Chapter Text
Nothing's better than family,
For the ones who love you so
Be a shoulder to cry on when you’re in need
They'll never leave you alone, no
Just remember that family comes first
where you gonna run to? when no one is around
Do you think out there they'll love you.
When your face is on the ground?
When you feel your strength is almost gone
And your arms are getting weak
And you don't think you'll keep holding on
We'll help you stand tall on your feet (just remember)
Family comes first
Family First – Whitney Houston
Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 5:00 p.m.
“Josh and Gia said they were coming, right?” Chris pulled out his wallet and paid the cabbie while Cameron pulled out her phone and read the latest text from Josh.
From Groban: This is all sounding very mysterious, CK. Is everything okay?
From CEKennedy: Just show up at my folks’ house and you’ll find out along with the rest of them, okay?
From Groban: I’m already in a cab on the way there. See you in a few.
From Groban: Evans better not have knocked you up already.
From CEKennedy: Jesus H. Christ, Groban, mind in the gutter much?
From Groban: LOL! Love you, too, CK.
“Josh is on his way. Says he’ll be here in a few,” she tossed over her shoulder as she slid out of the cab. She turned as Chris got out behind her. “Gia may be awhile since she’s got to pack up all the various and sundry shit that goes with lugging around a six-month old baby. Dom was home so he said he’d come with her.”
“Well, it will be nice to see baby Gio, at least,” he said as he placed his hand on the small of her back and ushered her towards the steps of her parents’ Upper West Side brownstone. She could feel the slight tremor in his hand. She stopped and turned to look at him. Poor baby, he suddenly looked far older than his twenty-eight years. This ordeal was going to be as hard on him as it was going to be on her. Chris just felt things so deeply. They were totally going to need to lean on both their families for however long her battle with cancer took. She pulled off her glove, raised her hand and lovingly caressed his cheek. “You forgot to shave this morning, a ghra,” she remarked quietly.
He shrugged and rubbed his cheek against her soft hand with its slightly calloused fingertips developed during all those years of playing violin, piano, guitar, and any number of other instruments. “I kinda didn’t expect to leave the house as early as we did, babe.”
Cam nodded. “Yeah,” she said softly, “I would imagine you didn’t see that coming at all.” Chris opened his arms and she stepped into his warm embrace. As had become her habit, she burrowed her face into his chest as she wrapped her arms tightly around his small waist. She could feel his heart beating almost double time. He was just as freaked out by what they were about to do as she was. “Oh God, Chris, this is going to be so, so hard. My mother is going to blame herself for this, I know she is, however illogical that is. My parents are going to be devastated.”
“I know, so are mine. They both love you like one of their own, Cam,” he whispered against her forehead. “But I’ll be right there with you. I’ll help you get through this.” They stood that way for a few moments then pulled apart and turned when they heard a car come to a stop at the curb. Josh Groban emerged from a yellow cab and stepped up to greet them. He pulled Cam into a big hug and planted a kiss on her lips. He released her then shared a hug with Chris.
“You guys do realize it’s freakin’ freezing out here, don’t you?” Josh said with a grin. “Then again, the way you two were wrapped around each other, I guess you weren’t feeling the cold very much, huh?”
Cam wrinkled her nose at Josh but said nothing, leaving him bewildered. She always had a snappy comeback for him. Instead, she turned back to the steps of her parents’ house, squared her shoulders and started forward. Josh watched her curiously then looked at Chris. “What the hell? That’s totally not like her.” He looked back at Cam then returned his confused gaze to Chris. “She doesn’t seem right, Chris,” he said softly, “what’s wrong?”
Chris shook his head at the man he’d come to think of as a brother and said, just as softly, “It’s a long story, buddy. We’re just waiting for Gia and Dom to arrive and then we’ll clear up the mystery.” He clapped Josh on the shoulder then turned to follow Cameron up the steps. Josh, more confused than ever, watched as Chris caught up to Cameron and slipped his arm around her waist while pressing a kiss against her temple. Something really wasn’t right here and it made Josh very nervous. He went up the steps behind them.
