Love gives hope

Epilouge 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."