Susan was in the nursery when Greg came upstairs looking for her. He stood in the doorway a full fifteen minutes, watching her watch the baby sleep before she ever noticed he was there.

"Oh hi," Susan whispered when she finally looked up.

"Hello. You missed her, didn't you?" Greg asked.

"More than you could ever believe. I hate weaning ... loosing that closeness I have with my babies when they are very small," Susan said whispered softly. "I know it's part of children growing up, but I do miss that part."

Greg nodded holding out a hand.

"Come with me," he offered.

Susan took his hand gratefully and allowed him to lead her from the room.

"Melody missed you too, Susan," he told her after closing the door to the nursery behind them. "She called for you last night ... and this evening, before we put her to bed. Matt tried to tell her you would be home soon, but I could hear her telling him over and over again."

Susan nodded. "I was tempted to wake her, to let her know I'm home ... but on the other hand I need to go to bed too, and I don't think she would go back to sleep if she knew I am here."

"She might. Tomorrow will be a long day too," Greg reminded her.

"I know ... but for now, I think I'd rather go to bed with you," Susan said.

Greg arched his brow. "Susan, when exactly did you last nurse Melody?"

"I haven't nursed her regularly for approximately two weeks. She wanted to try it again last week, but my milk is almost dried up, so I don't think she got very much. Eventually she gave up and drank her milk from a cup," Susan said.

"Have your cycles shown any sign of returning?" Greg asked.

"No ... not yet," Susan said.

"Shouldn't they?"

"I don't know, Greg. I'm forty-six ... I'll be forty-seven on my birthday this year. I know some women who have babies at my age go directly from nursing to menopause, more or less."

"That seems early to me," Greg said.

"Maybe. I know after nursing Zack, it took a full two months with no nursing for me to have an actual period, and I was younger then. I think I may have had spotting in between, but so far I haven't even had that yet," Susan told him.

"Well, since we're still comfortably within that range, I suppose I shouldn't be worried just yet," Greg said.

"No, you shouldn't be. Let me brush my teeth and get ready for bed. You can come with me if you want."

Wondering if Susan might need extra attention, Greg did follow her, and they shared the bathroom as they prepared for bed together. They talked a bit more, but mostly Susan seemed happy to simply have him in the same room. She said goodnight to the boys once she was ready, but then went directly to bed. She snuggled up against Greg, and promptly fell asleep in his arms.

c

The day started early for Greg and Susan on Thursday morning. Melody was so excited to see Susan, she insisted on taking her medicine from her instead of from Greg, a complete reversal from what she generally did on most days. Susan got the other children up and was seeing them off to school, just as Rosemary came up the stairs, ready to take over with Melody so she and Greg could leave too.

"What time will you be home?" Rosemary asked.

"I don't know exactly," Susan told her. "Greg didn't say. But I'll call and let you know when I find out. I know the party includes dinner."

"Yes, it does," Greg said as he came up behind her to greet Rosemary. "You should expect us to be out until nine or ten. I doubt it will go later."

Susan frowned. "You know that means we won't see Mr. Simms at all today."

"It can't be helped, Susan. We will both be home with him all day tomorrow."

"You're not working tomorrow?" Susan asked in surprise.

"No. I'm taking the day off. We go into post-production phase on Monday, which will take some planning, but I won't be doing that until Monday," Greg said.

"Oh. Well I'm working tomorrow. I'll be here, but I'm working. My team sent me home with deadlines for projects, some of which are due at the end of this week," Susan said.

"It sounds like your whole week is going to be busy," Rosemary remarked. "Have a good day."

Susan smiled and said goodbye to Rosemary and the baby before she followed Greg out the door.

c

The mood on the set felt exceptionally ordinary. There was only one scene left to shoot, and the set for it was relatively simple. It took place on the mockup of a deck in front of a green screen.

"Richard's party," Susan recognized almost immediately.

"It seems fitting, don't you think?" Richard asked as he appeared at Susan's elbow while Greg was talking to the director about the shot. "It's hard to believe that happened so long ago."

"More than three and a half years ago," Susan said. "That's almost how long we'd been gone. Things have certainly changed in that amount of time."

"Have they?" Richard wondered.

"They have. Just look at us, Richard. We have our house and Melody. You have the twins. Greg and I are both working again, doing well with our careers. You have your faith, ours is solid. I'd say all in all, things have improved. Greg and I have been blessed immensely," Susan said.

Richard nodded as the actors took their places and the director called for action. Greg wandered over to join them between takes, but he didn't stay long. It was just too hard for him to hold back on this specific scene.

"I keep remembering what came next for you ... or at the same time, more or less," Richard said.

"What's that?" Susan asked.

"Your miscarriage. He didn't put that in, you know," Richard said.

"I didn't think he would. It happened while he was trying to complete the script, rather than adding to it."

Richard cocked his head. "That's always the problem with these based-on-real-life stories."

"What is?"

"The end. The end of the story isn't actually the end ... unless of course, your main characters die. Then I suppose that really is the end, but then you don't get the 'happily ever after' moment, audiences demand," Richard told her. "For real-life stories, there is always more."

