04-22-2015, 08:32 PM
James smiled sadly down at his sweet little girl----she had her father's eyes.
"Now, sweetheart, we live our lives. Papa goes to work, you go to school, and we try to put as much happiness back in the world as we can, because your daddy would have wanted it that way."
So Richard had often told him, as he gradually got sicker and sicker.
'I want you two to laugh and smile and remember I love you when I'm gone, promise me that?' he'd asked on one of their final nights together, and all James had been able to do was hold his hand and sob. Their baby---it would never see its father's face. Hear him laugh as he nibbled its belly. Shiver at one of his famous scary stories. Get a hug from both of them---one of their famous 'smore hugs' Leah had loved so much, Richard on one side and James on the other.
The baby rolled inside him, rippling his belly under his sweater.
"Shall we go and have a hot chocolate, Leah? Get out of this rain?"
"Now, sweetheart, we live our lives. Papa goes to work, you go to school, and we try to put as much happiness back in the world as we can, because your daddy would have wanted it that way."
So Richard had often told him, as he gradually got sicker and sicker.
'I want you two to laugh and smile and remember I love you when I'm gone, promise me that?' he'd asked on one of their final nights together, and all James had been able to do was hold his hand and sob. Their baby---it would never see its father's face. Hear him laugh as he nibbled its belly. Shiver at one of his famous scary stories. Get a hug from both of them---one of their famous 'smore hugs' Leah had loved so much, Richard on one side and James on the other.
The baby rolled inside him, rippling his belly under his sweater.
"Shall we go and have a hot chocolate, Leah? Get out of this rain?"