Goodbye

8

Steve sat in rehearsals thinking about other possibilities they could have children. Adoption was one way to go, and there was nothing wrong with that. Both of them would love the child so much, but the longing to have a child of their own would always be on the back of their minds.

"Hey Steven!" His Director, Michelle, smiled at him as she walked by.

"Hey." He mumbled.

"Still having trouble processing it?" Her smile faded, turning into a frown.

"I don't think I'll ever get over it... She was so happy.. but at the hospital... She was so pale.. In so much pain.. Then the doctors did a sonogram just to see that it was gone.." He frowned. "It was like a really bad nightmare come to life." He shuttered.

"There are doctors that can help you both you know." Michelle said while leaning on the doorframe to the dressing room. "Can give you both medicine to help the process go along smoother."

"I doubt that. Pippa's not into the whole, hospital scene right now... I doubt she'll walk in one for a very long time." He sighed.

"I understand." She frowned. "Take it easy. I know it's tough now." She said before leaving.

Steven knew that he couldn't just take it easy. He had a show to put on, go home, make sure Pippa was still alive, love Pippa, probably cook dinner, then make sure she slept, then he had to stare at the ceiling for six hours, sleep for maybe two hours and repeat his entire day over again.

He was running on little to no energy most days and it was exhausting. Especially fans... Oh the fans. He had some days where he just sucked it up and smiled for pictures, but today was something else.

A fan had wanted his photo really badly and he just walked right on by. He of course apologized, and said he needed to be in the theatre, but he felt awful for doing so. The fan's face was so sad.. but he just couldn't force himself to do any of that. No one knew the pain he was going through, and he couldn't explain it to anyone either. The entire fan base that they had accumulated would've resulted into a giant wildfire.

"I need a vacation.." Steve muttered while rubbing his hands on his face.

===

Vanessa watched her husband take his medicine everyday. She saw the light leave his eyes most days as well. She tried to cheer him up, but to no avail, nothing seemed to work.

"Why doesn't Daddy smile anymore?" Sebastian frowned.

"Because... Daddy's sick. He just needs some rest." She lied. He didn't need rest. He was too afraid to look at his children.

Lin would cry in his office while staring at the family photo on his wall. He feared that he wouldn't ever see his boys grow up. Or see anything for the matter. The doctors were all telling him different things on how long he would live. So he had no sure deadline.

Funny word deadline... In any other case, it would've been just a time when something was due. In this case, Lin's time on this earth would be due.

Then it hit him...

His entire life was nothing but one big deadline. Everyone's was.

It was like a rush of happiness had flown through him. He immediately stood from his office chair, regretting the sudden jolt, causing the pain in his back and stomach to reappear. But he needed to tell Vanessa.

"V! I have the best idea for a musical." He grinned.

===

Pippa sat in the living room. Something she hadn't done in a while. She was watching some weird cartoon, trying to get her mind off of everything. Her usual shows always had some sort of reminder to her past and she didn't want that. So she settled on some kid's cartoon to dull her mind.

"I'm home." Steven's voice could be heard from the little front door area. Pippa heard him, but was too comfortable to leave the couch. "What's that smell?" He asked while walking into the living room.

"I ordered dinner." Pippa answered, her eyes not leaving the television screen.

"What are you watching?" He asked while walking into the kitchen.

"Spongebob." She answered.

"Why?" Steven chuckled. "I like spongebob, but you find it annoying."

"I may find it annoying, but it's kind of funny." She admitted. She had never really sat down and watched the older episodes, her parents had forced her to watch more educational cartoons.

"Well I'm glad you're enjoying the fine wines of cartoons. You know, before they messed it all up." He said while sitting next to her on the couch. "I missed you all day."

"I missed you too." She smiled. Steve was a little taken back, seeing her first genuine smile in a while. He looked into her deep brown eyes and saw the light slowly coming back. She was finding herself once again.

===

Lin sat in his office with his children, trying his best to teach them a bit of piano for the day. He was anxious to begin writing, his itch coming back to him. He had even called his old pals to create the musical. But he wasn't going to let them on about his illness either. He wasn't going to let it overtake him.

Not again.

Once his lessons were finished, he pulled his laptop out and began typing away at different things. Any idea he had he wrote down quickly. Not scrapping a single idea just yet. He needed to look at it from all angles and wanted it to be perfect.