Last Dance || 5sos

Chapter One

"Look at her, isn't she perfect?"

"Yeah, she is. What are we going to name her?"

"I want her name to mean something, but I also want it to be beautiful. Considering the occasion, I think I want to name her, Noelle."

***

Since day one, I always knew that I was special. Sure, I know everyone thinks that, and everyone should. Everyone is special in their own unique way. Whether it be their occupation...

"Come on, kids, we're going to be late!" 

Their wit...

"Come on, Mom! We have to be there at eight. It's only seven! That means we have fifteen minutes for breakfast, ten minutes to get ready, five minutes to get in the car, twenty minutes to drive there and ten whole minutes for traffic!"

Their persuasion...

"Please, Daddy? Please? The trip is only four hundred dollars but I may never get another opportunity like this ever again!"

Or, their ability to make everyone happy.

"Mom, we have time. And Dad, if everything goes well with this fundraiser, Sadie will have most of the money and she gets to go on an amazing trip that she'll remember for the rest of her life!"

"Oh... alright."

"Oh, alright." See? Everything works itself out. Yet sometimes, even the world's most special people, have to leave us. It's never fair, and it's never easy. Then again, who ever said the world was fair? 

***

"Wake up, sweetie. Wake up!" I hear my mother's voice softly coaxing me out of my long, but much needed sleep. I know that I really should get up, but who ever wants to get out of bed when the bed is so much more comforting? "Noelle Aubrey Parrish!" my mother gasped. "Am I going to have to get your father in here, young lady?" Foolishly, I giggle in my sleep. I know that I'm awake, but something inside me really wants my father to come in and get me up, like he always does. So like always, I pull the covers up over my head, giggle, and say "yes". My mother crosses her arms, but I can see through my blankets that she's smirking. I may be a child, but I'm not blind. "I've warned you, Noelle." I can hear her soft, airy footsteps travel down the hall, soon replaced by my father's heavy, loud, thumping ones.

"Looks like I got a call saying someone doesn't want to get up out of bed." My father, Adam Parrish, loves to act like the tough guy. But all in all, he's a total softie. I know that I'm a daddy's girl, no doubt. "Well, looks like it's time for... the tickle punishment!" In one swift move, my father rips back my bed sheets and blanket while I let out a squeal, seizing me in his large hands and tickling me until I'm forced to get out of bed so he'll stop. I try to catch my breath as my father laughs and pushes back my hair to place a kiss on my forehead. I've always loved the way he looked into my eyes, and smiled at me like I was his most prized possession. He shared this look with all of his children, my siblings, I mean, but when he did it with me, I could tell it had a different meaning. It had a separate one for all of us; a personal one.

My mother, Alice Parrish, always loved to watch me and my father play. She said that when we would go out and play, our eyes would dance and smile with our mouths and bodies, as we radiated sunlight from our fingertips, and never let the world see us cry. I loved my father, with everything I ever had. 

"There's my baby girl," he smiled. I faked a frown, pouting and crossing my arms over my chest.

"Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore! I'm ten years old!" 

"My gosh, are you sure? I could have sworn it was only yesterday that I was bringing you home from the hospital."

"My birthday was last month! Don't you remember?" I giggle. My father rubs his head in confusion.