Chapter Fifty Six
Tucker POV:
I woke up the next morning with Nora on top of me. I couldn't help but smile at my little girl. Her and Rosa meant everything to me, and it was killing me to know that I couldn't help Rosa at all. All I wanted to do was make her feel better, and I couldn't and it absolutely sucked.
"Morning daddy." Nora said as she lifted herself off my chest.
"Morning sweet pea." I said as I gave her a kiss.
"What are you going here?" She asked.
"Do I need a reason to visit my daughter and have some cuddle time?" I asked.
"You and mommy are fighting again aren't you?" She asked.
"You and your sister are really too smart for your age." I said and she smiled. "You're mommy and I are fine, you don't have to worry about us."
"I don't like it when you two fight." She said and I scooped her into my arms and got out of bed.
"I don't like it either baby." I said. "Come on, let's go see Nanna and Pop-Pop." I said and she nodded enthusiastically. We walked downstairs and Clary, Jace and Karina were all in the kitchen.
"Good morning guys." Jace said and I put Nora down next to Karina.
"Morning." I said.
"How did you sleep?" Clary asked.
"Perfect. Nora is the perfect cuddle buddy." I said and Clary laughed.
"I felt the same way about Patrick when he was her age." She said and I laughed. "Rosa has treatment today right?" Clary asked and I nodded. "You going?"
"Of course. I haven't missed a treatment yet, and I don't care how rocky Jack and I are right now, I won't let that get in the way of Rosa." I said and she nodded.
"When do you have to leave?" Jace asked.
"In like 25 minutes." I said.
"Perfect. You have time for breakfast." Clary said as she handed me a plate of French toast. "Coffee?" She asked.
"Love some." I said and she nodded. I made my way over to the table and put the plate of French toast on the table. Karina immediately grabbed two pieces and started digging in. "You inhale that too fast K, I think you'll turn into it." I said and she laughed.
"I can't take my time today." She said.
"Why not?" I asked as I put a piece of French toast on Nora's plate and started cutting it up.
"Gallagher's family is coming to visit him." Karina said. "I've never met them before."
"Ah, meeting the boyfriends parents, always so intimidating." Clary said as she handed me the cup of coffee.
"You aren't helping mom." Karina said and I laughed.
"You'll do fine K. Everyone loves you." I said and she gave me a smile.
"Not everyone." She said.
"Those ass…jerks from your school don't count." I said as I looked over at Nora who was chowing down on her food, and wasn't paying attention to anything we were saying.
"But they still didn't like me." Karina said. "What is his siblings don't like me? Do you think he'd break up with me if they didn't? And he's the man of the house now. What if he needs to take care of them more than he needs to take care of me…."
"K, deep breaths." I cut her off and she started to take deep calming breaths. "Everything will be okay. Just be yourself, and they'll love you." I said and she nodded. I looked at my watch and sighed. "Well, my brother-in-law duties have to come to a halt. I need to get home, change and get to he hospital."
"Tell Jack and Rosa that I love them." Karina said and I nodded.
"Be good for Nanna and Pop-Pop Nora." I said. "Mommy and I will be back in a couple hours."
"Otay." She said and I killed her forehead. "I love you daddy."
"I love you too sweetheart." I said. I looked at Jace and Clary and smiled before walking out of the house. I got back to my house and went right up to my room to change. To my surprise Jack was sitting on our bed when I walked in.
"Hi." She said.
"I don't want to fight today Jack." I said. "I just want to go and sit with my daughter, who I do care about, and not have her see how miserable we both are."
"You're miserable?" She asked and it wasn't what I was expecting.
"How can I not be?" I asked. "We don't do anything but fight anymore. You accuse me of not caring about my daughter when you know damn well that she's one of the most important things in my life, and you kick me out of the house. Repeatedly." I said. I didn't have it in me to hide how hurt I was. "I can't keep doing this with you anymore Jack."
"What are you saying?" She asked as she stood up.
"I'm saying, I'm going to stay with your parents for a couple weeks." I said. "The fighting is getting out of hand, and it's affecting Nora and Rosa. They are both going through enough already, we don't need to add to that."
"Tucker." Jack said but I held my hand up and shook my head.
