Fred went to his brother's room and saw that Fred had left a lot of candy in there for himself to eat, but Fred couldn't help it, so he got a hold of it and ate three Snickers bars, three bags of M&M's, and a Hershey's bar. He didn't go to bed at nine 'clock that evening because he was feeling a little sick. Fred heard his brother walk into the apartment ten minutes later. He knocked on his brother's bedroom door.

"You don't look so good, bro. What happened when I was gone?" Fred asked his twin.

"You won't like what happened if I told you," Freddy said.

"I'm all ears," Fred said.

Freddy told his brother what happened a couple of hours earlier.

"You know you're not supposed to eat that stuff, Freddy. That's why you got so sick. Now your blood sugar is high. Did you test it?"

"No. It's too high anyway to test it."

"Do it anyway. I could put you in the emergency room any minute now because of all that candy," Fred heard his brother say.

Fred watched his brother test his blood sugar and they saw the number was really high because of the chocolate he had gotten into not long ago that evening.

"That's why it was in your room, Fred. I could get into it if you're not there," Freddy told his brother.

"It's been so long since I had my last bite of chocolate," Freddy told his twin brother.

"We know, but still you can't have it. Not even today," Fred told him, dialing the emergency room number.

Fred drove his brother to the emergency room just then. He told the doctor in charge that Freddy was diabetic and what had happened. The doctor didn't like to hear that, so he told Fred that he would keep Freddy there a while until they do something about the candy Freddy had gotten into.

Note: Freddy Jones belongs to the Scooby Doo Cartoon. I own his twin brother. I know this will be a bit confusing between the two but the two are identical twins so that is what my Fred Jones looks like to the original. I thought I would point it out.

2: The Phone Conversation

The next morning around nine, Fred got on the phone and called Kylie back in Milwaukee and spread the news about her father.

"He did that kind of thing, Uncle Fred? Dad was really healthy all these years and smart enough not to touch that candy. Who did that?" Kylie asked.

"I did. was going to eat that candy when I was hungry for sweets," Fred said.

"Well, he got a hold of it somehow. Did Dad eat a snack during the day and dinner that night?" Kylie asked Fred.

"I don't know about the snack, but he sure didn't eat dinner with me last night. He somehow figured Grandma Jones died without anyone telling us that," Fred told her.

"You mean Grandma died yesterday?" Kylie asked.

"Yes. In a nursing home. She died shortly after your father and I left after a visit to see her," Fred told his niece.

"Sorry to hear that. She was pretty old, but it was her time. You've got to understand that, Uncle Fred," Kylie told him.

"Well, it's hard for me to understand that because your father and I didn't get adopted until we were thirteen years old, Kylie. We were those kind of orphans who lived on the streets with no shelter," Fred told her.

"Those nightmares are over now, Uncle Fred. You have your own clothes and money and a house to live in and a family to live with," Kylie said.

"You're right, Kylie sweetheart. Your father and I would still be on the street if it weren't for Grandma Jones," Fred said.

"We wouldn't know that, Uncle Fred. If you and Dad were still on the streets, Andrew and I would have never been born several years ago. I wouldn't have been in the courthouse," Kylie said.

"That's right," he said, agreeing to what she was saying.

"And your father would never have solved any of those mysteries with Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby Doo if it weren't for Grandma Jones," Fred told her.

"I know it."

3: Kylie Tells Her Girls about Fred

When he got off the phone with Kylie, Kylie got a phone call from one of her daughters, who was Heather.

"I tried calling, but the line was busy," she said.

"I know, Heather, dear. I was on the phone with your Uncle Fred. He was telling me that Grandpa Jones was in the hospital because of his diabetes," Kylie said.

"That's too bad. What happened this time?" Heather asked.

"He got hold of some candy like he wasn't supposed to," Kylie said.

"No good," she said.

"I'm going to have a talk with Grandpa when he gets back," Kylie said.

When Fred did come back from Los Angeles, Kylie kept Fred at her house for a while because of what happened with his diabetes. She thought it was a good idea to watch what happened.

"I can take care of myself, sweetheart, after what happened," Fred reassured her.

"No, you can't, Dad. Not after what Uncle Fred told what happened to you," Kylie told him.

"That's over with. I'm not going to do it again," Fred told her.

"Not until I watch and find out for myself, Father," Kylie told him in a tone of voice people didn't like.

She was using her lawyer voice.

"You're treating me like a child, aren't you?" Fred asked.

"For now, I am, Father. After what did happen to you, I will be treating you like a child for a while until I can see you can care for yourself again. I will be helping you with your blood sugar for now on until you can do that again," Kylie said strictly.

"And you're not going to watch me eat every day, are you? Because I can do that myself," Fred told her.

"Not at the moment, you can't. Ever since you got a hold of Uncle Fred's chocolates he was looking forward to eating himself, you're going to be watched twenty - four hours a day. Got it?" she asked.

"Does that mean you have to come home from work to watch me do this?" Fred asked.

"When I'm working, I'll have one of the girls do the job for me. You know how busy I get. Their jobs aren't like mine. One of them will do the lunch hour."

"Don't use your cop voice on me, young lady. I'm not a child anymore. I can care for myself now since that chocolate episode is over with," Fred told his daughter.

"Let me ask you something, Father: why did you do such a thing?" Kylie asked.

"It got out of control. It was Grandma Jones's death that made me do it. That's your answer," he said.

"Still, it makes you sick. You'll be hearing the word Father for a while longer I'm pretty angry at you for what you did. That's your punishment," Kylie told him in her courtroom voice.

"I'm really sorry for what I did with the chocolate, sweetheart. Will you forgive me?" Fred asked her.

"Not until I can see you can care for yourself. Right now, I'm not letting you care for yourself at the moment. You're in danger if you do it again," she told her father.

Kylie heard the phone ring in the kitchen.

"You stay right where you are. I'll be back. It's just a phone call," she said, "but I'll deal with you when I get back."

She was still angry at him. It was Patsy, telling her that her client had called about rescheduling the court date.

"All right, Patsy. It sounds like a better day. My father's home now from the hospital," he heard her say.

Kylie told Patsy what Fred did to him. Patsy didn't even know Fred was diabetic.

"He's been diabetic for several years, Patsy. Since he was in his teen years, but I don't know the exact age. I'll pass on going to work tomorrow because I want to be really strict with him for a day because of that chocolate episode," she said and they got off the phone.

"Kylie, sweetheart, I overheard your phone conversation. You don't have to tell people about my eating chocolate," he said.

"It shows how angry I am, Father," she said.

"I'm going to spend all day with you tomorrow and watch every minute of your eating schedule and such," Kylie said.

"You won't. I can't live like this for the rest of my life if you don't let me care for myself. I'm using the phone," Fred said, trying to walk away.

"I'm not done talking to you about your diabetes. Sit!" she said.

He sat as obeyed. They went through every rule in the house how he should care for himself from now on.

"That's how you're going to be watched while you're here with me, Father. And that includes Heather, Daphne, and Claudia. Only Heather knows about this, but Daphne and Claudia will soon hear about it and they'll follow the rules as well."

"You're not going to exercise with me. I can do that alone," he said.

"You can do that part without us. We don't care what you do for exercise, but the rest we will help you," she said strictly and angrily.

The phone rang. Saved by the bell, Fred thought.

"Phone for you, Father. Don't talk for long because we're not through with your rules yet," Kylie told him.

Great, he thought as he walked into the kitchen and took the phone from Kylie. He watched her leave the room and closed the door behind her so she wouldn't hear the complaints. It was Daphne this time.

"It's torture here. I need to get away from Kylie," Fred said, not liking all the rules she was making.

"What happened?" Daphne asked wanting to know.

She didn't have a single clue to what happened with his chocolate eating.

"She's throwing all these strict rules at me and telling me I can't care for myself," Fred said.

You can too care for yourself, Fred. I don't know what you're talking about," Daphne said.

He poured out the story.

When he finished, Daphne said, "Fred, that's why she's acting like this. She had to act like a lawyer at home with you on this part at most times. Is she working tomorrow?"

"I heard her phone conversation with her secretary not too long ago this afternoon and she told her secretary I was diabetic and about the chocolate episode," Fred told Daphne.

"Well, what made you do that, Fred? You know how strict the doctor was when he found out you got diabetes several years ago when we were teenagers," Daphne said.

"I know the doctor was strict about my diet and all, Daphne, but now I'm seeing a different type of doctor because of my diabetes. I forget what the word is for that. He's a nice man, but a good doctor, but not compared to the other doctor," Fred said.

"What is this doctor's name that you see now?" Daphne asked.

"Johansen," Fred told her.

"Oh. Curious."

"I want to get away from Kylie and my granddaughters before I start these rules, Daphne. How can I get out of them?" Fred asked.

"Let me try talking to her about that," Daphne said.

Fred thought that made better sense because he didn't want all those strict rules Kylie was throwing at him.

"Daphne, hold for a minute or two. I'll go get her. She said I couldn't talk for long. She wants to throw more strict rules about my diabetes," Fred said.

"All right."

Fred put the phone down and got out of the kitchen.

"Father, are you through with your call?" Kylie wanted to know.

"No, I'm not, daughter dear, but Daphne wants to talk to you," he said.

"I'll go talk to Ms. Blake. About what?" Kylie asked.

"Those rules you've thrown at me."

"You told her that? All right, Father. Wait here for a minute."

Kylie went to the kitchen and got on the phone to speak to Daphne. They spoke about Fred the time. Fred tried to listen what they were saying, but he couldn't make any of the words. All he could hear was Kylie yelling. Heather walked into the house.

"Whom is Mom talking to?" Heather wanted to know.

"My friend, Daphne," he told her.

"What about?" she asked.

