A few days had passed and Denny’s MRI showed that the cancer hadn’t spread to any other organs in his body. Connor and I were relieved with the news. Dr. Armstrong had scheduled the surgery for Friday, which was the day of the gallery’s opening and my showing. Connor had all my paintings flown to Chicago already, so I had nothing to worry about. I just needed to show up. At this point, I no longer wanted to go. Denny was more important and so was being there for him, Dana, and Connor. I just wasn’t sure how Connor was going to take the news.
I gave Mason the day off, and Julia and I drove over to Denny’s house for a visit. He seemed to be in high spirits. As he sat in the chair across from me, I reached forward and grabbed his hand.
“I know you’re scared, but Dr. Armstrong is one of the best in the country. You know that Connor had him checked out thoroughly.”
“Yeah, I know he did, and I don’t doubt that he’s the best, but the thought of my brain being cut into isn’t very pleasant.”
“I know it’s not, but it has to be done. After, you’ll start chemo for a while, and then you’ll be cancer free and you can put all of this behind you.” I smiled.
“Easier said than done, Elle.”
“Not really. I’ve put it all behind me.”
“Do you ever think of the ‘what if’s’?” he asked.
“Sometimes I do, especially when I’m with Connor. If I can’t sleep at night, I’ll roll over, wrap my arms around him, and start to think about what if the treatments didn’t work. It’s who we are as human beings, Denny. Those thoughts will always creep up in your mind, and you’re the only one who can put them to rest.”
He smiled as I got up from the chair and took Julia from Dana. As I walked over to Denny, I handed Julia to him.
“Give Uncle Denny a kiss goodbye,” I told her.
She made her cute noises and proceeded to hit him in the face. “Your daddy taught you that, didn’t he?” He laughed.
Denny gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug. I leaned over, kissed him goodbye, and Julia and I headed home.
***
The penthouse was quiet. No one was home but me and Julia. I set her down on her blanket in the living room and surrounded her with toys. As fall was settling in, and it was getting chilly, I walked over to the fireplace and turned it on. I sat down on the blanket across from her and began playing with her and her toys. I gave some more thought about my showing on Friday and decided that I could fly to Chicago right before the opening and fly back the same night. After an hour had passed, Connor came home. He kicked off his shoes, set his briefcase down on the chair, and joined us on the floor.
“How are my two special girls?” He smiled.
“We’re good, sweetheart,” I said as I kissed him.
Julia started yelling when Connor sat down. She was becoming very vocal lately. Her high-pitched voice was hard on the ears. Connor leaned towards her, held her arms, and stood her up. Her little legs wobbled as she smiled and shrieked.
“Wow, she’s really happy today!” he said.
“She’s been very good all day. We went and saw Denny earlier.”
“How is he? I stopped by this morning before going to the office.”
“He’s okay. I can tell he’s scared about the surgery.”
“That’s natural. I would be too,” Connor said as he carefully lowered Julia down.
“I need to talk to you about Friday,” I said.
“What about it? That’s the day of Denny’s surgery.”
That was all he said. He didn’t mention anything about the opening or my showing. It must’ve slipped his mind with everything going on. I wasn’t going to discuss it further. I was going to get in and get out of that gallery as fast as I could. I’d be home before Connor even noticed I was missing.
“I just wanted to tell you that Mason is keeping Julia all day and all night at his place.”
“That’s fine,” he said as he leaned over and kissed me, forcing me on my back as he wouldn’t stop.
Our make-out session was interrupted by Julia’s screeches. Connor broke our kiss and we looked at her. She was on her knees, rocking back and forth.
“Oh my God, Connor, she’s going to crawl!” I exclaimed.
Instantly, he sat up and held his arms out to her. “Come to Daddy, Julia,” he said.
She stayed in that position and smiled. When she wouldn’t move, I took all her toys and moved them away from her and set one block in front of her, but far enough away so that she would have to crawl to reach it. She started to get frustrated as she kept falling over. Soon, she’d had enough and let out a full-blown cry. Connor picked her up and held her. I would never get tired of seeing him with her. Then I started to think about what Denny said and the what if’s.