When September Ends

His head was pressed against the cool steering wheel as he breathed in deeply. He blinked back more tears and reached for his cigarettes.
'Heh and to think I was going to quit' he thought to himself as he took a deep drag from the cigarette. Everything that had happened in the last 15 minutes was playing on repeat in his head. The more he thought about it, the more the realisation of it all set in. The more it set in, the more he fought to hold back the strong urge to cry.
He took one last drag on the cigarette and pulled out of the doctor's surgery car park.
Throughout the short drive home all that was going through his head were questions.
How do I tell my kids that Daddy won't be around anymore? How do I tell my wife that she won't have a husband anymore?
He pulled into the driveway and sat for a moment, hesistant to go in. He couldn't tell them, not yet.
He got out and headed up the front steps into the porch. He took off his shoes and placed them on the rack before calling for his wife.
"Adrienne?" he shouted.
"Out here honey" came her voice from the back yard.
He stepped out onto the patio and made his way to where is wife was sitting, watching their two boys playing soccer.
"Where have you been?" she asked curiously.
"Just popped to the store to get more cigarettes" he replied, watching his boys intently.
He kissed his wife gingerly on the cheek and made his way over to the boys.
"No fair Joey you're cheating" yelled Jakob upset.
"No I'm not, I'm just better than you" Joey retorted.
"I tell you what. You each get one penalty shot and whoever scores is the winner, deal?" Billie Joe compromised.
"Okay" the boys said in unison.
Jakob got in goal first and as Joey kicked the ball, Billie Joe grabbed his youngest son and directed him to the ball, helping him save it.
Jakob cheered and Joey scowled as he walked up to the goal as his brother got ready to take his shot.
Billie Joe did the same with Joey, as he had done with Jakob but, Jakob managed to score.
Jakob was cheering and sticking out his tongue while his older brother stomped over to his mother furiously.
"I won, I won" Jakob taunted Joey, sticking out his tongue.
"I'll cut that tongue off mind" Billie Joe winked at Jakob who immediately put his tongue back in his mouth.
Billie Joe lifted his wife up out of her seat and sat down in it, sitting her on his lap. He kissed her neck tenderly as she smiled at her three boys.
He looked at her intently, not sure how he would tell her, or even when he would tell her. He had tried to put the thought at the back of his mind but knew, he couldn't not tell them he had fatal lung cancer.

*Flash back to the doctor's surgery*
The doctor called me in and I stood up and made my way to his room. I was confident that the results would just turn out to be nothing.
"I'm sorry Mr Armstrong, you have lung cancer, there is nothing that can be done, the cancer is too far progressed" the doctor explained.
I sat there, shocked not knowing what to say.
"B-but there must be something you can do. Are you sure? Are you sure its cancer? You haven't made a mistake?" I asked, pleadingly.
"I'm sorry Mr Armstrong, I can only offer you chemotherapy to prolong the life that you have left however, that will make you very uncomfortable for your final days" he replied, glancing to the floor.
I stared at my shoes hoping they might come out with some miracle answer of how the doctor could be wrong or how they knew the cure for cancer.
"No" I said snapping out of my thoughts
"I'm sorry?" asked the doctor
"No, I don't want chemotherapy. H-how long have I got?" I gulped
"Its hard to say. It depends how long the cancer takes to progress. It could be 6 years, it could be 6 months. Lets just hope for the best. I'm sorry Mr Armstrong" he replied.
"No, its okay, thanks doctor, bye" I said, getting out of the surgery as fast as I could.

*End of flashback*

"Billie Joe?"
"Billie Joe?" Adrienne called, waving a hand in front of his face.
"Huh? Oh sorry, was a million miles away" he replied quietly.