Read Online All of You by Gina Sorelle - Free Book Online Page B

punching Nathan’s arm. “Being chicken has nothing to do with it. It’s called trying to prevent an accidental homicide. You’d start micromanaging my technique and then I’d ‘accidentally’ shoot you.” Stella grinned up at him adoringly. “As much as you drive me nuts, I love you too much to have it end that way.”
    Nathan grunted, but then wrapped his arm around Stella’s shoulders and pulled her close enough to kiss the top of her head.
    It made her the worse sister alive, but Kat couldn’t help but feel insane jealousy at their loving exchange.
    “I could take you, Kat,” Danny blurted out.
    Surprised, Kat looked across the table at him and their eyes locked for a second before Danny cleared his throat and looked around the table. “Any of you. All of you.”
    Every kid but Gia started yelling that they wanted to go, which made Danny laugh and Gigi nearly fall out of her chair.
    As was the custom, the guys (and Nina) cleared the table and the women huddled in the kitchen, cleaning up and gabbing. Then the guys (and Nina) took the kids into the living room. Kat could hear them laughing and talking, with the occasional squeal and clapping from Gia.
    A sharp pain suddenly shot down Kat’s right leg, stealing her breath. She gripped the countertop for support and breathed deeply until the pain subsided.
    “What’s wrong, Kat?” Stella rushed over and wrapped an arm around Kat’s shoulder. When Kat leaned into her, Stella knew it was bad. “Okay, come on. Come sit down…”
    “I think I’m going to go sit on the bed for a minute,” Kat said, forcing a smile. “It’s just a little stiff. No big deal.”
    With four sets of skeptical, concerned eyes glued to her, Kat allowed Stella to walk to the bedroom she’d shared with her sisters growing up.
    The pain was receding, but the residual electrical shocks and tingling were still present. Stella got her inside the bedroom and onto the lower bunk bed before kneeling down and going into nurse mode, gently rubbing Kat’s leg.
    Kat closed her eyes and sagged backwards, finally letting her guard down.
    God, I am so tired. And worried.
    The doctors were fairly certain Kat had benign multiple sclerosis, but on certain days it didn’t feel very benign.
    Kat would never complain, because she was incredibly lucky. If you were going to have MS, benign was the way to go. It meant she rarely had symptoms, and when she did, they were extremely manageable and typically short-lived. There were millions of people worldwide with MS who weren’t so fortunate and Kat never forgot it.
    But the tide could turn at any moment and they all knew it. And, when it did, it would be devastating.
    “I’ve been missing Mom a lot lately,” Kat said quietly.
    Ever since her diagnosis, all she’d wanted was her Mama, to hold her and make her feel safe. To tell her some inane, totally irrelevant story about the Old Country that would have eventually had them both laughing and forgetting their worries for a few precious moments.
    To promise Kat that she’d be there to take care of her when the inevitable happened. To assure her that, no matter what, Kat would always be safe and loved.
    “Yeah, me, too,” Stella replied. “Especially since I had Gia. I can’t believe she isn’t here to see her and hold her, you know? A million times a day I wish I could call her or ask her advice.” Stella smiled sadly. “Gigi and Carla are amazing, but sometimes you just want your Mama, right?”
    Exactly.
    Kat nodded.
    “She would have been so in love with Gia. And Nathan. God, it makes my whole chest ache just to think about it.” Stella slowly set Kat’s foot back on the ground and sat next to her on the bed.
    A long, thoughtful silence stretched out before Stella quietly said, “I know you miss Mom and that your leg is bugging you, but we both know something else is really eating at you right now.” She paused. “Do you want to talk about it, Kat?”
    When Kat shook her head,