I've been toying with the idea of telling part of this story from Vince's POV, so I decided to go ahead and dive into it :). Please review - I really appreciate any feedback. It gets me excited to write more (and more quickly :D).
Vince
I'm not one of those parents who think that their child can do no wrong. As much as I love my daughter, I know that she has her faults. Some of the negative traits, she's inherited from me, but I'd like to think that I've given her more positive than negative. Her mother passed down the best and worst of her own personality to Daphne, but mostly her best traits, thank God.
When I see Daphne with her daughters, when I realize how hard she's trying to be the mother that she never had…I'm overwhelmed with love for her. She's a good – no, she's a great mom, and her daughters are happy. Someday, even with all that she's been through, she'll be happy again, too.
As long as she never finds out about the things I've kept from her.
No matter how old your child is, sometimes you have to make difficult decisions when it comes to their welfare. What I've never told her, what I've kept from her; I made the decision to do so. If she knew everything, not just what she thinks I've not telling her about her mother, she'd hate me. I imagine the way she'd look at me, and I know it's the right thing to do. So much of this started before she was even born, before I'd even met Corinne, her mother.
Everything started with Sarah.
Dave thinks I'm wrong, of course. He helped me raise Daphne after Corinne died, he's more than her uncle, he's a second father. Even so, I'm pulling rank. We haven't seen eye-to-eye on so many things lately, but Daphne is where we disagree the most. He wants me to tell her everything, that she deserves to know the truth. And he's right. She does. But what she deserves and what she needs are two separate issues.
We've taken the girls to the Discovery Museum in Bangor today, although I wasn't thrilled with the idea of being several hours away from Daphne. I trust Duke with her, though. I'll always trust Duke with my daughter. Annabelle is a little young for the exhibits, but she seems to be happy watching her sister flit from exhibit to exhibit. Just like her mother, Amelia gravitates towards the books, insisting that we read the ones that catch her eye. Her early love of books is only one facet of her personality that reminds me of Daphne. She's also fascinated with anything musical – if she finds a stick or a bottle, she immediately transforms it into a guitar, a flute, or a microphone.
Dave asked me recently if I could go back and do it all over again, would I change anything, would I do things differently? I replied by asking him the same question. Neither of us could fathom a life that didn't include my daughter or my granddaughters. To change the past…it would change her. Them.
The answer will always be no.
1983 – Haven
"Daddy!" She jumped from the porch, her dark brown braids flying behind her as she hurled herself into my arms. "You're home!"
"I'm home, my Daffodil." I hugged her tightly and set her down. "Did you have a nice day today?" She nodded, grinning. "Where's Mommy?"
"Inside making dinner. Is Uncle Dave coming over tonight?" She glanced behind me, looking for her beloved uncle.
"Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow." I looked at her face, noticing a fresh cut on her cheek as we walked up the porch and started into the house. "How'd you hurt your face? Did you fall at school today?"
Her hand flew up to her cheek. "I fell into the corner of the kitchen table." She answered, her eyes downcast. The sudden, bubbling anger choked my throat, and I pushed it down. She couldn't see that. "I'm okay. It only hurt for a little bit."
"That's my brave girl." I kissed her on the forehead. "Will you do me a favor? Go upstairs to your room and play for a little while. I have to talk to Mommy about something, boring grown-up talk."
"Okay. I promised Miss Lucy I'd draw her a picture anyway. I'm going to draw the lighthouse." She smiled.
"That's my girl." I watched as she ran upstairs to her bedroom, and steeled myself for the confrontation that I knew was coming. Walking into the kitchen, I saw Corinne at the stove, stirring something in a saucepan, her back to me.
Without turning around, she spoke. "She fell, Vince. She was running in the house, and she slipped and hit her cheek on the table. She knows better than to run in the house."
"I didn't say anything." I set my keys next to the phone.
