Chapter Text
ONE YEAR LATER
With the one year anniversary of Logan's death approaching, Greg and Cassie had decided to try to distract everyone and cheer them all up by inviting the Roy siblings and their spouses to a housewarming party at their new home. The party was also doubling as a belated celebration for Shiloh's first birthday.
To everyone's surprise, after his death, aside from leaving money to his children and Marcia, Logan had also given a small inheritance to Greg which Greg and Cassie had put towards a down payment on a house in Chappaqua, New York. Greg's penthouse in Manhattan was spacious but with two children and a cat, it felt cramped and after Shiloh's arrival, Greg and Cassie had quickly realized it wasn't the proper environment to raise children in. Cassie wanted her children to grow up in a house with a backyard, and other children in the neighborhood to play with. Cassie had left her job as an office assistant at RKS Communications a few weeks prior and had accepted a remote Work From Home position in Human Resources with another company instead while Greg could still commute into the city by train for his job at Waystar-Gojo. Matsson and Tom had finally let him leave ATN after Shiloh was born and Matsson gave him Tom's old job, as the head of the newly rebranded North American Parks and Cruises division. Greg was thriving in his new role.
They were finally all moved in, unpacked, and settled in, and decided it was a good time to finally host their housewarming party on a Sunday night in late September.
Dinner had just finished and now everyone was sitting around the living room area, making polite after dinner small talk. Except for Connor who was pacing back and forth in front of the windows.
"Hey, Will? Should we get going soon?" Connor asks, turning to his wife. "I don't like being in close proximity to The Clintons."
Willa rolls her eyes at Connor. Connor was disappointed that his presidential run had spectacularly crashed and burned as everyone had predicted it would but he was content enough helping Willa finance her second play. She shrugs. "Yeah, we can leave soon, Con. I have rehearsals in the morning anyway."
"We've actually run into Bill and Hillary a few times…around town when we've gone shopping," Greg says, chuckling. "They seem really nice actually."
Connor just rolls his eyes at this, causing Roman to chuckle.
"You're already on a first name basis with them?" Roman teases Greg, raising his eyebrows jokingly.
"Dinner was absolutely delicious, Cassandra," Tom pipes in, changing the subject to something less divisive. "Wasn't it, Shiv?" He turns towards his wife. "You'll have to give Shiv the recipe for that chicken thing. Maybe you could try to make it some time, honey badger."
"Oh, sure. It's pretty easy," Cassie says with a small shrug, brushing the compliment off. "It's just baked chicken thighs and mustard sauce."
"Cassie's an amazing cook," Greg says, smiling proudly at his wife.
"Maybe you could give Shiv some lessons," Tom jokes, looking at Cassie for a moment before he turns back to look at Shiv. "Huh? How does that sound, honey badger?"
"Uh-huh. Sure. Sounds great," Shiv says half-heartedly, not looking up from her phone. She had been checking her phone obsessively for the entire evening so far, as if she was expecting an important email or phone call. She quietly huffs in frustration upon seeing no new notifications since she had last checked five minutes prior.
Roman furrows his brows and frowns but he figures if this was something work related, his sister would have told him and Kendall by now.
"I'm going to go get dessert ready," Cassie says with an excited smile as she gets up from the chair she had been sitting in.
"More food? Oh, I couldn't possibly eat another bite. I am stuffed." Tom starts laughing loudly with that obnoxious fake laugh of his but it tapers off when he realizes no one is laughing along with him and Roman is glaring at him. "So…um, what's for dessert, Cass?" He looks around the room awkwardly.
"Strawberry shortcake," Cassie answers with a strained smile. "I made it myself."
"Do you,uh, need any, uh, help?" Kendall asks Cassie, trying to be a polite party guest. "You've already done so much tonight, Cassie."
"That's okay, Kendall. I think I can handle cutting a few slices of cake. But thank you." Cassie smiles graciously at him.
"Well, I'll come with you anyways. I want to hear all about this new job of yours and the company that scooped you up," Kendall replies with a good-natured smile. "They're lucky to have you."
Cassie chuckles. "Well, all right then."
Shiv's phone rings as Kendall and Cassie are heading towards the kitchen and Shiv lets out an audible sigh of relief.
"Um, Greg? Can I go use one of the bedrooms to take this in private?" She asks. "It's a personal matter."
