CHRIS ENTERED CARTWRIGHT CONSTRUCTION promptly at seven in the morning the next Monday. He got there before anyone else did. He expected all the others to snicker and gossip about what everyone would soon know all the details of. He was the boss’s son and he was sleeping with the boss’s ex-girlfriend.

Tawdry was one way to describe it. Chris winced internally. He understood how hard it was for Julia. But he convinced her to come back to him, and now had to convince himself it was worth it. The past was over and done with. Now was all that mattered. All the drivel he prattled on about before managed to satisfy Julia although he sincerely meant all of it. He did. And he eventually convinced her.

It was himself that he was having a hard time convincing.

Because Lloyd really was his dad.

And his girlfriend really did sleep with him.

It was a tough pill to swallow and more so now that more of the general public knew.

Lloyd was already there. His vehicle was parked out front. Chris stood in the doorway to Lloyd’s office, staring at his father working away as he had observed many times in the last four-and-a-half years. He tapped on the door jamb and Lloyd glanced up. He paused, leaning back in his chair before he rose to his feet, sweeping his hand to indicate for Chris to come in.

“Hello, Chris.”

“Lloyd,” Chris answered in a dull tone. Lloyd’s expression, however, was brimming with something more. Something much deeper. Lloyd scrutinized Chris, making him feel more uncomfortable than their first meeting after the airport incident and Julia started to come between them.

“Sit. Please sit down.” Lloyd seemed to remember himself so Chris sat and they stared at each other. Clearing his throat, Lloyd scratched his head and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I guess because it didn’t matter much.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Well, I got to know you. I liked you at work. Enjoyed working with you. Probably too much. I must admit that I’ve also appreciated all your mentoring. It’s been like what I pictured a…a…”

“A father would do? I had a strange urge to spend more time with you, something I’ve never had with any of my employees before. It was nothing concrete, but I felt a… a kind of kinship with you.”

“Yeah, we did have a good thing going. And then Julia came along.”

“And I can only imagine how much you detested me for that.”

“Yeah. The thing I didn’t like getting to know about you is the way you are with women. From the time you were with my own mother to…”

“Your girlfriend.”

Chris cleared his throat nervously. “Yeah.”

Lloyd sighed, leaning back. “Is that why you never told me who you were?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t know how to bust out with it. At first, I wanted to get to know you, and size you up and then I did. So then, it seemed weird I hadn’t said anything sooner. And after Julia entered the picture, I decided I was never going to tell you.”

“She means that much to you?”

He snorted. “She did to you too.”

Lloyd threw his hands up. “Fine. She did. But it’s all over now. This information… I hope you understand, Chris, this changes everything.”

“Uh. No, I’m not sure I see how it does.”

“You’re my son.”

“Just because I said so? How do you know you can trust me?”

Lloyd waved his hand dismissively. “We have the same eyes. I noticed that quite often before, but didn’t think too hard on it. Plus, I know your mother and yeah… I believe it. The thing is, if you’re going to tell me now that you can’t work with me because Julia’s comfort is the most pressing issue, I get that, but I think I have a solution.”

“Why would you need a solution? What do you intend to do now?”

“I want to get to know you better, Chris, not just here at work,” he spread his arms to indicate his office area. “But outside of here too, since you are my only son.”

Chris stiffened. “I just don’t know if I want that.”

“I understand. There are all kinds of awkward in this situation. And mostly because of Julia. But I think we can eventually work our way clear of that.”

“I still don’t know.”

“Did you know I was mentoring you along with Julia and Walter to become my eyes and ears so you guys could take over the company? I wanted to include Margaret in that, but she told me just last week she intends to retire in another year. I too intend to step back in a year or two or possibly three. I wasn’t sure on the timeline yet, but I’d like you three to take over. Ask Julia. She’ll tell you. This goes back to long before we… she and I… we got, well, you know…”

“Yes, I know.” Chris sighed as usual concerning the subject Lloyd invariably stumbled over. That was the very reason he wasn’t sure they could or should continue to work together.

“Yes, well, I explained my plans for you, Walter, and her. It’s not just because of this either. It’s because you think on your feet and work consistently well and run things just like me. I like that. And looking toward that end, I’d like to keep teaching you more about it. Only now with the understanding that you and Julia will eventually be taking over the business for me.”

