TITLE: The Light At The End Of A Dark Dawn:  Prologue
AUTHOR: Cindy Wylie (RkieFan1960@AOL.com) 
RATING: R for subject matter

FEEDBACK: Yes, please. This is my most ambitious undertaking to date. Feel free to email me at the above address.

ARCHIVE: At www.angelfire.com/tv2/rookies_fanfiction. Otherwise, please contact the author first.

WRITTEN: August 2002-Sept. 2002

SETTING: Fall of 1990 through the late fall of 1991.

SUMMARY: A difficult murder investigation and a health crisis fill the days and nights of the guys and their families.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I've long wanted to write a long story, but haven't been able to think of a good storyline until recently. Around my house, I'm what's considered a 'musicologist.' I have a rather large CD collection and the last two weeks, I've been listening to my CD's in alphabetical order to see how long it'll take to listen to all of them. So far, I'm only on the 'B's. A lot of the songs I've been listening to could fit my favorite couple, The Danko's, perfectly. So, I thought: 'What if I come up with 15 songs and write a chapter for each song.' This wasn't a difficult task. What was difficult was coming up with 15 chapters. I finally ended up with 8 chapters, plus the prologue and an epilogue. I promise I will write another long story later and actually try to come up with fifteen chapters. An idea is already brewing.

For my critics out there who are worried about what I'm going to do to one of my characters, please bear with me. I promise the ends will be worth the means. And, although Sammy passed away in 1989, I couldn't bear to kill Mike off in my Rookies universe.

The song 'Follow Me' is written and sung by John Denver. I have it on the CD 'John Denver: The Rocky Mountain Collection.' The song 'Alabama Rain' was written and sung by Jim Croce. I have it on the CD 'Jim Croce: The 50th Anniversary Collection.'

The poem 'Baby, You Are...' was written by David L. Weatherford and can be found in 'Chicken Soup For The Couple's Soul.'

Btw, when I've finished, I'll include a final list of the songs I put in this story. I have all of them on CD and while I don't have a CD Burner (yet!), I'll be happy to record them for anybody who's interested.

A million thanks to my beta buddy, Bridget. Although she was busy getting everything ready for the October SMK Get Together, started beta reading for me when I explained to her that the natives were getting restless. I also want to thank CTL for helping me with this. He wrote part of one of the chapters and is also going to write the epilogue. Thanks, Chuck.
 

PROLOGUE: A Renewal And An Affirmation: October of 1991

It was a beautiful day for a wedding; sunny and just warm enough to be pleasant without being unbearable. The men were all milling around in their tuxedos, trying not to look as nervous as they felt. They were waiting for the signal telling them that the bride was ready for the ceremony to begin. The groom was impatiently standing on the dock overlooking the lake, wondering what was taking so long. One of the best men walked over to play the waiting game with him.

"I don't know what you're so nervous about. It isn't like you haven't done this before," Terry Webster grinned as his friend, Mike Danko, glared daggers at him.

"I know I've done this before, but it means so much more this time around. I mean, I keep thinking that I'm lucky to be here. God, what are they doing in there?" Mike nervously glanced at his watch one more time.

"They're women, Mike. They take days to get ready for anything, plus in Jill's condition, it's probably harder to get the dress on," Terry smiled.

Inside the lake house, there was major chaos going on. Jennifer Gillis and Serena Webster were helping Jill get dressed with help from all of the children. Jill's and Mike's three teenage daughters, 15-year-old Michelle, 14-year-old Mary Kathryn and 12-year-old Savannah were busy doing their mother's hair, while 13-year-old Natalie Gillis sat on the bed, away from the hustle and bustle of the women. Jennifer's two sons were outside waiting for the festivities to begin.

"This dress fit fine when I went for the fitting last week," Jill grumbled, smoothing the dress over her bulging abdomen.

"You look beautiful, Jill. This baby is so lucky that his parent's love each other so much," Serena assured her as Jill smiled.

"This baby is lucky that his father's going to be around to actually see him being born," Jill said, her eyes filling with tears.

"Hey, none of that! This is a happy day, remember?" Jennifer reminded her as she handed Jill a tissue.

"Yeah, I know. Well, I guess we can tell them that we're ready, before Mike steps off of the dock," Jill said, as the women all laughed.

