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trickling down his cheek, he took me in his arms and gave me a hug I would never forget.
    Me too dad. Me too.
    He let me go and gave Lettie a quick kiss on the cheek. He squeezed my mom’s shoulder and then headed to the bathroom. I looked at my mom and gave her a nod, letting her know she should go after him.
    We heard a loud gasp come from the bathroom and I fought the instinct to run to him. Instead, I turned to Mom once again and said, “He needs you.”
    Her eyes widened and then she headed to the bathroom, to his aid.
    I leaned on the wall and slid down until my bottom hit the floor. I watched Lettie as she cleaned the mess of his hair. Images of my dad started to flash in my head. He looked so different with a bald head. It was something we would all have to get used to. I could hear my mom and dad crying in the bathroom. It wasn’t even crying. It was more like weeping.
    I should go to them.
    “I can see your wheels turning,” Lettie said. “I know you want to go in there, but they need this. Let them cry it out. Let them deal together.”
    She was right, of course. I knew she was right, but my logic didn’t function at the moment. I couldn’t just sit there while they wailed like wounded animals.
    “They need me! Can’t you hear them?” I tried to get up, but I felt a hand on my shoulder, stopping my movements. “What?” I barked. I was allowed to lose it once in a while. I was a fucking nineteen-year-old teenage girl buried in shit.
    “Aria...” Oh boy, her tone told me I wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “I think you need to see someone.”
    Yep. Didn’t like it one bit .
    Fuming, I glared at her. She thought I needed to see a shrink! Me? A shrink? Like I was going to tell a stranger how I was feeling .
    “Look, I know you’re worried for us,” I said. “I get it. But I don’t need to see anyone or talk about anything. What’s the point? Would it make his cancer go away? No,” I said, trying to make her see how pointless it was from my eyes. “I don’t think I should waste my time. You know I’m not going to talk. I don’t like to talk about my problems. They’re mine, no one else’s, and that’s how it is going to stay.”
    There you go... I rest my case .
    Although, I knew there was something in what she was saying. I wasn’t stupid or blind. I knew that I wasn’t acting normal, but what she didn’t understand was that this situation wasn’t normal. This disease didn’t come with a guide book for the family. I didn’t have a manual of how I should act. I tried my best to live every day the best that I could, and I thought I was doing a pretty good job at it.
    “I know that, sweetie, but let me ask you this,” she said, while standing and reaching out her hand to me. When I clasped my hand in hers, she pulled me up. Together we went to sit in front of the fireplace. “Who’s going to pull you out of the dark?” Taking my hand in hers, she caressed my skin, soothing me, making me feel like a girl my age for a little bit. It had been a while since someone took care of me and not the other way around.
    I kind of missed it .
    “I know it’s hard for you to talk.” She laughed, making me remember the old days when she would try to get me to tell her things about my life without any luck. “However, you don’t have to go to a one-on-one shrink. There are a lot of support groups out there for families.”
    I started to object but she shushed me instantly. “Please. If not for you, do this for your parents’ sake. For Adam’s. They need you sane. It’s not healthy to carry the weight of your whole family on your shoulders.” She sighed, and then continued. “You owe it to yourself, sweetie, or you won’t come out of this sane. I know someone and I can arrange a space for you. Go once. Try it. If you are still against it, I won’t bother you again. We have a deal?”
    Hearing the cries of my parents in the background, I decided to get out of my comfort zone