"Not in this case. For the story of our journey, the welcome home party at your house really was the end," Susan assured him.

"We'll see. The feel for the end of a movie has to be right," Richard insisted. "We'll have to see what they can make of it during editing, I suppose. If it doesn't work Greg will just have to re-write the end."

"Can he do that? This late in the game?" Susan wondered.

"He can if he has to. It would be a post-production shoot, which isn't ideal, but it is possible," Richard said. "Hopefully he won't have to do that."

Susan nodded and fell silent as she watched the effort her husband was putting into capturing his version of the end.

c

The wrap party followed directly on from the end of the shoot on their last official day of filming ...which worked out well because the set they were shooting on was the setting for a party. The cast was all there, and so was most of the crew, enjoying each other's company on their last official day together.

"So what are you doing next week?" Shelly asked Susan as everyone visited together.

"Working," Susan answered honestly. "Not every day, though. We have company for the next two weeks and Spring Break is next week, so I'll probably cut back my hours for a while. But I should be back to my regular hours for programming after that."

"You're not coming back to the studio after today, are you?" Shelly asked.

"Oh ... I don't know. My contract runs until June, but to be honest, I'm not sure what Richard wants me to do after today," Susan said.

"I'm not even sure Richard will be here except occasionally, after today," Shelly said.

"Wouldn't he be? I thought as one of the producers, he'd be involved in some way with the editing," Susan said.

"Except I'm not one of the producers, officially," Richard said as he overheard his name and joined them.

"Will you need me, Richard?" Susan said.

"We may on some days. Not as often I don't think. And you know, I don't think they'll have the child watch room set up after today," Richard said.

"No, they won't," Randy Madison said as he joined in on the conversation. "My crew is doing the breakdown of that and the storage of most of the sets starting tomorrow."

"My crew will be completely gone after today," Clare added as she too joined them. "Most are working on another film, starting on Monday."

"Wow. This really is like the end for most of you," Susan realized.

"I told you, Susan. We're not finished, but we are quickly coming to the end of this," Richard said.

"So will I see you again after today?" Susan asked looking at Shelly.

"At the premier, certainly ... and the after party," Shelly said. "I've really enjoyed getting to know you, Mrs. Abernathy. You've led an incredible life."

"Thank you," Susan said. "Some of what we've gone through, as you know, has been incredibly difficult, but over all I feel blessed. The outcome has been worth it, definitely."

"It got your foot in the door in the movie business, didn't it," Marty Stromberg remarked as he joined them too.

"It certainly has been an interesting experience, Mr. Stromberg," Susan said politely.

"Do you plan to continue to be involved with Mr. Gaffney's projects?" Mr. Stromberg asked curiously.

"No, I don't think so," Susan told him. "It's been a good experience as I've said, getting to know Greg's world better. But I'm quite happy with what I do."

"You have been taking a good deal of time off lately, to spend with your children I expect. I suspect what you've done has been quite enough for you. It must be a relief to get back to taking care of them again," Mr. Stromberg remarked.

Susan arched a brow. She knew full well Mr. Stromberg had been informed each time her responsibilities at Ingene Pharma had kept her away from the studio. That had happened twice since she'd come back to work in January, whereas she'd taken days off to take Melody to the doctor only once during that time.

Richard watched Susan curiously, watching the subtle stiffening of her posture in response to Mr. Stromberg's attitude.

"Did you take Melody with you the last time you visited Ingene Pharma, Susan?" Richard asked.

"No. She stayed home with Rosemary and the family this time," Susan told him. "It allowed me to make a much quicker trip."

"When did you get back?" Shelly asked curiously as Randy and Clare drifted away.

"Yesterday evening," Susan said.

"I saw Ingene Pharma in the news last night," Shelly remarked.

"Yes, we just received approval for new product for asthma, AsthmaX, last month. We were really pleased with the result of the phase three trials late last year," Susan remarked.

"Were you involved with any of those studies, Susan?" Greg asked as he joined the group.

"Some. I handled the analysis programs for the phase two trials year before last, and set up the initial analysis routines for the phase three trials just before I went out on maternity leave last year," Susan said.

"Your wife takes AsthmaX, doesn't she?" Richard asked Mr. Stromberg.

"She was taking some sort of experimental medicine last summer, but she's been off that for six months. I doubt it is the same medicine you are talking about," Mr. Stromberg said.

"Could it be?" Richard asked Susan. "If it's only been on the market for the last month?"

"If she was taking it as part of one of our clinical trials, it could be," Susan said. "But there are a lot of asthma medicines being researched or on the market. It's hard to say for sure."

"You sound like you know a lot about it. Is that from the work with Ingene Pharma you do?" Shelly asked curiously.

"In part," Susan told her.

"Susan's education and initial profession was as a nurse," Greg said.

"Did you put that in your script?" Shelly asked doubtfully.

"No. When you dig into the details, the story of what happened to us is highly complex and not necessarily good entertainment. I did my best to simplify the story to the essentials while writing my original script. Andrew Whitney took that even further when he rewrote and reshaped it into script we used for filming," Greg explained.