"We aren't okay Jack." I said honestly. "We're falling apart, and our marriage is suffering." I said. "I refuse to let it get any worse." I said and she simply nodded. "Now, let's get Rosa to the hospital." I said and she nodded. I walked into Rosa's room and she was sitting up and I couldn't help but smile when I saw her.
"Daddy." She said and I walked over to her and scooped her up.
"Hi princess." I said as I gave her a kiss.
"I missed you." She said.
"I missed you too. Did you get sick last night?" I asked as I walked us out of her room and down the stairs.
"Nope, I just always miss our nightly talks." She said and I smiled.
"Me too." I said. I got to the car and put her in and buckled her up. We drove to the hospital in silence and I hated it but this might be our new reality for some time, and I had to get used to that.
We got the hospital and Rosa was taken to the big chemo chair, and Jack and took a seat next to her. She liked to watch TV when she got chemo, and we always watched the same movie, Cinderella. She absolutely loved Cinderella, and she's watched it about 100 times, but it didn't matter, it made her smile, and that's all I needed to see some days.
"I'm going to get something to drink." I said as I stood up. "You want anything Jack?" I asked.
"No thanks." She said and I nodded before walking out of the room. When I got back to the room, Rosa was asleep, and Jack was reading a book. I took a seat back in my chair and grabbed the ipad off Rosa's lap and pulled the blanket over her to keep her warm. "Rosa told me that you spend a lot of time with her in the middle of the night." Jack finally said.
"Yea." I simply said.
"Why didn't you tell me you did that?" She asked.
"I guess I liked that it was just between me and my girls." I said and she smiled as we both looked at Rosa. "It was our little thing that we could bond over."
"I wouldn't have yelled at you if I knew." She said.
"You would have found another reason to yell at me Jack." I said and she sighed. "We're both incredibly frustrated, and upset with what's happening to our baby, but we can't just quit everything. We still need an income, and Nora still needs our attention as well." I said. "Rosa is our main priority, but that doesn't mean we get to abandoned our other priorities in the process."
"I'm so sorry Tucker." Jack said and I smiled.
"I know you are." I said. "But I'm still going to stay with your parents for a few weeks." I told her.
"But…"
"Our marriage is struggling to stay afloat." I said. "If I had to describe it, I would say we're the Titanic in the middle of the movie." I said and she laughed. "I don't want this is tear us apart anymore than it already is. I love you Jacqueline. More than absolutely everything in this world, but I refuse to let our fighting tear this family apart." I explained and she nodded. "So, I'm going to spend a couple weeks with your parents and we're going to work on getting our marriage strong again, because I can't lose you on top of everything that's going on with Rosa."
"You'd never lose me Tucker." Jack said. "I've been a nightmare and completely unfair to you during this whole thing, and I am so incredibly sorry for that."
"I forgive you Jack." I said and she started crying. I walked over and she wrapped her arms around my neck. "We're going to get through this, and Rosa is going to beat this, but we can't fight, and give up otherwise we're showing her that it's okay to give up, and she needs to fight more than anything."
"I love you Tucker." She said and I smiled and pressed my lips to hers briefly.
"I love you too Jack." I said and I picked her up and placed her on my lap. I knew that this was going to be hard, but Jack and I were strong despite our small bump in the road. We were going to get through this, all of this no matter how hard it gets.
Karina POV:
I was a nervous wreck waiting for Gallagher to get back to the facility. Meeting his family was incredibly intimidating, and I had no clue if they were even going to like me, and that was the scariest thing ever. I didn't know what to do, and I was just pacing in the living room.
"Why are you so stressed kiddo?" My dad said as he walked over to me.
"Gallagher's family is coming to visit today." I said and he laughed.
"You gotta shake these nerves K." He said and I sighed. "It'll only make everything you do during the meeting feel like you're messing it up."
"I don't know how to stop them." I admitted.
"How about a round with the old man on the half pipe?" He asked and I smiled.
"What do I get if I win?" I asked and he laughed.
"I'll do your chores for two weeks." He said and I laughed.
"You're so on." I said and we made our way out to the half pipe. We got our gear on and I grabbed my lucky snowboard.
"Hey Mark, you mind judging?" My dad yelled to the trainer. He laughed and shook his head as he made his way over to us. "Three runs each, execution, creativity, and difficulty." My dad said.
