My Hero
A/N: Cold Case and its characters do not belong to me. Please leave a comment letting me know what you liked, or didn't like about this work. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.
"Hello everyone, my name is Donovan Stillman." The 7-year-old talked into the microphone. It was the day of the "My Hero" assembly at his school. He had worked so hard on the project, with the help of his sisters.
Donovan was the Stillman kid that looked the most like his dad, except for the fact that he had a mop of curly brown hair on top of his head. He wore a pair of square lensed glasses. His blue eyes had a mischievous twinkle to them that he got from hanging out with his uncle Nick too much, but like his dad when it was time to get down to business, he was the most serious kid in the room.
"My mom, my dad, my Aunt Lilly, and my uncles are all cops, and they're technically all my heroes. My teacher said I could only pick one, so I picked my dad, Lieutenant John Stillman."
Kat laughed sat in the audience at her son's blunt sense of humor. He got that from her.
Donovan continued "My dad is my hero because he's the leader of his team and they catch bad guys that hurt people a long time ago. He makes sure people get justice"
John Stillman smiled. Donovan was always concerned with the difference between right and wrong. The boy got that from him. He thought about his son's love of Batman because the character served justice for those in Gotham City.
"When my Uncle Scotty got in trouble for saving my dad and Uncle Lilly, my dad took the punishment instead, because he believes in protecting the people in his house." Donovan turned the page of his written speech, "Whenever me, my mom, or my sisters get hurt, my dad is right there. He would do anything to protect us"
Scotty looked over at his boss remembering all the time the man had gone to bat for him.
"Another reason my dad is my hero is that when I was born, I was too little and the doctors told my mom and dad they didn't know if I would be okay. My mom was too sick to come to see me where I was in the hospital, but my dad sat with me every night when he got off work and talked to me so I wouldn't be alone."
Donovan paused and took a deep breath "The day I was born, my dad told my mom that they had to name me Donovan because it means strong fighter. He knew I was going to make it" There wasn't a dry eye in the audience when the projector behind Donovan showed a picture of John Stillman gowned up sitting beside an incubator with his hand inside the little window stroking his son's little arm.
Donovan pushed his glasses up, "My dad teaches us and my friend Leonard about baseball, basketball, and football." A picture of Donovan and Leonard's baseball team with John and Will as coaches showed on the screen, "My dad knows every stat from forever ago about sports. If you see him, ask him somethin'"
This comment made Will smile. He was grateful that his friend got a second chance at fatherhood, and he was proud of his friend. Anyone that saw John and Kat together could tell that they were great together.
Donovan looked up at his family sitting in the crowd, "The last reason my dad is my hero Is that when he married my mom, he adopted my sister Veronica and raised her like she was his own with no questions asked. Without my dad, I wouldn't have my sisters Janie and Delaney, or my brother Nolan." The last photo on the projector was John, Kat, with their four kids, and Janie and her son Sean.