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Chapter 140

For Claire, the next few weeks passed in a blur of moving preparations, morning sickness, and doctor’s appointments.

Jamie had a handle on the former; he’d applied for a mortgage, talked to the landlord about moving out of their apartment, and hired a realtor who had quickly found them a house. “I told her we want something with at least three bedrooms, a big yard, and a good location, a nice neighborhood in the suburbs, where there are good schools,” he’d informed Claire, and the realtor had come up with just that.

The house was a modest, split-level home that was twenty years old, but in good shape. It had three bedrooms, enough for a nursery and a playroom for right now, and a large, landscaped yard. The neighborhood was good, as was the school district, according to Jamie, who knew the area well; it was just a town over from where he had grown up.

She hadn’t seen the house yet, but Jamie had flown up for a weekend to look at it. After going through every detail of it with his mother and the realtor and taking plenty of digital pictures to send back to Claire, he had assured her that it what they were looking for, and she had agreed to let him place a bid on the house. What choice did she have? She knew if they didn’t find a home before he was due to start his new job, they would end up living with Jamie’s mother, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.

Though she still had plenty of reservations and fears, Claire had to admit, it was cool to be shopping for their first house. They were in this for the long haul now, she realized. Jamie wasn’t just looking for a starter home for them; he was looking for a place where they could raise their family. And although she wasn’t keen on leaving Florida, she had to admit, there was something quaint about the Midwest. She pictured rolling farmlands, small towns where everyone knew each other, and cute two-story houses with shutters and basements and lush backyards where the kids could play and climb trees. The schools would probably be better than in Tampa, and their children would grow up knowing each of the four seasons. Maybe they’d take after their father and love the snow. Heck, maybe even she would start to like the snow after a few winters there.

She was trying to have a good attitude about it, wanting to support her husband, but it was still hard. It was just moving all too fast for her, and she wasn’t yet ready to say goodbye to her family and friends and the place she’d always known as home.

Her family had taken the news hard. Taking a leaf out of Kyle’s book, Claire had brought them all together for dinner at her parents’ house, where she and Jamie had broken both pieces of news, the pregnancy and the transfer. Her parents had been surprised and ecstatic to find out that she had gone through a successful IVF cycle and was now carrying triplets. They had been devastated to learn that she and Jamie and their three grandbabies would be moving so far away.

Dianna had had the same reaction, though her theatrics were even more dramatic. She had thrown her arms around Claire and then Jamie, in turn, squealing excitedly into their ears when they had told her they were expecting. When they had explained that they were also moving, she had thrown her arms around both of them again and practically sobbed on their shoulders.

“I can’t believe you!” she’d cried to Jamie, tears in her eyes. “First, you move away… and now you’re taking my best friend away too? What am I supposed to do without you guys??”

Claire had tried to say something funny, to keep her eyes from leaking too, but it had been hard to lighten the mood. She knew exactly where Dianna was coming from because she felt the same way. Dianna Treborn had been her best friend since middle school, and except for college, they had always lived near each other. It was hard to imagine her life without Dianna in it, live and in person. They couldn’t have been more different, and yet, they had always complimented each other well because of that fact. Dianna kept her balanced, and she did the same for her friend in return, or at least that was what they had always said.

To make matters worse, their tenth high-school class reunion was held the next weekend, and reminiscing with old friends she’d grown up with on all the good times they’d had together here in Tampa made it even harder for Claire to think of leaving. She didn’t like to admit it, but she’d always been such a homebody. But of course, many of her old classmates who attended the reunion had come from out of state, and she decided, resignedly, that if they could do it, so could she.

Dianna had seemed to accept it, too. Though she wasn’t happy about the last of their circle of friends from high school moving away, she had decided that Claire and Jamie were not going without a bang and, thus, was throwing a going-away party on the Saturday before they moved. “You always find an excuse to have a party,” Claire had teased Dianna, but really, she thought it was sweet.

While Jamie took charge of the move, and Dianna took responsibility for the party planning, Claire was left to take care of herself, focusing on her own health and the health of her babies. She had never been to so many doctor’s appointments, she mused one day, not even at the worst points of her leukemia ordeal; it seemed as if she was going to one doctor’s office or another every few days.

She was done seeing Dr. Nevin now; after finding out she was indeed carrying triplets, the embryologist had referred her to a high-risk obstetrician, Dr. Valerio, who worked at the fertility clinic and also had licenses at Tampa General. She had regular appointments for ultrasounds and blood work with Dr. Valerio for now, but once she was in Iowa, she would have to find yet another OB. Thankfully, Dr. Valerio had contacts in the Midwest and had given her a few names of obstetricians in the Des Moines area.

On top her prenatal check-ups, she also had her annual workup at the cancer clinic in the middle of August. Jamie had flown to Iowa for the weekend to handle more details with the house, so she invited her brother to go to the appointment with her instead. Usually, Claire had no problem going to the clinic alone; she had done so many times over the last few years. But this time was different.

