Chapter Seventeen

Kaylie

I felt like death when I woke up on December 24th. My whole body felt heavy and I wanted to throw up. Slowly, I pushed myself out of bed and then I just stood there. My stomach flopped around a bit and then finally settled.

Getting a look at myself in the bathroom mirror nearly made me cry. My skin looked terrible. I was all sunken and pallid, lovely gifts from chemotherapy. At least my hair wasn't falling out. I did the shower thing and the shaving thing and I looked a little better after that.

I slathered some tinted moisturizer onto my face and a bit of dark blue mascara. I certainly didn't look great, but I didn't look dying either. It was a start.

Cin was already awake and frying eggs in the kitchen. I wondered briefly how he managed to crack open eggs with only one hand but this guy was some kind of genius and so the thought left as quickly as it entered.

“Good morning,” I said as cheerfully as possible. Cin turned to look up at me and grinned. He looked adorable with only a t-shirt, flannel pajama pants and his long hair tousled in a very cute way.

“Morning,” he replied. “The ham is already in the oven and that egg and corn stuff is ready to go too.”

“Aw,” I smiled. “You didn't have to get started without me.” I was kind of touched and secretly really happy that he was getting so into this Christmas thing.

Cin turned off the stove and got two plates out of the cupboard. “You looked really tired last night,” he said while piling scrambled eggs onto each plate. “I don't want you to overwork yourself.”

“What makes you think this is a lot of work for me?” I asked him while I took the plate he held out to me. I fished around in the cutlery drawer for a fork and handed one to him too.

He had fixed me with a rather hard stare. I felt my face grow red. Damn, he was suspecting something was wrong. I guess it didn't matter if I tried to act cheerful and energetic. It was starting to show that something was not quite right.

Honestly though, I figured it would take more than a few rounds of chemotherapy before my body went haywire. I guess I was wrong.

I took my plate of eggs to the table and sat down. Cin was right behind me.

“What's going on with you?” he asked quietly.

“I don't want to talk about it,” I said back just as softly. I hoped he would leave it alone, but I knew he could be somewhat persistent if he wanted to be and this just happened to be one of those times. Damn.

He scooted closer to me and sent a pleading look in my direction. “Why won't you tell me?”

“It'll only make you freak out,” I said simply. “And it's not that big of a deal. Let's just get through the dinner party tonight and then I'll tell you everything, ok?”

He let out a sigh. “Fine.”

We spent a good portion of the afternoon alternating between boiling and mashing potatoes, wrapping up last minute gifts, throwing together a chocolate pie, and taste-testing the wine.

By the time Jade, Boss, and Jimmy arrived we were both a little tipsy and giggly. My dinner guests were all ambushed with surprise kisses in the doorway and Boss even blushed a little when Cin planted one on her cheek.

We made ourselves comfortable in the living room with glasses of wine and some appetizers, which consisted of crackers, cheese, and fruit. I made periodic trips to the kitchen to check on the food and once it was done, I called everyone to the table.

Ham was served, mash potatoes were dished out, and Jimmy helped himself to a huge portion of my scalloped corn casserole and then poured gravy all over his plate. It was quite a sight.

“This is nice,” Cin leaned over and whispered to me. I grinned. It was nice...especially since I was feeling all bubbly from the wine and I had a gorgeous asian guy sitting next to me. The conversation ran from work stories to vacation stories and then finally to last year's Christmas dinner.

“You should have seen it,” Jade said to Cin. “Jimmy was so toasted he could barely stand, so when he got up for the bathroom he knocked a candle over and lit the tablecloth on fire!”

Cin gave me a rather alarmed look. “It wasn't so bad,” I told him. “The table was a little charred but no one got hurt.”

“Poor table though,” Jade said and we all had a moment of silence for the pretty mahogany table I'd had to throw out last winter.

Near the end of dinner, I started to feel light-headed and I knew it wasn't from the booze. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A hand reached for mine and squeezed it gently.

“Are you alright,” Cin whispered in my ear.

I nodded and grit my teeth against the sudden wave of nausea. After a few moments, I willed it away and put another grin on my face.

“Who wants dessert?” I asked as I got up and reached into the fridge. The chocolate pie was sitting there, beckoning to us all, and I pulled it out. It was sliced and served in no time. I also brewed some coffee for everyone.

With any luck this damn coffee would sober me up a bit and I'd stop feeling like I was about to pass out. It had finally occurred to me that it might not be the best idea to drink when you're being treated for cancer.

“This pie is really good,” Boss commented after stuffing a huge forkful into her mouth. “It's too bad we don't serve this at work. I might never get any work done.”

Jade laughed and seconded the motion. I was pretty damn proud of my chocolate pie, so this was a major ego boost for me. And I had to admit that it tasted pretty damn amazing.

After dessert we retired once more to the living room. I started up my Christmas Cd, featuring most of the classics. You have to set the mood for gift opening, you know.

I'd purchased a gift for each of my friends. A cd for Jade from a local band that she liked, a funny t-shirt for Jimmy, and a foot spa set for Boss. I watched in eager anticipation as they tore open the wrapping paper and started to grin.

I had spent a lot of time thinking about what would be a good gift for Cin. I wanted something personalized but I'd been feeling too lazy to sew or crochet anything.

It wasn't until the last minute that I'd come up with it. And it was sitting in that little box all wrapped up on Cin's lap. He was peeling the tape back very slowly and keeping an eye on everyone else's gift opening at the same time.

It was cute to watch, like he'd never received a wrapped gift before. And maybe he hadn't, which made me feel a little sad.

I had already torn open my presents. I received a bottle of perfume from Boss, a cool hair accessory from Jade and a sci-fi film from Jimmy. They were all things that I'd hinted at wanting, so I was rather pleased.

Finally Cin had pulled the paper off his gift box and he glanced shyly up at me before flicking it open. He inhaled sharply when he saw it and I couldn't help the wide grin that stretched across my face.

Inside the little jewelry box was a simple silver ring. What made it special was the word Cin etched across the top of it. See, I said it was personalized. It had cost a pretty penny too, but seeing the incredulous look on his face made it all worth it.

I slid over to the chair was sitting in and perched on the edge of it. I pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it onto his finger. “Perfect fit,” I muttered to myself.

“You didn't have to get me anything,” he said, still wearing that incredulous expression. I giggled. Oh yes, it was definitely worth every dollar.