[ wp ] Have you heard the old saying `` daughters steal their mothers beauty and sons take their fathers strength '' ? Imagine if it was true..

John wiped a tear from his father's emaciated cheek. 
 
 `` Shh,'' he said gently. `` Do n't apologize. You've been the best father a boy could ever want.'' 
 
 Michael raised one weak hand from the hospital bed to touch his son's face, feeling the stubble of a few stray hairs John's razor had missed. 
 
 `` What kind of father ca n't even teach his boy to shave properly?'' Michael teased. They smiled, each acknowledging the other man's failing. Michael's smile disappeared first, replaced by a cough that wracked his entire body. 
 
 When it ended, John leaned forward in his seat. 
 
 `` You know I'll teach the boys,'' he promised. `` I'll do everything just like you showed me. They'll grow up to be strong and capable men --'' 
 
 `` Just like their big brother,'' Michael interrupted him. John grinned at the praise. 
 
 The door opened to admit a middle-aged woman herding three small boys in front of her. John stood, raising his arm in greeting. The boys ignored him, instead flinging themselves at the man in the bed without regard for the frail condition he was in. 
 
 `` Dad! I lost a tooth!'' 
 
 `` Tommy punched me and I got a black eye!'' 
 
 `` Did not! It was Joey! Honest!'' 
 
 The woman gave a frazzled sigh and collapsed into the open chair. `` I think they suck as much strength out of me as they do you,'' she confessed to Michael as he examined the gaping hole in Joey's mouth. 
 
 `` Now, now, Cara. I'm the one dying here. You're supposed to be pitying me, not yourself.'' His words were spoken kindly, and Cara conceded the point with a rueful sigh. 
 
 `` You're right, of course. Do n't suppose you'd care to trade?'' she offered, and they shared a quiet laugh. The triplets had lost interest and were elbowing each other as they all tried to see out the small window at once. John lifted them one at a time to gape at the empty helicopter landing pad. 
 
 Michael took advantage of their distraction to beckon his wife closer. She scooted the chair parallel to his bed, then laid her arm across him in a cautious hug. 
 
 `` Cara,'' he began, then had to swallow as emotion sprang unbidden to his voice. `` You know how much I love you, right?'' Cara smiled warmly before answering him with a loving kiss. He sighed against her soft lips, a sound filled with regret for the years of love he would never see. 
 
 She pulled away too soon, off to recall a boy who had ventured alone into the hallway. He closed his eyes. The cacophony was so much better than the usual stillness and solitude of the hospital. Without his eyes to betray him he could pretend he was at home on his couch, slipping into a Sunday afternoon nap. 
 
 He coughed again, more quietly, and when he had finished his body relaxed and did not inhale again.
