by Lee Wardlow
“She said you were going to end up pregnant,” Kai whispered.
Sophie frowned at her friend. “I was only thirteen. She thought I’d be sleeping around. I’ve only been with Josh.”
“You still ended up pregnant.”
“So, did you,” Sophie declared.
Kai put her arm around Sophie’s shoulder and smiled. “But she thought I was a good girl.”
Sophie rolled her eyes at Kai. Then they listened to her father and father-in-law lead the Christmas Carol, Silent Night as Father Paddy entered the church from the back.
Sophie listened tuning everyone else but her Dad and Brad. She felt her eyes fill with tears. Kai comforted her once again.
Father Paddy stood at the front of the church in his flowing white garments; his stole around his neck. He raised his hands to the church and shouted, “Merry Christmas everyone.”
Everyone replied in kind.
“This morning we celebrate the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. It is a time for new beginnings. A time for joyous, celebration because Christ was born on this day to save us from our sins.” In a loud, booming voice, Father Paddy, announced, “In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
The congregation made the sign of the cross and replied. “Amen.”
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
The response of the people resounded through the church.
Sophie glanced around. She felt good and complete as the mass went on. She took communion and Father Paddy blessed her before she went back to her seat. She bowed her head and was silent, thanking God for giving her this chance to start all over with her life, and enjoy it once again using the talents that she was born with.
She hoped she had only three more treatments but only time would tell. She wasn’t looking at the bad, things anymore, only the good that had come from her getting cancer.
She still had the love of her life.
She had her children and grandchild.
She had her parents and Josh’s.
She had Kai and Micki.
Her new friends Deandra and Amy.
Sophie was alive.
After mass, Father Paddy greeted everyone in the vestibule of the church. The winter morning too cold for him to stand outside. He hugged her hard letting her know how good it was to see her.
“It feels good to be here.”
“Everyone handles this differently Sophie. I know it has been hard for you and I’m so proud of how you have handled this. You’ve shown strength in such adversity.”
“I’m not done yet,” she whispered.
“I know but I expect nothing different from you.”
“I’ll keep trying,” she promised.
Everyone headed to Hannah and Heath’s place. The two-story colonial was in a subdivision much like theirs. Sophie loved what the young couple had done with it.
Christmas lights hung from the porch that spanned the front of the house. A nativity set was on the front lawn, just Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus but Sophie knew that with each year Heath could add pieces to the scene, something that they had done as well.
She walked up the sidewalk and her son stood in the door with Joshua. She smiled so grateful that she was still here to see this. Her daughter hadn’t come to church. She hadn’t arrived at her brother’s house yet either.
She glanced up at the heavens, the sky clear and blue now. Not a cloud, marred its perfect color and she smiled. She wasn’t going to worry. She wasn’t going to interfere in Ally’s life. She didn’t think she was doing drugs. She hoped she wasn’t drinking. She wanted her girl to get her head on straight. That was something Ally was going to have to do on her own.
Josh cupped her elbow. “You okay?”
“I’m perfect. I’ll be tired in a few hours. I might need to take a nap but I’m doing good right now. That extra week helped me not feel so horrible.”
“I’m glad, Sophie.”
“Me too, Josh.”
They had a wonderful Christmas with their family despite Ally not showing up until three. They loved watching Alexander and Joshua opening their presents. While her head was still bald, Roman’s hair had grown back in. She stood behind him at the kitchen table and teased him, running her fingers through his thick, dark locks.
“Want me to shave it again?” He asked gazing at her.
She saw the look on Kai’s face and laughed. “Once was enough. Thank you,” she told him. “I wouldn’t have made it through that without you doing what you did.”
He put his arm around her waist and hugged her. “No problem, Sophie.”
She went to Ally and tried talking to her about where she had been and why she was so late, but Ally stonewalled her. So, she left her daughter alone, letting her know how much she loved her.
She felt like something was wrong with Ally as she walked away from her. Something she wasn’t willing to share with her right now. Josh slipped his arm around her and tugged her against his body. It felt like it did the day she told him she had cancer or thought she did at least. A little lost still. A little better. A little bit stronger for what she had gone through.
After dinner, they went home. Sophie was more than ready. She snuggled in bed in her Hello Kitty pajamas while Josh watched television by her side. The puppies at the end of the bed between hers and Josh’s feet. They were getting big. Too big to be snuggled at the top if both adults were in the bed.
“I love you, Josh.”
He was popping chips in his mouth watching a movie. He glanced at Sophie. “Love you, too, babe. This was the best Christmas.”
She glanced up at him. “Why?”
“Church. Our dad’s singing together. The entire family at Hannah and Heath’s house. Seeing them so happy and doing well. Heath got a promotion that’s one reason why they are talking about her not working any longer,” Josh explained. “I think she’s going to give her two-week notice. Sophie, I feel great about the end of the line with your treatments and you being cancer free.”
She rolled over, so she could put her head in his lap. “I think everything is coming together, Josh,” she had to agree.
