"Hurry up Jenna!" Melanie exclaimed, tearing me away from the large window of Hot Topic.
I groaned and let the hyper eight-year-old me to where she wanted to go. My family decided it was a mall day, but I had to stick with my younger sister at all time since we really only came so she could blow her birthday money. Melanie pulled me into Build-a-Bear Workshop, her favorite store ever. She around in awe then looked up at me.
"Jenna, which one should I get?" she asked as she pounced over to their selection of unstuffed animals.
I walked up behind her, smiling. "Whichever one you want, Mel."
"I want this one!" She picked up a pony, but saw something else and picked that up. "No, I want this bear!" Melanie dropped them both and picked up a cat. "I want this one!"
"Are you sure?" I questioned, and then suddenly regretted it.
She glanced up at me with big, pleading eyes. "No!"
I sighed and took a good look at the dolls. "How you get that bunny?" I pointed to it; she looked in the direction of my index finger.
"I already have that one!" Her face coiled up. "I got it the last time I came here!"
"Well, get another one. You make it a boy instead of making another girl." It sounded pretty logical, but Melanie was eight and was completely against making anything of hers a male, except her Ken dolls, but she really had no choice there.
"Jenna! You know that I only make girl stuffed animals!"
"Can't you at least one exception?"
"NO!"
I sighed, giving up. She making this little decision more difficult then it needed to be. She's young, she doesn't understand. Suddenly, a small boy about Melanie's age bounced right up to her with a huge smile on his face. He was holding a deflated bear, which was a cream color. The boy's hair was dirty blonde, little freckles covered his nose, and his eyes were a light blue. He was adorable.
He took the cat from Melanie's grasp before dropping back into its bin. Melanie watched him with a confused expression on her little face. She glanced up at me, I gave a small shrug. She returned to him as he handed her a bear that looked like his.
"I'm Cameron!" he exclaimed and Melanie took the bear, smiling, which made the boy smile even more.
"I'm Melanie! Thank you!" my little sister giggled.
Cameron took her hand and I watched them bounce off together, hand in hand. I smirked, folding my arms over my chest.
"Well, looks like my little brother has already made a new friend," a voice behind me said and I turned to see who it was.
A rather cute boy stood behind me with a small smile. His hair was black with a brown tint to it and his layers were cut choppy, making his fringe look amazing. His bangs were side parted over his right eye. His eyes were like the little boy's, but his seemed to shimmer in the light. He wore a black Asking Alexandria tee under an open black, white, and purple stripped jacket with slightly destroyed white skinny jeans. A pair of checkered board slip on Vans covered his feet and he was showed off his Sonic the Hedgehog belt buckle.
As I was looking over his features, I notice him smirking. Our eyes connected and I was already lost in them.
"What, trying to size me up?" he asked, chuckling.
I looked away, feeling my cheeks grow warm. "N-no."
The boy laughed. "I'm Stephen Halladay."
I turned back to him and saw that he was holding his hand out for me to shake it. With a little smile, I shook it. "Nice to meet you Stephen, I'm Jenna Cooper."
"Jenna, Jenna, Jenna," Stephen said my name slowly. "I like it. It's cute and suits you."
"Are you saying I'm cute?" I teased playfully, arching on of my eye brows.
His face started turning red. I giggled and shook my head. We returned our attention to your siblings as they hurried over to the dressing area.
"Cameron's quick to make friends, and in the strangest ways." Stephen chuckled, shaking his head.
"Same with Melanie," I agreed gingerly. "This is her favorite store, though."
"This is only our second time coming to this mall."
I looked up at him, suddenly realizing he was way taller than I was, I ignored that. "Why? Where do you guys live?"
"Well, we lived an hour and a half away from this mall, but my family and I just moved to Jacksonville yesterday." he gave me a side ways smile.
"No way," I pointed to myself, "I live there too!"
"Cool! So I'll see definitely see you around school, right?"
"Yeah, of course! What grade are you going into?"
"I'm going into my senior year."
"Same here!" it seemed too good to be true.
Melanie ran over to me with Cameron at her side. They shoved their bears in our faces, which were dressed as a bride and a groom. The two of them had these puppy dog eyes and their lips were stuck out. It was time to check-out. I paid for Melanie's and Stephen paid for Cameron's (obviously). The kids were hungry, so we headed to the food court together. Once they were settled down and eating, Stephen and I sat at a table next to them, keeping a close eye on them.
