Chapter 43: The ties that bind family Together

Author: zeusfluff.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Blue Blood's character. They belong to CBS. I do own all originals though. Date Started: 3/15/25. Date Finished: 3/16/25 Enjoy!

"What's the matter baby bro? I thought you liked those balloons?"

Liam let out an unhappy cry, whereas less than a minute earlier, he'd been laughing at balloon Jamie was blowing up for Patrick's party with the family. It was more for Keena, Maisie, Kaitlyn, Sadie and Liam. They were the youngest after all. Patrick was 13 today. He didn't consider himself a little boy anymore. Jamie made a face as he threw away the popped balloon.

"I'm sorry baby boy. Did daddy startle you by accidentally popping the balloon?"

Liam let out another unhappy cry and Jamie put the balloon down he was about to blow up. He took Liam into his arms and rocked him. Patrick looked at Jamie.

"I can finish blowing up these balloons if you want dad."

Jamie shook his head and watched Liam for a moment, he had calmed considerably, and he was falling asleep. He'd just been fed and changed, so he'd be set for at least the time being.

"No, it's your birthday. All I want you to worry about is having a good time. Let me just put him in his crib and then get ready because we're going to the batting cages."

Jamie didn't have to tell Patrick twice; he was already sitting on the bench by the front door putting his shoes on.

"Awesome. Thanks dad."

Going up the stairs, Jamie was careful as he entered the nursery Liam shared with Sadie. She was fast asleep in her own crib. This made Jamie smile. Placing Liam into his crib, he waited for a moment, he let out a content sigh when he didn't budge.

Quietly padding towards the door, Jamie swung the door closed until it was only open a crack. He heard noise down the hall in the bathroom. Walking in that direction, he furrowed his eyebrows. He heard two voices inside behind the closed door. Both Eddie and Cora.

"Honey, I think you should let your dad look at that."

Then he heard Cora speak.

"Mama! I don't want daddy to see me like this!"

Growing concerned Jamie knocked on the door.

"Ed, Cora? Is everything ok in there?"

There was some shuffling behind the door and then it opened to reveal Eddie who stuck her head slightly out.

"I think you should see something Jamie. Come in."

Eddie opened the bathroom door just enough for Jamie to enter and she closed it behind them. Cora was sitting on top of the closed toilet lid, her eyes darting nervously at anything but her dad. Jamie approached her quietly and knelt down in front of her.

"What's going on ladybug? Are you ok?"

Cora had unshed tears in her eyes and then she looked up at Eddie.

"Mama, I don't want daddy to see my boobs."

Cora said the last part of her sentence so low; she was sure Jamie hadn't heard. But he did. However, he didn't let on that he'd heard. Eddie gave Cora a sympathetic look.

"Cora look at me honey. Whatever that thing is under your armpit, your dad needs to look at it. I promise I'll keep the towel around you. Besides, you only have your one arm out of your shirt."

Cora slowly nodded her heard, heat coming to her face as she lifted her left arm up. Jamie grew even more concerned.

"Cora, when did you notice this?"

Still feeling the heat in her face, Cora managed to look Jamie in the eye.

"About half an hour ago. I then showed it to mama. What is it?"

Jamie furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. That's probably tender. I can make a call and get you in to see another doctor to look at this. It could be nothing. But we have to make sure."

Cora felt a few tears fall down her cheeks.

"Daddy? Am I sick?"

Jamie put on a brave face.

"Look at me baby girl. Everything's going to be just fine. Your mom is going to take you to the doctor to get this lump checked out. It could be a swollen lymph node."

Cora was in tears now.

"Daddy, I'm scared…"

Jamie felt a pit in his stomach. He didn't like when things felt off with any one person in this family.

"It's ok to be scared baby. Everything is going to be ok."

Swallowing, Cora about threw herself into Jamie's arms. Jamie wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back. He could feel her sobs that were wracking her body. Jamie didn't speak, he just took in everything at once, letting Cora get her feelings out. He felt his own tears coming to his eyes, but he kept them at bay as he looked over at Eddie. She leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"I think we should cancel Pat's party bub. I don't want to, but if she's sick, we need to focus on making sure we all rally around her and let her know we support her through everything."

Jamie sighed and looked Eddie in the eye. She leaned close to him, and he whispered in her ear.

