Perfectly Abnormal Sophomore Year

009

~Flashback to Christmas of Freshman Year~
Veronica's Mothers POV

I loved that fact that my whole family was so focused on keeping Palm Springs a popular and successful fine arts institution. This school was my pride and joy, after my husband and kids. I had spent my whole life working to get to the point where I could teach both chemistry and the studio arts and my husbands' school. I truly could not have asked for a better profession. 

But my body was slowing down, and it's not due to age. Nobody knows that I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer three weeks ago. Not even my loved ones, I have not had the courage to tell them. How could I bring myself to tear down their near perfect reality? Much less now that Christmas was two weeks away?

Cancer specialist from all over the United Staes have dug through my files in the hopes of finding some way to delay or eradicate this growing monster inside me. I had blood test after blood test just showing my condition was indeed getting worse by the day, so collectively they had come to the decision that chemotherapy would do nothing but make me weaker. I had to accept the fact that I was indeed terminally ill, and that my death would be a complete blow to Palm Springs and my family. Not to mention nowhere close to remotely peaceful. 

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School was out for the holidays and Veronica had Daniel over for our annual game night every Saturday evening. Daniel was like a second son to me, and I could not have picked a better boy for my little girl to fall in love with.

"Mrs Perkins?" Daniel called to me from down the hall

"Yes," I replied as a turned around from the sink of dishes I was standing in front of.

"Go sit down and pick out a game, I can finish here" he smiled politely as he reached for the wash rag that was in my hand.

I stood there baffled for a minute, then complied with his request for the wash rag. He took it with care as if he knew I was sick, and then proceeded to wash the dishes and hand them off to Liam to put in the dishwasher. 

As I left the kitchen heading towards the family room to grab some boards games, it felt like I walked into a wall of bricks. My head suddenly began to pound as my legs turned to Jell-O below me. The last thing I remember is hitting the carpeted floor and watching Veronica come stumbling my way, I could just barely make out the tears that were running down her warm cheeks. She was trying to scream, but her vocal cords would simply not comply. 

I saw her reach out her shaking hand to me. When her icy cold hands touched my arm; shaking me firmly, the darkness had finally won. 

Within a blink of an eye, the Perkins family would never be the same.