Cameron had barely gotten her keys out of her pocket when her little brother Lucas threw open the door and shouted “Cameron!” as he launched himself into her arms. She staggered under the force of his greeting, wincing at the unexpected jarring of the biopsy site, but she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on his ear, something that never failed to make him both squirm and laugh at the same time. “Hello, my love,” she said, desperately trying to keep her emotions in check. “Unhand me now, Thing Two, and greet your brothers.” She pulled out of his exuberant embrace and passed him off to Chris, who got a bear hug of his own. She stepped into the house as Lucas let go of Chris and threw himself at Josh. The Kennedys were a demonstrative bunch but Lucas truly had a corner on that particular market. She wondered how hard her sweet, loving little brother, her Thing Two (Jeremy being Thing One) would take the news of her cancer? She shuddered just thinking about it and felt Chris’ hand caress her hair. She calmed almost immediately. Chris was so good at steadying her nerves. Dear God, would she be able to steady his during the worst of this situation?
“I thought I heard the cry of the wild Lucas,” her younger sister Elizabeth said as she came down the front hall to greet them. “Hi, Cam, give me some love.” The sisters shared a warm embrace. “I see you brought the two handsomest men on the planet with you. Sorry, sister dear, but you are now superfluous,” Elizabeth said with a grin as she stepped into Chris’ arms.
“That’s charming, Elizabeth,” Cameron drawled, her usually dormant Irish brogue making an appearance. As usual, the minute she got around her family, all of whom maintained their accents, her brogue returned with a vengeance, much to Chris’ supreme delight. He loved it when Cameron became his “sweet Irish rose.”
“Can I help it if you have wildly good taste in men, and I have the good sense to appreciate that taste?” Elizabeth retorted over Josh’s shoulder as she gave him a big hug.
Cameron rolled her eyes as Chris and Josh laughed. “Where are Mam and Da? And the other two, for that matter?” she asked.
“Where d’ya think?” Elizabeth answered as she took everyone’s coats.
“The kitchen, naturally,” Josh said with a grin. “Everyone always congregates in the kitchen, every time. Why is that, I wonder?”
“Because that’s where the food is!” Lucas said with a wide grin.
“You would know, Thing Two. God bless that prodigious appetite of yours,” Cam said as she led the way towards the back of the house.
“Good Lord, Isabella, sounds like a herd of buffalo have invaded our home!” Liam Kennedy exclaimed as he heard the rumble of boots on the hallway floor.
“That’s music to my ears, Liam. It means my children are coming home to roost…for a little while, at least.” The joyful, noisy sounds of family coming together were the only things heard in the kitchen for the next few minutes. Even though they lived in the same city, the family didn’t always have the chance to see each other as often as they liked. Cameron always had something going on; the twins, Jeremy and Elizabeth, were attending Julliard as well as being involved in their own band, which often jammed with Cameron; and the youngest siblings, Lucas and Katherine, were in high school and had many afterschool activities of their own. Liam saw Cameron more regularly because he managed her career and she tried to call Isabella at least three or four times a week. However, because he and Cam had been friends for so long, Josh was completely comfortable with stopping by to see the Kennedys without Cameron in tow and did so fairly regularly, particularly when he found himself missing his own parents now that he lived in New York full-time while his folks stayed out in Los Angeles. In fact, he sometimes saw Cam’s family more than she did. Josh toured far less frequently than Cameron used to.
Once everyone was settled, Isabella offered the newcomers drinks, telling them as she poured to save room since they would be having baked ham, poached salmon, and rice pilaf for dinner. Josh was ecstatic, loving Isabella’s cooking almost as much as he loved Cameron’s, but Chris and Cam each wondered if anyone would have much of an appetite after hearing her news. They looked at each other and silently came to the same conclusion: the news would wait until after dinner. No sense in ruining the meal Isabella was putting together for the family. "So, darlin’,” Isabella said to Cameron as she served Josh the orange juice he requested, “what’s going on that you insisted the whole family be here?”
“If you don’t mind, Mam, I’d just as soon wait until after dinner. Besides, Gia, Dom, and the baby aren’t even here yet.”
Isabella and Liam shared a look then watched as Cameron leaned tiredly against Chris’ arm as they sat at the kitchen counter. Their girl was all smiles a moment ago and now she looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Something was very wrong here. The suspense was killing her, but Isabella respected Cameron’s request and said nothing further.