He told her. He and Heather talked until they saw Kylie enter the living room.

"How was work today?" Kylie asked her daughter.

"Fine, but busy," she said.

"Glad to hear you were busy."

"Why were you yelling at Daphne?" Fred asked.

"She has no right to know about the rules I made up for you. It's not any of her business," Kylie told him.

"What's for dinner tonight, Mom?" Heather asked.

"Tonight? I'm busy with Dad at the moment, but it you wish, you can make it. I'm making up rules for Grandpa," Kylie said.

"You mean for his diabetes?" Heather asked.

"Right."

Kylie watched Heather go through the fridge and look for ideas for supper. Kylie told Heather about the rules she was making.

"Those sound really strict, Mom," Heather said, listening to them.

"They have to be, sweetheart. If he has to learn how to care for himself again. Don't you want your grandfather to be healthy again?" Kylie asked.

Fred was listening in on the conversation.

"Sure I do."

"He's going have to follow these strict rules every day if he wants to be healthy like the rest of us," he heard his daughter say.

In the middle of their conversation, the phone rang a third time that afternoon. Kylie answered it and it turned out to be Shaggy's son, Frank.

"I'm busy at the moment. Can we talk some other time?" Kylie asked.

"I was wondering if I could come over tonight, Kylie. It's about the law," Frank said.

"Sure, Frank, but I'm busy with my father also. What time do you have in mind?" Kylie asked.

"Would seven be okay?" he asked.

"Seven's fine."

They agreed to see each other at seven.

"Father, Frank Rogers is coming over at seven, so I won't have to mess around with you for a while. Heather, if you're still here at seven, would you mind helping Dad with his blood sugar?" Kylie asked.

"All right, Mom. I will."

"I can do that myself, Kylie."

"No you can't, Father, after what you did with Uncle Fred's favorite candies."

"Stop reminding me of that or I will have to do it again."

4: The Argument

Daphne and Claudia came over for dinner that night with their children because their husbands had the late shift at work that evening.

"Where are Hank and Peter?" Kylie asked her daughters.

"Hank and Peter had the late shift tonight," Daphne said.

"I'll be sure to miss them tonight. After supper, I want to speak to you two girls alone about Grandpa," Kylie said.

"Okay. We can wait," Daphne said.

"Do I have to hear it again, Kylie?" Fred asked.

"Yes, you do, Father," Kylie said angrily.

"Why are you calling Grandpa that?" Claudia asked, knowing that Kylie never called Fred that.

"He did something he shouldn't have and he knows why, so that's why I'm so mad at him, Claudia. He's going to show us from now on that he can care for himself," Kylie said.

"What does that mean?" Daphne asked.

"Tell you two after dinner. Don't want the children to hear this conversation. It's kind of private," Kylie said.

"We get the picture," Claudia said, watching Kylie give Fred part of the dinner.

The entire family was watching Kylie watch Fred eat during the entire meal like a hawk.

"Stop watching me like that or I'll move back to my place with Daphne and Shaggy," Fred told his daughter when he finished the last bite of a carrot.

"I'm not letting you move back to Ms. Blake and Mr. Rogers until you show me and the girls you can care for yourself again, Father. I mean it!" Kylie yelled at Fred in front of her daughters and the children.

He excused himself from the table because he didn't want to hear that talk again.

"You aren't finished yet, Father. Get back here," she yelled when he reached the living room.

"Not if you keep watching me like that," he said.

"And the meat is getting cold, Father," the girls and kids heard her yell at Fred.

"If you stop watching me eat, I'll come back."

"No!"

"Leave Grandpa alone, Mom. He doesn't like it if we keep watching him like that," Claudia told Kylie.

"We need to watch him like that, Claudia. It's part of what I'm going to tell you two," Kylie said.

Fred disappeared to his bedroom upstairs and locked himself in it. Kylie was expecting Frank over at seven, so she had enough time to talk to Daphne and Claudia about Fred's chocolate episode and the rules she had made up for him.

"Heather, sweetie, would you mind doing the dishes? I'm expecting Mr. Rogers tonight. He wants to talk about the law, but I want to talk to your sisters about Grandpa Jones. Maybe you can have the kids help you," Kylie said.

"Great idea, Mom. I sure can use their help on the dishes. It'll go faster with some help."

"We'll be upstairs so Grandpa can hear what I'm going to say," Kylie told Heather.

"Let him stay out of it, Mom. He's already had a hard time through dinner," Heather said.

"He's going to hear it again. I've already made an appointment for the doctor tomorrow, so I'm going with him tomorrow morning," Kylie told the girls.

"Don't you have to go to work? Thought it was a court date," Daphne reminded her.

"Patsy called this afternoon before Heather came over and said my client rescheduled for next week, so I decided to take tomorrow off so your grandfather could get used to the rules I set up for him."

"We still don't know what you're talking about," Fred heard Claudia say as he heard their footsteps get closer.

Kylie had Fred's dinner plate in her hand and knocked on his bedroom door. They heard him unlock the door so he could hear the conversation she was going to give to Claudia and Daphne.

"Saved the rest of your dinner, Father. And I'm not going to apologize for yelling at dinner, either," she said, handing him his plate of what was left over.

The meal was turkey and corn on the cob and bananas and rice carrots. He had eaten half of the turkey and the corn and rice, but ate all the carrots when she was watching like a hawk, so he had left the table and couldn't take it any longer. She was at it again and watched him like a hawk for a second time while she started the conversation.

"Daphne, Claudia, the reason you are hearing me yell at Grandpa Jones is because he did something he wasn't supposed to be doing. Your Uncle Fred told me what he did, and that was getting into the chocolate that Uncle Fred was planning on eating, and nobody was there to look after Grandpa Jones when this had happened. Uncle Fred had gone upstairs to one of the apartments for supper, and Grandpa, why didn't you go to dinner with him that night?" Kylie asked.

"I already told you that answer," he said, just finishing a bite of corn.

"Tell me again so Daphne and Claudia can hear the answer."

"I told you it was because Grandma Jones had died in the nursing home that afternoon. That's what made me do it, but that chocolate made my diabetes get out of control," Fred told Kylie.

"Don't tell me that, Frederick Jones. Tell that to the girls."

After listening to Kylie talk to their grandfather like that, both Daphne and Claudia could tell Kylie was angry. Fred was still eating when they heard the doorbell. Frank had arrived.

"You're not going anywhere," Kylie told him.

She let Daphne answer the door.

"You, Claudia, Heather, Daphne and I will go through the rules I made for Grandpa as soon as Mr. Rogers leaves," Kylie told Fred.

"Okay, Mom. I'm going to hang out with Heather and the kids."

"Before you do, would you mind helping Grandpa with his blood sugar?" Kylie asked.

"He's not done eating yet."

"I mean when he is," Kylie said.

"Can't he do that himself?" Claudia asked.

"Not until he can show us he can care for himself again," Kylie said, still angry.

"Mom sure is mad at you, Grandpa."

"I know she is. I've never seen your mother this mad before. She's never called me Father, either. This isn't like her," Fred told his granddaughter.

"Grandpa, she has a right for being angry at you like this," Claudia said as he finished the rest of the turkey.

"Everybody makes mistakes, Claudia. The chocolate episode was a mistake. I know I would've stayed away from it when Grandma Jones died, but it didn't work. At least it was better than going through depression," Fred told Claudia.

"And tell your mother I'm not a child anymore. I can care for myself and I don't need any rules to follow," he added.

"That's not for me to tell Mom, Grandpa. That's for you to tell her."

"I've already tried telling her that earlier this afternoon, but she didn't fall for it," Fred told Claudia.

They waited for the number to come up. Both he and Claudia saw the number was high.

"All that chocolate, right?" Claudia guessed, seeing the high number on the meter.

"What kind of chocolate did you eat, really?" Claudia asked him.

"Three Snickers bars, three bags of M&M's, and a Hershey's bar," Fred said, remembering what the chocolate was, but there was more chocolate than that was in his brother's room, but that was what he had found.

"Shame on you, Grandpa! That's why this is reading 250?" Claudia asked.

"I guess so."

Claudia took Fred's plate with her as she left his bedroom and headed down the stairs.

"How did it go with Grandpa?" Kylie asked.

"It didn't go well, Mom. I wish you'd stop treating him like that," Claudia said.

"What is this all about?" Frank asked, not knowing what they were saying.

"I'll tell you another time, Frank. Maybe tomorrow at lunch will be a better time, unless you really want to know now," Kylie told him.

"I do want to know," he told her.

She told him what Fred had done.

"Maybe my father knows something about this that he can tell me," Frank said.

"It's none of your father's business to know this stuff, Frank. None of your father's friends' business is any of this, only my and his and my daughters,'" Kylie told Frank.

Frank stayed for five more minutes longer, then he had to go back home because his wife, Lauren, wasn't feeling so hot. The flu, he said.

"Tell Lauren I hope she feels better," Kylie said.

"I'll tell her you said that. It's cold and flu season, you know," Frank reminded her.

"I know it is, Frank. While we're in for the doctor tomorrow, I'll see if he can get Father his flu shot while he's at it," Kylie said.

"Lauren did get her flu shot, but a day or two later, she caught the flu."

"That's too bad. Maybe it was the wrong kind of shot she got," Kylie guessed.

"Maybe it was, but we'll talk to the doctor again and find out," Frank said as they said good - bye.

Fred didn't go to bed until nine - thirty that night. He said good - night to Kylie. She was watching a Disney movie with the rest of the group Claudia had brought from home.

"How lat are Hank and Peter working?" Kylie asked.

"Peter's working until ten, and Hank is getting off in fifteen minutes, so we talked about doing a movie tonight," Daphne said.

