She's so beautiful, it makes me want to cry.
When she hears mine and Dr. Rashid's footsteps, her eyes flutter open, and she turns her head to me.
Her whole face lights up.
My heart stutters at the sight.
My sweet girl.
My Sophie.
A tired smile curves at her lips. "Hi, otter..."
Her voice is barely above a whisper, and she reaches out her hand to me, shaky and weak.
I completely break into pieces and rush to her bedside, gently reaching out my hand to take hers. When her fingers immediately curl around mine, it takes everything in me not todrop to my knees. The sound that I make is half-laugh, half-sob as I gaze at the love of my life, my beautiful girl, alive and well.
"Hi, baby..." I choke out, gently squeezing her fingers. "I'm here."
Her smile widens.
And I feel like I can finally breathe.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Sophie
December
Darlene Loveplays from the speakers, the scent of pine and cinnamon is in the air, and the snow falls steadily outside. I have a steaming mug of hot chocolate in one hand, a candy cane in the other, and an insanely handsome man in a dark green sweater next to me, hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree.
All in all, I feel like I'm in heaven.
"A little to the left, sweetest heart," Maeve instructs from her spot at her tarot table, not even looking up at Callum, attempting to hang the ornament. She just keeps stringing popcorn through a string to wrap around the tree. Callum moves his hand, and she nods, again not looking up. I don't question Maeve anymore. "Right there."
Callum and Atticus returned around noon with two trees from the local tree farm—one for the store and one for the apartment upstairs. We're currently decorating the store's tree first, but tonight, Callum, Maeve, and I will decorate the one up in the apartment. The place I've been calling home for the last month, since I got out of the hospital.
To my utter disappointment, I wasn't able to go with Callum and Atticus to pick out the trees. I'm on strict orders from my doctors to avoid crowds for the foreseeable future. At least until after the surgery, though I know I won't want to see people for a while after that. With all the free time I have, especially after taking an early and extended leave of absence from work, I'vebeen heavily researching online forums for others' mastectomy experiences.
The consensus seems to be that it's going to be painful to move, I won't be able to lift my arms above my shoulders, and carrying things will be a no-go. I'm trying to get my fill of feeling like a person now as I reach up to hang a candy cane from a high branch and feel two strong arms on my waist, lifting me.
I giggle and place the candy cane on the branch, and Callum gently lowers me to the floor, kissing my forehead when I'm steady. He did extremely well picking out the trees, not too tall, but wide with sturdy branches. I tell him so, and he just smiles at me, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
"Next year, you can pick out all of our trees," Callum promises, the rumble of his chest against my back.
"Oh, just you wait—next year, when I'm cancer-free, I'm going to pick thebiggest, tallest, fattesttrees I can find," I tease him, tilting my head back to see his face. He doesn't even blink, just smiles back at me with those warm brown eyes.
"As you wish."
The soft tone of his voice makes my stomach flip, and I raise up on my tiptoes to kiss his lips.
It's nice to return to some normalcy and feel like a human again.
November passed by in a blur of healing. I had to stay in the hospital for about two weeks recovering before I could come home. Honestly, I can barely even remember the day I got sick. I remember leaving the hotel, feeling so happy and grateful for the wonderful weekend spent with Callum. From the gala to the after to the day spent at the zoo and museum, it was the best weekend of my entire life.
Joy. Pure joy,that's all I felt all day.
That night, I started feeling really tired, but I thought it was just because of the long, busy, fun-filled day. I had fallen asleepin that big bed, curled and secure in Callum's arms, still buzzing with happiness and love for this man of mine. My last thought was a wish, wanting a million more days like it in the future.
