Back to Fan Fictionby
He saw her floating from him. Without thinking, acting only on emotion, he jumped into the water diving the most perfect dive he could manage. The ice cold water hit him first in the face and then throughout the rest of his body, but he didn't notice as he frantically looked all around him, yelling her name. He didn't see her. After minutes that felt like hours, he began to notice the temperature of the water. he was nearly numb from the cold, but he kept swimming and searching.
"FRANNNNNNN!!!! Where are you?" He cried. He couldn't lose her, not now. He could not lose another woman who meant more to him than his own life. Sobbing, he cried, "Fran, I NEED you. You are the one for me, even Sarah thinks so. Fran you are everything to me. Where are you my beautiful wife. I have so much to tell you, so much to share with you, so much to buy you. Please Fran, come back to me."
Max was tired. He had been swimming and treading water for close to an hour, and even though he is in good shape, his adrenaline had run out and he had given up hope of finding his bride. In a last act of desperation, he called out one more time, this time to Sarah. His first love, his first wife, the woman who not only sent Fran to him, but blessed the marriage just one night before it happened. Sarah, the woman who he could always talk to, no matter what was wrong, she always found a way to help him. Sarah, he had to talk to her, she could help him.
"Sarah, my love. You told me that it is okay to love her, and I do. Sarah, I need her, I need her to be by me. Please Sarah, make her safe. Help me find her. She is my life right now, let me know what to do. Please Sarah, help me."
He didn't have any energy left, he fought for every movement that he made. He hoped that eventually he would catch back up to the boat which he could barely see now. He found a piece of wood that was floating in the ocean and floated on that. He dozed off, but not for long. He felt a current pulling him under the water. With everything he had left in him, he fought it off, but couldn't get away from it. As it pulled his strong, but exhausted body under the water, he made one final cry out to Fran.
At that moment, Fran felt a horrible pain inside that she couldn't understand. She had been rescued by some crew members hours ago. She was dry and searching for her love, but he was no where to be found. She knew that something was wrong. She started crying uncontrollably. The captain came up to her and promised they would find him. He had radioed the coast guard and all sea going vessels around the area. Maxwell Sheffield will be found the captain promised.
As he fell into the water, Max saw images of his life. The most pivotal moments passed in front of him like an old familiar movie. He saw him and his nanny as she taught him how to act like a gentleman. He saw images of himself and Niles growing up together. More than once he saw Niles come to his defense when the other boys at school picked on him. "What a good friend Niles has always been," Max thought. He saw his years at college where he wasn't a great student, but good enough to pass as a scholar in his father's eyes -- not that he would notice. He saw the first time that he met Sarah, he remembered how much he loved her. He saw the day he proposed to her, only months later. He saw their wedding day, the day he promised in front of friends, family, and God that he would love her forever and never love anyone more than her. He relived the births of each of his children. He experienced again the moment when he learned that Sarah was dead. He saw himself telling his children that their mother was never coming back. He remembered the day he met Fran. Their first kiss. Their first real kiss. The day he proposed. Finally he saw the events of this day, the day he married Francine Fine and he felt like the happiest man on earth.
Max opened his eyes to a bright light. His eyes eventually adjusted to the light. As he looked around he knew that he was somewhere he had never been before. He saw a figure in front of him.
"Sarah?"
"Well, I figured I went to your place last time, this time you could come visit me. It's only fair."
"Yes," he started slowly, "there does seem to be some fairness in that. But may I ask where the bloody hell we are?"
With that there was a small tremor and some thunder of some sort that didn't sound good to Max. "Sorry," said Sarah looking up at someone. To her husband she said, "Max, you are in heaven. There are a few ground rules that you need to be aware of--"
Max, a little perplexed stopped her and asked, "I'm in Heaven? What the bloody he--, what happened?"
"Well you asked for help. So I decided to give it to you. You wanted to know what you should do, so this is the only way I can help you figure that out. Fran is okay. She was picked up by the crew of your yacht. You know, you do pay them pretty well, all you had to do was yell 'man overboard' and they would have gotten her."
"Yes I suppose you're right, I could have, but... but... but... well... that's not the issue. What am I doing here in heaven? I wanted you to help me help her back onto the yacht. If she is there, why am I here?"
"Because Max, you don't know what to do." Sarah looked at the confused look Max gave her. "I guess I should explain."
Impatiently, Max yelled, "Yes, please do."
