Long time, no post. Sorry for that, y'all! But here's chapter ten! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the Ghost Bird series.

Chapter Ten

Dr. Roberts came and left, but I was in a numb haze the whole time. It was confusing, how I went from dealing just fine to barely coping in the blink of an eye. Luckily the guys were there and asking all the right questions—and actually retaining the answers, because all I could recall was the basics.

Six weeks of chemo.

One session a week.

My husbands' faces were set in concentration as the doctor spoke. When he left, a handful of them followed to talk even more. I didn't want to ask why they hadn't just said everything they needed to say when Dr. Roberts was in the room.

Surprisingly, Kota remained by my side the whole time, my hand tucked snug in his. I'd figured he'd be one of the guys to speak more with the doctor, but he showed no desire to leave me anytime soon. We both watched Luke and Gabriel having a muffled argument over by the door, until Mr. Blackbourne—who had also stayed—said, "It sounds like it would be better for you both to go."

Gabriel rolled his eyes, but Luke grabbed his elbow and tugged him out the door. "We'll be back."

"Later, Trouble!" Gabriel called.

I turned my eyes to Owen. "What was that about?"

"Pie," he said, deadpan.

And for some reason, it set me off on a little giggle fit. The answer wasn't surprising, because Luke, but Owen saying it so seriously… I couldn't stop giggling.

Owen's lips quirked into his special little smile as he watched me catch my breath. Then he asked, "How are you faring after the meeting with Dr. Roberts?"

That dried my laughter right up.

I shrugged, refusing to give into the urge to fidget. "It is what it is."

He studied me closely. "Do you have any questions?"

The question had barely left his mouth before my head was shaking. I didn't even want to discuss this now. I wanted to just not think about it for a little while. That was reasonable, right?

Apparently so, since he didn't push it. Instead, he changed the subject. "Would you like more ice chips? I can go grab some for you, if you'd like."

My throat had gone dry at some point while Dr. Roberts had been talking, so the offer was much appreciated. I forced a smile, to show this to Owen. "Please."

He nodded and stood, leaning forward to drop a light kiss on the top of my head. "Of course. I'll be just a moment."

And now it was back to just me and Kota. His thumb was stroking my hand soothingly, and I let myself relax. I met his eyes and asked, "How are you?"

"I'm..." he paused. "Well, honestly, my mind is spinning. There's so much to look up and learn, to make sure we're prepared and take the best care of you. We have Sean, so that works in our favor, but it can't hurt to be well informed." His gaze scanned my face. "Are you sure you don't have any questions? Dr. Roberts kind of dumped a lot on us."

If my brain hadn't been in utter discord, I might have barked out a laugh. Yeah, he dumped a lot on us—except I'd caught next to none of it. All I knew was how long I'd have treatments for, and how often during that time period I'd have to come in for it. Other than that, I was clueless.

"No," I said, hoping Kota couldn't tell how breathless I truly felt. "No questions."

He pursed his lips. "If you'd like, I could share some of my research with you—"

"No," I said immediately, interrupting the rest of his suggestion. "I love you for offering, but no. I don't want to research. I don't want to know more. I don't want to see the statistics and possible effects and outcomes. This isn't like other things—learning won't help me succeed. I just want to do exactly what the doctor says and hope for the best." I stopped for a second, taking a breath and surveying the shocked expression on Kota's face. Then I rushed to add, "That doesn't mean it's bad that you're learning all you can. Or if any of the other guys are, that's not bad either. Everyone copes in different ways. And I'm glad you know all the right questions to ask when we're with the doctor. Me, though...I just...can't."

Kota's fingers squeezed mine. "Hey. It's okay. I get it."

I frowned. "I'm being terrible. All I retained from everything Dr. Roberts said was that it'd be six weeks of chemo, with one session each week. And I know he said a whole lot more. But I didn't actually hear any of it."

He lifted my hand to his lips. "You're not being terrible. You're dealing with this the best you can. And if that means you depend on the rest of us to know the details, then that's okay." He leaned forward, kissing first my cheek then my mouth. His forehead met mine and he whispered, "We're going to be okay."

I pulled in a short breath through my nose. "Yeah?"

Kota smiled, sitting back in his seat. "Yeah."

My heart melted. If nothing else good came from this situation, at least now it was inarguable that my husbands were the best. And that I was beyond lucky to have them.

Mr. Blackbourne returned then, a cup of ice in one hand and a spoon in the other.

