Epilogue 5-Years Later
Derek's Point-of View
When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
"Tell me a bedtime story, Daddy?"
I heard the whisper come from a sleepy little girl as I laid her down onto her small twin sized bed. I sighed happily at my five-year-old looking up at me with her dark blue eyes. Her head full of long ringlets framed her sweet face in a way I could never say no to her.
"Okay." I smiled as I sat on the edge of her bed "Just one."
"Yay." She smiled "Tell me my favorite…the one with the princess."
"That one's my favorite too." I grinned as I settled in and sighed. This story, I pulled from memory, not from a book. "Once upon a time…there was a beautiful princess."
"A beautiful baby princess?"
"Hey, I'm telling the story silly." I chuckled, she giggled as I tousled her hair, "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful baby princess… she was so special, she was a miracle. The king as a very sick man, he was told that he would die soon and that he would never have any children of his own. Then one day, they queen came and told him that she was going to have a baby. They were both shocked…but happy shocked."
"Because they were having a baby?"
"Because they were having a baby after being told they couldn't." I smiled, "The king got better for a while because the queen was very kind, she was a good lady, and she loved the king very much. Her love for him made him feel better and he was happy to see the baby growing bigger in her belly…but then one day he got very sick again."
"Was he going to die?" she gasped.
"Yes." I mumbled sadly, "He was going to die. His body was tired, and he was so sick that his body just couldn't live much longer… but then the queen went into labor."
"What's labor?" she asked curiously…
I chuckled, "It's when mommy's bodies tell them its time for the baby to come out."
"Is that what happened when I came out of mommy?"
"Oh yes." I grinned, "Can we get back to the story now?"
"Yes." She giggled.
"The queen went into labor, and it wasn't long after that the beautiful baby princess was born. Everyone was so very happy that the princess was finally here, but they were also worried about the king, because he was about to die."
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
"Oh no!"
"It was okay though." I smiled, "The queen brought the baby princess to see her Daddy. The princess reached out and touched him with a magical touch. Then, the king started getting better and better. Every day, he would get stronger, until one day he got up and he was completely healed."
"The princess made him better!" she squealed.
"That's right!" I grinned.
I heard a throat clear at the door and shrugged sheepishly as I was given strict orders to put our princess to sleep. I looked up at my very pregnant wife and sighed.
"Sorry. She'll be to sleep in no time, I promise."
"I can see that." She rolled her eyes, "I'm sure you would've done a great job, but now my mother will have to."
"Why?" I frowned "Is she here?"
"Just arrived."
"Why is she here so late?"
She rubbed her hand over her stomach and gulped.
"My contractions are 4 minutes apart, and my water just broke all over the stairs."
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
"Ouch."
She glared at me as if I had the audacity to say the word after all she was going through…I did my best to grin and bear it.
"Sorry, you've just got a really strong grip."
She scoffed; the doctor came in with a smile on his face that was starting to annoy the both of us. He sat down at the end of the bed, and I tried not to feel too territorial. After all, that was my playground down there…but this was his job, and he did get to see it at its worst.
"Oh my." He said without having to touch her, "You ready for this baby?"
"Yes." We both shouted in unison, I got a backlashing look from her…again with the grin.
"Alright just give me a gentle push."
I sat up next to her on the bed as I supported her while she curled around her belly and worked to bring our baby into the world.
And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth
She grunted as she laid back and fought to catch her breath, I kissed her temple and told her how much I loved her. I wasn't sure she loved me so much right now…I knew it was the pain.
"One more push and there will be another person in this room."
She sucked in a deep breath for strength and then curled around herself again… I watched in miraculous awe as the doctor held up our screaming baby for us to see.
"It's a boy."
We both let out sobs of happiness as our eyes filled with tears. The doctor cleared out his lungs and then wrapped him in a blanket to lay him on Meredith's chest. I hugged her, and she leaned into me…telling me that she forgave me. We sat and marveled at our beautiful son. He was a beautiful mixture of the both of us…
"What should we name him?"
"You choose." She smiled "I got to pick Emily's name."
"Okay." I said as I looked at our son, his eyes opened and he looked up at us with his crystal baby blues like his mother, "I always liked the name Ethan."
"I do too." She smiled, "it means long lived."
"Then, it's perfect." I grinned as I only wanted a long healthy life for my children, "Ethan David."
"Ethan Derek." She whispered as she rubbed his cheek.
"I thought I was doing the name?"
"You do, but I just vetoed the middle name." she retorted. "When you go through 9 months of bodily hell, plus six hours of labor, and push out a 9 pound baby.. you get veto power."
I sighed…happily. It's not likes she was giving him some weird uncle's cousins name, or an ex boyfriend's name…she was giving him a part of me.
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
"So that's it?" I asked as I buttoned up my shirt.
"That's it." Richard sighed, "You're going to tell Meredith, right?"
"You know if I don't, she'll find out anyway."
Richard shook his head and left the room to let me finish putting myself back together. I sighed as I stood up and walked to the light-board and looked at my films from the day. Then picked up the lab work off the counter and looked it over, carefully combing over every detail, expecting a glitch of some kind…
I finally riddled my mind enough and set it all down, turned the light off and walked out of the room to head home to my waiting family.
Today was my 5 year checkup to check and see if the cancer was going to try and rear its ugly head. Up until today, I had always had a clean bill of health. It was as if Emily's cord blood was a vile of miracle fluid.
It gave me life again.
Tears stream down on your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down on your face
And I...
I walked into my house to find it eerily quiet, as if everyone was on edge. Meredith appeared in the doorway of the kitchen and living room as soon as she heard the door shut, Emily stopped her playing in the living room and looked up at me. Three-month-old Ethan looked up at me from his perch on Meredith's hip…all eyes suddenly on me.
"What did he say?" Meredith asked cautiously.
I kept my expression blank as I crossed the room slowly, taking Emily by the hand as I approached her. She shifted and gulped nervously as if she were on the verge of tears at the anxiety of her anticipation.
"He said…" I breathed slowly as my face sank…. "He said that…" I sighed.
"Jesus Christ Derek just spit it out!" she hissed as her eyes filled. "I don't care if it's back I just want to know!"
Tears stream down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
"Well, you should know that it's not." I mumbled, she blinked and looked me over in disbelief as if she'd been spending the last 24 hours chumming herself up for the worst, I grinned mischievously, "I'm still cancer free."
"Yay!" Emily squealed at my side. I scooped her up and let her hug me and chuckled at the joke I'd pulled…that was until Meredith burst into tears.
"Mer?"
"Thank God." She sobbed as she buried her face into my chest, then sniffled and slapped her hand across it as she looked at me with red rimmed eyes, "Now, I get to kill you."
"Kill me?" I frowned "Was my joke really that bad?"
"No." she sniffled again, then gave a look that I'd seen before… "I'm pregnant."
Tears stream down on your face
And I...
Meredith did kill me that day…but she made up for it later.
Apparently, the chemo I'd gone through for all those years, only killed off the sperm I had at the time, and put my scrotum into hibernation. Needless to say, I was back in business and stronger than ever.
Elisha Faith was born that fall, her name means deliverance…because with faith you can find deliverance. I know I found mine, thanks to my wife and her determination.
I had given up on life, I had given up on love, I had given up on all of this.
Had I listened to myself and my own selfish desires; none of this would exist right now. But it does…because when you come to the end of your rope, love ties a knot and tells you to hang on. When you've given up on everything and life itself…
Love gives hope.
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
