Authors Note: Sorry it has taken me so long to get this last chapter up, work has been crazy the last couple of months and I haven't had much time to write. Thank you so much for all of the reviews and that you for those who have waited for this chapter. You all are amazing! 3

At the precise moment we are born until the day we pass on we form bongs with those that are closest to us; whether it's the mother that gave birth to us, the friends that help us through the hard times or the step-dads that love us even when they don't have to. No matter who they are we never ever expect them to leave.

Time seemed to stop for just a moment. Was that her father? He looked just like the man in the small picture she kept in the tin on her dresser just older. Why was he here? She watched him gracefully enter the party carrying a small golden box with a bow. He was looking around as if he was trying to find a face he could recognize. Would he recognize her if he saw her? Of course not who was she kidding, the last time he saw her she was barely out of pull-ups. She felt Lynette's hand grab her arm and the silence in her mind lifted and she was suddenly aware of everything around her. She noticed that John caught her worried face and was headed over to her; she heard all of the laughing, and the clinging of glasses. She heard Kayla yell at Parker across the yard and she felt Mikes hand fall across her back. "Wait here Evelyn don't move" Lynette asked and hurried across the lawn. She looked over at Tom and saw the same worry in his face that was so blatantly reflected in her mothers. "What's going on?" John asked squeezing in next to Tom but nobody could answer, they just watched.

Lynette was overwhelmed with emotions to say the least. She was scared, and angry and wanted answers from the man that left her and her daughter so many years ago. As she crossed the lawn her emotions only got stronger. He looked almost exactly the same if that's possible after nearly twenty years. His cheek bones were still firmly sculpted but his face was still soft and warm. His black hair was firm in place as if he spent time readjusting each piece in the mirror and he looked very well put together in his black suit, but none of that mattered, all Lynette could feel was the fury. "What the hell are you doing here Vincent?" she demanded as she reached him on the corner of the street. "Hello to you to Lynette, you still look as beautiful as ever" he said a coy smile crossing his face. "I am serious, I don't want you here".

"Well that's good because I didn't come here to see you I came to see Evelyn". Lynette pierced him with a solid gaze. "Come on, I haven't seen her since she was four, I am doing business a couple miles away I just wanted to stop by and see my daughter".

"Your daughter…Since when?"

His demeanor immediately changed and is face hardened. "You're the one that sent me away Lynette did you forget that?" He slid his hand down his chin and wiped the perspiration off his forehead. "I came back to you and Evelyn and you sent me away so don't blame me for not being around".

"You knew it was for the best Vincent, I couldn't have her around your family and you knew it. You weren't even there when I was pregnant with her anyway. I wanted her to be happy, and safe for that matter I had to do what I could to protect her. I don't know why you're so upset; you never wanted a family anyway"

"Is this what were going to do, play the blame game? Nothing has changed with you Lynette absolutely nothing, you're the same controlling and selfish woman you were when I met you".

"Selfish how am I being selfish?"

All Evelyn could do was watch from across the yard. She was grateful for the loud music that was playing; only a few people nearest to her mom had turned to see what all of the fuss was about, but the majority of the guest didn't notice. "Maybe I should go over there" she said and turned to Tom for approval. He shook his head and she wrapped her arms around him just like she had when she was younger and squeezed him tightly. "Love you kiddo".

"I love you too Tom" she said and walked away. She knew this was going to be hard on him, he was the only dad she had ever had.

She took a deep breath and laid her hand on her moms back causing her to jump slightly. Lynette looked over at her, her face was flushed and she looked anxious. Evelyn slid her hand down her back and grabbed her hand, she knew it was hard on her mom him being here. She took a breath and looked up at the man standing across from them, her father.

He looked like he was in shock, his green eyes grew wide and his breathing slowed. A wide grin fell across his face and before she could blink his arms were around her. Evelyn let go of Lynette's hand and wrapped one of her arms awkwardly around him.