"Yeah, yeah, of course!" Greg assures his cousin, gesturing towards the staircase. "Our house is your house. At least for tonight." He laughs nervously.
"Tom? Do you wanna come with me or…" Shiv tries to get her husband's attention but he seems engrossed in his conversation with Greg. "Tom…it's the…" but finally Shiv gives up. She rolls her eyes and goes upstairs, passing Gerri and Zoey on the staircase as they were on their way back downstairs after Zoey had finished showing her grandmother her new bedroom.
Zoey was talking a million miles a minute as she gushed to Gerri all about how her first few weeks of first grade at a new school had been and about her new room and the new house. Speech and language therapy had done wonders for her and Zoey was a totally different girl than the quiet and shy toddler she had been two years prior. She was a much more bubbly and outgoing girl now.
"I miss you, Gigi!" Zoey whines as Gerri takes a seat on the living room couch next to Roman and Zoey crawls in between the two of them. "Can I please have a sleepover with you and Roman tonight?" She stares up at Gerri with her big pleading brown eyes that were the spitting image of Cassie's deep brown eyes and bats her eyelashes at Gerri.
"Oh, honey. I miss you, too. But I think you have to go to school tomorrow. Maybe next weekend you can sleepover if your mommy and Greg are okay with it?" Gerri answers, staring over at Roman for approval.
"Yeah, next weekend sounds good," Roman confirms, smiling, as he reaches down and gently ruffles Zoey's dark brown curls. "We'd love to have you."
Zoey excitedly smiles up at the both of them. "Okay!"
Gerri glances over to where Shiloh and Madison, Tom and Shiv's daughter, are playing together on the floor, a few feet away from where the adults are sitting. It was sweet that they were only a few months apart in age and that the cousins had a built-in playmate in each other, however they were already proving they were going to be more like frenemies, mirroring their father's relationship with one another.
Right on cue, Madison smacks Shiloh on the shoulder, causing the other girl to yelp in surprise.
"Ohhh! Catfight!" Roman laughs and wiggles his eyebrows mischievously. He leans over and grabs a green grape from the charcuterie board on the coffee table in front of him and pops it into his mouth. "Yep, she is definitely Shiv's daughter all right."
Gerri rolls her eyes. "Don't encourage her, Roman."
"They're just playing," Tom says, laughing. "They're having fun. It's cute."
Gerri glares at Tom, not finding the idea of her granddaughter getting bullied "cute." She looks to Greg for help but her son-in-law just shrugs helplessly, always taking Tom's side in these kinds of situations.
"Yeah, they're just playing together." He shrugs again and tries to laugh it off but he gives Gerri an unsure smile, also not liking the way Madison treats his daughter.
"We don't hit people, Madison!" Gerri scolds since obviously Tom wasn't going to discipline his daughter and Shiv was still on the phone upstairs. "It's not very nice or ladylike."
Tom rolls his eyes at Gerri, not seeing what the big deal is.
Shiloh suddenly starts to whimper and crawls away from Madison, towards her grandmother.
Gerri sighs as she scoops her youngest granddaughter up. "Oh, it's okay, Shiloh. You're okay," she whispers soothingly, placing a gentle kiss on top of Shiloh's head. "Madison just needs to learn some manners." She gives Tom one of her trademark icy stares.
Suddenly, as if she's aware of the lack of a maternal figure in the room and realizing that Shiloh has run away from her so she doesn't have a playmate anymore to distract her from Shiv's absence, Madison bursts into tears and starts to loudly sob.
"Uh, I'm going to go find my dear old sister and see what she's up to," Roman says, groaning, not being able to take the sound of his niece's cries.
At least Tom has tried to intervene until Shiv can be located. He gently scoops up his daughter and whispers soothing words of comfort. "Hey, it's okay, sweet girl. Don't cry. Mommy will be back soon."
Roman goes upstairs and starts opening random doors, trying to find the room that Shiv has retreated to. His nosey self also takes this as an opportunity to snoop around a bit.
He runs into Jessica in the hallway as she's leaving the guest room. Her engagement to Jeff had fallen apart a few weeks prior and she was staying with Greg and Cassie in New York until she could get her life back together.
"Oh, hey Jess. You finally decided to grace us with your presence?" Roman says, smirking.
Jessica hated the Roy's so she had been hiding upstairs in her bedroom for most of the evening.
She rolls her eyes at Roman as she's heading across the hall to the guest bathroom with a toiletry bag in her hands. "Fuck off, Roman." She had never warmed up to her mother and Roman's relationship the way her younger sister had.
