Chapter Six

When Ed reached their bedroom, he wasn't surprised to see that his wife had fallen asleep still in her clothes. Smiling softly, he walked over to the sleeping form and knelt down and began to remove her shoes. He set them down by the dresser and walked over and took out one of her favorite nightgowns and laid it on the bed. Walking into the bathroom, Ed quickly washed himself, brushed his teeth and reached for his faded gray sweats that were hanging on the hook and slipped them on.

He sighed quietly in tiredness and walked back into the bedroom and opened his drawer and grabbed a white t-shirt and put it on and then walked back towards the bed. Sitting down next to her, he carefully removed her jewelry and unbuttoned her blouse. As he undressed his wife, he was amazed at the fact that she did not move once, she stayed sound asleep.

Ed always knew that Jillian was a heavy sleeper, but it still surprised him. He carefully slipped her nightgown over her head and tucked her in and headed into the bathroom.

As soon as her husband's back was to her, Jillian couldn't help but open one eye and watch him, trying to conceal the grin. She loved playing this trick on him and he fell for it every time.

In the bathroom, Ed reached for her makeup remover and the bag of cotton balls and walked back out into the room and sat down and removed all her makeup for her. To her surprise, Ed even grabbed the bottle of moisturizing cream and put some on her face. The minute he stood up and turned his back for her, she asked him quietly, "Eddie, will you please brush my teeth too while you are at it?"

He grinned as he slowly turned around and looked at her. "Why do you always do that to me?"

Jillian grinned back as she allowed her eyes open, her voice was innocent, "Do what, darling?"

Rolling his eyes, Ed walked over and sat down on the foot of the bed, "Suck me into doing your nighttime routine for you."

His wife laughed as she stood up. "Because you fall for it each and every time." She leaned in and kissed him.

Kissing her back, Ed grinned, "I must be a stupid man then."

"Stupid? No. Gullible? You bet your ass."

Ed laughed as he gave his wife a playful shove back down onto the bed. "You, Mrs. Deline, are a royal pain in my ass, you know that?"

Jillian giggled as she looked at her husband, "Now, now, I'm only keeping you on your toes."

"Uh-huh," Ed said as he stood up. Walking into the bathroom, he could not help but continue to smile. He loved the banter between him and his wife. They had a routine down pat that they've continued for thirty years now. Both of them knew where the line was and they dared never to cross it. As he washed up for bed, he realized that his wife had gotten increasingly quiet and assumed that she had fallen back to sleep. Grabbing the pair of sweats that he kept hanging up on the hook on the back of the door, Ed slipped them on and shut the light out and walked back out into the bedroom. He stopped when he saw his wife, sitting up in bed, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.

Walking over to her, he sat down next to her and took her hands in his, running his thumbs over the tops of her hands, whispering softly, "Baby, what's wrong?"

She looked at her husband as she blinked, a solitaire tear falling down her face, softly, "Ed, please be honest with me about something, okay...?"

Ed nodded silently.

Taking a deep breath, she continued, "If the tests come back positive, and I have to have my breast removed... Will you still love me?"

He looked at her for a long time... The question shocked him. He thought that she knew the depth of his love for her. "Jillian... You should know the answer of that question."

She nodded, softly, "I just need to hear the words, Ed."

"Of course I will love you. If you lose both breasts, I will love you. I didn't marry you for your breasts, Jill, I married you because I was in love with you. With what's on the inside as well as what's on the out."

Jillian nodded as she went over and put her head on her husband's shoulder and sighed deeply, "I love you."

Wrapping his arms around his wife, Ed maneuvered them so they were laying down. He reached across her and turned off the lamp on the bedside table and kissed her temple, softly whispering into the night, "I love you."

"Luis said that Jasmine can stay here tonight and that he'd be over first thing tomorrow morning."

"What's first thing?"

"9:00."

Sam nodded. "Okay... I gave her a sponge bath and let her sleep in one of my t-shirts, it fits her like a nightgown. I'm glad Mary was able to put a hold on Luis."

Mike sat down on her couch, "She didn't. I didn't even call her. I called the man myself and gave him the scoop and said that you and I felt that the kid shouldn't be traumatized anymore than she is already and he agreed to hold off till morning, only because he knows you. Plus, I pulled out the Big Ed card."

Sam looked at him curiously as she sat down next to him, "The Big Ed card?"

"I told him that Ed would be awfully pissed if he just came barreling into your room at who knows what hour and snatched a sleeping kid, whisking her off into the night and scaring her to death even more."

Sam couldn't help but laugh softly as she ran a hand through her unruly mass of curls, "Yeah, you are right there." She sighed softly and gave her friend a soft sigh, "Thanks for your help, Mike, I appreciate it."

Mike shrugged as he stood up. "Don't mention it, Sam. I'm just sorry that you had to be stuck with this and I'm even sorrier that people like the Clines don't realize how damn lucky they are to have a beautiful kid like Jasmine."

The woman nodded as she rose to her feet as well, "Yeah, I agree."

Mike smiled as he headed to the door, "Anyway, you got my digits. Call if ya need anything, no matter the time, okay?"

Sam nodded and kissed her friend's cheek, "I will, thanks again, Mike."

Mike nodded as he walked out of the room. Sam sighed and locked the door and headed into the bathroom to take a shower.