Today was Saturday and like every Saturday Mia was at Logan's house until Monday afternoon. Leyla had given Vera a bath as the afternoon was quite hot.
Vera was already 7 months old, she had started to crawl and was going everywhere. Leyla put a jean outfit on her and made two ponytails with her short hair. She came out of the bathroom with the baby in her arms and saw that Richard was still lying down, he had been up for no more than 30 minutes all day and he had only been up to say good morning to his girls and take something from the refrigerator. "Let's get daddy up" Leyla whispered to Vera.
She put her on the bed and the baby crawled over to her father. Vera lay on top of him drooling on his cheek, Richard barely opened his eyes and closed them again hugging his baby.
Leyla knew that he had been more tired than ever the last few days, that he should be in pain but he wouldn't tell her. And that his illness also made him not hungry, so he looked thinner but Leyla didn't want to tell him anything, she knew he noticed it and she had already insisted too much with him to follow a treatment but Richard refused.
"Hola bebé de papi" (Hello daddy's baby)He said to Vera. "How pretty you look" he commented admiring the hairstyle that Leyla always did for Vera with her short hair and that filled him with tenderness. Richard averted his gaze to Leyla "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. Do you want me to cook something for you to eat?" Richard barked. Leyla sighed "You haven't eaten anything all day."
"I'm fine like this, I don't have an appetite" Actually He was hungry but his stomach seemed to settle with every bite he took so he ended up throwing up what little he had eaten.
"Monday we'll go to the doctor Richard, or right now. Get up, I'll take you to the hospital" Leyla said.
"I told you I'm fine" he said somewhat irritated, the last thing he wanted to do now was to argue with Leyla too.
"You look like shit and you know it. Haven't you seen yourself in the mirror? You know you're not fine and you're letting yourself die here, I won't let you do it I-"
"It's not your problem, Leyla" he got out of bed leaving Vera lying on the mattress. "Why do you care so much? I'm going to die anyway or do you think it's like a cold and after a few days of medication I'll be fine?"
"Don't think I'm an idiot I know perfectly well it's not a cold, but I don't want to see you suffer or see you like this, and I care because I love you. Because since-" Leyla stopped herself from speaking as she felt her voice crack. "It doesn't matter, do what you want."
"What were you going to say?"
"That since my mother has died it has always been you and me, no one else and I don't want to lose you too and I don't want Mia and Vera to lose you either, I don't want to be alone" she said.
"You won't be alone ever. But I don't want to suffer with a treatment Leyla and you know it, I will take medicine to relieve some pain but I won't do chemotherapy or something like that, no and get mad if you want but it's my decision, not yours." He walked out of the room leaving Leyla and Vera there alone. Leyla gave a sigh, nothing she could say would change his mind and it was a subject they had already discussed at least 10 times.
When Leyla's mother had died of a heart attack, which was unexpected because Susan had always been a healthy person. At the time of her death she had been married to Richard for 4 years, living with Leyla in the same house together.
The day of her funeral had been a rainy, horrible day, and Richard had never seen someone cry as much in his life as he had seen Leyla. When they both returned home after that, 15-year-old Leyla, at the time, was still crying and stayed that way all afternoon and evening.
