She Loved Him and He Died

11. Golden and Green

A/n: the story is gonna be speeding up a bit, beware.

One year and three months later...

The woman was hunched over the toilet, both hands griping the sides of it while the tall man stood behind her with her hair gathered in his hand. He closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, not wanting to see the throw up. Though he still made sure to rub her back with his free hand in a attempt to comfort her.

"Josephine, I really think you should go see a doctor. You've been at this for a week now." He suggested lightly to her. Not only has she been puking non-stop but she has also been regularly grumpy. The man suggested the doctor but in reality, he has a hunch of what is going on. And if his hunch is correct, than he wouldn't be surprised, he did go bare a few weeks ago....

"I'm fineeeeee," she drags the word out as she closes her eyes and lays her head against the toilet seat. Hero walks over the the sink and reaches into one of the drawers and picks up what he had bought yesterday.

"Take this please," he requests to Jo as he hands her the small box.

With her eyes closed Jo reaches out and blindly grabs what he is handing her. Once feeling it settled in her hand, Jo pries a eye open to see what it is, a pregnancy test.

"Are you serious right now?" Josephine asks annoyed.

"Yep," Hero simply states.

She groans. "Fine, but go sit down, please. You know you shouldn't be standing this much."

Hero rolls his eyes as he exits the bathroom, knowing that she is right. As the time has progressed, Hero's body has grown weaker and he sometimes doesn't have good leg coordination, often making him stumble and fall. He fears that he soon will have to use a cane or walker. Maybe even a wheelchair.

As Hero approaches their bed that they share, he hears a loud 'UGHHHH' come from the bathroom and he silently chuckles to himself.

A few minutes pass by while Hero sits on the bed typing away at a very important document, he is so engrossed in it that he almost doesn't hear the door creak open, but luckily he does.

He shuts his laptop as turns his head to the side to see Jo peaking her head through the door. Hero waits for her to say something, but she just stands there nervously bouncing her leg and looking between him and the floor. "Yeah?" He asks her after a bit.

"It beeped," she simply tells him, he nods his head for her to continue when he sees that she won't on her own, "and I don't wanna check it. I'm scared." He smiles lightly and stands up from the bed slowly.

"I'll check." He places a kiss on her forehead and slips by her into the bathroom where the stick lays on the countertop.

As predicted it reads; pregnant.

A genuine smile graces his face, even though he knows the time is running out, he is still ecstatic to know that he will be having a child.

"What does it say," he hears Jo ask from behind him.

"That we are going to be parents." He mumbles, lost in his thoughts.

"Is that good or bad?" He feels her arms slip around his waist from behind, they are lightly shaking.

"It's good, very good." He nods to himself, but then dread takes over.

'Who will take care of Jo and the baby once he is gone?' He asks himself. He doesn't want to leave her on her own with a child. Though he knows he will be leaving enough money to her so that she and his offspring will be living way more than comfortable once he's gone. But still.

Who is going to scare the boys away or hype up to go ask the girl out? Perhaps it'll be a girl, who will walk her down the aisle and give her away to her significant other? Baseball in the front yard? Daddy daughter dances? First time walking, first words, first 'I love you dad'? first 'they broke my heart dad, go kill them'?

This is everything he's ever wanted, but he can't have, only if he is lucky enough, will he be able to hold his own child.

"This isn't good, Jo!" He then exclaims as sobs take over his body, he leans against the sink for support as one of his hands come up to cover his face. "I won't be there to see any of it! I'll end up just being the memory of a rich, sick guy who knocked you up then died!" He sinks to the floor, his agonizing cries fill up the bathroom and he starts to feel like he is suffocating.

"No, no, no, love. That's not it at all," Josephine takes his large hands into her own small ones. "You'll be way more than that, you'll be the man in which I fell in love with in a short amount of time. You'll be the man that gave me the world, who held me in my times of need and made me feel like a absolute queen. This child in something I can remember you by," she places a cool hand on his burning hot cheek. His eyes are tightly shut as she whispers soothing words to him. "You are the man I'll forever love. The man that will never ever be replaced. I love you, Hero."

"Y-you love me?" He asks hesitantly. He cannot remember the last time he had heard these words be directed at him, Josephine now sees a part of Hero that she never thought she would. A young broken boy, with the world on his shoulders and no one to help hold him up.

"Yes, Hero. I love you with all of my heart."

"I-I love you, Josephine. Marry me?" To others it may have seemed like the wrong time to ask or a weird time. But for the decaying couple, it was the absolute perfect time.

Josephine smiles a wobbly teary smile, and nods her head frantically while launching herself at the still crying man.