I got the idea for this little one-shot after looking through all the books that were read to me when I was a little kid. It's one of the best childhood memories I have, and I wanted to put that into a story…
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A girl of only four or five lay in her cushiony bed, a bed that was almost too cushiony for her own good. The covers were pulled up to her chin and she snuggled into her mother's side and under her arm. "Mommy, please read another one!" The little girl pleaded to her mother. She pouted her lips and looked at her mom with great big eyes.
"Another one?" Her mother lifted her eyebrow in speculation. For her it had felt like she had already read fifty books, for the little girl it felt like five.
"Yes! Please?!" The young girl smiled a smile that could get her anything she wanted.
"Alright," Her mother agreed, which made the girl's face light up, "One more, then it's time to go to sleep."
"But I wanted to stay up till Daddy came home." The girl crossed her arms, pouting again. She missed her Daddy, and wanted him to read her a story.
Her mother stroked the little girl's long, brown hair and said to her, "But sweetie, I don't know when Daddy is coming home. He might be home very late."
The little girl hung her head, knowing her daddy wouldn't be home in time to read to her. She felt overpowering sadness, which meant she couldn't stop herself from crying. After all, she was only a child, she didn't have any self-control.
Her mother squeezed her tight and made soothing shushing noises, "Hunny, why are you crying?"
The girl breathed heavily and tried to make the words come out of her mouth, "I want Daddy to read me a story!" She whined at the top of her lungs. The girl knew how to get what she wanted, and lately, throwing a fit seemed like the best way to do it.
"But I don't understand, Daddy's never read you a story before…"
"I know!" The little girl cried.
"Okay, okay," Her mother hushed her softly to calm her down, "It's alright." She kissed the top of the little girl's head.
"Mommy," The girl sniffled, "Why hasn't Daddy ever read me a story?"
"I'm not sure." She told her. Her mother wasn't sure if she would understand the truth.
The girl sighed, not really satisfied with the answer. "Fine." She said, dealing with the fact that she was only a kid and sometimes parents didn't tell the whole truth. (She was brighter than most children. Good genes.) "Read that one."
"What?" Her mother was confused by her command, she was still thinking of her husband.
"You said you would read one more. I want you to read that one." She pointed with her small finger to a book on the top of the pile that was scattered across the bottom of the bed.
"Cinderella?" Her mother asked as she leaned forward and reached for the book.
"Yeah." She said, already sounding bored.
"Her mother opened the book and began reading, "Far across the ocean in a tiny village, an old gentleman lived with his young, beautiful daughter-"
The young girl interrupted, as she usually did, "Did she look like me?" She smiled hopefully.
And her mother told her what she wanted to hear, "Yes, just like you." And she then continued with the story, "A few years after his wife died he married a woman with two daughters, hoping to find someone kind to care for his own daughter. His new wife, however, turned out to be selfish and cruel…"
"…When she heard the palace clock begin to strike twelve, Cinderella rushed out the door and down the steps as quickly as her little feet could carry her. She never even turned around to wave goodbye to the Prince."
"Is it over?" The little girl asked while yawning.
"No, why are you tired?"
"No, it's just boring."
"What? You don't like it?"
"The prince falls in love with her right after seeing her? At least in other stories they talk first."
"It was love at first sight." Her mother explained.
"Did you and Daddy fall in love at first sight?"
"Well, no-"
"Then it's not possible." She told, stubbornly.
"Okay then Miss Know-it-all, do you want me to keep reading?"
"Not really." The girl yawned again, but this time it wasn't out of boredom.
"Time for bed then!" Her mother got off the bed and got ready to tuck her in.
"Looks like I'm just in time to say goodnight." A voice said from the doorway.
"Daddy!" the girl hopped from the bed and into her father's arms.
Her father kissed her on the cheek; the girl smiled and squeezed him tightly. Her mother walked over to them and kissed her husband on the lips.
"Daddy! Daddy!" She squealed, trying to regain her dad's attention. "Will you read me a story?" She remembered to ask him.
"Well, I think your mom was just putting you to bed." He set his little girl down on her bed.
"Just one! It's okay with Mommy! Right?" She turned and asked her mother.
Her mother couldn't say "no" to the big brown eyes that pleaded up to her.
Her father could though, not that he liked to, they were the same eyes that he had been saying "no" to since he was his daughter's age.
After staring at her daughter's begging expression, she looked helplessly to her husband. "Please, Chuck, just read he one story." the girl's mother whispered, not wanting the girl to hear this conversation.
"But I don't know how." He answered.
"All you have to do is read a book. It's easy."
The young girl looked back and forth at her parents, expectantly. Her father hesitantly sat down on the bed beside her. "Okay," He said slowly, dragging out the word, "which one do you want me to read?"
"Doesn't matter." She said giddily and grinned from ear to ear.
Her father picked a random book from the pile of books. It looked as good as any other one.
"Sorry if I'm not any good at this." he said while he opened the book.
The little girl giggled, "Whatever Daddy." She snuggled into his side.
Her mother lay down on the other side of her daughter and slid her arm around her, comfortably.
Her father began the story, and not once did she interrupt.
A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say,
"This kid is driving me CRAZY!"
But at night time, when the two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother
wanted to sell him to the zoo!
But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!
But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town.
But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town.
If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick."
So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always…
But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick.
The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Mommy you'll be.
When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs.
Then he went into the room where his new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
Her father finished, and sat with the book still open, staring at the page. He let all the words sink in before turning to look at either his wife or his daughter.
But when he did turn to them, his daughter asked, "Is that you and me, Daddy?" Pointing at the last picture of the man holding his baby daughter.
Her father glanced over at her mother who was smiling at him.
"Yeah, that's you and me." He kissed the top of her head.
The little girl smiled, and then sunk deeper into her covers.
"Will you read me another story tomorrow night?" She perked up.
"Sure." Her father chuckled.
"And the next night? And the night after that?"
Her father just laughed.
"Now ready for bed?" her mother asked.
The girl sighed and admitted defeat, "I guess."
Both of her parents smiled at her and then at each other before getting off the bed.
Her mother tucked the small girl into bed and kissed her goodnight. She moved to the doorway and waited for the girl to say goodnight to her dad.
He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. He was about to pull away when the little girl wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, "I'll love you forever, I'll live you for always. As long as I'm living my daddy you'll be."
Her father hugged her tightly back, "I love you."
The ended their hug and said goodnight. Her mother shut off the light and they both left the room.
The mother kissed her husband on his cheek and said, "See? Wasn't so bad."
"I guess not." he said and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Now would you like to tell me how you'll love me forever?" He smirked and laid his lips on hers.
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The book Chuck read is Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. It's one of the most memorable and touching books I could think of. I hope you enjoyed it. This may become a series of one shots, but I'm not entirely sure yet.