Jess had been home a few weeks now and Libby hadn’t emailed, texted, phoned or visited. Unlike the many other times when Jess had asked for a meeting, this time she hadn’t left pleading or screeching voicemails or sent begging emails. She hadn’t tried to contact Libby, assuming her old friend would come to her. But it appeared not even dying was enough to persuade Libby to make contact.

She picked up the white envelope and pulled out the contents. Again. The high dose of her pain medication blurred the words on the pages of her will and medical power of attorney. They’d been the first items on her “get your affairs in order” list that she’d tackled. Peter had helped her. Nick and Karen had been at the meeting too and Nick had agreed without argument to her request that he raise Leo. But that had been when Jess was convinced Libby would come running. Now she was having second and third thoughts, and time was a ticking bomb.

Jess still had so many things she wanted to do, like finish writing twenty birthday cards for Leo. Karen had suggested it and bought the cards for her, but she could only manage a few each day. The early ones were easier, but the teenage ones were almost impossible. Who would Leo be then? What would he be interested in? The questions rammed home exactly how much she was losing and how much she was going to miss.

Initially, she’d railed violently against the diagnosis and had spent a week lost in the depths of the internet, chasing miracle cures. It was Karen who’d said, “Don’t waste the precious time you have.”

Jess had hated her for it. “What the hell do you know? Get out!”

Karen stayed seated. “You can yell and scream and call me every name under the sun, but I’m not your mother and I’m not leaving you.”

For some reason, that had been the moment Jess truly understood she was going to die. She’d crumpled then, sobbing uncontrollably for the first time since she’d been twelve and determined tears were a waste. Now she was only chasing one miracle—to still be alive on Leo’s second birthday.

Alice reappeared in the room. “All that fresh air in the park this morning and he’s out like a light.”

“Thanks for taking him.”

“Too easy.”