“Knock, knock.” Keene pokes his head through the door. “Your next visitor worked up a hell of a lot of hutzpah to visit Corinna before surgery.”

My head snaps toward the door. “Who?”

Keene smiles. It’s so rare to see the real thing versus his trademark smirk. “All I have to say is, you owe me every baked good your woman bakes for you after her surgery for at least six months since he’s been at my house since yesterday. He came to wish Corinna good luck for tomorrow. Oh, and Ali thinks he’s the shit.”

“Is the whole family out there?” Corinna’s wraps her arms around me and grins.

Keene shrugs. “You try keeping them all away.” Moving back to the door, he opens it to reveal a face I haven’t seen in person since I left for college. “Senator, come on in. There are no flying pies, I promise.”

“God, Keene. You can be such a dick!” Corinna yells as she rolls off the bed and stomps toward him with her fist raised. Keene laughs. Meanwhile, I’m frozen in place as my grandfather hesitantly moves into the room. It’s the first time we’ve been in the same space since I left for college over fourteen years ago.

A quiet hush settles, other than the beeps and pings of Corinna’s hospital equipment.

Without hesitation, I stand as well. Somehow, his presence still commands it even though I’m no longer a young boy. I hold out my hand to the man I wanted to emulate at one time. The man who I thought didn’t stand by me. “You just couldn’t wait, could you?”

Shaking his head, my grandfather swats away my hand and pulls me in for a hug. “It’s so good to hold you, son. So good to have my arms around you again.”

“Damnit, I’m going to cry,” Corinna mutters. Keene wraps an arm around her shaking shoulders and squeezes.

A nurse pokes her head in. “Ms. Freeman, you need to keep your blood pressure under control. If you can’t, we’ll have to ask all but one to leave.” Spying something in the hallway, she frowns. “And nachos are not on your approved diet.”

“Don’t worry, those are for me,” I assure her with a charming smile.

Corinna looks at my grandfather and mutters, “He’s such a pain in my ass. He knows I can’t eat anything, so, of course, he orders nachos.”

The senator moves from my arms. “Ali tells me you throw pies when you’re angry, you yell at my grandson, and from all I’ve been hearing have a heart of gold.” Studying Corinna for half a second, he moves toward her with his arms open. “Welcome to the family.”

In the midst of the worst anxiety I’ve ever faced, every moment leading up to witnessing this is suddenly worth it. The shit-eating grin I’m wearing isn’t going away anytime soon.

The man I love, respect, and thought I lost is holding the woman I love, found, and reclaimed. For this moment, for this perfect moment, everything is right with the world.

Hours later, Corinna and I are lying in her bed. Everyone has left, including my grandfather. He wished he could stay longer, but he carved out only a short amount of time to be in Connecticut before he had to head back to DC. Playing the political game as long as he has, he knows he can’t stay for Corinna’s surgery, lest we want a media storm outside the hospital tomorrow.

We politely declined.

Corinna’s night nurse has already popped in several times to check her monitors and IV. Each time she’s frowned at us curled up on her bed, but I’m not budging an inch until I absolutely have to.

That’s not right now.

“Zachary’s not what I expected.” Corinna runs her fingers lightly over mine.

“He’s fairly incredible,” I agree. We have so much to work through, my grandfather and I, but it’s good to know the old bastard hasn’t really changed even if his phone manner has become more crotchety over the years. My eyes bore into hers. “Just like the woman I love.”

“Colby.” Golden eyes turn into sparkling pools as tears begin to fall. I blurt out something I’ve been thinking through for weeks. I’ve left it to almost the midnight hour before asking her.

“I need you to tell me now if you want me to fight Bryan with everything in our combined arsenal to be in that room with you tomorrow,” I blurt out.

She yanks her head back. “What?”

“During your surgery.”

“You want to be in the room while I’m being operated on?” She’s confused.

“I want to be there if you need me, Cori. If that means—” I swallow hard. “—being in the operating room, then yes.”

Her eyes close. I see her lips move, but I can’t make out the words. Long minutes pass where she doesn’t say anything, so I begin to fill the silence. “You haven’t said anything about how you’re handling the pressure of this, Corinna. And I’m scared. So fucking scared. If I’m scared, what the hell must you be feeling?”

“I’m…complete.” Sitting up, she leans over and kisses me softly. “Go grab the purple bag from the closet and bring it to me please?”

Confused and hurt, I grab the enormous duffle bag from the closet and put it on her bed. She reaches into the outside pocket and pulls out a leather journal. “This is what I needed, my love. Come sit with me?” Patting the bed next to her, her eyes are glowing softly.

After I get settled next to her, she turns the journal over and over in her hands. “This is what I’m feeling, Colby. I’ve been able to explain a lot of what I’m feeling here. In moments. Bursts. Random thoughts. When I saw the psychologist, she said I was spiraling out of control. That bag and this book were my ways of taking it back. Now it’s for you to read tomorrow,” she adds, placing it back in the bag.

“Cori, I can’t,” I immediately protest.

“I need you to understand what I haven’t been able to articulate so you can be my voice when I can’t be. Even if everything goes perfectly, I’m going to need that from you.” Her lips twitch. “It’s not only my guide on what’s been going through my head, but it’s also an insider’s guide on how to handle the family. It’s every dream and all the wishes I’ve had since we’ve met.” She rubs her hands over mine. “There just weren’t enough hours for everything, Colby. There were too many things to say. This book says what I didn’t have time to.”

“You make it sound like you’re giving up,” I rasp.

She shakes her head. “Quite the opposite. This gave me the clarity to fight the right battles.”

“Have you won?” I ask.

The smile that crosses her face is a glimpse of a solar eclipse, a rare gift you want to stare directly into. “I’m sitting in my hospital bed with you. If this isn’t considered winning, I’d say it’s the championship round, and I’ve got amazing odds.”

I cup the nape of her neck and pull her toward me until our foreheads are touching. “Never forget who you are to me, Corinna.”

“Never, Colby.”

“And you’re not going to give up if I’m not there?” I persist.

“All I’ll need to hear is your name,” she whispers. “That’s all I’ll ever need now. Tomorrow, read the book. I promise it will become so clear.”