"That might be a good idea. We don't know what we're going to be walking into. Now it's too late to cancel our spot at the batting cages. I want to at least give Patrick that. He deserves something good on his birthday. I don't want to spoil things for him."

Eddie got closer to Cora spoke to her.

"Come on honey. Let's get you cleaned up and wash your face."

Jamie took his leave from the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Blowing out a breath, he ran a hand over his face, trying to will away the tears threatening to come down. Swallowing he made his way down the stairs and plastered a smile on his face.

"Ready to have some fun at the batting cages bud?"

Patrick's face lit up and he nodded.

"Come on dad! We're wasting time."

Jamie let out a laugh. This released a little bit of the stress he was feeling. Although his worry over Cora never dissipated.

"Whew! Thanks dad! That was a lot of fun! Can we do that again soon!"

Jamie ruffled Patrick's hair and gave him a smile.

"Sure we can bud."

Hearing his phone ring with a text message, Jamie stopped from starting the car. He furrowed his eyebrows and read the message. Closing the message app on his phone, he put it back in his pocket.

"Ok bud. Just got a text from mom. She has some news for us when we get home."

Patrick picked up on the tone in Jamie's voice.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?"

Jamie didn't want to go into the details about what was going on with Cora. Especially not in the car.

"Well, we'll talk about what's going on as a family as soon as we get home ok bud? All I can tell you, is it's about your sister Cora."

Patrick nodded his head, and the remainder of the ride home was spent in silence. It was forty minutes before they reached their family home. Patrick pulled his key from his pocket and opened up the front door.

The father and son pair entered the house, finding the rest of the family sitting on the couch. Jamie felt his walls coming down as he saw the look on Eddie's face. Her eyes were red and there were tear tracks down her face. Maisie reached for a tissue and handed it to Eddie.

"A tissue for you mama."

Eddie nodded and dabbed her eyes with it.

"Thanks baby."

Patrick and Jamie managed to sit down on the very crowded couch. Eddie took a breath and let it out slowly.

"Ok kids. Now that daddy and Patrick are here to join us. I have something to tell you all. Your sister Cora is very sick. She has cancer. Your sister is strong. Now we're all going to help her through this. She needs all our help. Ok?"

Maisie looked over at Jamie tears in her eyes and a pouty lip.

"Daddy, didn't grandma have that?"

Patrick, one to never get angry, felt himself exploding.

"Yes Maisie. Grandma did have cancer, and she died from it! Cora's going to die from it too!"

Storming away from the living room, Patrick heard Eddie call out to him as he started climbing the staircase.

"Pat honey! Let's talk about this as a family."

Patrick ignored Eddie and went through his door to his room and slammed it shut. Throwing himself on the bed, he let the dam of tears spill over. It wasn't fair. Cora was his sister and his best friend. Although he'd never admit it. She didn't deserve to be this sick. He heard a knock on the door. Then his dad's voice.

"Pat. Bud? It's dad. Can I come in?"

Patrick cleared his throat and wiped his face.

"Come in."

Jamie opened the door and came in. Closing it, he walked over to the bed and had a seat on the edge.

"Pat, bud. Everything will be ok. Your sister is a fighter. She'll get through this. We all have to be strong and rally around her. Show her how much she's loved and that she can beat this."

Patrick nodded his head and took in a shaky breath.

"Dad, she shouldn't have to go through all this."

Jamie nodded.

"I know bud."

Hours later, after everyone was in bed, Jamie and Eddie lie in each other's embrace, mulling over the day's events. Jamie threw his two cents in.

"Our baby girl is 15 years old. She shouldn't have to be dealing with this at such a young age. She should be enjoying her teenage years."

Eddie kissed Jamie's shoulder and nodded.

"She shouldn't. But she's got all of us. The doctors are optimistic. They want to start with the radiation therapy first."

Jamie looked into Eddie's eyes.

"Not the chemo first?"

Eddie shook her head no.

"They felt the radiation therapy is the best course of action to take first. It's going to be a long road, but we're all behind her. She's going to make it through this."

Jamie nodded, but on the inside, he was completely heartbroken.

To Be Continued…

A/N: Let me know if I've jumped off the complete deep end with this chapter. Sorry.