It was hard to believe, but it had been five years since her bone marrow transplant, five years in remission. According to the statistics, the five-year mark was the point at which she could be called officially cured. This realization excited her so much that she just had to have someone there with her, someone to celebrate with. She wished Nick were in town, but it was just as appropriate that Kyle came with her. After all, it had been his bone marrow that had saved her life.

The waiting room of the oncology clinic was full of people who looked like she had five years ago – bald, pale, gaunt, or bloated from the treatments they had to endure. Some had family members accompanying them; they looked tired and defeated. She could relate to them perfectly, and yet, a part of her felt awkward and even guilty to be there, waiting in hope of being told she was cured, when many of these people were just hoping for another year, or even another month. She wanted to tell them, “Just hold on; there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Some people do make it to the five-year point,” but she didn’t. She and Kyle sat quietly until the nurse called her back.

“Do you want me to come back with you?” Kyle asked in a whisper.

“It’s up to you.”

Whether because he would always be her overprotective big brother or because he just couldn’t stand the idea of sitting in that grim waiting room while she had her check-up, Kyle followed her back to the examining room. He waited outside while she changed into a gown, but sat with her through the usual bloodwork and bone marrow biopsy, hopefully her last.

Dr. Rodrigo was smiling when she came back in at the end of the appointment. Waving Claire’s chart around, she said, “I put a rush on your labwork, because I was sure you would want definite news today. Everything looks clean. No blasts to be found in your blood or marrow. This puts you at five years cancer-free. I don’t get to tell patients this nearly enough, but this is the point, Claire, when we call you cured.”

Coming from her oncologist’s mouth, the word sounded more beautiful than Claire had ever thought it before. For a brief moment, she was overcome with the urge to cry, as the weight of the last eight-and-a-half years finally lifted from her shoulders. She had been praying for this moment ever since she was twenty years old, newly diagnosed with leukemia and terrified. For days, even weeks, after the diagnosis, it had seemed like a horrible nightmare, a nightmare which eventually became her life, and then it was the remissions that seemed almost like a dream, but a wonderful dream, which she was afraid to wake up from.

Finally, the nightmare was over, and her dreams had come true. She didn’t even have to ask Kyle to pinch her to be sure; he was already squeezing the hell out of her hand. She finally looked at him and smiled when she saw how bright his blue eyes had suddenly become. “All thanks to you and your kick-ass bone marrow,” she said cheerfully, and, laughing, he pulled her into a tight hug.

“Thank God,” she heard him murmur, as he held her against his broad shoulder.

When she pulled away, she turned back to Dr. Rodrigo, who had been her oncologist since the beginning, seeing her through everything from her first round of chemo to the bone marrow transplant that had cured her. “Thank you… so much,” she said, shaking the older woman’s hand vigorously. The words hardly seemed enough, but Claire had no idea what else to say. She had hoped for this day to come for so long, but now that it had arrived, she was overwhelmed.

“You’re very welcome,” Dr. Rodrigo smiled. “I wish you all the best. Be sure to send us a birth announcement when the little ones are born.”

Claire grinned, her heart soaring. Her dreams really were coming true. “I will!” she promised.

“Good luck,” Dr. Rodrigo told her before she left.

As she and Kyle walked out of the oncology clinic, Claire couldn’t help but take a look around the waiting room, realizing that this could very well be the last time she ever saw it. She certainly wouldn’t miss it, but it was strange, even a little scary, to be leaving it without knowing she had to come back for another appointment. She felt almost like a captive animal who had just been set free into the wild; it was exhilarating, but almost frightening at the same time. She wasn’t sure what to do with her new freedom.

“We need to call Mom and Dad,” said Kyle as they walked down the hall, heading for the elevators. “Maybe they’ll want to come into town. This definitely calls for a celebration. Although you’d probably rather a wait a couple days, till Jamie’s home, huh?”

“Oh… nah, it doesn’t matter; I feel like going out tonight, if they’re up for it,” said Claire.

Of course her parents and her husband should be the first people she called to tell such wonderful news, but it was interesting – as she’d walked through the waiting room, she hadn’t thought immediately of her mom or dad, or of Jamie.

The first person she had wanted to call was Nick.

***

With the release of his first single just a few days away, Nick’s phone had been ringing off the hook. He had a number of radio interviews and a few TV appearances scheduled for the following week to start promoting the single, and he would be flying from LA to New York City and then to Florida to spend a few days before he headed back to LA to gear up for more promotion work for his album.

He was out by the pool on Saturday afternoon, trying to be as lazy as possible before the promotional week began, when his cell phone sprang to life yet again. Groaning, Nick leaned over and slid the phone off of the table next to his chaise lounge. He glanced idly down at the caller ID, thinking that if it was Johnny Wright or Kenneth Crear calling again, he just might throw the phone into the pool. He was surprised to find Claire’s name there instead.

Flipping the phone open, he put it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hi, Nick!”

She sounded chipper, much more so than she had seemed the last few times he had talked to her. They had kept in touch much better since his last visit to Florida, mostly because she kept calling with news. In the span of one conversation just three weeks ago, he had learned that she was pregnant with triplets and that she was moving to Iowa with Jamie.

