Fly with Me

Prologue

Christen Press and her husband, Derek, were college sweethearts. At their graduation at Stanford University, Derek proposed to Christen in front of everyone. Christen started to cry tears of joy and excitedly nodded her head. Christen and Derek have been in love with each other ever since the day they met. They were often described as the "perfect couple" because they hardly fought, they'd always be smiling, and never a day went by where they were not hanging out.

A year after their marriage, Christen gave birth to a beautiful girl and named her, Crystal. Christen and Derek cried tears of joy as they both looked at their newborn baby, their newest addition to the Press household. Derek always stated that they had a beautiful family and Crystal brought them even closer together.

Everyday was full of laughter, pictures, and making memories. Christen thought she had the perfect life, she had an amazing husband whom she loved so much, she had a beautiful daughter, and they were living a beautiful life. But, it was not until three years later that disaster would strike their family.

A month after Crystal's third birthday, Derek was diagnosed with leukemia. The doctors stated that he was in critical condition, as he had stage III leukemia. Christen and Crystal would visit Derek at the hospital everyday, sometimes even sleepover. Christen prayed that Derek would be okay and they would cure him, but as days passed, Derek's condition grew worse.

One day at the hospital, Derek realized his time on Earth was being cut short so he told Christen that there was no chance of him making it. Christen kept reminding him to stay positive, but it was no use, she knew that he would only become worse. Derek's breathing was shortening and he had a hard time keeping his eyes open and that's when he knew that it was his time to go. He slowly reached for Christen's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I love you, I always will love you. I want you to find someone to keep you happy, don't be sad over my death, I will always be there with you. Spread your beautiful wings and fly, my love. Find someone who will fly with you, I'll be okay with that because no matter what, you will always be mines. I'll be protecting you from above, okay? Don't cry, you're going to be okay. Thank you for such an amazing life, I love you so much Christen, don't you forget that."

Christen was crying so much that she was shaking and her words were barely audible.

"I-I can't find someone else who will keep me happy. You kept me happy, I can't find someone new, I just can't." She saw that Derek's eyes were slowly closing. "Derek, I love you so much, I will always love you and only you." She stood up and ran out of the room because she could not bare to see her husband take his last breath.

Crystal was still in the room and hardly understood what was going on, but she knew it was bad news. She stood up and slowly started to walk towards her father.

Derek noticed Crystal and called her over, "Come sweetie, I still have a few breaths in me to talk to you."

Crystal stood by the bed as her father held her hand.

"I'm so sorry I am putting both your mother and you through this. Now, listen to me, you take good care of mommy, okay? I'm not going to be here anymore to take care of the both of you, so you have to be a big girl and take care of both yourself and your mommy, got it?" Crystal nodded her head as tears ran down her cheeks. "You're such a good girl. You are an amazing daughter and I wish I could watch you grow up and be apart of your life here, but I'm afraid I will be doing all those things from up there. You and your mommy are so special to me and I am forever grateful that God blessed me with both of you in my life. If mommy finds someone new, you accept them, okay? Because that's what I would do. Everything is going to be okay, I'll be watching over my beautiful family. I love you so much, don't forget daddy, okay?"

Crystal started to cry harder and climbed onto her father's bed to embrace him.

"Bye bye, Daddy, I love you."

And with that being said, Derek looked at his daughter and then at Christen, who came back and stood by the door in tears, one last time. He managed to give a slight smile as he closed his eyes and took his last breath.