"And a good night to you, too, Jess." Roman rolls his eyes in return and continues his search for Shiv.
He finally finds her in the bedroom at the end of the hallway which was Greg and Cassie's room. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and it looked like she was wrapping up her phone call.
"Uh-huh. Yep, Thursday at ten a.m. I'll be there." She's nodding even though the person on the other end of the line can't see her. Roman notices the distant and spaced out expression on his sister's face.
"Thank you for calling," Shiv says. "I'll see you Thursday morning."
She exchanges a few more pleasantries with the other person before she hangs up to the phone and lets out a shaky exhale, not noticing Roman standing in the doorway.
"Why do you look like someone told you your dog just died?" Roman asks as he swears he notices his sister wiping away a tear with the sleeve of her turtleneck.
Shiv jumps in surprise. "Jesus Christ, Roman. You can't sneak up on people like that. You scared the shit out of me."
"Sorry, sorry," Roman apologizes, putting up his hands in mock surrender. "But seriously Shiv…what's going on?" He furrows his brows worriedly. "Is everything okay? Is it the company?"
"No, no." Shiv shakes her head. "The company is fine. Better than ever actually." She lets out a regretful laugh and a look of hesitation crosses her face. Does she really want to admit this to her brother right now? "I'm…sick, Roman."
"Sick?" Roman raises his right eyebrow. "Sick" could mean a lot of different things.
"I…I have cancer, Roman."
Roman laughs. "Haha, good one, Siobhan. You got me." He rolls his eyes. "Now tell me what's really going on."
"It's not a joke, Rome. That was the doctor with my results. I have…breast cancer." Shiv laughs incredulously, the words "breast cancer" sounding strange to her ears.
Roman can feel his legs buckling so he grabs onto a nearby dresser for support. Shiv's expression looked serious and she appeared to be telling the truth but no, it couldn't be true. His baby sister couldn't possibly have cancer.
"Okay...but don't you need like a mammogram first?" Roman asks, refusing to believe what Shiv was saying.
"I had a mammogram." Shiv nods. "I was reading over the literature that the breast cancer foundation we just acquired as a client sent over, trying to brainstorm ideas for their campaign and I figured I should get one. I'm almost thirty - six and I'd never had one before." She laughs again in disbelief. "I thought it was just going to be a routine procedure."
"Okay, okay. Well…" Roman can feel the panic rising in his chest. "Don't you need a biopsy or some shit? We didn't want to, um, alarm anyone so we kept it to ourselves but Gerri had a bit of a scare a few months ago and she ended up being fine." There was a desperation to his tone and he was hoping this was all just a big misunderstanding, a false alarm. He was hoping that his sister was making a mountain out of a molehill as usual. Breast cancer wasn't supposed to happen to women Shiv's age.
"I had a biopsy, Roman," Shiv says through gritted teeth, getting frustrated with her brother. "When I took last Wednesday afternoon off work…I wasn't at the dentist…I lied." She nervously clears her throat. "The biopsy was positive. The doctor just told me. I have to meet with a surgeon Thursday morning to discuss…treatment options." She can't believe she is actually having this conversation. She never imagined she would be dealing with something like cancer. "I was going to tell you and Ken when we went out for lunch the other day but…" she nervously swallows. "I didn't want to scare you guys until I had actual news to share." She stares at her brother sheepishly.
No. No. No. No. "Well, do you want me to get Tom for you? Or…Gerri even?" Roman offers, his voice rising slightly as his stomach churns with anxiety. He feels like he's going to throw up his chicken and rice dinner from earlier. "Maybe it would help to talk to Gerri? I mean she's a woman and she's your Godmother and she's been through it once before…"
"If you tell Gerri, or Ken, or Connor, or Greg, or Cassie or fucking anyone …I'll fucking kill you, Rome," Shiv threatens, giving her brother a steely gaze that could rival one of Gerri's trademarked icy stares. "I mean it."
"Okay. Okay." Roman nods. Apparently he was the keeper of everybody's secrets tonight. He had caught Cassie throwing up in the bathroom earlier in the evening and she had confided in him that she was pregnant again but it was still early so she and Greg weren't going to tell Gerri or anybody else in the family just yet.
Roman crosses the room to where Shiv is sitting. He sits down on the floor at the foot of the bed and pulls his knees up to his chest, hugging them close. "So…what are you going to do?"