"I can feed them to her," Kota offered, reaching out to take them from Owen.

But Owen pulled his hands back. "I believe I will take this duty, Mr. Lee."

"Or," I said, "I could shovel ice chips into my mouth myself. I'm not two, you know."

Both Kota and Owen looked over at me like I'd just started speaking gibberish. "We are very aware of the fact that you're a grown woman," Mr. Blackbourne said, his voice heavy with meaning that had my cheeks heating. "However, I'd be pleased to assist you with this."

Then his lips tipped into an actual smile—even larger than his usual millimeter smile—and that was how I ended up being fed ice chips by Owen, while Kota held my hand and chatted quietly.

The next morning, all of my husbands were hanging around my room waiting for my discharge papers to be filed, so we could all go home together. Mr. Blackbourne had tried to talk some of them into taking one of the cars and going ahead of us, but no one would budge.

So, together, we would leave.

It was almost noon by the time Dr. Roberts had everything signed and cleared for me to leave. It was only a brief reprieve, since I'd be back in a few days to begin treatment, but I was grateful to go home.

I rode in the front seat of North's jeep, North holding my hand the entire way. "Sang Baby?" he said.

"North?" I asked, not particularly liking his tone.

His thumb soothed over my hand. "I know you have a shit ton on your plate, Baby."

I gave him a sad smile. "I could say the same about you. And the rest of the guys."

"We're okay, aggele," Silas said from his spot in the back. "We just worry about you."

I glanced back at him. "That goes both ways."

North's hand squeezed mine. "Don't you waste any time worrying about me. Or any of us. You take care of you, and that's all we need. Got it?"

Taking a page out of my husbands' book, I lifted his fingers to my lips and pressed a kiss to them. "You're so sweet."

"I'm not," he said. "I just love you."

I grinned. "And I'm beyond lucky."

North scoffed but didn't argue. Instead, he squeezed my hand again. "Back to what I was originally trying to say. I know you have a lot of shit on your plate, so feel free to tell everyone to fuck off when we get home and they try to call a family meeting."

"Do we have a meeting planned?" I asked.

"I heard Kota talking about calling one," Silas said, reaching forward to rest his hand on my shoulder. I smiled back at him and he grinned. "North is angry about it."

I tilted my head, peering over at North. "Why? Family meetings aren't bad."

North frowned. "It's all the guys trying to step over each other to go with you to your treatments. You shouldn't have to deal with that shit."

"Can't blame them for wanting to go," Silas said.

"No, but they don't have to force Sang Baby to listen to their arguing either."

"Um," I broke into their conversation, "I actually don't mind."

Silence.

Then, "What?" from both of them. Silas' curious, while North's was practically a snarl.

I tried to pull my hand from North's so I could fidget but his grip held firm, so I lifted my free hand and pressed my pointer finger to my lip. "There isn't much I can do for you guys right now. You're all doing things for me. Making me feel better and bringing me things I need. I want to do my part too. And if all I can do is sort out who goes with me when, then I'm going to do it."

"Sang Baby." North's tone was gentle.

"You don't owe us anything, aggele," Silas murmured, his deep voice warming my chest.

I shook my head. "It's not about owing anyone anything. It's about me basically being useless right now—"

North cut me off before I could finish, "You will never fucking ever be useless. You're too important. So, so damn important, Baby." He sighed. "Shit."

"Just let me do my part," I whispered. "I don't mind."

Turning onto our street, North nodded. "Fine. But if those assholes get to be too much, you let me know and I'll take care of it."

My lips twitched as I imagined what him taking care of it would entail.

"Or tell me," Silas said quietly in my ear. "I'll take care of it. Reasonably."

North scowled, obviously hearing Silas' input, and I couldn't help but giggle.

We pulled up to the house then, apparently the last to arrive, since the rest of my husbands were milling around in the front yard. Once the jeep was parked, my door was opened and Victor was offering me a hand to help me out.

"Happy to be home, Princess?" he asked with a smile.

"Absolutely." I smiled back.

"Alright," Kota said loudly, cutting through the chatter. "Inside. Family meeting."

Victor's arm slid around my shoulders, leading me inside. "Unless you don't feel up to it? This can wait."

I shook my head. "It's okay. I had this conversation with Silas and North during the ride here, actually."

"Okay. But if at any point this gets to be too much, just say the word."

Pressing into his side, I kissed his cheek. "I love you."

