All of My Soul by Jenni Wilder Read Free Book Online Page B

sick?”
    I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Mm… Tabby
Cat. Did you just get home from school?”
    “Yeah! Want to see the picture I drew?” She
ran back to the entryway.
    My head throbbed as I sat up on the couch.
Falling asleep while crying had given me a headache. Ugh. I needed
some aspirin.
    Tabitha ran back into the living room and
jumped onto the couch next to me, holding out a picture. There were
three tall stick figures and one shorter one standing in front of a
house. A giant rainbow and puffy blue clouds filled the sky, and a
yellow sun sat in the corner of the paper.
    “Oh, it’s beautiful, Tabitha. Tell me about
it.”
    She pointed to one of the stick figures.
“This is Mommy.” She moved her finger to the smaller stick figure.
“This is me,” she said, and then moved her finger to the last two
stick figures that were holding hands. “And this is you and Mr.
Lincoln.”
    My heart swelled as I realized Tabitha now
included Lincoln in our family. “You did such a good job, Tabitha!
Should we hang it on the refrigerator for Mommy to see when she
comes home?”
    “Yeah!” she exclaimed and ran to the
kitchen.
    I sighed as I checked my phone. I needed to
talk to Lincoln. But instead of calling him, I typed a quick text. “Call me when you have a minute, please.”
    “Can I have apples and peanut butter?”
Tabitha asked as I joined her in the kitchen.
    “Yeah. Get an apple, and I’ll cut it up for
you. Then we’ll do your vocabulary worksheet, okay?”
    “All right…” Tabitha grumbled.
    Lincoln’s ringtone sounded from where I left
my phone in the living room. Miley Cyrus’s “Adore You” played as I
ran to answer Lincoln’s call.
    “Hello?” I said into my phone.
    “Princess.”
    “Hey… aren’t you busy with hockey stuff?” He
had a game in a few hours.
    “I was waiting for you to call. What
happened?”
    Fresh tears threatened to spill over as I
sniffled a few times.
    “Jillian?” Lincoln prompted me.
    “I didn’t get the job,” I finally said in a
shaky voice.
    “What? Why not?”
    “They said they didn’t have the funding.”
    “Oh, Princess. It’ll be okay. You’ll find
something else. Something better.”
    I sniffled again.
    “They’re going to regret ever letting you go,
baby. You’re going to be amazing, and you’re going to do great
things with your research.”
    I exhaled sharply into the phone. “Thank you,
Lincoln. I needed to hear that.”
    “It’s the truth.” I heard him sigh. “God, I
wish I was there to hold you.”
    I inhaled deeply and steadied myself. “I’ll
be okay. You’re right. This isn’t the end of the world.”
    “You’re so smart, baby. You’ll find something
soon.” He had such confidence in me.
    “I love you.”
    “I love you too. So much. Are you going to be
okay?”
    “Yeah. I’ll be better when you get back.”
    He sighed again. “Princess. I’d be there
right now if I could.”
    “I know, baby. It’s okay. Go play.”
    “Are you going to watch?”
    I turned back to Tabitha. “Tabitha, Rebecca,
and I are going to watch your game and paint our nails.”
    Tabitha popped her head out of the kitchen
and shouted, “I’m going to paint mine green!”
    Lincoln laughed through the phone.
    “Did you hear that?” I asked him.
    He laughed again. “Yeah,” he said. “Try to
convince her to do Blackhawks colors.”
    I laughed. “I should! I’ll send you a
picture.”
    “Sounds good, Princess. I’ll talk to you
later, hmm?”
    “Okay, baby. Be safe!”
     
    ~~~~~~~~
     
    The last week of my internship was brutal.
This was my last opportunity to accumulate any additional research
I might need for my thesis. My two sisters and mother took turns
watching Tabitha after school so I could stay in the lab later. I
was working long hours and skipping lunch breaks. By the time
Friday rolled around, I was mentally and physically exhausted, but
I had gotten everything accomplished to the best of my abilities. I
was proud