough time and I don't think even your mother and I know it all yet. She needs to eat, then sleep for a few hours.”

“I'm not hungry, Daddy.”

“Have something, Rissa. Please.”

Just then, Bill noticed how thin she was. “Wait till you taste Mama's cooking again, Goober”, he said. He had called her “Goober” ever since she was born, much to their parents' chagrin. “You'll have some meat on those bones in no time.”

Vicky came in from seeing the youngsters off to school. “I wish I could stay and chat - I want to know what happened to you”, she said to Marissa, “but I have to get to work.” She poured a coffee into her travel mug.

“Did you eat, Vicky?” Irene asked.

“Yes, Mama. Terry! Anne!” she called up the stairs. “Get your butts down here! It's time to go!”

“Why is Anne going with you?” Gael asked.

“She didn't want to take that guitar on the bus for fear of it getting broken.” Anne, with Gael's help, had made a replica guitar for a music class project.

“Probably a wise choice. Look, I've been thinking a bit. Rather than Marissa tell her story over and over, let's have a family meeting tonight at 9 for the over 20's. That means you, too, Bill, if you are free to come over.” Bill nodded. “We'll do it that late as the others will be in bed by then. They don't need to hear it. Does that sound okay to you, Rissa?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

“Good. It's set then.”

After Marissa and her adopted siblings had greeted each other, they left with Vicky. Irene set a stack of plates on the table and they each took one. Gael got up and got cutlery while his wife put fried eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and toast on platters. She put more on the stove and griddle - her boys and husband had hearty appetites. Finally, she was able to sit down, too.

Marissa took one egg and two slices of bacon. Irene started to say something but her husband stopped her. “She's fine with what she has. It probably wouldn't be good for her to eat too much when she's not used to proper meals, let's ease her into it.”

“You're right, darling”, she replied. “I just can't stand to see her like this.”

“I know.” Gael squeezed her hand.

They had their breakfast and another cup of coffee, then the men said they had to get back out to the barns. “You two go ahead, I'm going to take Marissa's bags up to her room, I'll join you in a bit”, Gael said to Bill and Stan, who took the dogs with them.

Marissa took the elevator to the second floor. The Brennans had had it installed when Terry was getting too big for Gael to carry up the stairs. The community had held a couple fundraisers to raise the money for it as they couldn't afford to do it on their own. “Which room do you want me in, Mama?” she asked on the way up.

“Yours, sweetheart. We left it just as you did.”

“Really?” Marissa was astonished. She'd thought they would have used her room for a foster child.

“We had to - if we hadn't, it would have made things seem final - like you were never coming home. We couldn't bear that.” Marissa had a lump in her throat.

They met Gael in Marissa's bedroom. “Welcome home, baby”, he said to her. Her mother was right. Her room was just as she'd left it when she'd gone back to her hobby farm after getting out of rehab. She'd stayed at home for a few weeks until she was used to getting around differently. She could see that some of the things she'd had at her farm had been brought home, like her guitar.

“Thank you, Daddy.” She gave him a hug and sat down on her bed.

“I have to get out to the barns, but first I want to call Braxton and tell him you are home. Do you want to speak to him? I'm sure he'd love to hear your voice.”

“Daddy, you can't!” Marissa felt panicky.

“I told him I'd call him if I heard from you. Why don't you want me to? He cares about you a lot. You were very lucky that he took an interest in you, Rissa.”

“I know, Daddy but if his phone is bugged, they will go after him!”

“Who?”

“The Cartel. I wasn't supposed to be friends with him, but Mark allowed it because I needed help with my medical stuff after my operation. But when they moved me to Seattle, he said I couldn't contact Braxton and if I did, there would be consequences for both of us. I can't put him at risk! For all I know, they have his phones bugged.” She thought of something else. “And if they are listening to his phone calls, they will know that I am here.”

That got her father's attention. “I never thought of that, honey. But I need to find a way to let him know.”

“Email him but from an anonymous email server, like gmail. I emailed him a few months ago to tell him I was okay.”

“You contacted him? What did he say?”

“I haven't checked for a response - I told him in the email that I likely wouldn't be able to.”

“Okay, you can help me set up an email later.”

Marissa breathed a silent sigh of relief. Now, for the news she had dreaded giving to her parents. She knew it was going to be hard on them - maybe harder than her being gone, but she had to tell them. “Daddy, there's one other thing I need to tell you and Mama.”

“What is it, sweetheart?” Irene asked as she sat down on the bed beside Marissa. She had a sense of impending doom.

“I don't want to wait until tonight. The others will have to find out sooner or later, but I needed to tell you in private first.” She took a deep breath. “I'm really sorry to have to tell you this. I have ..... cancer.”

Her parents both gasped at once. “What kind of cancer?” Irene asked.

“Kidney. I also have kidney stones.” The stones had been quiet lately, but she was feeling some pain again, probably from the long journey home.

