A Legacy of Hope

Chapter Seven

Colton's POV
Hannah finished the song, and I just looked at her, smiling. I had no idea she could sing like that. She'd never let me hear her sing, for some reason. I knew exactly what was going to happen as soon as possible. I was still going on tour, and I wanted to see if she could possibly sing with me. Then, the doorbell rang. Isaac let Joel, Moriah, Libby, Schyler, Luke, Courrney, Grace, Jude, and Phoenix in. Moriah was holding a newborn, and I gave her an odd look.

"Joel, who's that?" Moriah smiled.
"This is Peyton Rose. We're fostering her, and we just got her a couple days ago. Her mother wasn't able to take care of her, and asked us if we'd be willing to try and adopt her." I nodded, wincing a bit.
"Well, that's wonderful, but since we didn't know about her, we don't have a present for her. Sorry." She chuckled.
"It's okay. She's too small to know, since she's only ten days old." Hannah was cooing over her, and she grabbed onto Hannah's finger.
"Is it okay if I hold her?" Moriah smiled, handing her the baby, and starting to pass out gifts. Hope got a picture frame that said We're not sister by birth, but we knew from the start God put us together to be sisters by heart. It had a picture of her, Moriah, Schyler and Courtney at our wedding. I got a black t-shirt with the Batman logo and Grace, Jude, and Phoenix's handprints in yellow paint, and it said 'Our uncle is secretly Batman!' I also got a new pair of in-ears from Schyler, Joel, and Luke. Courtney gave me Superman Vs. Batman. Hannah got a red faux leather jacket, Isaac got a Batman t-shirt, and Skylar got a Blanca CD. I could keep telling you what everyone got, but I'm not gonna. That would take too long. I looked at Hannah, who was smiling.

"Will you sing another?" She blushed, handing Peyton to Hope and picking her guitar up again. She strummed it, thinking, then she started playing another song, Never Gone.

Lights off, a shot in the dark
We get lost when we're playing a part.
We lay blame like we know what's best.
It's a shame.

We break when we fall too hard,
Lose faith when we're torn apart,
Don't say you're too far gone,
It's a shame. It's a shame.

I'm still standing here,
No, I didn't disappear,
Now the lights are on,
See I was never gone.
I let go of your hand,
To help you understand,
With you all along,
No, I was never gone.

This space between our lives,
Hard to face, but I know we try
To revive, bring it back to life.
Don't walk away. Don't walk away.

I'm still standing here,
No, I didn't disappear,
Now the lights are on,
See I was never gone.
I let go of your hand,
To help out understand,
With you all along,
No, I was never gone.

I never ever left you,
Never ever left you, no.
I said I never ever left you,
Never ever left you, no.
Jesus never ever left you,
Never ever left you no.

Could seize the evil and the darkness,
Now you know you're not alone.

I'm still standing here,
No I didn't disappear,
Now the lights are on,
See I was never gone.
I let go of your hand,
To help you understand,
With you all along,
Oh I was never gone.

I'm still standing here,
No I didn't disappear,
Now the lights are on,
See I was never gone.
I let go of your hand,
To help you understand,
With you all along,
Oh, I was never gone.

She took a deep breath, finishing the song and smiling. Everyone was quietly clapping, and Peyton even smiled a little bit. Hope slipped out, and a couple minutes later came back with a newly wrapped present. It was a stuffed lamb that had a rattle in the tail. I recognized it. It was what we had gotten for Joel Michael, our oldest. He had been born prematurely, with a missing heart valve, and lived for one hundred days, never leaving the hospital. Four months later, it was revealed that Hope was pregnant again, this time with twins. We never talked about Joel, since it hurt too much. And, sadly, we'd never told Hannah, Isaac, or Skylar about him. And no one here right now had been told about Hannah's cancer, either. We were going to have to do that today, which would put a damper on things. Hope leaned against my shoulder.

"I hope you don't mind I gave that to her. Joel would've probably wanted us to." She whispered to me.
"No, I don't mind. Should we go ahead and tell everyone about Hannah, get it over with?" I whispered back, and she grimaced.
"Yeah. Oh, and Ben, Kaelynn, and Elisabeth are coming over. We should probably wait until they get here. It'll be about ten more minutes." I nodded. Elisabeth was Isaac's girlfriend, who he had been friends with since sixth grade, and had a crush on her in seventh. Hannah kept going with bits and pieces of random Christmas songs until the doorbell rang. It was the three of them, carrying about five presents each. Hannah grinned as he sat beside her, and blushed beet red when he kissed her on the cheek. Then he blushed as I glared at him, and Hope gently smacked me.

"Alright, now, Ben. You're welcome here for now, but you need to behave, or I'll kick you out." He nodded sheepishly.
"Da-ad!" Hannah complained, giving me a look, and Hope gave me an exasperated look.
"What?!" Everyone laughed, and Joel gently punched my shoulder.
"Now you know how I felt when Hope started dating you." That earned more laughter, but she and I sobered up fairly quickly when we remembered what had to be done. Ben gave Hannah two pendant necklaces. One said Some people care too much. I thinks it's called love, and the other one said You remember that place between wake and asleep? That place where you can still remember dreaming? That's where I'll always love you. That's where I'll be waiting. Kaelynn gave her one that said Never say goodbye, because goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting. I smiled, watching her face, and then cleared my throat.

"Alright, I hate to put a damper on things, but I have to say this. If you live in this house, you already know this. Sadly, we discovered two weeks ago that Hannah- she has leukemia."

Ben's POV
What?! I didn't even want to believe what I was hearing. Hannah has cancer?! I gripped her hand, and she put her head on my shoulder. As I hugged her, I prayed silently.

"God, please. Please don't let Hannah die. Please." The rest of the day was fairly decent. I got two more packs of Star Wars trading cards, and Kaelynn got one pack. Then, before we left, I went in the kitchen to talk with Hannah.

"So....leukemia." She nodded, almost in tears.
"Yeah. I start chemo in three days. You- you're breaking up with me, aren't you?" I hugged her.
"No. I don't plan on breaking up with you anytime soon. I don't care whether you're sick or not. I'm staying put, because I- I'm pretty sure I love you." She looked at me, and then returned the hug.
"I think I love you too."

Author's note- Hello Messengers! What did you think about what Colton revealed about baby Joel?? Tell me in the comments! Do you want their kids to find out? Love you guys! Please vote and comment!