The Kennedys, Chris and Josh enjoyed their time together as they waited for Gia and her family to arrive. Isabella continued cooking with Liam’s help while Elizabeth and Jeremy played their latest musical compositions on their guitars as Lucas and Katherine showed Cam, Chris, and Josh their latest school projects. Lucas, as always, roped Cameron into helping him with an essay he’d been working on that just wouldn’t come out right. He loved picking his sister’s brains for his essays; it was like having a living, breathing Wikipedia sitting right next to him. Cameron was always amazed that the boy completely disregarded his own high IQ in favor of abusing hers. “Did you read the assigned materials, Loopy Lucas?” came the standard question.
“Well, naturally,” came the standard reply.
“Don’t ever become a lawyer, Thing Two, you’re a terrible wee liar. You’ll give away every case. Don’t ever play poker, too, come to that.”
“Well, that’s rude, big sister. And I don’t know how to play poker.”
“Ah, don’t listen to her, Luke,” Chris said with a smirk that was just a touch evil. “Josh and I would be happy to teach you how to play poker.” He surreptitiously nudged Josh with his elbow.
“Yeah, Lucas, Chris and I would love to teach you.”
Cameron, who’d caught the interplay between Chris and Josh, looked at Lucas and said, “Luke, I’d think twice before taking them up on their offer. But if you do, make sure you never play for money. Play for food,” she added with a grin, “you’ll be highly motivated to win every time!”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I think that may have been rude, too, Cameron. Hey!” he exclaimed as Cam drew a red line through one of his paragraphs. “That was the best part of my essay!”
“After all these years of bleedin’ my intellect dry, lad, ye’ve the nerve to say that atrocity against the English language was your best paragraph? Jay-sus, boy, have you retained nothing of what I’ve taught you?”
Lucas’ face was the picture of innocence but his bright gray eyes held a sly look. “Then make it better, Dr. Kennedy.”
“My arse is going to make it better, boyo,” Cam retorted.
“Language, Cameron,” Isabella chastised mildly.
“Sorry, Mam.” She pinned her youngest brother with a look that could melt steel. “Rewrite that, right now. Put some real effort into it or I’ll just keep redlining it until you get it right. You have the gift of prose, Lucas, try putting it to work.” Lucas blushed at his sister’s words but he took his essay and settled into a seat at the breakfast nook and got to work. Cam was confident he’d get it right this time.
“Wow. You’re tough,” Chris said with a grin. “Your students at NYU and Julliard must love you.”
“They do, actually,” Cam said airily as she swiped a handful of the croutons Liam was about to add to a salad he was making. “My classes are usually among the first to fill up whenever I’m on the schedule.”
“That’s because the male students just want to sit and stare at your legs and your as…I mean, your other assets,” Josh stammered, grinning sheepishly at Liam and Chris when both men turned to him with raised eyebrows. “Hey, she may be my sister but I’m neither blind nor dead.” Liam, Chris and Isabella burst out laughing while Cameron gave Josh the side-eye then continued admiring Katherine’s latest fashion sketches. Littlest sister loved to design dresses; on more than one occasion, Cameron had taken Kate’s sketches to her dressmaker to have them made. Cameron believed in her sister’s talent so much that she’d promised Kate she would bankroll her first fashion line so long as Kate finished college. Tuition wasn’t ever going to be a problem; Cameron had been paying tuition for each of her siblings since they started high school. Liam had only had to put them through grade school.
The doorbell rang. “I’ll get that, Mam,” Jeremy said and headed down the hall. Moments later, Gia, Dominic, and a still bundled up baby Gio entered the kitchen, trailed by Jeremy, who was lugging Gio’s portable playpen. Cameron immediately jumped off her stool and swooped in to relieve Gia of her precious bundle. She gave both Gia and Dom a quick, noisy kiss then brought Gio over to the counter to start peeling off the layers the baby was swaddled in. Chris followed on Cameron’s heels, giving big hugs to the couple who had chosen him to become their son’s godfather then hurrying back to the counter so he could help Cam find little Gio under all those clothes. After several minutes and much tugging and pulling from both Cameron and Chris, they finally unearthed the gorgeous little man with the big brown eyes and soft, curly brown hair who looked just like his mama. Cameron picked him up and cradled him in her arms for a long moment, her hold on her emotions becoming very tenuous. She whispered soft nothings into his little ear then smiled as the baby snuggled further down into her arms. Chris smiled as he watched his love with their future godchild. Cam was a natural with kids; he couldn’t wait to see her holding their own baby one day. She kissed Gio’s forehead then handed him over to Chris. As she passed him the baby, Chris could see the tears welling in her eyes. He leaned into her. “Babe,” he said softly, “hold on, okay? It won’t be much longer now. You can say your piece and not have to worry about holding back your emotions. Everyone in this room is family. I’m here for you and so are they.”