"I…don't know," Shiv answers honestly, at a true loss for words as she shimmies off of the bed and joins Roman on the bedroom floor, curling her legs underneath her since she was wearing a skirt. "I thought this was only something that happened to older women…I have a baby and the company…"
"Well don't worry about the company," Roman interjects. "Kendall and I can handle things with work. Okay?" He stares at his sister softly. "And Madison is just a baby. She won't remember anything from this time period when she's older…"
"Can we just…like… watch TV or something and forget about it? I'll…I'll see what the doctor says on Thursday," Shiv says, cutting her brother off, not wanting to discuss it any further.
The siblings were more open and honest with each other since Logan's death but out of all of them, Shiv still had the hardest time opening up and accepting people's love and support.
Roman nods and grabs the television remote from the bed. "Sure…we can watch TV," he says as he flicks it on and starts flipping through the channels.
If what his sister needed at this moment was a distraction, he could provide that.
"Thank you," Shiv says quietly as Roman settles on some cake decorating competition show on the Food Network, since he knew his sister enjoyed cooking and baking shows.
"Hey Shiv?" Roman says a few minutes later, after he's had time to process everything.
"Yeah?" Shiv asks, looking over at her brother.
"You and Madison are not alone, you know?" Roman says. "You don't have to fight this battle by yourself. I know Tom is a fucking useless husband but you have me and Gerri, and Cassie. And Kendall and Connor, and Willa. Hell, even fucking Greg. We would all drop everything to help you if you asked. We're all just a phone call away."
Shiv smiles softly and rests her head on her brother's shoulder, appreciating the support. "Thank you, Rome," she whispers.
Roman smiles down at her in return. "Of course."
They sit in silence for several more minutes, watching the silly little cake decorating show when Zoey suddenly comes barreling into the room, dressed in a pair of Hello Kitty pajamas, and launches herself at Roman, practically pouncing on him.
"Gigi's going to read me a bedtime story and then I'm going to sleep! Goodnight Roman!" Zoey excitedly says, hugging him tightly.
Roman chuckles and tries to catch his breath. Zoey's hug had nearly knocked the wind out of him. He was relieved for the grounding touch that brought him back to earth. He wraps his arms around Zoey in return and gently squeezes her. "Goodnight, sweetie. I'll see you next weekend for that sleepover."
"Goodnight, Auntie Shiv!" Zoey says happily, as she lets go of Roman and scrambles over to Shiv to give her psuedo godmother a hug.
Shiv noticeably tenses up at the gesture but she forces a smile and awkwardly hugs Zoey back. "Goodnight, Zoey. Sleep tight."
Gerri comes and stands in the doorway, with Shiloh in her arms. She chuckles when she sees Zoey letting go of Shiv.
"Sorry, she insisted on giving everybody a goodnight hug before they leave," Gerri explains, chuckling, as she gently runs her hand up and down Shiloh's back, trying to get the sleepy toddler to go to sleep.
"It's fine," Shiv assures Gerri but her strained smile says otherwise.
"Zozo? Why don't you go pick out a book for me to read to you and I'll be there in a minute. I just have to put your sister down," Gerri says, smiling softly at her granddaughter.
"Okay!" Zoey runs out of the room with as much energy as she entered with and Roman can hear her happily skipping down the hallway to her own bedroom.
"Is everything okay?" Gerri asks Roman and Shiv. She had noticed that they both had been gone from the party for quite a while and she felt like she was interrupting something by being there. Their smiles didn't quite reach their eyes and Gerri got the sense that something was up.
"Everything's fine," Shiv says, still giving her godmother a forced smile.
"Yeah…we're just tired," Roman lies with a small shrug of his shoulders. "Long week."
"It is getting late," Gerri agrees, nodding. "And it's a work night. We should get going soon, Roman. We have a long drive back to the city. Everyone else is heading out. I just have to help Cassie put the kids to bed and then we can get going."
Roman nods. "Sure, sounds good. Take your time."
"Goodnight, Shiv," Gerri says, giving her goddaughter a forced, polite smile.
"Goodnight, Gerri."
Shiv waits until Gerri has walked away and is out of earshot before she stares sternly at her brother. "Remember, not a word to Gerri or anyone else about what I told you. I'll…I'll tell Tom when we get home."
