FicWad

By the time they got home she was missing her baby pretty badly. She had to keep reminding herself that he was in good hands. Actually, it was good in a way, that they had the night off. She was planning to seduce Davey. Technically she wasn't supposed to be having sex for another week, which was why he had been consistently denying her, saying that he didn't want to do anything that might hurt her. "I'm fine!" she'd insist. "I'm totally ready. Those time frames they give you are all subjective." But he was taking no chances. She'd been desperate for some Davey Time for days now. One particularly funny book she read said "If you can't have sex, don't despair: You can still kiss, give each other long massages, and share your feelings for each other." The only problem was that things like that only served to make her want to have sex even more.

The situation now required some action and perhaps a more crafty approach.

He was pretty quiet on the way home, and when they got there she went upstairs to change into something she knew he'd find enticing, thinking surely he'd come find her in a little while. But it turned out to be a long while instead. She ended up falling asleep on the bed, as she had been up part of the night with Julian and had missed out on some hours of sleep. She was awakened by the familiar and pleasant sensation of kisses on her neck.

"Hey," she smiled, and kissed him.

She didn't have to work too hard to accomplish her goal, it almost seemed as though he'd come up there to seduce her. And it was exactly how she wanted it - gentle, loving and intense. Afterwards they lay there holding each other, and she was thinking only of how strange and wonderful it was that their friendship had blossomed into this.

She felt something wet roll down her shoulder and she realized he must be secretly crying. He was an artist, but he wasn't one to cry unless something was very wrong.

"Davey? What's the matter?"
He didn't answer.
"Honey, talk to me," she coaxed, rubbing his back. "What's going on?"
"My mother is dying," he croaked.
"What?"
"She has cancer and she didn't tell me. She only has 6 months, Litzy."
"Oh my God," she muttered. She was in a state of shock. Penny had always seemed fine, how could this be happening? Davey's heart was breaking, she could feel it. And she didn't know what to say.
"Oh honey I'm so sorry," she said, tears creeping up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."
"We have to pretend like we don't know. She didn't want us to know before the wedding."
She nodded, caressing him comfortingly. She plucked some Kleenex from a box on the nightstand and handed it to him.
"It's okay, I won't let on that I know," she said, wiping her own tears away with the back of her hand. "What can I do?"
"Nothing. Just you being here with me is enough. If I didn't have you right now..." he said, squeezing her. "I don't know what I'd do."
"I know how you're feeling right now and I know it's awful. None of this is fair, but we're gonna get through this."
"How? How am I supposed to get through this?"
"Right now we just have to do the best we can, sweetie," she said. "Has she gotten a second opinion?"
"I-I don't know. She's had the same doctor practically my whole life. She trusts him."
"Still, when it's life or death I'd feel better with a second opinion. Wouldn't you?"
"I'll call my dad and ask him if she's had one. If not, maybe we can convince her."
"You should try. Maybe there's still something that can be done."
He shook his head, eyes filling up with tears again.
"Hey, listen to me, there's always hope. I feel kinda lame saying that, but I believe it." She kissed his cheek and his lips. "Don't cry, baby."
He seemed to be able to pull himself together and he called his father. She could tell from listening to Davey's end of the conversation that Paul had already been through this with Penny. She didn't want to see another doctor and she didn't want to go through all those tests and procedures again. She didn't think she could. But Davey stayed on the phone trying to convince Paul to convince Penny to see another doctor. What really got her was that he actually used her line. "There's always hope." In the end he won him over, but when he hung up he just seemed drained. She didn't know what to do that he might find comforting so she just did what worked for her.
"I'll go make you some tea," she said, giving his shoulder a light squeeze before climbing out of bed.
"Thanks, love."
"You're welcome."

She headed to the kitchen in shock, disbelief and sadness. She had hoped that in time she and Penny would bond more and she would have a mother figure in her life again. But now it seemed she might just be losing another. All she could think about was the hell Davey must be going through and how she wasn't sure how to best help him through it if Penny did actually pass away. And strangely, another thought surfaced. She noted that a few minutes ago had been the first time he'd ever called her 'love.' And it really made her feel special. It wasn't so much the word itself, but the way he'd said it. Like she was important to him. And that was exactly what she wanted to be. For the rest of her life.

It was just so hard to truly enjoy her happiness when so much was going wrong. Once again, she had to wonder if Davey's life hadn't been so much better before he got himself involved with her. With all of this going on with his mother, how was he going to feel if everyone in the world found out about her past?

She called Jade to see if he knew anything more about Tyler's whereabouts.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore," he said.
"Why not?"
"I talked to him earlier today. He said he was paid quite well to tell some reporters what he knew."
"Oh right. Who'd he sell the story to, The Enquirer?"
"Not exactly..."
"Who?"
"People Magazine."