.:Chapter 17: What's Inside:.

.:Both Darcy and I were shocked at Fanny's conclusions. We couldn't believe that her real mother, that had not seen her for years (or at least we hadn't known if she'd seen Darcy or not) was going to let us live with her, help us afford our own house, pay our doctor bills and everything! She was going to do all of that when Darcy's father would not even contribute a penny. Fanny should be the priest, not Reverend Wise, I thought to myself and I even blurted it out loud to Fanny without meaning to one evening:.

.:She laughed and laughed and then looked at me as her dark eyes sparkled like onyx:.

.:"If I were duh Reverend, the Casteels would all be rich an' all those rich folks would know t' meaning or suffering," Fanny said proudly as Darcy and I exchanged smiles with one another:.

.:Many people in town said Fanny Casteel was no good, a rotten apple, but in our eyes she was a heaven from angel. Sure, she'd slept with her sister's husband Logan Stonewall and produced Luke, but Fanny confided in us that Heaven really wasn't her blood sister. Still Luke was not to be blamed for the sins of his parents. He reminded me so much of myself at his age, only he was not starving and weak like I had been at his age, his cheeks colored healthily while mine had been a ghastly white from hunger and from being frightened all the time:.

.:He was shy like I had been and we got along well. He said his mom wanted him to grow up to be a doctor and he said he would do that but his true desire was writing and letting his imagination soar. I told him some of my stories and after a while he looked at me with a glint in his eyes:.

.:"Uncle Colvin...you need to write a book," he said:.

.:For Luke, I did. I wrote a book full of fantasy and adventures, that turned out to only be a dream for the boy in the story who thought he was actually living these adventures. And in the end the boy discovered that his dreams came true when he discovered he could live his fantasies by painting them, finding he had a real talent for art. I read the story to Luke, Darcy, and Fanny. All three of them enjoyed it and it was wonderful to see Darcy looking at me with so much pride:.

.:I decided to name the book What's Inside, since the dreams and fantasies are what the main character in the story desires. I sent the story off but there was no response for weeks. I grew depressed, thinking my work stunk. I was a doomed writer. And there was no way I could be a teacher when I was a father. I would not desert my baby for anything:.

.:Then one night, as we were eating dinner, the phone rang. Fanny swore as she stabbed her fork harshly into her steak, rising and stalking towards the phone, muttering something about "tele- market-ters". Then she nearly dropped the phone, letting out a huge squeal that made us all go see what was wrong with her! She threw her arms around me and then handed me the phone:.

.:Yer the first Casteel writer, Colvin," Fanny said with a grin. A gasp left my lips as I took the call and after I had hung up I picked Darcy up and swung her around as she laughed, pleading with me to release her. I smiled at Luke and went to ruffle his hair affectionately:.

.:"When I have to tell me what inspired me to write that...you know whose name I am going to say," I said. Luke nodded as he cheeks went a little pink and Darcy and Fanny both laughed:.

A/N: Sorry for the shortness