Alice was tucking her son, Bryson, into bed on the night of his eighth birthday. Bryson was tired from having his birthday party and excited about it earlier, but he noticed something that a lot of other kids his age didn't when a parent came to the house to pick his son up. "Mommy, where's my daddy?" he asked. "Why isn't he here?"
Alice could already feel the pressure in her eyes as she fought the tears back. "I knew that you would ask one day. Come with me." She lead Bryson down the hall. He looked at her curiously when she stopped at the closet with the towels and extra blankets, but didn't say anything. He stood patiently as Alice put in the four digit combination to a safe. She took out a disc, one of many in the safe.
She popped the disc into the DVD player and sat on the couch. Bryson was still very confused about what his mother was doing and wondered why she hadn't answered his question. He almost said something, but stopped himself when the scene came up.
He saw a man sitting in a hospital bed. He had blonde hair cut to the military style. There were monitors beeping everywhere and he saw a bandage on his chest because his shirt was off and something white wrapped around his head that was spotted with blood. Bryson almost cried just at the sight of it.
"Hey, Bryson. I'm your dad, Jasper." he said weakly. Alice felt the first tear run down her face as she watched her late husband on the screen talk to her son. Alice was seven months pregnant with Bryson when Jasper's vehicle was hit by a road side bomb. Alice was immediately flown out to where he was in the middle East to see her dying husband.
She had broken down as soon as she saw him, blood still covering him even after they tried to clean him up. He already had one surgery by the time she got there, but it didn't help much. The doctors told him that he wouldn't make it to see Bryson born. That was what broke his heart the most. That and watching Alice watch him sit in the hospital bed, dying for his country. He knew that there was was only a slight possibility that he would be in the delivery room, give or take a few days when his deployment was up. But now he would never get to hold his son.
When they told him that, he didn't want Alice to be raising him on her own. No, he was going to be a part of Bryson's life, dead or alive. Of course, Alice would have the help and support of family and friends to help her once he came along, but he wanted a part too. Thankfully one of the doctors had a video camera that they could borrow for a few days.
He made 18 video tapes. 18 tapes of his love for Bryson. In the tapes he taught him things he thought that Bryson would need to know. He told him to make sure he keeps his shoulder back when he hits a baseball and to use his wrist when casting a fishing line. "When your momma teaches you how to ride a bike, you're not going to like the training wheels because you'll want to go out on your own. But she wants you to use them so you don't hurt yourself. Make sure to wear your helmet, too." Bryson thought back to the other day when Alice got on him for not wearing his helmet.
The tape ended and Alice saw that is was getting late and he needed to get to bed. It was nearing ten o' clock and he had school in the morning. Alice tucked him back into bed and said that she would tell him more about Jasper the following day after he got home.
For dinner they went to the diner that her and Jasper met at. They even sat at the same table that Alice was sitting at when Jasper walked up to her and introduced himself with a southern accent that would have any girl swooning. From that day on, they were inseparable. They got married three years later on the day that they met. When Jasper told her that he wanted to join the military, Alice supported him with everything, despite her fear for what would happen a year later. Alice told Bryson everything because he wanted to know and she knew that Jasper would have done the same if the roles were reversed. Bryson took everything in well. He asked questions when he had them and immediately he knew that his father was a hero for everything he did.
After that, Alice decided that she would show him him one tape a year, always on his birthday. Jasper made a tape for every year, although she didn't want to show them when he was so little because he wouldn't remember and she wanted to wait until he asked about his father. But she would watch the videos sometimes after he went to bed.
As Bryson got older, so did the tapes. Jasper told him about shaving and driving. Alice gave him Jasper's old truck that had been sitting in the garage for years; she drove it occasionally just to keep it running. Alice had to teach Bryson how to drive a stick in that truck and she taught him just how Jasper taught her how to drive a stick.
With every video, Bryson would laugh and cry. Sometimes he felt like Jasper was really there talking to him about whatever was in the video. No matter what, he always went to bed that night with a new lesson in his head that his dad taught him. He loved watching the tapes because of that.
On his eighteenth birthday, he watched the last tape. His dad told him about the birds and the bees, something he'd already learned about in sex-ed his freshman year. Now he was over half way done with his senior year and getting ready for college, attending the University of Texas on a baseball scholarship, just like his dad did.
The end of the tape was nearing and Jasper left, saying one more thing. "Son, I know that you're going to marry the girl of your dreams one day. And I'm sure that you're mother will approve of her for both of us. Remember, treat her right. Treat her like she's the most important thing in the world because she should be. And you'll have a baby of your own one day. Always tell that child that you love him or her everyday, even if you have to do it on 18 video tapes."