6 months ago.
"Good Morning Kennedy!"
"NURSE HALEY! You're back!"
"Of course I'm back; you don't think I would miss your big day!"
Kennedy's smile widens at her favorite nurse. Today is the day the Kennedy has been waiting for for several weeks. Today the Make a Wish staff will be coming into talk with her about what she wants to be her wish. She has been coming up with ideas for weeks and can't decide.
"Mommy what time will they be here?" The excited 7 year old asks. Kennedy's mom Stacey smiles over at her daughter.
"Around 11 pretty girl, but until then you need to do what Nurse Haley tells you so that you can get better." Kennedy smiles at her mom and nods her head.
This is not the way things were supposed to be for them, but it had become their new normal over the past few months. Kennedy was a healthy, smart, funny little girl until last summer when her mom noticed she was getting bruises and they weren't going away. After taking her to the doctor, Stacey got the news every parent fears. Kennedy had leukemia. Luckily it had been caught quickly and Kennedy chances of survival were very high. Which brings us to the present, the doctors had been pleased with Kennedy's improvement and her numbers were looking great so it looked like it was only a matter of time before she would be in remission.
11 o'clock finally came around and the girls made their way down the hallway to the elevators which would take them to the conference room where Kennedy and Stacey would meet with the team who would help make her wish come true. They reached the elevators Kennedy pressed the button and stood back to wait for the doors to open. When the elevator dinged and the doors opened Kennedy screamed in excitement upon seeing the people on board.
"Aunt Maggie! Gramma! Papa!" she screamed "Are you hear for my big day?" The 3 adults smiled and unison said yes. Kennedy ran into the arms of her Aunt Maggie who picked up the little girl giving her a hug. Stacey joined them on the elevator greeting her family and thanking them for coming up to the hospital for this occasion.
"Kennie, do you have your wish picked out yet?" Stacey's mom asked. Kennedy smiled and held up a folded piece of paper.
"No not yet Gramma, but I have a couple ideas written down."
The elevator dinged announcing their arrival to the main hospital floor. The group stepped out and headed down the hallway toward the conference room. When they arrived at the room they were greeted by Kennedy's favorite nurses Haley and Susan, along with her doctor, Dr. Cooper.
"Hi Kennedy!" Dr. Cooper greeted the little girl. "I have a few friends in here I would like you and your mommy to meet. Would you like to meet them?" Kennedy wiggled out of her aunt's arms and was now standing next to her mom grabbing of a hold of her hand.
"Yes please!" the 7 year old said excitedly.
"Alright everyone come on in"
Stacey looked over at her mom, dad, and sister who smiled. "We will wait out here hun, this is for you and Kennedy" her mom stated.
"Are you sure?" Stacey asked. "Dr. Cooper said everyone was welcomed."
"We know but this is Kennedy's moment and we don't want her to be overwhelmed or feel too much pressure" her mother explained. Stacey smiled and nodded.
"Ok then, I guess we will see after the decision is made." Stacey said with a laugh and walked into the conference room.
Stacey entered the conference room which was filled with pictures and banners of other kids receiving their wishes, along with balloons and a cake in the center of the table. Kennedy was now standing with Nurse Haley and Nurse Susan looking at picture of a little boy meeting Mickey Mouse.
"Ms. Granger, I'm Kim Smith. A short blond woman stated as she greeted Stacey at the door. "This is Danielle O'Donnell we are here to make sure Kennedy's wish comes true." The woman pointed to a dark haired woman about 10 feet away who smiled and waved.
"Nice to meet you both, I appreciate all that you are doing for my little girl, this has been a rough year as you can imagine." Stacey told the ladies.
A few seconds later Stacey felt a pull on her shirt. "Mama when can have I have some cake?" she heard the small voice of her daughter ask.
Stacey looked down at her daughter and picked her up. "I don't know Kennedy why don't we ask Miss Kim and Miss Danielle what the plan is and when you can have a small piece of cake."
"Well as soon as you have picked your wish you and your mommy can have some cake" Miss Kim told the little girl. "Why don't we sit down and start talking about what you want your wish to be" the woman said directing everyone to the table.
Kennedy was placed at the head of the table with Stacey on her right and Kim to her left. Danielle was next to Kim and the doctor and nurses filled in the remaining seats.
"Alright Kennedy, you got to see what other special kids like you have chosen, so what will be? Maybe a trip to see Mickey Mouse or someplace warm and sunny?" Kim asked the little girl.
"No I don't think so Miss Kim, Gramma and Papa took me to meet Mickey 2 years ago for my birthday" the little girl stated.
"Kennedy why don't you pull out your list you made of wishes and maybe that will help you decide." Stacey told her daughter.
The little girl looked down at her paper still folded up in her hand and opened it up. Looking through the options she had written down with the help of her mom and family.
