“It’s going to be damn good to have you home, little brother,” Chandler says.“I know Mom and Mace will be glad to see you, but the kids, they’re going to flip having you here all the time.”
“Because Uncle Cope is cool as hell.”
“Yeah, well, so is Uncle Chan, if you’d ever make me an uncle,” he says, knowing he’s picking at a wound that’s never healed.
“That’s not how my hand played out,” I tell him.
“Yeah, but maybe, just maybe, the game’s not over yet.”
My life is not a game.We both know that.But it’s easier to talk in metaphors than for me to ask him about her.
“I’ll be in touch,” Chandler says.
“Love you, brother,” I tell him.
“You, too, Cope.”
The call ends, and I drop back onto the bed, my head hitting the pillow.Being buck naked in my bedroom and finding out my mother has cancer was not on my bingo card.I need to shower before I call her, because calling her while I’m naked just seems wrong.Hell, if Chandler knew, he would have given me shit for it, as well.
Groaning, I leave my phone on the bed and head back into the bathroom.I turn the shower on for the second time tonight and don’t even wait for the water to warm up before I step under the cold spray.A shiver races down my spine, but I ignore it, dipping my head and letting the water beat down on my neck.When the water eventually warms, I quickly attend to my business.
I’ve got a phone call to make.
My hair is still dripping when I grab a microwave dinner out of the freezer to heat up.It’s not healthy, but I’m too damn tired to cook.I’m mentally and emotionally exhausted, and I still have to call Mom.Retracing my steps to my room, I grab my phone from the bed and dial her.
“Copeland, I miss you,” she answers.It’s the same way she’s answered my calls since the very first one I was allowed to make while in boot camp.It was quick, and we both needed to say what was most pressing.It’s her thing.Ourthing.
“Hey, Mom.How are you feeling?”
“Perfectly fine.I know Chandler was going to call you.”
“Yeah, he called.Why didn’t you tell us?”My tone is soft, but even I can hear the undertone of hurt.I’d do anything for my family.
“I wasn’t sure there was anything to tell.There was no point in having you boys worry with me.”
“And now?”
“And now, I’m going to kick cancer's ass.I have two sons, an incredible daughter-in-law, and two gorgeous grandbabies.I miss your dad with everything inside me, but I’m nowhere near ready to join him just yet,” she says.Her tone is normal, with no cracking or tremors, just Mom being her superhero self.
“Definitely not yet,” I agree.
“It’s the early stages, which is good,” she says, her voice softer.
“I’m coming home,” I tell her.I should probably wait until my application for dependency discharge is approved, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get home to her, even if that means that I miss out on my retirement.It’s not like I have a wife and kids to leave behind, and thanks to Chandler’s stint in the Marines, he has a small benefit that Macie and the kids will also receive.
“You don’t have to do that.I know how busy you are,” she says.
“Busy?Really, Mom?You’re headed into the fight of your life,foryour life.I’m not too busy to be there for you for that.”
“Cope, it’s not going to be pretty.”
“I didn’t think it would be.I want to be there.It’s where I need to be,” I tell her.“I’m coming home.You got a room for me?”I ask her.
“I’ve been using your old room as a craft room,” she tells me.
“That’s fine.I’ll stay in Chandler’s old room.”I shrug, even though she can’t see me.
“Oh, yeah, that room is the grandkids' room,” she says.“But that could work.”
