Pat entered Tiffany's room, without the aid of his crutches or the encumbrance of his cast, carrying a vase of roses. He set the vase on the table, seated himself, and leaned forward to rest his head on the swell of Tiffany's abdomen, which was getting large indeed . "Hello, my girl," he said. "Your mom and I haven't decided what to name you yet, and I don't want to make that decision without her, so I'll just call you my girl. Today, my girl, I'm going to read you a fairy tale. I wrote it myself, and I spent a lot of time trying to get it just right. So, here's the story of the Knight, the Lady and the Fairy Queen."
He raised a sheet of paper and started to read. "Once upon a time, there was a brave knight. He was strong, and brave, and he did many great deeds, but he wasn't that smart. Actually, he was pretty dumb. He even said no when a beautiful lady offered her hand to him, when everyone knew a good knight should say yes, even if it wasn't a very ladylike thing for her to do. But the lady still loved him, and she helped him as much as she could. She held celebrations when he came back in victory, and she tended to his wounds when he came back defeated. She even helped him in a quest to win another Lady- not just any lady, but the Fairy Queen."
He shifted his head to rest more comfortably. "The knight had loved the Fairy Queen since he was a young squire. He had gone out with his lord and a band of knights to fight a fierce dragon. It was a terrible battle, and in the end, only he was left to face the wounded dragon with his master's sword. But by his courage, he stood his ground as the dragon charged, and just as the dragon threw back its head to devour him, he drove the blade into its open mouth Even in death, the dragon wounded his arm with its poisonous tail, and he would have perished, but for the Fairy Queen. She watched the battle, and she was so moved by the squire's valor that she came to him and with her own hands she bandaged his wounds and poured into his mouth the elixir that would cure the dragon's sting.
"The Fairy Queen wished only to save the brave squire's life, but when he beheld the Queen's immortal beauty, he thought he could not live unless he had her for his lady. So he devoted himself to becoming the greatest of all knights, and at every chance, he sought for the Fairy Queen, though she fled from him. Then the lady who loved the knight learned of a secret place where the Queen feasted with her subjects. To show her love for the knight, she told him the place, and then begged him not to go. But he went forth, and burst into the Queen's feast.
"At last, the Queen was truly angry, and she cast a spell upon the knight to put him to sleep forever, and decreed that he should be taken to the Forbidden Castle, which was surrounded by a forest of poisonous thorns, and guarded by an army of goblins and a dragon greater than the one that had almost slain the knight. But then the lady came forth, confessed to telling of the Fairies' gathering place, and begged the Queen to let him go, even to punish the lady in his place. So the Fairy Queen lifted her spell and cast it on the lady instead."
Pat wiped a tear from his eye and continued, only glancing intermittently at the paper. "The knight awoke not knowing what had happened, and returned to his castle. At first, he did not miss the lady, and he pressed on with his quests, even his quest to find the Fairy Queen. But without the lady to help him, he was lost. Twice, he failed, and once he nearly died. Then the Fairy Queen came to him, and told him what had become of the lady. When he learned what the lady had done for him, he knew at once that he loved her, and begged the Fairy Queen to release her, even to let him take her place. Then the queen told him that there was one hope: That, if he could win his way to the Forbidden Castle, and place true love's kiss on the lady's lips, the spell might be broken."
By then, Pat had his eyes closed. "Then the knight made for the Forbidden Castle, and he showed more courage and might and devotion than he ever had. And the Fairy Queen herself gave him aid: A magic salve to protect him from the poison of the thorns, an enchanted Fairy sword, and a magic rope to scale the walls of the Forbidden Castle. With the salve and the sword, he hacked a path through the thorns, and the goblins who came forth to oppose him fell or fled in terror. The magic rope lifted itself to the top of the Castle's unclimbable wall, and the knight climbed up quickly, hoping that by stealth and speed, he could avoid the dragon. But when he reached the top, he found the dragon waiting in ambush. He knew he was doomed, and cried out that he had always loved his lady. Then, just when it seemed all was lost, the Fairy Queen appeared and cast a spell of blindness on the dragon, and the knight drove home the mortal blow."
Pat turned his head to gaze at Tiffany. "At last, the knight made his way to his lady, and placed true love's kiss upon her lips." He sat up to give Tiffany a kiss. "But the lady did not awake. For days, the knight wandered despondent in the corridors of the Forbidden Castle, wondering why the Fairy Queen's promise had failed. Then he remembered that the Queen had not promised that the first kiss should break the spell, only that a kiss might break the spell. So he returned to his lady, and kissed her again. When she did not awake, he sat beside her, telling her of the quests he had won because of her help, of the times she had feasted with him at her table and the times she had tended him at his bedside, and always of his regret that he had not appreciated her before.
"And every day, the knight kissed her, and told her the stories, and he found that each day he loved her more. But he did not speak of his love for her, because he waited for the day when his love would be great enough to waken the lady, so that she would hear him proclaim that he loved her. And then they would live... not happily ever after, but doing their best to make each other happy, one day at a time."
He kissed Tiffany's belly. "I'm sorry if that wasn't very good, my girl. I know a lot of the other grownups would say, it's not a good fairy tale. They'd probably tell me the dragons are too scary, and the Fairy Queen's too mean because fairies are supposed to be nice. Then they would definitely say the ending's all wrong, because the lady should wake up and live happily ever, because that's the way fairy tales are supposed to end." He wiped a tear from his eye.
"But I think grownups only say that because they don't know the old stories- that, or they don't like what they're really about. In those stories, the real fairy stories, there's always bad along with the good. There's so much that's wrong and frightening, so much loss and doubt, that sometimes you wonder if there's going to be a happy ending at all. And sometimes... there isn't. That's right. Even fairy tales don't always have happy endings.
"You have to learn that, my girl, because this world is going to break your heart, that's guaranteed, and I won't always be with you. You're going to have to be tough, or they will crush you flat, but you can't get so hard you forget how to hope, or they're going to bury you alive. But if you're anything like your mother and just enough like me, I think you'll turn out all right. And you're going to love fairy tales, because hope is what they're all about."
He planted one last kiss. "I love you, my girl. Sleep tight," he said. Then he took a rose from the vase and leaned over to whisper in Tiffany's ear: "I'm going now, because I know you don't want me here all the time. But I'll be back, as often as it takes, and I know, when you do wake up, I will be here. Because I believe in miracles, and I know... If I could wake up, then you can too." Then he kissed her on the lips, and laid the rose upon her chest
When the attendant came, she shook her head, and took the rose. Then she bandaged the wounds where Tiffany's fingers had hung on to the thorny stem.