They had just graduated it seemed to her. That Derek had showed up on stage as she was giving her speech and kissed her. His left hand went around her waist and his right behind her neck, both pulling her closer to him.
But then he fell sick. She watched as that stupid dieases rocked his body. And he tried to fight, oh God did he try. Casey could still she his face as he started his first Chemo session.
He got better for a little while but then it got worse again, and it wasn't supposed to be like that. They were supposed to be having fun at college, going to parties, drinking beer, and have sex. Lots of sex.
But that didn't happen, no when he got worse, it kill Casey. It tore at her heart as she watched her mother give birth in the same hospital that her boyfriend was in, fighting for his life.
Kara was born and Derek saw her and smiled as he held her. Smiling at his new sister, he wished that him and Casey could have that too.
"Casey…" Derek said one day. Casey was at his side in a few seconds her coffee on the table next to him. Derek's beautiful hair was now long gone and he wore a beanie that Sam had given him when he first started to lose his hair.
"Yeah Der." She sat next to looking at how skinny he was now. She thought of how he rarely ate since when he did it just came back up a little while later.
"I had Sam bring something from home, can you get it. He put it in the closet." Casey nodded now remembering that Sam had dropped something's off for both Casey and Derek. She looked back at him and asked where was it in the closet. "My coat, check my coat." His weak voice said. She went into his pocket and then her hand felt it.
It was a velvet box, tiny too. And Casey hoped this was what she thought it was.
"Casey…bring it over here please." Casey carried that blue box over to Derek and looked at him.
"I know you are going to fight me on this Casey, because that's who you are. But Casey I don't have a lot of time left…" Casey went to rebut this. "No Casey I don't. I wish I could spend forever with you. But I don't have that time left. So Casey, will you marry me?" Derek took that box from her hands. She said a simple yes and soon Derek's lips where back on hers.
They didn't wait long to get married, Derek's condition was worsen and they wanted to be married before he left them.
It was August 15, Casey walked into the hospital's chapel where a simply beautiful white dress. She walked with George on his arm. But nothing matter to her as much as the man all the way at the end did. She had insisted that instead of a suite that he wear his leather jacket. He still had it after all the years. Sam was standing next to him and Ralf after that. When Casey stopped in front of Derek, George kissed her cheek patted Derek's shoulder and made his way to sit on Casey's side.
"Told you he like me more." She whispered in a joking manner.
"Guess you did Spacy, guess you did." She slipped her warm hand into his cold one. Their eyes met and that was all that mattered.
The newlyweds had convinced their parents that they wanted one weekend alone before they would go back to the hospital. But Derek and Casey both knew that their honeymoon would be the end of Derek's life.
It was late and Casey was wrapped in Derek's arms. They were sitting in front of the fire because it had become cold in the night already. But neither mind. There was a blanket that was wrapped around both of them and Casey never wanted to leave her husband's arms.
"Cas, honey… I want to do one thing before I go." She looked up at him and asked him what he wanted to do, because she would do anything with him.
"Make love to me." He whispered. They hadn't done anything because Derek had almost no strength, and Casey wanted him to hold on.
"Der…" Casey was concerned. She knew what this was for Derek. His final act.
"I asked the doctors if there was a chance I could get you pregnant, they said, since they stopped chemo for a while maybe. So please Casey. I want us to be together before I go." He pleaded he wanted them to be one when he left.
She had agreed, and that night Derek had died peacefully in his wife's crying arms.
The hockey team, a mix of high school and the little time he spent in his college team. Casey was in a black dress, but she was wearing his jacket just like he would have.
Sam was in front holding his head high as he carried his best friend to his resting place. He never that he would have to do that at 19. But here he was carrying the casket that held his best friend for that last 14 years.
Sam walked back over to Casey and held her as she cried. She didn't want to sit by Abby that was for sure. Abby seemed to blame her for Derek's death. And Nora was sobbing to loud so George had handed the baby to Lizzy and walked his wife to the back.
Emily sat on Casey's other side holding her with everything she had in her.
Casey opened her purse and pulled out Derek's old hockey jersey and hugged it to her chest as she sobbed. No matter how much time she had with Derek, it wasn't enough.
Edwin had Marti in his lap but she struggled and walked over to Casey and sat in her lap and they hugged for Smerke. Neither of them wanted Derek to leave.
It wasn't until a couple weeks after Derek's funeral that Casey showed up at her mother's house.
When she told her mother the news, no one was surprised. They said that Derek had told his step-mother of his final wish and that he would have been so proud.
Nine months almost to the day, Casey went into labor, Sam and Emily by her side once again. She was crying and all she wanted was Derek, but if she couldn't get the original, the one she got was pretty perfect to.
Derek Andrew was born screaming with a set of lungs his father would have been proud of.
The proud family had come in a little while later and Casey asked that Sam and Emily be her son's godparents seeing that they were with her all through her pregnancy.
LD or Little Derek looked just like his late father. His father, his fingers, his hair. But one thing he got from his mother, her eyes.
Her was a dark eyes, blue eyes beauty! He was going to break heats just like his father, but Casey told everyone that no son of hers was going to be a skirt chasing fool like his father.
As LD grew older he was taught many things, from his Aunt Liz he learned soccer and sports like that, Aunt Marti taught him how to have fun and goof off. Uncle Edwin taught him how to sneak up on people, Aunt Liz didn't like that at all. Uncle Sam taught him hockey. LD loved hockey just like his father, his mother always said.
And was LD grew up he grew to appreciate what his father did, fighting for his life. And when LD joined high school he asked if he could have his father's number. No one disagreed.
After high school and college LD did something Derek always dreamed of, he went pro. With his father's number on his back and his mother in the stands, he went to with the finals.
Casey watched he grow old and soon have his own kids before she let herself think of joining Derek. And at 65 she joined her husband; everyone said she died of a broken heart.