Break The Cycle

Chapter 35:

Emma POV:

Things with Neal and Henry went great. Seeing my son so happy pushed my own discomforts to the back of my mind. I had to keep reminding myself that this would eventually have to end, and I didn't want it to. Honestly, I was so happy to see Henry with his father. He didn't treat Killian any differently, on the contrary, he seemed to enjoy having two father figures in his life. And I would be lying if I said that having Neal around wasn't nice too. I guess we were never meant to be a couple, but Henry was the result and we actually were great at co-parenting and being friends. He was a huge part of my life though, besides being Henry's father, Neal set me on a path that got me where I am. It was hard to explain.

Six weeks was what we got. Six weeks of Henry being brighter than ever, and my heart secretly breaking at the idea of it ending. I began to silently hope and pray that a miracle would happen, and Henry wouldn't have to lose his father. But it was inevitable, Neal told me at five weeks that this was a stretch, his doctors were amazed he was still here. But a week after that, I got a phone call.

It was three in the afternoon. I was actually having a great day, nothing was out of the ordinary.

I answered it on the first ring. "Hello?"

"Emma?" Said a very raspy voice on the other end.

"Neal? What's wrong?" I suddenly grew panicked.

"I'm in the hospital. I'm sorry, but it came out of nowhere. This is it, they told me I have maybe a day." He said.

Henry would lose his dad, this was the end. "I'll pull Henry out of school and be there right away."

With that, I went straight to my boss. I didn't care what he was doing, I needed to leave right then.

"My son's dad is in the hospital, he's dying. I need to go get him from school so we can go up there." I simply stated.

"Killian?" His eyes went wide. Most of my co-workers knew Killian, they had met him.

"No," I sighed, "his biological dad. He's had cancer for a while, and it's finally catching up to him."

"Oh, well yes. Go get Henry. I'm sorry, Emma." He hung his head.

"Thank you."

I left as fast as I could, calling Killian on my way to the school and telling him to meet me at home. When I picked Henry up, he was excited to be leaving early for the day. I wished I didn't have to tell him this. We got home and Killian was at the table waiting for us, looking somber.

"What's going on?" Henry asked.

I eyed Killian and he nodded. "Come have a seat." He waved Henry over.

"Guys, what's wrong?" He was scared now.

"It's your dad." I managed to get out. My god, how was I going to tell a seven year old that his dad was dying?

"Is he okay?"

"No, I'm sorry Henry." I was holding back tears, I didn't want to cry in front of my son. "He, he's been sick. Remember how he didn't know about you?"

Henry nodded and I continued. "Well, he came here and met you, he wanted to spend time with you before he got really sick. I'm sorry, Henry, I really am. We have to go to the hospital right now. He's not going to make it."

My bottom lip was quivering now as I watched the realization hit him.

"He's dying?" He mumbled.

"He didn't want to tell you until he had to." I took my son's hand. "He didn't want to make you sad, he just wanted to get to know you and make sure you had a dad who loved you. He loves you so much, Henry, he doesn't want to leave you."