Necessarily Nikki

Prologue

CHARLIE FAIRCHILD

I was fifty-two years old. To most people that was still young. To me that was still young. I had a teenage daughter. A seventeen-year-old teenage daughter who was getting ready to start her Senior Year of high-school. She needed me. She didn't need to deal with this. She called me her Superman. Nothing can break Superman, but this was going to break me.

* * * * * * * * * *

I was an Attorney at one of the most prestigious Law Firm's in Ashcroft, Garfield and Alder—on my way to making partner. That would mean a lot in this town. That would mean a lot to my daughter, to me. But, not anymore. All of that had just been overshadowed by the news that I had just received.

It's not a secret that the doctor isn't a person's most favorite place to go and I am no different when it comes to that. Today was no different. In fact, today that notion was even more true. For the past few months I had been keeping a secret. A secret from everyone. I had been feeling extremely fatigued and very lethargic. Finally, I couldn't handle it anymore and decided, myself, that I needed to go to the doctor and get checked out. This wasn't normal and it wasn't normal for me. I was healthy, I was in great shape, I was active, and I exercised regularly. I knew that I shouldn't be feeling this way.

That visit was the one that changed my life forever. That doctor was the one that shattered my world into pieces.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Nikki?" I asked as I walked back into the house, trying to keep my voice even. She was excellent at detecting when something was wrong and the absolute last thing I wanted was for her to sense something before I had a chance to explain it all to her.

"Yeah dad." She said, as she came out of her room, carrying a plate to the kitchen and placing it in the sink before running water over it.

"Can we talk." This time it wasn't a question. It was a statement as I motioned, with my head, over to the burgundy leather couch as we both walked over and took a seat. I watched her for a minute before continuing. "I went to the doctor today."

She nodded her head, but never said a word. I didn't expect her to. She was my daughter, after all, and it was just her way. She got like this when she got nervous. She didn't like doctors either and she knew that I hadn't been feeling well even though I tried to hide it from her. This little girl is very perceptive. Introverts. That's just the way they are.

"I'm so very sorry, Pumpkin. I'm afraid I have some bad news." I let those words sink in for a minute as I took her, now, shaking hands, in mine.

"What is it, Daddy?" She asked, in a trembling voice, as her eyes looked from our hands, to my eyes, then back to our connected hands.

It was in that moment that I hesitated to tell her. Not because I didn't want her to know, but because I didn't want to shatter this little girl's world. I didn't want to tear her world out from under her like I knew I was about to do. I didn't want to break her like I knew I had to. I didn't know how to prepare her for this. I was a guy. There was no way that I could prepare her for this. I wasn't even prepared for this. So, I just took a deep breath and let it out.

"I have Stage-Four-Lung-Cancer. There is nothing they can do. I have six months at the most."