Grace’s sophomore year of high school passed uneventfully. Rose finished her cancer treatments and had regained her strength and her hair, which was now short and curly. By Christmas, she felt like a full-fledged member of the family. Even Mike seemed to enjoy having her around, though she still kept her distance from him when nobody else was around.
In the spring, Grace had another article published by Reader’s Digest and one in Redbook magazine.
Because they were in the same school district now, she and Valerie got to spend time together on weekends. Over spring break, Valerie stayed the entire week with them. She even went with them on their summer vacation to Rose’s family home in upstate New York.
By the end of summer, Grace let her guard down. She was no longer waiting for the rug to be yanked out from under her. She was as happy as she’d ever been. She was part of a family who loved her, and she loved them.
In the fall of her junior year, however, Grace noticed that Rose looked tired and needed more help around the house than usual.
“Rose, are you feeling okay?” she asked one night while they were doing the dishes together.
To Grace’s horror, Rose cried.
“Rose, what is it?”
Rose confessed that her cancer had never fully gone away and had now spread to her spine. She hadn’t yet told Mike or Joe, and asked Grace not to say anything.
Rose’s confession was like a punch in the stomach.
Oh, God, I should’ve known better.
“So you’ll go back into treatment, right?” she asked. Rose had gotten better once. She could do it again.
Rose shook her head. “I’ll do some radiation to help with the pain, but in the end, there’s nothing they can do, Grace.”
The air drained from her lungs and hot, angry tears dripped slowly down her cheeks. She wasn’t sure whether she was more angry with herself for allowing herself to need Rose, or with God for giving her something beautiful and then, once again, taking it away. The rug had been all but yanked from under her, and before she fell completely flat on her face, she bolted from the kitchen and ran upstairs to her room.
The next morning her eyes were red and swollen, and Joe asked her what was wrong as he drove toward the school.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
They drove the rest of the way, and home again, in silence.
Rose told the rest of her family later that week and things were very solemn around the house for months. As Christmas approached, Grace convinced Mike and Joe that they needed to make Christmas special since it might be Rose’s last one.
They bought the tree right after Thanksgiving so they could enjoy it as long as possible. Mike bought every decoration and light set he could find and they spent an entire weekend decorating. Mike even took them all to a concert at Rockefeller Center in the city.
By spring, the cancer had spread to Rose’s liver, and she declined rapidly. They set up a bed in the living room for her so she didn’t have to climb the stairs. By the end of the school year, they had no choice but to call hospice.
Grace sat with her most days until late at night. Rose slept most of the time while Grace wrote in her journal or sketched. When Rose was awake, Grace read to her or they talked.
One evening, Grace sat with her sketchbook on her lap, working diligently to finish her most recent drawing. She was almost done when she looked up and found Rose watching her.
Rose touched her head and, feeling the pink stocking cap that helped to keep her warm, she grimaced. “This thing won’t be in the sketch, will it?”
Grace only smiled and shook her head. Mike had selected a few of his favorite photographs of Rose and given them to her for her sketches. She promised to do a few for him and for Joe, but she also wanted a couple for herself. To remember the woman whom she had come to love deeply.
When she finished the sketch, she showed it to Rose, who gasped in surprise. “It’s me on my wedding day.” Her eyes welled at the memory. “It was the second happiest day of my life.”
“What was the first?”
“It’s a toss-up between the day Joe was born and the day you came to us.”
Grace kept her tears in private. She wanted to be strong for Rose, and for Mike and Joe, but Rose made it impossible not to cry now. A tear trickled down her cheek and she laid the sketch on the bed, pulled her chair closer, and held Rose’s frail hand.
Rose opened her arms to Grace, and she climbed onto the bed and lay beside her. They held each other and eventually fell asleep in each other’s arms. When she woke up in the early hours of the morning, someone had placed a blanket over the two of them.
She closed her eyes and pressed her body close to Rose and felt an arm clasp tightly around her. She knew it wouldn’t be long now, and she knew her heart was going to break, but she wanted to give her love to Rose and be loved in return.
Just for tonight.
Just this once.