Chapter 21
Sophie
The first of January they all surrounded Micki supporting her at the funeral of her mother. She had a second heart attack that was fatal.
Camden lost in the championship game New Year’s Day, but Sophie didn’t think Ally had worked out too much with Brian now that the season was over. Her daughter was still miserable and living with Sylvia.
The second week of February Sophie had her last chemotherapy treatment. In March she would have surgery to remove her entire breast. They hadn’t discussed it with anyone. It was a decision she made with Josh alone. In her mind, it was the only way that she would be sure her cancer was gone. With the partial mastectomy, she wouldn’t require radiation. After that, a follow-up appointment six weeks later then she would be done for a few months.
Madge had already given her or rather Josh, her schedule for the next year. Follow-up visits. Six month, scans and blood work that would eventually become yearly until that five-year mark when she could breathe again. After three years, the visits could become once a year but after five years, the probability of Sophie’s cancer returning was much less likely. She could hardly wait for that important anniversary.
The third week into February Micki picked up Sophie on a Saturday afternoon. The twins who were now six months old and growing too fast were with John.
The something she wanted to show Sophie was a two-story with a wraparound porch. They parked in the driveway off the side of the house.
Sophie glanced up at the slanted roof that led to the bedroom window where once, she, Micki and Kai had slipped outside and smoked cigarettes thinking they were cool. They were thirteen. That lasted about two months when the pack of smokes ran out. They never picked up cigarettes again.
“Why are we
here?” Sophie asked Micki about her childhood home.
Her eyes were bright with happiness when she glanced over her shoulder at Sophie. Micki had a secret she was keeping from her. Her pixie cut was cute with longer bangs that lifted in the gentle breeze covering her eyes. “You’ll see,” she said blowing her hair out of the way.
Sophie followed Micki up the stairs that she had taken a thousand times in her lifetime when they spent the night at this house. Snatching the ring of keys out of her back pocket, she handed them to her friend. “You open the door.”
Sophie rolled her eyes and slipped the key in above the ancient doorknob. Then she opened the door and stepped back letting her friend go inside first. Micki smile at her. “No, after you.”
She sighed at Micki. “Okay.”
Inside the house, that once was decorated with antiques and old, flower patterned furniture everything was changed. Sophie’s hand went to her mouth as she fought tears. “What have you done?”
“This is for you,” Micki explained.
She took her hand and led her into what Micki’s mom once called the parlor. Sophie shook her head. Lining the walls were some works of the local artists in town including some works that Sophie had been doing for the last few months. In the middle of the room was a large, round table with blown glass from Cooper Glassworks.
Sophie lifted one of the beautiful little faded blue jars in her hand and gazed at it. She opened it and whispered in the jar, “This is everything I never dreamed of and everything I always wanted.”
“You remember?” Micki said.
She turned with the small jar in her hand. “I do. We thought we could whisper our fears in a jar and seal it up, so they would go away. I wanted to tell the jar that this is my dream to keep it close to me.”
Micki wiped away a tear. “Come on, I have more to show you.”
She extended her hand to Sophie who took it and let her guide her across the hall to what used to be the dining room. Micki opened wide, the double doors and Sophie gasped.
“What is this?”
“This room can be rented out to bridal shower parties, baby showers, whatever works. We can also do wine and art parties. Plant Nite parties. Fun things that Cooper has never seen.”
The room was light and airy with two sets of French doors that led out onto the wrap around porch. Floor to ceiling windows in the front let plenty of light in. The hardwood floors had been refinished and were bright and shiny. Round tables were setup around the room, filling it. They were plastic for easy cleaning and could be covered for formal parties.
“Come with me,” Micki said, grabbing Sophie’s hand.
“There’s more?”
“There is.” Micki opened the door into the dining room which was wall to wall art supplies. “If I have forgotten anything, you just need to order it.”
“How did you do this?”
“After my dad died, Mom put the house and her annuities in my name, so I didn’t have to go through probate when she died. She wanted to protect her assets and save me the problems she had with probate. Dad’s accounts were frozen. I had to take care of her until we got it all straightened out. You know how she was.”
“Micki, you spent your inheritance on this?”
“Some of it. Kai spent some of her divorce settlement from Jake too. Your parents gave us some money as did Josh’s parents. Hannah has the numbers so we’re all equal partners in your business. We’ll help you run it until you are totally back on your feet.”
She showed her the kitchen and family room. “A playroom?”
Micki nodded. “Hannah and I can bring the kids here if we need to. We’ll help each other out with them while we work.”
Sophie squealed and grabbed Micki around the neck.
“Is that happy squealing I hear?” Kai asked. She was three weeks from her due date and ready to pop.
Sophie included her in their hug. “I can’t believe that you all did this for me.”
“We remembered what your dream was. Heath and Hannah made some suggestions. You were writing in a journal about wanting to find yourself. Bits and pieces of family conversation came our way and we started working on it in December, except we didn’t have a location. Then I knew standing in here that Mom would love the idea of her home being used for the arts,” Micki explained. She glanced around her then smiled at Sophie.