"You don't have to say a damn thing, Vince, I can feel the accusation radiating from you all the way over here." She slammed the saucepan back against the stove. "She's five years old. Five year olds hurt themselves all the time."
"I wasn't accusing you of anything, Corrine. Is it necessary to start with the defensiveness the moment that I walk in the door?"
She whirled around, and I saw how angry she was. "You're the one who should be defensive. I saw you with her today. At the diner, having lunch, looking pretty cozy. Would you like to explain what you were doing with her?"
"Oh, for the love of God, Corinne, it was a lunch meeting! She's the police department liaison and I run the town's newspaper. She provides us with information about stories, and we print it! It was completely innocent!" I spit the words out, frustration evident in every syllable.
"If it's so innocent, then why can't Dave go?" She hissed. "Last time I checked, he runs the Herald with you."
"He was doing the layout for the week. And I've explained this to you. I have always been the one who meets with the Haven PD liaison, it's been that way for years. I'm not going to change our policies because you can't get over your issues!" The anger finally broke in my voice. "We were having lunch, in public, discussing who might have stolen Duke Crocker's new bike for the police blotter. I assure you, Corinne, that was the highlight of our meeting. The theft of a seven-year-old boy's new Huffy three-speed bicycle. I don't need you to spy on me when I'm working."
She glared at me for about fifteen seconds before speaking. "I wasn't spying. I was picking Daphne up from school and happened to drive by the diner. She saw you, too, so of course, all I heard the entire way home was Lucy this and Lucy that!"
"Is that why you felt the need to hurt her? Because she has the audacity to like Lucy?" I spat the words at her. "I've told you before, Corinne, if you aren't willing to take the necessary steps to control your Trouble, if you take out your anger on our daughter, I will do whatever it takes to get her away from you!"
The tension in the kitchen became so thick that I swore I felt it breathing. Corinne and I locked eyes, still and silent. I waited.
Then I saw it. The almost imperceptible movement of her right hand. That was the only sign I needed. I rushed over and wrestled the saucepan from her just as she tried to hurl it and the boiling contents at me. Throwing it into the sink, I pinned her arms behind her and pushed her to the wall. She fought me, but I'd been through this before. I knew her tricks.
"I never should have married you!" Corinne screamed, as I wrapped my arms around her to keep her still. "You're a despicable, miserable man, and I regret the day I ever met you, Vincent Teagues!"
I sighed. "I know. I know, Corinne." I held her tightly until her body began to relax and she finally let her body go. I still wasn't ready to release her from my grip, though. I'd been fooled before.
Her anger soon gave way to gulping sobs. "I didn't mean to do it, Vince!" The tears streamed down her face as she rested her forehead against the wall. "I was so angry and she just wouldn't stop talking about Lucy, how she wanted to draw her a picture of the lighthouse, how nice she is, and it just happened. I swear to you, Vince, I didn't mean to hurt her!"
I loosened my hold on her, and she turned around to face me. "You have to start taking your medication, Corinne. You know what Dr. Sutton said. It won't stop the Trouble, but you're dealing with more than just the Trouble. Please. Take your medication. For Daphne."
She nodded, leaning her head into my chest. I rested my chin on her head, her red hair hanging down her back in one long braid. "I'll call Dr. Sutton in the morning. For Daphne."
We stood there silently for a moment before I pulled away. "I'm going to talk to her. Are you going to be okay?"
She nodded. "She knows how much I love her. She does."
I didn't answer her. I put my hand on her cheek and rested it there for a moment before going upstairs to check on my daughter.
She'd left her bedroom door ajar, so I knew she'd heard everything. Even so, I could see that she didn't want me to know. She was seated at her small desk, humming, her head bent seriously over the picture that she was drawing. Listening for a moment, I recognized the tune that she was humming – Janis Joplin's 'Piece of My Heart'. Amused at her unusual taste in music for a five-year-old, I walked into her room and shut the door behind me. I sat down on her bed, which was covered with a bright yellow and white quilt.