I smiled over at them then looked back at Stephen and my heart fluttered. Was it love at first sight? That seemed like the case. His personality, the way he acted, how gentle he seemed, all of it seemed golden. He was too good to be real, maybe I was just dreaming. No, that was silly talk…but the more I thought about it, the more convincing it sounded. I pinched myself just incase…
"Why'd you just pinched yourself?" Stephen asked with a slick grin on his face.
My face began to heat up. He saw me, crap. I was an idiot. "My arm itched." I lied.
He laughed a little. "Okay, I guess that's plausible."
"You guess?"
"Yup!" he smiled a big smile at me and I couldn't help but to laugh myself. He leaned over the table, motioning for me to lean over too. So I did, my face feeling warm the entire way. Stephen brushed my hair behind my ear, my breathing hitched. "I think Cameron likes Melanie."
I giggled. "Y-yeah, totally. He was flirting with her since the moment he saw her."
"Yeah!" we leaned back and laughed together. "So, what's your cell number?" he pulled out his phone and touched the screen.
I gave him my number as I pulled out my phone as well. Mine was just a slid up phone with a keyboard. Stephen's was an awesome touch screen. He told me his number and right as I got done putting it in, my mom called.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Your father and I are in the car now, we're ready to go. Are you and Melanie ready to go?"
I glanced over at Melanie and Cameron, how cute they looked. "Yeah, we are."
"Did you get to go shopping for yourself?"
"No," I replied, "but it's fine. I can come back another time."
"Okay. We'll see you in a little bit, 'kay Kiddo?"
"Yeah. Bye Mom." I hung up the phone and stood.
"Come on Mel, Mom and Dad are outside waiting for us."
"Aw!" she whined, sliding out of her seat.
"You're leaving?" Stephen asked and I looked into his blue orbs. I sadly nodded. He sighed, looking away, but soon looked back with an excited smile on his face. "You're single, right?" I nodded again, curious this time. His face lit up. "Do you want to go out on a date with me this Friday?" he looked so cute with his wide eyes and his goofy smile, I just couldn't say no.
"Yes, of course." I replied, smiling.
"Thank you!" Stephen pecked my cheek, making me blush like crazy. "I'll text you later."
"Yeah," I breathed and grabbed Melanie's hand. "See ya Stephen."
"Bye Jenna."
"Bye Cameron!" Melanie exclaimed and waved like an idiot to him as we began to walk away.
"Bye Melanie!" we heard him shout back, he was probably waving too.
The entire way to the car and on the way home, she did not stop talking about Cameron. She was a lovesick girl, already head over heels for a guy, but so was I. I just stayed quiet and stared out the mini van's window, thinking about Stephen. Now, I was really hoping that it wasn't a dream.
Later on that night, around eleven, my phone received a text from my mall boy. I pushed the okay button to view the text.
'Cameron won't stop talking about Melanie!'
I laughed to myself and replied. 'Same with my sister. Now my dad's going on red alert because she's only eight! XD'
I tossed my phone onto my bed and plopped down with it. Stephen texted me back instantly. 'So, you still up for our date on Friday?'
'Of course. I was just wondering if you were still up for it!'
'Of course I am. I was the only who offered it, I have to go through with it.'
'That's not always the case, but that's a different story. :)'
'Okay, I got to go to bed, Mom still has curfew rules. Haha, I'll see you Friday! Good night, sweet dreams. Don't let the bed bugs bite!'
I laughed to myself before replying. 'Lawl, I won't. Night, sleep tight! Don't let the bed bugs bite YOU! :P'
I placed my phone under my pillow before resting my head on its softness. Today was amazing. No, it was more then amazing.
Friday strolled along, Stephen agreed to pick me up and drop Cameron off at six. I was getting ready at 4:30, after my hair was straightened. I pranced over to my closet and stood with my hands on my hips, looking into it. What was I going to wear? I could go cute and wear a dress, but that seemed fancy. I ended up choosing a more casual look for me. I pulled out my blue laced tank top along with a white pull over sweatshirt and my black skinny jeans. I just threw on a pair of non matching socks, not that I really cared what they looked like.