"Movies are good, but I haven't seen any in months. Now would be a good chance to see one," Kylie told her daughters.

They were going to see Lady and the Tramp.

"Kylie, girls, I'm going to bed now. I'll see you in the morning," Fred said.

"I forgot to tell you, Father. You and I are going to see Dr. Johansen tomorrow morning at eight - thirty. Ever since Uncle Fred told me about you eating chocolate, I thought I would set up an appointment for this as early as possible to find out what we can do about it," Kylie told Fred in the same voice she had used.

"I can do that part myself. You don't need to be with me every minute of the day. I need my privacy and freedom too, you know," Fred told his daughter.

"As rule number one in this house and wherever you go from now on: no more chocolate, Frederick Jones. That includes your house with Ms. Blake and Mr. Rogers. They should figure out that easy rule," Kylie said in her cop voice.

Before heading upstairs, Fred kissed the children and the girls, including his daughter.

While downstairs watching the movie, Claudia told Kylie what Fred had told her earlier that evening when they were resting his blood sugar.

"He told you all that? That is a lot of chocolate to go through, Claudia. But still, he would've stayed out of Uncle Fred's bedroom," Kylie said, still angry.

"He also said it was better than going into depression about Grandma Jones's death, Mom. Don't be so harsh on him about this," Claudia told her.

Fred was already sound asleep.

"Another rule for Grandpa Jones to follow: don't go into bedrooms that have sugar," Kylie told her daughters.

"Maybe he was smelling the candy through the bedroom with the door closed and got through the good hiding places when he opened the door," Heather said, using her mother's detective mind.

"That could be a possibility," Kylie said, liking what Heather was thinking.

The movie was over and the credits were on.

"That was a fun movie, girls," Kylie said, rewinding the movie and took it out when it finished and handed it back to Daphne, who brought it from home.

"We'd better go home now. It's past the kids' bedtime," Claudia said, knowing what time it was.

"Are you going to let us know what's going on with Grandpa?" Heather asked as she was helping the children get ready.

"Yes, I will, Heather."

Fred was awake again. He couldn't sleep. He heard Kylie say good - night to the girls and children as they went to the cars.

He didn't hear any anger in her voice when she said good - night to her daughters and grandchildren. He got out of bed and headed for the restroom, which was across the hall from his bedroom. Kylie was planning on staying up for a while longer before going to bed herself. She watched the news for a while. She heard a thump in the bathroom upstairs. Fred had passed out.

She rushed upstairs and ran to his bedroom and found the door open, but he wasn't in the bedroom at all, so she guessed he could have been in the bathroom. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer from him. So Kylie opened the door and found him lying on the floor with his eyes closed. She remembered that Claudia had told her that he had a high number on his blood sugar test that night when she helped him do it after supper was over a few hours ago. She figured that was why he had passed out. She didn't know CPR, so she went straight to the hall phone and called the ambulance.

She stayed with him as directed. She followed the emergency directions, which was to take Fred's temperature, and he did have a fever.

5: The Ambulance Arrives

On their way home, Daphne and the kids saw an ambulance heading to Kylie's house.

"Where is that ambulance heading?" Daphne asked herself.

She watched it drive past her car and headed straight for her mother's neighborhood.

"Gosh, they're heading straight for Mom's house!" Daphne screamed.

The minute Daphne and her two children walked into her house, she was scared to death about the ambulance. She left the movie in the car. Her husband, Hank, was home, so he said hello to her and the children. She told the kids to go to bed because it was past their bedtime and said good - night to them right there and then. Hank could see the panic in Daphne's eyes.

"Hi, Daphne, sweetheart. What's the matter? Why are you so worried?" Hank asked, kissing her on the forehead.

"Hank, I saw an ambulance drive by my car just now and it's heading to Mom's house!" she screamed.

"Do we know what happened?" Hank asked his wife.

"No! I just saw it, that's all. Maybe something happened to either her or Grandpa Jones. Call her!" Daphne said, her hand shaking.

"Calm down, Daphne. We'll call her now and find out what went wrong," Hank said, dialing Kylie's number. Daphne's hand was still shaking when he heard the phone ring. Kylie heard the phone, but she wanted to know what happened to Fred before picking up the phone. They told her it was his blood sugar that made him pass out.

"That can't be! He's ninety years old!" Kylie screamed at the paramedics.

They told her they were going to put him in a diabetic coma.

"I set up a doctor's appointment for him tomorrow," Kylie told the paramedics.

"Cancel it, Ms.," the one in charge told Kylie.

Hank told Daphne that she wasn't answering the phone.

"Maybe something did happen to Mom. We've got to get over there, Hank. I can't take it any longer," she said, her hand still shaking.

"We're not going there a second time tonight, sweetheart. We'll deal with your mother tomorrow morning when we wake up," Hank said.

"Who can sleep on a night like this when an ambulance goes to your mother's house at an hour like this?" Daphne asked.

He didn't have an answer to her question, so they both tried to go to bed when Daphne picked up the phone and dialed her mother's phone number a second time. This time Kylie answered the phone in a worried voice instead of anger.

"Hi, Mom. What happened? I was driving home and saw an ambulance drive to your place," Daphne said.

Hank was in their bedroom, getting ready for bed when Daphne was talking to Kylie.

"Something happened to Grandpa, Daphne. He's in a diabetic coma," Kylie said, sounding like she was going to cry.

"That's too bad, Mom. Are you going to tell his doctor about this?" Daphne asked.

"First thing tomorrow, I'll give that doctor a call. I think Uncle Fred should know about this," Kylie said.

"Why don't you call him now?" Daphne asked.

"Not in the middle of the night. Let him sleep," Kylie said to her daughter.

"Good thing I'm taking a day off tomorrow. I'm spending the day with your grandfather," Kylie told Daphne.

"I'll pass the word out to the others," Daphne said.

"I can't tell Heather and Claudia. You can tell them for me."

"I will. I'll do it in the morning. I'm thinking of going to bed now. How about you?" Daphne asked.

"Who can sleep after what happened to your grandfather?" was her response and they got off the phone.

Daphne joined Hank in the bedroom.

"What did your mother tell you?" Hank wanted to know when she was undressing herself.

Daphne started crying while she put her pajamas on.

"Hank, it wasn't about Mom like I thought. It was Grandpa! Mom was saying he went into a diabetic coma," Daphne said, hand starting to shake again.

She was in bed now, but both hands and legs were shaking.

"Daphne, stop shaking. I have a feeling your grandfather will be alright," Hank told his wife.

"What if he dies in that coma? Then what?" Daphne asked her husband.

"We won't know that," Hank told her.

Their light was out now.

The next morning had arrived fast. Kylie was awake all night long, worrying about Fred's being in a coma because of his diabetes. Kylie waited until eight to call Fred's twin brother, Fred. She thought that would give him enough time to get up from a good - night's sleep and eat breakfast and stuff like that to wait to tell him about Fred's diabetic coma episode. Daphne was the first one to get up that morning. Hank was still sleeping, so she was up to watch the kids leave for school that morning. She waited until the kids were out of the house so she could call Heather and Claudia to tell them about Fred's being in a diabetic coma.

She waited until the bus left with the kids to call Heather. The bus did leave, so she got on the phone and dialed Heather's phone number. Heather heard it, so she answered it on the third ring.

"Hi, Daphne," she said, still sleepily.

"Heather, this is an emergency!" she said, her hand shaking again.

She didn't sleep very well the night before after hearing the news about Fred from Kylie.

"What emergency are you talking about?" Heather asked, wide awake now.

"You won't believe your ears after what I'm going to tell you, Heather," Daphne said.

"I'm listening," her older sister said.

"The kids and I were driving home last night and I saw an ambulance heading to Mom's house!" Daphne said, getting all panicky.

That did wake Heather up now.

"Tell me the rest, Daphne. I know there's more to it than that," Heather said.

"There is! There is!" she said.

"Did anything happen to Mom?" Heather asked.

"No! The minute I got home, I had Hank call over there to find out what happened, and there was no answer, so I called a few minutes later, and Mom finally answered the phone. She was worried, Heather. Sounded like she was going to cry," Daphne said.

"Oh - oh," Heather said, not liking that.

"She was angry at Grandpa last night," Heather said, remembering how angry their mother was the night before.

"I know she was, but Mom told me that Grandpa went into a diabetic coma," Daphne said, her voice shaking again.

"What!" was Heather's reaction.

6: Kylie Breaks the News to Fred

Kylie called Fred in Washington at the moment and he answered the phone. He was reading the morning paper.

"Hi, Kylie," Fred said.

"Hi, Uncle Fred," she said, and broke into tears.

He could tell she was worried.

"Kylie, sweetheart, what's wrong? Why the call?" he wanted to know, not understanding what was wrong.

She was crying even harder and couldn't answer Fred's questions.

"Something happened to my brother, right? Is that why you're calling me?" Fred asked, sensing something happened to Fred.

"Yes, something happened to him," Kylie said, still crying hard tears.

He was having trouble understanding her words on the phone, but his doorbell rang. He put the phone down and it turned out to be the McCareys. They invited him to breakfast that morning.

"I'll be over soon, Mrs. McCarey. I'm on the phone with my niece. I can't understand a word she's saying. Will you help me understand what her words are? She's crying so hard," Fred told his neighbor.

"What is your niece's name?" Mrs. McCarey asked.

"Kylie Jones. She's my brother's daughter," he told her.

"I'll do my best to make the words out," she said and she followed him into the kitchen.

Fred and Mrs. McCarey were on the phone again. Kylie was still in tears. Fred told her he had a neighbor over and he couldn't hear a word she was saying because of her tear drops.