Chris’s eyebrows almost sprung right off his forehead. “What? You’re proposing to give me… I mean, us, your business after only a day of knowing that we share the same DNA? You don’t know me, Lloyd. You don’t know that I’m not lying to you or a terrible person or… or…”

“I do too know you, Chris. And quite well. I know Julia too. For all the unfortunates in this, it is fortunate that I believe in you two and your talents and skills respectively and collectively. And yes, I am proposing that. Who else could I leave my legacy to? There is no one else. That’s something I’ve been struggling to come to terms with over the last few years. Yes, reality has hit me like a cold fish slapping me in the face. I’m old and alone now and there’s no one who really gives a damn about me. I have plenty of friends and coworkers, and I’m respected with enough wealth and flashy cars. But what about love? Family? Anyone that I hold close? There is no one. I was ready to have strangers run it simply so that when I did retire or slow down, I wouldn’t have to close it. Or sell it off. I have no one else to leave it to, Chris. I’ve worked long and hard, and giving all I had to building it up and now? I’m nearing the end and I have nothing except that to show for it.”

“And now you think you have me?”

“Yes. And maybe, someday, if you decide to have kids…”

He shot up straight. “Slow the hell down, Lloyd.”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure I can. I’ve never even considered the idea I could have a son. Another chance. I well remember how I used to be and why your mom chose not to tell me about you. She deserved much better. But thirty years has changed me, Chris. Age has weakened my pride and left me always wanting more. Wishing I’d done so many things differently. Maybe we can develop something… Just consider it. For now, why not continue with what we already agreed on and planned? And later, if you like, we could meet up here and there for dinner or just coffee and slowly get to know each other outside of work. Maybe I could be a decent father to you now. I sincerely want to be. I want to learn how and maybe become a positive force in the life of any kids you might have… my grandkids, you know, someday…”

Chris shook his head. “I’m stunned. This isn’t what I thought could ever happen.”

“Neither did I. But it has. Consider this, Chris, I might not have helped form the man you are today, but I instantly liked you and I genuinely wanted to know you better, which is why I worked so closely with you, and tried to mentor you. Now, I just want to enrich the connection we already have.” Lloyd leaned forward, holding his hand out. “Will you please consider it?”

Chris blinked, feeling unsure. After contemplating the alternative of not allowing Lloyd to get any closer than he already was, Chris decided it seemed a little too mean. He leaned forward, offering his hand to his father. “All right, Lloyd. We can… spend time together. See where things go. But I can’t guarantee anything.”

“No. No. We’ll both just take it one day at a time. That’s all anyone can ask.” But the smile on his dad’s face was enough to make Chris realize somehow overnight he’d become the most important factor in Lloyd’s life. He found it odd and unsettling and yet this man was his father and seemed to want to be. It was the reaction he’d have asked for four years ago, and here it was. After all these years, he had a father who was interested in spending time with him.

****

“He did tell me all that. Before…” Julia glanced around the room. She was blushing again, and very awkward. After hearing about Chris’s encounter with his father, she hoped by saying it a few more times she could get over her astonishment. Chris’s dad. Daddy. Father. Yes, she needed more time before she could accept it without an internal alarm going off.

“Lloyd thinks I’m his second chance to do things right.”

“Maybe he means it. He did seem rather lonely. I’m sorry,” she added, “I’m sorry, but he did seem lonelier than just being interested in me, specifically.”

“So what? I should just give my father another chance? Even after all that happened?”

“Yeah. Perhaps you should. He never knew about you. Sure, he has plenty of faults. But he’s not all bad, Chris, there’s a lot of good inside him too. He’s complicated and flawed, like most humans.”

“You mean, like Vickie?” Chris said softly.

Julia winced. They were at her parents’ house, sitting at the kitchen table after eating a delicious dinner served by her mom for Julia, her sisters, and their families. Everyone else had already wandered out to the patio. Now, Julia and Chris were holding hands on the table top and softly talking.

“No. We have too much history. Too many things she did.”

“She’s sick, remember? Doesn’t that change something?” Chris countered.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But we can talk about my dad?”

“Yes.” She glared. “Because your dad is new to you.”

