Elizabeth sighed as she dressed for the day. It was Saturday. Campbell and Becki were coming. She couldn't imagine how this would go. The little guy didn't know anyone here.
"Beth, she's here," Nathan said, stepping up behind her in the mirror. "I'm sorry."
"Please stop apologizing. This isn't something you planned."
The doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" JJ yelled.
"I'll help you!" Evie said, protecting her cousin as usual.
Nathan turned Elizabeth and gave her a sweet kiss. "I love you."
"I know." She kissed him back and accepted his hand as they walked downstairs together, a team.
Nathan wasn't sure what he expected to feel when he saw his son, his flesh and blood, for the first time. But he instantly felt love. Real, true, all encompassing.
He figured that it was similar to how he would feel when Elizabeth and his child was born.
"Becki?" Nathan saw her red, puffy eyes even though she had a brave smile on her face.
"Nate." She wiped her tears and hoisted Campbell up higher on her hip.
"Come in please. This is my wife, Elizabeth. Honey, this is Becki."
"Its a pleasure to meet you, Becki. You must be Campbell?" Elizabeth asked, rubbing his back as he sucked his thumb and hid against his mommy's shoulder.
"He's a bit shy. But I explained to him that he would be having sleepovers here."
"Does he know who I am?" Nathan asked her.
"I showed him a picture of you a bunch of times. Cam? Who's this?" Becki asked, pointing at Nathan.
"Dada," he mumbled around his thumb. Then miraculously, he reached for Nathan. Nathan took him and his heart melted even more.
"Momma? Is this my brother?" JJ asked, pulling on her hand.
Becki looked at JJ, surprised and then up at Nate. "You told your kids?"
"Yes. Don't you think they'd wonder who he was and why he was staying with us? This is Campbell, JJ."
"Hi!" he said, grinning and waving. Campbell smiled at him.
Nathan started feeling dizzy so he quickly handed Campbell to Elizabeth. He wasn't supposed to lift much at this point.
"Babe, go sit down. I'll get some tea for you."
"I don't need tea, Beth."
"Please." He nodded and walked to the dining room to sit. Becki followed him as Elizabeth carried Campbell with her.
"Nate? Are you sure you're well enough…"
"He's my son, Becki. I already missed out on three years of his life. Let me do this."
"Does someone stay with you all day?"
"Yes. Our son will be well taken care of while he's here."
She nodded. "Fine. I guess we need to talk about my treatment," Becki began. "Its chemo for six months and radiation. But I'm having a double mastectomy first."
He nodded. "Is it in your lymph nodes?"
"Yes."
Nathan reached over and squeezed her hand. She pulled back. "I plan on surviving this, Nathan. For Cam. He is my life."
All five of the kids wandered through in their PJ's. "Hey guys. Come meet Becki and Cam," Nathan told them.
"Becki, this is Evie, Allie, Julian, Kendra and you met JJ."
"You...have five kids?"
"Yes. We do." Evie held out her hands to Cam.
"We're going to watch a movie. Wanna come?"
He nodded, thumb still in his mouth. Evie took him and they headed off to the living room.
"Allie is my niece," Nathan told her. "Deb's daughter?"
"Right. I think I met her once. She sure grew up."
"And JJ is my son with my deceased husband," Elizabeth told her. "Then, Evie, Kendra and Julian are my sister's kids. She passed back in June."
"Wow. Are you sure a sixth kid…."
"Becks, now that I know about him, I plan on him being a part of this family. Forever. We are gonna do the whole thing...child support...the whole nine yards."
Becki started crying again. The guilt of the past eating at her.
"Mama!" Campbell yelled, running in the room. "I watch doggie movie!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yup." Campbell reached up and touched her face. "No cry, Mama. I be good."
"Of course you will. You are a good boy, Cammie. Mama's just sad. I'll be okay."
He pursed his lips and gave her a kiss. "Bye! I watch doggies!"
"I don't deserve your help, Nate. I broke up with you when you needed me most. I didn't tell you about Cam. And now, I call you, disrupt your happy life and drop this on you. Why would you say yes? Why help me?"
"I can answer that," Elizabeth told her. "He's a wonderful, responsible man. He's an amazing husband and father. He loved my kids almost from the beginning and he loved me along with them. He has a huge heart and of course, I can see he cares about you and Cam. I wouldn't expect anything less."
"I love him already," Nate admitted. "I can see myself in him. His ears," he chuckled. "He has my eyes too, doesn't he, Beth?"
"Yeah. There's definitely a resemblance."
"I rented you a house near the hospital, Becks. You have it for the next year as you go through your treatments. However, it won't be ready for two more weeks."
"My mastectomy is Monday. I guess I can get a hotel room once they release me."
"Nonsense," Elizabeth said. "You can't recover from surgery in a hotel room all alone. You'll stay here."
"I couldn't ask that."
"You didn't. I'm offering. If Cam is family, so are you. Our guest room is yours."
So their "guest room" was the office where Elizabeth had removed the office furniture and replaced it with a full size bed and a toddler bed for Cam.
"There is a bathroom here for you too."
"You childproofed the cabinets…"
"Of course we did. We childproofed everything in the house. JJ may be six but I remember his antics. Climbing on everything, opening doors and cabinets. Yikes."
"And...a potty seat and a step to get up there?"
"Yep."
Becki reached for Elizabeth and hugged her….tight. "Thank you. You remind me so much of my sister. I miss her so much."