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she nodded her agreement. She pressed a soft kiss to Gio’s forehead then hopped back up on her stool and watched as Chris cuddled the baby and softly hummed the melody to “Return to Pooh Corner,” a song Chris once told her his mother used to sing to him and which she promptly added to her concert set list, much to Chris’ surprise and Lisa’s absolute delight. Cam loved watching Chris interact with kids. They gravitated to him like magnets to steel and he really loved letting his own inner kid out to play. But he was especially wonderful with Gio. She felt the tears well up in her eyes yet again. Given what she knew about the side effects of some chemotherapy drugs, would she be able to one day give him the children he so badly wanted? Oh, dear God. At that moment, she could no longer bear watching Chris with their godson. She touched his shoulder and quietly said, “Give him back to his mama, a ghra. I’m sorry. I’m just having a hard time right now, watching you with him. Too emotional.” Chris nodded in understanding and took Gio back to his parents. As they watched the exchange between their daughter and future son-in-law, Isabella and Liam both saw the tears in Cam’s eyes and felt fear constrict their hearts. Something was definitely very wrong with their girl.
Chris came back to Cameron and slipped his arm around her shoulders. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him. He gave her a squeeze and whispered, “I’m right here, sweetheart. My strength is yours. You can do this. You can be strong.” With his free hand, he reached up and cupped her cheek. He leaned down and kissed her gently. The family was used to Chris and Cam’s PDA but there was something different about their interactions tonight. Cameron was fairly vibrating with some sort of pent-up emotion, and Chris was being exceptionally gentle with her. They all sensed that something was very wrong but they knew Cameron. She wouldn’t say anything until she was good and ready and it appeared she wasn’t going to be ready to talk until after dinner, at the earliest.
“Right then,” Isabella said, breaking the pall that had settled over her family. “Jeremy, Elizabeth, would you kindly set the dining room table? Dominic, I hope you remembered that we have the high chair Chris and Cameron bought for Gio and didn’t bring your portable one.”
“I remembered, Bella,” Dom said with a grin. “I’ll go set it up.”
“Lucas, Katherine, please pack up your school books and take them upstairs. Wash your hands while you’re up there. Joshua, would you take Gio for a bit while Gia gets his baby food and his bottle ready? There’s a lad.” Isabella watched as Josh took the baby from Gia, who then rummaged through her diaper bag in search of Gio’s dinner.
“I’ve always said you had to have been a general in another life, my love,” Liam said to Isabella as he dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Look at how the children obey your orders without hesitation. ‘Tis a sight to see!” Isabella grinned and rolled her eyes. She and Liam had been married twenty-seven years and he’d been saying that exact same thing for the past twenty. Still, it never got old. She leaned into him briefly then gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Mo ghra,” she said to her husband, “would you take the salad out to the table? Jeremy and Elizabeth should be close to finished setting it.”
“By your leave, my love,” Liam said as he hefted the salad bowl in one hand and grabbed the serving utensils with the other. He winked at his daughter and his future son-in-law as he walked past. “Christopher,” he said jovially, “watch and learn. Cameron is a clone of her mother. Expect to be doing this yourself a few years down the road.”
“I look forward to it, Da,” Chris said with a smile. He, Josh and Gia often called Isabella and Liam Mam and Da just as their own children did.
Isabella stood still for a moment, still watching her eldest as she sat within the circle of Chris’ arms. Try as she might, she could no longer hold back. “Cameron, love, is everything all right with you?” She watched as Cam’s back stiffened ever so slightly at the question. The gray eyes that were identical to Liam’s looked over to meet Isabella’s green ones. There was such pain and sadness in Cameron’s eyes that Isabella had to look away for a moment. Whatever was troubling Cameron was huge. She looked back at her daughter. “My girl…?”
“Please, Mam, after dinner.”
Knowing that Cameron was as stubborn as the day was long, Isabella simply nodded and let sleeping dogs lie for however long it took for Cameron to speak her piece.
