I read Autumn's text and sighed. I really want to hang out with her. But I have to tell her the whole truth, but it hurts. I rubbed my face and sat in the edge of my bed. Suddenly there was a knock and the door slowly opened. It was my mom. "Hi....." She said slowly. "How are you feeling." I looked at her face as it was red and puffy, like she had been crying. I nodded slowly. "Uh yeah everything is good." I looked at her and smiled softly. She walked into my room and sat beside me on my bed. She looked down at the floor and then back up at me. "Sweetie I just wanted to let you know that your father would be been proud of you. You have so much strength in you!" I heard her words and smiled. "Thank you mom it means a lot." (My father died when I was 5. He had a heart attack.) She kissed my cheek and began to get up from the bed. "Hey mom can I talk to you about something?" She looked at me confused and then sat back on the bed. "Of course." I sighed and rubbed my hands together nervously. "So as you know with everything going on. I know you don't like saying it out loud but we both need to hear it.... I don't have very long to live.... But mom I really love Autumn and I want to spend as much time with her as possible. I know you might think that it's a teenager thing, but this is real to me." She smiled and nodded as I spoke. "I want to marry her mom. I want her to be my wife." I watched as tears began to roll down her cheeks. She began to wipe them away. "Honey I knew you both were meant for each other. Best friends for life.... More like soul mates for life...." She said smiling. "Hold that thought I will be right back." She walked away for a minute and came back with a small box. I watched as she carefully opened it. A small tear escaped from her left eye as she handed me the box. "This was the ring that your father used to propose to me..." I slowly shook my head. "Mom I can't...." She nodded her head. "Ezra I want you too. Your father would want you too!" I looked down at the beautiful ring that was lying in the box. "Mom this is perfect! Thank you...." She wrapped her arms around me. I placed the box on my side table and hugged her back. "You want to know where I got my strength from? You."
*A couple hours later.*
I texted Autumn back. *Hey sorry it took so long to respond back. I was just talking to my mom. But I'm not doing much of anything other then some Chemistry. But to tell you the truth I could use the distraction! ;)* About 30 minutes later I heard the doorbell ring and my mothers loud voice welcoming Autumn in. I laughed hearing my mother and shook my head. Then my thoughts went to the box on my bed side table. I quickly got up and hid it under the mattress. Why the mattress? I don't know. I heard her footsteps coming up the stairs and I sighed. She knocked on my door and slowly walked in. "If I could have your mom as my mom that would be great!" She playfully rolled her eyes and plopped down on my baseball bing bag chair that I had yet to throw out from my childhood. "Shoot you can have her! But if I could borrow her from like 7-8 that would be great." She looked at me confused and laughed. "Why then?" I laughed. "Do you really think that I am going to be able to cook myself dinner? Uh no!" She laughed and sighed. "Oh yeah I can never forget the time you almost burned my house down trying to cook popcorn!" I rolled my eyes. "I told you never to speak of that again." She stood up and walked over to my bed and sat down beside me. "I'm sorry." A pouty face appeared on her face. Her eyes were what I admired about her the most. They were so blue and... I just got lost in them every time I looked at her. Then the pain of guilt hit me. I quickly looked down. She frowned. "Ezra... what's wrong?" This was not how I planned to spend my Friday night explaining to my girlfriend that I only had a few more years to live. I slowly grabbed her hand and intertwined our fingers. "There is something that I need to tell you." There it was the fear spreading on her face."So the other day at the river court I wasn't completely honest with you." I took a deep breath. "I did go to my check up and yes the cancer is back. They are going to do all they can do to help me. But they also told me...." The lump in my throat grew bigger. "They told me that I didn't have much time left...." I felt her hand slowly let go of mine. She stood up and walked over to the window. "How long?" She said still facing the window. I stood up. "Autumn that doesn't matter!" She turned around quickly. Her face was red and puffy a few tears trailing down. "Ezra it matters to me! It matters because I need to know how much longer I have with you! I mean they can fix this right? They can't tell you this! You are strong Ezra, a lot stronger then this damn cancer!" Then I watched as she slowly broke down. She slid down the wall and hit the floor. I kept my tears back staying strong for her. Before I knew it I found myself sitting beside her with my arms wrapped around her. I kissed the top of her head. "Autumn listen to me. Everything is going to be okay. I promise. Do you trust me?" She slowly looked up at me and nodded. I slowly stood up and held out my hand. She grabbed it and stood up. "I want to show you something."
