December Sorrow

Chapter 12:

I waited. Waited and prayed; I guess that's all I could do… and hope; hope Ushio doesn't meet the same fate her mother had.

Greg and Claire sat next to me; both of them seemed as if they were going to start crying at any moment. But they never did. I'm sure they have been through this hundreds of times…. By the time the doctor came out of Ushio's room, my hands were shaking.

"Ushio is stable now," the young doctor smiled.

I guess we all breathed a sigh of relief when Dr. Trent said this. But I couldn't help but notice Dr. Trent still seemed worried.

"What's wrong sir? Is Ushio going to get better?"
Dr. Trent bit his lip and rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry to say that I'm not quite sure if she will get better. It seems Ushio has the same mysterious illness her mother, Chelsea had. All we can do is wait."

I sadly looked down at the floor, "I understand doctor. Thank you."

Dr. Trent placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled brightly. "Don't worry Mr. Vaults. Ushio is a strong, brave little girl. I'm sure she will be fine! In fact, I think you can go see her now."

"You can go first Vaughn. We'll wait here," Claire sniffled.

I nodded and made my way to Ushio's room. I always hated hospitals, they remind me too much of death. I slowly opened the door and made my way into the dark room. Ushio was sleeping soundly in the bed, and the only sound you could hear was the steady beeping of the heart monitor. I sat down in the chair next to her bed and softly stroked her hair.

"Ushio… I know you can't hear me, but I just want to know how much I love you. I know we've only been living together for about a month now…. I just-," I paused. I'm not really sure why, but I looked out the window to see the stars. And for some reason, they were so very bright.

I laughed. Chelsea would have loved to see that.

I then grabbed Ushio's cold hand and held it gently. "You look so much like your mother. I'm sure you'll grow up to be just as beautiful as she was. You'll be just as brave and strong as well. I know you will."

Ushio's cheeks were still pink from her fever, yet her hand was icy cold. I felt so hopeless… I'm supposed to protect her from this. But there was nothing I can do. "Ushio, when we come home, we'll do all kinds of fun things. We'll play with the new animals on the ranch, plant our very own garden, and go to the park…. W-We'll even get a puppy!"

I couldn't hold back any longer…. I've really become a sissy I thought as tears rolled down my cheeks and fell onto Ushio's hand. Then, Ushio slowly opened her eyes.

"D-Do you promise?"

I laughed as I dried my tears on my sleeve. "Of coarse I promise. As soon as we get home, we're going to get our very own dog."

Ushio gleamed. "Don't forget the garden and the part about playing with the animals and the park silly!"

"How could I forget?"

….december sorrow.

Ushio's recovery was slow, but in about two weeks; she was ready to come home.

Ushio was thrilled to come home and go back to school, but it still seemed as if she wasn't feeling well….

One day, after picking up Ushio from school, she handed me a flyer.

"Daddy, it's the family races… can we join this year?"

I carefully read it and shook my head, "I don't know Ushio. You just came back home from the hospital a week ago. I don't want you to push yourself too hard."

Ushio sadly took the paper from me and headed towards her bedroom. I sighed in defeat.

"Ok… if you think you can handle it Ushio, I'll sign us up."

Ushio jumped up and down happily, ran over to me and hugged my legs.

"Thank you so much Daddy! I'll train myself everyday so we can win!"

I chuckled as Ushio went outside and began running laps around the ranch.

Fall was approaching, and so were the races. Everyday, Ushio ran with me. We ran for hours and we got better each time. I really believed we had a chance to win. On Monday, when I was dropping Ushio off at school, I saw it; Alisa training with Ushio's best friend, Ellie.

Alisa saw me in the car and waved. "Hello Vaughn! How are you?"

I stepped out of the driver's seat and placed my hands on my hips angrily. "Alisa? You're competing too?"

Alisa merely laughed. "Yes. I participate every year. Why?"

I smirked, "Ushio and I are competing as well."

Alisa smiled cheerfully and clapped. "Oh how nice! But I must warn you, Ellie and I have been practicing for months now and we have a good chance of winning!"

I scoffed. "Then it's a bet. If Ushio and I win, we get gloating rights for a year."

Alisa then smiled smugly, "Fine. If we win, you have to wear a chicken suit all day around town!"

Alisa and I shook hands, while Ushio and Ellie gave us both a confused look.

"They're so weird."

Ushio nodded her head in agreement, "grown ups are weird."

The next week, I trained even harder. I was not going to wear a chicken suit for sure! After my running routine, I found Julia and Eliot with they're daughter, Layla, at my door.

I wiped the sweat off my head and half smiled. I was happy to see my cousin again… I haven't seen her since, well, since Chelsea passed away.

