<span style="font-style: italic">We'll be there soon.</span><br/><br/>Joel Huffman had texted Mandy back when he and Nicole got her message. He wished he could share his girlfriend's excitement this year about Christmas, but it was hard. Normally, he loved Christmas as much as she did. But that was before his grandpa's health had taken a turn for the worse the weekend after Thanksgiving. Grandpa had been fighting cancer on and off for the last year and a half. The doctors thought they got it all the last time but then it came back. The damn thing always came back. This time, though, they weren't as optimistic.<br/><br/>Joel knew it was bad when his grandma called him yesterday and told him that the doctors suggested Hospice. Hospice was where they sent you when you were going to die. When there was nothing they could do but make you feel comfortable. No, Joel wasn't ready for that. He wasn't ready to lose his grandpa. Homer Huffman wasn't just his grandfather. He was basically his father. For a boy who grew up without his father, Homer Huffman had stepped into that role, never complaining. Being the father figure that Joel had needed. Joel wasn't ready to tell him goodbye.<br/><br/>He looked over at Nicole. She was so excited, she loved this time of year. He really hoped if the doctors were right and if Grandpa wasn't going to make it, he lasted until the New Year. 'Please, Grandpa, if you got to go....don't die around Christmas. Don't ruin Christmas for her....or me,' Joel thought. He squeezed Nicole's hand and gave her a small smile.<br/><br/>"We will."<br/><br/>Perhaps being around friends would distract him from what he was going to face him when he and Nicole headed home for the holiday break. He had told Grandma they'd talk about the Hospice stuff when he got home. He wondered if his mom would come around. Or was she too busy with her latest boyfriend. It was hard to know with her. The one good thing Sharon Huffman had done was realize she wasn't going to be a good mother and left him in the care of her parents. At least his grandparents had given him a good childhood.<br/><br/>Pushing thoughts of his family out of his mind, Joel knocked on the door to Mandy's apartment.