"You got it." Mark said.
"Ladies first." My dad said and I grabbed my goggles and lowered them.
"Have fun doing the inventory for two weeks!" I said as I dropped in. I was so going to win.
Gallagher POV:
We pulled up to the facility and my family all got out. My siblings had never seen the facility and I could see it on their faces that they were in complete awe, and I couldn't blame them. I was the same way when I got here for the first time. I was making my way to my cabin when I saw a gathering of people, and curious made my way over to them.
"Yo Cameron." I said to a buddy of mine. "What's going on here?" I asked.
"K and Jace are going head to head on the half pipe." He said and I pushed my way to the front with my family following close behind. Jace was currently standing at the top as Karina shredded some serious snow. I couldn't help but smile as I watched her ride. She was great, and she didn't even know how great she was.
"Is that you're girlfriend?" My sister Patty teased.
"As a matter of fact, it is." I said proudly. When she got down to the bottom the whole crowed started cheering. She took off her helmet and looked up at Jace.
"Take that dad!" She yelled and you could hear him laugh. Jace dropped in and did what he did best. Completely destroyed the half pipe with his many years of experience and his pure talent. When he was finished he took off his helmet and pulled Karina into a hug.
"Maybe next time sweetheart." He said as he kissed her forehead.
"The clear cut winner is Jace Herondale!" Mark shouted and he took his bows while Karina stood off to the side clapping with a huge smile on her face.
"There is just no beating the champion." Karina said and Jace laughed.
"But you are worthy competition." He said. "Back to your sessions everyone!" Jace yelled and the place cleared out and all that was left my family, Karina and Jace.
"You get better and better every time you ride." I said and Karina turned towards me and smiled.
"Thanks." She said as she made her way over to me and gave me a sweet kiss.
"And Jace, I don't think you'll ever get worse with old age." I said and he laughed.
"Thank you." Jace said and I laughed. "Now, if you all will excuse me, I promised my wife I'd help her with our granddaughter, about an hour ago." He said and we all laughed and he walked away.
"Karina, I'd like to introduce you to my family." I said and she nodded. "This is my wonderful mother Catherine." I said and my mom laughed.
"Please, call me Cathy. Catherine makes me sound old." She said and I laughed.
"It's wonderful to meet you." Karina said.
"These are my siblings." I said. "Patty is the second child, she's 16. Cody is the third child, he's 14. Tatiana is the fourth, she's 10. Christian is the fifth, he's 7. And the little cutie is Amber, she's 4." I said.
"It's great to finally meet you all." Karina said.
"You as well dear." My mom said. "You're a really talented snowboarder."
"I'm okay. My dad and sister are way better than me." She said modestly.
"She did grow up here." Patty said. "Of course she'd be good."
"What program are you involved in?" Cody asked.
"Neither." Karina said. "I woke behind the scenes with my mom mostly."
"But you're a great boarder." Cody said and she laughed.
"Competing was never something I was interested in. I like getting on the half pipe or on the ice with my family and friends, but that's as far as I go." Karina explained.
"So why were you going up against Jace?" I asked and she blushed.
"To be honest, I was nervous about meeting you all." Karina said to my family. "My dad told me I needed to get rid of the nerves and than challenged me to a run. I couldn't possibly say no, and if I won he would do my chores for two weeks. Part of me wishes that he declined with age, but that man is like immortal or something cause he just gets better." She said and I laughed. "I don't mind losing to him, but it would have been nice for him to do the inventory though." She said and I smiled.
"Your dads hot." Patty said and I gagged.
"Gross." I said and Karina laughed.
"Nothing I haven't hard before." Karina said. "Most teenage girls, and younger women have the same reaction."
"We were going to go out to dinner tonight K, you in?" I asked and she smiled.
"Absolutely. Why don't you all come to the house, and meet my family, I'll get showered cause I'm gross, and than we can leave."
"Sounds good." I said and we followed her to the house. When we walked in everyone was there accept Tuck, Jack and Rosa. I couldn't imagine what they were going through and it sucked that poor little Rosa was suffering.
"I'll be down soon." Karina said and I nodded. She ran upstairs and I went in to the living room.
"Gallagher, what up man?" Pat said.
