To Caress My Day

“Okay. Tell me then, who is going to pay for this specialist in Thyroid cancer?” Araceli questioned both her daughter and her husband. Her brown eyes flitting from one despondent face to the other on either side of her, awaiting their answer that seemed to be stalled behind their lips. She became instantly suspicious when the two shared a similar look at each other, and narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you two better not tell me that both of you are gonna throw all your money away to this specialist! Just like that?”

“That’s not the case at all, love!” Luther swiftly soothed her, clasping one of her hands in his and giving it a solacing squeeze. So far this prepared intervention for his wife was going along better than he ever thought it would. He wondered if it was because Twigs had shown up to stand in solidarity with him instead of him standing alone. Araceli wouldn’t have listened to just him, and Twigs might have been shushed over it had she confronted her mother alone. But together, Luther and his step-daughter proved to be an unstoppable force! “We’d never take this matter into our own hands behind your back!”

Luther glanced at his step-daughter, silently inquiring if it was alright to tell Araceli about Seth’s involvement. Twigs gave him an agreeable smile then nodded for him to go on ahead.

Looking back into his wife’s gracefully aging face, Luther told her the truth. “Tahliah has informed me that her boyfriend, Seth, wants to pay for this specialist on behalf of us all.”

Taken aback, Araceli gaped at her husband, then her daughter next. She was speechless at such a charitable gesture coming from her own child’s boyfriend.

Content that her mother didn’t renounce Seth’s offer, Twigs quickly took her mom’s other hand and enclosed it in between her own. Staring deep into the brown eyes she genetically inherited, she began to supplicate for her mother’s mercy. “Mother please, I know the way your mind works.”

“Do you now?” Araceli inquired, arching a brow at the young proficient woman that was her only child.

“Of course I do!” Twigs exclaimed, giving her mother a look of annoyance. “I practically acquired your way of thinking!”

“She’s got a point.” Luther mumbled on his side of the couch, earning an elbow to his side by his wife.

“I heard that, you!” Araceli chided him, giving him her own look of annoyance before returning her attention to her daughter.

“Mommy, please. Accept this offer Seth is giving you.” Twigs begged her mom, bottling back the tears teeming behind her eyes. She didn’t want to cry. She didn’t want her tears to be what governed her mother’s decision, or make her any more emotional than she already was about her cancer. Twigs wanted her mother to agree to this offer because SHE wanted to. Seth was a phenomenal person that became a blessing in Twig’s life. He wasn’t going to expect her or her mother to pay him back for assisting them with his connections and money. He wasn’t that kind of person, if he was Twigs would’ve never dated him to begin with.

For Araceli, it didn’t feel right to accept Seth’s help. His money, and time wasted all on her just didn’t sit well in her stomach. And she knew that was the exact comeback her family feared she would say. Araceli’s lips parted anyway to deliver the grievous statement. “Tahliah…”

“Seth’s mother died from cancer.” Twigs blurted, feeling her throat constrict from having to mention cancer and death in the same sentence together. She couldn’t help thinking of death whenever cancer was concerned and so that’s why her mother having cancer herself was tearing her up on the inside.

Araceli gasped at that disclosure, her heart plummeting into her stomach as she covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my god…that poor man!”

“Jesus Christ.” Luther whispered, shaking his head in enmity for this damned disease that had tainted so many innocent people and snatched them from existence. It was a truly dangerous disease!

“And he took the news of your cancer pretty hard.” Twigs continued, praying that using her boyfriend’s mother’s cancer would win her mother over. Her accepting this offer would pretty much wrap up her family’s concern over her well being…mostly at least. “Mommy, Seth’s not offering this opportunity to you just because he loves me. He told me that he doesn’t want me to go through what he and his family had gone through losing their mother.”

Swallowing back another gasp, Araceli averted her glazed eyes from her daughter’s as she pressed a hand to her heart. She was getting emotional over this, the wish to weep for Seth’s loss and the fears of her husband and daughter was strong. Giving herself a moment to recover, she told her daughter while staring down at the coffee table in front of them. “I-I had no idea he had suffered from such a loss.”

