There was a little girl. She ran through the park with her dirty blond hair whipping out behind her. Roger smiled as her watched her sprint forward and jump into a pair of strong arms. Mark held her close to him as he carried her back to the park bench where roger sat right now.
"Daddy" She screeched happily and crawled out of marks arms and into his own. Mark smiled and watched his daughter envelope roger's body in a bear hug. Not that she had much luck. Roger was much bigger than his little five year old girl.
"When are we gonna have dinner?" The little girl asked, plopping back down into mark's lap. "Papa, I'm hungry!!"
"Were going to eat at the life café tonight, Okay lily?" Mark asked, and lily nodded enthusiastically.
-X-
There was a little girl. She stood outside of the school, watching parents walk up the front steps of the school, looking for their children. She scanned the crowd around her, but couldn't find the face of her father. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see papa's sparkling blue eyes, a little less sparkley today, looking down at her.
"Papa… Aren't you ssupposed to be at work? Why didn't daddy come to pick me up?" She asked, quietly.
"Daddy isn't feeling well today." Mark told his daughter sadly.
"Does daddy's stomach hurt? Can you make him your special tea and make him all better?" asked Lily quietly.
"Daddy's stomach is fine. He just needs to rest. Besides, I need a break from work every now and then." Mark took lily's hand and the two of them walked away from the elementary school. "How 'bout you come back to work with me. You can help me take pictures."
"I love going to work with you! But won't daddy get lonely at home?" Lily asked her papa.
"Dady will be fine, and I think it's best if we don't get too close to daddy for a little while. If we get sick too, we won't be able to help him get better." Mark told her.
"What is daddy sick with?" Lily asked. "Mary had a cold last week. She was out for THREE WHOLE DAYS!! Is daddy going to be sick that long?"
"I don't know. But he needs his rest to get better as fast as he can. We need to let him rest, so be very quiet when you get home."
"But what is he sick with? Does daddy have a cold?"
Mark sighed and pulled Lily close. "Daddy has pneumonia"
"Oh… Is that bad? Will daddy get better?" Lily asked.
Mark didn't say anything, but lily didn't take that as a bad thing. "Daddy will get better. Everyone gets better eventually" Mark went silent again, and hoisted Lily up onto his back so that she couldn't see the tears gathering in his eyes.
-X-
There was a little girl. She was dressed in bright, colorful clothes. Bright blue jeans, a yellow t shirt with a rainbow butterfly on it, and a technicolor Lisa Frank backpack. Her clothes seemed too bright for the white hospital room. Her blue eyes seemed too happy. Her pink smile, too joyful. The moment she walked into the room, Roger's blank stare turned into a smile, and his eyes became brighter. She ran over to his bed and enveloped his frail body in her arms.
"Daddy! How have you been?" She asked happily, oblivious to the morose mood in the room. Her father made his weak smile a bit bigger for her, and spoke in a raspy voice.
"Oh, you know, I've been lying here on this bed all day. Nothing interesting. How was school today?"
Lily smiled. "We made collages out of pictures in magazines. We were supposed to be cutting out things that we liked to do, but I got bored, so I decided to make you. The teacher thought it was really pretty."
Lily handed him a collage of pictures cut out of magazines, that had been creatively arranged to look surprisingly similar to roger playing his guitar. "This is beautiful sweetie! I love it!" Roger said, and Lily grinned and kissed him on the cheek.
"Daddy, when are you coming home?" Lily asked quietly.
"I don't know baby. The doctors haven't told me." He told her, his voice growing quieter.
"I hope you can come home soon. I miss you being at home." Lily told him.
"I love you sweetie" He said, and smiled, his eyes shining.
"I love you too daddy" She said, and a nurse came in and told Mark that visiting hours were over. Mark looked saddened, but walked over to his daughter, and took her hand.
"We have to go now Lils. Visiting hours are over."
Lily looked sullen, but she nodded and leaned over to kiss roger on the cheek once more. "Goodbye daddy, I'll see you soon"
"Bye sweetie" Roger told her . Mark took his hand and brought his lips to roger's, silently telling him how much he loved him.
"I'll see you" Mark told roger softly. Roger smiled and watched as they left. His smile fell back to its blank look. Suddenly he didn't look so much like Lily's picture.
-X-
There was a little girl. Her papa had left her to go get a cup of tea in the cafeteria, letting her stay in the hospital room with her daddy. He was fast asleep, breathing awkwardly, his face was pained. Suddenly in a lound coughing fit he awoke, and Lily came over to his bedside and put her small hand on his face. He was burning up.
"Sweetie" He chocked out.
"Daddy! Are you okay? What is it daddy?" she asked, confused and scared.
"Lily, sweetie, I need you to take care of papa when I'm gone" He said, his voice raspy and thin.
"Daddy!! Daddy, you're not leaving us! We need you!!" She said, whimpering as her daddy covered her hand in his.
" I love you sweetheart. And I need you to give Mark my love for me. Give papa my love." He said softly.
"But daddy! You can't leave!" Lily had tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Promise me baby. Tell papa how much I love him, because I can't tell him goodbye."
"I promise daddy"
"And always remember how much I love you. I love you to the ends of the earth sweetie. You know that right?" He asked.
"I know daddy. I love you too" She said and looked in his eyes.
"Remember that, and tell papa I said goodbye love"
Lily was sobbing so hard she didn't even hear the low steady beeping of the heart monitor slow, and give way to a long low tone that went on, and on. All she could see was her papa laying still on the white sheets, moving not a muscle, with his eyes open, staring blankly into her eyes.
-X-
There was a little girl. She was in her papa's arms, and she was dressed in black.
-X-
Roger sat up straight in bed, his breathing heavy and ragged, and his hair stucking to his sweaty neck. Mark groggily sat up and looked over to him. "What is it?" He asked.
"I had another dream…" Roger said quietly.
"Was it about lily?" Roger looked over to mark, and Mark sighed, he put his arms around roger and eased their two bodies back onto the thin sheets. "If things had been different, she might exist, stop wishing for her roger… You know she'd just be hurt"
"I know…" Roger looked away. "That's what I dreamed about this time. I died… and she watched me die…"
"It will be fine roger…"
"No… not really… I'll still die"
"It doesn't matter roger, because I'll still love you"
"That was the stupidest, most cheesy thing you could have said"
"Yeah… But it's true"
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