Daddy's Coming To Visit As JC walked through the children's ward in the local hospital, pity and sadness flowed throughout his veins. To see so many sad, sick children stuck in hospital beds, made him think of his own childhood, and at how lucky he had been. Many of these children wouldn't make it to their teenage years, and if they did, they wouldn't be able to experience like many of the other teenagers in the world. They would have limits and no child should have limits on what they could accomplish in life.

JC walked into one of the rooms and smiled brightly at a young boy that was looking at him with huge, excited eyes. The boy couldn't have been over eight or nine, and even thought his face was utterly pale, the boys eyes had a shine in them that captivated the young man.

"Hi," JC said as he stretched his hand out to the young boy, who eagerly shook it before smiling at him. "What's your name?"

"Josh," the boy said before closing his eyes for a moment, only to open them again. "I like your group."

"I'm glad you do," JC said as he pulled a chair over and sat down beside the bed, his eyes never quiet meeting the young boys. "How old are you?"

"I'm nine."

"When's your birthday?"

"June seventh," the boy said before his face broke into a slight smile. "My daddy is suppose to come and see me."

"I bet you're really excited," JC said, not knowing where this conversation topic was going. He couldn't help but chuckle as the boys eyes shinned and his face broke out into a full grin.

"Am I interrupting?" A female voice called into the room. JC turned in his chair to see a young woman, not over thirty, leaning up against the door frame, her smile radiating as her eyes landed on the young boy in the bed.

"No not at all," JC said as he stood up and pushed the chair back to its original spot. "Josh here was just telling me that for his birthday, his daddy was going to come and see him."

The young woman's smile disappeared from her face, and tears welled up in her eyes. JC's smile also went away as he looked on at the woman with confusion in his blue eyes.

"Umm..Mr..." the young woman started, before stopping in mid sentence when she realized that she didn't know the man's name.

"Just call me JC."

"JC..can I speak to you out in the hall?" the woman said before looking at the boy and applying a fake smile to her lips. "We'll be right back, Josh."

JC followed the woman out into the hall, and casually leaned up against the wall. "Is there a problem?"

"Did Josh really say that his father was coming to see him? By the way, I'm his mother," she said before stretching her hand out so JC could shake it.

"Yes..why? Is there a problem with that?"

The woman sighed before nodding her head in a brief 'yes'. "Josh's father was killed nearly two years ago."

JC was too stunned to say anything. This young boy had been so sure of what he had said, and JC didn't know what to say to it all. "Wow," he said softly before looking at the woman who was struggling to hold back tears.

"Josh loved his father...and I don't think he's truly realized that he's dead."

JC felt a sadness building up inside him before peeking into the room to see Josh lying there, holding a stuffed dog with a yellow ribbon tied around its neck. "Will you tell him that I'll come by and see him again?"

The woman nodded her head before slipping back into the room, leaving JC alone out in the hall, still fighting with all the thoughts in his head.

June 7th

JC whistled as he walked down the hall toward Josh's room, holding a perfectly wrapped gift box. He had just flown in from Las Vegas so that he could make it for the young boy's birthday. He shivered as he rounded the corner, growing closer to the boy's room. He stopped when he saw that the door was shut, and there was no light radiating from underneath the door.

He looked around in confusion before heading to the nurse's station, tapping an older woman lightly on the shoulder. "Is Josh, in room 789, asleep?"

The older woman's face scrunched in confusion before sighing. "Josh..passed away this morning slightly after dawn."

JC's mouth dropped as everything sunk in. The box in his hands suddenly became heavy, and his thoughts became cloudy. He handed the box to the woman before opening his mouth and forcing his voice out. "Will you give this to one of the children?"

She nodded her head before walking away, leaving him there alone. He slowly walked out of the hospital as everything sunk in. Through all of the sadness, he couldn't stop from letting a slight smile play at his lips. Josh had taught him something that no one would ever imagine. God had a calming way of preparing everyone for death. And for Josh, it had been seeing his father on his birthday. JC didn't know exactly how or what was done, but it was something amazing and beautiful. June seventh had changed the young man forever.

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