“And he still works with my girlfriend. Maybe I don’t want that.”

“We agreed on that all ready. Let’s act like grown-ups. Try being professional, remember all that?”

“I remember.”

“Then don’t lecture me.”

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “All right, Julia. But all people are complicated and flawed.”

He quickly exited to the patio where her parents were sitting. She glared after him.

Minutes later, her dad entered the house and noticed her still sitting at the kitchen table. “Chris retreat for some reason? Caught his guilty look and wondered if he said something to you.”

She shrugged. “Not really, just the usual lecture about Vickie. I mean, he refused to tell me about his father as I’m… well, anyway, and then he passes judgment on Vickie.”

Her dad sat near her. “Your mother—”

“Vickie. And please stop doing that. You call Tracy my mother and then at other times, you refer to Vickie as my mother just to make a point. Do you really want to relegate Tracy to being no more than my stepmother?”

“I don’t. I know, she’s been your true mother. I appreciate that more than I can ever express.”

“Don’t. Don’t you dare do that.”

“What?” Donny glanced up, startled at her vehement statement.

“Don’t act like Tracy did it out of obligation. She never sought our gratitude or considered it her duty. She raised me and chose to do it because she loves me, Dad. She loves me as her daughter. You always insisted on including Vickie, always trying to promote a love between her and me, and no one else. Not even between me and you. Technically speaking, I might be your only natural daughter, but Tracy was never once my stepmother. She was always my mother.”

Donny sighed, leaning forward to curl an arm around her shoulders. “You’re right. It’s primarily from guilt, I guess. I hate to be a bad example to you. But the reality was, whether by mistake or what, I fell in love with your mother while I was still married to Vickie. Desperately, madly, crazy in love.”

She tilted her head to look into his face. “And you still are?”

He half smiled. “Yeah. I still am.”

“Then let it be, Dad. I don’t want to see Vickie, even if she has cancer.”

He gripped her hand. “I’m asking for Tracy. Not for Vickie’s sake or yours. Loving your sister is very different from loving your mother, you know? Tracy is well aware of what Vickie is and isn’t. She always tries to take your side to protect you, but she still loves Vickie as her sister. Sometimes, what their relationship entails does not involve you. It would help Tracy if you could go see Vickie. Maybe just try and suspend everything right now. Make sure Vickie will be okay, and then—”

“Go back to the feud?”

“Maybe.”

They heard the sliding door close and Kylie and Ally walked in. Ally smiled and sat down with them. “Vickie?”

“Yeah.” Julia sighed.

She took Julia’s hand. “I know Vickie’s hard to deal with. Believe me. I hated the woman. But you know what she did?”

“I can only imagine.”

“She was the first one who understood my bulimia, and why I was doing it. She understood because my compulsion to eat was an addiction and despite all the chaos it caused, the need to do it was similar to her alcoholism. I couldn’t find the words to explain it to others, all of you, not even Mom or Kylie or Nate. And Vickie didn’t need any words, she just got it. I can’t tell you how much her support helped me. And considering how awful I was to her until that day, I hated her so much. I thought the same things about her that you do right now. She’s stupid and flaky and steals all the good from anything she touches, but it turned out, she got me when nobody else could.”

“She did?”

“Yes. She did. She also gave me Nate. Unlike you, I couldn’t handle it as well as you did with Chris and his father. I couldn’t deal with Nate and Vickie. I was so ready to walk and be done with it. She gave me her ticket to his graduation along with a swift kick in the ass about it. That he lost his mom and really needed me there.”

“She was always nice to me. I was screwed up and she always seemed to understand that about me,” Kylie suddenly interjected in Vickie’s support.

“She was always my friend, too. Never mind our former history,” Nate’s voice added, joining the group as he walked in from the patio too.

“Intervention, full force,” Julia grumbled.

“You were too young to remember. But she and I were together. You get it now, right? Older and younger sometimes works. It doesn’t have to end in tragedy. Later on, she became my friend.”

“Why is your dad still supporting her? What kind of manipulation is that?”

Nate shrugged. “Because he still cares about her. He knows she’ll never stay with him but she helped him heal after the loss of my mom.”

“How could he forgive her?”

“Cancer. It’s a strong word for most, Ju-Ju-Bee,” Nate said calmly.

