Francis clicked send and said a silent prayer that the real estate company would accept her proposal. She sat back in her chair with a sigh.

  "Mom, I'm so hungry; please can we eat now?" asked Mark, a cute boy of eight. He had blond curly hair that had made him look like a cherub when he was younger, but right now he just looked like he could use a haircut. He was almost as tall as his mom's 5 '3".

  "Of course, sweetheart. Could you go get your sister and we can go out and celebrate. I have a feeling this house is the one for us! Mark went to get his sister Julie, a pretty girl of 15, with long brunette hair and green eyes. She was considerably taller than her mom, at 5'7"and walked into the room with her eyes glued to a book.

  "Let's go get some pizza and salad, if that's ok with you two!" Francis said. The kids both agreed noisily, as The Purple Pepperoni was their favorite restaurant and had fun games to play while they waited. Julie saved her place in the book.

  "Can you wait a minute while I go get the quarters I've been saving?" Mark asked.

  "Sure, we'll be getting our shoes on," his mom answered.

  At the restaurant, while the kids played and they all ate intermittently Francis checked her email on her phone. She excitedly found her answer. She managed to get their tickets booked and started making mental lists of everything they would have to do to start on the next chapter of their lives!

  "Mom, I almost got the yellow lightning stuffy!" Mark excitedly exclaimed as he ran back to the table. "I need some more quarters, quick before someone else gets it! Please can I have some more?"

  Francis dug in her purse and handed Mark a couple of dollars worth of quarters. "He will never get that animal out of the stuffy machine, mom," Julie negatively predicted. "They are rigged so you can't ever win."

  Francis called her mom to ask if she and the kids could come over. She needed to break the news to her and the kids about the move and for the life of her couldn't think how to do it. "Mom, Julie, I got it!" Mark came running with a yellow electrical stuffy in his arms! Just before he got to the table, he tripped and fell. Julie and Francis gasped and Mark jumped up excitedly exclaiming, "Look mom, he is my good luck charm! He fell down under me so I wouldn't get hurt!" They all laughed and Julie said, "Oh Mark!"

  They walked into Grandma's and found her in the laundry room, organizing the towels. "Grandma Sarah, guess what?" Mark excitedly said as he jumped up on the laundry table and sat right in front of her. "Um, I guess you found a stuffy under a rock and used Surf on him to catch him! " Grandma Sarah said playfully. "No, Grandma, I won him all by myself out of the stuffy machine!" Mark yelled. "Well aren't you something! I didn't think anyone ever won out of those machines! You are pretty amazing, Mark!" Grandma Sarah said. Mark beamed proudly!

  The kids ran off to play with the dogs, Ralph and Sookie. Ralph was a basset hound with soulful eyes, whose favorite pastime was walking around in the snow making paths with his low-hanging tummy. Sookie was the cutest little Shih Tzu who jumped at least 3 feet high to greet them!

  "Ok Francis, I heard it in your voice; what is going on?" Her mom asked intuitively.

  "Mom, you know we can't stay here; almost everyday is excruciating with the memories and when the kids talk with their friends, they always bring up things that upset them. We have to move to another city."

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  "I know, but I don't like to think about it, Francis. Have you been looking for a place?"

  "Yes, I have and I wanted to tell you first, before I told the kids." Francis began.

  Her mother started sobbing, "I know you have to go, but I have been dreading this day!" She choked out. Francis hugged her and held her. Sarah asked after she calmed down, "Did you find a place?"

  "Yes, I did. I already put down a down payment on a ranch in Wyoming and our tickets are bought."

  Sarah really started bawling and the kids walked in just then and rushed over to hug her along with their mom. "Grandma, what's wrong?" Julie asked with a worried look in her eyes.

  "I'm sorry kids, I will just miss you so much!" Sarah sobbed out.

  "It's ok grandma, we're right here." Julie said comfortingly.

  "Yeah, we are right here and we love you so much!" Mark said.

  "Wait!" Julie said. "What do you mean you are going to miss us? Where are you going?" Her mom and grandma looked at her. Realization set in and she said, "This house you've been looking at. It isn't out of the city, is it?" Her mom nodded. "Mom, no! I want to go to West High School. I have been planning on it and you are not going to take me away from here! You are wrecking my life!" she shouted, as she ran out into the yard.

  "Mom, what did Julie mean? How are you wrecking her life? What's wrong?" Mark asked.

  His Mom explained that It was really hard to be a teenager and Julie would be ok. She also told him they were moving to a large ranch in Wyoming and Mark had quite a different reaction.

  "Yaaa! I can't wait! When can we go? " Mark said.

  Grandma Sarah had gone out into the yard after Julie and they were sitting together in the rose garden, while Grandma Sarah explained things to Julie. "Julie, your mother is just trying to do what is best for you and Mark. Things will never be the same. Kids can be so cruel to one another. You are now such a high profile person, they will never treat you the same as they used to. If you were to remain here you would be miserable."

  "But Grandma, what about my cheerleading?" Julie hiccupped out along with her crying. "I am in line to be the head cheerleader. Mom just doesn't care." And with that Julie started full-on bawling again.

  "Julie, you know your mom cares. She loves you very much," her grandmother tried to reassure her.

  "Yeah, right!" Julie sarcastically responded. "Why, why? Why is this happening to me? Grandma, where is dad? Why doesn't mom tell us what is going on with him?"

  "Julie, your mom doesn't know. Your dad was apparently keeping secrets from your mom," Sarah gently revealed to Julie.

  " However, I can let you in on a little secret that you might like," Sarah hopefully interjected. "You are going to live on a large ranch. Maybe your mother will let you have a horse!"

  "Do you really think so Grandma? I've always wanted a horse!" Julie looked up with tears on her eyelashes.

  "Well you can always ask her," her Grandmother responded.

  "But what if dad comes back and we are gone? How will he find us?" Julie asked worriedly.

  "You are forgetting that I am here and your dad can find you that way." Sarah said.

  "Oh yeah that's true. But I will have to start all over, making friends, " Julie said.

  "That's true, but you have always been good at making friends and often when there is a new student at school, they become the most popular one in school," Sarah said.

  "You're right grandma. But I don't want to move so far away from you. I always feel better when I can talk with you," Julie said.

  "I will be just a call away, with you having a cell phone. Now don't you think we should go in and talk to your mom and apologize," Grandma asked?