“Well?” Phillip asked anxiously when Doreen came through the front door. She collapsed into his arms, the stress and exhaustion of the day finally consuming her. She shook all the way to the couch where Phillip escorted her. Shaking all over, she nodded her head at him, and watched as he breathed a sigh of relief and clasped his hands together.

“Thank God, thank God,” Phillip chanted. Doreen silently agreed.

After a moment she lifted her head slightly and said, “That’s it for me. I’m beat for today. That whole thing was nearly too much. I’m going to go take a bath and go to bed.”

“What about the death certificate?” he asked. “Don’t you have to fax it to the hospital?”

“Honestly, Phillip, you’re so naive,” Doreen said bluntly. “It would take several days for the county to process an actual death certificate. I’ve got to wait. I’ll fax the phony death certificate to them on Friday of next week. And God, it kills me to do all this. We’ll have to have some sort of fake wake. People will see the obituary.”

“We have to go through with an obituary?” Phillip was alarmed. “What will the people at my office think?”

“They’ll think she’s dead!” Doreen snapped peevishly. “That’s what they have to think. That’s what everyone has to think if we want this thing to work!”

“Oh. Right. I keep forgetting.”

Phillip stood up and walked to the fireplace, his age showing as he stood there with sagging shoulders and a face lined with countless worries. “I never thought it would come out like this.”

“Believe me, Phillip,” Doreen said, closing her eyes and resting her head on the back of the couch, “neither did I.”

“So... everyone will think she’s dead?”

“Everyone.”

“For how long?”

Doreen shook her head slightly. “I don’t know. Forever, I suppose.”

Phillip asked sadly, “Must we really do this forever? I’ll miss her so much.”

“For God’s sake, Phillip, stop it!” Doreen ordered in a forceful tone she didn’t feel. “She’s not really dead. And yes, people will miss her! But which would you rather have? A living daughter that we can still talk to and hug and kiss or a dead one for us to mourn along with the rest of the county?”

Phillip stared down at the faded blue carpeting and didn’t answer. Doreen pushed herself off the sofa after a moment and went to him.

“Look, honey, I know this is hard,” she said softly, putting her arm around his shoulder, “but this is the best way. It’s the only way.”

He patted her arm and smiled at her attempt to comfort him. “All right. We’d better start planning a Christmas vacation to Colorado then.”

Doreen nuzzled him lightly on the cheek and said, “I’ve already booked the tickets.”

Giving him one last squeeze, she turned toward the hallway, suddenly too tired to do anything but go straight to sleep. She would deal with everything else in the morning. For now, rest was essential.

“Are you coming to bed, Phillip?” she asked, looking at him over her shoulder.

“It’s six o’clock in the evening!” he protested.

“So?”

“I haven’t even had my dinner!”

Doreen stifled a yawn as she spoke again, “Get take out, Phillip. I’m too tired to cook.”

He looked mildly distressed, but perked up at the thought of the freedom of take out. “Can I get anything I want?”

Doreen almost rolled her eyes, and couldn’t stop the smile from springing to her lips. “Yes, Phillip. And before you ask, yes, that includes French Toast.”

Phillip grinned and set to work finding the cordless phone and the phone book. “All right, then! Shall I order you some, too?”

“Oh, what the hell?” Doreen said. “You only live once.”