Good Day, Bad news

The house was simple on the inside as well. The interior was tan with brown borders. They hung pictures of the family of four around the walls all over the house. In the corner of the living room was a stand-up wall piano. A bookshelf hung against the wall opposite. It didn't look out of place next to the worn-out furniture. You could feel the love that came out of this house. Kaia smiled softly as she sat down in the chair, watching the kids run around. Joseph, Alex's nephew, pulled him into a series of gaming, while Alice, Alex's niece, climbed up on the piano bench and banged away on the keys. Kita was in the kitchen preparing lunch.

Kaia looked around the living room with a smile and a sense of nostalgia, before getting up and walking over to Alice. Standing beside the piano, Kaia smiled down at her. "Do you mind if I join you?" she asked gently. Alice nodded shyly and Kaia slowly sat down on the bench next to her. Alice looked up at Kaia expectantly, as if waiting to see what she could do. Kaia grinned. "What's your favorite song?" Alice gave her a very awkward look, then smiled. "Twinkle twinkle!" she exclaimed, her words a little blurred with baby language mixed in but Kaia understood. She nodded and placed her right foot on the damper pedal and began to play a soft tune, which led to twinkle twinkle little star. The damper pedal was giving the tune a beautiful vibration which enhanced the listening experience. Kaia continued to play, lifting her foot now and then, before moving on to the next chord. Even with the extra banging on the keys that Alice provided, the beautiful sound echoed throughout the house.

Alex looked up from the game, staring at Kaia as she played. He didn't know she knew how to play the piano, let alone play that well. In addition to banging on the keys, Alice also added in a few loud vocals that sounded like nothing but gibberish and yelling. Kaia couldn't help but giggle at the young girl. She was just too adorable! Kita came out from the kitchen and smiled at them. Her expression softened at how well the girls seemed to get along. Then her gaze shifted from the girls to Alex. The way he looked at Kaia was so tender and loving, just seeing the look in his eyes would tell anyone that he had fallen deeply for her.

Kita was still somewhat unsure of what to think. Since she finished preparing a light snack, she cleared her throat and shouted, "Alright! The food's ready! Come over and let's eat!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and went to the kitchen and sat down at the table. Kita made sandwiches and a salad.

Kaia sat next to Alex. Kita studied them before asking, "So, when did you get married?" She took a sip of her water. Alex looked at her and grinned. "A few days ago. It's been about a week now." Kaia looked at Kita and smiled softly, nodding. Joseph butted in. "Uncle Alex, when can we come over to your house to play?" Joseph grinned, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose every now and then. Kaia smiled. Before Alex could speak, she leaned in slightly and said, "Anytime! Your uncle bought so many lights to decorate the house, just for you two!" The two kids smiled brightly. Alice held up her fork. "I wanna see the twinkle twinkle!" she exclaimed excitedly, her words still faltered a bit but were still understandable.

Alex looked at Kaia and smiled. "If your Aunt Kaia weren't there, they wouldn't have gotten done. She put them up while she was sick!" Kita looked at the two of them and couldn't help but smile. "Alright, we will stop by to see it, then."

Kaia froze when she felt her phone go off. She pulled it out, seeing the hospital's number, she frowned slightly. She looked up at them and said, "Excuse me, I have to take this." She stood up from the table, walking out the back sliding glass doors. Kita looked at Alex and tilted her head. "Work?" Alex shrugged. "Maybe, we're busy people, you know." He smiled and began to eat.

When she was outside, Kaia cleared her throat lightly before answering the phone. She put it up to her ear. "Hello?" she said softly, looking back inside the house at the four people sitting down at the kitchen table before stepping out a little further into the backyard. The nurse on the other end of the line began by introducing herself. "Hello, my name is Bethany. I'm a nurse at Northern Star Hospital. Your labs came back, and we had a few things to inform you about." Kaia took a deep breath. The call didn't sound good at all. The nurse continued. "I'm sorry to say this but due to the level of blood cells and platelets dropping, we suspect your condition is worsening. It could even be life-threatening at this point. We can go ahead and do another transfusion and put you on more medication again, but at this point, these would only be able to stop it from worsening at a faster rate. We believe that there is a higher chance of you being cured if you got a bone marrow transplant. So we would like you to come in and discuss further options and details with the doctor." Kaia took a deep breath, her free hand coming up to her face. "Alright." That was all she said before hanging up the phone.

Letting out a deep sigh, Kaia kept herself composed as she walked back inside. Seeing them all laughing around the table, Kaia walked over sitting back down with a smile. Alex looked at Kaia and smiled. "Work?" Kaia blinked, looking over at him. "Huh?" Alex tilted his head. "The call. Was it work?" Kaia took a deep breath. "Oh yea, Naomi needed to know a few things," she lied.

Alex smiled and nodded. "Alright." Kita stared at Kaia suspiciously. She could tell that something was up but she couldn't put her finger on it. Once they finished eating, Alex took the kids outside while Kaia stayed inside to help Kita clean up. Kaia smiled as she lifted the dishes off the table. "Thank you for lunch, Kita." Kita nodded slightly in response. When Kaia handed her the dishes, Kita looked her in the face. "I know you're lying. What was the call about? If you cheat on my brother, you will personally face my wrath." Kaia blinked, somewhat stunned at the sudden confrontation, and vigorously shook her head. "I—it's not like that at all!" she said, a slight frown appearing on her face as she leaned onto the counter. "Then tell me what the call was really about," Kita demanded.

Kita placed the plate that she was washing down into the sink while Kaia put down the dishcloth. Kaia looked down as she spoke. "I have Aplastic Anemia. The call was from the hospital telling me that my condition has gotten worse." Kita blinked, startled at the unexpected turn of events. Her tone became more gentle as she asked, "How dangerous is it?" Kaia sighed softly. "They said that I might need a bone marrow transplant." That was all Kaia said before they both just stood there in silence for a bit.

Kita was the first to speak. "So, what's Alex going to do about it?" Kaia froze and looked up at her. "H—he doesn't know yet…" she stammered. Kita frowned at her. "Why? You're married, aren't you? You shouldn't being hiding something so important from your loved ones, especially if it's Alex." She stopped for a moment drying her hands. "Kaia, when Alex was young, he met a young girl who had a condition relating to her bone marrow. It only took them hours to become friends. The sad thing is, she ended up dying that exact same day because of it. Because he was so young at that time, he was greatly traumatized by the experience. He couldn't sleep for a few nights after what had happened. He still blames himself for making her run around and causing her to collapse. He shut everyone out, afraid that he would cause us harm as well. I don't want to see him like that again. So if it's serious, you better tell him. If you don't, then I will. And trust me, you don't want him to hear about something like this from me," Kita said firmly.

Kaia looked at her in shock. "I...I'll tell him. I just need time to think things over. I don't want to ruin the holidays with such bad news." Kita sighed and patted her shoulder. "If you die, it would ruin more than just the holidays, so please make sure to tell him as soon as possible." Kaia sighed. She wondered how Kita would react if she found out that their marriage had merely been a contract.