Hello again... Finally Chapter 6. I have changed around the chapters so that they show the real chapter they are. Like in reality this is 6, where I had it lable as 5. No text of the chapters have been changed so don't worry. Just thought I would note that

Also I still do not own anyone. I wish I did, but don't we all.

My story will all tie up soon and everyone will understand. So if any confusion is happening I am sorry and the next few chapters will make it all clear.

So enjoy, and please... This is my writing. Do not take any text or ideas without asking. Not that any of you would just saying. So here you go!

Fatso and Stinkie floated slowly into the attic and followed the faint sound of an old lullaby from long ago. Stinkie quietly pushed open the small oak door that lead to Casper's old playroom. In the middle of the room was Kat. She had a tower of photo albums all around her like a protective wall, catching ever tear that she shed. Not a word was spoken by anyone. The ghosts just let Kat look at their l past in peace.

" Lizzie loved taking pictures. " Stinkie piped up, finally breaking the silence. "She always had a camera with her. It was the only thing that was really just her's. She gave everything else to her family."

Stinkie paused and picked up one of the frayed books. As he flipped through the pages they showed a vast country side, and in the distance against a setting sun you could see a happy family on a picnic. " But man, she could capture everything just right, making it look beautiful, no matter how simple it was. . "

Kat looked thoughtfully at the pictures she held in her hand. " They are beautiful " she said, quietly.

" Yea, everything about her was. See Liz, she was the kinda person that you thought would live forever, she was so full of spirt and warmth. We always use to joke that she only took these pictures because she wanted to remember things when she was thousands of years old. " Stinkie said with a chuckle.

" Kat, Stretch didn't mean to be so... um... " Fatso stumbled.

" Mean, cruel, HARSH? " Kat said, the hurt still showing in her eyes. " I was only trying to help and it was like one minute he was all sad and then BAM he socks it to me with something like that. What did he even mean by "his kid" anyways. Looking at these, it's pretty clear that Casper belonged to his parents. "

Kat sniffled, knowing she too was being harsh. It wasn't everyday that these three crazy spooks had to play the part of grown-up. But still he shouldn't have went off on me, just for trying to help, she thought sourly.

" Oh but Casper was almost Stretch's, along time ago. " Fatso whispered as he went to float near the tiny window.

" What? How? " Kat said, running her hand over her tear stained face.

" Lizzie didn't live forever. She was human after all." Stinkie mumbled.

" I don't understand. Stinkie, Fatso. Talk to me. What do you mean? Stretch isn't Casper father is he? " Kat said, shocked even as the words left her mouth.

Stinkie looked straight at the Kat with wide yellow eyes, " What? Nah, Stretch was his uncle alright, nothin' more. But... he could have been. "

Kat watched the lean ghost, knowing that the story had a second part that she would never get out of the eldest McFadden brother.

Fatso plopped down next to Kat, pulling her into his meaty form as he went. She gladly leaned into him, finding comfort and peace in his shoulder.

" But Casper never told me that. I wonder why. " she mused to herself.

" He never knew. No one did. Except for me, Fatso, Stretch and Lizzie. And maybe the lawyer. " Stinkie answered.

" Oh " was all Kat could say. She cuddled closer to Fatso. " Tell me what happened. "

" Don't you think you've had enough? I mean all this is still kinda hard for me to grip, and you getting it all in one day... well, I just don't know. " Stinkie bit onto this bottom lip, his eyes clouding over with what looked like doubt.

" No, I want to know. Please go ahead. "

" Well, you know how Stretch said Lizzie wrote us about the sled, well there was a bigger reason and that sled was just gonna be the cherry on top of the melting ice cream sundae for what we had to tell Casper. " Stinkie started.

Meanwhile Casper floated lazily over the amber waves, watching as the rolled in and hit the crystal shore. Its been almost four days since I left. I wonder if anyone is worried. Kat probably is " Casper silently cursed himself again. The look on Kat's face had torn him in two, but he knew that if he stayed there that the look on his pale face would have done much worse to her. He needed to go home. He needed to explain, to answer her questions. But first he needed to figure out what the dream meant and why it had come back so suddenly.

Casper looked down below him. No reflection. "Well duh Casper, what did you think? That all of a sudden it might be there?" He thought to himself. " Of course not. It hasn't been for along time. He was being bitter, he knew this but didn't really care. Out here he didn't have to be " friendly " all the time.

" Fuck " he said, letting the word roll off his tongue, tasting the sourness of it as it went. " Damn...hell "

He hit the water with his fist causing it to splatter into his eyes. The salt burned but he didn't care. Not anymore.

But as he looked towards the lighthouse perched atop the cliff, he knew that wasn't true.

" Damn " he said one last time.

