I woke up multiple times during the night, partially because the couch in the room was uncomfortable, but mostly because I was worried about Raina. I felt that if I fell asleep, I might miss something or she might get worse. Around four a.m., I awoke because Raina was crying.

I peeled off my covers and went to her bedside, leaning down. "Raina, what's wrong?"

"It hurts," she cried as I rubbed her belly.

"What hurts?" I asked.

"Everything!" she said.

"Okay," I said. "Let me get a nurse and we'll get you some more medicine."

I pressed a kiss to her forehead and stepped into the hallway to find a nurse. Raina knew that medicine meant an IV. She hadn't been good about keeping one in because she moved around so much. I sat in her bed and brought her into my lap as the nurse came in. I hugged her as she cried quietly. The nurse talked to her gently and I held her arms down so she wouldn't move suddenly. She cried louder as the needle went in. I shooshed her gently and she began to calm down.

As the medicine began to take effect, I pulled a blanket over us. I watched her little chest move up and down as she drifted off to sleep. As long as she kept breathing, she was okay. She was still with me.

Raina did not have a good morning. Several doctors came to visit and she had to be prodded with needles some more. She just cried continuously as the nurses put in needles, drew blood, and was examined.

After the room had cleared out, I picked her up and brought her on the couch to cuddle. She rested her head on my chest and I rubbed her back. Today, she looked incredibly pale. I didn't know what the test results would bring. Suddenly, it was too much. Tears formed in my eyes and I cried silently.

Once I'd gotten some control of myself, I spoke. "Raina, sweetheart?" I asked. She rubbed her eye. "I know you're tired, and I know you don't feel good. But you can't give up. You have to keep fighting. You can beat this infection, and you can beat this cancer. Do you understand?"

She said, "uh-huh," quietly as I kissed her head.

"I love you," I told her. "And I hate seeing you sick. You're gonna get better, but you've gotta stay strong. Can you do that for daddy?"

"Yes," she said. I hugged her tighter and kissed her head multiple times. I held her constantly. It was like if she was in my arms, she was safe.

____

Finally, the next day, Raina seemed to take a turn for the better. Her color looked better and she had more energy. When the kids came to visit with Pippa, she was laughing and playing with them. We had to watch her closely to make sure she didn't do too much. She needed her energy.

Felix was sitting on her bed, and they both had an action figure. They made sound effects as they fought each other. Pippa sat with me, my arm around her, as we just watched them. We were encouraged, but we didn't want to get our hopes up. Her infection was almost gone, but the cancer was still there.

I turned my face towards Pippa, smelled her hair and kissed it. "You doing okay?" I asked quietly.

"Better," she said. "She seems to have turned a corner."

"Yeah," I said. "I think having Felix here is doing her good."

"And having her daddy here is doing her good," she added, then looked at me. "And for me."

I kissed her gently, glad we weren't arguing anymore. We'd finally gotten a night together the night before. We took the second hotel room for ourselves and put it to good use. It had been so long since we'd been together. I never wanted that to happen again.

A while later, I could tell Raina was starting to get tired. Felix had endless energy and didn't quite understand why his sister had to rest so much. I picked him up off the bed and told him to find his sisters in the library, where they were either reading or messing around on their phones.

"Time for some rest, sweet girl," I told her as I pulled back her covers.

"But why?" she protested.

"Because you're still sick," I told her as she climbed under. "You're feeling better, which is great, but you still need to take it easy."

"Can we go home soon?" she asked as I pulled her covers up to her chin. I smirked and sat on her bed.

"Hopefully," I said. "We've got to get you all better first."

Pippa dimmed the lights so she could fall asleep a little easier. Soon, our little girl was fast asleep. With the other three kids in the library, we laid down on the couch and cuddled, and eventually fell asleep ourselves.

I woke up a while later with a crick in my neck. Pippa was still asleep, so I carefully extracted myself and covered her back up. I wandered down the hall to check on the other kids. They'd been through so much these last couple months. Now that Raina was over her hump, we needed to think about taking some of them back to New York.

I sat down on one of the little chairs, feeling like a giant, next to where Cam was playing on her phone on a bean bag.

"Hey, kiddo," I told her.

"Hi," she said, keeping her eyes on the phone.

"Listen," I said. "Now that Raina's better, I think it's time some of us head back to New York. Are you okay going back?"

She glanced at me and nodded. "Yeah. That's fine. You'll have a hard time getting Felix to go."

"I know," I said. Tearing him away from his sister would be tough. I didn't think Molly would want to go. She'd stay with her mother for sure. "Maybe if I promise him something fun when we get home."

"That could help," she said. "Maybe Chuck E. Cheese's?"

The twins loved that place. I worried he might not like it as much without his playmate. I thought about some of his favorite places to visit. He loved the Lego store. Maybe I could take him there and we could buy a set that we could build together.

Later that afternoon, Pippa and I spoke in the hallway about a plan for the other kids.

"Molly can stay," she said. "But the other two should go back. They're missing school."

"Yeah, I agree," I said. "Do you want to go home for a while? You've been here for almost a month."

She sighed, considering it. "I don't know if I can be away from Raina."

