Page 2 of Waiting on You

My mom, my best friend, is giving up and letting the cancer win. She’s going to leave me, and when she does, I’ll be left alone because the only other person in my life never wanted me to begin with.

Later that night, Mom finds me in my room, but I pretend I’m asleep and stay there until the nextmorning, wanting to prolong the devastating news I know is coming.

She has chosen to stop the treatments.

She has six months, if she’s lucky, to live.

I want to ask her why I’m not enough for her to want to fight for her life, but instead, I tell her I love her and that everything will be okay, knowing that it won’t be.

We spend the next several months making the most of our time together. Dad takes shorter flights, and we spend time together as a family. We visit all the best spots in London, and Mom makes each new place feel magical. We fill up the rest of the scrapbook and start a new one ...one that will never get finished because we don’t have enough time.

I never tell her what I overheard, but deep down, I’m selfishly dreading the day she leaves me. I’m praying the cancer will somehow leave her body, and with the way she laughs and smiles, I sometimes wonder if maybe the doctors were wrong and my mom is healthy.

But then, one morning, everything takes a turn for the worse. Mom is hospitalized due to an infection, and it all spirals from there. She has a stroke and sinks into a coma, and a few days later, with Dad and me by her side, her heart stops beating.

Dad and I cry, begging her to come back.

But she’s gone.

And it feels like she took the magic with her.

The dayof Mom’s funeral, Dad hands me a light-pink envelope with my name scrawled across it in Mom’s handwriting.

He’s been distant since she passed away. At first, I tried to be there for him, but the more he pushes me away, the more I realize that what I overheard that day in their room must be true. Dad hadn’t wanted me, but now, he’s stuck with me.

I go to my room and open the envelope, both nervous and excited to read my mom’s words. I don’t know when she wrote the letter, so I don’t know what I’ll get.

My dearest Paige,

From the moment I found out I was pregnant with you, my world changed for the better. You are not only my daughter, but you are also my best friend. You are the light in the dark and the magic in an otherwise ordinary world.

If you are reading this, I am gone. I hate that I won’t be on this earth to watch you grow up and be the extraordinary woman that I know you’ll be. But please know that if there’s a heaven—and I believe there is—I’ll be watching you from above.

There are a few things I want you to remember as you go on your journey in life. First, the magic doesn’t lie. I felt the magic the day I met your father and again when you were born. And I feel it every day thatI spend with you guys here in London. When we go on our adventures and make our scrapbooks, the magic is there. Never lose sight of the magic, my sweet girl.

The next thing I want you to remember is to always believe in yourself. Follow your instincts, your gut, and most of all, your heart. It will never steer you wrong.

Find your passion. When I met your father, I was lost. I had so many jobs that I didn’t love, but then I became a wife and a mom, and I learned that my passion was my family. I don’t care what your passion is, but make sure you find it and never settle for anything else.

Please continue our scrapbooks. I loved creating them with you, and I hope, one day, you’ll continue them with whoever you find the magic with. Whether it’s a significant other or your child, I hope you will continue our tradition of going on adventures and documenting them because that’s what life is about.

I’m so proud of you, Paige, and I feel so blessed that I got to spend so many years with you. I want you to laugh and smile and love hard. Be careful who you give your heart to because you, my girl, deserve all the magic in the world and I don’t want you to settle for anything less.

I love you, and I’m always here.

Love,

Mom

chapter one

PAIGE

Present Day

“I understandit’s a good opportunity, but you said this is where we would settle down. You knew when I agreed to move here that I didn’t want to move again. I want to get married and start a family. And I thought that’s what you wanted too.”

I will my tears not to come as I stare at the man who was supposed to be myforever. We met three years ago, and he told me on our first date that he knew I was the one for him. On our fourth date, he told me he loved me. And within six months of being together, he asked me to move in with him.

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