"Hey, guys! Long time no see huh?"

Julia laughed as her daughter hid behind her dress. "It's good to see you Vaughn. How have you been?"

"Better since Ushio moved in. I really would be lost without her," I shrugged.

Eliot rubbed the back of his head nervously. After all these years, I still think the guy is afraid of me.

"Y-You don't mind if we visit for a while do you," Eliot stuttered.

I chuckled and opened the door for them. "You're welcome anytime."

They settled in the guest room and soon we were talking and laughing like we used to. Layla and Ushio even became friends. After an hour of talking about who should win on American Idol, we decided to sit around the table for a game of cards and drinks.

"How about poker?"

I rolled my eyes at my cousin. "Julia I doubt a six and five year old knows how to play that."

"Ummm…. How about go fish?"

Eliot set the cards up so we could play go fish. Soon, we were in a fierce go-fish competition. Surprisingly, we were all getting our butts kicked by Ushio and Layla.

"So, Ushio… you never met your Mommy," Layla asked out of the blue.

Everyone became silent; everyone, except Ushio. She just smiled and looked at the picture of Chelsea on one of the end tables.

"No. But I've seen many pictures of her. Plus Daddy tells me a lot of stories about her. I know she was a very kind person, worked very hard and did her best to have me."
As Ushio said this, memories came flooding back to me. All the times I spent with her; it's still hard to believe that's all gone. My eyes began to sting, and I realized I was on the verge of tears.

"Daddy? It's your turn now."
I blinked back the tears so no one could see. "Is that so? Well, Ushio, do you have an ace of spades?"
Julia looked at me sadly and set her cards down. "Vaughn. It's ok to feel sad sometimes. I know Chelsea was important to you."

I ignored Julia and waited for Ushio to tell me to go fish or not. "I-I wasn't thinking of that," I huffed.

Julia watched me for a second, and finally picked up her cards.

"Go fish Daddy"

I grabbed a card from the stack and tried to ignore the sympathetic stares I was getting from Julia and Eliot.

After dinner and a couple of hours of TV, we all went to bed.

I took Ushio into her room and began to tuck her in. As I was walking towards the door, Ushio sat up.

"Daddy… wait. Don't go."

I turned around and laughed. "You're not afraid of the dark are you?"
Ushio huffed. "No! I'm a big girl now. The dark doesn't scare me!"

I walked over to Ushio's bed and ruffled her hair, "What is it then," I whispered softly.

Ushio played with the stitching on her blanket and gazed up at me with teary eyes. "I-Is it my fault Mommy's gone?"

That's when I sat down and looked Ushio straight in the eyes. "No Ushio. Don't ever say that, your mother was sick. You had nothing to do with it."

"If Mommy was here, you would be happy again?"

What Ushio said caught me off guard. Of coarse things would be better if Chelsea was still here, but I'm happy with Ushio. I'm content with living with my daughter. Then I realized how Ushio must feel; I know she's seen me cry because of Chelsea's death, so maybe she thinks I'm not happy anymore…

"Ushio, I love you. I'm happy because I have you. I loved your mommy, and I do miss her, but I have you know. I'm happy again because I have the best daughter in the world."

Ushio smiled and hugged me tightly, "I really missed you when you were gone. I love you Daddy."

I hugged her back. "I missed you too baby girl…. I missed you too."

"Before you go, can you sing Mommy's song?"

I chuckled and began to sing, but I thought of something even better. "Hold on Ushio, I've got something for you."

I walked out of the room and got something I haven't seen in a long time now. I grabbed the music box I got for Chelsea the first time we went to the city together. I came back in and handed Ushio the tiny music box.

"It's so pretty. Where did you get it?"

"It was a gift for your mommy. Go ahead, open it."

Ushio slowly opened it and the soft tune began to play. I glanced inside the box and I saw some of Chelsea's small treasures.

"It's Mommy's song! And look, there's a bunch of cool stuff in it!"

"It's yours now Ushio. Take good care of it," I said quietly.

"I will! Thank you so much!"

I tucked Ushio back in bed and left. I laughed when I heard her get back out of bed and play the music again.

The next morning, I woke up early and began my running routine. Tomorrow was the big race and I had to make sure I wasn't going to have to but a chicken costume. Alisa is going down!

Things were normal again; Ushio was back to her old self, I was working on the ranch and I think life was getting better and better each day…..

Author's note: Thank you everyone for the nice reviews! They are very much appreciated! Also, thank you to everyone who has read this far. I know I've told some that a couple of chapters may be pretty sad, please read to the end; I know everyone will love it! Tell me what you think of this chapter! :D

-forevergone123