I Promise

[grumpypirate]

Wow...it's been a while since I've been here. Well, here's a story I wrote earlier this year. It's deffinatly not the best and not about LH, but when I first wrote it, I did use them but changed it in the end. If there are any mistakes, I'm sooooooooo sorry.

[img src="lovehammersecards.com/MCorg/smilies/heart.gif"][/IMG]

I Promise

I found her huddled in the corner of her room, clutching her ragged old blanket, tears silently streaming down her face. I picked her up and held her close to me while I whispered soothing words to her. I patted her back and told her it was just a nightmare and I was there to protect her and would always be. I brought her back to my room where she snuggled up against me. I stoked her hair and sang her soft lullabies as she fell into a peaceful sleep.
"You look tired." Phoebe my best friend of 15 years told me. "Kristy had one of her nightmares again." I replied. "Is she at her grandparents?" Phoebe asked. I nodded my head. When I was 18 I got married to a very sweet man named Aaron Baker. We had a daughter at 19 and divorced at 21, we just weren't right for each other. Now I'm 23 and Kristy is three and a half. We had a kind divorce. He gets to see Kristy whenever he wants and she stays with him every other weekend. Aaron works as a real estate agent and is a rock star on the side. His band mates, Blaine, Adam, Colby, and Mike love Kristy to death and try to help out the best they can. You see, right now I'm rather short on money, but I work as a waitress at one of the local diners in Chicago. It doesn't pay much, but at least it's a job. During the day, Kristy stays with Aaron's mom until I can come get her. I guess you can say my love life has been ok. I've had a few relationships but as soon as they see Kristy they turn around and run. Aaron has been luckier than me at least. He's had several relationships that have lasted for several months.

[grumpypirate]

I got off my sift at 5 and headed over to pick up Kristy. I found her with Grammie baking cookies. I picked up the young girl covered in flour. "Mommie, help us mommie." She said covering my cheeks in flour. I helped her finish the cookies and then I made her go clean up. "Now dear," the older woman said turning to me, "how have you been? Do you get enough sleep?" "I'm fine; I just need a bit of a vacation." I replied yawning. "Then why don't you take a day off dear?" she suggested. "If I take a day off I'll fall behind on the bills, I'm already late with my rent." "You look pale dear. Why don’t you and Kristy stay for dinner? I'll fix you a nice steak dinner while you rest." "I couldn't" I began to say. "Your family and you need a night off." She interrupted me. After dinner, I took a sleepy Kristy home. I laid her down in her bed and softly closed the door. I took a quick shower and went to sleep. "Mommie" I heard a voice cry out in the night. I rushed out of my bed, grabbing my house coat and putting it on before running to Kristy's room. I picked her up and sat her on my lap, holding her cold and shivering body against my warm one. "Oh great." I thought to myself, "They turned off the heat." I took Kristy and laid her in my bed. I then went to the closet and took out all of the blankets I could find and wrapped her in them. I knew it was late, but I also knew that the apartment could get really cold without warmth and I needed to get Kristy out of there before she got sick. I really hated to wake Aaron, but it was for the best. I called him and explained the situation. Within 20 minutes he was knocking at my door. "Thanks Aaron." I told him as I handed our daughter to him. "It's no problem." He replied. "Will you be ok here? I've got plenty of room at my place." "No, it's ok." I replied. "I'll be ok, just get Kristy out of here and into the warmth. He walked out of the apartment and put Kristy in his car. He came back and handed me a couple of blankets. "You might need these." He said before walking back to his car and driving away.
The next morning I woke up with my head pounding, but I brushed it off and headed to work. During lunch, Mike and Blaine showed up. "Hi ya Jean!" Mike said jumping up and sitting on the counter I had just finished cleaning off. "Hi Mike." I replied sticking a donut in him mouth. "Mmm free food." He said taking a bite. I laughed at him and shook my head which was still throbbing. I grimaced. Blaine noticed and came to stand beside me. "Are you ok Jean?" he asked me. "I'll be fine," I replied, "It's just my head." I took my lunch break and went with the two boys to the pizza place around the corner. When I got back to work, a spell of dizziness overtook me and I had to grip the table to keep from falling over.