“Dinner was wonderful, Mam,” Gia said as she rocked baby Gio in her arms. The entire family had moved into the living room for coffee and some of Isabella’s excellent angel food cake. Gia’s sentiment was echoed by everyone else and Isabella smiled her thanks to them all.
As conversation flowed around them, Chris and Cam, who were occupying one of the loveseats near the fireplace, whispered to each other. “Babe, maybe now would be a good time to finally get this off your chest. You barely said a word during dinner and believe me when I tell you, everyone noticed and everyone is starting to get really anxious. You are so tense right now, I could probably snap your shoulder blades in half if I hug you too tight.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Sweetheart, I’m right here. You’re not doing this alone. You will never do this alone, I promise you that. I wouldn’t let it happen and neither will they,” he said as he nodded his head at her family.
“Did you call your mam and tell her to be close to her computer?” They’d decided just before dinner to place a Skype call to Lisa Evans up in Boston so she could be there, via webcam, to hear Cam’s announcement.
“Done,” Chris answered. “I also asked Jeremy to bring his laptop down and set it up for us.” He waved a hand toward her brother’s computer, which sat on an end table opposite the loveseat they occupied. This way Lisa could at least see Chris and Cameron.
Cameron took a deep breath and held it for a moment. She let it out slowly then said, “Go place the call to your mam, a ghra. It’s time.”
Chris pressed another kiss to her temple then got up to call his mother on the laptop. The room fell quiet when everyone noticed what Chris was doing. Cameron scooted forward a bit on the loveseat so she could better face her family. “Chris is calling his mam via Skype,” she told everyone. “What I have to say…well, Lisa needs to hear it too.” They heard the call going through then Lisa suddenly popped up on the laptop’s screen, but hers was not the only face visible. Scott, Carly, and Shana were just behind their mother.
“Hey, guys,” Chris said, surprise in his voice. “I wasn’t expecting to see you all.”
“Ma said you guys had some sort of announcement to make so we decided we should all be here for it,” Scott said. He smiled mischievously. “Is Gio getting a new playmate, perhaps?”
Great. The Boston side of the family thought she and Chris were pregnant. Wonderful. Cam dropped her head into her hands. “Scott, not cool,” Chris said, not bothering to hide his annoyance with his younger brother.
“Oops, apologies, bro. It’s just…well, you’re looking a little tense so I thought I’d…lighten the mood...” Scott trailed off, confusion on his face.
“Okay, okay. It’s time. I’ll say what I need to say. Just please understand that I don’t have a whole lot to give you in terms of information so please don’t ask me a lot of questions, okay?” Cameron held her hand out to Chris. “Please come sit with me, a ghra, I need you by my side.” Chris immediately went back to Cameron. They intertwined their hands and Chris coached her through a few more deep breaths. Finally, she looked up.
“I, um…I…” she faltered and gripped Chris’ hands tighter. “I asked you all to be here this evening because I have something I need to tell you. This isn’t easy for me to say, and it’s not going to be easy for you to hear.” She paused and Chris leaned over and kissed her cheek. She took another breath then continued. “I went to see David, Arthur and Robert Shapiro today because this morning, when I did my monthly self-exam,” at this, she looked directly at Isabella, “I found two lumps in my right breast.”
There was a collective gasp and Isabella grabbed onto Liam as she said, “Oh, my girl.” Chris and Cam could hear the Boston side of the family all start talking at once until Lisa shushed them sternly. Cameron gripped Chris’ hands harder still and continued, “David and Robert did a physical exam, and Arthur gave me a mammogram and an ultrasound, and they all studied the films and came to the same conclusion.” Her voice faltered and she paused while Chris whispered words of encouragement in her ear. She nodded and softly thanked him. She straightened her back, cleared her throat and said, “I have Stage 2B breast cancer.” The room was so quiet, Gio’s soft coos could be heard as he rested in his mother’s arms. “Robert performed a biopsy today and put a rush on the results. Chris and I are going back to see them tomorrow afternoon so we’ll have more definitive answers plus Robert will be able to tell me more about the treatment plan he’s preparing for me. He wants to start me on chemo as early as next week. They want to treat this aggressively because they’re afraid that I’m very close to entering Stage 3 and they would like to…um…to avoid that happening…” she trailed off as the tears she could no longer hold back began to fall steadily. She turned into Chris’ embrace and buried her face into his chest. Here it comes, Chris thought, the storm is brewing.