She shook her head. “I know what you’re all doing. Finding the good in Vickie. I’m not saying she hasn’t got any good inside her. I’m not saying there haven’t been good times that I remember with her. When she was fun or spontaneous or even managed to save the day. But all the bad stories happened three times as often. And no offense, but you were her nieces or friends or siblings or love interests, not her daughter. She never mothered me. That’s no minor thing. It’s not so easy for me to ignore or shake off.”

Kylie stuck an arm around her. “Maybe you need to shake it off for yourself. That way, you have no regrets. You don’t know what life will bring you, Julia. It’s supposed to go one way, but quite often, it goes the opposite way for no reason. Just think about it and consider it. Maybe we’re pressing you so hard because we can see that it might be the worst thing if you are not there with her. If you could only find some way to forgive her.”

“Why? So she can be my mother?” Julia’s voice was stoically stubborn.

“No. Never,” Kylie stated and her voice was definite. “You belong to us. Our daughter, our sister, our sister-in-law, ours. Vickie can’t ever have you. But she can love you. We’ll allow her to have your love. Maybe it doesn’t have to be articulated or defined. Just love her. The closest thing she has to what we five shared, were her sisters and parents. And you. None of us think you need her, not anymore. But she does need you. And maybe you could give her that for a little while. And yes, only because she’s facing cancer.”

Quiet fell over the room. Julia glanced up, and saw Tracy standing at the back of it. Tears streamed down her face. She stepped forward. “You don’t have to do this. Everyone, please stop. Julia’s always worried that she is not one of us. Not fully. Because of Vickie. Somehow, Vickie remained in the picture, but was an undefined figure to her. All she remembers is Vickie taking her from us. Making her less mine. Less… ours. It wasn’t easy. So Julia’s right, cancer doesn’t change that.”

“I disagree,” Ally argued. “We had similar circumstances. She’s been one of us from the start, as we’ve all been a family since our dad left. Donny is still our dad. He is my dad, regardless if his DNA belongs to Julia and not to me. I don’t think that makes me any less his. Even with my ‘natural’ father back in my life, Donny is still my real dad,” Ally said, putting air quotes around the word, natural.

Kylie chimed in. “I agree. We have never been a stepfamily. Our kids don’t discriminate between their ‘real’ grandparents and their step-grandparents. Mom and Dad, Tracy and Donny. Sure, we benefited from having other people in our lives who influenced us or gave us their DNA, but you two raised us. You two made us a family. The real kind. The kind I plan to model my marriage and family after.”

“Me too.” Ally nodded.

Julia glanced at her sisters. They tilted their heads, their eyebrows jutting up and challenging her to say they were wrong. Or insist she wasn’t one of them. Julia smiled slowly and then with more confidence as she added, “Me too.”

“Then if you see Vickie, it’s neither here or there. You know who your real family is and how much you belong, so she can’t hurt you. Being around her is just another thing to deal with,” Kylie explained.

“You’re not our fucking stepsister.” Ally interjected. “So get over it. Be here. In this family. See Vickie like we see Micah. He doesn’t take anything away from our family, not the five of us… and still growing. Vickie doesn’t extract anything from us as a unit.”

It was a breathtaking realization. Julia smiled, tears shimmering in her eyes. “No, I’m not your fucking stepsister.”

“It’s about time you realized that,” Kylie added, getting up and yanking Julia into her arms. Ally came up behind them and enveloped them both.

“But Vickie is my sister,” Tracy added. “She’s still my little sister and she’s sick and—”

“I’ll see her,” Julia interrupted her mom. “She’s your sister and you love her no matter what. My seeing her could help her and besides, it’s cancer.”

Tracy nodded, wilting. “Yes.” Julia was instantly enveloped by all of them. Even Chris. He waited until her family released her and then he simply scooped her up like a child and held her next to him, kissing her cheek.

“You must know, you’re not a step anything, not if you’re referring to the many who love you,” Chris told her softly.

She turned and accepted his kiss and then replied, “You must know then, my family adores you and accepts you as part of our family too. I think you not only have the father you never had, but you kind of inherited all my siblings, cousins, aunt and uncle, grandparents and even my parents. All of me is now all of yours.”

