A father held his new baby and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he held her, he sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The baby grew. She grew and she grew and she grew. She grew until she was two years old, and she ran all around the house. She pulled all the books off the shelves. She pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and she took her father's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes her father would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"
But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, he opened the door to her room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of her bed; and if she was really asleep he picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While he rocked her he sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The little girl grew. She grew and she grew and she grew. She grew until she was nine years old. And she never wanted to come in for dinner, she never wanted to take a bath, and when grandpa visited she always said bad words. Sometimes her father wanted to sell her to the zoo!
But at night time, when she was asleep, the father quietly opened the door to her room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If she was really asleep, he picked up that nine-year-old girl and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The girl grew. She grew and she grew and she grew. She grew until she was a teenager. She had strange friends and she wore strange clothes and she listened to strange music. Sometimes the father felt like he was in a zoo!
But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the father opened the door to her room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If she was really asleep he picked up that great big girl and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While he rocked her he sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
That teenager grew. She grew and she grew and she grew. She grew until she was a grown-up woman. She left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the father got into his car and drove across town. If all the lights in his daughter's house were out, he opened her bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of her bed. If that great big woman was really asleep he picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
Well, that father, he got older. He got older and older and older. One day he called up his daughter and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So his daughter came to see him. When she came in the door he tried to sing the song. He sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...
But he couldn't finish because he was too old and sick. The daughter went to her father. She picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And she sang this song:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Daddy you'll be.
When the daughter came home that night, she stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then she went into the room where her very new baby son was sleeping. She picked him up in her arms and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.
The end