Chris looked at the stricken faces of the people he’d come to think of as his second family. “I was with her through it all. I plan to be with her through everything, every test, every procedure. And if I can’t be with her because of work, I was hoping I could count on all of you to step in for me whenever and wherever possible.” He turned to look at the shocked faces staring back at him from the laptop screen. “I’m going to ask the same of you guys, especially while we’re up in Boston for the next couple of months.” He smoothed his hand down Cam’s hair and rubbed her back as she continued to sob into his sweater. “The Shapiros are pretty certain that the lumps in Cam’s breast are cancerous. The biopsy results will be definitive. I’m hoping like hell that they got it wrong but…all three seemed pretty sure about what they saw. They don’t strike me as the kind of doctors who would speculate about something like this.”
“They are not,” Liam said quietly. “The Shapiro brothers are among the finest, most honorable men I know. They’re all excellent doctors. I would take them at their word, no question.” Liam looked Chris in the eye. “Thank you, Christopher, for being there for my girl, for giving her comfort and support. I know this is tearing her up but it’s got to be taking a toll on you, as well.”
Chris blinked back tears as he said, “I really appreciate that, Liam, but no thanks are necessary. You’ve known for a long time that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Cameron. I love her. And I’m going to take care of her, but we’re going to need help. We need you guys.”
“And we’ll do whatever you need us to do, Chris,” Josh said, his voice unsteady, his eyes shiny with unshed tears. “I know you start filming up in Boston in the next couple of weeks. I’ll stay with Cameron wherever she winds up – whether she stays here or if she is able to go up to Boston – so I can keep her company while you’re working and take her to her appointments and stuff. I don’t have anything on my schedule for the next few months.”
“I’ll stay with Cameron during Spring Break,” Elizabeth put in.
“We both will,” Jeremy added.
Cameron lifted her head from Chris’ chest and turned to look at her family. “I know I can count on you guys,” she said, her voice hitching from her sobs. “You’re the best. You always were and you always will be. I don’t know exactly what to expect yet. Chris and I are going to make a list of the things we want to ask Robert tomorrow. He did say that starting chemotherapy as soon as possible would stop the growth of the tumors and kill off the cancer cells. He said chemo can shrink the tumors so there’s a good chance I won’t lose my breast.”
“Well, that’s encouraging news, at least,” Lisa said.
“Just let us know when you need us,” Scott said, “we’ll be there, whenever, wherever.”
Cam gave Chris’ family a watery smile. “Thanks, guys. That is so greatly appreciated.”
“Cameron?” came a soft, plaintive voice from her left. She turned in Chris’ arms to find Lucas standing there, his face blotchy and tear-stained, his slim body trembling.
“What is it, my love?” she said as she pulled away from Chris and stood up to face her little brother. The boy was just about her height now, five foot seven, give or take an eighth of an inch. He was only sixteen so there was still time for him get a little taller but what he didn’t have in height, he certainly had in looks as well as personality. While all the Kennedy children shared a resemblance, Lucas was the one who looked most like Cameron. When he was younger, he liked to call himself her “little twin.”
“Cam,” he said, his voice shaky, “please, tell me you’re not going to die like Nan’s sister. Tell me that you got to the doctor in time. I can’t lose you, Cam. None of us can. You have to tell me, Cam, you have to promise you won’t die!” Lucas threw himself into Cameron’s arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Cam sobbed right along with him. She knew all of her siblings would be affected by her announcement – she saw the tears in each of their eyes and the stricken looks on their faces – but there had never been any question that Lucas would be the one to take it the hardest. He worshipped Cameron; he always had.
“It’s too soon to say anything about anything, Lucas, love, but what the doctors said to me today was encouraging. I’ll tell you this, my love, I don’t plan on going anywhere, not for a very long time. I’m going to fight this but I need all of you to be strong, not just for me but for each other and for Christopher. He’s going to need your support, too. We’ll get through this, Lucas, we will, love.” She pulled away from him enough to frame his face with her hands. “Okay, Lucas?” She wiped his tears away with her thumbs. He swallowed hard and nodded. He leaned towards her and kissed her cheek then stepped away from her and went over to give Chris a hug, which Chris gladly returned.
