A/N: Good evening friends! This story was continued due to requests by Brummie 10 and Xzonia. Some of you may have already read this first chapter. It was originally published as part of my "Excerpts From Falc's One Shot Fridays" collection. It's a song-based oneshot. But they requested that I tell the other half of the story and I couldn't resist. So Chapter 2 is completely new and not part of the "Excerpts..." collection. Nor is it song based. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this little trip down memory lane! The song this chapter is based on is called "Love of my Life" by Queen. Let me know what you think!
Where are they? Aaron thought as he ransacked his room looking for something very specific. Two things, actually. I know I left them together. Where are they? He looked under the bed, through every drawer, and all through his closet until he finally found what he was looking for.
"Yes! Perfect!" He said aloud as he made his way back to the living room. Jack was sitting on the floor playing with his action figures and his Aunt Jessica was on the couch watching TV.
"Hey Jack," Aaron called. "You wanna hear a story?"
Jessica looked up from her sitcom and saw Aaron holding something in his hands. Recognizing them immediately, she turned off the TV and made room on the couch.
"Oooh, I've heard this one before, Jack!" she said. "This is a good one!"
Jack climbed onto the couch between his father and aunt with an excited look on his face, which turned to confusion when he saw the items his dad was holding.
"Daddy, why do you have a pirate hat?"
"It's an important part of the story. Here, why don't you hold it for me." He plopped the hat on Jack's head and it immediately fell over his eyes.
"Hey!" he giggled. "Now I can't see!"
Jessica laughed as Aaron pushed the hat back a little so Jack could see.
He's smiling and laughing. That's a good start, Aaron thought as he opened his copy of "Reflections 1987" and began the story.
"Once upon a time, way back in the year 1987, there was a young man named Aaron." He flipped to the 'Juniors' page. "This handsome young man right here," he added, showing Jack his picture.
"That's you, Daddy!" he exclaimed. "You had a lot of hair!"
"If you think he had a lot of hair, wait till you see the next picture," Jessica added with a chuckle.
"Hey! Who's telling this story?"
"Sorry. Please continue," Jessica said as Jack continued to giggle.
"Thank you," Aaron said, looking down at Jack, who only giggled more.
"Anyway," Aaron continued. "One day young Aaron was looking for a classroom he had never been to before and he accidentally walked into the wrong room. And in that room sat the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world. Her beauty took Aaron's breath away and made him dizzy and made his knees weak."
"What's that mean?" Jack asked.
"That means that she was so beautiful that young Aaron almost fell down because his legs weren't strong enough to hold him up!"
"Wow! Girls can do that?"
"They most certainly can," he answered. "You'll see for yourself one day, when you get older."
"It's like magic!"
"It's exactly like magic," Aaron responded, still impressed at how his son could be so perceptive at just four years old.
"So anyway," he continued the story, "young Aaron had to find out who this beautiful girl was. As soon as he got home from school, he pulled out his yearbook and flipped through all the pages. He started in the 'Seniors' section." He held out his yearbook and opened it to the senior class pictures. "But she wasn't there. So he moved to the 'Juniors' section." Again, Aaron flipped through the pages for Jack to see. "But she wasn't there, either! So he moved on to the 'Sophomore' section, and there on the first page was the beautiful girl from the theatre class. And her name was Haley."
He angled his yearbook so Jack could see. His face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Mommy!" he yelled excitedly. "Wow, Aunt Jessie, you were right! That's a lot more hair!"
Aaron and Jessica both laughed out loud.
"How did she get it so big?"
"That's more of your Mommy's magic, with a little help from an incredible hair spray called Final Net," Jessica answered.
"Wow!"
"Okay, so the next day," Aaron continued through his chuckling, "young Aaron decided he had to meet young, beautiful Haley, so he did the only thing he could think to do...he joined the Theatre Club."
"You?"
"Yes."
"But..." Jack hesitated. "But you can't act, Daddy!"
"Yes, I know. Thank you!" he replied, messing up Jack's hair (the hat long ago leaving his head and finding his lap) and laughing even harder. Jessica tried to hold it in, but she laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes.
"But even though I couldn't act, I got to meet Haley and she became my best friend in the whole wide world and we fell in love. And we performed a play called ' The Pirates of Penzance '."
"That's where you got the hat!"
"That's right. And that's why I've kept that hat, even all these years later. Because it reminds me of how I met your mommy and how much I loved her, even all the way back in 1987."
"That's a long time, Daddy."
"I know. And now I want you to keep it so you'll always remember how much she loved you and because that hat is the reason you are here. All because I walked into the wrong room and became the worst Fourth Pirate in the history of Fourth Pirates!"
Jack hugged his daddy tightly. "I'll take good care of it, Daddy."
"I know. Now it's time for bed."
Jack hugged his aunt, and he and Aaron headed for his room. Jack hung his new pirate hat on the post of his headboard and climbed between the sheets.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah, buddy?"
"Will you tell me that story again tomorrow?"
Aaron smiled. "Sure. I love you, Jack."
"I love you, too."
Aaron kissed his forehead, and before he even left the room, Jack was sound asleep with a smile on his face.
He returned to the living room and turned on the stereo, making sure the volume was low so as not to wake Jack, and loaded his favorite Queen CD into the tray. As Freddie Mercury's unparalleled voice filled the room, he walked to the mantle where Haley's picture sat.
.
Love of my life - you've hurt me
You've broken my heart and now you leave me
Love of my life can't you see
Bring it back, bring it back
Don't take it away from me
Because you don't know –
What it means to me
.
Love of my life - don't leave me
You've stolen my love and now desert me
Love of my life can't you see
Bring it back, bring it back
Don't take it away from me
Because you don't know -
What it means to me
.
He reminisced about all of the wonderful days and nights he'd spent with this incredible woman over the course of nearly 23 years. He remembered their highs and lows, their triumphs and failures. And how, even after the divorce, after the pain, and now even in her death, his love for her never wavered. He still felt it as strongly as he did the first time he laid eyes on her.
.
You will remember -
When this is blown over
And everything's all by the way -
When I grow older
I will be there at your side to remind you
How I still love you - I still love you
.
Hurry back - hurry back
Dont take it away from me
Because you don't know
What it means to me
Love of my life
.
"I kept my promise, sweetheart," he spoke aloud to her. "I hope I did us justice."
"She still loved you too, you know," Jessica said as she leaned in the doorway. "Maybe next time I'll tell you and Jack her side of that story."
She put on her coat and headed for the door, stopping briefly.
"And just so you know, yes, you did the story justice. Good night, Aaron."
"Thanks. Drive safe."
As Haley's sister left, Aaron turned back to the photograph and smiled. "I love you, Haley."
And for the first time since her funeral, he went to sleep smiling instead of crying.