𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚝 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜

July

CW CANCER

Parting from Dorcas had been difficult for Lucille. They had gone from spending every waking moment with each other for ten months, to having to spend six weeks apart.
Luckily, she had her brother to keep her company, and her thoughts of Dorcas would soon be occupied by something else.

"Do you think I'll get my letter, Lucy?" Matthew asked and looked up at his sister with those big brown eyes.
It was a question Lucille had been dreading since Matthew's eleventh birthday two months previous.
All of last year she had sent him letters gushing about the school and talking about how excited she was for the next fall, when he was supposed to start school.
When his eleventh birthday came and went, she saw him become increasingly excited, while she was becoming more and more disappointed.
"Yeah, Matt," She lied and looked down at her book, "of course you will! I was almost twelve when I got mine!"
She decided to leave out that she only got hers the year she turned twelve because her birthday was late in the year. She didn't want to crush his dreams unless necessary.
"Come on, let's help mum with dinner."
Jasmine had become increasingly exhausted, that much both Matthew and Lucille had noticed. Matthew thought it was old age, or that she was pregnant, though that was more wishful thinking than anything. He had always wanted a little brother.
Dinners were simpler and less consistent, and Jasmine would often appear nauseous and take several naps each day.
Lucille didn't know what to think.

As Lucille strolled the streets of London with her father, she realised just how different her life was compared to her neighbours'.
She was off to a posh school for ten months of the year, being provided four free meals a day, and quality education. While the girl down the hall from them, Mary, would face uncertainty of everything Lucille took for granted.
The MacDonalds, O'Neils and Kims didn't have the great advantage she had unexpectedly been handed.
"Do you remember when you were little-"
"And I'd deliver you your lunch down at the docks?" Lucille interrupted her father and cocked her eyebrows up at him. "Yes, Dad, I remember!"
"When you were little, you always wanted to be a doctor." His voice weakened. "And you said you were going to cure cancer."
"Yeah, I know," Lucille said. "I still do."
Brian smiled. "You always were the clever one, Pigeon." He said.
"I don't like it when you call me that!"
Brian laughed, a loud heartfelt laugh.
"Do you know why we call you that?" Lucille shook her head. "Pigeons are one of the most clever and gentle birds, just like you."
"Are you saying that just to make me feel better?"
"No! You spoke in full sentences by ten months, and you've been reading Matthew to sleep since he was a baby." Brian kissed the top of his daughter's head. "You're a pigeon."
"I'm calm, too," She said, looking up at her father, "so you can tell me if something's wrong with you, or with mum?"
"I know." Brian smiled sadly at his daughter, who had grown up oh-so-fast.
"She's ill, isn't she?"
"Yeah, she is." He nodded, knowing they couldn't shield her from the truth forever. "It's cancer, a glioblastoma."
"I'll take care of Matthew, don't worry!" At that moment Lucille wasn't sure if she was pretending to be brave. While she had a good memory and was clever on paper, she had never been good with emotions. "And I'll take care of Mum until she dies. I'll even quit school."
"Hey," Brian grabbed Lucille's shoulders and forced her to look him in the eye, "I'll take care of all that. You just worry about becoming a doctor, eh?"
"Okay, but I'll read some more books on glioblastomas," Lucille said, "so that the next fourteen to sixteen months will be more comfortable for mum."
"You were always too clever for your own good, Pigeon."

Once the news of Jasmine's cancer broke, Lucille had started taking on more responsibility.
She wanted her mother to have the best quality of life possible, and that would be impossible if she were on her feet all day.
Lucille would make Egyptian and Yemeni meals, just like her mother, and she would clean windows and tables.
She was making ful on August first when an owl pecked on their window.
Expecting it to be her grades, she welcomed the owl without a second thought.
What she hadn't expected to see was the name Matthew Winter on the envelope.
Matthew had gotten into Hogwarts. Finally something made sense.

AN: this was all over the place but that's just how it is sometimes yk.