He nodded. “Will you stay?”

“I’ll fight for you,” I said. “But you have to fight too.”

Telling them was worse than we expected.

His sister cried, then snapped, “You made her become a mother while planning your death? What is wrong with you?”

My mother was quieter. “You should have trusted your wife with her own life.”

Joshua didn’t defend himself.

That afternoon, we signed paperwork—trial consents, medical forms, everything.

“I don’t want the boys to see me like this,” he said.

“They’d rather have you here than gone,” I replied.

He signed.

Life became a blur—hospital visits, spilled juice, tantrums, and Joshua fading inside oversized hoodies.

One night, I caught him recording a video.

“Hey, boys. If you’re watching this and I’m not there… just remember, I loved you from the moment I saw you.”

I quietly closed the door.

Later, Matthew climbed into his lap. “Don’t die, Daddy,” he whispered.

William pressed a toy truck into his hand. “So you can come back and play.”

I turned away and cried.

Some nights I cried in the shower. Other days I snapped, then apologized as Joshua held me, both of us shaking.

When his hair began to fall out, I picked up the clippers.

“Ready?”

“Do I have a choice?” he asked.

The boys giggled as I shaved his head.

Months passed.

Continued on the next page