I teased my hair and made it look super cute. My make up basically the same, but I put on a soft shade of bronze eye shadow instead black. I put on my To Write Love on Her Arms bracelet then applied a thin coat of strawberry lip gloss before slipping into my converse. Before I walked out of my room, I stared at myself long and hard in my long wall mirror. This was my night, I was going to enjoy every moment of it! The door bell rang and my heart began to race.
"Cameron's here!" Melanie screamed, opening the front door.
I hurried downstairs, almost tripping and falling on my face, which would have been pretty funny, but would be truthfully and painfully embarrassing. I reached the living room to find Mom and Dad talking to Stephen. I hurried to Stephen's side to watch my parents' expressions. Mom looked absolutely pleased, Dad on the other hand…
"I hope you two have fun on your date!" Mom exclaimed, putting her arm around Dad's body.
"Thanks Mom," I said, giggling.
"You'll pay if you make her cry." Dad threatened.
I hung my head low and felt Stephen tense up. "I won't Mr. Cooper, I promise!"
"Good."
"Let's go, please." I quickly dragged Stephen outside so I wouldn't be humiliated by my parents anymore than I already was.
"I like them" he commented, stopping at his 2007 Jeep Commander.
"You don't know them." I mumbled and continued to stare at the ground.
I felt his finger underneath my chin; he lifted it so he could see my face. "Don't think about them, this is our night. Just think about us."
"Okay." I felt my face grow a little warmer.
Stephen kissed my cheek then opened the passenger door for me. I slid into the car after murmuring a thank you and waiting for him to get in the car as well.
"So," he started the car, "how do you feel about Chinese food?"
We sat in the Chinese restaurant, laughing at a joke I cracked. It was actually pretty cheesy, but Stephen didn't seem to mind. I took a sip of Coca Cola, trying to calm down a little and Stephen tried eating some rice. We looked up at each other, suddenly laughing again. God, I was having such a great time. We stood up and left, after paying of course.
Stephen held me by the as we walked to his car, holding me protectively against him. I looked up at him, smiling like there was no tomorrow.
"So, is there anywhere else you want to take me for our date?" I questioned, curious to know if it was the end of our date.
"Actually, yes, there is." he answered, leaning down and kissed my cheek again.
We quickly jumped in the car and Stephen drove to the park that was by my house. I was always fascinated because the park was completely gorgeous, but in the moonlight, it made it look even prettier. I got out, staring in an awe, it was moments like this that I wish I had my camera. My date took my hand, leading me away from the car. I looked around, speechless, as he led me to the other side of the park, which was covered with trees, making it shady and the perfect to lye and star gaze.
That's what we did. We laid in the grass, looking up at the little light in the sky. I was next to Stephen, loving the feeling of his arms around me. Without permission, but I don't really think he cared; I rest my head on his chest and searched the sky for the constellations.
"Hey Jenna, look," he pointed to the sky, "a shooting star!"
I indeed saw it, the shimmer of the star itself and its fiery tail. "Make a wish." I murmured.
It was silent between us once again as we wished. I already knew what I wanted and that could be easily obtained that night. My mind began to wonder towards Stephen. What was he wishing about? Was he wishing the same thing I was?
"Okay, I'm done." he nuzzled his face into the top of my head.
"Whattya wish for?" I asked, kind of sheepish.
"I can't tell you, because then it won't come true." Stephen was grinning, I could feel it.
I began to pout. "That's no fun."
"Fine, princess, what did you wish for?"
I didn't even think about my actions or anything. It was pure adrenaline. "This." I turned my head up to his and kissed him softly. My eyes fluttered close, my stomach was filling with butterflies. Fireworks were exploding, my heart was racing. This is what I wished for. This is what I've wanted since I met him. It was supposed to be a sweet 2 second kiss, so I started to pull away, but Stephen cupped my jaw line with his hand and made me stay lip locked with him, kissing me back.
I moved so I was on my side, giving me a better angle to kiss him at. I threw one of my arms over his shoulder while the other one stayed limply on his chest. His hands moved down to my waist and just kept them there. Each second seemed like minutes. After only ten seconds, though, Stephen broke it apart. I stared into his gorgeous blue eyes, God, they were so beautiful.
He place his forehead on mine, causing both of us to smile. I was already in love with this kid and I'd only known him for about a week. We leaned in for another small kiss, which ended sooner than the first.