"Evelyn" he said and they both stood there in silence for a moment. He finally let her go and couldn't take his eyes off of her. "I can't believe how big you are, your more beautiful than I would have imagined"

"Thank you". There was an awkward silence that surrounded the three of them. "Would you like to take a walk?" he asked and Evelyn turned to her mother. Lynette forced the smallest of smiles and nodded her head slightly. Vincent put his arm around his daughter and led her out into the street. Evelyn caught one last look at Lynette as she put her hand on her forehead and turned around to speak to Tom, Mike and John.

She couldn't believe it, if you would have asked her years ago if she thought there would be a day when she would walk down Wisteria Lane with her father she would have said no. But here he was, slightly taller than her, surrounded by an overwhelming air of confidence and an uncertain smile on his face.

"So you have brothers and sisters?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I saw a couple of kids running around, they looked like little clones". She slightly chuckled and smiled up at him.

"I have three brothers; Preston, Porter, and Parker and two sisters; Kayla and Penny and they are all just crazy, and funny and out of control".

They both were laughing at this point but Evelyn's face immediately turned serious and before she could think her thoughts escaped the grip her mind had on her mouth.

"Can ask you something?"

"Of course"

"Why did you leave?"

His smile faded and Evelyn noticed the lines that formed in his forehead. They walked a little further and finally he spoke. "Evelyn there is no good reason as to why I left you, nothing is going to make up for what I did to you".

"I know there is no good reason, but what's your reason". Evelyn stopped walking and so did Vincent, they were standing face to face in the middle of the street she wanted an answer.

"I was 25 years old and I wasn't much of a man". Vincent walked over and sat on the corner of Bree's yard and Evelyn followed. "I know that sounds about as cliché as it gets but my family wanted me to finish graduate school and your mother didn't want me around and I understood. I wasn't there while she was pregnant with you and that was a whole nine months of her mother telling her she didn't need me and her thinking I didn't want her. By the time I came back and you were born she wouldn't even let me see you. Years later I got a court order and saw you twice but it seemed that I was gone so long you barely remembered me. I figured it would only hurt more if I kept coming around. Your mother wanted me gone completely but she agreed to let me send you a birthday card every year. I should have never came back, I never wanted to hurt you but I didn't want you to go on thinking I didn't love you either"

Tears streamed down Evelyn's face and she looked over at him. "I am sorry Evelyn, I truly am sorry".

She took a deep breath; all of those years of wondering if her father ever cared for her were resolved. He could have been lying but she could see it in his eyes that he wasn't, and why would he bother coming all the way out here if it wasn't true. "What's in the box?" Evelyn asked as she gently wiped the rims of her eyes with her sweater.

"Oh I almost forgot" he said, his frown turning into a smile. "I brought this for you" and he held the box out on his palm. She took it from him and smiled and gently untied the dark red bow that graced the top of the box. Inside was another black box and when she opened it she couldn't believe it. It was a solid gold locket accented with small green emeralds and an "A" engraved on the top. "It's beautiful" she remarked running her fingers around the outer edges. "But I can't take this, it's too nice".

She quickly wrapped the bow around the black box and handed it out to him, he immediately pushed it back towards her. "I want you to have it, it belonged to my mother. That's what the A stands for Antonelli".

"Antonelli" she repeated quietly. "I'm Italian?" she asked looking at him. "Probably less than a quarter or so but yeah". She ran her finger along the clasp on the back and then gently pulled the locket open. Inside was a small picture of him and a small little girl with curly red hair. Immediately Evelyn's eyes widened and she looked back up at her father.

"That was the last time I saw you" he said the sadness still lingering in his voice. "I thought you might like a picture of the two of us".

"I love it thank you" she looked back down at the picture. "Listen I have to get going, but I am doing business right outside of Fairview, I would love it if you would come have dinner with me on Saturday".

"Really?" she asked. "Really" he said and smiled at her. "Okay I'll be there".

Vincent jumped up off the curb and smiled. "Great". He pulled a card out of his pocket and wrote an address on the front of it. "This is my card; my cell phone number is on the bottom. I have a meeting at this casino right outside town early but will be at the restaurant in the hotel next door at 8:00, that's the address on the bottom".

