Baked spaghetti for dinner, she said. I know its not your favorite, but I was in a hurry and its Paiges fa

Nonsense. Sounds delicious. Im going to run up and get changed and Ill set the table.

She watched him rush out of the kitchen and up the stairs, likely wanting to make sure he got back downstairs to set the table before she did. Peter was a good husband and tried to make sure she never felt like all of the household items such as cooking, washing dishes, and laundry came down to her. He helped with a bit of funkiness in his attitude, but shed almost stopped noticing it after a few years of marriage.

She left setting the table for him, standing just outside of the entry between the kitchen and living room. She watched Paige in the living room, perched on her knees in front of the coffee table. She was coloring while also watching a show about magical cheerleaders. Her tongue stuck out of her mouth just a bit, a trait that had apparently been passed down biologically from Rachel.

I cant do it, Rachel thought. I cant tell her…

It then occurred to her that she was going to have to do this twice. There was no way she could just drop the news on both of them at the same time. That could be a potential disaster, Peter having to process it while also trying to help Paige understand what it meant. Shed have to tell Peter first, just the two of them. Then after theyd processed it and got their share of grief and sorrow out of the way, theyd figure out the best way to tell Paige.

Peter came down the stairs moments later, oblivious to Rachels dreamlike state. She shook it off as well as she could and managed to keep it together until they all sat down to dinner. Rachel did her best to go through dinner as if it were any other day. And while she had decided to tell just Peter first, she could not help but picture the scene. Sitting alone in the living room, or in the bedroom just before bed. I found out today that I have a large tumor in my brain.

She imagined Peters reaction and something about it did not sit well with her. Just thinking of his face collapsing in grief, of his weeping and confusion, made her somehow certain that she would not be able to tell him. It wasnt fear, but a love for her husbandfor her family. As an FBI agent, there had been two times during her career where she had been placed in a situation where she had to tell someone that a loved one had passed. It was one the hardest things shed ever done and for reasons she could not quite identify, this was infinitely harder.