A Second Chance (14 page)

Humor riddled her body and she shook
from nerves and laughter as she made another pass and then another.
Soon his head was as bald as hers, only with a dark shadow. When
Carlos looked at himself and his shoulders bounced, Madeline
laughed harder. They both looked hideous, and at the same time, she
would never forget this moment.

“
What are you
doing?”

The laughter stopped as they both
turned to see their children standing in the doorway.

A hiccup of a laugh busted through
Madeline. She couldn’t help herself. Their beautiful children stood
before them, their mouths dropped open and their eyes
wide.

Carlos ran his hand over her head.
“Mom’s hair fell out so I shaved it off.”

“
I got mad and shaved his
off for spite,” she joked and then laughed harder when the
expressions on her children didn’t change but only grew darker.
“I’m kidding. He wanted me to do it.” She placed her hand on his
cheek. “He’s being supportive.”

“
Fine.” Eduardo shook his
head, dropped his backpack, and walked between his parents. Carlos
stood up and he sat down on the toilet backward as his father had
and pulled off his shirt. “I’m next.”

“
Oh, no you’re not. You have
the most beautiful hair, honey. Don’t do this.” She smiled. But
when Carlos picked up the clippers and moved past her, she nearly
choked on the gasp she sucked back. She wasn’t quick enough to grab
his hand and stop him. He turned them on and made the first pass
right down the middle of Eduardo’s head as he had with his
own.

“
Well, he’s committed now.
You’d better finish it off.”

“
Carlos!” She covered her
mouth and tears formed in her eyes.

“
It’s hair, Mom. Finish it.”
Eduardo turned, took the clippers from his father, and handed them
to her. “No one in this family does things alone.”

Pride stopped her tears. The courage
in his eyes and in the eyes of her ex-husband put the smile back on
her lips. She took the clippers and began her attack on her son’s
gorgeous hair.

His smile was contagious and so was
his laughter. She watched as large clumps of dark wavy hair, which
matched his father’s, fell to the ground and mixed with
hers.

When they were done they cried, but
not from pain, but from the joy of sharing an unforgettable moment,
one that helped heal them all.

Madeline ran her hands over each of
their heads. “I don’t know that this is a good look for either of
you.”

“
Funny enough, it looks
pretty good on you, Mom.”

“
Your dad said that too.”
She looked up at Carlos.

“
Okay.” Carlos looked behind
him at the two children who still stood in the doorway with their
backpacks on and their faces white as sheets. “Clara, are you
next?”

“
Omigod! Dad! No!” she
screamed as she ran down the hall.

“
Chris?”

His eyes flew open and he fled down
the hall following his sister, no words necessary.

“
Real supportive.” Carlos
turned back with a smile and pulled both Madeline and Eduardo to
him.

The strength that enveloped her sank
into her body. She felt as if their love was healing her more than
the drugs ever could.

Carlos swept up the hair while
Madeline helped the kids with their homework. He’d promised Kathy
he’d have them all at the house by six for dinner with her parents,
and now they were going to be late. He really had wanted to take
Madeline shopping too, for something for her head, but that was
going to have to wait.

He stood in the kitchen and watched
his family work quietly on their studies. Madeline looked up at
him. “I don’t know if I can get used to you looking like
that.”

“
It’ll grow back fast.” A
pang of guild pierced his chest. His would grow back. Would hers?
“For now maybe I won’t look as old since all that gray is
gone.”

“
What gray?”

“
As if you hadn’t noticed.”
He ran his hand over Eduardo’s head. “We’d better get going. We’re
late.”

The kids put their books in their
backpacks.

“
I’ll come by”—he calculated
his schedule—”Wednesday after school, and we’ll go get you some
fancy hair.”

“
I’ll be fine.” She touched
his arm and gave him a smile that told him she appreciated what he
had done. “Mom bought me some scarves when she was here. I think
I’ll try on a few and see what I think.”

“
If I know your mother,
there are a few in there that are bright orange.”

“
Of course. They should
accent my pasty skin very well, don’t you think?”

Carlos shook his head. “Amazingly
enough, you look great.”

“
Thank you for finding that
amazing.” Her words dripped with sarcasm, but the glint in her eye
told him she appreciated his words. He could only hope she knew the
sincerity of them in her heart. They hadn’t been said to only ease
her pains.

“
Bye, Mom.” Christian kissed
her cheek with his eyes toward the floor.

“
I love you,” Clara said as
she gave her a tight squeeze.

Eduardo kissed her cheek and then
pulled her in tightly to his arms. “You’re beautiful,
Mom.”

“
Thank you, Son. What you
did for me was amazing.”

“
What you’re doing is
amazing.” He kissed her again and followed his brother and sister
to the car.

“
I’ll call you tomorrow to
check on you,” Carlos said, stepping in closer to her.

“
Thank you. You made
something horrible into a precious memory. I can never thank you
enough.” She lifted her hand to his cheek.

He realized just how close he stood to
her. There had never been any walls between them, except for the
one they couldn’t seem to hurdle when their marriage depended on
it.

Her dark eyes gazed into his, and
there was a peace within her. A peace he knew he was responsible
for, and that warmed him to the core. He lowered his head and
gently brushed her lips with his. She was soft, welcoming, and
familiar. Her body swayed toward him. Instinct took over and he
pressed his mouth harder to hers before retracting, realizing he’d
overstepped a boundary he shouldn’t have.

“
I’ll talk to you soon,” he
said quickly and retreated to the car. His heart still raced in his
chest, and his lips tingled with the exhilaration of her kiss and
the guilt of the moment.