[grumpypirate]

Friday soon came and I got off work early so I took Kristy over to Aaron 's. I walked into his house and sat down Kristy and her bags. Marty was sitting on the couch with some girl I had never met. "Oh, Jean," Aaron said jumping up, "You're early." "Yeah, I got off a bit early, I hope you don't mind." I replied. "No, it's no problem. Kristy and I can go to the ice rink early. Dawn, this is Jean." "It's nice to finally meet you Jean." Dawn said sweetly. "Kristy has told me so much about you." "Hi Dawn." Kristy said with a small grin. "Honey, why don't you go put your things in your room." I suggested to the young girl. She nodded and pulled at Dawn's fingers to come help her. Dawn got up and picked up Kristy's bags. The two walked through the hall and turned left into Kristy's room. "So," Aaron said turning to me, "what do you think of her?" "She seems sweet," I said putting a box of Kristy's favorite cereal in the cabinet, "and Kristy really seems to like her." "I do too." He replied. "I hope you don't mine me taking her to the ice rink with Dawn. Mike got a job there and can get us in for free." "It's alright with me." I told him. "Just be careful." "Yes Ma'am" he said with a fake southern accent that made me smile. "Mommy" Kristy screamed running into the room, "Look what Dawn got me!" She held up a teddy bear, and a new outfit complete with matching shoes and a hat. "Did you tell her thank you?" I questioned her. She ran up to Dawn and gave her a hug. "I think I'd best get going." I said. "Bye bye Mommy." Kristy said giving me a goodbye hug and kiss. "It was a pleasure to meet you." Dawn said from where she and Aaron stood holding hands. "I'll see you later Jean." Aaron said. I walked out the door and got into my car. When I got home, I was feeling worse than ever, so I climbed into bed and fell asleep.
I woke up to someone pounding on my door, or maybe it was my head. I couldn't tell so I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next time I awoke, someone was bathing my forehead with a damp cloth. I opened my eyes to see Phoebe's worried expression. "What time is it?" I questioned. "10:20." Phoebe said glancing at the clock. "When I got here for Friday movie night, you had a raging fever." "Thanks Phoebe." I said. "Will you be ok if I go home?" She asked. "Yeah." I replied before rolling over and going back to sleep. Most of Saturday and Sunday, I slept and watched TV while my head continued to pound. Monday I went back to work, but my headache never seemed to go away. The next Friday after dropping Kristy off at Aaron's, I went to the doctor. That's when I learned about it. I had cancer in my brain.

[grumpypirate]

The doctor said that I could undergo surgery, but it would be very difficult and expensive. I needed to have the surgery as soon as possible to prevent spreading, so we scheduled it for the next day. I didn't want to disturb Aaron 's time with Kristy, but I needed to make arrangements for Kristy to say with him for a while. I walked to his house and rang the doorbell. Dawn answered and let me in. Aaron was reading Kristy a bedtime story. He kissed her goodnight and closed her bedroom door. "Aaron" I said, "Can I talk to you?" We walked outside and I burst into tears. "Jean what's wrong?" Aaron asked. "I need you to take Kristy." I said. "Why?" Aaron asked, a worried expression forming on his face. "What's wrong Jean?" "I have cancer in my brain." I said moving away from him and sitting on the brick walkway that surrounded the garden. Aaron stood there in shock for a few minutes before moving over to me and putting his arms around me. I buried my face in his shirt and cried. "Will you try and explain to Kristy?" I asked him using my shirt sleeve to dry my eyes. "I'll do my best." He replied rubbing my back. "When will you have your surgery?" "Saturday at 10:30." I replied. "I'll be there when you wake up." He replied. He walked back inside and I went home.
The next day, I went to the hospital. Before the surgery began, Aaron brought Kristy and Dawn to my room. Kristy cried when she saw me hooked up to the heart monitor and clung to my shirt. "Mommy." Kristy said. "This is just like my dreams. I don't want you to leave me." "OH honey." I replied, "I'll never leave you. I'll always be right here." I said pointing to her heart. Aaron picked her up and turned to leave, but I called Dawn back. "Dawn," I said, "If anything happens to me, take care of the both of them." Dawn nodded and tears fell silently down her face. The nurse came in and wheeled me out of the operating room.
Two hours later, the surgeon walked over to Aaron and asked to privately speak to him. "The surgery didn't go well. We couldn't remove all of the cancer. The best we can do is let her go home and spend her last few days with her family and loved ones." "Can I see her?" Aaron asked. "We'll let you know when she wakes up." The next day, Aaron and Blaine took Jean home. A week later, after spending her time with her friends, and family, Jean died peacefully in her sleep. Dawn kept her promise she made. She took care of Kristy and married Aaron. A year later, they had a baby girl which they named Jean.

The End

[HY]

Good story, GP! It had me

[grumpypirate]

Thanks HY. It made me cry too after I reread if a few times. If I ever have the time, I'm thinking of writting a horror story, but that's only after I've got my Harry Potter story written. Note to self, Work on that.

[bostongirl]

GP - I have really missed your stories. Great job.

[starcrossed]

Great to see you writing again on the creativity thread GP! Excellent work as always.

[grumpypirate]

Thanks Boston and Star! It means a lot to me!!!

[jillywilly65]

Wow Gp this story sucked me right into it. I found myself getting choked up!? Glad your back yay!!!

Jilly

[grumpypirate]

Thanks Jilly! It about had me crying when I was writting it!