"My neighbor is Shirley McCarey, Kylie, sweetheart, and she's going to help me understand what you're saying, because I can't understand one word you're saying," Fred told his niece.

Kylie was okay with that, but still in tears. Mrs. McCarey had no trouble understanding Kylie's words at all, but took her time telling Fred what she was saying. There was a knock at the door when Kylie was going to spread word out about Fred's being in a coma.

Fred told Mrs. McCarey he was going to answer the door. It was Don McCarey, wanting to know why they weren't at the apartment, eating breakfast with him.

"My niece is on the phone, and I'm having trouble with her words, Mr. McCarey, so that's why your wife is telling me what my niece is saying," Fred said.

Mr. McCarey told Fred to take his time with the call from his niece and the meal could wait a little while longer. Mrs. McCarey was having no problem with the words Kylie was saying.

Fred joined Mrs. McCarey again and asked what she had made of his niece's words.

"She's saying something about your brother's being in a coma," Mrs. McCarey said.

"What!" Kylie heard him scream at the top of his lungs.

He took the phone from Mrs. McCarey and started to talk to Kylie, who calmed down a little from all the crying she was doing.

"Did Freddy really go into a coma, sweetheart?" Fred asked her.

"Yes, Uncle Fred. That's why I'm having a hard time telling you. I know you go through a hard time with this kind of news and dealing with Grandma Jones's death at the same time," Kylie said.

"I'm not over that yet. We haven't even set up a funeral date yet," Fred said.

"Let me take care of that now. We don't know if Dad will come out of a coma or not yet. The answer will come later," Kylie said.

"Should I fly out and be with you and Freddy?" Fred asked.

"I'd like that," was her answer.

"I'll fly out right after I'm done eating breakfast," Fred told her.

"Okay. Sounds fine with me," she said, her nose sniffling a little.

"Your father is the only brother I've ever had and I don't want him to die. If he dies, I die," Fred told Kylie.

"I know how close you two are, Uncle Fred, but one of these days, Dad won't be around you anymore and you have to start looking after yourself," Kylie said.

"Who will I talk to when I have a problem? Who?" he asked, starting to cry now.

Kylie didn't have an answer to his question, so she let him cry his heart out a bit longer. Fred thought he would skip breakfast that morning and fly straight out to Milwaukee and be with his family because of Fred's condition. He and Kylie said good - bye and hung up. The McCareys were still there, trying to cheer him up, but nothing worked. Mr. McCarey got the word from his wife that Fred's brother was in a coma.

"Fred, come here," Mr. McCarey said.

He was still in tears and went up to Mr. McCarey and he gave Fred a big hug.

"I don't want to eat breakfast this morning," Fred told the elderly couple.

"That's all right, Fred. We know how you feel about your brother," Mrs. McCarey said.

"I want to catch a flight to Milwaukee when you're done eating," he said to the couple.

"All right. We'll drive you over to the airport when we're finished," Mr. McCarey told Fred and headed to their apartment, which was across from Fred's.

"Poor Fred, Don. Do we know his brother is going to make it or die?" Mrs. McCarey asked while they ate their pancakes.

"I don't know, Shirley. We'll find out from Fred. It's only three weeks away from Christmas," Mr. McCarey said, pouring syrup on his pancake.

When his pancake was gone, Mr. McCarey took Fred's plate of pancakes and finished them. Fred finished packing his suitcase and decided to wait to make a phone call to his brother's friends while in Milwaukee to Daphne and Shaggy about his brother. He had enough clothes for three weeks. Kylie was on the phone with Fred's doctor, getting the latest on Fred's condition.

"Will he make it or die in the coma?" Kylie asked.

"We don't know that answer yet, Ms. Jones," Dr. Johansen told her.

"Did he wake up at all last night when the paramedics took him in?" Kylie asked.

"No."

She saw that the clock in the kitchen now read 9:15 a.m. Meanwhile, back in Washington, Fred waited in the living room for the McCareys to finish breakfast so they could take him to the airport so he could catch a flight to Milwaukee. Tears were still running down his cheeks, but harder than they were earlier when the McCareys were around. Fred almost didn't hear the McCareys enter his apartment because he was busy remembering all the times he and Fred had when they were younger.

He cried the trip to the airport, thinking that Fred had already died in the coma without his saying good - bye to his brother. His hand with his suitcase in it started shaking as hard as it could that the suitcase fell and landed on the ground.

"Don, carry his suitcase for him," Fred heard Mrs. McCarey say to her husband.

"I was planning to do so, Shirley. What is wrong with him? Try to calm him down before hundreds of people are watching us," Mr. McCarey told his wife.

"I'm trying, but it isn't working," she told him.

Mrs. McCarey opened her purse and handed Fred a tissue. The Kleenex didn't work. Hundreds and thousands of people were watching, so Fred had an audience.

"Does he need a therapist?" a mother of five children asked Mrs. McCarey.

"We don't think so, ma'am. I'm trying to calm him down, but this time it isn't working," Mrs. McCarey said to the woman.

Fred was crying even harder than before that he couldn't even speak, still thinking that his brother had died.

"What flight is he on?" the husband of the woman who asked about the therapist.

Mrs. McCarey gave out the flight number to him.

"That flight already left, ma'am," the man told her.

"We just arrived, but we thought we were on time, sir," Mrs. McCarey said.

"We're thinking was because of the scene he's having," the husband told the McCareys.

There was a doctor around the airport, so he was told that the McCareys were with Fred, so he decided to a look and find out what was going on. The audience of the airport had left when the doctor showed up to look at the McCareys and Fred. He introduced himself to the McCareys. Mrs. McCarey told the doctor about Fred's identical twin brother, Fred's being in a coma and how Fred had reacted to the news.

The doctor did his best to give Fred a shot to stop crying so he could hear his side of the story. Fred used a clean Kleenex and tried to talk, but he found it hard, so he hiccupped while talking.

"I'm thinking my brother might be dead!" Fred screamed at the top of his lungs.

He said it loud enough for the airport to hear.

"We don't know that for sure, Fred, sweetheart," he heard Mrs. McCarey telling him.

"First my mother dies in a nursing home, and now my brother ends up in a coma. How would you feel if this happens to you?" Fred screamed.

The doctor told the McCareys that Fred needed to see a therapist. He gave a therapist's name to the McCareys. They promised they would give that therapist a call.

"You can start seeing a therapist next year, Fred. For now, you can be with your family, especially your brother," Mrs. McCarey told him.

They put his baggage with the rest of it in the luggage claim and they watched him take off in the airplane.

7: Fred Arrives

Fred tried his best to stay quiet the plane ride to Milwaukee, but it was no use. When the plane was in the air for the first ten minutes, tears poured down his face again and he stayed crying the flight and wouldn't stop until the plane landed into the Milwaukee airport. The plane attendants saw he was in tears when the first ten minutes of the flight started and were reported from one of the passengers. The passengers had recognized him as Fred Jones's twin brother or had thought it was the same Jones that had solved mysteries with the Scooby Doo gang.

The passengers on the plane couldn't concentrate on what they were doing at all during the flight because of the scene Fred was making. Every flight attendant was there, trying to help Fred calm down, but it was no use at all. He wouldn't do any of the things the flight attendants had suggested to him, so the tears kept coming down his cheeks harder than they did back home earlier that morning and then they were when he first arrived at the airport in Washington. He knew that if Fred had died in the coma, he would be lost without his brother because he knew how close they were from the time they were born until today.

Kylie sent for one of her daughters to pick up Fred at the airport once he called for a ride.

"Does Uncle Fred know about Grandpa?" Heather asked Kylie.

"Yes, he does. He didn't like what I told him," Kylie said.

"Did Grandpa ever tell you that he and Uncle Fred were inseparable?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, Daphne, several times," Kylie said.

"I've never heard of twins being inseparable," Claudia said.

"Maybe some pairs of twins are inseparable, Claudia. My father and uncle are," Kylie told her daughters.

"What will Uncle Fred do if Grandpa does die in the coma?" Daphne asked.

"We don't know," was Kylie's answer.

Fred opened his suitcase at the luggage claim and saw that there was a note from Mrs. McCarey to Kylie about what happened at the airport in Washington. He kept it in his pocket so he wouldn't forget to give it to her. He took his luggage and walked to the nearest pay phone in the airport and called Kylie at home. She answered on the second ring.

"Hi, Uncle Fred," she said.

"Hi. I'm ready for a ride," he said, with a hiccup.

"I'll tell one of my daughters to pick you up because your room is almost ready," Kylie told him.

"Okay," he said.

He didn't mention the note from Mrs. McCarey quite yet. They got off the phone.

He waited in the men's room while his ride was on its way. He didn't want one of his great - nieces to see him like that, so he tried to clean up his face to get the red off, but it was no use. Heather showed up, but didn't see Fred in the airport, but found his luggage waiting. She took it with her and asked if any of the waiting passengers for their flights if they had seen Fred Jones. One of them had told her that he was in the men's room but hadn't come out.

He guessed that one of the girls were there to pick him up, so he left the men's room and headed to find his luggage, but saw Heather with his luggage.

"Hi, Uncle Fred," Heather said.

He couldn't find any words until they reached her car. He waited a minute longer for words until they put their seatbelts on and she started the car.

"How's my brother?" were his first words instead of hello.

"We haven't gotten any new news since this morning, Uncle Fred, but we'll try again in a few more minutes," Heather told him.

She saw how red his face was.

"He can't die, Heather. If he does die, I can't live," Fred said.

"Uncle Fred, we've been talking about you two earlier and how you would react if he does die," Heather said.

"That's your answer. I wouldn't live myself if my brother does die. I can't live without him!" Fred said and tears fell down again.

She parked the car into the driveway and he blew his nose. She opened the trunk and carried his suitcase for him. There was still no mention of Mrs. McCarey's note until they walked inside.