Elizabeth could obviously relate. Some days were okay but a lot of them, she missed Vi very very much.
"Would you like some coffee? We can talk about our sisters. We have that in common for sure."
"Yeah, I'd love some. Its been a long time since I've talked with anyone about her."
Nathan was snug and warm on the living room sectional, all his kids around him. Cam was on his lap, sucking his thumb while the others were all lounging in various places.
101 Dalmatians was playing on the big TV. Cam laughed and pointed at the dogs and then frowned when "Scawy Lady" Cruella Deville popped up on the screen.
"Gotta go potty!" Cam said, jumping off his lap, likely to go find Becki.
"Dad?" Julian said, breaking into his thoughts.
"Yeah, bud."
"You're bleeding," he said, pointing to his bandage.
"I guess its time to change the bandage." Nathan stood slowly but then sat quickly, closing his eyes to stop the dizziness.
"Dad? Are you alright?" Julian moved next to him. "Aunt Beth!"
"I'm okay, son. Its normal to be dizzy after brain surgery."
Beth came running in the room. "What? Nate? What's wrong?"
"I'm okay. Just dizzy and I need to change my bandage."
Elizabeth helped him stand and then, wrapping her arm around his waist, she helped him walk to the master. Julian followed, worried.
Nathan sat down on the lid of the toilet and held his arm out to Julian. "Wanna watch?"
"Yeah. Next time, maybe I can do it."
"Sure, Julian. I'd love it if you could help me. Can you get me a mirror, please?"
Once situated, Elizabeth gently removed the old bandage, causing a slight wince on Nathan's part.
"I want to be a doctor someday, Dad. Not a therapist but a medical doctor."
"Is that right? You know you'll have to work extra hard in school and there's a lot of school involved."
He shrugged. "I like school."
"Well, whatever you choose to do, I'll support you. Now let's get this bandage changed."
Elizabeth gave Nathan a kiss and then kissed the top of Julian's head before leaving them to finish their bonding time.
As she walked back in the kitchen, she found Becki looking out the window. "You okay?"
"No. Honestly, I'm not going to be okay until this cancer is gone and I can live my life again."
"Tell me about your family, Becki. I know you lost your twin sister Barbara when you were teenagers. But, what about your parents?"
"They live in Australia. Haven't seen or talked to them since I refused to move with them after college. My mom begged me to go but I was stubborn and wanted to make my own life."
"So they don't know? About your cancer or even Campbell?"
"No. If I told them, they'd probably take Cam back to Australia with them. I can't lose him." Becki looked at her. "I'm sorry for dropping Cam on you. I knew Nathan would be willing to take care of him but I didn't know he was married or had surgery or had five kids."
"Listen, no more apologizing. We are here for you and Cam. It may be awkward at times since we barely know each other but...I'll help you any way I can."
Later that evening, Becki watched Cam splash in the bathtub, playing with toys JJ had given to him.
"Cack cack, Mama," he said, holding up the rubber duckie.
"Quack, yes, baby. Good job."
Nathan knocked on the door frame where he and Elizabeth stood.
"Come in."
"Hi. I thought maybe its a good idea if we saw his routine," Elizabeth told her.
"Sure. Absolutely."
"Dada!" Cam said, pointing at Nathan. "Hi, Dada."
"Hi, buddy."
Nathan sat on the lid of the toilet.
"Dada, owie?" he asked, pointing.
"Yep. But I'll be okay."
"Kay."
"Cam, who's this?" Becki asked, pointing toward Beth.
"Mmm...Bet."
"That's right, smart boy. Beth."
After getting him into a pull-up and putting on his Paw Patrol jammies, they watched Becki brush his teeth and comb his hair and then they all went into the guest room.
"My bed, Mama?" he asked, climbing up on the toddler bed.
"That's right."
"Payers?"
"Prayers. Yep." Becki knelt by the bed and folded her hands and waited until Cam did the same.
Nathan took Elizabeth's hand and closed his eyes.
"God bless, Cammie and Mama," she started.
"God bess Cammie and Mama," he repeated. "And bess Dada and Bet and….eveybody!"
The adults chuckled. "Aaaaamen!"
"Amen."
"Now, sing, Mama."
Monday, William came over to stay with Nathan and Campbell while the kids were at school and Elizabeth graciously took Becki to the hospital for her surgery.
She could see the anxiety on her face as she stared out the window. "It will be okay, Becki."
"You don't know that." She wiped her cheeks. "Thank you though. For everything. You've been so willing to help despite my past with Nathan...it wasn't what I expected."
"Well, you didn't know much about me."
"No, true. I am grateful for our talks. I hope we can continue those and maybe...be friends?"
"Friends and family. Campbell is and that means you are."
Becki nodded and took a deep breath. As they pulled into the lot by the main entrance to the hospital, she felt a stronger sense of positivity. She was going to survive this stupid cancer. First though, recovery from her surgery.
The two women walked together to the elevator inside the main entrance. According to the signs, the surgical floor was the fourth floor.
Elizabeth pushed the button and the door closed. They felt the elevator rise and then stop. They followed the signs again to the check-in desk.
"Good morning," the nurse said softly from behind the desk.
"I'm Rebecca Stewart. Here for a double mastectomy."
Elizabeth took Becki's hand and squeezed, giving her support. What she was doing was hard, accepting Nathan's past. But, what Becki was doing was ten times harder and she needed all the help she could get.