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Just two more chapters after this, so enjoy!:)

Goodnight

Part 4

You make me think of someone wonderful, but I can't place her
I wake up every morning wishing one more time to face her
Something's gotta change
It must be rearranged, oh

Win smiled softly as he watched his son and daughter playing in the vast flower-spotted field behind Ten Acres, their laughter ringing in his ears like tinkling bells in a high church tower.

His wife was seated on the porch, laughing along with her children's antics as she continued to knit a red sweater. Beautiful, as always, Win thought, taking in Katie's twinkling blue eyes, her shy smile, the locks of her long blond hair swaying in the light spring breeze.

"She's lonely." A voice came from behind him.

Win turned as Danielle joined him at the wall of the gazebo, overlooking the galaxy below them. "Katie still misses you like crazy, and she's felt even more down in the dumps now that Jim's departure for college is mere months away. I think the others have hinted to Katie that she should start dating again, but I think she's not quite sure she's ready for that."

There was silence as Win began to observe things in his wife that he had turned a blind eye to over the past six years. He noticed the clouded sadness deep within her clear blue eyes. He saw that the laughter wrinkles he had always teased her about had disappeared from the corners of her eyes.

Katie's infectious smile had transformed into a soft, closed-lip grin that didn't quite reach her eyes. Her cheeks weren't blushed rosy pink, and she had gotten thinner. A bit too thin, Win thought, as he noticed her pull the quilt tighter around herself as the cool breeze sent a shiver down her tiny frame.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to watch Katie date again either." Win stated, his eyes never leaving his angel on earth. "But Katie needs someone to be with, and since I can't be there…"

Win shut his emerald green eyes tightly and spit out the next words with noticeable effort. "We have to let each other go." He exhaled a long, pent-up sigh as he ran a hand through his thick red hair. Danielle wove her arm through Win's and clasped his hand, silently offering comfort.

"That's a very tough decision to make, Win." Danielle whispered softly, "I'm proud of you."

Win opened his eyes and turned to the younger woman. Emerald eyes bright and misty, Win choked out huskily, "Loving someone is setting them free, letting them go. Letting go doesn't mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be."

Staring out into the black velvet sky, Win continued, "True love doesn't have a happy ending, because true love never ends. Letting go is one way of saying I love you. Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; loving someone deeply gives you courage. Some think it's holding on that makes one strong; sometimes it's letting go."

I'm sorry, I did not mean to hurt my little girl
It's beyond me, I cannot carry the weight of a heavy world
So goodnight, goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight, goodnight
Goodnight, hope that things work out all right

He watched her sleeping figure from the bedroom window, the faint moonlight casting a milky blue glow over her slender face. She slept on her back, her hands folded together on her chest, long blond hair spilling across the crisp white pillow.

After his conversation and decision with Danielle earlier that afternoon, Winthrop Frayne had come down to earth to talk to Katie, to finally let her move on. Walking over to the bed, Win lay down beside his wife and turned on one side, one hand holding hers while his lips gently brushed against her ear.

For most every angel coming back to earth to see the living, there was some force that made them unable to communicate with the living in any way. The only exception is if two people had had a special connection on earth, then to some degree, the dead could communicate with the one still living.

Katie and Win had had that connection, as Win had soon found out. Katie was the only one who could truly feel his presence in a room, and she was the only one who heard Win whispering in her dreams.

She would wake up thinking that she had had a dream from a memory of Win, but this wasn't always the case. Many a night Win had spent curled up next to her in bed, crooning soft nothings in her ear, casting an unfelt arm around her and resting his head beside hers, feeling her blond hair tickle his cheek.

This would be the last night he would sleep with her. After tonight, she would move on. He would see to that.

"Katie," Win breathed her name, seeing a slight smile curve on her peaceful face, "As I look back on all that's happened..growing up, growing together, changing you, changing me -- there were times when we dreamed together, when we laughed and cried together. As I look back on those days, I realize how much I truly miss you and how much I truly love you."

A lump rose in Win's throat, "The past may be gone forever..and whatever the future holds, our todays make the memories of tomorrow. So, my lifetime friend, it is with all my heart that I send you my love, hoping that you'll always carry my smile with you, for all we have meant to each other and for whatever the future may hold."

Tears filled his eyes, "This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life."

It's impossible to tell the woman you love to move on without you, he thought. Win choked out the next lines, "Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love? The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected."

Tears now ran freely down Win's cheeks as he saw worry lines form on Katie's forehead. I didn't mean to hurt you, Katie… "When you smiled you had my undivided attention. When you laughed you had my urge to laugh with you. When you cried you had my urge to hold you. When you said you loved me, you had my heart forever. When you miss me just look up to the night sky and remember, I'm like a star; sometimes you can't see me, but I'm always there."

A crystal tear escaped down Katie's face, trailing down her porcelain white cheek into the collar of her shirt. Win forced himself to go on. "You never leave someone behind, you take a part of them with you and leave a part of yourself behind. The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. I want you all to be happy, Katie. I love you all too much to see you upset."

Wiping tears from his face, Win finished off with, "So go find someone new, babe. Someone to laugh with and cry with and share your deepest secrets with. You know when you have found your prince because you not only have a smile on your face but in your heart as well. Find someone that makes you happy. Only then will I be happy too."

"While you were the whole story to my life, I was merely a chapter of your life. Don't you think it's time to turn the page and see what the next chapter holds?"

Slowly, Win got off the bed and stood over Katie, the woman he loved more than anything in the universe. He kneeled down beside the bed and planted a feather-light kiss on her lips. "I love you, Katie Frayne. Always have, always will. And I know that you will always love me too. But it's time to let go."

With that said, Win slowly backed up toward the window, never taking his eyes off the lovely woman asleep in her bed. "Goodnight! Goodnight! Parting is such sweet sorrow. That I shall say goodnight til it be morrow." Win quoted softly to the night, as he disappeared into the moonlight gazing through the window.

*****************

The next day Katie Frayne walked up the Lynch Estate. "Katie! You're here." her friend Caroline Lynch greeted her, "There's someone I want you to meet."

Caroline quickly led her friend to the den, where Mr. Lynch was conversing with a tall man with thin black hair, which was just beginning to gray at the temples. Seeing the women enter, the two men stood up, giving Katie a view of the man's laughing blue eyes that jumped out against his tanned skin.

"Katie," Mrs. Lynch began, "This is my brother, Monty Wilson." And for the first time in quite a while, Katie's smile reached her heart.

I must have spent two hours looking up quotes for Win to say to Katie! I snuck a few quotes into this chapter, the perfect one being the most famous of the bunch: "Goodnight! Goodnight! Parting is such sweet sorrow. That I shall say goodnight til it be morrow." I swear William Shakespeare sat at his desk all those years ago, quill in hand, and said, "Someday in the future, there will be a person who enjoys writing about bob whites in need of the perfect quote for the man to say to his wife. I know! I'll think up the perfect quote just for her and her story!"

And he did, inadvertently making it a very famous quote that the silly person didn't even think of using until she found in on a website while searching for quotes dealing with 'letting go'. Mr. Shakespeare, if you were still around today I would bring you a plate of chocolate chip cookies to thank you for writing the most perfectly perfect quote just for me!:) lol so anways...

Review please!:)