"Nothing much, just showing my family around." I said. "Mom, kids, this is Karina's family." I said.
"There are a lot of you." Tatiana said and everyone laughed.
"Patrick is Karina's older brother, and his wife is Sammi, and PJ and Henry are their two kids." I said as I pointed at them. "You saw Jace a little while ago, and his wife Clary." I said and they all nodded. "And that little cutie is Nora." I said as she waved. "She's Jacqueline's daughter."
"Who is Jacqueline?" Patty asked.
"Jacqueline is Patrick's twin." I explained. "Her and her husband Tucker are currently at the hospital with Nora's twin."
"Why is she in the hospital?" My mom asked.
"Leukemia." I whispered and she gasped.
"How was the flight in?" Clary asked trying to move the subject past Rosa.
"It was decent." My mom said.
"Long." Patty said and Clary laughed.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Clary asked.
"Vodka." Patty said and I slapped her upside the head. "Ow."
"You're 16 years old. You will not be drinking vodka." I said and she rolled her eyes.
"Nothing like sibling love." Jace said and I laughed.
"To answer your question Clary, we're fine thank you. We're going out to dinner soon." My mom said.
"Mind if we steal Karina away for a couple hours?" I asked.
"Not at all." Clary said and I smiled.
"I'm Nora." Nora said to Amber. She was currently hiding behind my mom. She was a little shy.
"Don't be scared Amber. Nora is really friendly." I said and she moved a little.
"Nora, this is my sister Amber." I said and she nodded.
"Wanna play?" Nora asked. Amber looked up at my mom and she smiled and nodded and Amber came fully out from behind my mom. Nora reached out her hand and Amber took it. She guided her over to the dolls she was playing with.
About 15 minutes later Karina was showered and ready to go. By that time we went to pry Amber away from Nora and the dolls when she started crying saying she didn't want to leave. Clary and Jace offered to watch her and it was easier than fighting with her, so she stayed behind to play while the rest of us went to dinner. My family really seemed to like Karina and it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Not that I thought they weren't going to like her, but Patty can be rather rude, and Cody can be a little harsh, and I was scared they were going to ruin the whole experience, but Karina was easy to like, and I was glad that the night went well.
Time Jump – A Couple Weeks Later
Clary POV:
Tucker has been living in Jacqueline's old room since their huge fight. When I asked him what was going on, he told me that they just needed some space to strengthen their relationship so they could be there 100% for Rosa and Nora, and I thought it was such a mature thing to do. I knew that they were crazy about each other, anyone could see it, but that didn't mean we were blind to how fast their marriage seemed to be crumbling. They were going through so much, the last thing they needed was a divorce, but they had been getting along really well, and Tucker was actually going to move home today. I was standing in the kitchen when Tucker walked out with his bag.
"It's going to be weird without you here." I said and he laughed.
"It's been fun Clary, but I can't wait to get back to my family." He said and I smiled.
"You're welcome here any time Tucker." I said and he walked over and hugged me.
"Thanks mom." He said and I almost lost it. Sammi and Tucker had been coming here for so long that calling us anything else but Clary and Jace was weird to them, but they were a part of our family now. And even though Jace and I told them that they could call us mom and dad, they told us it felt a little weird since we've been Clary and Jace to them for so long, and we understood that, but hearing Tucker say it, really warmed my heart.
"How is Rosa doing?" I asked as we broke apart.
"Chemo is kicking her ass, but we have a scan next month that should show us either the progression or regression of the cancer, so fingers crossed that it's good news." Tucker explained.
"Give her our best." I said and he nodded.
"Nora, let's go baby!" He called and little footsteps came running into the kitchen.
"Are we going home daddy?" Nora asked.
"Yes we are sweetheart." Tucker said as he kissed us. "Thank you for everything Clary."
"It was my pleasure." I said.
"Bye Nanna." Nora said and I smiled.
"Bye sweet pea." I said and they walked out of the house. I took a deep breath and walked over to the back window and watched them walk to their house. I knew that the journey was far from over, but progress was progress, and I hope to god that scan next month shows progress.
Authors Note:
What do you think is going to happen to Rosa? Find out next update if she's cancer free or fighting for her life! Let me know what you think and leave a review! :)