Needless to say, he hadn’t been particularly happy about either, picturing Jamie and Claire and their three perfect, identical children living in a perfect little house with a white picket fence in a sleepy little Midwestern town where the kids rode bikes outside instead of playing video games, and no one ever bothered to lock their doors because the worst crime ever committed was a good old-fashioned toilet-papering.

The imagined scenario made him want to vomit.

Was he jealous? Hell yeah. He didn’t want to admit it and never would, not to Claire anyway, but of course he was. He had all the money in the world, women who yearned to be with him even now, and yet, for some reason, he hadn’t been able to give the only woman he really loved the life she wanted. Jamie, with his white collar, nine-to-five job and enthusiastic sperm, apparently could.

At the same time, he had realized that Claire didn’t seem as happy as she had when he was in Tampa. She was still in shock over the news of the triplets, understandably, and from what she’d told him, her morning sickness had been bad so far, but more than anything, he knew she didn’t want to move. She hadn’t come out and said it exactly, but he could hear it in her tone and pick it out of her words. Did she perhaps resent Jamie for making her leave her family and move to an entirely different region of the country?

She hadn’t said that either, but Nick could always hope for as much; the idea made him smirk, anyway.

Wondering what had perked her up today, he replied, “Hey! What’s up?”

“Well… I have some good news.”

Inwardly, Nick groaned, and immediately hated himself for it. Why couldn’t he just be happy for her? But it was so hard… these days, “good news” in Claire’s world usually meant more bad news to his poor, battered heart, something along the lines of “Jamie and I got engaged!” or “I’m pregnant with Jamie’s triplets!”

“What’s up?” he forced himself to ask. “Jamie’s not getting transferred after all?” he added, unable to resist.

“I wish,” she muttered, the cheer instantly gone from her voice.

He mentally berated himself for asking, but he couldn’t keep from smirking just a little. She so didn’t want to move…

“Sorry,” he said. “So what’s the big news?” You’re pregnant with quadruplets now?

“Well… I just had my five-year post-BMT check-up this morning…” she started slyly.

Nick froze for a minute, thinking, counting back in his head. “Holy shit, it has been five years, hasn’t it?? That means... you… you’re-?” He could hardly bring himself to utter the word, the one word Dr. Kingsbury never liked to use.

“Cured.” It was she who said it, and he could hear the relief, the elation, in her voice.

He broke into a grin, a genuine one, for this time, he was not at all jealous, but truly happy for her. “Oh my God… that’s freaking amazing, Claire! So it’s official – you beat it, baby!!”

“I beat it,” she echoed with a sigh. “And it won’t be long, Nick, and you’ll be saying the same thing.”

“I hope so,” said Nick, his smile fading slightly. He still had over a year to go until he reached that all-important five-year remission point. He had witnessed firsthand how drastically life could change in just a year. But still, he was optimistic. Every part of his body that they’d found cancer in had been removed, so how could it come back? It didn’t seem logical, but the thought still scared him. He never wanted to go through any of that again; he didn’t think he could make it through another relapse.

Forcing himself to stop thinking such thoughts, he added to Claire, “Hey, we need to celebrate! What day are you guys moving again?”

“Next Monday,” she sighed. “Way too soon, if you ask me; I haven’t even seen the freaking house yet, except for in pictures. I feel like some pioneer woman, ready to pack up everything I own and go out into the great unknown.”

Nick chuckled. “Well, if there’s anything I can do, let me know,” he offered automatically. He wasn’t sure what he could possibly do for her, but it seemed like a good idea to be supportive, especially when she seemed annoyed with her husband for putting her in this situation.

“Thanks, Nick. I’m sure it’ll be fine… Everything happens for a reason, right? That’s what I keep telling myself anyway…” She trailed off sadly, but immediately perked up again when she burst, “Oh! So I was going to say, speaking of celebrating… Dianna’s throwing us this going away party next Saturday, a week from today. I don’t know if there’s any chance you’d be back in town then, but if you are, you’re invited, of course. I would love to see you before we leave…”

Nick almost started laughing; it seemed the fates had aligned. He was going to be in Florida then; Howie’s birthday was on Friday, and he had planned to hang out with him and AJ in Orlando that night. He would be back in Tampa by Saturday.

When he told Claire this, she gasped loudly. “Are you serious?? That’s great!! You’ll come then, right?”

“Sure,” he agreed and listened as she told him where the party was going to be held. “I’ll be there,” he promised. “Then we can celebrate you being cured. You know, at least have a drink together or something.”

There was a long pause. Then, “Nick, I’m pregnant. Remember?”

Doh! thought Nick stupidly, wishing with all his heart he hadn’t just said that. “Oh yeah…”

“Ohh yeah…” she mimicked him, laughing. “By ‘drink,’ I’m sure you just meant a Sprite or something, right?”

Nick chuckled, feeling himself blush. For a moment, he had almost forgotten. But only for a moment.

***