CHAPTER 1

The small sign on the side of the two story residential buildingmight have been too inconspicuous if it hadn't been for the large,fenced in outdoor play area. As she pulled up to her place of work,she yawned. Even for Denise, a traditionally early riser, six AMwas a bit brutal. Nevertheless, she had been arriving at the sameearly hour for months and wouldn't mind as soon as she saw thelittle faces.

Maple Leaf Learning Center didn't technically open for anotherhour, but Denise had a soft spot for the single parents and couldn'tseem to say no to them.

She had done the same thing while they were based in Sicily, takingin two young girls after her best friend, Betsy had introduced herto their father. He was supporting them and working full time, buthe was in desperate need of a sitter if he was going to maintain theschedule. She had already had a few other kids that she watchedduring those hours, but Denise felt inclined to say yes and hadn'tregretted it. Her years of study at Florida Community College forchild care had led her to work with many children throughout theyears, but those two girls had been very special. The hours uponhours that she spent with them made them feel like her own and shehad been very sad to leave them to return to the base in Mayport,Florida.

Fortunately, she had left on very good terms with BeachesAcademy and was hired immediately and went to work in one ofthe classrooms. Robert was just two years old at the time and madethe trip with her every day, while her oldest, Danielle, preferredto stay at the daycare two doors over. Again, she had fallen forthe children with a single parent and found herself watching kidsregularly on the weekends as well. Little did she know, at that time,that she would become the child of an only one parent. Granted shewas fully grown at the time that she received the call, but it wouldstill leave her a wet and whimpering mess.

It was just before five o'clock in the morning in Mayport. The sunhadn't even escaped the hold of the horizon when the phone rang.She had smiled at the little girl in her lap. Her ponytail bounced asshe got down laughing. Denise felt content as she walked over andpicked up the receiver, though thinking it odd to get a call so early.

"Denise," the voice was broken and she had immediately knewsomething was not right, "It's Rosemary." There was a long pause.

"Is everything ... okay?" She had asked the question, alreadyknowing the answer.

"No ... no, it's your dad."

Her heart had risen up to her throat and she had to stare at thelittle girl, who was still smiling broadly, in order to maintain hercomposure. When she had hung up she had turned the corner andleaned against the wall, out of sight of the child for a moment. Herhead had hung in despair as she dialed another number.

The thoughts of her past swirled around for a moment and thenevaporated as the familiar car pulled up to the entrance. Twounhappy kids climbed out of the backseat with some help.

"Hey kiddos. Good morning," Denise said, merrily, forgetting thesadness that had filled her mind moments before.

"We're not so happy to be leaving mom this morning," the motherexplained, while the youngest of the two latched onto her leg.

"Ah, come on, we are going to have all sorts of fun, and, you knowwhat ... your mom is going to want to hear all about it when shepicks you up later."

The boys weren't being so easily persuaded, but then Robertwalked over, excited to see his friends and took one of the boy'shands. Within a minute or two, the three were on the opposite sideof the room, playing and laughing. The mother just shook her headwith laughter.

"Thanks, Denise," the woman said, preparing to leave, "that boy ofyours is something special."

Time went quite quickly after the mother departed. Denise tidiedup a little while the threesome played, checking in on them everyfew minutes, just to be sure everyone was getting along.

"Good morning," came a very groggy greeting from the front door.

Pat Kneib was a tall, thin, beautiful woman, but she was not crazyabout the earliest hours of the morning. Denise giggled at herfriend, who held up a large cup of coffee. The dark brown eyessmiled back at her.

"Are you ready for a classroom full of two year olds?" Denise joked.

"Ugh," the other woman grunted. "Talk to me in twenty minutes,after I have had my caffeine fix." Then, the two laughed and Patwent to greet the little children in the room. Despite her grumbling,Pat had just as much of a soft spot for kids as Denise did and shewas a wonderful mother to her own. In fact, Denise had spent a lotof time with Melissa, Pat's daughter in recent times. Danielle hadgrown quite close with the girl in school, which Denise secretlyloved, as it gave she and Pat more reason to get together.

"That was a good time this weekend, wasn't it?" Denise asked herfriend as the others who worked there drifted in. They had spentSaturday night out at a club with several of their other co-workersand their spouses. After a week at the daycare, and then sittingfor three youngsters on the weekends, she was always willingto partake in a little adult-time. For a moment she got lost inthoughts of the three youngsters that raced through her door eachweekend—two boys and a girl.