Cameron wiped her face with the napkin Elizabeth brought her then went into her younger sister’s embrace. The two young women held each other for a long time. They both knew that Elizabeth and little Katherine were both in danger of developing breast cancer as well. This was a frightening prospect all three sisters grew up with. “Keep doing your exams, Lizzie,” Cam whispered, “never slack off. It could save your life. It most likely just saved mine.”
“I’ll continue, Cam, I promise. But I need you to do everything the doctors tell you to do, please. Don’t deviate from anything. I don’t want to lose you. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, little sister. I’ll walk the straight and narrow, I promise.”
The moment the sisters broke their embrace, someone else was there to hug Cameron and offer her words of support and encouragement. When Gia came to Cam, the young mother almost couldn’t hold it together. She clung to her very best friend in the world and promised that she and Gio would stay with her as often as possible and cheer her up like no one but her tiny godson could. Cam smiled. “Chris might finally have someone to be jealous of,” she said.
“Yeah,” Gia said with a watery smile, “nothing says love like having your best guy get so excited to see you, he poops his pants.”
“Ahhh, so that’s why I always wind up having to change Gio’s diapers just minutes after I walk into the room. Gee, good thing Evans is potty-trained, huh?”
The last person to come to Cameron was Isabella. Cam felt so bad for her poor mother. The cancer gene was on her side of the family so Cam knew Isabella was feeling guilty over her condition, however irrational the idea. Cameron certainly didn’t blame her mother or her grandmother. It simply was what it was.
Cam, exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster she was riding, gestured towards the kitchen and she and her mother left Chris to deal with the Kennedys and the Evanses, who were still on Skype. Once in the kitchen, Cam walked over to the breakfast nook and practically fell onto the padded bench, suddenly too tired, too emotionally spent, to hold up her own weight. Isabella came over and sat down next to her, taking one of Cam’s limp hands between both of hers. “Oh, my girl, I don’t have the words to express how sorry I am this is happening to you. If there was anything I could do to keep this from you, to make all this go away, I’d do it, in a heartbeat I would.”
“Oh, Mam, don’t you think I know that? This isn’t anyone’s fault. It’s just a thing that happened. God knows I should be thanking you.”
“For what, love?”
“For insisting I learn how to do a self-exam and for beating it into my head that it had to be done every month without fail. Your insistence on the matter may have very well saved my life, Mam. Please don’t overlook that. Please.”
“She’s right, Isabella,” Gia said as she entered the kitchen with little Gio, whom she handed to his future godmother. “You insisted on teaching me and got me started on doing monthly exams. Now even my mother, aunts, and sisters do it. We all owe you a great deal of thanks, Isabella.”
“Gia, sweetheart, you know I’ll do anything for the people I love,” Isabella said as she stood to hug her daughter’s oldest friend. Cam looked on for a moment, a weary smile on her face, then she looked down at the adorable child in her arms. As everyone else trickled back into the kitchen, with the exception of Chris, who was finishing up the Skype call with his family, and stood huddled around the kitchen island, talking to each other in hushed tones, Cameron decided she needed a little one on one with the only being in the room that had no idea what was going on. “Hello there, my wee a ghra,” she said softly as she nuzzled the baby’s downy temple. “Ah, lovely, that new baby smell. Why can’t someone bottle that scent? A whiff of that would make anyone smile.” She giggled as Gio took a swipe at her nose and laughed.
Whenever she looked at Gio, she tried to imagine what her kids with Chris would look like. Would they have her jet black hair and his gorgeous blue eyes? Or would they sport his thick brown hair paired with her trademark gray eyes? Would they inherit her frighteningly high IQ or be musical prodigies, as she was? Or would they have their father’s easy-going, self-deprecating charm, his razor sharp sense of humor, and his fascination with science and the world around him? She closed her eyes as she cuddled Gio. After all was said and done with chemotherapy, would she even be able to have children? She’d heard that chemo triggered symptoms of early menopause in some women and left other women unable to conceive. God, I will take whatever other side effects chemo may cause, but, please, don’t let it take away my ability to have Chris’ babies. I don’t think I could handle that. She sighed heavily as she pressed a kiss on Gio’s chubby cheek. That was one more thing to put on the list of questions to ask Dr. Robert tomorrow. “Maybe I should freeze some of my eggs before I start chemo, hmm, Gio? What d’ya think? Better safe than sorry, lad, wouldn’t you agree?” She opened her eyes to look at the baby then noticed everyone staring at her. “Ah, God, did I say that aloud? Jay-sus.”