"Heather, I almost forgot to tell you that there's a note from my neighbor," Fred said.

"About what?" Heather wanted to know.

"It's for your mother to know that."

He handed her the note, but he took it out of his shirt pocket.

"I'll give it to her. I think your room should be ready by now. I'll go check," Heather told him.

He sat down on one of the chairs in the kitchen with a shaky hand.

"Mom, Uncle Fred's here. He wanted me to give you this note," he heard Heather say to Kylie.

"I'll look at it in a minute. I'm almost done with the room," he heard Kylie's voice say.

Heather decided to help Kylie with the rest of Fred's room, which was the guest room. While dusting the room, they both heard him downstairs in the kitchen knock the kitchen table down to the floor!

"What is he doing down there?" Kylie asked her daughter.

"Have no clue, Mom. Should I go find out?" Heather asked.

"Yes. Please. He might hurt himself," Kylie told her daughter.

Heather went downstairs and found Fred attacking the kitchen.

"Uncle Fred, stop!" Heather yelled at him.

He heard her voice yell at him, so he put the fourth chair down.

"What the heck are you doing?" Heather asked her great - uncle.

"I think Freddy's dead, Heather," Fred said.

"We don't know that, Uncle Fred. Is that why you're attacking the kitchen?"

"Yes."

She had him sit on the couch in the living room so he wouldn't attack anymore things in the kitchen.

"I want you right here when I come down again. I mean it. What would Grandpa do if he saw you doing this kind of thing?" Heather asked him.

"I don't know. He's not even here to see this."

His voice was trembling now.

"Try washing your face again, Uncle Fred. It looks horrible," Heather told him.

"I did try that, but it didn't work."

"Try again. It might get off your face this time," she said, going to the linen closet and handing him a dishcloth.

She went back upstairs to tell Kylie what Fred had done to the kitchen.

"Why was he doing such a thing?" Kylie asked.

"He thinks Grandpa Jones's dead."

"What did you tell him?" Kylie asked.

"I told him we don't know," Heather said.

"We should make a call there again once your sisters come over for dinner again this week, but I'll call there tonight and find out, but I'll wait to make that call once your uncle's in bed," Kylie said.

"Great idea. The first thing he asked me when I picked him up was how Grandpa was," Heather said.

"He should know that. Three weeks until Christmas and Dad's not even here," Kylie said.

"Hope we can have Christmas with Grandpa again this year. We better do it for Uncle Fred. This means a lot to him. Did you read that note yet?" Heather asked.

"Not yet, but I will."

Daphne came over after work was over and saw Fred sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Hi, Uncle Fred. How was the flight from Washington?" Daphne asked.

"Horrible," he answered.

"Where's Mom?" Daphne asked.

"Upstairs, finishing my room."

"Okay. Thanks," Daphne said.

"Hi, Daphne sweetheart," Kylie said.

"Hi, Heather," Daphne said to her sister.

"Hi, Daphne," Heather said to her younger sister.

"I just spoke to Uncle Fred and asked him about the flight from Washington. He said it was horrible," Daphne said.

"That's not good. We'll hear about it later," Kylie said, almost finished with the dusting.

The phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Fred heard Heather scream.

"Mom, Claudia and I went to visit Grandpa on our lunch break today," Daphne said.

"You did? How is he?" Kylie asked.

"Not good at all," Daphne said.

"We better not tell Uncle Fred this," Kylie said.

Fred was listening to the conversation. Heather told Kylie that Hank was on the phone, telling Daphne that he would be home late again.

"Again? I'll pick the kids up again. Mom, is that alright if we stay over for dinner again tonight?" Daphne asked.

"Sure. I don't think we have anything going on," Kylie said.

"Do you think Uncle Fred would like to see the kids?" Daphne asked.

"You can try, but I don't think it'll help his mood and all," Kylie said.

"How do you know what his mood is?" Daphne asked.

"When Heather brought him home from the airport a couple of minutes ago, Uncle Fred started attacking the kitchen downstairs," Kylie said.

"I didn't see the kitchen. Should I put the kitchen back together?" Daphne asked.

"Please do. I don't want to have dinner in a messy place tonight. Heather, go help your sister," Kylie said.

"Okay, Mom. What are we going to do about Uncle Fred?" Heather asked.

"I don't hear anything from him now, so just leave him alone."

"Okay. We will," Heather said as the two of them walked downstairs.

As they entered the living room, Daphne decided to ask Fred a question about the kitchen.

"Go ahead, Heather. I want to talk to Uncle Fred for a minute or two," Daphne said.

"Okay. I'll go start work on the mess."

Daphne went to one of the chairs that faced Fred.

"Uncle Fred, can we talk for a minute?" Daphne asked.

"No."

"Why is the kitchen a mess?" Daphne asked her great - uncle.

"I think my brother died in that coma," he said, tears coming down again.

"Uncle Fred, you're wrong on that now. Claudia and I went to see him on our lunch breaks today. He doesn't look very good at the moment. For now, we have no idea if he'll be with us for Christmas or not," Daphne said.

"He has to be here for Christmas! Like I said before, if he dies, I die. I can't live without Freddy, Daphne. Who will solve my problems when I have one? My brother, that's who. He's been solving them since we were children," Fred told his niece.

"Uncle Fred, listen to yourself. You just committed suicide on what you just said. We don't want that. You have people who love you. You know that," Daphne said.

"I don't!" he said.

"I'll be back, Uncle Fred."

Daphne got up from the chair in the living room and talked to Heather for a minute or so.

"Heather, would you mind doing the kitchen yourself? I do have to talk to Uncle Fred. He needs help. He's kind of acting like he's going to kill himself," Daphne said.

"You mean suicide? No way! What did he tell you?" Heather asked her sister.

"He was saying that if Grandpa dies, he dies."

"That does sound like suicide," Heather agreed.

"I'll have to talk to Hank about this. He's a bartender. He listens to stories every night he works at the bar. He might have an idea," Daphne suggested.

"Great idea, Daphne. I love your idea. I'll keep an ear open myself. You know I'm a hairdresser," Heather reminded her.

"Please do, Heather. Have your customers give you advice on him."

"Will do."

That day before his job at the radio station, Peter thought he would go see Fred at the hospital. He knew that Fred and his brother were inseparable twins and he didn't want to beg a story like that to the nurses and doctors quite yet. He didn't know what was happening at Kylie's house quite yet. His cell phone rang in the room.

"Hi, Kylie," Peter said.

"Hi, Peter. Were are you now?" Kylie asked.

"I'm visiting your father for a while before going to work," he said.

"How is Dad?" she wanted to know.

"I haven't had a close look quite yet. This is a quiet room he has," Peter said.

"That's how it is. You don't want the rooms to be noisy," Kylie said.

"Peter, before you leave, will you talk to a nurse or doctor for us?" Kylie asked him.

"What for?" he wanted to know.

"We have Uncle Fred with us for Christmas. Would you tell whoever you talk to that Uncle Fred and Grandpa have been inseparable all their lives and we would want Grandpa to be with us for Christmas this year? Uncle Fred is thinking of suicide right now. He's saying if that Grandpa dies, he's going to die as well," Kylie said.

"Who did he tell that?" Peter asked.

"He told Daphne that."

"Gosh, suicide? Are you sure? How do you want me to explain that?" Peter asked.

"Just say it's a matter of life and death, Peter."

"I will, Kylie."

He got off the phone after they said good - bye.

A nurse came in to see how Fred was doing in the coma.

"Nurse, may we talk?" Peter asked.

"Are you a family member?" the nurse asked Peter.

"Yes. My wife is a granddaughter of his. Granddaughter, to tell the truth. I just spoke to his daughter on the phone," Peter said.

The nurse, her name was Caroline, let Peter spill his story out to her. She sure thought that was interesting about Fred being an inseparable identical twin.

"You've got to do it for my wife's uncle. It means a lot to him. If he does die, then my wife's uncle will die as well. He even said so. That's what my mother - in - law told me."

"We can't promise anything, sir, but we'll do the best we can," Caroline told Peter.

Peter had to leave because it was time to get on the air.

"I have to go. Time to get on the air. Sorry, DJ talk," Peter told her.

"You're that radio disc jockey from 198.2!" Caroline said.

"That's right."

8: Farewell, Fred

A week had passed. Fred did die in the coma on a Sunday night. Everyone was sad about it, especially Fred. He didn't know what to do now. That night, while Kylie was asleep in bed, he scribbled a note to her, saying that he was leaving. He took his suitcase with his clothes in it and walked out of the door so quietly that she wouldn't hear him. By the crack of dawn, he was already out of Milwaukee and in a different town. Kylie woke up around seven o'clock and was ready to go back to work that day. She had a feeling Fred was already up, waiting for breakfast.

She went into the kitchen and started the coffee. She went to get the morning paper. She didn't see a sign of Fred at all. She had thought he was going to sleep in a while longer, so she didn't disturb him. She walked into the kitchen with the paper. That's when she found Fred's note. She was in shock. She got on the phone and called the police.

After calling the police, she called her friends to tell them what happened.

Ryan answered the phone at his house.

"Hi, Kylie. You sound worried. What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's Uncle Fred! He's gone! Is he over at your place?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"No."

He put Lauren on the phone.

"It's Kylie. She was asking if Fred is over."

"Him. No."

She got on the phone.

"Kylie, Ryan told me what's going on. We didn't know Fred was in town. Tell me what happened," Lauren said, wanting the details.

Kylie started from the start of the story, with Fred being in a coma, and she told his brother about it and everything.

"You mean he was acting suicidal not long ago? How?" Lauren asked.