“Are you sure?” Gael inquired.

“Yes, Daddy. I had a biopsy.”

“When?”

“When I was in Denver.”

“You left a year ago, what has been done for you since then?”

“Nothing, Mama. I didn't tell anyone in Seattle.”

“Goodness, girl - why not?” Gael's voice was angrier than he'd meant for it to be.

Marissa hesitated. She didn't want to tell them about wanting the cancer to take her out, but if her father called Braxton against her wishes and Braxton told him about her initial refusal to have a biopsy and then surgery, they'd be royally pissed at her. She'd been brought up to always tell the truth and never lie. “It was my way out.”

“Out of what?”

“The Cartel.” A tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek. “If I died of natural causes, I'd be out and they wouldn't go after you.”

Gael walked out of the room and down the hall. He was even more furious at the Cartel than he'd been in the car. He'd been initially angry at the revelation that Braxton's cop friend had been right about his daughter being a drug mule and at the Cartel for making her do that, but now his anger was 100% on the Cartel. How dare they do that to his daughter! To make her do something so vile that she'd rather be dead! He had to calm down before he went back to Marissa's room. He didn't want her getting upset.

Irene put her arm around her daughter. “I've made him mad”, Marissa said.

“No, honey - he's mad at what those people did to you, not at you. He'll calm down.”

Marissa picked up her purse, which was beside her on the bed. She took out her keys and selected one. Reaching out, she grabbed the handle to her suitcase and pulled it to her. She put the key in the lock and opened it.

“You don't have to unpack right now”, her mother told her. “Sleep first.”

“I'm just getting a couple things out, Mama.” She took out the shawl and dress Braxton had given her. “Could you please get me a hanger from the closet?” Irene got a hanger and Marissa carefully put the dress on it. “I wanted to get these out, I have had them hidden for so long.”

“That's a beautiful dress”, Gael said from the doorway.

“Isn't it, Daddy? Braxton gave it to me.”

“Why was he buying you a dress?” her father asked with a guarded tone.

“He took me out to a nice restaurant for dinner. I didn't have any nice clothes with me at his house. He said it would save us time if we didn't have to go to my place first.”

“Marissa, did he...”

“No, Mama, he was a perfect gentleman.” She didn't tell her parents about her and Braxton necking at the make-out point. They didn't need to know *everything*. “I don't know what I would have done without him. He was such a good friend - for the short time I knew him.”

Irene hung the dress up in Marissa's closet and put the shawl in her dresser. “This is a lovely shawl.”

“It was his mama's. She left it at his place and he called her to ask if it was okay for me to wear it that night. She said for him to give it to me.”

“Okay, Rissa. Braxton is an honourable man”, Gael said as he sat down beside her. Irene pulled a chair out from beside the nightstand and sat on it. “Now, tell us about this cancer and what you are supposed to have done.”

“Dr Maynard - he was my oncologist - said the cancer is confined to the kidney and he thought he could remove it without having to take the kidney.”

“But he didn't remove it?”

“The surgery was scheduled, but the Cartel made me go to Seattle before my surgery date. I knew when I finally agreed to it that I would likely be gone before the date of the operation,” she said sheepishly.

“I wonder why Braxton never told me that.”

“He felt you were worried enough about me, that you didn't need any more to worry about. Please don't be angry at him.” She couldn't stand the thought of her parents hating Braxton.

“I'm not, Rissa. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude for what he did for you.”

“I wish you two could meet him. He's so sweet and nice.”

“Maybe we will some day. Okay, you need to get some sleep. We'll call Brent Evans and get you in to see him.” Dr Brent Evans was their family physician.

“I don't have an AHCIP card, Daddy.” AHCIP is Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan. “And I have to be back in the province for 3 months to get one.”

“Did you have insurance down there?” Irene asked, referring to the States.

“Yes, but it's in kind of a hybrid name with both my alias and real name. The doctors had me do that before my surgery so it would be less of an issue legally. They won't cover cancer care outside the country, though. I'd have to go back down there.”

“We can afford to pay for you to see Brent, Rissa. We'll see what he says we should do.”

“I can pay for a consultation, Daddy.”

“We'll sort that out later. I'll make an appointment for you. We'll discuss contacting Braxton later. You get some rest.” Gael gave her a hug and kiss before leaving the room.

Irene helped her into one of her old nighties. She hadn't brought any from her apartment. “I'll put out a towel and facecloth in bathroom 1 for you and I will unpack your luggage while you wash up and brush your teeth.” The big old farmhouse had two good sized bathrooms upstairs, which they called bathroom 1 and bathroom 2.

Fifteen minutes later, Irene was tucking her daughter into bed. If you need anything, holler, okay?”

“Yes, Mama.”

Marissa fell asleep almost as soon as Irene had closed her bedroom door. It was good to be back home again. She just hoped that the Cartel did not make good on their threat.