I nodded, not surprised. I would miss Raina like crazy, but I felt it was more important she had her mother. It was hard on the family to be apart for so long, but the situation called for it. We decided that I'd book a flight back for myself, Cam, and Felix. I'd have to break it to the little guy tonight.

As I began to tuck him in that night, I laid next to him, propping my head up in my hand.

"Hey, buddy," I said, adjusting his pajama top. "You know Raina's doing much better now, right?"

"Uh-huh," he said. "So she can come home soon."

"Hopefully," I said. "But you and me and Cam need to go home. You can't miss so much school."

He looked at me, confused. "But I wanna stay with Raina."

"I know," I said, rubbing his belly. "I do too. But Raina needs her rest, and Mommy's here to take care of her. We need to get home."

"I don't wanna go home," he whined.

"I know," I said. "But we have to."

Felix moped as I kissed his forehead and turned off the bedside light. A while later, Pippa came back and we snuck off to our own bedroom. We'd be apart for a long while again and we needed to have a good goodbye.

The next day we had to say goodbye again. It was almost harder than the first time, because we'd all been together in Memphis again. Lin and I cuddled in bed that morning and exchanged a long series of kisses in the hotel lobby as we waited for a cab.

We reluctantly said goodbye to each other, and soon Cam and Felix and I were back at the airport. I felt okay about leaving Raina because she was on an upswing. She was smiling and laughing that morning when I'd visited to say goodbye. That made it easier.

When we arrived at our apartment, it was a bit of a letdown. It was nice to be home, but we all agreed that it was too quiet. Usually the twins were running around chasing each other and the TV or music was going. I did some grocery shopping as Cam caught up on some homework and Felix played in his room.

We tried to keep the kids and ourselves busy so we couldn't mope too much. Each day, Raina seemed to get better and better. Eventually, she'd been there for an entire month. It was time for her to be re-tested for the cancer. Pippa said she was a trooper for the test. We all waited nervously for the results.

A couple days later, I got a call from Pippa.

"It's gone!" she practically screamed into the phone. "The cancer's gone!"

"Are you serious?" I smiled into the phone. I couldn't quite let myself believe it in case it wasn't true.

"Yes! The results came back and she's all clear!" I could practically see Pippa beaming from the other side of the phone. What a relief.

"Pip, that's great!" I said, standing up, unable to contain my excitement. "So, she can come home?"

"Yep," she reported happily. "The doctor recommended getting her checked again every three months for the first year back in New York."

Pippa told me more about what the doctor had reported. Then, she handed the phone over to Raina.

"Hi, sweetheart," I greeted her.

"Hi, Daddy," she giggled.

"The doctor said you're all healthy again!" I said. "That's such great news! Do you feel better?"

"Yeah," she said bashfully. "I don't have to take naps so much."

"That's great," I told her. "And I bet you have more energy for playing too, huh?"

She agreed, and I told her that I'd see her very soon. She was so excited to get to go home.

The next day, I met Pippa and the girls at the airport so I could help them home with their things. Raina ran to me and I scooped her up, planting kisses all over her face. She laughed and squirmed in my arms. I never wanted to let her go. She was still wearing her wig, but her hair would be back soon.

I kissed Pippa, then Molly, and pulled a suitcase behind me as I hailed us a cab. It was about 2:00, so the other kids would be home from school soon. Raina rain straight to her room when we got back and propelled herself onto her bed. Then, she reacquainted herself with all the toys she'd missed over the last month. We left her to play quietly and have some alone time. It was so great to hear her little voice in the apartment again.

It was Friday, so we ordered in pizza. Everyone was in high spirits with the whole family together again. My parents came over and we spent the evening playing games, watching movies, and just being together.

Raina conked out a little early, but she was still gaining her strength bath. I reveled in being able to tuck her into her own bed. I pulled up her covers and pressed a kiss on her forehead. I just stood by her bed and watched her sleep for almost five minutes. The sight of her there, curled up in her own bed, felt amazing.

I joined Pippa and everyone else back in the living room. Since we'd gotten over our argument, I felt closer to Pippa than ever. I felt so lucky that I had her by my side. She'd been incredibly strong throughout this whole ordeal. Though I hadn't agreed with everything she'd done, she'd gone to bat for our daughter. She did what she thought was right and didn't give in. I had to admire that.

We sat on the couch together, my arm around her, as she leaned into me. I didn't leave her side all night. When it was time for bed, we snuggled together, glad to be side by side again. I'm sure it felt good for her to be in her own bed. I just wanted to hold her and never let go. We were back to our regular pillow talk.

"It feels so good to have you back," I told her, our faces inches away from each other.

"You would not believe how much I've missed this bed," she told me.

"Oh? You missed the bed? You didn't miss anything else?" I teased, letting my hand roam to her bottom.

She laughed. God, I'd missed the sound of that laugh.

"I don't know. What do you think I missed?" she teased back.

"Maybe this," I said, closing my eyes and kissing her gently. She let out a little satisfied sigh.

She smirked as I pulled away. "Hmmm...I don't know."

"Need more convincing?" I asked playfully. She shrugged and nodded. I grinned as I let my hand cup her face. I leaned in and kissed her more passionately this time. I nibbled gently at her lower lip and she opened her lips, letting my tongue meet hers. She moaned a little as we kissed for a long time.

Raina was well. Pip and I had made up. All was well with the Miranda clan.