“
I can’t believe you did
that to your head,” Clara was commenting to Eduardo when Carlos
started the car. “You look like a dork.”

“
You look like a dork
because you didn’t do it,” he retorted.

“
Dad, why did you shave your
head?” she asked.

“
Why should mom be the only
one without hair? It was making her really sad. It was the least I
could do.”

“
It’s called support,
dweeb,” Eduardo added.

“
I think you both look
goofy. Kathy is going to flip out.”

Kathy. Any joy that had resonated
through him from the special moments he’d created with Madeline
became heavy in his chest when he thought about Kathy. He’d been so
caught up in the moment with Madeline when he took the clippers to
his head, he hadn’t thought about Kathy.

Her parent’s car was already parked in
the driveway when they pulled in. There was a twisting in his gut.
He wanted to back out of the driveway and just disappear for a few
weeks until his hair grew back. Would she notice in her constant
state of wedding planning? But the kids had already climbed out of
the car and were headed up the steps to the back door.

He heard the shriek when she saw
Eduardo. Carlos cringed. What had he done?

“
Ed, what did you do?” He
could hear the shrill in her voice.

“
Dad shaved mom’s head, so I
made her shave mine.”

“
He shaved your mother’s
head?” Her voice shook with the underlying tones of understanding,
jealousy, and anger. But the anger prevailed as it hissed through
what he knew were gritted teeth.

“
All of her hair fell out,”
Clara added as she hung up her backpack.

“
I can’t believe you did
that. What does your father think?”

“
I took my cue from him,” Ed
said just as Carlos walked through the door.

“
Oh my God!” Her voice
stabbed him in the chest. “What in the hell did you do?”

Carlos swallowed hard. “I shaved off
my hair.”

“
Why?”

“
I was being
supportive.”

“
It’s horrible.” The color
in her cheeks rose, and he knew it wasn’t just the hair. She was
mad he’d gone to Madeline in a time of need.

“
Thanks, dear,” he said
shutting the door and hanging up his coat on one of the pegs
aligned on the wall. “Where are your parents?”

“
They’re in the living room,
waiting for my family to get home and have dinner. You’re late.”
Her voice had dropped into almost a whisper, but the tears forming
in her eyes didn’t diminish her disgust with what he’d
done.

“
I know. I’m sorry.” He
kissed her gently and held his lips to hers, wanting to make the
pain of the kiss he’d laid on Madeline’s lips go away.

She pushed against him and stepped
away. “We are going to talk about this later.”

“
I know.” He passed by her
and headed toward the living room to welcome her parents. Perhaps
if he made them feel welcome and happy to be in his home, he’d be
less likely to be in trouble later, but he was sure that was still
coming.

Her mother didn’t have too much to
say, which was amazing since the woman was a gossip. Her father, on
the other hand, usually never spoke, but during dinner he had
plenty to say. And the one thing he’d brought up was grandchildren.
Grandchildren of his own.

He and Kathy hadn’t even approached
the subject of children. In fact, Carlos thought, he had his
children. It had never been in his plans to have more. But when her
father mentioned it, the hope on her face made his chest
ache.

It was well past ten before her
parents left. He turned off Christian’s light. He’d fallen asleep
in his clothes, he was so tired. Carlos left him.

He moved into Clara’s room to tuck her
in next.

“
Will mom’s hair grow back
in?” Clara asked.

“
I think so. When the cancer
is gone for sure and they can let her stop taking her medication,
it should come back.”

“
I think she looks
funny.”

“
Don’t tell her
that.”

“
I won’t.” Clara snuggled
into her sheets, and Carlos pulled them up around her chin. She
reached up and grabbed his hand. “She’s not going to die, is
she?”

“
Not until she’s a very old
woman.”

“
Thank you, Daddy, for
taking care of her.” Clara smiled up at him and then turned onto
her side and closed her eyes.

Carlos sat there for a moment longer
and then kissed her on the head.

Eduardo was looking in the mirror when
Carlos made it to his door. He watched for a moment as he ran his
hand over his head.

“
Feels funny, doesn’t
it?”

“
Yeah,” his son said, still
examining himself. “I have a scar on my head.”

“
You fell when you were
about two. Cracked it on the coffee table.”

“
Coffee table? We didn’t
have a coffee table.”

“
Not after you cracked your
head open on it.”

Eduardo nodded. “This is going to take
some getting used to.”

“
It’ll be all grown back in
before you know it.”

He nodded, turning his head from side
to side, examining it further in the mirror. “I’ll keep it like
this until all of Mom’s grows back. That’s only fair.”

“
That’s mighty nice of you.”
He walked fully into the room. “I think it meant a lot to your
mom.”

“
I want her to know she’s
not alone.”

“
I think she knows that.”
Carlos turned down the sheets on Eduardo’s bed and sat down. “She’s
going to be okay. You know that, don’t you?”

“
Yeah, but I’m still freaked
out. She’s skinny, pale, bald,” he said, throwing his hands in the
air. “She looks so different.” He shook his head. “I hope she
doesn’t notice when I stare at her because she looks like a
stranger.”

“
I think she feels like a
stranger.”

“
I just can’t wait until
she’s all better. I don’t like seeing her like this.”

Tears threatened Carlos’s voice. He
took a moment to collect himself. Could a father be more proud of a
teenage son? “I know. It’s only been a few months. In a few more
she’ll be stronger. In a few more after that she’ll be able to have
reconstructive surgery, and that’ll make her feel
better.”

“
I just can’t believe Matt
left.” He shook his head again and fell down onto the bed next to
his father. “Why did he do that to her?”