Kathy found Holly asleep on the couch in the morning. She worried about her daughter, and what she would do when she was gone. Bringing her back here had been a good thing, she wasn’t sure she would find her way back to Maggie at first, but was relieved that she had. Kathy knew that when she passed, her daughter would need someone to help her through her grief. Even if she lived far away. Kathy busied herself with a coffee pot, the cancer had robbed a lot of things from her, her taste being one of them, she no longer drunk coffee for that sweet burnt caramel flavour she so often craved, but for the calming ritual. She placed a cup down on the table for her and got one down for Holly and poured her a drink too. She walked over to where her daughter rested on the couch and gently shook her by the shoulder until she woke. “Good morning.” Kathy said as she swept the hair from her daughter’s face. What a beautiful face her daughter had. She was going to miss those blonde curls and big b

Holly was so exhausted that her eyes hurt and her body was sagging, but the doctor would surely be on his rounds soon and she wanted to ask him how her mother was so she continued to fight the need to rest. It had been a long night in the Hospital. Kathy had to receive plenty of fluids and would need to spend some time on oxygen, but was otherwise okay. If she had not choked on her vomit, she likely would have not needed to come in. How much longer she had to stay in here entirely depended on how long she needed to on oxygen for. She had called Maggie a little over an hour ago and asked her to relieve Lincoln. She appreciated his help more than she could say, but she was worried it would cause him issues at home. She was just about to call Maggie again and ask how things were at home when Maggie sent through a photo. To her surprise it was a photo of Eve and Lincoln. They were smiling at each other over a plate of pancakes. Of course, Eve talked Maggie into that one she thought.

It was already dark when Lincoln finally woke. He turned on his phone and to his surprise there were no texts or missed calls from Sasha. She had gone quiet. His tummy rumbled; he had not eaten since Maggie had made him chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning. He hoped his mom had saved him a plate. He walked downstairs to find Maggie sitting alone in the kitchen. She had a smile on her face and was vigorously texting away. “You talking to Holly?” He asked. Maggie jumped in her seat; she had not heard Lincoln come in. He laughed, he didn’t mean to surprise her. “No.” She put her phone face down on the counter so Lincoln could not see. “Ohohoho a boy perhaps.” He teased. Maggie was a pretty girl, she had no trouble getting dates, but she did have trouble maintaining interest in anyone. “Shut up!” Maggie actually liked this guy; she didn’t want to spoil it yet. She wanted him to remain a secret just a little while longer. “Ah, so that is a yes.” Lincoln chuckled. It wa

In the morning, Holly visited her mother in the hospital room, she was improving but her oxygen levels still hadn’t quite returned to normal, so they were keeping her in for one more night. Holly tried to sit with her, but Kathy was tired and wanted to rest. Holly promised her mom that she would be back in the evening and went home with Eve to get ready to go to Lincolns house for lunch. Holly pulled out her phone and texted Lincoln. ‘Does your family know I am coming over for lunch? What did you say to them?’ She was excited to go and see them, but she did not know how to explain the situation to them.Lincoln texted back quickly. ‘Hey, beautiful. I was just thinking about you. Yeah, I hope you don’t mind, but I kind of told them I bumped into you this morning while I was at the store and invited you over. I am happy to tell them, if you are, I just didn’t know if you would be ready for that.’ Holly thought about it a moment, no, she defiantly was not ready for them to know ju

Holly did everything she could to keep herself distracted until Lincoln’s visit. She took care of Eve, and when she was putting her to bed, she read every book on the shelf, some of them twice just to help keep herself keep calm. Her worries and doubts were like an internal storm inside her, fear struck like lightning, over and over again. She wished she was able to talk to her mother about this, although Kathy would probably just tell her to rip the band aid off. And if she spoke to Maggie about it, Maggie would be so happy that she would forget how afraid Holly felt. She was pacing the kitchen back and forth practicing how this should go when there was a knock at the door. She opened it, but before she could get a word in, Lincoln grabbed her and kissed her passionately. He only stopped when he felt like he was out of breath. “I have been waiting to kiss you all day.” He rested his forehead against Holly’s and smiled. He still couldn’t believe it; she was giving him a chance. “Li