"I have to go!" Mary Kate exclaimed, handing her mother's veil to Michelle.

"Mary Kathryn, where are you going?" Jill asked as her daughter prepared to leave the room.

"I'll tell them that you're ready," Mary Kate assured her mother, not wanting to give the real reason for leaving the room.

Lt. Ryker, long since retired from the police department, was nervously pacing around his living room waiting for word from the women that they were ready to begin. He finally heard the bedroom door open and a vision in frilly lavender with her mother's long legs and dark hair entered the room.

"They're ready. Is everything at the piano?" Mary Kate asked anxiously, blue-green eyes twinkling with pride.

"Yes. You're going to be great. You're going to make your mom and dad so proud and for the record, you're making this old man proud, too," he beamed, kissing her on the forehead.

"Oh, Eddie, come on! You'll never be old to me," she smiled back, pleased by his compliment.

"Where's Michelle?" He asked, as the older girl suddenly entered the room.

"Sorry, I had to come up with a quick excuse to leave the room. I'm so scared! What if I forget the words?" Michelle asked, terrified.

"You're going to be great. Besides, you've heard the song every day for months. I'd think the words would be engraved in your deepest memories by now," Eddie told the young girl.

"You're right about that. Come on, MK, we'd better get out there," Michelle ordered as Eddie kissed each of them one more time.

They'd no sooner left the house when Jill emerged from the back bedroom, followed by Jennifer, Serena, Natalie and Savannah. Eddie smiled broadly at the sight of the woman who'd always been more like a daughter to him than a friend. She had a radiance about her that belied the months of stress and overwhelming grief and worry that had been so much a part of all of their lives for the past year. He just hoped that her and Mike could put all of that behind them and focus once again on their future, which would now include this miracle child.

"You look absolutely beautiful," Eddie breathed as he lightly kissed Jill on the cheek. "So, I take it that we're ready."

"Yeah, as ready as I'm ever going to be. Thank you so much for doing this," Jill whispered, her voice choked with tears.

"It's my honor and my privilege to be able to do this. I want to thank you for asking me," he said, taking her hand and squeezing it before linking in through his arm. He looked through the open door and gave Mary Kate an imperceptive nod where she sat at the baby grand piano on the patio.

Mary Kate took a deep breath and began to play the first few notes of a song that was all too familiar to everybody in the Danko household. In fact, it was a song that had taken on an all-new meaning in the last year. Michelle also took a deep breath as she began to sing:

'It's by far the hardest thing I've ever done
To be so in love with you and so alone.
Follow me
Where I go
What I do and who I know
Make it a part of you to be a part of me

Follow me
Up and down
All the way and all around
Take my hand and say you'll follow me
It's long been on my mind,
You know, it's been a long, long time
I've tried to find a way that I could make you understand,
The way I feel about you, just how much I need you
To be there where I can talk to you when there's no one else around

Follow me
Where I go
What I do and who I know
Make it part of you to be a part of me
Follow me
Up and down
All the way and all around
Take my hand and say you'll follow me
You see, I'd like to share my life with you
And show you things I've seen
Places that I'm going to, places where I've been
To have you there beside me, to never be alone
And all the time that you're with me, then we'll be at home

Follow me
Where I go
What I do and who I know
Make it part of you to be a part of me
Follow me
Up and down
All the way and all around
Take my hand and say you'll follow me'
 

Tears flowed down Mike's face as he stood at the altar flanked by his two best friends, Terry Webster and Willie Gillis. He smiled through his tears as Savannah and Natalie walked down the aisle, followed by Jennifer, Serena and Jill's longtime best friend, Meggy Moran, then Willie's youngest son, Eric, who was acting as ring bearer, and finally, Jill, on the arm of Mike's former boss and surrogate father. Ryker gently placed Jill's hand in Mike's before giving Mike a fierce embrace. Jill reached up and gently brushed the tears from Mike's face as the minister smiled.

"Mike and Jill wanted today to be a reaffirmation of their love for each other. I believe Michael has something that he'd like to say. Go ahead, Mike," the minister urged him as Mike took a deep breath.

