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I laugh. “I’m sure she’d disagree with you there.”
She regards me again. “Are you going to be living with us?”
I nod. “For a little while. A couple of months.” If God’s willing, only a couple of months.
“Why?” she asks. “You don’t have a house?”
“I do, but there are people here I need to see. People that will help me. And your mom and dad were nice enough to let me stay here while I do.”
She does another head tilt. “Why do you need to see them?”
I pause, unsure how to explain. “Well, you see, I’m sick, and the people are going to help make me better.”
“Are you sure?” Her eyes squint. “You’re not going to die, are you?”
A laugh slips past my lips, even though it’s far from a joking matter. “No, I’m not going to die.” Or at least, I hope not. The type of leukemia I have is slow growing, and my doctors caught it early. The chemotherapy should knock it out, but there’s always a chance….
“Good. I don’t want you to die. I think that would make Mama very sad.”
I give her a soft smile. “And we don’t want your mom sad, right?”
She shakes her head emphatically. “No.”
“Destiny, what did I tell you about coming in here?” Ashlyn reprimands, appearing in the doorway. “We were supposed to let her sleep for a little while longer.”
I grin at my friend. “It’s okay. I needed to get up anyway or I won’t be able to sleep tonight.”
Destiny gets off the bed and skips over to her mother. Ashlyn smooths her hand over the top of her head, looking down at her with all the love in the world.
“Why don’t you go see if Daddy needs help in the kitchen?”
“Okay.”
Destiny looks back at me and waves before skipping out of the bedroom.
“She’s beautiful, Ash.”
Ashlyn turns back to me after watching her daughter go off down the hallway.
“Thanks.” She steps further into the room. “You feeling better after your nap?”
Sliding my feet to the floor, I get up and stretch. “Yeah. I didn’t realize how tired I was until I laid down.”
“I’m gonna go check on things in the kitchen. Dinner should be ready in about thirty minutes if you want to join us.”
“Of course I do. I still have to meet this husband of yours.”
After she leaves, I grab my toiletry bag and go to the bathroom. I do my business and brush my hair. Dropping the brush, I look at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes still look groggy, and my cheeks are a bit hollower than usual. I’ve lost weight over the last few days. I’m just grateful Trent or my family haven’t noticed, or if they have, they’ve not said anything.
I leave my bag in the bathroom and make my way out to the living room. Hearing voices come from a doorway off to the left, I assume that’s the kitchen and move in that direction. What I find once I enter the room has my heart melting into a pile of goo.
Destiny’s up on the counter turned sideways as much as she can without putting her feet on the surface. Ashlyn’s standing there with a big blond guy at her back, his arms around her. All three of them are messing with something inside a big bowl.
Destiny sees me first and faces forward, her hands smashing together hamburger meat into a flat patty.
“Hi!” she chirps.
Dillon steps back from Ashlyn so she can turn around. She and Dillon also have balls of meat in their hands.
