The Fourth Life of Sean Donoghue by Trish Hanan (children's books read aloud .txt) 📕

there was a little lump or bump on the inside of her breast. Sean met her worried look with one of his own.
“I feel it, I have no idea what it is though; does it hurt?” he asked her. She shook her head.
“No, but this one under my arm does when I press down on it,” Claire said and showed him one under her left arm. Sean felt it and she flinched a little.
“Maybe we should take you to the doctor in Jamestown and let him have a look at you,” Sean said firmly and she nodded.
They drove down that afternoon and checked into the Forrester hotel, a very nice hotel in the nice part of Jamestown. Everyone recognized Sean and called him General Donoghue and he had to sign a few autographs which he never minded. Jamestown had a big, new hospital and a school of medicine. Sean, for once, used his popular name to get them an appointment with a leading doctor. He examined Claire with a nurse present and then saw them both in his office. He had trouble meeting Sean’s eyes which Sean took as not a good sign. Finally Dr. Benson cleared his throat.
“I’m very sorry to tell you both but I’m afraid your wife has an illness we are starting to call cancer, more specifically cancer of the breast,” he informed them in a solemn voice. Both Claire and Sean looked at each other and clasped hands. Claire’s eyes filled with tears and Sean handed her his hankie to wipe her eyes.
“Is there anything you can do for her doctor? Is there any treatment?” Sean asked him. Dr. Benson shook his head.
“We don’t even know what it is or what causes it,” he told them. “We’ve seen it in many people, it’s a growth where they should be no growth and it just gets bigger and spreads until the person dies. We’ve tried several times to cut it out, but our surgery technique is very primitive and most patients don’t survive or when we open them, we find the cancer has spread to much for the surgery to be of any use. If the lump were just in your wife’s breast we could try surgery, but if it has already spread to below her arms, then surgery would be pointless. It is too late, there is nothing we can do except pain medication to make her more comfortable so that her death will be as painless as possible.” Claire began to cry. Sean put his arms around her and wished the doctor could be a little gentler but he guessed the man was used to dealing with death and dying all the time.
“Do you know how long she has to live?” Sean asked. Dr. Benson sighed.
“It’s advanced and spread, it could be a few months, maybe six, not a year,” he informed them.
“Thank you, Dr. Benson,” Sean stood up and shook his hand and the man sighed.
“I’m very sorry, General Donoghue, Mrs. Donoghue, very sorry,” he told them and they left the office. Outside it was cold and looked like snow. Claire shivered in her fur coat and held onto him like she was drowning like he imagined she felt like she was. He put her in the car and drove back to the hotel and they didn’t say a word.
“I want to go home, Sean, right now, tonight,” Claire said when they arrived back at the Forrester. Sean nodded and left her outside in the car while he went in and packed their things and checked out. She wouldn’t say a word on the five hour drive, just kept staring out the window at the white snow and the scenery.
When he parked the car in the barn she just sat there and stared off into space. He sat there patiently and held her hand.
“I don’t want to tell the boys right now, Sean, I don’t want them treating me any differently,” Claire said firmly. She looked surprised when he shook his head.
“Why not?” she sputtered.
“You’re their mother, lass, they have to know so they can spend more time with you and have the grandchildren spend more time with you,” he told her gently. “It’s precious this little time that you have left and you don’t want them to waste it and then regret the time they didn’t have to spend with you, it will eat them up for the rest of their lives and they’ll hate you for it not telling them.” She nodded.
“You’re right, but damn-it, I don’t want them pitying me,” she exclaimed. He nodded.
“They’ll do a little of that, they’re human, they won’t be able to help it, but I’ll tell them to try to watch it in front of you okay,” Sean said and she nodded.
“I guess you and I won’t grow old together after all,” Claire whispered. Sean kissed her hand and she began to cry. He pulled her into his arms.
“Ah, lass, you go ahead and cry, but remember how much I love you, Claire,” he whispered. They sat there for the longest time and then he took her into the house and she went to lie down.
Sean gathered Sally, Bill and Carrie to tell them the sad news and like expected both women burst into tears. Carrie who had never married seemed the most upset.
“Poor, Claire, Granddad, won’t the green leaves help?” she asked. Sean shook his head.
“We can’t cut her open and put green leaf paste on the cancer, Carrie,” he informed her sadly and she nodded.