As soon as he arrived, the eldest, Curtis would become the ringleader. His sense of humor made him the instant life of the party,even at ten years old, whereas Dustin, the five year old, tended tobe shy and reserved. Finally, there was Chelsea. For three yearsold, she had a lot to say and a lot of love to give. She and Dustinwere close to Robert because they were in the same daycare classeach day. Curtis, being older, tended to have more in common withDanielle.

That past weekend, Curtis had marched through the door andimmediately spoke up. "Hey Denise, I have a joke for you."

He had been very proud and she let out a deep, heartfelt laugh,despite the fact that she had heard the joke many years before.She loved those kids. They were like nieces and nephews, who shewanted to love and spoil each time their parents were away.

A voice interrupted her thoughts, "Oh yeah," Pat said, respondingto what Denise had said moments before. She was demonstratinga bit more energy than she had minutes before. "There is nothingquite like reliving your youth for a night."

Denise poked the woman's arm. "Hey now, maybe you are relivingit, but I am still living it!"

Arlene and Brenda, having walked over to join them laughed.

"That's true, Pat," Arlene joked, "after all, you are ten years olderthan her, right?"

"Yeah and I knew there was a reason that I didn't like youmorning-dwellers," Pat said, pretending to glare at Arlene and thenat Denise.

With that, the day was underway and slowly, but surely, the daycarefilled up with small bodies and boisterous personalities.

I love it here, Denise thought, as she helped Pat corral the two yearolds.

"Do you have the extras this weekend too?" Pat asked her later thatday.

"Oh yeah," she answered with a smile.

"You are a crazy woman. You know that, right?"

Knowing that her friend felt the same way that she did aboutchildren, Denise just raised an eyebrow, but before she was ableto inquire about her friend's interest in her weekend plans, herattention was captured elsewhere. Two little girls were screamingat each other about a toy.

A little while later, as the kids napped on waterproof foam mats,Denise flopped down in a chair.

"Are you all right?" Pat asked her in a whisper.

"Oh yeah," Denise answered. "My ear has just been bothering mea little lately. I think I am going to make an appointment to have itlooked at, just to make sure it's not infected or something."

The conversation regarding her health was cut short, when a small,but loud voice screamed for her.

"Dorneice!!"

Little AJ was a bright-eyed boy with a big personality and Denisecouldn't help but smile each and every time he mispronounced hername. With a silent giggle, she hurried off to break up the disputeover G.I. Joe figures.

"I'll be fine," she said to her concerned friend, with a wink overher shoulder.

* * *

"I missed you today," Bobby said, as he planted a kiss on hercheek.

She nodded at him with a meek smile. "I missed you too."

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Denise answered absent-mindedly. He gave her a look thatsuggested that he didn't believe her and she admitted, "I've beenthinking about my dad a lot today."

A look of empathy tugged at Bobby's face as he moved to hug hiswife and offered kind words, "I know that you miss him. He was agreat man and you are so much like him."

"He was," Denise answered, smiling while in Bobby's arms. "I wasjust thinking about how great Jenny was, and the rest of the girlsfor taking care of me and getting the kids and me to the airport."She fell silent for a moment, but still clung to her husband. "I guessthat I just wish that we had some answers. To know that he wasfound like he was ... to know that someone was so cruel and lefthim there, to d ..." Tears overcame her and Bobby held her closer."My dad was murdered," she muttered.

Even though it had been nearly three years since she had receivedthe heart-wrenching phone call, her heart still hurt. She pulledaway from her husband and wiped her tears, turning back to themeal that she was preparing.

"I'm going to go check on the kids, okay?" He asked the questionwith tenderness in his voice and she nodded before looking awayand reaching for a cupboard. Bobby watched her for a momentbefore he started walking away. Denise didn't even realize that shehad her hand to her ear. "You're sure that you are okay?"

CHAPTER 2

"Denise," Bobby laid a hand on the sleep-styled hair of his wife."It's time to get up."

She muttered something that he didn't understand and rolled over.

Bobby laughed. "C'mon hun, the kids need to get ready. You don'twant to be late and I've got to get out of here."

"Fine," she muttered, rubbing her eyes as she sat. She moaned."I think I am going to call the doctor." She held her ear again. "Itreally hurts."

Bobby looked at her with concern. Denise had been sick so fewtimes since they had married that he wasn't used to hearing hercomplain about anything. She had already mentioned the ear painseveral times over the forty-eight hours before. "I think that's areally good idea." He took her hand. "Listen, I have to take off,"he said, peering at his watch, "but why don't you just call in today?You never miss a day."

"Oh, I can't, but I'll call the doctor and see if I can get in latertoday."