“Yeah, babe, you did,” Chris answered. He had an odd, almost pained, look on his face. Apparently, he had just walked back into the kitchen in time to hear Cameron talking to the baby. “Why would you even think that?”
Isabella answered for Cam. “One of the more insidious side effects of chemo is to leave a woman barren, Christopher. Most women can’t conceive during chemo but once they stop taking the drugs and it clears their system, their cycles resume and they can go on to have children. With some women, the ability to conceive never comes back.” She turned to Cameron. “I, for one, think harvesting and freezing some of your eggs prior to chemo is not a bad idea, my girl. As you yourself just told little Gio, better safe than sorry.”
Cam nodded her agreement with her mother then turned to look at Chris. She wore a profoundly sad look that he could only think of as apologetic. “Something else to talk to Dr. Rob about, a ghra,” she told him. He watched as she snuggled her face against the downy head of their godson, her eyes squeezed shut against the tears he knew she was trying so hard not to shed.
He nodded then walked over to where she was seated. He knelt down in front of her. “I’ll put it on the list, babe. And I agree with your mom. I think we should harvest and freeze a bunch of your eggs, just to be safe. God willing, even if anything happens after your treatments, we’d still be able to have a child that’s ours. You’d want that, wouldn’t you?”
Cam opened her eyes and looked into Chris’ beautiful blue ones. “More than anything, mo ghra.” She pressed a kiss against little Gio’s head then handed the baby to his godfather. Chris gave her a beautiful little smile as he cradled the infant against his broad chest. “That is nothing short of a perfect picture. You are meant to have children, Chris. And I was meant to give them to you. We’ll ask the Shapiros if they can recommend any places where we can go to have my eggs frozen. I’m sure we aren’t the first couple to find themselves in this situation.” She leaned forward and gave Chris a soft kiss then gave Gio another peck. “I love you, Chris, and you, too, my wee Gio.”
“I love you, too. So does Gio.” He kissed Cameron again. “We’ve got this, babe. We have totally got this.”
Cam smiled tenderly at the man who never failed to believe in her. “I can do anything as long as you’re by my side, Chris.”
He made a show of playfully covering Gio’s little ears. “Then let’s go kick cancer’s ass.”
Late that night, Chris watched an exhausted Cameron as she slept in his arms, her face ravaged by the torrent of tears she’d shed from the minute they got home to barely an hour ago, when she finally succumbed to sleep. He’d hustled her up to their bedroom, locked the door behind them, and simply watched as the storm finally broke. She raged, yelled, stalked her way around the room, cursed God and all the angels and saints until she finally collapsed in a heap on the floor, too tired, too spent to say another word although the tears didn’t seem to want to stop flowing. He picked her up, took her to the bathroom and set her down on the very same bench she’d crumpled onto just that morning. He drew her a nice warm bath in their spa tub and as he carefully undressed her, she told him that this had been the longest day of her life. Well, they’d finally come to the end of it, he assured her. He was going to help her bathe, get her into her pajamas, get some tea into her, and they were going to sleep until noon. When he finally had her in bed and under the covers, he called down to Nigel and asked him to please brew her favorite tea. Unbeknownst to Cameron, Chris had called Nigel earlier in the day and had given the news to the heartbroken butler. He needed to prepare the older man for the yelling and screaming he was sure to hear once Chris and Cam got home. Nigel brought the tea up and broke protocol by sitting on the bed next to Cam and holding her hand while he assured her that he would follow to the letter any dietary instructions given by Dr. Shapiro so that Miss could stay as strong and healthy as possible during her cancer treatments. He kissed Cam’s hand, shook Chris’, and bid them both goodnight before closing the door behind him. Chris didn’t miss the lone tear that coursed its way down the butler’s cheek.
Chris made sure Cam drank all of her tea – it was chamomile to help her sleep – then he climbed into bed next to her and softly reiterated every promise he’d made to her that day. The last thing she heard him say before she finally drifted off was, “I love you with all my heart and soul. You are the future Mrs. Christopher Robert Evans so we need to fight this cancer thing with everything we’ve got. I can’t live without you, Cameron…and I won’t.”