Her Normal

Chapter 15

Maddie's POV

Spencer was as supportive as he could be. I felt bad that he was losing so much work lately. It was Monday morning and I was flying back in a few hours. I was packing my things and Spencer was downstairs with my family, talking and being a good guest. I didn't want to leave, but I knew if I didn't go back to work tomorrow I'd be short on bills and stuff and I didn't want that. I carried my stuff downstairs and my mom motioned for me to come into the living room and sit with everyone else.

"Hey." I said to Spencer, and sat next to him.

"Hey." He smiled at me.

"Okay," my mom began. "Now that you're all here, we need to have a family meeting." She stood and was wringing her hands, nervous about something.

"I'll excuse myself." Spencer stood to leave and my mom waved him back down.

"It's okay. You're good." She grinned. "I got a call from the doctors earlier, the scan they took of his brain the other day came back. The tumor is massive, and if you guys haven't noticed, he's been needing memory refreshers from just the day before. They said it could take over any time now, and to be prepared for the worst." She had tears trickling down her cheeks now and she was doing her best to regain her composure. I was biting my lip so I wouldn't cry, since Mike and Melanie seemed to expect this and weren't upset. I felt Spencer grab my hand and Mike gave him a weird look. I nodded at mom and she sat down. "I just figured you all needed to know that. You're dismissed whenever." She left the room and went to dad's study, where she spent most of her time these days. I walked out onto the patio in the back yard and sat on the steps, taking in the scenery of my old back yard. The rusty swingset, the tire swing that caused plenty of injuries and the old kiddie pool that we used to play lifeguard in.

"I'm gonna go pack my stuff, I'll be back in a bit." Spencer kissed the top of my head before going back inside. I heard the door open a few minutes later and Mike sat next to me. "Hey." I said to him.

"Hey kid." He sat next to me and ruffled my hair. "How you holding up?"

"Fine." I said. I didn't like to be upset around my brother because he was always tougher than us girls and that's what taught me to keep myself together.

"Really?" He asked. "Good Lord child you look like you could lose it any minute. And your boy toy in there is pretty concerned."

"Not my boy toy, boyfriend." I corrected him. "He's always worried about me for no reason."

"How come you never told me about him?" He asked me. I shrugged.

"I didn't really think you'd care, you and I aren't really in touch." He seemed to be taken aback at my slightly harsh words and I felt bad instantly.

"I know," he looked at the grass a few feet in front of us. "But that needs to change. Especially with dad in such poor health and mom being so torn up. We need to stick together for her." I nodded, agreeing with his sudden spiel of emotion. I looked over at him and his eyes were watery, causing tears to prick at the corner of my own. He looked at me and stood, pulling me up and into a hug. "I know kiddo," he stroked my hair. "These things just happen."

Spencer's POV

I looked out the window to see her and Mike hugging, and I could see her shoulders shaking. I felt bad that it wasn't me comforting her, but having that moment with her brother would be beneficial to their relationship. I hadn't formally met him yet, but I could tell by the looks, slight squinting, crossed arms and stance changes that he was used to being somewhat of an alpha male to his sisters. I could understand that. I snapped out of my thoughts as Maddie walked in and nudged me.