Everything Between Us

Chapter One - Slate

The green oak trees around my parent's farm came into view in front of me as I pulled into the drive. My childhood home in the heart of Cape Springs, South Carolina. The small town I left in my rearview mirror. But now, six years later, it was San Diego and my past behind me. I opened my truck door as my sister, Mackenzie, came running and squealing out of the front door of the ranch house.

"Oh my gosh, Slate. You're finally home!" She squealed, leaping into my arms. I pulled her into a hug, her feet leaving the ground. Yeah, this was the sister I missed. A ball of energy who left smiles and happiness in her wake wherever she went. Nothing could get her down.

"I missed you too, Mack." I said squeezing her tightly. That was the truth, I had my reasons for leaving when I did, but I missed my family so much. I let her out of my arms to see her smiling brightly at me.

We both look up at the sound of the large oak door opening again. A feeling of sadness streaks through me when I see my dad helping my mother walk towards me. Her brain cancer had progressed rapidly over these last six months. She now needed help walking and had a bandana over her now bald head. This was my first time truly seeing how bad it was and I felt its effects circling my head.

"Hey, Mom." She looked up to me and a wide smile crossed her face.

"Baby, I've missed you so much." She said happily. I reached down, and she kissed my cheek. My mother, Julia Anderson, was one of the strongest people and she always will be but seeing her like this broke my heart. I was forced to see the truth; my mother was going to die and there was absolutely nothing that I could do about it. But still I forced a smile to light my face. When my father reached me, he gave me a short hug with a clap on the back.

"I've missed you, son." He spoke. My father was a silent, but strong type. He led a successful beef cattle business on our farm. Although he was busy, he always made time for his family and doted on my mother like there was no tomorrow. His love for her was endless, which was why I was afraid of what he would become after she died. He was strong, yes, but losing the love of your life was something that most could never recover from. I had felt a small taste of that a long time ago and could not imagine the pain he would feel.

I pulled myself out of my somber thoughts by saying, "You too, Dad."

My mother took charge of the conversation filling me in on what room I would be staying in until I found an apartment.

"Once you get settled in, we can all have dinner together."

"Okay, thank you mom."

We all walked into the large house, I walked through the kitchen and up the stairs with Mackenzie trailing me. We walked into the bedroom I would be occupying silently.

"She looks worse," I stated into the empty air.

"I know, but we have to stay positive! We need to just enjoy the time we have left with her." Mackenzie exclaims in her truly positive nature. We both knew she wasn't getting better, the type of aggressive brain cancer she had was a death sentence.

"I don't understand how you can stay so positive."

"It's the only way to get through life and enjoy it. If we focused on all the bad stuff, we'd hit rock bottom and never come back."

I silently agreed with her with a nod of my head. That was true, but sometimes the bad stuff hangs around you like a gloomy cloud you can never escape.

"We are going apartment shopping tomorrow, right?" She asks, verifying our plans for the next day.

"Yeah, I want to find a place and get settled in as soon as I can."