"Okay, well, Max, I have been watching over you since the time of my death. I watched you grieve for me. I watched you take care of the children, I watched you blame yourself for my accident. Max, I even watched you fall in love with Fran. I saw you fight your feelings for her for five years because you thought that loving her would betray me. Even though you have finally admitted your love for her -- and frankly I was beginning to wonder if you would or not -- you still are afraid that loving her will somehow betray your feelings for me. Max, you cannot be married to her if in that cold, English, heart that she warmed up, you still love me. That's what the last five years of your life were about. Your fear that loving her would make you betray me. Max you have to choose. Choosing one will not betray the other. You can either go back to Earth and endure good times and bad times with Fran, or you can choose me and paradise here in heaven."
"How, how do I choose one or the other? I love you both. Is that even possible? Can one man love two women. Two women that are so different from each other. How do I choose?"
Sarah disappeared. A few people with halos motioned for him to follow them. One, whose name tag labeled him Bob, head angel, turned to him and said, "You get the short version of this tour. As you know, this is heaven. To the left you see the pearly gates. Manning the gates tonight is Pete. Ahead of you, is the boss. He is in a meeting right now trying to figure out what to do with Andrew Lloyd Webber. His most recent show could have been a hit, but he made some choices, and well, you know the story better than most, don't ya." Bob gave a great laugh. Max was beginning to wonder about heaven, he never imagined getting slammed by an angel. Bob continued, "over there to your right is pet heaven. We put that as far from people heaven as possible because, well, the dogs can get a little loud sometimes. Over here is where you will be staying for eternity. This is your image of paradise."
Max looked around and saw all the great writers and directors. Everyone that he had ever idolized. Every book he read and enjoyed. All his hobbies, all his interests, were there. All the people he saw knew him and he joked around with them. He even saw Sarah at a table talking with a group of woman that he assumed were a part of her heaven. He found himself happier than he had ever been in life. As he finished a game of poker and an intellectual conversation with Willy Shakespeare, Bob reappeared.
"Had fun?"
"Oh it was incredible. Everything I could ever wish for was up there. I couldn't imagine a better life than that one."
"Well, that really wasn't a life, it was eternity."
Max looked at Bob and realized the choice he had to make. Either he could choose to stay here and be happy and watch from a distance his family with Sarah. Watch his children grow up with Fran as their mother, not just their Nanny. Watch Fran possibly fall in love again, see her experience the pain of losing someone that she loves. He could see the people he cares about most in the world live without him so that he can spend all of eternity in heaven, or he could live life with them. He would have to endure hard times and strife.
"I have to make a choice now don't I?"
Bob shook his head yes.
"Very well then, can I talk to Sarah?"
Sarah popped out of thin air. He put his arms around her and she put her arms around his neck. "Sarah, I love you. I always have, and I always will."
"I know that honey."
"You told me that it is okay to love Fran, and I do. I love her with all my heart, and I need to go back to her. She is my life, she is my world. She is everything to me. As much as I want to be here with you, I know that she needs me to be there with her." He stopped and looked at his first wife. He kind of chuckled to himself, and he put his head down. "This is what you wanted me to choose isn't it? I will spend all of eternity here, but for the next forty or so years I have to be where I am needed, and Fran needs me as much as I need her. That is why you brought me up here, isn't it? You wanted me to choose once and for all Fran over you because for right now, that is where I belong, with my new wife, the woman I love."
Sarah shook her head yes, "Loving her is the right thing for you. You don't have to feel guilty. There will always be a place for me in your heart. Don't think that you are breaking your promise to love no person more than me, because your not. You love me in a different way than you love Fran. You love my memory and there is nothing wrong with that. You also love Fran, the person, and there is nothing wrong with that either. Honey, I am happy for you. Now go back to your life."
Hours later, Maxwell Sheffield woke up with Fran's head on his chest. She was sitting in a chair next to what looked like a hospital bed. He moved a little and Fran immediately woke up and looked at his eyes which were wide open.
"Oh honey!!!" she cried "You're awake. You're alive." She whispered to herself while looking up, "Thank you Sarah."
"Well, yes, of course I am. Didn't you know that I will always come back for you?"
With that he gave her a soft kiss on her lips and she laid down next to him. They fell asleep looking forward to starting their life together as soon as he was given a clean bill of health.
The End
The Nanny is a copyright of Sony Pictures, Tri-Star Television, High School Sweethearts, Sternin and Fraser's Ink, Inc. and CBS Television. No infringement of rights is meant or implied.
Back to Fan FictionBack to The Really Unofficial Nanny Home Page