Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the song. I also don't have anything worth suing me for, so I wouldn't waste my time trying if I was you.

Seasons in the Sun

Chapter Three

Goodbye papa please pray for me

I was the black sheep of the family

You tried to teach me right from wrong

Too much wine and too much song

Wonder how I got along

Goodbye papa it's hard to die

When all the birds are singing in the sky

Now that spring is in the air

Little children everywhere

When you see them I'll be there

3 Days Later

Pacey slowed his pace as he got closer to his father's house. He figured it was time to tell his father what was going on. His father still lived in the same house Pacey had grown up in. Pacey's mother and father had been in a car accident a year and a half ago. His mother was dead and his father was confined to a wheelchair. Subsequently his father had retired from his position of sheriff and Doug had taken it over. Pacey knocked on the door once before entering the house. He was pale and he was shaky and out of breath when he walked into the kitchen, where his father was making lunch for himself.

"Hey Pops. How's it going?"

"You look like crap. Have you started drinking again?"

"No dad, I'm not drinking."

"Then why do you look so bad?"

"Well, dad, that would be because I'm sick."

"You shouldn't be out running if you have the flu."

"I don't have the flu, pops. And I haven't been running. I walked."

"So what is it? A cold?"

"No, it's not a cold. I have cancer, dad."

"That's impossible," his father said simply.

"It's not impossible dad. It's very possible, and it's happening. I've been going through treatment for months, but it doesn't look too good. I don't think I'm going to make it, and I just thought you should know."

"Oh, Pacey. What about Michelle?" his father said. Pacey could see that tears were starting to form in his eyes.

"Dawson's going to take care of her. He promised to take her out to California to live with him and Andie if anything happens to me."

"But California is so far away. Why don't you let me take care of her?"
Pacey thought back on his upbringing and knew without a doubt that he did not want John Witter raising his daughter. It was true that he had gotten closer to his father, but that hadn't happened until after the car accident. "She'd be too much trouble for you to take care of dad. And I can't put this extra burden on Bessie and Bodie, she's pregnant again you know. Besides, Dawson offered to take her."

"Well all right. He'll bring her back to visit though, right?"

"Of course he will."

"And I want to spend some time with the two of you in the next couple of weeks."

"Sure thing, Pops."
Pacey stayed and talked to his father for a little while longer. He promised to bring Michelle over for lunch the next day. When Pacey got up to leave his father grabbed his arm and looked up at him with tears in his eyes. "I know I gave you a hard time when you were growing up, but please, don't ever doubt that I loved you. I love you with all of my heart and I want you to know that before it's too late to tell you."

"I love you too dad."