to her own room, making sure the blanket is tucked around her tiny body. After pressing a kiss to her forehead, I walk out, gently closing the door behind me.
Molly has rolled to her other side, so her back is facing mine. Her knees are drawn up to her chest, and she’s hugging her legs. Gripping the back of my shirt, I tug it over my head before dropping my pants to the floor. I leave them where they fall and quickly get into bed. Scooting over to her side, I press on her shoulder until she releases her legs and is forced to roll to her back. Seeing the devastation on her face is almost too much to bare.
Leaning over her, I cup her cheek and put my face as close to her as I can get without kissing her.
“Listen to me, Molly. I see the guilt in your eyes when you look at our kids. If Gray or Gemma carry this gene, it is in no way your fault. You need to get that out of your head. The only thing you could have done to prevent it is to not have them. That means giving up two of the most precious things we’ve ever created together. As much as it hurts to know they may have this thing, I wouldn’t give up a single second of their lives.”
She hiccoughs on a sob. Tears fly from her cheeks when she rapidly shakes her head. “I wouldn’t either.”
“We need to heed the advice Dr. Becker gave us and not let the unknown ruin the precious time we have left. We’ll know their fate in a couple of weeks. Until then, I refuse to use the time I—” I abruptly stop when the words get clogged in my throat. Only the feeling of Molly’s lips gently pressing against mine gives me the courage to finish. “I’m not going to let these two weeks ruin a second I have left with you. The fate of our kids is unknown at the moment. Yours isn’t.”
The tears I’ve been holding back since this afternoon in Dr. Becker’s office come flooding back. Without the fear of the kids seeing, I let them fall.
Dropping my head, I press my lips against Molly’s. I taste her tears, and I’m sure she tastes mine.
“I love you,” I whisper raggedly against her lips. “No matter what life has in store for us. I’ll always love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispers back. “Forevermore.”
“Forevermore.”
That word has never held more meaning than it does in this moment. Even when Molly is gone—an eternity can go by—and I’ll still love the red-headed girl who stole my heart in third grade.
The next morning, I wake with my face buried in a head full of red hair that smells like vanilla. I breathe in deep, wishing I could keep the smell in my lungs forever. The diagnosis we were given yesterday suggests I’ll only have it for two to five more years.
If we’re lucky.
I tighten my arms around Molly, making sure there’s not an inch of space between us. I feel the moment she wakes up because her body tenses. Not from me holding her so tight, but because she’s remembering too.
I’d give anything to make yesterday only a bad dream.
She rolls around until she’s facing me, and I pull her close again. Our faces are so close I almost have to cross my eyes to see her beautiful green ones clearly. There’re bags under her eyes and her cheeks are paler than normal with little red splotches mixing in with the freckles I love so much.
“Hey.”
She tries to smile, but it turns more into a grimace. “Hey.”
“How are you feeling this morning?”
She blinks slowly. “Terrible.”
I feel the same, so her answer doesn’t surprise me.
I intertwine our legs together. “Tell me a story.”
That gets me a genuine smile, and the hollow feeling in my chest shrinks marginally.
“Do you remember the last half of senior year? When I worked all of those extra hours and wasn’t around as much?”
“Yeah,” I grumble. “I hated it. The only time I got to see you was at school for two periods, if I went to the book store where you worked, or when I snuck into your room at night. You said it was because you were wanting to get your mom a new purse she had been eyeing for a while.”
Her smile grows, and she drops her eyes to my beard as she runs her fingers