Learning To Let Go

Author's Notes: I do not own nor do I know any of these characters in this fic. This story is completely fictional, it was simply written for entertainment. Some parts of this fic may not be suitable for people under thirteen years of age.

Chapter One

"Maybe I should come with you to drop Adriana at your house." Stephanie said to Paul, walking over to the H2.

Paul had been struggling with securing the toddler car seat in the middle of the back seat.

"No, you have three meetings at headquarters today." Paul said, finally seat belting the car seat firmly into place. He stepped out of the SUV and gave his wife a hug.

"It's a seven hour trip, and we'll have a romantic dinner for two before a nice long intimate weekend." Paul whispered in her ear as Steph rested her head on her husband's broad shoulder.

"Ooo, an intimate weekend, we haven't had one of those in a while."

She gave Paul a peck on the lips before they turned their attention to their two year old daughter, Adriana, who sat playing with her plush pooh doll in the front yard.

"Winnie the Pooh!" She shouted with glee as she threw the stuffed animal into the air and attempted to catch it.

"Hey baby Pooh Bear, say goodbye to Mommy, it's time to go." Paul called to his daughter.

The two year old smiled and ran to her mother. Steph picked her up and hugged her tight. Stephanie breathed in deep; this was her first time being separated from her child for more than a day. The smell of animal cracker crumbs from snack time filled her nose as she gave her little girl a kiss.

"Must you always get crumbs on your clothes?" Steph asked in some what of a laugh as she brushed off the toddler dress.

"Want me to put her in her seat?" Asked Paul reaching for his little girl.

Steph handed her off to him and watched as he sat her in her car seat.

"We go bye byes, Daddy?" She asked as Paul brought the safety straps around to her chest and clipped them into place.

"Yes, we're going to go see Grandma and Grandpa in New Hampshire. You're going to visit with them for the weekend. It will be fun." Paul said before giving his daughter a kiss on her forehead.

"Is Mommy coming too?" Adriana asked looking in her mother's direction.

"No honey, it's just you and Daddy, Mommy has to work."

"Oh!" She said swinging her little feet that dangled from the seat. "Where's my pooh bear?"

Steph quickly grabbed the stuffed animal from the front lawn and handed it to her little girl.

"I love Pooh!" She exclaimed, hugging the toy tight.

"I love you, my little pooh bear." Steph whispered to her child, giving her a kiss on her soft rosy cheek.

"Love you Mommy." She said putting the stuffed bear's head to Steph's face.

"Pooh gives you a kiss too."

Stephanie smiled and gave the stuffed toy a kiss before climbing out of the H2.

"Love you." Paul said before giving Steph a passionate kiss. She ran her hands through his dirty blonde hair savoring his takes; his beard tickling her face.

"I'll call you." Paul said as he got into the driver seat.

"Okay, I'll leave my cell on vibrate while I'm in the meetings." Steph replied as Paul popped a piece of gum into his mouth.

Steph folded her arms and watched as the H2 backed out of the driveway and drove off.

Stephanie sat at the head of the conference table. She listened to a member of the creative team as he presented a storyline to her and the rest of the team. She felt her phone vibrate on her belt. Steph flipped it open, revealing a text message.

"I love u" was displayed on the screen. Stephanie smiled and brought her right thumb to her key pad.

"I love u 2" She typed and sent.

Paul smiled reading Steph's reply, before he put his cell in the cup holder next to him. The H2 was mostly quiet except for the sound of the windshield wipers sweeping back and forth as the rain beat down on the automobile.

"Tut tut, it looks like rain!" Levesque heard Adriana cry out from the backseat.

"Yeah it's raining pretty hard. We need it though, it hasn't rained in weeks." Paul said as he glanced at his baby girl in the rearview mirror as the SUV barreled down the interstate.

"Sing the Winnie the Pooh song, Daddy!"

"I don't know the whole song, only mommy does."

"Sing some of it, PLEASE!"

"Okay, I'll sing part of it and you help me with the rest, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Winnie the…."

"Pooh!"

"Winnie the…"

"Pooh!" She screamed again making her Pooh Bear dance in her lap.

"Tubby little cubby all stuffed with…"

"Fluff!"

"He's Winnie the…"

"Pooh!"

"Winnie the…"

"Pooh!"

"Willy nilly silly old…"

"Bear!" Adriana screamed tossing her stuffed pooh into the air. She struggled to catch it, but it fell onto the floor of the SUV.

"Pooh fell down, Daddy." She said to Paul.

"We'll get him at the next rest stop, sweetie."

"I'll get him." She said in a sweet little voice as she unbuckled her car seat straps.

"Adriana, don't unbuckle your seat." Paul said as he looked in the rearview mirror.

She paid no attention for she wanted to get her favorite pooh bear that had fallen on the floor. Adriana climbed out of her car seat and crawled to her stuffed toy.

"Get back in your car seat!" Paul said again, this time sterner and somewhat frantic as he was now turned around looking at his daughter.

Paul unbuckled his seatbelt and tried reaching for his daughter to reprimand her and have her sit back in her seat.

"I got him…" She said aloud as Paul turned back to look at the road just in time to see that the car in front of him had stopped. Paul immediately slammed on his brakes and swerved, trying his best to miss the car. The SUV traveled into the right lane just in time for a huge eighteen wheeler tractor trailer to plow into the back of it.

Crashing metal, screeching tires and the sound of shattering glass erupted all at once. It all happened in a blink of an eye. Other road travelers quickly stopped and got out of their automobiles. The sight was horrific. The police, fire department and medics quickly responded and the road was closed off.

Red flares illuminated the road as well as a soiled pooh bear that lay in a bed of shattered glass as the rain continued to fall. Sirens screaming to be heard in the distance.