“At ease, children. That’s not happening any time soon. But I must say, it’s reassuring that you don’t want rid of us just yet.” Mom reached over and patted Molly’s quivering hand. “Keep going, Molly.”
She nodded, and ran her finger and thumb along the edge of the napkin in front of her. “They put a chip in there to keep an eye on things. They found a couple of smaller lumps…” She sucked in an audible breath and gave an unsure smile. “I go back in a few months to get everything checked over. But for now, I’m okay.”
A heavy silence settled over the table. “Mom… I…” It was rare that Molly Morrison ran out of words. Finn wanted to swoop her into his lap and hold her until the sads were gone.
“If you haven’t been in a while, you should go and get checked out. They said regular self-exams and early detection are really important.”
Mom rubbed her palm along Molly’s forearm. “I had my tune up not too long ago. I’m all good. But thank you.” Mom must have felt what Finn did too, she got up, rounded the table and pulled Molly into a tight embrace. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“We could have gone with you.” Will picked up a green bean from the probably-cold bowls scattered across the table in front of them.
“I didn’t want to worry anyone in case it was nothing.”
Dad sighed like the weight of the world pressed down on his shoulders. “And so what if it was nothing? We’re your family, Molly. We’re here for you. You shouldn’t have gone through this alone.”
Molly nodded against Mom’s shoulder. “I just didn’t want everyone to get weird over something that ended up being nothing.”
“But it might have been something,” Dad pushed harder, but Finn knew if she were to do it all over again, she’d make the same choices and do everything the exact same way – it was who she was.
Someone was staring at him, and when he looked up from his plate, Will’s eyes were drilling into his face. “You knew?”
How could Will possibly know that Finn knew? Finn opened his mouth, but had no idea what to answer. If he said yes, Will and their parents would be pissed for not telling him, and Molly would be pissed for sharing.
“Finn overheard a phone call with the hospital. He tried to come with me, but I didn’t let him.” She laughed. “He followed me to the appointment like a stalker and waited for me to come out.”
Dad gripped Finn’s arm and squeezed, his eyes betraying his every fear for his little girl. “Thank you, son. I’m glad she has you.”
Mom stood up and went back to her seat. When seated, she dished out heaped scoops of mash potatoes onto everyone’s plates.
“You knew.” Will’s voice was harder, colder.
“You didn’t tell him?” It was as though Molly had just realized Finn hadn’t shared her secret.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
Molly and Will spoke at the same time. Will’s question angry and demanding, Molly’s laced with surprise.
He turned to Molly first, held her stare. “You asked me not to and I wasn’t going to betray that trust. You were ready to share when you were ready to share. God knows you’ve kept my secrets over the years, and I wasn’t going to force you to talk about this when you weren’t comfortable.”
Next he turned to Will. “She asked me not to. She agreed to tell everyone when she was ready and it was her story to tell, not mine.”
If he pushed back again, Finn would remind him that he’d kept his fair share of secrets for Will over the years as well. And as long as someone had Molly’s back, it should be all good. Molly’s face was unreadable, she gnawed on her lip, but didn’t take her eyes off Finn.
Will shoveled a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth and swallowed. “You’d be pissed if it was the other way around.” He jabbed his fork toward Finn.
Finn sucked in a breath. He didn’t want to fight, especially not under the Morrisons’ roof. Dad arched an eyebrow and gave the smallest inclination of his head toward Will, like he was somehow giving Finn permission to stand up to him.
“You’re right, Will. I would. But I’d be comfortable in the knowledge that you had her back, she wasn’t alone, and if it was bad enough she’d have told me herself. I trust her to make her own decisions and speak up when she needs help.”
Will’s scowl deepened. “You should have told me.”
“No, son. He shouldn’t.” Dad reached across the table and speared slices of meat with his fork.
Having Dad’s backup should have made Finn feel better, but it seemed to only serve to make Will stew harder. Mom patted Finn’s hand. “Thank you for watching out for our Molly.”
Without taking his eyes from Will, Finn nodded. “It’s what family does.”