Bobby left that morning with some hesitation, but trusted that hiswife would take care of herself and, soon, she had the kids up andaround, ready for the day ahead.

* * *

The doctor's office was open to the public, but it might as well nothave been. Nearly every person that approached the reception deskhad the same insurance—that issued by the U.S. Navy. Denisehanded over her own TriCare card, through the small window, andwaited as the woman behind the desk confirmed her information.By this point, the pain in her ear was nearly unbearable.

Please let the medicine work fast, she prayed, within her own head,as she waited for her name to be called. She thought about howgood it would feel to lay down that evening and craved her bed.

"Denise Cuddeback."

Denise stood and walked toward the entry at the back of the largewaiting area. She smiled at the woman that held the door for herand then followed her to a scale. She weighed in at 125 pounds andfelt a bit self-conscious. She had avoided putting on an excessiveamount of excess weight with the two pregnancies, but still carriedthose few pesky pounds with her.

"All right, have a seat. The doctor will be right in."

The woman that walked in that day was about the same age asDenise and the two had seen each other many times. "Hello,Denise." She took her temperature and as she did so, Denise readthe name tag, `Dr. M. Stockwell'. The doctor talked to her aboutthe symptoms that had been experienced and grimaced afterholding the otoscope and peered in at her ear drum. She checkedthe other side and contorted her face again. Finally, she askedDenise to `open wide' and peered at the tonsils and throat.

"Well, Denise, I'm not really sure what is causing the pain youare feeling. Your ears look fine ... great actually. There is no signof strep throat, which might explain it. It could be a bad sinusinfection putting pressure on the ear, so I am going to give you anantibiotic. If that doesn't help, then you'll have to give us a call andwe'll take a look again to see if there is any change."

Denise was confused. The ear pain was so intense that she was surethat it wasn't an infection, but she took the script, checked out atthe desk, and headed for the pharmacy.

By the time she reached her home that evening, she was sayingsilent prayers that Bobby was home and able to help out with thekids, while she laid in bed. The doctor had suggested the use of aheating pad and, miraculously, it did seem to help.

* * *

"Wow, bud," Denise cocked her head one side, examining the hugestructure that Robert had built with classic building blocks. Hesmiled at her. "That's even bigger than last time!""I know," the little boy answered with a great deal of pride.

"Watch!" He placed a race track, so it ran along the top line of theblocks from the table top to the floor. The matchbox car zoomeddown it so fast that it landed several feet away and he scamperedoff to get it, laughing the whole way.

Another family of kids arrived for the day, as Denise studied herson's creation.

"Wow!" The first to entered yelled and hurried off to play.

The second child, a boy slightly younger than Robert, wasalways the more timid of them and clung to his mother. "Come,"he directed her with a question in his eyes as he held tight to herskirt. She smiled at him and then at Denise and walked over toplay with them for a few minutes before she had to leave for work.Very quickly, the small child was enthralled and barely noticed herdeparture. Denise laughed along with the woman.

"You're always missed," she said, reassuringly and then, when thewoman giggled with self-confidence, Denise added, "I promise,"with a wink.

As soon as the other woman left, Denise crossed the room to sit fora minute. He ear was throbbing now and she silently swore at themedication for doing so little to help her.

"Really, though," Pat looked at her, "Are you sure that you areokay?" The woman had already asked twice since arriving less thanan hour earlier.

Denise smiled at her. "Yes. I'm sure, but I think I am going to gosee the doctor again." She walked across the room to place the callbefore the rest of the kids arrived for the day.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cuddeback, she won't be in today. Would you liketo see one of the other physicians?"

"Yes, that's fine."

Again, that day, she checked in at the small window with thesame pleasant woman who had helped her the first time, but thistime, she did so while holding the hand of her little boy. The otherwoman peered over the edge of the counter at Robert, who wasn'tquite tall enough to peer over. She told him that he was handsomeand that she thought that he was very well behaved. Denise smiledbroadly and thanked the lady, who was quick to return the grin.

Not long after, she was led back to a room very similar to,but different than the last time she had come in. It was, as mostdoctor's offices were, especially clean and sterile smelling, butthere were pictures on the wall, diagrams of different parts of thebody, and a calendar. Information pamphlets lined the back of asmall countertop, which held a small sink. She picked up one ofthe brochures and started reading, for a lack of anything else to do.

"Hello, Denise." Another woman walked in the room, bearing asmile. She was older than the doctor that Denise had seen the firsttime around, but was kind and listened to what the patient had to say.