₦airaland Forum

Ghostlady:
am not starting yet until divepen acknowledges the topic,so let's wait for him...you know he is the master minder...

Ghostlady:
yes dear,being waiting for you....the first topic I want to drop for this week is :" Education as it affects our daily life"......but I want you to acknowledge it first and give us more clues as to the procedures and how many chapters we should create for each story.

Ghostlady:
nope you didn't...check how others r doing it in d previous comments above

Ghostlady:
you havnt even registered yet....register na and let's plan this whole thing together

Ghostlady:
drop something? Like what?

Queennelly:
She woke feeling heavy and puffy-eyed. She stared at the wall and took a deep breath. If ever there was a day to stay in bed and hide from the word, it was today.
She thought about Ben and Ruby as she showered. She 'd do her best to hide her illness from them, but it was inevitable that they would find out. They lived next door, after all. But hopefully by then Hannah would have had the time to create some distance between them. No more watching the kids or them staying over at her place. The kids would think she and Joe had simply broken up. They'd be hurt for a while, but a little hurt now was preferable to a lot of hurt later .
And Joe..... Joe will move on too. He might be angry with her for a while, and sad, but she knew he would eventually understand she'd done the best thing for him and his children.
She'd never thought she could love anyone so much that she would be able to let them go when everything in her screamed for her to cling fast. But she wasn't free to love them. She had nothing to offer. It was as simple and as painful as that.
She looked in the mirror as she dried off after her shower, her gaze dropping to her breast. Slowly she cupped them in her hands, feeling the weight of them, the shape of them, trying to imagine what it would be like to have a scar instead of rounded flesh. She dressed in jeans and a t shirt and wandered out to the kitchen. Her mother was busy juicing oranges.
"Lots of fresh fruits from now on, she said. "There 's a cookbook I 've seen about positive eating."
"That sounds good," Hannah said.
There was a knock at the door. Hannah glanced at her mother. Her mother simply looked at her and Hannah sighed.
"Would you mind? In case its Joe." She'd always known it would take more than one conversation to convince a man as loyal and loving as Joe to protect himself.
"Okay, I 'll get it," Hannah said with a firm and straight face.
She took a deep breadth, with shaking hands went to open the door.
She retreated a step when she saw he wasn't alone. He was standing hand in hand with his children, Ben on his left, Ruby on his right. Ruby's eyes were puffy from tears and Ben looked as though he'd been crying too. Joe held her gaze steadily when she looked at him. He was pale, his gaze was very direct as he said "I 've come to give you our answer."
"I didn't ask for one "
There was a hardness to his face, he said with fierceness that she'd never seen there before. "I don't care. The kids and I have been talking. I told them your news. "
Ruby sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. Hannah looked at her small, pinched face, her heart aching.
"You shouldn't have " she said in misery.
"They deserve to know, the least you could do is hear them out."

Ruby stepped forward and said:
I haven't said it to you before because I was too shy, but I want you to know that I love you. And I want you to get better and I 'll do whatever I can to help you. Keep my room clean and help with the cooking and go to bed on time without being asked. Anything you need.

It was Ben's turn. He took a step forward, his hands clutched together in front of him :
I know I was mean at the start, I really want you to come to Queensland with us, I don't care if you're sick. I love you too.....he said rapidly the words almost ran together. He stepped back by his fathers side.
Hannah closed her eyes and tears spilled out. She heard Joe murmur something, and when she opened her eyes again it was just him standing there. She stared at him, her chest aching with sadness. She whispered "I don't want to hurt you. Can't you understand that?"
Joe closed the distance between them. He wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Joe dropped down to one knee and said the words that brought more tears to Hannah's eyes.......
"I know you don't want to hurt me, and its one of the many reasons I love you. But you're not doing this without us, Hannah. No way. That's our choice, and we've made it freely, and we'll camp out on your doorstep if that's what it takes to make you see sense. But I'm kind of hoping it won't come to that. He reached out and took one of her cold, trembling hands in his. I know I love you, even though I never thought I 'd feel this way or even want to feel this way again. I know I want to fight over the remote control with you and make pizzas with you. I know I want to make love to you and wake up with you in my bed each and everyday. I know I want to stand by yourside while you fight this battle so we can grow old together.
"Hannah Napier, will you marry me? "
She stared into his face, taking in the proudness of his nose, the strength of his jaw. "What if I loose? "
He didn't break eye contact for a second. "Then I 'll be with you till the end. I 'll take whatever chance I can get, Hannah. If the past two years have taught me anything, its that happiness and love are too bloody precious to walk away from, no matter how fleeting they might be."
"I love you, " she said.
"I know. Say yes."
"Its crazy. We should wait till we know more."
"Until when? I love you now. I want you to be my wife now."
He was too strong. Too sure. Too compelling. And it was too close to what her heart craved.
"Joe......"
"Just say yes "
The word seemed to form itself on her lips all on its own.
"Yes."
Joe leaned forward from his kneeling position and wrapped his arms around her waist, his head coming to rest against her belly.
She couldn't believe how brave he was, how determined. And how brave his kids were, how generous. She remembered the way they had stepped up and said their piece and her heart swolled in her chest.
After a long moment Joe pushed himself to his feet.
"Let's go tell the kids you've come to your senses. Then we need to go buy you a ring. Ruby offered her Barbie ring, but I figured you might like to choose your own."
"You told the kids you were going to propose to me? "
"Of course. Its their family, too, you know. They have minds of their own, in case you hadn't noticed. "
"I noticed. "
He slid a hand along her jaw and into her hair. "I love you, Hannah. We're going to get through this. "
"I hope so."
He kissed her. "I know so."
Then he led her out into the street to find the children.