The Window Seat (badLuckbrides #1)

Chapter 5

Simon

Two Years and Six months Ago

"Mom's dead," I hear and my eyes burst open like I've been summoned from my sleep by the phrase. I look around the room as my eyes begin to focus. Kathlyn's sitting up halfway under the covers, biting her finger.

She wasn't even the one who'd said it. I realize Ashlyn's still speaking to her, her voice is only a small noise blaring through the phone's speaker. The room is so quiet I can clearly hear the sounds of Ashlyn's sobbing and I'm certain she's about to hyperventilate.

I sit myself up, wondering why Kathlyn isn't saying a word in response. I'm sure she's just shocked, but it scares me that she isn't reacting the way I imagined she would. She's just staring straight into the dark, listening to her sister weep out her words.

"Okay, Ash." I see her drop the phone from her hand like she's suddenly forgotten how to grip things.

As soon as I place my hand on her back she breaks down, crawling toward me as she processes what we all knew was inevitable. She sits in between my legs and I hold her, rocking her gently. I place my hand on her belly, but the baby is still. He'd always been so active lately. She even complained about how painful his movements could be at times, but in this moment I don't feel him.

"Simon, she's gone," she cries, clinging to me like I'm all she has. And maybe that's how she felt. She had her sisters, but they couldn't console her the way I could. They couldn't be that solid support that I wanted to be for her. That I'd hoped to be for her. I'd been preparing for this night since Marilyn was first diagnosed. Since the day they'd given her a life expectancy. Since I saw the pained looked in Kathlyn's eyes when we pushed her mother through the hospital sliding doors after her last appointment.

This was going to happen.

A couple months ago, Kathlyn swore she was accepting it, that she'd be okay when the time came. I knew she was just hoping if she spoke the words that it would be true.

Being awakened at four in the morning to that call. To hear Ashlyn's cries in a completely dark and silent room, we weren't prepared for that. It was a terrifying feeling. My heart was still pounding because I knew it all was about to unfold.

I kissed the top of her head like that would make her better. Like that would do anything to change how she was feeling. I felt her small body shaking against mine until she fell asleep over my chest, wrapped in my arms.

I couldn't sleep after that. I felt sick to my stomach in anxiety.

They say you never really know someone until you've gone through sickness with them. Until you've lived with them and saw them at their worst. Until you go through death with them. It felt like we were entering hell and I was completely scared of what this would do to us.

I found myself rubbing her belly again as I listened to her small snores. Marilyn may have been gone, but I knew Kathlyn would stay strong for Lincoln.