"Meaning, he left out the part where Susan had previous training as a nurse," Richard translated for him.

"Thank you, Richard."

"You are quite welcome," Richard replied in a teasing tone.

"I was coming to that particular detail," Greg assured him.

"And I helped you to get there," Richard said.

Mr. Stromberg regarded Susan curiously. "You trained as a nurse?"

"Yes ... many years ago. Which is how I came to work for Ingene Pharma when I did," Susan said.

"So how long have you worked there?" Shelly asked.

"All told, about fourteen years," Susan said.

Mr. Stromberg arched a brow. "Then it is possible you worked on the anti-cancer medicine my mother took."

"Given it is the same one they treated Madeline with, I'm sure she did," Greg said.

"Not necessarily, Greg. Most cancer therapies include a cocktail of medications, not all of which are the same from patient to patient," Susan said.

"And you know that," Mr. Stromberg said.

"It is my field," Susan told him. "And to answer your previous question, yes I will enjoy having a few more hours available every week to spend time with my children ... eventually, but not just yet. From what I understand from Richard, they may still need me here occasionally through June."

"Even now that principle filming is done?" Mr. Stromberg asked.

"You we know we keep such consultants on retainer until the film is in the can," Greg said.

"Of course," Mr. Stromberg agreed. "What about you, Richard? Are you staying on as well?"

"I may for another week or two, and I'll drop in on Greg occasionally, but I doubt I'll be here as much as I have been since filming began," Richard said.

"Have you decided on your next project yet?" Greg asked. "I know Alex has been sending you scripts to consider for the past month."

"Not yet, although there are two I'm looking at more closely. I'm strongly considering going back to television work for a bit," Richard said. "The hours are long, but it keeps me close to home."

Susan noticed when Shelly drifted away while the men were talking. It was much later, as the party was growing to a close that she made it a point of seeking out Susan on her own again.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Susan asked when she did.

"Yes ... just for a moment, more privately if you don't mind."

"I don't mind. What's on your mind, Shelly?" Susan asked.

"I've been meaning to tell you how very impressed I am, after meeting you, having the privilege of playing you in our movie, and learning more than I ever expected to about what you really went through," Shelly said.

"Thank you," Susan said. "I'm flattered, really."

"You shouldn't be. You went through it, Mrs. Abernathy ... so, so much. I know just from the little bit I've been exposed to, I wouldn't want to go through it," Shelly said.

"Nobody would," Susan told her.

"I'm sure that's true. An experience like that would destroy most people, but from what I can tell, you've only grown from it. I've never met a woman of any religion with faith like yours. It's inspired me ... and my husband, given what I've told him about it," Shelly said. "Kevin's really looking forward to meeting you at the premier," Shelly said.

"He wants to meet me?" Susan asked in surprise.

"He really does. Of course, unless another opportunity arises, that won't happen until months from now, but still I think talking to you about your story could be really good for him ... and me ... and maybe even for our kids," Shelly said.

"I didn't know you have kids," Susan said.

"Yes, a girl and a boy," Shelly told her. "It would be wonderful if they could meet you sometime. Of course, I understand you might not have the time ... but if you do, we'd really like to."

"I'd be delighted," Susan assured the younger woman, as the evening was coming to an end. Already, most of the cast and crew were getting ready to go. "Let me give you my email address. You can contact me anytime, if you'd like to talk."

"Thank you ... I definitely will," Shelly said.

Shelly took the business card Susan gave her with her personal email address on the back. The front held the logo for Ingene Pharma and Susan's name. She considered it briefly before tucking it into her purse. She said another round of goodbyes and good luck, and see you when, then she too got her coat as she prepared to leave.

"Do you want to say it? Before we all disappear?" Richard prompted with the director for their film at his side when they approached Greg.

"Byron, would you like to do the honors?" Greg asked.

"It's your story, Mr. Gaffney," the director insisted.

"In that case," Greg stood up on a table to get everyone's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Tropical Dream is a wrap," Greg announced.

Cheers went up from all sides.

"Thank you for your service. We look forward to seeing you again, sometime this fall," Greg said.

"Do we have a release date yet?" Brandon asked.

"Not yet. The studio executives are tentatively looking at late-November or mid-December," Greg advised as he got down off the table. "At this point we have nothing official yet, except that we anticipate a premier event on both coasts. We'll be in touch when we have a date."

Talk broke out on all sides as those involved with the movie speculated which date it would be. Within a few minutes most had said their final goodbyes and were collecting their things to leave.

"Shall we?" Greg asked as he approached his wife, after most of the cast and crew had disappeared.

"We probably should. We do have people waiting for us at home," Susan said.

"Yes, we do. Richard, enjoy your free time. We'll be in touch," Greg promised as he got on his coat.

Richard grinned. "It's been a great experience, you two. See you on Monday, Greg."

"Aren't you coming on Saturday?" Susan checked.

Richard did a double-take as he mentally changed gears. "That's right ... for Jessie's party. We'll be there," he promised.

And the long-time friends left the set and the production studios for the Tropical Dream together, headed for their cars and home.

c