His eye flashed with both hope and his usual reluctance to believe people loved and wanted him. “Really?”

She squeezed him to her. “Really. I love you. They love you. We are your family now, and you are the cornerstone of mine.”

He smiled the shyest, sweetest, most longing smile that had her heart expanding with love and care towards him. He needed her family as much as he needed her. Seeing how Chris longed for and enjoyed her family, he made her reevaluate how she felt about them. How she accepted them. Because it was clear, they adored and accepted her and she’d been unable to accept that. Until now.

Half her life she’d let her insecurities dominate her, maybe it was time to not only grow up, but face who her natural mother was. She’d thought banning Vickie from her life was the answer so she could figure out how to gain confidence in herself and others, and yet here she was, still unsure and still doubting her place in her own family. Blaming it all on Vickie worked in her teens, but now she’d found a place in the world that worked for her, starting with a job she’d never imagined she’d like to a boyfriend she never thought she’d love. But she did on both accounts. And it was time to start acting like it. It was time to let go of an outdated version of herself and believe in not only herself but everyone she loved.

****

The hospital smelled like astringent antiseptic and was so strong it stung Julia’s nose. Her nostrils twitched. She could hear soft murmurs of the TVs as she passed by the rooms. Daylight flooded in through the reception room windows, imbuing the gloomy place with light and air, but most of the people who were there did not expect anything to be light and airy. Not when the thing they were there for was cancer.

Her parents sat down in the waiting area with her aunt and uncle, along with her Grandma Gayle and Grandpa Jay. Her grandparents seemed disturbingly old today as they held hands, slouched together on the couch. Grandma cried. When she hugged Julia, she started crying harder. Julia patted her sloping shoulders as she gently helped her into the seat. Grandma Gayle nodded, lifting her gnarled hand to pat Julia’s as she said, “I’m so glad you’re here. A mother needs to see her daughter at a time like this.”

Julia held her tongue, remembering her family’s words of advice. She could handle anything as long as she remained confident in her family’s love. Her mother’s love, most of all. And if other people considered Vickie something that Julia did not, she could deal with it now. It was only a label, and not her reality. Nothing could change Julia’s reality but her.

Chris stood back, greeting everyone with subdued hellos and handshakes. Her heart burst as she watched him standing there. He was so good around her family. He easily accepted them, despite their being larger than life, incessantly nosy, having constant get-togethers and in general, ceaseless meddling. Chris came to all the family get-togethers with her and was fast becoming an expected attendee. Grandma sniffed in disdain when she first saw Chris, disapproving of his tattoos and erroneously assuming a few things that perhaps even Julia, herself, might have once assumed. But Chris easily won her over with his good manners, saying thank you, please, yes, ma’am, and Mrs. He always jumped up first to hold Grandma’s chair, and offered to get her food from the buffet or carry her plate or open the door for her. In essence, he was dutifully at her beck and call. In no time at all, Grandma Gayle started to blush and stammer over that “dear Chris” who hovered so close to her and eagerly brought her anything she asked for or needed. Chris had no grandparents, but he adored all four of Julia’s.

Chris had found the family he’d never had.

He smiled at her encouragingly before she turned to head down the hallway towards the recovery room. Vickie was out of surgery and apparently, it went very well. Only two family members were allowed to see her now, so it was decided, one of them should be Julia. The surgeons told her the cancer hadn’t spread to her lymph nodes and they expected Vickie to make a full recovery. She still had to undergo radiation for nine weeks, but the medical staff had high expectations.

At hearing the good news, a collective sigh of relief from the family broke the silence like a huge wave. Tony took Gretchen against his chest and she started to cry although she hadn’t before that moment. Her aunt was often like that, and felt things long after they happened, and she was no longer required to be strong, capable, or the natural leader. Tony’s gruff demeanor belied his innate talent in knowing how to care for her. Olivia and Derek hugged Gretchen too. Derek took a keen interest in the doctor’s diagnosis. Did he envision his own future now that he was in college and studying medicine, Julia wondered. Shaking her head, she thought, Who could have guessed?

Her mom put her hand over her mouth and started nodding, smiling with joy, her eyes shining. Her gesture made Julia’s heart ache. It was so typical of her mom. She was often mushy, sentimental, and overly emotional. It easily flowed out of her to others. Her dad stood beside her mom, holding her hand. Ally and Nate were there with Kylie and Tristan. Their little kids were at Tony and Donny’s parents’.

