This Is Me Trying

Chapter Forty-Five

Betty

One month. It's been one month since Kaya started her chemo treatments. It's been hard. She's been sick since her second treatment. Kaya gets four treatments a week, then a three day break. Twelve treatments have taken a toll on my wonderful, beautiful, strong fiancé.

I walked out of our bedroom, and stopped when I heard soft sobbing from the hallway bathroom.

"Babe? Are you okay? Can I come in?" I called out from the other side.
"Yeah."

I walked in and shut the door behind me.
"What's wrong bambina?" I asked.
Kaya turned to me and showed me the clump of hair in her hand.
"It's starting to fall out." She sniffled.
"Oh bambina. It'll be alright." I took the hair from her hand and set it on the sink, pulling her in for a hug.
"I wanna shave it off." She whispered as I hugged her close.
"Okay. Whatever you want to do amore mio." I pulled back and kissed her forehead.

I pulled the hair clippers out of the cabinet, and turned them on.
I looked at her in the mirror, and she gave me a small nod to let me know she was sure.

I took my time shaving her curls off. Tears rolled down her face with every chunk that fell.
"There you go." I wiped her shoulders clean from the hair that had fallen.
She reached up and touched her now shaved head, rubbing it gently.

"Hey, check this out."
She turned to face me as I shaved my hair off right down the middle of my head.
Kaya gasped and grabbed the clippers from me.

"What are you doing!" She cried out.
"I told you. I've got your back. I'm with you every step of the way." I cupped her face and kissed her gently.
"Now, you wanna help me with the rest?" I chuckled softly.

Kaya had the biggest smile on her face as she shaved my long blonde hair off.
"God I love you." She told me as she shut the clippers off.
"And I love you." I ran my hand over my now closely shaved head.
"You look really good with a shaved head." I told her with a wink.
"Oh hush." She tapped my side and walked out of the bathroom.

"Do you think we should invite everyone over tonight for dinner? This is the best I've felt since I started the treatments." She asked as she grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge.
"Sì. If you want. I'm sure everyone would love to see you. They text me every day asking how you are. There's a group chat dedicated to you." I chuckled.
"Text them and ask. Do you think we should make a post on Instagram about this." She motioned between us.
"Our engagement or the treatments?" I asked as I sent a text to the group message.
"Both."

"Come here." I pulled her close, and snapped a picture of the two of us smiling together.

I selected a few pictures for the post, and typed out a caption.
"What do you think?" I asked as I handed her my phone.

"Did you know that around 12,000 women under forty are diagnosed with breast cancer every year?  I, personally, have found this out just recently. My fiancé Kaya Doss, as you know her from her role on Station 19, is one of those women. She was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer about two months ago. She has currently been going under chemo for four weeks now, and until lately there hadn't been too many side effects. But today, she experienced the first sign of hair loss. And for anyone that would be a traumatic thing. If you are experiencing any symptoms, we encourage you to go get checked out.'

"I like it. Save it as a draft and we'll post it later after everyone comes over for dinner."

Danielle

I knocked on Betty and Kaya's door excitedly. I hadn't seen them in weeks, and I was eager to see my daughter and my future daughter in law.
"Bambina! You could've waited for me." Stefania said with a pout as she walked up.
"I miss our kid. I wanna see her."

The door opened, and I gasped when I saw Betty standing in front of me with a shaved head.
"Betty! Your hair!" I exclaimed.

Kaya came up behind her. Her hair was gone too, and I realized what my daughter had done.

"I love it! You two look so bad ass!" I walked in and hugged them both.
"Sì! It looks great!" Stefania gave them a huge smile.
"Grazie Moms." Betty gave me a smile as she reached for Kaya's hand.
"When did this happen?" I asked as we walked to the kitchen.
"About two hours ago. A chunk of my hair had fallen out so I asked B to shave it off. And then she shaved right down the middle of her hair." Kaya looked at Betty with so much love in her eyes, I thought I was going to cry.

"I told you, you're not going through this alone. It's just hair. It'll grow back." Betty shrugged.
"Both if you look great. It really looks good on you." I complimented them.

"Where's my baby sister?" Betty asked.
"With the baby sitter. We didn't know how long we'd be here, and we didn't want to keep her up past her bedtime." Stefania explained.
"I need to see her. I miss my itty bitty baby." Kaya said as she put the lasagna that Stefania had brought in the oven.

"Why don't we keep her tomorrow night for you two. Give you guys a break." Kaya offered.
"Oh you don't have to-" I started to say.
"I want to. Look, I feel better than I have in weeks. And honestly, I don't know how long that this good feeling is going to last. Please, let us keep her." Kaya begged.

I looked at Stefania and Betty, and they both nodded.
"Okay, okay. But on one condition. If you start to feel bad you call us, okay?"
"Deal. Have I told you two that you're the best mother-in-law's ever?"
"And you're our favorite daughter-in-law." Stefania gave her a kiss on top of her head.

The doorbell rang, and Betty went to get it.
"Seriously. How are you feeling?" I whispered to Kaya.
"I feel good. I'm a little tired, but the nausea has passed, and I haven't lost or gained any weight. The only thing is, you know, the hair." She motioned to her head.

"Kaya! You look amazing!" Barrett ran in and picked Kaya up in a hug.
"I'd feel amazing if I could breathe." Kaya laughed.
"Sorry. You rock that shaved head girl. You really do." Barrett ran her hand over her head.
"That's what I told her." Betty said as she walked in with Jaina.
"You! You did it too?" Barrett asked.

"Of course. She wasn't gonna do this alone." Betty hugged Kaya from behind.
"You two are made for each other." Jaina smiled at them.

"She's my person. She'll always be my person." Betty smiled at Kaya.