* * * * *
Later that night, Roman was trying to unwind before going to sleep and forget about his sister's devastating news, by watching Bachelor in Paradise in bed. Gerri was next to him in bed with her laptop on her lap, as she finished up some last minute lesson planning for the week. Occasionally she would look up from her work to watch the show for a few minutes when something caught her attention or to gently run her fingers through Roman's tousled hair. Nicki, the orange tabby cat they had adopted together, was curled up in between them, sound asleep.
The distraction of trashy reality television and Nicki's comforting presence wasn't helping and Roman's mind was still spinning. He was still in shock over what his sister had told him and he felt sick to his stomach with anxiety and worry.
Gerri could tell something was "off" with Roman ever since they left the party. He had been unusually quiet the whole drive home and ever since they arrived back at the brownstone they now shared together. He was actually letting her get her work done in peace and he wasn't disturbing her for once. And he wasn't making the usual snarky comments he always made while watching reality TV. He had shrugged Gerri's concerns off, once again saying he was "tired" and leaving it at that. Gerri knew the approaching first anniversary of Logan's death was probably weighing heavily on him. He had taken his father's death the hardest out of all his siblings. But Gerri also knew that Roman would open up to her when he was ready to talk. She didn't like seeing him in pain but she knew that it was best to leave him be and to let him open up when he was ready.
"Look at us in bed together with our cat, doing old married couple shit like a couple of fucking normos," Roman says, chuckling.
Gerri just chuckles at this and runs her fingers through Roman's hair once more, not getting his hint. She goes back to her work, typing a sentence or two in her lecture notes.
"Hey, Gerr-Bear?" Roman asks, resting his head on Gerri's chest and staring up at her vulnerably.
"Yes, sweetheart?" Gerri asks, softly staring down at him in return.
"Let's get married."
Gerri rolls her eyes and finds the television remote from where it was buried in the blankets, quickly flicking the television off. "No more reality TV dating shows for you, Roman."
Her sudden movements scare Nicki who wakes up and scrambles off the bed, running out of Roman and Gerri's bedroom.
"I'm serious," Roman says. He had tried to broach the topic of marriage with Gerri a few times over the past year and she always brushed him off, saying she had "been there, done that and that she wasn't interested in getting married ever again. He proposed marriage to her at least once a month and Gerri always turned him down with an annoyed eye roll and an irritated huff.
"I want to marry you, Gerri. So badly. So…will you marry me? Please?"
Gerri could see a pleading look in Roman's eyes that normally wasn't there during these moments. He looked especially vulnerable right now and Gerri was concerned.
She frowns, her blue eyes crinkling. "Where is this all coming from, Roman? We've talked about this. Why do we need to ruin a good thing by making it official on paper? I don't need a piece of paper to declare my love for you."
"Well…" Roman looks hesitant but he sighs and goes on. "When you had that cancer scare a few months back and needed to get a biopsy…I was really scared for you. For us."
"Aww, honey." Gerri smiles reassuringly down at Roman. Is that what his strange mood tonight was all about? She saves her work, carefully closes her laptop and places it on the nightstand beside her. "I was really scared too that the cancer had come back but I'm fine. It was a false alarm. I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. Okay?"
"Yeah, but hear me out," Roman starts. "God forbid the cancer had come back or something ever happens to me…wouldn't we get more rights and shit as husband and wife?" He figures maybe putting it in legal terms will help sway his always practical lawyer girlfriend.
"Well, yes," Gerri answers, realizing that Roman has a point there. She frowns, her eyebrows crinkling together. She's still confused where all of this is coming from.
"Roman? What is bringing this on?" She asks, staring down at him softly. "What were you and Shiv talking about earlier? I feel like Zoey and I interrupted something and you've been quiet ever since we got home. And now this. Is it the company? Is it in trouble?" She reassuringly places her hand on Roman's cheek and gently strokes his stubble with her thumb.
"The company is fine," Roman says, as he nestles his face into Gerri's chest.
"Okay, so…" Gerri doesn't know what else could have Roman behaving this way.
"Shiv's sick."
His voice is muffled by Gerri's pajama top and Gerri can barely hear him. "Hmmm?"
"Shiv has…cancer," Roman says, lifting his head to look at Gerri as the tears finally start flowing. "Fucking breast cancer. She just found out tonight. That was the doctor who called her." Roman sniffles.
Gerri can't help but to let out a small gasp of surprise. "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry."
