Page 101 of Redeeming

Leo

You can all go eat a dick.

My sisters, brothers, and I sit around Mom and Dad’s dining room table with everyone’s significant other by their side, including Caitlin, and I guess I’m more old-fashioned than I ever realized because having her here by my side tonight only solidifies my earlier decision.

“Dad.” Nattie grabs Brady’s hand in hers and looks between us all. “What’s going on?”

The rest of us sit silently and let her talk because she doesn’t know how to be quiet.

He picks up Mom’s hand in his, and Murphy groans. “You’re not gonna tell us you’re pregnant again, are you?”

“Aiden...” Mom chastises him, and just about everyone laughs.

Everyone but Cooper and Dad.

Shit.

I take Caitlin’s hand in mine under the table and hold it against her leg. Needing to feel her. Needing her to help ground me as I prepare for the worst.

“No.” Dad looks at me and smiles. “The only baby Sinclair being born soon belongs to Callen and Caitlin.” He looks between us and winks at Cait. “Sorry. Sinclair-Beneventi.”

She rubs her belly. “We settled on Sinclair.”

And okay, yeah. I’m pretty fucking happy she came to that conclusion on her own, but if I have to say anything about it, she’s going to be a Sinclair too, very soon.

“Really?” Mom asks with excitement shining back at us, and I nod and look at Caitlin.

“Yes,” Cait confirms. “Anastasia Sinclair.”

Annabelle gasps, “After your mom. Oh my . . .”

Caitlin leans in to me as the table quiets, and all eyes go back to Mom and Dad. “I had my ninety-day scan last week, and we got the results back.”

He looks at each of us, and my stomach sinks.

“It’s not gone. But it will never be gone. We knew that. I’m living with cancer. And before any of you get upset, I need you to look at it this way. How lucky are we that I get to live with cancer when so many people don’t? I’ll have to stay on a strict treatment plan. But I get to live. I get to have a life with all of you.” He lifts Mom’s hand to his lips and kisses her knuckles.

“A long life,” Mom adds. “There’s no reason to think we don’t have years and years of living left between us.”

“Exactly,” Dad agrees. “And in light of that, we’ve made a few decisions. We’re going to spend the next year traveling to all the places we’ve always dreamed of going. We considered selling the house but couldn’t bring ourselves to do it. We have too many amazing memories locked in these walls. So if any of you or any of your children want to live here, let us know. They can take care of it for us. And who knows, maybe one day we’ll wantsomething smaller. But right now, we want to enjoy this next part of our lives.”

I’ve never been in a room with my family as quiet as this.

It’s like I’m in a vacuum, and all the oxygen has been sucked from the room.

Fuck... I’m so happy for him and for Mom. Happy they’re getting this time. Happy we’re not losing him. But I guess I’m a little heartbroken, too, to know that they won’t be ten minutes away like they’ve always been.

“Guys, this is good news,” Dad reminds us all. And it is. But it’s also heartbreaking.

“Daddy,” Nattie finally breaks the silence as she lets go of the grip she has on Brady and moves to Dad. “We love you.”

“You kids are everything to us. And I can’t tell you all how grateful we are for the life we have and the family you’ve all given us,” Dad tells us as he pats Nat’s back.

“And we’ll be back all the time between adventures,” Mom adds. “But like your father said, we’re thinking about getting something easier to maintain. Smaller.”

She locks her eyes with mine. “Raising you has all been the greatest adventure of our lives. But like Dad said, the adventure isn’t over.”

I wrap an arm around Caitlin and pull her to me, trying to be happy for my parents while I’m also sad my kids won’t get the same experience with them my brothers and sisters’ kids got. But I know I need to be grateful they’ll have them at all. Not everyone is so lucky.

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