Once Again

“Shit,” Jimmy muttered later that night. Cameron had already taken Raven back to her house for bed. It was just himself and Brian left at the house.

“What’s up?” Brian asked, looking up at Jimmy with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s almost Raven’s birthday.”

“Really? When?”

“Two weeks,” Jimmy replied.

“How about this, we have a little party for her here.”

“Dude, we need to do something. She’ll be five years old, and…” Jimmy’s voice trailed off as he remembered what Cameron told him just a few short weeks ago. About how their daughter might not be able to make it to six years old. She’ll be five in a couple weeks.

“What?” Brian asked, already knowing what Jimmy was thinking about.

“She’ll be five, and the doctors have been skeptical on if she’ll last for another year.” Jimmy admitted with a sigh.

“Dude, you have a year basically, you and Cameron go back to the clinic in a couple weeks…”

“The implantation won’t happen for another few months though. They have to make sure that if this baby does happen, that he or she will be completely free of this thing, and that the blood is a match for Raven.”

“That’s a lot to make sure off,” Brian muttered.

“It’ll help BeeBee, and it’ll give me another child if it’s successful.” Jimmy shrugged, his eyes going unfocused.

“So, what do you want to do for Bee’s birthday?” Brian asked.

/

Jimmy had decided to have the party the weekend Cameron and Raven moved in with him. After things were settled, Jimmy had Cameron take Raven to the park so he and the guys could get things set up in the backyard. As Johnny was blowing up balloons by mouth, Brian was laughing at him because the package came with a helium tank, nobody just wanted to inform him about it.

“Is everything set up?” Jimmy asked as Johnny tied the last balloon and taped it to the fence.

“Last balloon,” he said, panting slightly.

“Everything’s set. Just get the birthday girl here and we can get started.” Matt said. His wife Val walked up to him and wrapped her arms around one of his.

“Jimmy’s loving being a Dad isn’t he?” Val asked, smiling toward the tall man as he pulled out his cell phone to send a text to Cameron.

“Oh yeah. He’s doing everything he can to be the best Dad he can be.”

“All he has to do is be himself. His kids will love him for just being him.”

“I know, but you can’t really tell him that though can you?” Matt sighed as Jimmy bounced up to them.

“They’ll be here in a few minutes so get ready for it.” Jimmy said excitedly. Everyone hid behind trees and furniture as they heard a car pull up the driveway.

“Daddy!” Raven shouted, looking around the house.

“Out back baby!” Jimmy shouted back from his hiding spot. Cameron opened the sliding door and was shocked by how beautiful the decorations were. Jimmy had gone all out, and she loved it.

“Surprise!” Everyone shouted, causing Raven to jump and scream.

“Happy early birthday princess,” Jimmy said, running up to the little girl and pulling her into his arms.

“For me?” she asked, looking around. “Gramma, Grampa!” Raven shouted suddenly, spotting Jimmy’s parents standing beside two women she had never met.

“Raven, this is Katie and Kelly, your aunts.” Jimmy said. “They’re my sisters.”

“Hello Raven, nice to finally meet you.” Kelly smiled, taking Raven’s small hand into her own. “I’m Kelly.”

Cameron watched her daughter with a smile as she looked around. Everyone showed up to this, which made her eyes well up with tears from happiness and guilt.

“Cameron,” Val’s soft voice said from behind her. “Let’s walk.” The other girls followed behind them toward the edge of the pool, where she continued to watch Raven with the other families. Brian and his father walked up to the group. Raven’s face lit at seeing Brian and she giggled at something that was said.

“She’s adorable,” Val said, breaking the silence. “It’s terrible though, that she’s so sick.”

“I know..” Cameron sighed, turning to face the girls. Two blondes and two brunettes stood in front of her. Michelle who was dating Brian, Valary who was dating Matt. Also there was Lacey who was dating Johnny and Gena, who was with Zacky on and off for the past five years.

Not only was Val Matt’s girlfriend though, she was also Cameron’s best friend before the disagreement with Jimmy.

“Look Val, I’m sorry for everything. I just, I couldn’t come back, not after all of that happened.”

“Because you know you were wrong?” Gena spoke up before Val could reply.

“About what?” Cameron asked, uncertain.

