Dylan's POV

We pulled away from the hug and the doctor pulled Nicole and I aside.

She said, "We just ran a few tests, and Sofia has a very extreme case of leukemia so we are going to need to start chemotherapy as soon as possible. I just need your permission."

Nicole and I looked at each other; her beautiful hazel eyes looked heart broken and worried.

"I think it's for the best," I said and took a deep breath and tried to hold back my tears.

"Yeah, whenever you need to start the chemo, just let us know," Nicole said and I interlocked my fingers with hers.

"Alright, we will start it tomorrow," the doctor said and walked away.

I turned toward Nicole and said, "Sweetie, you should go home and take a shower then come back with Derek. I'll stay here and keep Sofia company."

"You sure? It's okay I'll stay and you-"

"It's okay," I said and squeezed her hand. "I'll stay." She nodded and pulled me into a hug. Before I pulled away, I whispered into her ear, "It's going to be okay, Sofia's strong and since the doctors discovered it early, she'll be okay," I pulled away and kissed her cheek. I saw a tear fall down her face and I wiped it away with my thumb.

She then said, "I'll be right back, Sofia. I'm going to go get Derek," and then she waved and walked out of the room.

I sat in a chair next to Sofia's bed and said,
"You're going to be getting a special treatment called chemotherapy."

"What's chameleon therapy?" Sofia asked confused.

I laughed a little and said, "It's chemotherapy, not chameleon therapy."

"Oh," Sofia said and giggled.

"It's a treatment where they will get rid of all the ouchies."

"Yay! No more ouchies!" Sofia said with a huge smile on her face.

"You look tired, would you like to take a nap?" I asked as she yawned.

Sofia nodded and asked, "Can you read me a bed time story?"

"Of course!" I said and tucked in her blankets. "Once upon a time..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been four days with the chemotherapy and Sofia no longer had any hair. Either Nicole or I were always by her side.

Since Nicole had to go to work, I asked Jeff if I could have a day off and I explained my situation. He said yes, so I stayed in the hospital.

I slept there over night so Sofia would never be alone.

I woke up before Sofia was awake and she looked so peaceful. After a few minutes, Sofia's eyes slowly opened. I sat down on her bed and said, "Good morning, how'd you sleep?"

She looked so different without hair, but she was still beautiful.

"It was pretty good," she said. "How was yours?"

Truthfully, every night I had the worst time sleeping because every second I worried about Sofia. But, I didn't want her to know that, "It was perfect! I had an awesome dream, and you were in it, and you were a princess."

"I was?" She asked.

"Sofia, you will always be my princess," I took her tiara off her dresser and placed it on her head. My eyes started to tear up.

"Daddy? Why are you crying?"

"I love you, Sofia...so much," I said and kissed the top of her head and pulled her into an embrace.

Then the doctor came into the room and I pulled away. She said, "Sofia can go home whenever you are ready."

"Thank you." I said. Then I turned to Sofia and said, "Did you hear that? You can go home now!"

She sat up in her bed and did a cute little dance move.

I laughed and said, "Ready?"

She nodded and jumped out of the bed. She almost fell, but I caught her. "Careful, you're going to be a little weak." I picked her up and signed her out of the hospital. I then put her in her car seat. Before we drove home, I texted Nicole:
We are on our way home from the hospital.

She responded by saying:
That's perfect! I'll leave work now and pick up Derek. We will make a banner and bake cookies and it'll be a surprise.

Dylan:
That would be amazing! I'll stall a little and bring her to places along the way.

Nicole:
Ok! Love ya 😘

Dylan:
Love you more 💙😘

I turned around in the seat to face Sofia and said, "Before we go home, we are going to stop by a few places, is that okay?"

She nodded then looked out her window.

I turned back around and pulled out of the hospital parking lot. I drove to the toy store and we got out of the car. "Would you like me to carry you?" I asked.

"Yes, please," she said and lifted up her arms. Sofia was still wearing the tiara and I thought it looked really cute. I picked her up and we walked into the toy store. After about twenty minutes in the store, I bought her a new doll and she was really happy about it.

I thought that would be enough time for Nicole and Derek, so then we started to go home. The drive was about fifteen minutes.

Once we arrived back at our house, I helped Sofia get out of her car seat and I lifted her up. When I opened the door, there was a huge banner that said, 'Welcome home, Sofia!'

Derek and Nicole yelled, "Welcome home, Sofia!" And a huge smile spread across her face. Sofia then hid her face in my neck and I said, "Look, there are cookies," I put her down on the ground and she ran over to the fresh plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Derek ran over to Sofia and gave her a huge hug and said, "I've missed you so much Sofia!" And squeezed her. When they pulled away, Sofia ran into Nicole's arms and gave her a huge hug.

I walked over to Derek and said, "Good work, Derek. You made Sofia so happy."

He then hugged me, and then Nicole and Sofia joined in.

The rest of the day was filled with playing princess and board games. But in the blink of an eye, it was time for them to go to bed, and Nicole and I tucked them in and said goodnight.

We then walked into our room and I said, "Thank you so much for the welcome home, you and Derek made Sofia so happy."

"I love seeing her happy, I'm...I'm going to miss it..." Nicole said and hugged me and hid her face in my chest and started to cry.

"Don't say that, she'll be okay..." I said, worried about what Nicole was talking about.

"No..."she said and got choked up. I pulled away from the hug and took Nicole's hand and led her to our bed. We both sat down and she continued, "When Derek and I were setting everything up, the doctor called. She said that the only reason Sofia was sent home was so that she was comfortable; the chemotherapy is making everything worse and the leukemia is taking over...she doesn't have much more time..." She hid her face in her hands and started to cry.

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and she leaned her head on my shoulder. I felt tears start to trickle down my face. We stayed like that for a while until Nicole fell asleep. I lifted her up bridal style and tucked her into our bed and she was already in her pajamas. I changed into mine and climbed into the bed next to her.

She was facing me and I wrapped my arms around her waist. Her eyes opened halfway and  she leaned her face on my chest. "I love you," I said.

"I love you too, Dyl..." She said and I heard her sniffle. Then I realized she was still crying. I ran my fingers through her hair and a few tears fell from my eyes. Then I heard Nicole's breathing start to return to normal and I fell asleep.