NovaHD Booklet

Growing Old

Story Song: 18 - One Direction

Word Count: 484

A/N: This one is a sad one:(

Aleks' P.O.V

When my husband, the love of my life, broke to me that he didn't want to undergo chemo, I felt like my world was crashing down on me.

How could he be so selfish as to leave me and his children behind?

When I saw him looking at pictures of his father who had died of cancer, I understood.

He was old. We both were. Our kids had kids.

We had done it. We had grown old together.

It was just hard to digest, that he didn't want to stay with me for as long as he could.

Hearing his bones crack in the morning, for him to be brought to tears by his back, I realize that this was as long as he could.

James and I had a long talk that night, filled with as much screaming and crying as we could both bare.

He held me just like he always has, only this time, rolling his hand over in my palm, I saw the wrinkles and creases and liver spots of old age.

"The 47 years we've spent together have been so beautiful. I love you. I'm just not ready for you to go."

"Neither of us is ever going to be ready. It's just something we have to accept. I'm 72, Aleks. I don't want to live the rest of my life sick and in pain. I want to live it with you and the kids." A tear slipped down my cheek and James wiped it away.

I ran my shaky hands through his curly gray hair, kissing his cheek and smoothing out the worried forehead crease with my thumb.

"I'm not the one going through cancer. You decide what you want."

"I really do want this."

It was two months later, and he was already halfway out the door.

Our daughter and her husband and children came to stay with us, helping James in the way that I couldn't.

It was on a Sunday morning that I went into our joined room and realized that it was down to a minute.

Silent tears streamed down my face, but he smiled and feebly tried to wipe them away. I chuckled, grabbing his hand in mine instead.

And then I saw him, back when he was 25 and I was 23. His hair was unruly and black and shaggy and soft. His eyes sparkled like no others, so big and mischievous.

"I love you." I said, shakily.

'I love you too. I always will." He said, grinning so wide as the life faded from his eyes.

I hunched over him, pressing my hands to his chest as I sobbed.

My daughter found me like this, quickly pulling me away and calling somebody to pick him up.

"It'll be okay, dad. It'll be okay. He's happy now. He's in a better place."