"I think maybe I should get you back to your place," he whispered, his breath bounced against my lips. "Don't want your dad shooting me because I didn't bring you back on time!"
"Yeah, I agree but do me a quick favor." I pleaded, enjoying the fact that neither one of us made an effort to move.
"What would that be?"
"Kiss me again, please."
Stephen grinned. "Gladly." he pressed his lips to mine once more, letting them move a little on mine.
It was just that. A small amount of mouth movage, no tongue, just the way I liked it. After our last kiss, we hurried to Stephen's car since it was almost ten at night. He sped home, although there really was no need for it. When we entered my house, Melanie and Cameron were passed out on the floor, sleeping next to each other. I couldn't help but to giggle, they were just so cute.
"Look at him," Stephen chuckled, "he's only eight and he's already got a girlfriend!"
"Yeah, no kidding," I agreed.
I helped wake the two kids up. Melanie hugged Cameron before pitter pattering up to her room and I walked back out to Stephen's car. Cameron slid into the front seat, crashing instantly. Stephen stared deeply into my green eyes, causing me to blush a little.
"I really enjoyed our date, Jenna," he said, taking my hand in his and entwining our fingers together.
"Same here. I've never had that much ever on a date." I couldn't hold back the smile.
He leaned down and kissed me gently, the fireworks exploded again. As usual, though, he pulled away too soon. I sighed, looking down.
"Hey, hey, hey, little missy," Stephen lifted my face up like how he did earlier and as I looked back into his eyes, I was breathless, "don't be sad. I just don't want your dad cutting my junk off because I'm kissing-" I cut him off with a kiss, a long passionate one.
I pulled away right as my arms found their way around his neck. He looked at me, star-stuck as words tried to form on his lips.
"I don't care," I whispered, "and plus, it'll let my dad know you like me." I didn't even take a big breath, but I still pressed my eager lips onto his.
Stephen was responsive; he wrapped his arms around my figure and held me against his body. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest, was he able to hear it as well? Suddenly, it was like I was getting weak in the knees, that's because I was. My legs collapsed from underneath me, causing us to rip apart, but Stephen held me up. That was embarrassing beyond belief.
I refused to look anywhere but the ground, my face was red and hot, you could bake cookies on my cheeks. His cute little chuckle filled my ears.
"You get embarrassed so easily, Jenna, but it's so cute!" he kissed the top of my head and I forced myself to look up at him. His lips collided with mine once more before pulling away for the night. "I'll text you later, okay?"
I nodded, dazed. "O-okay."
"Will you be able to stand if I let you go?"
I nodded again and Stephen carefully let go of me. To my surprise, I didn't fall. He slid into his car, than started it up. He rolled down his window and blew me a kiss, backing out of my driveway. I caught the kiss and blew one back, my head shook in disapproval because I knew I looked like an idiot. When I walked back into my house, Mom and Dad were waiting in the living room for me. I gulped.
Their faces showed no emotion and truthfully, it scared me. What did I do wrong this time?
"Stephen left so soon?" Mom asked, her face turning soft and she smiled at me. Dad stayed the same, sitting in his chair with this arms crossed over his chest.
"Uh, yeah," I coughed, feeling awkward, "Cameron and Melanie were asleep so we thought it'd be a better idea for him to sleep on his own better rather than our living room floor."
"Did he hurt you?" Dad asked, his voice was stern and I giggled, nervously, my eyes shifted between the two adults.
"Um, no…?" it sounded more like a question itself rather then an answer.
"He didn't touch you, did he?"
"What," I made a grossed out face, shaking my head, "ew! No Dad, he didn't. That's just…" I didn't even finish, I shivered out of the Stephen was a molester.
"Did he kiss you?" Mom asked, her voice was gentler then Dad's by a long shot.
I bit the side of my lip and I could feel my face beginning to heat back up. "Um, kinda. Well, I kissed him first and then…" I smiled, thinking back at the shooting star. I wanted that moment to last forever.
"Well, that's good that you two like each other." She hummed.
"So yeah, I'm going to bed. Uh, good night." I hurried up to my room so I could get out of the awkwardness. When I got up to my fairly small bedroom, I jumped onto my bed with the biggest smile on my face.