Twigs HATED that Seth had to go through that kind of suffering to begin with, but that was life. Everyday was a gamble when one thought about all the possibilities of crossing paths with death. For Twigs, it had solely been her mother this time by this cancer she carried with her. She wanted it out, she wanted her mother cured. “I know, mommy, I don’t wish to think about it either. Seth told me he couldn’t save his mother when she was dying from her cancer, but now with all the money he’s accumulated through his prosperous career, he’s determined to pay for the best Doctors he can find for you.”

“I…Tahliah, honey…I can’t just…” Araceli stumbled over her words, her strained mind unable to coordinate her words into sentences. Her heart felt for poor Seth for losing his mother. He wasn’t just granting this chance to her to be nice. He truly cared for her, and was likely anticipating her to accept his offer as well so they could move forward with the steps to extract the cancer from her once and for all. For the first time, it was becoming very hard for Araceli to chuck an offer of help away. She never wanted this cancer to make her into such a burden, and yet it has. Everyone was worrying themselves frantically over her including her very family! If she rejected this offer, it would certainly hurt them all.

“Please, Araceli, accept this offer.” Luther begged his wife in a soft tone in order not to scare her. He caressed his wife’s frail hand as she turned brown eyes to him. Baring his heart to her, he professed. “I don’t want to lose you either, love. You’re it for me. There’s no one else out there like you, I don’t have to go outside my door and look around to know this to be true. My aching heart tells me so whenever I look at you and this cancer. So please, give us some comfort and say you’ll accept this help Seth’s offering.”

“Oh, Luther, you won’t lose me!” Araceli vowed to her husband, taking both of her hands back to turn in her seat to cup his face tenderly between her hands. She gave him an assuring smile. “The Doctor has sai-”

“Damnit, Araceli! I don’t care what that blasted Doctor said!” Luther cut her off quite rudely, but he didn’t care. This cancer was serious! All cancers were serious! Her reassuring smile and quiet approach to it wasn’t gonna change that! Grabbing tightly to her wrists, he held her prisoner. “Our local Doctors here haven’t battled with Thyroid Cancer as often as this specialist obviously had! This is a SPECIALIST we’re talking about Araceli, why not take the chance at a better chance?”

Before Araceli could open her mouth and say whatever was on her mind, Twigs placed her hand on her mother’s shoulder and inserted her take. “I want you to accept this Specialist’s help too, mom! I don’t want you to waste anymore of your strength with your cancer.”

This wasn’t gonna work. Twigs felt it in her soul. All of this was all a waste if she didn’t pull out all the stops and put her heart on display too.

“Please, I only have one mother, and that’s you, mommy! You’re as irreplaceable as I am to you.” Twigs reminded her mother, feeling her stiffen underneath hand. She knew that reaction meant she got her right where she needed to be. “You always tell me that. I know that means you couldn't live with losing me either. Mom, if I was in your shoes right now, I’d accept the help! You know why? Because I’d want you to one day watch me get married, and have a horde of grandchildren! Don’t you want that too?”

Righting her back in her previous position on the couch to be able to see both her husband and her daughter’s face with a turn of her head, Araceli studied them with tears in her eyes. “I-I had no idea you two felt this passionately about my cancer. I mean…I knew you both were upset about it, don’t get me wrong, I just didn’t know it was enough to get a Specialist interested in my case.”

We do. So what’s it gonna be, Araceli?” Luther inquired for him and his step-daughter’s sake.

Because they were emotionally on the edge of their seats and were ready to make a scene if she declined, Araceli gave them what they wanted. “If it’s really important to you two, I’ll accept Seth’s help.”

“REALLY!? “Both Twigs and Luther exclaimed simultaneously, they could hardly believe it. Her nod had them throwing themselves at Araceli in a big family bear hug, making the older woman laugh with joy.