" Lizzie wrote us and told us she needed us right away. She... she was dying, ya see... and... it wouldn't be long. She needed to be sure Casper was well taken care of. So we knew what we had to do. " Stinkie said as he floated down to join his brother and Kat on the hard floor.

" She was dying? " Kat asked, knowing she sounded like a child.

" Yea, of cancer. It was a shock to all of us. But J.t took it the worst. " Stinkie pulled one of the larger books from the trunck behind them and flipped through its pages.

" See... "

Kat looked at the paper in Stinkie's hand, it having yellowed with age.

" Dear sweet Jack,

I miss you terribly. And hope you, Brandon and Phillip are well. Casper is growing so big. He is getting to be as adventurous as his uncles. He is begging me for a sled. He says he wants to fly in the snow. But alas, his father says no to the very idea. Oh, how I wish I could go on about happier things. But alas I can not. My health is slowly fading, I have found out. I have only but weeks to live. I wish I didn't have to write this, it seems so impersonal. I wish you all were here with me. But I know you can not be. But, enough whining. I didn't write for pity. I wrote for Casper.

Upon discovering that in a few weeks I will no longer be able to care for my only son I knew that I must contact you. Recent events have made me doubt Jonathan's mental health. This news also pains me to write, but it has been in the back of all our minds for quiet sometime. Therefore I think it is best that you take custody of Casper. It breaks my heart to take him away from his father, but Jonathan is too engrossed in his work, which in the end will surly drive him mad. I think he is already on the verge of insanity, oh you have no idea how this breaks my heart. Losing my husband and son and then myself. But I do not cry for me. I cry because I will not see my little boy or my love grow old. But I am sure that Jonanthan will not be fit to take care of Casper after I pass on. So, Jack, you must come and take him away. Before I die, and before his father realizes what is going on. Later on when he is grown you wil l explain it all. Maybe he will understand. I feel as though I am betrayinng Jonathan but this is the only way. I love him dearly but he is not the same man he was when we wed. He has become distant and frightening. And until I know he will be able to take care of our son, I need you to have him in your custody. Please come as soon as possible and we will speak more of this matter then, because pen and paper can not ever truly express what I feel in my heart.

Give my love to the rest. May we see each other soon. Please reply quickly.

Elizabeth

" Oh God, she had to go behind her husband to take care of her son. How awful. " Kat said, still looking over the letter. " But could, could Casper's dad really not take care of him? "

" J.t was brilliant. He was the smartest man out of the whole town. But I think that was what drove him over the edge, that and the fact that he wanted to make something of himself. He thought he wasn't good enough for Lizzie. Pff... Jt was the best she could have had and she for him. But he didn't believe he was good enough. So he worked day and night down in that cold, dark lab. And finally... he just snapped. So to answer you question... Lizzie did the only thing she could. By the time we got there, Jt was completely out of it. "

" But Casper said his dad always stopped whatever he was doing and played with him. So he couldn't have been in that lab ALL the time, right? " Kat asked.

" We actually we asked your dad about that. He said that the psyche sometimes altered things to the way the person really wanted. It was Stretch who stopped whatever he was doing. Not J.t. " Fatso said.

" Oh, poor Casper. " Kat said, her voice growing small.

" Nah, J.t loved him. He would have done anything for the kid. But the thing is that J.t never had the responsibility of another person. So he didn't know how to be a father. So he did what he did in another situation. He went and dove into his work, only coming out when need be. And sure he spent time with the kid, but it was always awkward and strained. And in the end it didn't matter. " Stinkie finished, his voice growing hoarse and ragged.

" That's horrible. To love someone, but not really know how to show them. " Kat said.

" Yea. So you see, Lizzie did what any mother would do. I am not saying she did it whole-heartedly but she did it anyway. "

" Stretch was going to be Casper adopted father? But what? " Kat asked, knowing what her answer was.

" Casper died, before everything was set into order. " Stinkie sighed.

" Stretch would have been a good father, he had been looking for houses and talking of little league teams since he got the letter. He was tore up just like Lizzie but he knew that it had to be that way. " Fatso finished.

" That's so awful. Stretch began to really see him as his son. And then he died. I understand why he is so protective now. Because when Casper died, Stretch didn't see him as his nephew, that being bad enough, but as his only son. "

" Yea " Fatso and Stinkie said together.

" So please try to forgive Stretch. He doesn't mean to. " Stinkie said as he turned to leave.

" And maybe in the end, he will forgive himself. " Fatso said as he followed Stinkie out the door.

Kat sat and watched them go.

" They're right you know. You just have to shrug off what Stretch says. He beats himself up enough " came a voice from the opposite wall.

Kat turned to look for the source of the voice, only to come in contact with a pair of big blue eyes.

" Casper, you're back... I've missed you! " Kat said as she flung herself into his open arms.

" I think it is time we talked. " Casper said as he kissed her deeply.