I couldn't get my mind off Stephen, it seemed utterly impossible, but that I wanted to. The first kiss we shared was truly amazing. I grabbed my cell phone, noticing that I had one unread message. Knowing who it was from, I viewed it anyways
'Jenna, I had a really good time tonight, just wanted to let you know that….again. So, um…do you think we could go on another date? Like, next weekend? Maybe we could go see a movie? It's up to you, though.'
I smiled some more and replied to the text. 'Of course I'd like to go on another date with you, Stephen and yes, I did enjoy our first date as well. The movies sound nice, really nice. :)'
When it was our two month anniversary, Stephen said I love you. We didn't go out to dinner; we just snuggled on the couch while watching a scaring movie. His arm was around me throughout the entire movie. I curled myself up to his chest when there was a goring part I didn't want to see. At one part, I looked up at Stephen, smiling at his beyond gorgeous face. His eyes glanced down at me, our eyes connected.
"I love you." Stephen murmured, kissing lightly on the lips.
"I love you too." I whispered back then pressed my mouth harder to his. That was the first time we actually made out too, though it seemed weird that it took us two months to get there.
He started to worry me, though. He seemed to be getting weaker, I noticed this by the time we were four months along, but it didn't really bother me. Overtime, Stephen started to look sick, but when I asked him about it, he just answered that he was stressing because of school, so he wasn't getting much sleep. I believed him, trusting him that he was telling the truth because I loved him to bits.
It was our sixth month anniversary and I noticed there were bruises on his arms that weren't there before. I instantly began to freak out.
"Stephen, what's going on? Why are your arms covered in bruises?" I was hyperventilating by now. Were his parents abusing him? Was that why he was always tired?
"Jenna, calm-"
"Why did you tell me that your parents were abusing you?" I was crying, sobbing and suddenly, I couldn't breathe.
Stephen rushed me out of my house for fresh air. I sat on the ground with my head between my knees, trying to catch my breath. My boyfriend held me close to him, gently rocking me back and forth.
"Babe, my parents aren't beating me. Okay?" he reassured. "I've just been rough housing with my cousin recently and I guess we were a little too rough." Stephen chuckled that musical laugh to himself and my heart melted instantly.
I looked up at him with a faint smile. "Your bruises scared me, that's all."
He kissed away a tear that was rolling down my cheek before kissing my lips; they felt so good pressed against mine. We made out in my front lawn for a while before heading up to my room. We didn't have sex, but we were close, stopping when our shirts were off. I didn't mind, though. I just wanted to cuddle and kiss him all night anyways.
Stephen started missing a lot of school, come the following two months. He complained about being sick and having a fever whenever I came to visit, but he didn't want me to leave. I would lie next to him, snuggling up against him. I was worrying even more, but I really didn't think much of it. He probably just had the flu. Whenever I looked into his eyes, though, he always looked like he was hiding something. Again, I didn't think anything of it. I should have mentioned something, I should have.
He was well enough to come to the park with me, on our sixth anniversary. We sat under the stars, gazing at them like we did on our first date. We didn't talk much, which was unusual and it was bothering me. Something was up, I knew it. Stephen suddenly sat up, a frown upon his face. I sat as well, furrowing my eyebrows together.
He let out a deep sigh before saying, "Jenna, we need to talk."
My heart fell to my stomach, which was coiling up like a snake. I could feel water starting to pinch at the side of my eyes. He wasn't even looking at me, but I stared at him with wide eyes. No, this couldn't be happening. He couldn't break up with me.
"O-okay," I gulped, my throat suddenly felt sore.
"I'm sick." it kinda sounded like a joke, so I tried to smile and make a joke of my own.
"Well, then go take some medicine and you'll get better soon."
"That's not what I meant, Jenna." he turned his face so he was staring at me straight into my brown eyes. It was serious again, I could feel the tension rising. "What I meant was, I have leukemia."
"What?" Whoa, wait, what? He had leukemia? Everything seemed to fall into place now. The fevers, the bruises, the weakness, everything. I shook my head in disbelief as tears started steadily streaming down my face. "How long have you known?"
"Since I was 16, so about two years now." he looked down at his dirty checkered board vans.
"Are you being treated for it though?"
Stephen shook his head, no. "I stopped responding to treatments a week before I met you."
I shook my head again, standing up. No, this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. I just started running, I need to get away, I needed to think. I heard Stephen call after me, but I ignored his pleads. Running into the woods, I collapsed behind a big tree, sobs racking from my chest. I couldn't lose my boyfriend.
