LIFE Interrupted

She nodded at him. “Go on, babe. I’ll be fine.” The laptop rang. Ally’s call was coming through. “Go,” she told him. Then she answered Ally’s call, but she watched Josh turn and leave.

“Hi Mom.” Her daughter’s beautiful face appeared on screen. Her black hair like her own was slicked back from her face in a ponytail. She had her glasses on which was unusual for Ally. They hid her pale blue eyes, also like Sophie’s.

“Hi Ally-Cat, how’s my girl?” She sounded tired. It had been a long day and the meal was exhausting and draining most of all. Her mother left in tears, unwilling to believe without the biopsy results that there wasn’t hope that she might not have cancer.

Sophie felt bad because the news would only devastate her when it came back at what stage and how bad it really was going to be. Daisy Ward was in denial.

Sophie watched her daughter, listening to her tell her about her week so far. Ally’s smile lit up her face when she talked about the college football team’s quarterback who she met in the library. They had hit it off. Not dating or anything. Both were focused on school and their respective sports, but they did have breakfast, lunch and dinner, together whenever they could. Sophie almost laughed at her. Ally was in denial. She hoped her daughter didn’t get hurt.

She tilted her head and gazed at her young daughter. Her whole life was ahead of her. Ally was a freshman. Only eighteen. There were so many more boys she could fall in love with given the opportunity. Sophie wanted Ally to concentrate on school and soccer.

“How old is he?” Sophie knew nothing about him. She didn’t follow sports.

“He’s twenty. A junior. It’s a big deal to be friends with him. They are number two in the nation right now, Mom.”

Sophie chuckled and shook her head. “Is that why you’re friends with him, Ally?” It wasn’t like her kid to be swayed by prestige.

Ally rolled her eyes. “Get serious, Mom. That’s why he likes me. I could care less who he is. I didn’t even know who he was when he first sat beside me. We had talked for hours before he finally told me who he was. I still wasn’t impressed which impressed him.”

Sophie burst out laughing. She had needed this. A distraction from her drama. Her disease. What was coming for her as far as treatments.

“So, what’s new with you? How’s Kai doing with the second pregnancy? The twins okay? How’s my nephew? I miss them. I miss everyone,” Ally added. She didn’t give her a chance to respond between questions.

They were all talking about going to her next game, but Sophie didn’t know about that now. She didn’t know if she could make it. Her future seemed so uncertain right now until she knew what came next and when.

“Kai is glowing just like with Alexander. Her ultrasound is next week, I think. I’m sure they will find out what it is. She likes being prepared.”

Ally nodded. “Are you going?”

“Not this time, sweetheart.”

Ally frowned at her mom.

“The kids are all growing like weeds,” Sophie continued. “You won’t recognize them when you come home for Thanksgiving.”

“That seems so far away,” Ally murmured. She was leaning on the desk in front of her. Her shoulders hunched as she stared at the screen. “What’s wrong, Mom? You seem stressed or distracted? Upset, maybe all three?”

That was her Ally-Cat. She got it

when no one else did besides Kai. She picked up on her moods or her unhappiness when Josh and Heath would take a little longer.

She sighed. Sophie hated telling her this way when she was so far away and couldn’t comfort her. “Ally, I went to see Doctor Ben…”

“Dad finally prodded you until you caved,” Ally teased her.

Sophie smiled. “He did. “He hounded me like he always does.”

“Everything okay?”

She could see the concern on Ally’s face now. Sophie nervously rubbed her hands along the edge of the screen of the laptop and her eyes looked everywhere but at Ally. “No honey, it’s not.”

Ally chewed on her lower lip. She frowned just like Sophie did too when she was concerned about something. It was like looking in a mirror, twenty years ago. “What’s wrong, Mom?”

“Doctor Ben found a lump in my breast. I had a biopsy a few days ago. They told me it was cancer.” Sophie was choosing her words carefully, so she didn’t have the argument that she had with her mother. She kept going even though she could see Ally growing more and more upset. “The biopsy will tell them what stage I’m at and what caused my cancer. Then I’ll have an appointment with my oncologist and we’ll discuss…”

“Mom, stop,” Ally interrupted her.

“What? What’s wrong?”