“What are you going to call it?” Kai asked her.
She smiled at her friends. “Angel’s Arts.”
Micki couldn’t stop grinning. “Mom would love that, Sophie. Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
Micki’s mom was very conservative, but she adored them coming over to visit Micki. She attended Cooper Baptist Church every Wednesday night and Sunday morning without fail. Even after Kai and Sophie became pregnant, she never judged them. She was just as sweet and kind to them and their children they always brought to see her until they got too busy.
Another of Sophie’s regrets. She only saw Angel Morrow in the grocery store or the hardware store on occasion. She was just as sweet to her though.
“I loved your mom, Micki. It was her house, so we’ll call it Angel’s Arts.”
“I’ll get the sign made and the concrete poured for a parking lot to replace the gravel drive and side yard. Then we’re in business.”
“You won’t have to take down the tree, will you?”
Micki laughed. “Never. I know that tree has sentimental value to all three of us.”
Their initials were carved in the trunk facing the street along with the year that they turned sixteen, got their driver’s license and in Micki’s case fell in love with Richard, her first husband father of her six boys.
Sophie put her arm around her girls. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“You can by making it the success we know you can. This is what you need Sophie. This is why, Hannah quit her job. She wants to be somewhere she can be a mom like you,” Kai explained. “She misses Joshua and she can work with you when you start managing the business on your own, but I’ll always be happy to help. I might enjoy myself getting out a bit.”
“I’m so happy, you guys.”
“I’m starving, let’s get lunch,” Micki suggested.
Sophie passed by the glass jars again and had an idea for her cancer friends. Pink jars where they could whisper their fears and seal them for another day. She tucked one the jars that would be perfect for this into her pocket. No one questioned her. She would talk to Jason at Cooper Glassworks about it later.
Outside, she gazed at the house where her memories were overwhelming her. She was done with chemo. She just had the surgery to face. After chemo, that seemed to be a cake walk.
Kai slipped her arm around her shoulders, “Are you ready?” She asked Sophie.
She glanced at her friend, feeling like her life had started anew the day her diagnosis came. “I am. Let’s get lunch.”
Epilogue
Five Years Later
Sophie
Angel’s Arts was closed for the first time in five years, but it couldn’t be helped. Their thriving business was popular in Cooper. Housewives enjoyed the Wine and Art nights. Teenagers enjoyed their Wild About Art night. Young children enjoyed Painting with Parents.
Her bottle idea was sold mainly off the website that Heath had created for her. It was so popular that Cooper Glassworks had to hire another glass blower, which wasn’t an easy task. Glass blowing is an art and finding a glass blower artist isn’t easy.
So much to do with so many different options had pulled people in. Just like Micki suggested, the beautiful atmosphere of the place, the handy kitchen made it popular for renting on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.
Today, there was somewhere they all had to be. It was the fifth year that they had all walked in the Race Against Breast Cancer. This year was so important because Amy and Sophie were cancer free for five years. Their risk of their cancer returning was substantially diminished. Deandra had excee
ded Doctor Roberts expectations for survival but she was a fighter with a spirit that couldn’t be broken.
The event was a marathon that had different, levels of fitness. They all met at Yeatman’s Cove along the river in downtown. Some ran for miles across the Purple People Bridge. Some just did a three mile walk and there were others that only walked a mile. Team Sophie met Team Amy and Team Deandra each year and did the walk together.
Amy was engaged now. Her Team’s shirts were hot pink with black writing on the front and back. Her fiancé, Allan was the kindest man and treated her friend well. Amy had met him at her the church she attended, the White Oak Baptist Church. Sophie was happy for her and was invited to her wedding next month.
Deandra was in a wheel chair again this year but she had survived her second bout of cancer to see Clair graduated from college. Sophie and Josh had attended the wedding of her daughter to her fiancé, Daniel. Clair was expecting their first grandson any day. She was also walking this year, unwilling to not walk by her mother’s side as Will pushed the wheelchair for her. Team Deandra’s shirts were a soft pink with white writing.
Sophie always had to be different. She, Micki, Hannah, Kai and Ally were dressed in pink tutus and had on dove gray shirts with hot pink writing proclaiming them to be TEAM SOPHIE. With them, was her brother Ross and his family. Heath and Hannah who was expecting their second child. Joshua who was now six. Josh. Both sets of parents. Kai and Roman, their beautiful red-haired girls, Zoya and Chloe who had just started kindergarten and Alexander who was in the first grade with Joshua. Micki, John and their entire brood came. She was surrounded still by so much love.
Driver escorted Sophie to the Ring of Survivors. He was eighteen now. On his way to Ohio State, his foray into the priest hood forgotten as Ross thought it would be.
Each lady got a pink rose who was going to be in the picture. Will parked Deandra at the edge of the ring. Amy and Sophie took her arms and helped her from the chair. They walked her into the ring and supported her, so she could stand tall as she wouldn’t have it any other way during the photo opportunity.