Not now, not ever.
I let my bleach blonde hair fall in front my face as I hung my head, crying. Why didn't Stephen tell me earlier? Worst of all, why did he lie to me about it? I wasn't really hiding, so when I heard him calling my name, I didn't put in an effort to move. Feet were shuffling, his velvety voice hung in the air.
All of a sudden, there were a set of hands on my shoulders. My head shot up and I screamed, but was muffled by Stephen's lips pressing against mine. I pulled away, beginning to hit at his chest.
"Ouch, Jenna, that hurts." he complained, but I didn't care.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why did you lie about it?" I was sobbing uncontrollably by now and Stephen was holding me against him. I struggled to get out of his grip, but I was feeling way too weak and gave up almost instantly. My chin was perched on his shoulder, my arms hung limply around his waist. "Why, tell me why, Stephen?"
"I didn't want to hurt you, Jenna. I swear, I never meant to hurt you," I felt tears fall into my hair. "I love you and have loved you since the day we met. I'm so sorry, I dragged you into this. I'm so sorry, baby." Stephen buried his face into my head, starting to cry as hard as I was.
"I love you too, Stephen. I always have and always will, no matter what happens."
We sat there, holding each other and crying for a while. It seemed like forever, but reality said that it was only an hour. We slightly pulled apart, but only to see our faces. Stephen stroked my cheek, smiling. He still looked beautiful even though he had tear streaks on his face. He kissed me gently, placing his hand on my cheek. My eyes fluttered closed and I kissed him back, my heart was pounding in my chest.
The kiss got heavier than expected. His tongue was in my mouth and I was fumbling with the buttons of his flannel shirt while his hands were tugging up my shirt. We broke away to pull it off my body. I pushed his shirt off his shoulders. Stephen kissed down my neck, biting down gently till he reached my soft spot, which was on my collar bone. I let out a soft moan, leaning my head back. He bit harder and made me moan louder.
He kissed back up to my lips before pulling away, looking deeply into my eyes. "Are you okay with this? Are you sure you want to do this, Jenna?"
I answer him with a passionate kiss, obviously answering yes.
Stephen only had at the most, four months to live and I was going to make it the best for the both of us. Month 7 of our relationship came by, Stephen proposed to me. Month 8, we got married and had our honeymoon. It was my dream come true. I was in a white princess like gown with a tiara. I looked absolutely beautiful. My father walked my down the isle and that was when I noticed that there were a lot of people there, but I was happy that they all got to see me getting married to the love of my life on my birthday.
When we said our vows, I couldn't say mine with choking up, while Stephen said his so fluently, so perfect, it made me cry so more. He looked so stunning in his tux too. We had our honeymoon in Las Vegas, but we didn't go out parting and gambling. We went site seeing and held each other tightly. It was perfect. Everything was perfect.
Month 9, Stephen had to be in the hospital because he only had a month left to live. I was with him every night. Day 18, he looked so sick, it was killing me to see him in such a weak state, but I still loved him.
I came by that evening with tears running down my face, my heart in my throat. I took a deep breath and let it out, putting on the happy act since the doctors said not to put him under stress, before entering his room. Stephen looked up at me with dark circles around his eyes. I knew his time was coming, every time I visited him, he seemed to be getting sicker, but when he saw me, he looked happier than ever. A smile spread across his weak face.
"Hey baby," he said, his voice was the same volume as a slightly loud whisper.
I smiled back, approaching his bed. "Hi honey." I gave him a hug and a kiss and sat in the chair next to his bed.
We looked at each other, staring into our eyes, his still seemed to gleam. Stephen's eyebrows began to furrow up.
"What's wrong, my wife?"
I shook my head softly. "Nothing's wrong, Stephen."
"Jenna, you're lying, don't argue with me. You're make up is smeared around your eyes and you've got tear streaks down your cheeks," he took my face in his hands and cradled it. "Now tell me, the truth. The whole, real truth."
I gulped, my bottom lip began to quiver. "St-Stephen, I'm pregnant."
I really didn't know what to expect. I didn't know whether or not he was going to be mad or upset. He wrapped his tiny little arms around me and pulled me closer to him, holding my head against his chest.
"That's…that's so good to hear!" he exclaimed and made me look at him. "I'm going to have a baby to look after when I'm in heaven!"