“I’ve never heard of this cancer, how can this doctor be sure that’s what it is?” Sally demanded.
“The doctors have been cutting up people who have died from it and looking at it for years, Sally, they know what they’re talking about,” Sean told her. She nodded and cried some more. Sean let them cry for a few more minutes and then told them they had to be strong for Claire’s sake. They couldn’t be weeping and crying in front of her and to put on some smiles or otherwise she would be forced to spend the rest of her life locked in her room just to get away from them. They all nodded and he went to his study and called all his sons and told them to come to dinner tonight, no excuses, it was an order.
Dinner was a lively affair with five sons and their five very different wives and nine grandchildren all yelling and laughing. It was very noisy and a very happy meal. Several times Sean and Claire looked at one another and grinned, this was what life was all about, spending time with your loved ones. Sean blew her a kiss and she pretended to catch it. Little Bridget who was three years old saw this and had to be blown a kiss too. Everyone laughed.
After dinner the children were taken to the play room by Sally and Carrie and the adults went to the parlor for coffee and cake. All the wives took seats on the right side of the room together and chatted about the children while the men sat in chairs on the left. Surprising everyone Sean and Claire sat together on a settee facing everyone. Ryan and Danny exchanged a worried look.
“So, what’s up, Dad, why the summons to the great house?” Kalin asked cheerfully as he sipped his coffee. Bobby stretched out his long legs.
“Yes really, Annie and I had plans to go out with friends tonight, why did you make us come here, did you invent something new?” he teased Sean who slowly shook his head.
“Maybe you boys should sit with your wives tonight while we talk,” Sean suggested gently and Claire nodded. The smiles and laughter left the room as everyone rearranged themselves.
“What’s wrong, Dad?” Ryan asked softly as he held his wife Nancy’s hand. Sean smiled slightly.
“Your mother found a lump in her breast recently and another under her left arm so we went to the doctor in Jamestown,” he informed them solemnly. The women all gasped with shock. The boys all drew in their breaths. Kalin recovered first.
“What did the doctor say, Dad?” he asked. Everyone looked at Sean’s face trying to read his expression.
“The doctor says that it’s a disease known as cancer, specifically breast cancer and because there’s a lump under her arm too, that its spread too much for them to be able to do anything for it or for her,” Sean said as calmly as he could. They all nodded.
“What exactly does that mean, Dad?” Zack asked. Sean nodded.
“I was coming to that next, Son,” he told him. “The doctor says your mother is going to die and very soon, probably within the next six months and it’s probably going to be painful so she’ll need our support and lots of pain medicine.” The five women began to weep into their handkerchiefs. Kalin and Bobby got up and walked over to their mother and hugged her. She began to cry too and soon all of her boys were hugging her. Sean was so proud of them. He hugged them too. Then the girls got up and everyone was hugging Claire.
“We need to spend as much time with Mom as we can, lads, and send the grandchildren over as much as you can,” Sean told them and they all nodded.
The family reacted to Sean’s plan of spending as much time with their mother as they could by moving into the mansion. They all moved back home with their nurse maids to help with the children and the house was full of children and people. Claire couldn’t have been happier.
Sean made a tea of green leaves from the Peanja tree for her to drink for the pain and it worked in the beginning and it was made stronger as the months passed. When it stopped working he got some herbs from the Malweenah Indians that worked great but knocked her out too much so they lessened the dosage so that she could bare the pain and still function.
“You’re a young man still, Sean, you could marry again when I’m gone,” Claire told him one day as she was lying on the little sofa bed he had made for her in the front room. Sally, who was knitting in the chair, looked up, startled at the statement. Bridget and Faith who were both four played with their dolls on the rug next to them, Sean sat in his chair reading aloud to his wife. He peered over the pages of the book at her. Her beautiful hair was in a long braid and she was in her green night gown that matched her eyes. The illness had taken some of the zest out of her but her green eyes still sparkled with life.
“And do you have any suggestions as to who the next Mrs. Sean Donoghue should be?” he asked her dourly. She nodded.
“What about Carrie, she’s never married, I think she has a crush on you,” Claire said. Sally giggled. Sean raised an eyebrow.
“Carrie is fey, Claire and the reason she hasn’t married is because she has a crush on you,” he informed her and his wife looked shocked. She glanced at Sally who nodded.
“Oh,” Claire said weakly. “Well what about Rachel Jefferies?” she asked him.