"Can you read to me some of the things you wrote down?" Kim asked the little girl.
"Okay, my first wish is to not be sick anymore but Dr. Cooper said he is working on that one." Kennedy said.
Kim smiled at the little girl. "Dr. Cooper is a great doctor; I don't doubt he's working on that right now. Do you have any others?"
Kennedy looked back at the paper. "Yes, I want to go to cheer camp like the big girls at mommy's school, play football at mommy's college, drive a racecar like my Papa used to, or maybe see wrestling in person. Mommy said there are places you can go to see it live and they wrestle right in front of you." The little girl explained excitedly.
"WOW! Kennedy those are some great ideas for wishes." Kim told the little girl. "We can definitely make one of those happen, except maybe letting you drive a racecar since you don't have a license yet. The wrestling one is a good choice, John Cena loves to grant wishes for kids." This caused Kennedy to scrunch her nose up.
"No, no. I don't like John Cena. He lies on TV, he claims to like kids but really he doesn't." All the adults in the room stare at the little girl in shock and awe. "I watch Total Divas with Aunt Maggie sometimes when I can't sleep. If could would want to meet Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Mommy said they are used to be in a Shield together and they are best friends just like me and mommy."
Stacey almost spit out the water she was drinking from when she heard the confession of her 7 year old. She knew her sister didn't always follow the rules she had for Kennedy when she was watching her but she was not aware that she letting her was watching episodes of Total Divas. However she knew her daughter was bright and good judge of character so it didn't come as much of a shock for her to that her daughter picked up on the fact that John didn't want kids in real life but was portrayed on TV to love them.
"I promise you Kennedy Mr. Cena is a really nice man but it's your wish so you don't have to meet him unless you want to. If you want to meet another superstar or want to go to cheer camp, it's your choice. So which is the one thing you want most?" Kim told the girl.
Kennedy sat for a few moments in silence. Stacey could see the serious expression on her face, which showed that she was really trying hard to make the choice. Finally after a few seconds, Kennedy spoke up.
"Mommy can Aunt Maggie come in, I want to ask her something."
Stacey nodded and said she would go and get her sister. Stacey stepped into the hallway to see her parents and sister sitting on a bench not far from the room. Upon hearing the door open the 3 people turned to look at her.
"Maggie, Kennedy wants to talk to you." Stacey stated. Maggie got up and walked toward her sister and into the door of the conference room.
"Hi kiddo, Mommy said you need me." Maggie said entering the room with Stacey not far behind her.
"Yes but only you. Mommy can't be here." Maggie and Stacey looked at each other with strange expression but Stacey finally smiled that it was fine.
"Okay I'll be right outside if you need me baby." Stacey stated as she stepped into the hallway.
After stepping back in the hallway Stacey's parents turned surprised to see her standing there.
"I got kicked out; Kennedy wanted a private conversation with Maggie." She told her parents.
"Interesting, you never know with those two alone what might happen." Her dad replied. The three adults sat in silence for a few minutes before Stacey's mom spoke up again. "So I know this probably isn't the best time to bring this up but have you talked to him about what Kennedy is going through? Maybe it will make him realize what he is missing out on."
"Him? You mean Kennedy's sperm donor?" Stacey said with slight anger in her voice. "No I have not contacted him; he made himself perfectly clear the night I told him I was pregnant. I have left the door has been open to him for last 7 years and he has never once made an effort to get involved. Why would I want him here now?"
"Don't get upset, I just thought it would be a good idea if he knew she was sick." Her mom answered her.
"The last thing Kennedy needs is more stress and someone's insincere sympathy. Me forcing him to come here and pretend he wants to be a father is only going to make things harder for both of us. Like I said he made his intentions for her very clear a long time ago. Plus he has to be stupid not to know she's sick, he has Facebook and is still following me."
"Okay I was just thinking."
"I know mom you just want what everyone wants, which is what's best for her. But I came to the realization a long time ago that it's his loss not hers. She's got an amazing family who loves her and she's great little kid, she isn't missing out on anything."
A few seconds later the door opened and out walked Maggie and Kennedy hand in hand followed by the rest of the group who was in the room.
"So pretty girl did you pick your wish?" Stacey asked.
"Yea munchkin what did you pick?" Stacey's dad asked.
Kennedy smiled up at her aunt. "I picked my wish but I can't tell anyone what it is. It's a surprise."
Kim and Danielle stepped forward. "Ms. Granger it was great meeting you and daughter today. She it was great little girl and we can't wait to make this wish come true for her."
"Thank you both so much, I don't know what she asked for but hope you make it happen for her."
"Don't worry we definitely will." The girls smiled "Now let's go have some cake!"
"CAKE!" screamed Kennedy.