Roman buries his head in Gerri's chest again as his shoulders start to shake with quiet sobs. Gerri can feel her silk pajama top getting wet with his tears.
"It's okay," Gerri soothes as she gently runs her fingers through Roman's hair. "Shhh. It's okay, baby. Shiv is going to be fine. She'll get through this."
She of course couldn't know that for sure but she knew from experience that it was better to think positively in these situations.
"You promise?" Roman sobs out. "I know it's messed up but…I miss my dad and…I can't lose anybody else. I don't want to…I can't…lose Shiv, too."
Gerri nods and gently runs her hand up and down Roman's back, trying in vain to soothe him and calm him down. She hadn't seen him this broken up and emotional since Logan's death.
"I promise," Gerri whispers as she leans down and presses a deep and lingering kiss into the top of Roman's head. She wraps her arms around his waist and holds him tightly. "Shhhh. Don't cry, baby. Shiv is a strong woman and a fighter. She'll beat this. I'm sure they caught it early."
"I fucking hope so," Roman chokes out as his sobs start to subside.
"Shhhh," Gerri soothes. She rubs Roman's back as he slowly starts to calm down and his breathing starts to even out.
His phone vibrates from where it's charging on the nightstand and he reaches for it.
"It's Shiv," he says, sniffling as he reads the text from his sister. "She told Tom. She's going to have me, Kendall and Connor over for dinner Thursday night, to tell them. After her appointment with the surgeon and she has more information."
Gerri nods, remembering all too well all of the doctor's appointments she had had to attend and all of the decisions that had to be made after she was diagnosed, almost two years ago. She couldn't believe that nearly two years had already passed since then. With all that happened in her life in that span of time, the last two years had flown by.
Roman yawns and lays back down, once again resting his head on Gerri's chest. He wasn't sure how he was going to go into work this week and act like everything was normal around Kendall and Shiv but he was sure he would figure it out.
Gerri strokes Roman's hair, relieved that he's calmed down a little.
"Do you want some good news?" Roman murmurs. "To balance things out?"
Gerri smiles softly and turns the lamp on her side of the bed off. "Sure."
"Cassie's pregnant," Roman admits, smirking slightly.
Gerri's eyebrows shoot up in surprise and she gasps again. "What? Shiloh just turned one this month. I thought they wanted to wait a few years before trying again."
Roman giggles and smirks again. "I don't know, Gerr. I guess they had too much fun during Cassie's birthday weekend while we had the kids." He wiggles his eyebrows playfully. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and all that jazz."
Gerri manages to let out a chuckle of disbelief as she lets the news of her third grandchild sink in. "How'd you find out?"
"By accident." Roman shrugs. "She forgot to lock the bathroom door and I walked in on her throwing up when we first got there." He chuckles. "I'm surprised she didn't tell you the minute she found out. You guys are like besties now."
Gerri shrugs. "If it's still early, she's probably just being cautious with her history of high risk pregnancies."
Roman nods and shrugs, too, relieved for the distraction of Cassie's pregnancy. But then like a whack on the head, it hits him and he remembers. His sister has cancer. Fucking cancer.
He yawns again, tired out from crying and he can feel a headache coming on. He nestles his head into Gerri's chest and smiles softly to himself as he feels her fingers curling around a lock of his hair.
"Get some sleep, baby. It's late," she whispers. "You'll feel better in the morning after you get a good night's rest."
Roman nods and closes his eyes as Gerri leans over to turn off the bedside lamp on Roman's side of the bed. "Goodnight, Gerr-Bear. I love you."
"I love you, too, Rome. Goodnight."
She leans down and lightly pecks Roman's forehead as he starts to drift off to sleep, feeling safe and loved in Gerri's presence.
Their cat Nicki comes back and jumps up onto the bed, curling up at the foot of it, next to Roman and Gerri's feet.
As Gerri wraps her arms around Roman and snuggles into him from behind, she starts thinking about their life together as she starts drifting off to sleep herself. They had both been through a lot together the last couple of years, lots of ups and downs, highs and lows. And with Shiv's diagnosis, it seemed like yet another obstacle thrown in their path.
But Gerri knew that as long as they had each other, they could get through any challenge life threw at them. She smiles softly to herself as she stares at Roman while he sleeps soundly, before she closes her own eyes. They had each other, they were both safe and healthy, and that's all that mattered. That's all they could ever need or want.
THE END