The Unexpected Journey Part Two

Chapter 24

"Fair?" Maddie whispered.

"Mmmm," Ella nodded. "For you to lose all of your hair and still be this beautiful."

"Oh Ella really," Maddie rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she tugged at her hand.

"Really," Ella held tight. "There really is nothing we can do to make you not gorgeous."

Though Maddie in no way bought into the words that were coming out of her best friend's mouth, she appreciated her attempt at keeping her grounded, at keeping her from scattering.

And then, as if he were answering a call she hadn't even been able to make yet, Harry was there. Standing right next to her at the counter and meeting her eyes in the mirror, her heart thudded in her chest and an unexplainable fear took over her better senses.

"Well..." She swallowed at the lump of anxiety in her throat and turned to face him. The look in her eyes was one he was sure he had never seen from her before; nervous and uncertain. "Do you still want me?" Her voice cracked as she laid truth to her greatest fear, her unknown insecurities.

"Do I..." Harry shook his head in disbelief, the words barely registering as they came from his wife. Holding Maddie's gaze, Harry stood taller. "Bishop?"

"Hmm?"

Without looking, without moving, Harry called back to his best friend. "Time to go."

"Time to what?" There was a trail of laughter in his voice.

"You and Ella...it's time for you to go."

"Wait," Maddie's fingers tugged at the front of Harry's shirt. "Why are you making them go?"

As his hand closed around hers, he leaned in closer, nothing but seriousness in his eyes, nothing but gravity in his voice. "So that you never, ever have to ask me that again."

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By the time the children were arriving home, Maddie and Harry had emerged from the bathroom with flushed faces and wide smiles. The love making that afternoon had been easier than Maddie had thought it would be---and more important than she ever would have guessed. With a few slight adjustments and a bond full of want and desire, they had come together and strengthened a bond that had held them together for so long. With patience and determination, he had made her feel loved and beautiful and wanted. He loved her so much.

So much. On a normal day it was easy to see that. On this day, it was impossible to ignore it.

They had decided that afternoon, when they were cuddled up in their bed, blissful and spent, that when the children came home, she would stay upstairs and he would go and gather them. Preparing them for what to expect, Harry would bring them up to see their mother's new appearance. Both of them tried to prepare for a variety of reactions they might get and both of them took a deep breath, steeling themselves for any number of responses.

When they heard the children burst into the house, Harry kissed Maddie once more before he left her and went to collect them. She waited there in the middle of their bed, a big bundle of nerves and worry. But when Harry stepped back into the room, with Oscar in his arms and the other three following along, Maddie felt her anxieties slip away.

They weren't afraid. They weren't cowering around Harry's legs or running away. They weren't crying or grimacing or the least bit put off by the absence of Maddie's hair.

Their children, their beautiful, kind, wonderful children, were smiling and quizzical and excited to see their mother. Hurrying ahead of Harry, they climbed on the bed, gathering around her in awe and curiosity.

"Oh wow..." Ollie's eyes widened as he moved in for a closer look, his hands instantly reaching to stroke her smooth skin. "Your hair..."

"All gone!" Malcolm held his hands up like he did when his food was finished.

"Yes," Maddie nodded with a chuckle, her fingers tickling his belly. "It's all gone."

"How?" Lilli seemed a little timid as she moved in closer, inspecting it with studious eyes.

"Well, it started to fall out while I was washing my hair," Maddie reached up to take Oscar from Harry's arms, his smiley little face not the least bit phased by her change in appearance. "But then Uncle Bishop shaved the rest of it off for me."

"Uncle Bishop?!" Ollie leaned back, his eyes even wider. "Uncle Bishop shaved your head?!"

"He in twouble?" Malcolm asked, nervous for his uncle.

Both Harry and Maddie laughed. "No no baby. He's not in trouble. I asked him to do it."

"Why?" Lilli wondered, her fingers reaching out tentatively to touch it.

"So that it would just be....gone..." Maddie smiled up at her daughter. "So that I wouldn't continue to lose it all over the place, like Hairy Houdini." The kids all giggled at the image of their mother shedding like their dog.

"Does it hurt?"

"No Lilli," Maddie's smile tugged higher. "It doesn't hurt."

"Are you sad?"

Maddie's eyes welled up but she fought the tears with a deep breath. "I was a little bit sad," she went for the truth, knowing the kids would always know the truth. "But I'm better now. And, after I'm finished taking the medicine, it'll grow back."

"It will?" Ollie seemed fascinated by it all.

"Yes. It will." Maddie breathed easier as Lilli relaxed into a small smile, pleased with her mother's responses. "Besides. It's only hair, right?"

"Right." Malcolm nodded, standing tall and certain with his little belly sticking out.

"Right," Maddie sighed, her eyes lifting to Harry's as she gathered the children in; hugging and kissing them each in turn.

"Right." Harry's smirk tugged higher as he tossed her a wink and climbed right into bed with the lot of them.

The Second Round of chemo hit harder than the first. It knocked Maddie down more than the first, it knocked her down worse than the first. It chipped at her confidence and her vanity in a way she hadn't been prepared for.

But it was her family—both chosen and by blood—who rallied around her and lifted her up. And, as Maddie snuggled in her bed with her husband and her four wonderful, loving children, she knew she could weather this hit—and all that would come next.