“You were wrong for cheating on Jimmy.”

“D-Don’t you all know? I mean, Matt, Jimmy, all of them know.” Cameron stammered, looking around at the girls.

“We know, Gena just wants to be a sore ass.” Michelle replied. “You know she didn’t cheat on Jimmy. That she was….” Her voice trailed off as she looked around, making sure nobody was in hearing distance. “raped,” she finished in a sharp whisper.

“That’s what she wants you to believe,” Gena snapped. “She probably hired that guy to act as if he was bragging about it just to see what would happen!”

Zack and Jimmy heard Gena from across the yard. Gena looked pissed off while Cameron looked confused and on the verge of tears. She said something back to Gena, that caused the other blonde to laugh.

“You are a fucking liar!” Gena’s voice shouted, no longer holding back.

“Take Raven inside,” Jimmy said quickly, knowing this was going to turn ugly fast. Barbra quickly picked the girl up and carried her inside while Zack, Jimmy, Matt, Johnny and Brian ran to the group of girls.

“What the fuck is going on?” Jimmy demanded as he stormed up to them.

“I’m trying to get her to admit she’s lying about what happened!” Gena spoke up first.

“Who the fuck lies about that?!” Matt shouted at her, causing Gena to shrink back toward Zack, only to find he wasn’t there. She turned around and found him standing a few feet back, his emerald green eyes blazing with anger.

“Let’s go,” he said, grabbing her arm.

“Why?”

“Because I’m not fucking letting you ruin this day for this family!” Zack snapped at her. “We’re here to celebrate a little girl’s birthday, their daughter’s birthday! I’m not letting you ruin it Gena. Get moving to the car, so I can take you home! Now!”
Gena, realizing she had no other choice, ducked her head and walked toward the gate.

“I’m sorry Cam,” Zack said, wrapping his arms around her before heading inside, most likely to tell his parents and family where he was going.

“If Zack stays with her after this then I’m killing him,” Michelle muttered.

“Not before I do sis,” Val replied. She then turned to Cameron, who was standing with her arms wrapped around her body. “Before I was so rudely interrupted. I understand completely why you left and why you stayed away. No need to apologize.”

“No, I shouldn’t have left like I did.”

“Cameron, I know why you did. Jimmy explained to the guys and Matt explained it to me. I understand entirely. The only thing that matters is you’re back.” Cameron smiled at how well the other girls were taking things, even Lacey who Cameron had yet to formally meet. She loved that they were so forgiving because she was back and because Jimmy knew about Raven now. The thing was, Cameron didn’t now how much longer things would hold up.

“Daddy?” Raven’s voice asked from behind Jimmy. He planted a smile on his face and turned to look at her.

“Ready to eat?” he asked. Raven just shook her head, her eyes drooping slightly.

“Sleepy?” Cameron asked, running her hand over Raven’s cheek. Raven nodded and held her arms up to Jimmy, who stooped down to pick her up at once. Raven let her head fall onto Jimmy’s shoulder, and within seconds she was out.”

“Move that chair over there,” Jimmy asked one of the guys. Matt moved the laying lawn chair out right away into a shady place. Jimmy gently set Raven down on the chair, who didn’t even stir. Everyone walked out and started watching the girl sleep, concern in all of their eyes.

“There’s something we haven’t been told,” Brian Sr. said automatically.

“She’s sick Dad,” Brian Jr. told his father.

“S-She’ll be five next week. H-Her doctors said…” Cameron’s voice trailed off as tears clogged her throat.

“They don’t expect her to live past five.” Jimmy finished for her, wrapping his arm around Cameron’s shoulders and drawing her toward him.

“If she’s anything like her father and mother, she’s stubborn and will fight until the end,” Maria, Zack’s mother, said automatically.

“It’ll work out bro, you just have to believe it will,” Katie said, grabbing Jimmy’s free hand.

“I try,” Jimmy muttered, his eyes going even more distant. “I really do try.”

“We’re in this together now though,” Cameron spoke up suddenly. “I should have tried harder to tell you about her, but it doesn’t matter anymore. What matters right now is that you’re here, and we’ll help her through this together.”

“Never thought of it any other way,” Jimmy sighed.