She had a sad smile on her face, her eyes full of pain and unshed tears. “Gage, you will find someone who will make you forget all the hurt. I don’t want you to stop living your life when I’m gone. I want you to live. You have to.” Cobie’s voice started shaking. “I need you to be happy for yourself and for Londyn. I want her to see how wonderful her daddy is.”

“How did we get here? Just a few days ago we were the happiest people in the world and now we are discussing your death. Fuck!” I ran my hands through my hair, squeezing my eyes shut. “If there is a God now would be the time to work some miracles.”

Cobie rested her head on my shoulder. “Gage, you can’t think like that. Now is when you have to have your faith. You need to trust God. I’m still battling with my anger but I have faith. I need you to, too. I need you to believe.”

“How can I believe in God when he is ripping you away from me? I want to have faith and believe that everything will be ok but then I think about my life without you and I lose all hope.” She snuggled into me and I inhaled her sweet lavender scent.

“I’m here now, let’s enjoy the time we have and not think about the future. Live one day at a time.” Cobie fisted my shirt in her hand and let out a soft sigh. “We can get through this, I promise.”

Running my hand through her long, dark hair I fought back tears. Leaning down I kissed her just above her ear and whispered, “Go to sleep, I can see how tired you are.”

She barely got her nod out before her soft snores filled my ears. Carrying her down the hall I gently laid her down on my bed, pulling the covers over her. I watched as her chest rose and fell with her breathing. She brought her hand up and curled it around the sheet, pulling it closer to her face. She looked so innocent, so beautiful. So perfect.

Shedding my jeans and shirt, I climbed into bed and pulled her to me. Bringing her hand to my mouth I gently kissed it. Hugging her tight to me I whispered, “I love you”.

She made a soft humming noise as a small smile formed on her lips. “I hoped you did. Night, Gage.”

My eyes popped open and I was hoping I just had a really bad nightmare. Rolling my head on my pillow I saw Cobie lying next to me. Not a nightmare. Grabbing my alarm clock I read the time, ten forty three in the morning. I maneuvered myself from under Cobie and grabbed a pair of gym shorts. Pulling them on, I made my way downstairs to my workout room. I had a lot of anger to work through. A lot of pain to drowned out.

Stepping on the treadmill I hit the power button and started running. Running helped clear my head.

It seemed like I just started running when the door opened. Cobie stepped through and looked at me. She looked tired. She didn’t look like the happy pregnant mommy to be.

“Jenna just text me, they just landed so they should be here in an hour or so. I don’t want to worry them so can we please act like everything is ok, at least until tonight when everyone is here. Then we can tell them why they all needed to fly out here.”

Stopping the treadmill I grabbed a towel off the rack and wiped my face. “I will do my best, Cobie. I don’t know what you expect me to do. I can’t act like everything is perfect, I have never been good at hiding shit.”

“I’m not asking you to act like life couldn’t be better but we need to hide our pain for just a few hours. That’s all I’m asking. I don’t think it’s too much.”

“Fuck, Cobie! How much more are you going to ask of me? First, you ask that I raise our daughter alone. Second, it’s making sure our daughter knows about you. Third, you ask me to move on and find someone to be a family with. And, now you’re asking if I can act as if none of this is happening. I can only do so much.”

I saw the hurt in her eyes. I hated myself for causing her anymore pain.

“You think you have it bad? You weren’t the one who was just told you were going to die. At least you will be here when our daughter grows up. I am going to miss everything Gage. I was asked to choose between our daughter and my life. I haven’t asked you anything near as difficult as what has been asked of me. My answer was simple. All I’m asking is you throw on a fake smile.”

In a few strides I was standing in front of her. “Cobie, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be taking this out on you. I have so much anger and hate inside. Maybe it would be best if I just left for the day. I will be back before my parents get here.”

Cobie dropped her eyes. “Gage, please don’t leave me. Don’t run. Not now. Not when I need you the most.”

Grabbing her face I ran my thumbs across her cheeks. “I’m not leaving you and I sure as fuck ain’t running. You want today to be as normal as possible and I can’t promise that. I don’t want to add more stress to you.”

Wrapping her small hands around my wrists she said, “I’m asking you to stay, please? I can’t face my brother alone. We only have a few hours before your parents and my mom gets here. We can do it, together.” Her voice was pleading, her eyes begging.

She needed me. I needed her. We had to be brave and get through this together.

Kissing the top of her head, I let my lips rest in her hair and said, “I’m here. We will do this together.”

I felt Cobie relax under me and her little breath tickled my bare chest. “Thank you, Gage.”

Pulling back I looked her in the eyes. “Thank you, Co. We will get through this, I swear.” Palming her cheek, she leaned into my hand and closed her eyes. “I will stand by you through this. I won’t let you go, Co. You’re not fighting this alone.”

I watched as tears fell down her cheek. “I’m so scared, Gage.”

“Me, too, Cobie.”

Opening her eyes, she looked up at me and a huge grin formed on her face. “No offense but, you smell horrible.”

Laughing, I dropped my hand from her face. “It’s called working out sweetheart, sweat happens.”

“And now, a shower should happen.” Cobie reached behind me and smacked my ass before turning away from me.

I stood there watching her walk away, not wanting to think about life in the future. I had to think about now and what I had. Getting mad and upset wasn’t going to change anything. Cobie would still have cancer. She needed me to be strong for her and I would do that. She didn’t need me hating the world. I was going to stand beside her and fight like hell to make her last months the best. We were going to be a family, not a family who has cancer.

After a quick shower, I pulled on my boxers and a pair of jeans. Grabbing my t-shirt, I tossed it over my shoulder and went to find Cobie.

“Have you ate lunch yet?”

She looked up from her laptop and shook her head. “No. I was going to wait until Jenna and Larkin got here. We could have lunch with them.”

“I can grill some burgers, if you want. You could make some of that kick ass potato salad I love and baked beans.”

“Ok. Will you call them and see where they are so I know when I should start cooking? My phone is upstairs charging. I forgot to plug it in last night.”

“Yep.”

Sliding my phone out of my pocket I pulled Larkin’s number up and hit send.

“What’s up?” Larkin answered.

“Co wanted me to call and see when y’all would be here. She wants to make lunch.” I could hear Evie yelling in the background. She was yelling something about cows.

“We should be there in about twenty minutes. She doesn’t need to cook for us. We can stop somewhere, it’s not a big deal.” Larkin said.

“Your sister wants to. It’s nothing big, just burgers, potato salad, and baked beans. Quick and easy.”

“If y’all insist, then that’s fine with us. See you in a few.”

“’Ight. Bye.” I hit end and locked my phone screen, sliding it back into my pocket. “They should be here in twenty minutes. I’m going to fire up the grill and get the burgers goin’.”

A little over twenty minutes later I saw a black Audi SUV pulling into my driveway. “Co, your brother and Jenna are here.” I yelled through the screen door.