"I can't believe that this is really it."

32-year old Maria Dorough sighed as she stood next to her best friend, and partner in crime, Emily Loch, in the middle of her now nearly empty office at Cybercast Designs in Memphis, Tennessee. It was hard to believe that her time there was ending.

She glanced around the room in silence, taking in the memories and trying her best to make mental pictures that would last for years to come. The bookshelves that lined walls, once overflowing with her design books and samples, now stood empty but for a stray dust bunny or two. The Robin's Egg Blue, colored walls, once fully covered with photos and plans of office buildings and interior rooms she'd designed during her many years working for the company, were now completely bare. Window treatments were gone, and the plant from the corner had been moved to another office... she'd spent the entire day packing up her belongings and reminiscing all the good times she'd had there over the last seven years.

And she'd found out just how difficult it is trying to write the ending to a chapter in your life after such a long time.

"Me either." Emily grasped her hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Do you remember when that big painting fell of the wall and shattered all over the desk and we spent all day cleaning the shards of glass out of your carpet?" She whispered, "Or when we hid out in here under the desk, pretending we'd gone on lunch break just so we could avoid Mr. Davis when he came in from Corporate?"

Maria nodded and smiled.

"Oh," Emily continued, walking over to the window and pointing towards an imaginary point on the floor, "or that time when your water broke right here, all over the carpet and we had to call an ambulance just to get you to the hospital in time?"

This time Maria laughed. How could she forget? She'd been eight and a half months pregnant with her son when he'd decided he was ready to make his grand entrance into the world. And grand it had been. She'd only barely made it to the hospital before Cash had been born.

"I also seem to remember a certain someone, nearly passing out in the back of the ambulance on the way..." she taunted Emily, poking her lightly in the ribs.

"Hey!" Emily retorted, poking her back, "it's not my fault... that needle was friggin' HUGE!"

"Yeah... well you're not the one who got stabbed with it."

The two of them laughed as Emily leaned over and gave Maria a giant hug. "I sure am gonna miss you girl."

"I'm gonna miss you too!" She wiped a single tear that had slipped from her eye as she gave Emily one last hug before she watched her slip from the room to head back to her own office and back to the work she still had to do.

Maria breathed deeply, turning away from the door and walking towards her desk. She took a seat in her comfortable orthopedic office chair. The one Howie had given her for her birthday, a year and a half ago when she'd found out she was pregnant with their son. She glanced around the room once more, just trying her best to take it all in.

Her desk, once saturated in papers, designs, business cards and sketches of offices, now stood completely free of clutter for the first time in seven years. The one thing left was a picture of her family. The last thing she would take with her from her office. She lifted it gently and smiled at the sight of her husband and her children staring back at her from the photo.

Maria smiled as she thought of all the memories her family had made during the week that photo was taken. Even the memory of the photo itself was a happy one. They had been vacationing at their beach house in Florida, visiting with family and they'd all gotten dressed up to go out to dinner. The sun was setting and the weather was perfect and Howie had taken a very fussy Cash out to sit on the deck and the two of them had dozed off together in the rocking chair as they'd waited for everyone else to get ready to go. Maria and Olivia, their daughter, had found them there and Maria had grabbed the camera, snapping the photo just as Olivia had crawled up into Howie's lap besider her brother and woken Howie up. Howie's eyes still looked sleepy, but he was smiling peacefully as Olivia kissed him gently on the cheek and baby Cash was nestled comfortably in the crook of his arm. They'd never looked more perfect to her.

Maria sat gazing at the photo for several more long moments, and couldn't help but feel extremely lucky. Lucky to have all three of these wonderful people in her life.

She took one last look around her office before tucking the photo into her bag for safekeeping.

She could honestly think of no better reason to leave all of this behind.

"Hey Maria," the receptionist called to her several minutes later, leaning into her office door where she was loading the last remaining items into boxes to take home.

"Yes Cathy?"

"You have a call on line three."

Maria took the end of the pencil she was chewing on out of her mouth and started to pick up the phone, "Wait..." she called as Cathy peeked her head back in the doorway, "do you have any idea who it is?" She wasn't expecting any calls from any clients and she certainly didn't want to get roped into any last minute projects she couldn't turn down. Because she was not good at saying 'no.'

Cathy smiled, "It's Howie."

Maria smiled back and sighed relieved, "Okay then, go ahead and put him through. I'll pick it up in here."

