I pulled her into my arms right there in the doorway. She sobbed into my shoulder, and I held on tighter.
“We’re not rivals,” I said. “We’re in this together.”
***
Six weeks later, Lily’s scans came back, and a miracle had happened: the treatment was working!
“We’re not rivals.”
***
Diane and I sat on my porch that evening, drinking tea and watching the sun go down.
Aaron’s hair was growing back in soft, dark patches. So was Lily’s.
I used to think I was raising a good boy. That day in the hospital, I realized my son had quietly grown into a good young man, and he’d pulled the rest of us up with him.