"He was telling my daughter, Daphne if my father dies, he would die," Kylie said.

"Those two were inseparable," Kylie added.

"I don't know why he left me and my family, Lauren. We all loved them the same. He left me a note!" Kylie told Lauren.

"A note? What does it say?" Lauren asked Kylie.

"It says: 'Since Freddy died in that coma, nobody loves me anymore and I might as well leave where somebody will love me and solve my problems. Good - bye. Fred' What am I going to tell his neighbors in Washington? They loved him, I think. I've never met those neighbors of his. Dad's met them a few times, but I've never talked to him about it," Kylie said, in tears.

"Did Fred leave anything behind, like a suitcase or his clothes?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know. Let me check."

Kylie put the phone down and went to Fred's room, which was the guest room. She opened the door and found the room neat and the suitcase was gone and the drawers empty. He did take everything he owned, including his toothbrush. Kylie closed the door and went back to the phone.

"Everything is gone, Lauren," Kylie said.

"Even his clothes and toothbrush?" Lauren asked.

"Yes."

"Call the police," Lauren said.

"I've already done that. I have a court date this morning in two hours. I don't think I can do that," Kylie said.

"Cancel it."

"My client canceled the original date and made it today, but if you say so, I'll try to reschedule it."

They got off the phone and Kylie rescheduled the court date.

9: Is it Suicide?

Kylie dialed 911 and reported a suicide to the police. Next, the call went to the office. Patsy was there early, so she told Kylie it was okay to reschedule the court date.

"Hope everything goes okay with your uncle and sorry about your father, Kylie," Patsy said.

"Thanks, Patsy. Would you please call the rest of my friends for me? I don't feel like doing it myself," Kylie told her.

"I'll do that."

"A suicide, you said, Patsy? I don't know her uncle Fred very well to do this kind of thing, but I'll go over to Kylie's house right away to look at that note," Ryan said.

"She'd probably let you look at that note," Patsy said as they got off the phone.

By the time Ryan got to the house, he found Daphne and her family there, along with Heather, and Claudia and her family as well. Kylie let someone answer Ryan's ring.

Hank was at the door this time, thinking it was the police with some news. It turned out to be Ryan.

"Hello, Ryan, come in," Hank told him.

"Thanks, Hank. I just heard about Fred. May I speak to Kylie?" Ryan asked.

"In the kitchen. Kylie, Ryan's here," Hank said.

"Hi, Ryan," Kylie said, with tears in her eyes.

They were really red. Ryan did see the red in her eyes from all the crying she'd done.

"Patsy told me that Fred left a note. May I see it?" he asked.

She handed him Fred's note. He read it about three times.

"Where do you think he ran off to?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know any details. I was probably asleep when he left."

"Let me go call Jessica and tell her about this. She's family, you know," Ryan said.

"She has a right to know," Kylie told Ryan.

She let him use the phone and call Jessica. Jessica was about to leave the house for work when Ryan called, so he called her at a wrong time.

"Good thing I caught you, Jessica," Ryan said.

"What do you mean by that, Ryan?" Jessica asked her brother.

"I thought you should know Kylie's uncle committed suicide," Ryan said.

"Fred did that?" Jessica wanted to know.

She wanted details.

"Yes, he did. We're trying to figure it out now."

"What about Kylie's father? What about him?" Jessica asked.

"Died in a coma Sunday night. The obit is in the papers," Ryan said.

"Please come over now, Jessica. Everybody is over at Kylie's."

"I'll be over there in a few minutes, Ryan."

"All right. Please tell Gloria about the suicide. Fred left a note!" Ryan said.

"That's not good, Ryan. Show it to me when I get over there," Jessica said, getting interested in Fred's note that he left.

They got off the phone.

10: Fred Catches a Train

Fred saw a train station five miles close by. He walked five more miles. He saw a bathroom near him and got in there and put his suitcase down in the stall and thought about going on a train and go as far as the train could take him. He had been away from Kylie's house for over ten hours so far. He walked out of the men's room and his suitcase in his right hand and asked for a ticket for the train.

"Where are you going?" the man asked Fred.

"I don't care, as long as the train takes me," Fred said in a sad voice.

He got on the train and waited for the train ride to begin. Kylie and the family put posters of Fred all over the neighborhood and everywhere in town so they would know if anybody had seen him.

"Are you still thinking suicide, Kylie?" Hank asked her.

"Yes, Hank. If the police don't find him soon, he would have been dead or something," Kylie said.

Patsy saw the flyer of Fred by the office when her lunch break was over.

"Gosh. They are busy with this search," Patsy said to herself, helping her boss worry about her uncle's disappearance.

People had heard that Fred had committed suicide in Milwaukee, even passengers on the train. They had thought it was the same Fred from the gang with Scooby Doo and another Fred who had died in a coma Sunday night, but it was the other way around. One of the passengers reported to the officer in charge of the train that they had seen Fred in the car. He reported it to the station about the suicide. They made the call to Kylie's house. She answered the phone herself.

When getting off the phone with the Louisiana police, she was excited.

"Guess what! Guess what!" she said to her family members who were present.

"What?" they said at the same time.

"The police found Uncle Fred!" Kylie said with a smile on her face.

"Where did they find him?" Heather asked.

"The Louisiana police found him and reported to the police out here. They said he was on a train," Kylie said.

"To where?" Hank asked.

"It looked like Canada," Kylie said.

"Canada? Why would he go there? He doesn't know anybody out there, for Pete's sake!" Peter said.

"We know that, Peter. He's never made a trip to the other side of the world alone like that. He's too shy for that kind of thing, but he might have gone with us," Kylie said.

"Somebody help me talk to Uncle Fred when the police bring him here," Kylie said.

"Who knows what's on his mind?" Hank asked.

"True, Hank, but we need to get information out of him. He doesn't talk much. Funeral plans are made for Grandma Jones and Dad already, so I don't think he should go to the double funeral," Kylie said.

11: Fred's Return

The police brought Fred back to the house where the family was waiting.

"Uncle Fred, how could you do such a thing? You made us worry," Kylie told him.

Kylie and the family thanked the police for bringing Fred home safely.

"Our job, Ms. Blake," the deputy said.

"You could have died!" Kylie told him.

"I wanted to die, Kylie. Since my brother is dead now, I might as well do the same thing."

"Your life isn't over yet. You still have time left," Peter told him.

"Why did you leave a note like this? You know we love you just the same as my father, Uncle Fred. You know that," Kylie told him.

"You don't."

"Uncle Fred, it is hard when someone you love passes away like that. You have to respect that," Daphne told him.

"Who am I going to when I have a problem? He was the only person who could solve my problems!" Fred said, tears coming down hard.

"Didn't Grandma and Grandpa Jones solve those problems when Grandpa was solving mysteries or crimes?"Claudia asked.

"No! They didn't know how to solve them. Your father was the only person who could. Now he's gone and I don't have anyone to go to!" Fred screamed and tears were coming down harder than the first time.

"Fred, I heard a joke at the bar the other night. Do you want to hear it?" Hank asked.

"No. I want my brother!" was Fred's response.

He wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Go ahead and tell the joke, Hank. It might work," Kylie told him.

"Okay. Let me think on how it works."

He was quiet for a while so he could get the joke into his head.

"Okay, Fred, here's the joke. You might think it's funny, but here goes. One of my customers told us the joke. It's funny," Hank said.

"I hate jokes," Fred told Hank.

"The joke goes like this: A man goes to a store and asks for a haircut, and what does the clerk tell him? The answer he gets is 'You're in the wrong store, sir. You're in a fast food restaurant. If you want a haircut, go to the haircut place," Hank said.

The rest of the family was laughing, and Hank too. Everyone but Fred was laughing.

"That's funny, isn't it, Uncle Fred? Tell another one," Kylie said to Hank.

"That's the best joke I've heard for years," Peter told Hank.

"Yeah, me, too. I'll have to tell that customer of mine for telling me that joke," Hank said.

"I hated it," Fred said.

"Hey, Fred, I've got another joke, but this one's a knock - knock. Do you like those?" Peter asked.

"Those are childish," Fred said.

"Tell it," Ryan begged.

Peter made it up and made everyone laugh again, including himself and Hank until they couldn't laugh anymore. Fred was the only one not laughing.

"Keep the jokes going until Uncle Fred is laughing. This is a good start, Hank. Glad you thought of it," Kylie said.

Everyone took turns telling jokes until there were no more jokes to tell. They left an hour later because it was time for them to leave and do something else with each other. The jokes didn't work on Fred's moods at all. He wanted his brother the most, not jokes. He walked away from the family members during Daphne's inside joke and walked to his room upstairs. They didn't notice that he walked out on them.

12: Kylie Talks to Fred

Fred pulled his reading glasses from his suitcase that was brought back into his bedroom and wanted to read for a while. He did bring a book to read while on holiday vacation, but didn't get a chance to start it, so he brought it out of his suitcase besides his reading glasses. The book was a nonfiction one, so it was a few years old. He saw the copyright was a few years old but he didn't care how old books were. He did love to read because of the job he had at the bookstore many years back. He would read the books that first came out when they were first published and he and his coworkers would recommend the books to each other.

He remembered the first time he first got reading glasses when he and his brother Freddy first turned eighteen years old and they graduated from high school. He first got them when he moved to Washington. They were the only pair of glasses he's owned, so his eye vision was perfect for the rest of the time, so he didn't need glasses for the rest of the time, like driving and stuff. He heard the family downstairs ask where he was, but by that time, a couple of them were gone for ten minutes. He heard Kylie's footsteps come up the stairs.

He had been in the book for twenty pages so far when nobody had bothered him. He was reading about science in the nonfiction book. He heard a knock on his door. He carried the book in his hand went up to answer the door. His glasses were still on, so he didn't bother to take them off.

