Together Again
Chapter 5
Christine was actually glad that Mike was no more settled then he was. He had clothes, mostly uniforms hanging in his closet, in no particular order, and aside from family photos, nothing hanging on the wall of his BOQ. It made her realize that the transition might be easy for Mike. He'd always thrived on having a comfortable, happy house with home cooked meals and being surrounded by the people he loved most.
He followed her back to her house in his truck. Moving him in was easy and thankfully, she had a large master closet. Christine could tell he struggled to fit in and find a place for himself. As the years had gone on, even she had lost hope for a reunion, but now that she had it, she was beyond happy and excited.
"Is there anything in particular you want to do? Hannah will ride the bus home from a school and Katie works until 4:30. She talked like she would come straight home." Christine asked. She sat down next to Mike on the couch.
"Do we have to do anything? I'm perfectly fine sitting here watching TV." Mike asked back. It would have frustrated Christine before, but instead of voicing an opinion, she snuggled into Mike's side and turned her attention to the news program Mike was glued to. She had to wonder if something was wrong and finally spoke up an hour later.
"Mike, is everything okay? Did I do something wrong? Before we would have already…you know." Christine asked, obviously struggling.
"No. You didn't do anything wrong." Mike answered. He rubbed his face and she knew something was wrong.
"Mike?" Christine pushed.
"About six weeks ago, during a routine physical, they discovered I had prostate cancer. It wasn't terribly advanced but I'm still healing from the surgery and apparently it isn't unusual to have…issues with sex. Trust me, I want to, but I'm not sure if I even can and I'm a little worried about trying." Mike admitted.
"Oh, Mike. Why didn't you tell me sooner? You should have been here resting instead of being at Hannah's game, on those hard bleachers." Christine asked as she fussed over Mike.
"The surgery was two weeks ago and I wanted to be there. I didn't want to worry you or the girls and I would prefer they not know." Mike insisted.
"Two weeks! Mike, you should be resting. Instead you're working and go to a volleyball game. Move in." Christine listed out. He leaned down and kissed her forehead to calm her.
"I'm resting now and being with you and the girls is the best medicine I could have." Mike argued.
"Oh, Mike." Christine cried into his shoulder. She felt petty but glad Mike had told her. She hoped all he had to do now was heal up.
"Hey, I'm just fine. I go Monday to make sure it didn't spread and to get the stitches out." Mike assured her, even though he failed because she immediately began worrying about the cancer spreading and chemotherapy and a thousand other scenarios.
"I think you should tell the girls. They need to know and it might help with Katie." Christine remarked.
"Okay. I just don't want them to dwell on it. It's really not a big deal." Mike agreed.
"I disagree, but tonight we'll tell them. Hannah will smother you a bit, I think and Katie is a mystery to me. Who took care of you? Surely you didn't just go back to that apartment." Christine asked.
"I stayed a night or two with Tom and Sasha, and then they looked in on me." Mike answered.
"Tom Chandler? Who is Sasha?" Christine asked.
"Christine, Darien died during the Red Flu. Sasha and Tom dated years ago, before he was married. They got back together." Mike explained.
"Oh." Christine said. The tears overflowing again, this time for her long-dead best friend. Instead of saying anything more, Mike pulled her closer and she snuggled back into his side. Mike had returned but so had grief and worry. Thankfully she didn't have to shoulder it on her own.
