“This will be so much better than trying to find a vein every time,” Arianna said.
Mia sighed. “I guess this ruins my chances of being Mrs. America,” she said in an attempt to assert her own sense of humor.
“You can compete next year,” Arianna said.
“I’m dreading chemo,” Mia confessed.
Who wouldn’t? Arianna was thankful Dr. Yao had prescribed both something for nausea and anxiousness.
When it came time, Mia was happy to take both.
Her first chemo treatment almost was a nonevent. Her appointment was for late morning, and once she arrived at the hospital, she was set up in a comfortable recliner with a drip bag. She and Arianna played cards while the medicine did its work.
Sunny joined them to film a video.
“I’m here with Mom, keeping her company while she’s getting her first chemo treatment,” Arianna said to her viewers. “How is it, Mom?”
“So far, so good,” Mia reported.
“As you can see, we’ve found a way to pass the time,” Arianna said, pointing to their cards laid out on the chair’s tray. “She’s beating me, by the way.”
“Just like I’m going to do my best to beat this cancer,” Mia said. “Meanwhile, I’m savoring time with my daughter. Even when life is bad, it can be good.”
Sunny stopped it right there. “That was a perfect ending.”
“Was it? I only shared how I feel,” Mia said.
“It was an inspiring share,” Sunny told her, and she smiled.
“You sailed through that,” Arianna said later as they left the hospital.
“I don’t know what I was so afraid of,” Mia said.
The unknown. That was always scary. And there was a lot of it ahead of them. But they’d face it one day at a time.
Mia felt fine the rest of the day, and the next, but by the third day she ached all over and was too weak to do anything but lie on the couch under a blanket and watch TV. She wasn’t a lie-on-the-couch kind of woman, and it was hard to see her like that.
“We all have our bad days,” Mia said, “whether it’s cancer or something else.”
“Mom, don’t minimize this. It’s a big deal.”
“It is. But I’m not going to let it get so big it crushes me, and I don’t want it to crush you, either. I’m sure I’ll be much better tomorrow.”
“We should cancel having the baking party here,” Arianna said.
“No, don’t do that. You don’t want to miss out on the fun.”
How was she supposed to have fun when she was so worried?
“That was part of why you girls decided to celebrate Christmas all year, wasn’t it?” Mia continued. “To find your Christmas spirit, make up for your earlier disappointments?”
“Yes, but this is different.”
“There will always be something sneaking up on you and trying to steal your joy. You can’t let it, and the only way to combat it is to keep bringing in good things and focusing on your blessings. Anyway, I’m craving some smiles and laughter. Don’t deprive me.”
Happily Mia didn’t get deprived. She was feeling well enough to sit on a barstool and visit while the friends baked and frosted their cookies and even to be at the party the next day to observe the fun.
The party was a success. Everyone had a good time. Paisley and Sophie especially enjoyed the hunt for the four-leaf clovers, and the grown-ups especially enjoyed the green beer. The best part was later, when the friends were cleaning up in the kitchen and Sunny gave Arianna the envelope with money in it.