"Were eating dinner at the Carlton?" she asked taking the card from him. "Yes, unless there is somewhere else you would like to go."

She got up from the curb "No of course not, that's just a really nice and expensive restaurant".

"That isn't anything you have to worry about, trust me" Vincent put his arm around his daughter and they walked back towards the party. All eyes were on the two of them when they walked up to the black car. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to cause a scene".

"Ah don't worry, in this neighborhood; everything is a scene."

Vincent stared at her for a couple of seconds and then kisses her cheek. "Goodbye my girl, I will see you in a couple of days".

"Bye Dad" and as the words left her mouth it sounded strange. "Dad" she repeated to herself quietly. She sighed as she watched his car drive away and slid the locket underneath the cloth of her dress so it was unseen. Within seconds she was quickly bombarded by Tom and Lynette who quickly grabbed her face like a child who had fallen off her bike.

"Are you okay? Sweetie what did he say?" Evelyn grabbed her mother's hands and pulled them away from her face. "I am fine mom, he didn't say anything other than he just wanted me to know that he loved me, he explained why he left and said he just wanted to see me before he left town".

"Did he say anything about coming back?" Lynette asked earnestly. "No he is leaving town tonight, he won't be back" Evelyn said and once again the rims of her eyes began to tear. She didn't cry because he was gone or because she was overwhelmed by seeing him, rather she cried because she had lied to her mother. Her sick, tired, overwhelmed mother, but she had to…because the truth would have upset her even more.

***

After Vincent left, Evelyn said goodbye to everyone and her and John left the party in all its gossipy glory behind. John grabbed Evelyn's hand as they walked down the street but didn't say a word. It wasn't until he followed Evelyn upstairs and she closed her bedroom door that the first word was spoken.

"Oh my god" she said collapsing on her bed and letting out a long exhausted breath as if she had been holding it through the whole ordeal. She laid her arm over her eyes and John sat on the end of the bed and slipped off her left shoe.

"I couldn't believe it. The minute I saw him walk out of the car I knew exactly who he was. Isn't that crazy? I mean I don't remember him at all and did you see the look on my mom's face? There is someone somewhere who has it out for me I am telling you. They look down and say "Hey Evelyn Scavo had an easy day so let's see how much stress we can put on her before she cracks".

"I can't believe he just showed up out of nowhere" John said gently rubbing the bottom of her foot. "What I don't understand is why he would stop by for ten minutes or so and just leave again? It really doesn't make any sense."

Evelyn just stared towards the window, she knew she should tell John, she knew she should tell somebody, but she didn't want to risk it getting back to her mom because she knew there would be an argument. She listen to the quiet for a little while until John stood up and walked towards the large bookshelf in the corner. "Mike said you were a reader" he stated as he looked through the six shelves of books.

Evelyn turned to lie on her side facing him. "Yeah, I am kind of a dork when it comes to books".

"You have really read all of these?" he asked.

"Yep, most of them more than once"

"Which one is your favorite?" John asked and smiled anxiously awaiting her selection. Evelyn thought about it for a moment and gently got up of the bed and walked to the bookshelf. She perused for a moment then pulled out a small thin book with the cover missing.

"Persuasion" John read out loud.

"Persuasion" Evelyn repeated and watched as he read the back cover of the book. "After years apart unmarried Anne Elliot encounters the dashing naval officer others persuaded her to reject" he stopped reading and looked over at her. "It sounds depressing".

She playfully snatched the book out of his hand. "It's not, its beautifully written. Her family pressures her not to marry him because he has no money. Then years later they meet and they are two totally different people and they have to persuade themselves to fall back into love with each other.....how do you do that?"

"Do what?" John asked. "You have this crazy way of totally distracting me, I totally forgot about everything there for a second, it felt good".

John wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead, "I believe I have other methods of distracting you as well". Evelyn laughed and smiled at him, "You really don't value your life at all now do you? If my parents come home they're going to kill you."