"Baby, you are...
my sunny sky,
my favorite high,
my bed so warm,
my port in a storm,
my sweetest gift,
my emotional lift,
my best friend
until the end,
my inspiration,
my destination,
my shining light,
my day and night,
my heart healer,
my anger chiller,
my pain reliever,
my spring fever,
my gem so rare,
my answered prayer,
my heart and soul,
my life made whole,
my merry-go-'round,
my "up" when I'm down,
my best chance,
my last dance,
my best shot,
my sweet kumquat,
my energizer,
my appetizer,
my morning sun,
my evening fun,
my dancing partner,
my heart's gardener,
my source of laughter,
my everafter,
my heaven sent,
for who I'm meant,
my burning fire,
my greatest desire,
my soul mate,
my sweet fate,
my dream lover,
my "before all others,"
my confidence,
my common sense,
my reason why
until I die.
Just in case you didn't know.'"
 

"You've gone it to me again, Danko," Jill said, fighting laughter through her tears. "You're an incredibly hard act to follow. I've been working on this for days and have about driven the girls crazy, but I'll see if I can get it out without choking up," she smiled as she took both of his hands in hers. "You're my first thought when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about before going to sleep at night. You've been there for me through the worst times in my life and you've shared the best times in my life. I want you to continue to be there through the rest of the good times. I love you so much and I will continue to love you for the rest of our lives together."

After the ceremony, everybody was milling around as the band played. Jill was sitting at their table talking to Jennifer and Serena when Mike stood up and took her hand.

"Dance with me, milady," he urged as she smiled and stood up.

"In my condition?" She asked, looking down at her stomach.

"You look perfect, unless, of course, you're planning on having my son in the middle of the dance floor, in which case, we probably have a problem," he teased as she took his hand and let him lead her to the small dance floor Eddie had set up on the deck. "Did I remember to tell you how beautiful you look today?"

"Only about a thousand times," she whispered, pressing as close to him as her very pregnant body allowed.

"Make it a thousand and one, then," he breathed, brushing his lips through her hair. "You look absolutely stunning."

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself. The tux is a nice change from the first time we did this," she smiled, looking into his eyes.

"Well, I wasn't sure my Army uniform would fit anymore," he reminded her. "Hey, let's not talk about that today. All I want to talk about today is you, me, our lovely daughters and our son," he said, rubbing her stomach for emphasis as the baby suddenly kicked.

"Are you sorry we didn't conceive our son the old fashioned way?" She asked as he shook his head.

"With advanced medical technology, we're probably lucky we were able to conceive him, at all. Three more weeks and we're finally going to have our son. He's going to be healthy and very loved and I thank God every day that I'm actually going to be around to see him born," he said, as tears began to once again fall down his face.

"Mike, don't! We promised we weren't going to do this today," she whispered, pulling him close to her. "Can I ask you a question? Why are we out here if there's no music?"

"Oh, they'll start in a minute. Mary Kate's helping them out," he explained as Jill looked puzzled.

Just then, the band finally began to play and Jill smiled as she heard the words. They'd both heard the song on an album Mike had bought about a year after they'd gotten married and although the song was initially about a couple who'd broken up, most of the song fit the way things had been when they'd first met.

'Lazy days in mid-July

Country Sunday mornings

Dusty haze on summer highways

Sweet magnolia callin'

But, now and then I find myself

Thinkin' of the days

That we were walking in the Alabama rain

Drive-in movies, Friday nights,

Drinkin' beer and laughin',

Somehow things were always right,

Just don't know what happened,

But, now and then I find myself

Thinkin' of the days,

When we were walkin' in the Alabama rain

We were only kids, but then,

I've never heard it said that kids can't fall in love

And feel the same,

I can still remember the first time I told you I love you

On a dusty mid-July,

Country summer's evenin',

A Weepin' Willow sang its lullaby and shared our secret

Now and then, I find myself

Thinkin' of the days,

That we were walkin' in the Alabama rain

Walkin' in the Alabama rain'
 
 

"You're full of surprises today," she said as she hugged him tightly.

"That's because I love you so much," he whispered, kissing her lightly.

"I love you, too. And, I'm glad you're okay," she said, as she kissed him back.

"I'm terrific," he assured her as they danced to the song.

As he held her to him tightly, he looked skyward, silently thanking God that after the past nightmarish year, things finally seemed to be looking brighter with the renewal of their wedding vows and the birth of their son to look forward to.
 

Continue to Part One