Scenes From a Soap Opera

Tessa Confesses

Sharon Rosales heard a knock at her door and went to answer it. "Nick? What are you doing here?" She was surprised, but not unhappy to see him. 

"Mariah texted me and asked me to meet her and Tessa here. Do you have any idea what this is about?" Nick was confused and a little concerned. Mariah and Tessa weren't the type to call a family meeting. There had to be some major news coming. 

Sharon shook her head, "No. No clue." She was scratching her head trying to come up with an answer. "I didn't even know Tessa was back in town. I thought she went back to her tour." 

Before Nick could answer, Faith and Noah walked into the house. Sharon went over to hug her kids, followed shortly by Nick. "Did you get the same text as your father?" She asked. Both of her kids nodding in confirmation. 

"Any clue why they want to see us?" Nick asked. 

"No, no idea." Faith stated. 

"I hope it's not bad news." Noah blurted out. Sharon's eyes popped out, those possibilities were endless and starting overwhelming her. Faith glared at her brother before forcing her mother to sit on the couch. She joined her, telling her that Noah was being dumb. 

Mariah and Tessa had pulled up to Sharon's house a few minutes after Nick had arrived. Tessa couldn't bring herself to get out of the car. Once she told Sharon and the others, it was real... she had cancer. Mariah grabbed her wife's hand and gave it a kiss. Tessa turned to see Mariah smiling encouragingly at her and finally felt brave enough to leave the car. Taking a deep breath Tessa entered her mother-in-law's home shortly followed by her wife.

The family all turned to the front door when they heard it slam shut. Sharon shot up from the couch to hug her daughter and daughter-in-law. Pulling back, she saw how nervous Tessa looked and Mariah's apprehensive face. "What is going on? You two look terrified." Sharon asked, growing more worried by the minute. The others turned to Mariah and Tessa looking extremely concerned.

"Mom, just sit down and we'll explain everything." Mariah said.  This made Sharon more nervous; being told to sit down was never followed by good news.

Feeling everyone's eyes on her Tessa took a deep breath before explaining, "I have throat cancer." She just blurted out, wanting to rip off the band aid. Mariah stared at her wife in shock, this wasn't how she thought Tessa would reveal the news. The family was devastated, this was the last thing they expected to hear. Tessa was so young, newly married, and finally getting her singing career off the ground. Sharon and Faith jumped off the couch to hug Tessa, tears in their eyes. Noah soon joined the hug as Nick stood in the back not knowing if he should join or not.

Mariah was standing off to the side watching her mother and sister cry with her wife. She felt someone tap her on the shoulder and turned to see Nick. Without saying a word, she threw herself at him in a hug. She broke down in his arms, finally allowing herself to express her sadness over Tessa's cancer diagnosis. The Jabot executive wanted to be strong for her wife and bottled everything up in the hopes that her positive attitude would help Tessa stay strong. The others joined the group hug, and the couple felt the love and support from all sides.

No one wanted to be the one to ask the big question, when did Tessa find out? After a few minutes of awkward silence, save the occasional sniffle, Noah bit the bullet and asked, "When did you find out Tessa?" The others turned to Tessa and Mariah eager to hear Tessa's answer.

Mariah grabbed Tessa's hand as she prepared to answer Noah's question. She knew that the family would be angry at her for keeping quiet for so long; hopefully, they forgave her.

"I was officially diagnosed last month a couple days after I came home from the tour." Tessa took in the stunned faces of her family. She knew the question on everyone's mind was how she could keep this from them? "I didn't want to burden anyone of you," Tessa decided to defend herself before they could ask that question. "Between Chelsea's trial and Faith about to be leaving for college; everyone had so much going on. I was going to tell you all when the trial was over then Chelsea escaped, and everything went to hell."

"Tessa your heart was in the right place, but we can multi-task." Sharon softly scolded her daughter-in-law. "We would've absolutely been able to deal with the trial and your cancer at the same time." Noah and Faith quickly agreed while Nick stated that being there for her would have been everyone's top priority. Tessa took in all the love and support; even after all these years she still couldn't believe how lucky she was to have found this family.

"What happens now?" Faith asked, drying her eyes. The soon to be college student was seriously considering staying in town to support her sisters. However, one look at Mariah and Tessa made it clear that they would never forgive her if she put her life on hold because of them.

Gathering her composure, Tessa started to explain her treatment plan, "I started my chemo treatments last week. I have treatments twice a week for the next four months. Luckily, they caught it early." Sharon gave a huge sigh of relief. That was great news and made everyone feel optimistic. "Nate is very optimistic about my chances. He has been amazing throughout all my tests, so has my darling wife." Tessa explained grabbing Mariah's hand to kiss it. Mariah pulled her wife into a hug. With her supportive system securely in place, Tessa could begin her fight against cancer. One that she would conquer.