Cooper and I had just gotten done with the screening and Cooper was annoyingly optimistic.
"We so got him Char." He said for the one hundredth time.
"Coop. You don't know that." I reminded him as we walked into the hospital.
"So?" He asked.
"I don't want you to get your hopes up. We may have not gotten him." I said as we rounded the corner and walked through the double doors that led into the Pediatric Ward. Cooper rolled his eyes.
"Whatever Char. You'll see." He said and entered Trenton's room. Trenton was fast asleep. His face was flushed and beaded with sweat from his fever.
"How's he looking Coop?" I asked.
"Not so good. His fever went up." He said sadly. I sighed and pushed Trenton's hair out of his eyes. I kissed his forehead, he wasn't mine yet, but that didn't mean I didn't like the little guy.
"Come on. Let's go check on Mason. See if he can be discharged yet." I said. Cooper nodded.
"Good idea. See if he ate too." Cooper said and followed me out of Trenton's room. Mason was watching TV when we came in. He looked up at us when we came in.
"Hey dad. Hey Charlotte." He said. I smiled.
"Hey Mason." I said.
"Did you tell my aunt yet?" Mason asked Cooper. Cooper nodded.
"Yes." He replied.
"What did she say?" Mason asked.
"She said it was okay for you to live with us." Cooper told him. Mason nodded.
"Good. She's nice and I've known her since I was born, but I want to live with you." Mason said. Cooper nodded.
"I know bud. And you can. I'm going to go talk to the doctors about letting you go okay?" Cooper said. Mason nodded.
"Okay dad." He agreed. Cooper smiled and walked out of Mason's room. I sat down in a chair next to Mason's bed. "Charlotte, is Trenton coming home today too?" Mason asked.
"No. He can't leave yet. The adoption agency hasn't given him to us yet." I said. Mason nodded.
"When will they?" He asked.
"I don't know kiddo. Trenton's really sick right now anyway." I said. Mason sighed.
"Why does everyone have to be sick?" Mason asked. I sighed.
"I don't know kiddo. I don't know." I said. Mason stared up at the ceiling.
"Do you believe in God Charlotte?" Mason asked. I nodded.
"Yes. I do." I said.
"Why does he do all of this to us?" Mason asked.
"I don't know. He's testing us to see how strong we are." I said. Mason nodded.
"So if you die does that mean you aren't strong enough?" Mason asked. I shook my head.
"Not at all. My father was not weak and he died. Dying is just a fact of life. Everyone dies at some point. Some just go earlier then we'd like them to." I said. Mason sighed.
"I'll be strong." He declared after a few minutes of thinking. I smiled.
"Yes you will." I said. Mason smiled.
"You know Charlotte, you're really great. Cooper told me you were pregnant. I'm going to have a little brother or sister." He beamed. I smiled.
"Yes you are. Do you want to see a picture?" I asked. Mason nodded. I pulled the images Addison had given me earlier and showed them to Mason.
"It's so tiny!" He said.
"Well, it has a lot of growing left to do." I said. Mason grinned.
"Trenton and I are going to be great big brothers." He decided. I smiled.
"I think you will too." I agreed. Mason smiled and fiddled with his cast. It was blue and empty. Not a single signature. I dug in my purse and pulled out a silver sharpie. "Do you mind if I sign that?" I asked. Mason shook his head.
"Go for it." He said. I smiled and wrote Charlotte on his cast. He smiled. "Thanks Charlotte." Cooper came in.
"Okay Mason. Ready to go?" Cooper asked and unhooked Mason's IV. Mason nodded.
Two weeks later
"Mason! Come on kiddo. Time for school!" I yelled. Mason ran down the stairs. His once blank blue cast was cluttered with signatures. Cooper came down stairs behind him looking agitated. Mason ran outside to await the bus.
"Trenton's throwing up again." Cooper said sadly and grabbed the cup of coffee I was offering him.
"Poor kid. Is he improving at all?" I asked.
"Well his scans look a lot better, the chemo is just really getting to him." Cooper said.
"But the cancer is going away?" I asked.
"Appears to be." Cooper said.
"Well that's great news!" I said.
"Yeah. His white count is really going up. Just, his body does not keep food down well with all that chemo." Cooper said. I nodded.
"Hey listen, next week is the ten week ultrasound. Are you coming?" I asked. Cooper nodded.
"Uh duh. It's our kid. Of course I'm coming." Cooper said. I nodded.
"Yeah. It's just last time things didn't work out so well." I said. Cooper nodded.
"I know and I'm sorry." He said.
"It's not your fault Coop. It's nobody's." I said. Cooper nodded.
"Yeah. You're right. Listen I have to go in today. Okay? You going to be okay with Trenton? Call me if anything happens." Cooper said.
"Okay. Coop. I will. I got this." I assured him. Cooper kissed me on the cheek and was about to leave when I stopped him. "Hey Coop." I began.
"Yeah Char?" He asked.
"Don't forgot Mason has an appointment with the orthopedic doctor today. Do you need me to take him?" I asked.
"If Trenton isn't throwing up then yes. If Trenton is still throwing up I'll come take Mason so you can watch Trenton." Cooper said.
"Okay. Bye Coop. I love you." I said. Cooper smiled.
"I love you too Char." He said and slipped out the door.