The thought of him dying made my heart ache. I climbed into bed next to him, starting to cry again. I didn't want to take care of the baby alone, I wanted it to wake up and see Mommy and Daddy every morning.
"I don't think I can take care of the baby without you," I muttered, burying my head into his chest. "I'm going to be the world's worst mother!"
"No you won't, Jenna. I'll be watching you from Heaven. You'll do just fine." Stephen pulled my face up so I was looking at his still beautiful face. "You're so beautiful, Jenna. You're going to be the best mother that ever was. So what if I'm in Heaven, I'll still be watching you and our child grow up. I love you forever and a day, and would do anything to stay with you forever, but for now, all I can do watch you from heaven."
"I love you too, Stephen." I kissed him passionately, wrapping my arms loosely around his neck.
He placed his arms around my waist and kissed back with equal passion. We stayed like that for about a minute, just lip locked. I pulled away, we were both breathless. Before I had much time to catch my breath, though, Stephen kissed me again, only this time, we made out. The doctors came in a short while after that and told me in a polite way that I had to leave.
"Bye Stephen Michael Halladay. I love you forever and ever." I murmured, kissing his lips quickly.
"Bye Jenna Marie Cooper. I love you too, more then that by far." Stephen replied, smiling, which of course, made me smile. "I'll see you in Heaven. I'll make sure to send a sign."
"I'll make sure to look for it."
I went home with the biggest smile on my face and fell asleep like that. I was woken up the next morning, at six, to a violent shaking. I shot up, panic striking my face. I saw Melanie's broken eyes and instantly knew what was going on. Mom drove me to the hospital where we saw his parents' car. I jumped out of the car and hurried inside the hospital, my heart was pounding in my ears. When I reached the lobby on Stephen's floor, I noticed his family crowded around a doctor, sniffling.
I hurried over to them, my vision was starting to blur. I reached them right as the word the 'died' left the doctor's mouth. I stopped cold, my entire body went numb. He was really truly gone. My Stephen, my lover, my husband, he had passed.
"W-what?" was what escaped my mouth before my knees gave away.
I collapsed behind the Halladay family and they all turned around to look at me. I hugged my stomach as sobs ripped from my chest. Everyone was just playing a prank on me. This was all just a dream. When I was to awake, Stephen would be holding me and he would be healthy. I was hyperventilating, I couldn't breathe right. This was too overwhelming. I was wheezing and I couldn't move.
Several arms pulled me up. Someone was calling my name, I closed my eyes, sobbing harshly. I was choking. My mind was convincing me that I was going to die too and see Stephen, but suddenly I felt an oxygen mask go around my face. My eyes slowly opened, but I couldn't really see much since I was crying. The loud sobs soon died down so the doctor could talk to me while Mr. and Mrs. Halladay rubbed my back and Cameron just hugged me.
"You're Jenna Halladay, Stephen's wife, right?" he asked. I nodded miserable. "I'm sorry, but your husband died this morning at 3. I'm very sorry for your misfortune."
I nodded again and cried some more. It was the worst thing that happened to me. I lost the best thing that happened to me.
Five years later, I visit Stephen's grave on February 28th with our daughter, Stephenie Rose Halladay. We place flowers by his grave before heading off to church, this has become a habit for us. The Halladays and the Coopers gather at the same church for Sunday service. Today feels extra special, though, and I wasn't completely sure why. I've become a widow after Stephen's death, but I was content with it. Stephenie pulls me out of the church at twelve and the Halladays gather around to say grace and mourn the loss of Stephen.
We're silent for a moment, bowing our heads in remembrance as the cool air surrounds us and the gray, cloudy skies are above us.
"Look Mommy! It's sunny!" Stephenie squeals and we all look up to the sky.
I think back at Stephen's promise and smile, feeling tears roll down my cheeks. "Daddy sent us a sign, Stephenie!"
She squeals and claps her hands excitedly together as her brown hair bounced around. "Daddy sent us a sign!"
"I love Stephen Michael Halladay."
I love you too Jenna Marie Cooper.
THE END!
So, what did ya'll think? It's kinda bad because I've written during the night, soo... Yeah. I actually really enjoyed writing this. I'll be writing other stories too, don't worry. To find out what Stephen and Jenna look like, go to my profile and click on to my link to my polyvore. Love, NeverShoutAshley!