She walked back to her desk and sat down carefully on the edge as she waited for the phone to ring.

"My last phonecall at Cybercast..." she thought as she placed the receiver to her ear. Bittersweet for sure.

"Hey sweetheart," she heard the sound of her husband's voice on the other line. It brought a much needed smile to her face.

"Hey babe."

"You having a good day?"

"I am. I'm almost finished packing up the office now..." she sighed, glancing around at the bare walls and the empty shelves. This new emptiness was nearly overwhelming.

"That's good baby," he answered back after a moment's pause. She could tell he was fiddling with something in the background. Probably cooking spaghetti O's or coloring with Olivia. He was good at multitasking. "I was just wondering what time we were supposed to meet you at the airport?"

"Umm..." Maria glanced at her watch and realized she was running father behind that she had realized... "I'll be there by six."

"Okay hun, I'll let you get back to packing... we'll see you th..."

"Wait a minute!" Maria interuppted, trying to make herself sound flabbergasted, but failing pretty miserably at as she laughed into the phone. "Is that the only reason you even called? Where's the love!?"

Howie chuckled and sighed, "I'm sorry Mar... I'm just tired... I love you baby."

Maria couldn't help but smile, "I love you too. I'll see you guys in a little while."

She hung up the phone and walked over to the large picture window, standing there for a long while just gazing out across the city. It's the one thing she'd miss the most - the view of downtown Memphis. Her window allowed her to see practically the entire city... and she had the perfect view of St. Jude Children's Hospital... where she'd created so many fond memories. A lot of sadness in that building, but a lot of happiness too, and she got to see that first hand when she'd spent several years designing rooms for one of the wards in their newest wing. It was a work experience she would always remember as one of the best.

She sighed once more and glanced over to where she'd hung up the phone moments earlier. "Howie did sound exhausted," she thought to herself as she returned to her packing. "I really hate that I have to leave for two weeks."

But she had no choice. Her final project with the company, and the condition upon which they'd allowed her to leave, entailed her flying to Hawaii for two weeks. It wasn't that she wasn't looking forward to the idea of spending two long weeks on the beautiful island, with the sand and the sun and the warm weather.... it was just that she hated the idea of leaving her children, and her husband for two weeks. She'd done it before though... she and Howie both had. She knew he could manage... she just hated that he had to.

She smiled again as she thought about her husband. Howie was an amazing man... and the main reason she was even leaving her job at Cybercast and planning on becoming a stay at home mother. It wasn't a big secret that Maria's husband was Howie Dorough. The 34-year-old member of the pop sensation, the Backstreet Boys. And it was no big secret that Howie made plenty of money. More than enough for the both of them. And from the moment she'd found out she was pregnant with Olivia, Howie had made it clear to her that it would be her choice whether she remained a professional or became a stay at home mom. He hadn't rushed her into any decisions, or demanded she stay home and raise her children herself... but rather, he'd told her that he would respect whatever choice she made, no matter what that choice may be. And he'd stayed true to that word. She was grateful for that.

But regardless of what he said, and no matter how much he honored and respected her wished, Maria had always really known in her heart that Howie wished that his children could have the kind of mother he had had growing up... the kind of mother deep down Maria had always wanted to be. And that was not the kind of mother who was constantly tied down by projects.

The St. Jude Project had been the reason she hadn't quit her job 4 years ago when Olivia was born. She'd loved that project with every fiber of her being, and she was determined to see it through to the end, pregnancy or not... baby or not. Sure she'd taken time off after Olivia's birth, and then again when she'd given birth to Cash 8 months ago... but now that the project had officially come to an end, Maria was ready to move on to bigger and better things. Those things being her home and her family.

She'd be spending those two weeks in Hawaii and then flying back home to join Howie and their family at their home in Florida. They'd be moving back to Tampa for good after 5 years of living in Memphis. Memphis was where her family had started. It was where her children had been born. It was certainly bittersweet to be leaving it all behind... but she couldn't wait to get a fresh start on life.

She grabbed the last box of items from her desk and stacked it in the corner for the movers. She tossed her bag over her shoulder and stood at the door for a minute, taking one last long look around the room. She sure was going to miss this place. She shut the door behind her, locking it with a final 'click.' She left quickly, trying to avoid all the long sad goodbyes... she wasn't very good with goodbyes. She made her way to the parking garage and climbed into her car, heading off towards the airport.

"I'll miss you all..." she whispers as she drives away.