"Some things are worth dying for" he said laughing. "Well can we at least eat before we die, there was all that food at that party and I didn't eat a thing". Evelyn grabbed his hand and she dragged him downstairs. After they ate Tom and Lynette showed up with all of the kids. Evelyn could tell that Lynette wanted to talk to her but she wasn't going to give her a chance, at least not tonight anyways. It seemed as if John was immediately part of the family. The kids tackled him when they walked through the door, Lynette even warmed up to him as the night went on and talked about music, and John and Tom shared a beer in the garage with Orson discussing the latest football game. It eventually got so late she had to drag him out of the garage so she could go to sleep.

"My lord, you cannot tell me you spent all of that time talking about football".

"It's a very complex sport" John remarked as they walked down the driveway. "We were supposed to spend the whole night together" Evelyn said making a puppy face at him as they walked. John laughed before turning towards her to answer, he grabbed the back of her neck and leaned in and kissed her. "Tomorrow night, I am all yours".

"Hmm" Evelyn said smiling. "I'm talking a restaurant, an old movie then the whole rest of the night on the bus, just you and me".

"Promise"?

"I promise" John said and kissed her, a kissed that felt like it lasted forever but in a good way. After he let her go he smiled and she watched him walk away and jump into the small red mustang. At that very moment a cold rush of wind blew through her hair and she wrapped the small sweater around her arms and headed into the house.

***

The next day flew by, each hour leading Evelyn closer and closer to Saturday night. She woke up early and got the kids off the school, covered a shift at the pizzeria and hurried home to shower and change for her and John's night together. She was taking off the necklace her father gave her when she heard her mother call from downstairs. "Evelyn I think John's here".

She ran to the window and laughed when she saw his tour bus sitting outside, she had no idea as to what he had planning that involved that huge thing. She hit the stairs running and couldn't help but smile as she walked out and saw him standing there. It was a matter of seconds though, when her face turned white and she noticed what was going on. Tom was driving and John was wearing jeans and an old t-shirt. "What's going on?"

"Listen Evelyn, one of the guys got us a gig down in Texas.."

"You're leaving now…" she said solemnly and looked out over the street.

"I am sorry, there just isn't any way we can pass this up. There is supposed to be a record contractor there who is actually interested in listening to us, this could mean big things for the band".

"We knew it wasn't forever, we knew it had to end sooner or later" she said and smiled at him.

He kissed her on the forehead, and then laid his cheek on the side of her face. "Sweet Evelyn, always has to be strong." She laid her nose on his cheek and they stayed like that for a moment. She thought maybe if she didn't say anything he couldn't feel all the emotions that were rushing through her body. She wanted to hug him, she wanted to kiss him and tell him to stay, that she would get him a plane ticket to Texas in a couple of days but she knew that couldn't. This was his dream and he had to do what he had to do, she had to let him go. The quick honking of the bus jolted them apart and John sent a snaring look at the boys who were watching him out the window. " This was supposed to be our day" John said smiling at her.

"Its okay" she said her voice cracking in between the words. John looked at all the bracelets on his wrists and gently pulled off a small leather one. He buttoned it around her wrist and gently kissed the inside of her arm. Evelyn thought for a moment and then her eyes sparked. "Hold on just one second, please" she turned around and ran inside. After a minute she came back out and placed a small book into his hands.

"Persuasion"

"Read it" she said and gently took a step back. " I will maybe more than once" he said and that caused her to smile. She then nodded and began to walk away. She could feel him watching her and her chest began to hurt more and more with each step. There came a moment when she felt as if her heart was going to explode. It was then that she turned around and ran into his arms and kissed him. She hit him so hard she nearly knocked him down, yet it didn't take long for him to reciprocate her forcefulness. She felt his body lean into hers and she knew that would be the last time they would be together. After a minute or so she let him go and they just looked at each other. There wasn't anything left to say, so Evelyn took in a long ragged breath and forced a smile. "Goodbye John".

"Goodbye Evelyn" he said. She turned around and walked away and this time she didn't look back.

From the moment we form bonds we truly believe with all our heart those we love will never leave. It was a truly wise person who came along and informed that all good things must come to an end.