He grinned as we sat down on one of the couches, tucking me into his side.

Nathan plopped down on my other side, sliding in close too. "You okay, Peanut? Do you need anything before this mess begins?"

I couldn't help but laugh a little. They were all so pessimistic about how this meeting would go. "Maybe some water?"

"I'll get it for you, Baby," North offered, disappearing down the hall to the kitchen before I could respond.

While he was gone, everyone got situated. Silas somehow fit himself onto the couch with us, while the rest of the guys chose seats around the room. Kota and Owen remained standing, though Owen was off to the side. If I had to guess, I'd say they were worried about how the family meeting would go too and wanted to be prepared to bring it back into control if it got heated.

North returned, handing me a glass of water and sitting on the floor in front of me, with his back pressed to my legs. It was comforting, being surrounded by men I loved. I placed my free hand on the top of North's head, gently toying with his hair.

"If we're all situated, we can officially start this meeting," Kota said, bringing all our attention to him. "I'm sure everyone is aware of what we need to discuss."

Sean raised his hand. "I think it goes without discussion that I should be able to accompany Sang every time she has a treatment."

"You know that's not fair," Victor spoke up from beside me.

Sean shrugged. "My medical knowledge could be helpful."

"That's what Dr. Roberts is for," Nathan said.

Sean rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on—"

"That's enough," Kota interrupted. "Before we talk about who can go to which sessions, maybe we should decide how many of us should go to each?"

Gabriel leaned back in his seat. "I don't see why the fuck we all can't go. This is important."

"I'm not sure Sang would be comfortable with that," Kota said.

"Maybe," Mr. Blackbourne said, "we should ask Miss Sorenson what she'd be comfortable with. Instead of simply assuming."

Kota frowned but nodded. "Right." He looked at me. "Sang? What do you think?"

All of their eyes landed on me and I shifted in my seat. I wanted to help, but I wasn't sure what to say. Could all of them come with me? Should they? That probably wouldn't be a good idea. I needed to pick a certain number and then we could all go from there.

I bit my lip. "It's probably not a good idea for everyone to go every time."

Kota nodded, but North tipped his head back to watch me. "Good idea or not, Sang Baby, if you want us all there, we'll all be there. Just say the word."

Running my hand through his hair, I nodded. "I know. But I'll be able to see everyone after. I should chose a certain number for the actual treatments. Maybe three?" My mind ran over that idea and I liked it, so I said, "Yes. Three at a time."

Kota rubbed his hands together. "Three. Okay. So maybe we should divide into threes and each group can be assigned days?"

"But that wouldn't allow for me to go to every session," Sean complained.

"Doc, you can't go every time," Luke argued, sounding annoyed.

"Medical knowledge," was all Sean said in response, as if that won the argument.

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. "Medical knowledge my ass. We all love her. We all want turns. So get over yourself."

I raised my hand, trying to get their attention so they'd stop fighting. "Hey."

"Get over myself?" Sean fumed. "What—"

"Hey!" Silas shouted, causing both Sean and Luke to whip around to face him. "Aggele mou is trying to say something."

"Sorry, Sang," Luke said.

I gave him a tiny smile, though I didn't really feel it. I hated that they were so upset about this—that this was even a thing to argue about in the first place. I knew it wasn't my fault, I didn't ask to get sick, but it was upsetting regardless.

However, I needed to hold it together. They'd been supporting me through this, and now I needed to do this small thing to help them.

"Sean, Nathan, and Victor. North, Silas, and Owen. Kota, Gabriel, and Luke. Those are the sets of three. Sean and his group can go to the first treatment and the fourth. North's group can go to the second and the fifth. And Kota's can go to the third and the sixth. There; problem solved." I was surprised at how confident I sounded, when on the inside I was shaking.

"But Pookie—" Sean started.

I held up my hand, refusing to let him say anything to make me second guess my decision. "No. I know you love me. I know you all love me. But you have to remember that I love you all too. So I need to be fair. It's the only way this works."

He opened his mouth to argue, but I continued before he could say anything. "And I would not appreciate you making me feel bad about my decision." I blinked at him. "It's not like I won't be able to see you before and after. It's just during that needs to be more controlled."

At that, Sean nodded. "It's after that you'll need us most, I think."

I frowned, not wanting to think too hard about why he'd say that.

Victor's hand folded around mine. "You'll be okay."

I took a sip of my water, then leaned into Nathan. "Yeah," I murmured. "We'll all be okay."

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