"There you are, Uncle Fred. We were wondering where you were," Kylie said.

"May I come in?" she asked.

He let her in the bedroom without saying anything.

"You made us worry sick about you when you disappeared like that," Kylie told him.

The door was closed.

"I did that because of Freddy's death, Kylie," Fred said.

"We thought it was suicide, but thank goodness you didn't kill yourself. We know you're not that kind of person to do that kind of thing," Kylie told her uncle.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, Kylie. I just want to know who I am going to when there's a problem," he said.

"Don't be silly, Uncle Fred. You have us. We're family. You know that."

"Your father was the only person who could solve my problems. Mom and Dad sure didn't know how to solve my problems because it wasn't in their areas. They did try, but your father was the only person who knew the answers. If you guys try, you'll see what I mean," Fred told his niece.

"What kind of book is this you're reading?" Kylie asked him.

"A science book. It's somewhat still new. A few years old. I just started it. I checked it out of the library before I came out here," Fred told her.

"I seem to remember Dad telling me that you used to have a job at that bookstore in Washington where you lived," Kylie said, remembering what her father told her.

"For several years. Cashier," Fred told his niece.

"Dad never gave me the name of that bookstore you worked for," Kylie told Fred.

"Waldenbooks," Fred told her.

"Is that why you're reading a lot?" Kylie asked.

"Yes. I've read thousands of books during my years working at that bookstore."

Hank and Peter had left with Daphne and Claudia so they could be in time to pick up the kids from school. They told Heather to tell Kylie good - bye for them because the kids were going to be out of school in a few minutes or so.

"All right. I'll tell her," Heather said.

"Uncle Fred, I'm sure Dad would want us to take care of you when he died," Kylie told him.

Fred knew that, she was sure of.

"I already made funeral plans for your mother and Dad," Kylie told him.

"When are the funerals?" Fred asked, wanting to know so he could go.

"You mean double funerals, Uncle Fred. We're doing two at the same time. It makes sense to do both at the same time, you know. We're waiting to do it when the holidays are over," Kylie said.

"I want to go," he said sadly.

"I'm already thinking it's a bad idea to go to the funerals, so you should stay home, after what you did at the airport," Kylie said.

"Those things happen. We all do it," she said.

She went downstairs again after closing his bedroom door.

"Where did everybody go, Heather?" he heard Kylie ask his niece.

"They left because the kids get out of school soon," Heather said.

"That's right. I almost forgot. I was talking to Uncle Fred. It looked like he was reading because he had his reading glasses on," Kylie said.

"How long has he had reading glasses, Mom?" Heather asked.

"Since he and Dad were eighteen," Kylie said.

"That's several years ago. I wonder why he didn't go to public school like the rest of us did," Heather said.

Fred went back to his desk and went back to his book when Kylie left. He read for several hours that afternoon, but took the night off from the book. He was pretty much into the book when he was called for supper.

"What were you asking, Heather?" Kylie asked when she put the phone down again.

"I wanted to know why Uncle Fred didn't go to public school like the rest of us did," Heather said.

"That. He doesn't do well in public like most people do. It's his shyness that does that, Heather. He's got a disability with people skills," Kylie said.

"Oh."

"How did he get a high school diploma, then?" Heather asked.

"Home school, Heather. He did try public school when Grandma and Grandpa first adopted them, but it didn't work out, so the teachers suggested he do home school," Kylie said, remembering what Mrs. Jones had said about Fred's education.

"Is this why he never married?" Heather asked.

"Right. His people skills were the same by the time Dad married Hossena, so he didn't want marriage. His people skills were still horrible, so he never dated a girl or was around one in their lifetime together," Kylie said.

"Can he try doing it now?" Heather asked.

"No, it will never work, Heather. He's too shy and quiet for that."

Fred helped Heather with the dishes while Kylie was on the phone.

"What were you doing these last few hours alone, Uncle Fred?" Heather asked when he was washing the dishes and she dried them.

"Reading. I like to read," Fred said.

"I don't read much at all, expect for the newspaper. That's about the only time I have for reading. I'm busy with my job these days to read a book," Heather told him.

They heard Kylie ask a question.

Fred turned the TV on and watched three favorite programs for a while longer.

"Mom, another question about Uncle Fred," she said.

"What's that?" Kylie asked.

"After getting his high school diploma from home school, did he go to college?" Heather asked.

"He did, but only through home school," Kylie said.

"Oh. Were his people skills still the same?" she asked.

"Yes. That's why he was in home school since Grandma and Grandpa adopted them," Kylie said.

13: Chapter 12: Talking About Christmas

When his programs were over, Kylie went into the living room.

"Mind if we talk?" Kylie asked.

"Sure," he said.

He turned the TV off with the remote control.

"I know you've had this disability since you and Dad got adopted when you were both thirteen years old. I know you can't help that. We see your behavior in restaurants. Your behavior there is fine because you don't talk at all expect when you order meals," Kylie told him.

"I hate the public, Kylie. I don't know what's going to happen once I get to heaven. It might be the same way it is there like it is down here on Earth," Fred said.

"We don't know that yet, Uncle Fred. We won't know until we get there. Look, Dad and Grandma Jones are already up there," Kylie said.

"I always stayed away from church because it's a public place, Kylie. I thought I wouldn't do well in Sunday School and stuff and sing with other people. That's why we Jones never went because of me," Fred said.

"You could still go and listen to the music and singing and the pastor speak about the Bible, Uncle Fred. That's the least you could do about your disability," Kylie told him.

"No. I like staying away from church because thousands and thousands of people are around. I don't like that many people," Fred said.

"Well, we're going to the Christmas service this year and we'd like you to go at least once," Kylie told him.

"No."

"We will make this deal with you, Uncle Fred. You can come, but you don't have to sing. How about it?" Kylie asked.

"No. There are millions of people there," he said, getting shy already.

"Please? Do it for Dad," she said.

He thought about it and went ahead and said okay.

"Uncle Fred, part of the deal of going to church with us on Christmas Eve is that you don't make a scene at all. Got it?" Kylie asked.

"I can't help it."

14: Chapter 13: Christmas Service

That was the only thing Daphne didn't know was Fred's being at church that evening. Kylie thought it would be a surprise for her daughter to see Fred in church.

"Did you bring anything dressy, Uncle Fred?" Kylie asked.

"No."

"That's okay. You can borrow something from Dad."

He followed her to Fred's bedroom and she opened the closet door and they looked at all the suits Fred had kept in the closet for all those years.

She thought Fred's red suit for the holidays would be perfect on her uncle.

"This would look great on you, Uncle Fred. Dad wore this every Christmas. Wore it with a green tie. Where did that tie go?" Kylie asked, searching through Fred's tie drawer.

"There it is," she said, finding it.

"Don't you like this outfit, Uncle Fred?" she asked, handing him the outfit.

"It's okay, but I wouldn't know until I try it on," he said.

"The people at the church are really friendly. Trust me on this," Kylie told him.

"Not if you'll stay with me," he told her.

"Don't be silly, Uncle Fred. Of course we'll be with you. The kids are going to be there with Hank and Peter and Claudia, but you'll get to see Daphne up in front of everybody," Kylie said.

"I can't do that kind of thing," Fred said, already freaking out.

"We know that, Uncle Fred. People will be thinking that you're my father who's at church with us," Kylie said.

"But they're thinking wrong once they see me there," Fred said.

"We'll tell them you're Dad's identical twin brother," Kylie said.

"That's how we are. Look alike," Fred said.

They ate dinner together at seven, an hour before they went to the holiday service at the church Kylie and family belonged.

"How long is the service?" Fred wanted to know while eating their meal.

"A couple of hours, so don't spoil it for us, Uncle Fred, okay? We want to sing the songs and listen to the children do their part on the stage and stuff," Kylie said.

When they finished eating, they went up the stairs to get dressed and comb their hair. Kylie took a bit longer than Fred did because she wanted to make her a bit fancier. The phone downstairs rang while she was putting finishing touches on her hair. Fred heard it, so he answered the phone.

He answered it the professional way. He spoke to Hank.

"Fred, we're on our way to church. Tell Kylie we'll see her there," Hank said.

"Okay."

They got off the phone.

"Who was that, Uncle Fred?" Kylie called from her bedroom.

Fred walked up the stairs and walked to the bedroom.

"Hank. Said they're heading to church and would see you there," Fred told her.

"Okay. They don't even know you're going to be there. Thought I'd keep it a surprise for the family," Kylie said.

"You can go by yourself, Kylie. I can stay here and watch Christmas shows on television. I won't mind staying alone for a couple of hours," Fred told his niece.

"No. You're still going because of the deal we made. Part of the deal is in Dad's memory," Kylie told him.

She grabbed the keys and was ready to leave.

He followed her to the car and started the car. Once the car was started, she drove off to the church that was on Main Street.

"We're here now, Uncle Fred. I bet some of them are here already. Let's go and say hello to the family," Kylie told him.

"No."

He watched a group of young adults walk in. They looked like they were in their thirties. He heard them laughing and talking as they went into the church.

"Come on, Uncle Fred. It's just the family you're going to say hello to," Kylie told him.

"It's a big crowd in there. I don't know anyone there and I don't need to meet anyone else," Fred said.

"You never know unless you go inside. Now!" Kylie said and took his hand and locked the car and they walked inside.

He grew shy the minute they saw Daphne at the door greeting people.

"Hi, Mom. Uncle Fred, hi!" she said, surprised he made it.

"What's so bad about coming, Uncle Fred? You're already seeing someone you know," Kylie said.

"I thought Uncle Fred was staying at the house tonight, Mom," Daphne said after saying hello to a few more people that walked in.