Julia’s nerves thrummed through her body. The entire family was there as one, caring, loving unit of support and all agreed it was Julia who should see Vickie first.

Sucking in a deep breath, Julia reached the recovery room doorway and saw Vickie. Her breath whooshed out of her lungs and her eyes immediately filled with tears.

Vickie was so pale and unnaturally colored. She was tucked neatly in the hospital bed, but her blonde hair was pulled back and unteased. She wore no makeup either, and Julia wondered if she had ever seen Vickie without any makeup and her hair all undone? Her chest was flat on one side, and Julia clearly saw one breast was gone under the plain hospital gown. An IV drip was hanging near her with a tube inserted into her wrist. Her eyes were closed but her lashes soon opened when she heard the soft clicking of Julia’s shoes on the vinyl floor.

“Julia?” Vickie said her name softly, and her voice was as rough as gravel. She smiled but it was a weak version that was lacking her usual gleaming white teeth and bright red lips.

Julia dug her fingernails into the fatty part of her palm and pressed hard. She was desperately trying to restrain the sudden sobs that were filling her eyes with tears and lodging a knot in her throat. Vickie barely lifted her hand. “Come here, honey, I’m okay. Please… don’t leave… not yet.”

Julia sniffled and started to cry as she flopped down onto the visitor chair near Vickie’s head. Gripping the side rails of the bed, she buried her face in the covers as choking sobs emerged from her mouth and tears rolled down her face. The stark reality of the cancer was so much worse and more graphic and devastating than Julia was prepared for.

“I don’t think I understood what… that this… I mean, I didn’t think you were lying… but…”

Vickie barely smiled again, the slightest tilt of her lips curving. She lifted her hand to Julia's wrist, squeezing it. But it seemed to take all of her strength. “It’s more alarming… seeing it up close… huh? Makes it more real. It’s okay, honey. I’m cancer-free… at least, I am right now…”

Julia placed her head beside Vickie’s, holding her hand, trying to remain calm. “I’m sorry for all the cruel things I said…”

“Nah. No. There’s no need for that. I love you Ju-Ju-Bee. I might not have always shown it the right way, but I never stopped loving you, and I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m here… Vick… I mean, Mom.”

Vickie squeezed her hand harder. “Nah, don’t do that either. You’re my daughter, but Tracy is your real mother. It’s okay. I know she needs to be that. But I can be… your… friend…if you thought that maybe…”

“I think that would be a good place for us.”

Vickie smiled, shutting her eyes and Julia could see her exhaustion in the lines bracketing her mouth.

“Are you in any pain?” Julia groped around, looking for the nurse call button, feeling frantic to help Vickie.

“No… Lots of pain meds, I believe. Just really tired. Good anesthesia. One more thing, Julia? I’m sorry… for not being…”

Julia sucked in a breath. “Nah. No. There’s no need for that. I love you, Vickie.”

Vickie’s eyes were tiny slits, but her tears fell. “You haven’t said that to me in fifteen years.”

“Well, I do.”

“Cancer will do that.” Vickie grimaced.

“No. It’s—”

Vickie squeezed her hand. “It’s a good way to relieve the pressure. If we make fun of cancer, we can’t let it win. It already took my breast.”

Julia knew losing a breast would be hard for many women, but for a woman as dependent upon her looks and body image for her self-esteem as Vickie, it seemed like the world’s cruelest trick.

“You can get a new one. Bigger. Better,” Julia’s said, trying to prevent Vickie from feeling depressed in her quiet, morose exhaustion.

She shook her head. “You know what? No. Nah. I think I’ll just… I don’t know, appreciate that I’m still alive. That it isn’t my boobs or my hair that matters in the end. Being alive is what’s important. Being with you makes it so much better.”

“I never dreamed you’d say something like that.”

