Taboo

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After meeting up with Sage and Winnie, I needed to meet up with Lily. There were some things I needed to talk to her about. These things are urgent. So urgent that Luna doesn't know.

Lily has been sick before. It has affected her immune system.

Her genes have shown that her aunt had severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). This means that her aunt is in danger of bacteria, viruses and fungi. This disorder had this name in the 70s called "bubble boy disease" because a boy had this and he had to stay in a sterile bubble in order to avoid diseases.

So she has gotten sick. As a child she had gotten brain cancer and she survived it. Luna knew about that. Luna cut half of her hair in second grade so Lily can be a brunette for a year before her hair started to grow back.

Lily had to go back to the hospital this morning for an annual check up. 

"So, how are things with you and Jax recently?" I ask Lily.

"Things are good." Lily said. "We're actually going on a date later on today."

"Wow, you're actually not stressing." I say.

Lily and I laugh.

"We're just chilling." Lily says. "All good vibes with Mario Cart and all."

We were walking down the street when we hear a tiny little sound.

"You heard that right?" Lily asks me.

"Yeah." I say.

Then we heard the tiny sound again.

"I think it's coming from the little bush over there." I say. "Let's go check it out."

Lily and I walk over to the small bush.

"I'll look into it while you look around it." Lily says while putting her hair up in a ponytail.

"Sounds good to me." I say.

As Lily looked into the bush, I looked around.

"Lily, it sounds like a cat." I say.

"It sure does." Lily says. "Like a small one."

"Let's keep looking." I say.

As we searched through the bushes i decide a conversation with Lily.

"Have you thought of where you want to travel before you, you know?" I ask Lily.

"Rose, the results didn't come back yet." She says. "I have been in remission for a while now, eight years to be exact."

"The doctors said it can come back because your tumor was noticed invasive." I say.

"Yes my Medulloblastomas was determined invasive in first grade after various headaches but it went down after surgery, two rounds of chemotherapeutic treatment, and a round of radiation." Lily said. "A good two years, remission confirmed at age eight."

"Lily just tell me." I say. "For Luna."

"I'm not getting a call until later on this week about the results." Lily says. "They always takes their time to analyze and it gives me anxiety. I never been so nervous since fourth grade when my chemo brain went hardcore."

"So you will tell me by then?" I ask.

"Yeah." She responds. "If it does come back as a cancerous relapse, it can come back stronger than ever."

"Would you do treatment?" I ask.

"For a little while until by body can't take it." Lily says. "Then I'll give up on it and just live life."

"So which trip?" I ask.

"A day in Venice with Jax, just him and I." She responds. "Three days at Barcelona with you, Hazel, and Luna, my three best friends."

A black kitten walks out from the bush to my right. It starts to meow.

Lily gasps and approaches the kitten

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Lily gasps and approaches the kitten.

"It's so adorable." Lily says.

The kitten approaches Lily. The kitten allows Lily to pet itself.

"You really are your mother's child." I chuckle. "Animals just come to you and your mother like you two took care of them."

"Let's take it to my mother's veterinary clinic." Lily says as she picks up the kitten. "My mother might be able to take a peak to see if any thing is wrong."

After going to see Lily's mother, the kitten was considered to be healthy. Lily was allowed to keep the kitten. After the kitten got its shots, we noticed she was a girl.

"What are you going to name her?" Lily's mother asked Lily.

"Taboo." Lily says. "Luck brought her to me and the superstition is the black cat is a symbol of bad luck so the name seems perfect."

It was a nice afternoon with Lily and Taboo.

Lily's mother drove me home. When she dropped me off my father was pulling up in the driveway.

"How was your weekend?" I asked him.

"Busy." He says. "Yours?"

"I got a lot to talk about." I say.

"I'll order a pizza." Dad says. "Let's sit by the kitchen island and talk, I'd love to listen."

My dad and I walked inside the house. As I was feeding Roxy and changing the wee wee pads from a dirty one to a clean one, dad was ordering the pizza.

After pizza, dad and I stayed up late talking about Elliott, Lily's party, meeting Sage, meeting Winnie, and what happened with Lily this afternoon.

"I'm glad to be having these talks with you." Dad says. "It makes me feel like mom is in the room."

It was so sweet. Yet is was true. Having a conversation with dad like this made me feel like mom was there too.

And maybe she was. What a taboo.

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