"I talked him into coming after making a deal," Kylie said.

"How did he agree to come?" Daphne asked.

"He didn't agree to come, Daphne. I wanted him to come so he could see you speak," Kylie said, "and it was part of Dad's memory to wear this suit."

"Grandpa always wore that suit every Christmas holiday. I really like that suit on you, Uncle Fred," Daphne said.

"You're already getting a compliment," Kylie told Fred.

She wanted to say hello to the other church members before sitting down.

Kylie spoke to another friend of named Martina.

"Hi, Martina," Kylie said.

"Hi, Kylie. Hi, Mr. Jones. Glad you could make it after what happened to that coma," Martina said to Fred.

"Wrong one, Martina. Dad died in the coma. This is his brother, Fred," Kylie said.

"Two men that have the same name? Interesting," Martina said.

"I know, but they're identical twins," Kylie said.

"Why don't you introduce us, Kylie?" Martina asked.

Kylie tapped Fred on the shoulder. He turned around shyly.

"Uncle Fred, this is a friend of mine. She wants to meet you," Kylie said.

He gave her the shyest look that said no. He acted like he couldn't even talk when Kylie introduced them to each other.

"He's nothing like your father, Kylie," Martina said, noticing the quiet in Fred.

"Uncle Fred, can you see nice to meet you to Mrs. White?" Kylie asked.

He said it so quietly that Kylie and Martina couldn't hear it.

"Uncle Fred, we can't hear what you're saying. Speak a little louder so we can hear you," Kylie told her uncle.

He said it again, but more quietly this time around.

"Still can't hear him, Kylie. Sorry. Is he deaf or something?" Martina asked.

"No. His hearing and eyesight are perfect at ninety, Martina. He has a disability, that's all. Has had it since he and my father were thirteen."

"Oh."

It was now time to start the service, so Kylie and Fred took a seat up front with Hank and the children.

During the first hour of the service, Fred started making a scene like he did at the Washington Airport. People were staring in Kylie's direction. People began to wonder why Kylie's father had changed since he had gotten out of the coma. Hank and Peter were doing their best to on helping Kylie quiet Fred, but it was no use, so the four of them left the room so he could quiet down.

"Kylie, go back there and enjoy the program. Peter and I will handle Fred. We're men, you know," Hank told her.

"He's my uncle, guys. I've known him all my fifty - four years. I should handle him. If you want to hang around and help, that'll be great. I don't know what's going on," Kylie told them.

They couldn't figure out Fred's noisiness for fifteen whole minutes, so Peter suggested Kylie take Fred home.

"Good idea, Peter. I guess we'll have to miss the rest of the service. I hate doing that. I thought this was a good idea Uncle Fred see Daphne up in front of a million people," Kylie said.

"It didn't work out, Kylie. The rest of us will catch up with you when the service is over so we can have our own family celebration. See you at your house," Hank said.

"What time? Are you going to see the Christmas lights afterwards?" Kylie asked.

"We might do that, but we'll find out later," Peter said.

She and the men said good - bye and as she and Fred headed to the car.

"I really didn't appreciate that, Uncle Fred. You knew what our deal was and you broke it," Kylie said, not very happy.

Fred quieted down once they drove away from the church.

"You made the whole church look in our direction and everyone on the stage stare at us. I don't like that. You acted like a child," Kylie said.

She kept that up until they parked in the driveway. He didn't say anything, but was glad to be back at the house.

"I wanted to sing carols with the church and hear the children do their part, but you ruined everything," Kylie told him when they were in the house.

The service was over an hour later. Daphne was up in front of everyone again when they finished singing "The Christmas Song."

"I have only one announcement to make, so everyone stay seated before I let you go before Baby Jesus' birthday tomorrow," Daphne said.

"The announcement is there is no service next week because my family is holding a funeral for my grandparents, Fred and Peggy Jones, since they had both died in the recent week. We would appreciate it if you would pray for our family especially my grandparents that have recently died. My grandfather, Fred, had died in a diabetic coma Sunday night. He was ninety years old and Grandma Peggy died of old age in a nursing home in Los Angeles," Daphne said, "so we would appreciate it if you did come to the funeral service for the two of them next week on Tuesday afternoon at one o'clock in the afternoon. That is all and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."

15: Chapter 14: Cry For Help

The holidays had come and gone. January had passed and now it was February. Daphne was in the office at her house, writing checks for the blind people when Hank walked in.

"How are the checks coming, Daphne?" Hank asked.

"Fine. The only person I'm worried about on this list is Arthur Webber, Hank. Ever since I became pastor of this church and chose to do this mission, I've never heard from his family. That's what's worrying me," Daphne told Hank.

"How are the other people on your list making out?" Hank asked.

"They're doing well. They write me back now and then, but I just don't hear one soul from Webber. That's why I'm so worried," Daphne told him.

"Maybe he's not alive anymore, sweetcakes. We don't know that. What has God told you?" Hank asked.

"I haven't asked Him yet, Hank. I will do that the next time I talk to God, I'll ask about Webber," Daphne told him.

"I still have no idea if they've got my checks with five thousand dollars on it and my note I wrote them," Daphne added.

"We'll find out from the Lord, Daphne. We'll soon find out, trust me," Hank told his wife.

The week went by fast. Daphne was happy she had talked to Arthur's daughter Hannah on the phone about those checks she had written to him. She surely didn't like Hannah much herself. She thought Hannah was mean. Sunday had arrived and she was going to preach in front of the church that day. The church had finished singing a song and she had walked up to preach.

"Today I'm just going to read to you all of my favorite scriptures. There are so many of them that I can be here all day doing it. I see so many Bibles out there and I'd like you all to read along with me," Daphne said to everyone who was in the church that day.

"Pastor Daphne, are you going to be here later this week?" Daphne heard Courtney ask her who was standing behind her in line.

"Well, I think I am, but I don't know. Why, Courtney?" Daphne asked the teenager.

"I need help," Courtney said.

"Okay. I'll be around," Daphne told her.

Note: I'm going to stop here for the chapter since it's mostly scripture but I will leave the scriptures for you all to look up and follow it what this chapter talks about. Numbers 34:13-15 Judges 14:1-2 Judges 14:8-9 2 Samuel 19:1-4 Psalm 59

16: Chapter 15: Ryan's News

In their apartment, Kylie and her husband, Danny Blake, were putting up the Christmas decorations on the tree they had recently gotten the other day.

"I would say this is a nice tree, wouldn't you think, Danny?" Kylie asked as she put a star up at the top of the green, six feet pine tree.

"Yes, Kylie, sweetheart. It is a nice tree. I talked to the girls earlier today," Danny said as he watched Kylie push her long, blonde hair out of her face and get another decoration from the box.

"What did they say? Are they coming for Christmas?" Kylie asked.

"No, they're not, actually."

"Why not? You know it means a lot to have the girls home for the holidays," Kylie told him.

"I agree. Daphne has to preach Christmas Day, so that's why she can't come out here. Heather invited Claudia to go to her Christmas party her business is having on Christmas Day, so that's why the girls couldn't make it."

"Oh, well. Maybe next year they can make it. I talked to the gang and they're not going anywhere either," Kylie said.

"Good to know. Maybe all of us can get together then," Danny suggested.

"That's what Plan B was for me, Danny. Ryan's been upset lately because he thinks Lauren won't live longer," Kylie told Danny.

Ryan Anderson was their friend for a few years now. He had married a pretty girl for almost eighteen years now. The problem with Lauren was with her health. She had been diagnosed with diabetes. That was why Ryan worried a lot. He even worried about their two children, Keith and Linda.

Danny didn't like hearing this kind of news but he did feel bad for their friend. Lately, his sister, Jessica, had been at his house helping out with Lauren and watching Keith and Linda. Danny and Kylie both knew their youngest daughter, Daphne, had been busy praying for Ryan's family.

Danny and Kylie decided to take a break on the tree. They could see tons of snow coming down outside. The temperature for that Thursday afternoon was 17 degrees.

"It's really coming down, isn't it?" Kylie asked.

"You bet."

That's when they heard the phone ring.

Kylie answered it. At this time of year, with Christmas coming and the snow starting to arrive, Kylie didn't have many clients coming to her law firm so she closed the firm up for the holidays and told her secretary, Patsy she was free to celebrate the holidays but if she heard anything form a client she would be home.

Danny watched as Kylie put the phone back in the cradle.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"It was for you. You are supposed to fix a toilet and sink in 403," Kylie told him.

"Great. Let me find the plunger first. Do you know how many toilets and sinks I have fixed?" Danny asked as he left to find the plunger.

"I don't want to know," she said.

After finding the plunger, Kylie watched him leave. Kylie had on one of her favorite outfits that day: a purple T - shirt that had a couple cheetahs running after one another. She was wearing black stretch pants with white socks. Danny liked her in both pink and purple. He thought she looked cute in those colors.

While he was in 403, the telephone rang. Kylie answered and found out it was their friend, Ryan. He was upset when she answered. He was in tears and she could tell something was wrong.

"What's wrong, Ryan?" Kylie asked.

"Lauren's in the hospital," Ryan said, crying.

"That's too bad. I hope everything will turn out okay," she reassured him.

"I don't think so. She looked like she was going to die," Ryan said.

She could tell this sounded serious.

"Do you want me and Danny to be with you?"

"No. That won't do any good," he answered.

He heard his cell go off.

"Hold on, okay?" he said, tears still going.

She stayed while he checked his cell phone. He got a text from Jessica saying that Lauren passed away.

"Jessica texted me and Lauren died," Ryan said.

"I'm sorry," Kylie said, feeling bad for her friend.

"Now Christmas is a holiday I'm going to dread forever," Ryan said.