“Cancer does that to a girl,” she said before her eyes fluttered shut. Julia stayed there, holding her hand and saying nothing. Just being there with her… With Vickie. It didn’t have to be confined to a tidy label anymore. Technically speaking, most of the relationships in her life were strange. Her cousins were her stepsisters, but really just her sisters. Nate was her stepbrother, then her ex-stepbrother, then her cousin-in-law and her brother-in-law, and yet, she considered him her brother. Her mother was her aunt, and her father was the uncle of her sisters, but it didn’t matter anymore. Not at all. She glanced up when she noticed a huge, hulking figure standing outside the doorway, staying back, out of the way, lingering.

Chris.

She smiled at him.

He smiled back at her and she waved him in. He hesitated, glancing at Vickie and then at her. Quietly, as Vickie slept, he said, “I was worried… thought I should check…”

And that was another strange one: Chris’s father was her ex-boyfriend, who would eventually become her father-in-law someday. She had no guarantee, of course, only a gut feeling that could happen. She realized that some things in life didn’t need to have an exact name. They could just be. The people that loved you, supported you, and wanted to be part of your life in whatever capacity they could, were all that mattered. Not their labels or placement in the family tree.

“I think she’ll be okay. I think we’ll be okay,” Julia said, glancing at the soft, vulnerable form of Vickie. “I think I’ll be okay.”

Chris wanted to touch her and hug her, and carry her out of there. She could tell he did by his flexing fingers and fidgeting feet. He didn’t like hearing she was uncomfortable or in any pain. But he didn’t try to solve her issues for her either. He only tried to support and care for her, loving her the best way he could.

Julia released Vickie’s hand, standing up and taking Chris’s hand. “I think I’ll give Mom and Gretchen some time with her. They need to see for themselves that she’s okay. Or she soon will be. And then, I think tomorrow we should go to work, discuss the project with Lloyd and get started on it.”

“With Lloyd? All three of us?”

“Yeah, I think it’ll be okay. He’s your dad, and you should give him a chance. Family matters. Even if it’s family that comes late to the party. Or never joins the party. No matter what you want or expect, they’re still family. They still matter. And besides, we’re so damn good at our respective jobs and even more so as a team. Instead of laying low, I think we should revel in that and do it together. Starting tomorrow.”

“You’re serious?”

“Deadly.”

He held her close to him. “I don’t know what happened in here—”

“Cancer. It tends to change a girl’s perspective.” She smiled mimicking what everyone else had been telling her, but only now did she understand. Her former grudges seemed petty and irrelevant. Her understanding of herself and others seemed clearer. All the flaws and complications she experience can be improved or worked out. But illness and death? It couldn’t. Everything else? Could be. Cancer made her understand it was pretty much that clear cut.

“Okay, we’ll go to work tomorrow, together.”

Nodding as she took his hand, Julia headed out towards her entire family who were waiting anxiously, and worried about her and Vickie. They were all there. For her and each other. But mostly, for Vickie. As they would continue to be. No matter what cards fate dealt to them, they had each other to rely on as they forged ahead and strove for success. A blanket of warmth wrapped around Julia’s heart and her insides as she stepped into the waiting area to tell her mother she could go and see her sister now.

Julia believed and trusted her family, relishing the bond she knew would prevail forever. Her family was all gathered right there, together, and for today, everyone was safe, healthy, and most of all, here. And that’s all anyone can ask for. Today. That was something to be grateful for.

Gretchen and Tracy hurried down the hallway to see their sister. Julia smiled, watching their eagerness as she waved Olivia over to her. Yanking Olivia under her arm, Julia turned towards her sisters and grabbed Ally’s shoulder as she had Olivia’s, while nodding for Kylie to hug Ally. All three shuffled in, hugging and caring with their heads together. So rarely did Julia reach out for them in comfort.

“We’ll be like this, when we’re in our fifties and seventies and even our nineties. All four of us, won’t we? Always running to each other, no matter what happens. Sisters can make it through any ordeal or difficulty,” Julia said.

“We will be,” Olivia said, and her tone was emphatic.

“We will and we kind of already have,” Ally agreed softly while Kylie wiped her eyes.

“We’ll always find a way back to each other too,” Kylie added.

“Because you’re my sisters.”

“She finally gets it.” Ally exclaimed with a playful smile, but her eyes sparkled with tears.

“I do finally get it,” Julia said, squeezing them both to her. They squeezed her back and smiled into each other’s eyes. Because sisters are forever.

At least Julia’s were.