"How's that picture coming along?"
She looked up, a yellow crayon in her hand. "I'm coloring the sun. Haven doesn't get much sun, though. Do you think it makes my picture a lie?"
"Not at all, Daffodil. " I smiled at her. "Haven gets sunshine every so often. You're drawing the lighthouse on one of those days."
She put the crayon on top of her picture. "Yellow is my favorite color."
I chucked her under the chin with my finger and feigned mock astonishment. "Really? I had no idea! So that's why everything in your room is decorated in yellow!"
"Daddy." She pulled a face at me, but I could see a hint of a grin. She settled herself in my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. "What's your favorite color?"
"Well, let's see…" I put a finger to my head as if deep in thought. "I think I like red."
"Red like Mommy's hair?"
"Red like red hair." I nodded as my heart tightened in guilt. Red hair. "Daffodil. Sweetheart. Did you hear Mommy and Daddy talking downstairs?"
"You weren't talking. You were yelling." Daphne answered, matter-of-factly.
"I'm sorry you heard us yelling." I hugged her to me. "We both love you very much, you know that, don't you?"
"Mommy didn't mean to hurt me." Daphne gazed up at me, her green eyes wide and trusting. Innocent. "She couldn't help it. I see the pictures in my head, the pictures that…" Her voice trailed off for a moment before she continued. "The pictures that come true. Like the picture that Uncle Dave would win the bike race last month. He won and it was just like my picture. Mommy can't help seeing her pictures, even if they aren't always nice pictures."
"No, she can't, sweet girl." I kissed the top of her head softly. "And I know Mommy feels terrible about what happened with her picture today. But Mommy and I talked, and she's going to see Dr. Sutton. He can't make the pictures go away, but he might be able to help her turn the pictures nicer."
Daphne looked at me in confusion. "How can he help? You said there's nothing to do about the pictures, but they'll go away soon. Miss Lucy said so, too. She promised. You promised. They'll go away, right? Please, Daddy, I want them to go away! The pictures have to go away!" She buried her face in my shoulder and began to cry.
A massive wave of helplessness washed over me as I held my crying child. For the millionth time, I wished I could take her away from everything, take away her Trouble, take her out of Haven, take her anywhere so that she could be a normal little girl. And the devastating truth was that I couldn't. I couldn't fix this. All I could do was wait, just like everyone else affected by the Troubles in Haven.
Ever since she'd appeared in Haven, since the Troubles started for the second time in my life, I'd held out hope that there was a way to defeat the Barn and make the Troubles disappear. Dave and I had failed the first time, we'd tried and failed, and I'd lost her. I grieved for her, a grief that lasted for many years. I thought I was over her when I met Corinne. She reminded me of Sarah. She looked like Sarah. But I knew she wasn't Sarah, and I honestly thought I loved her. We were both delighted when Daphne was born and I became even more convinced that I'd gotten over Sarah.
Then the Troubles returned. Sarah returned…not Sarah, Lucy. She looked like Sarah, but now she was Lucy. Still, everything that had drawn me to Sarah, everything that I had loved about her, I could see it in Lucy. And the very first instant that I saw Lucy, I suddenly knew that we had to try again, we had to keep her from disappearing again, I couldn't lose her again. Dave and I had spent more than two years trying to come up with a plan to save her. We'd find another way to rid Haven of the Troubles.
But now…as I reassured my little girl that she and her mother would be okay, as the guilt and self-loathing overtook me, as I realized that I hadn't put Daphne first…everything changed. Nothing else…no one else mattered, only my daughter.
I would do whatever I needed to do to ensure that Sarah – Lucy - went into that Barn. If she ever came back, I'd do the same thing. The Barn was the only choice.
Haven – Present Day Continued –Evening, Outside of the Herald Office
As Dave unlatched Annie's infant seat and carried it inside, I lifted a sleeping Amelia out of the car. She immediately sank into me, wrapping her arms around my neck and sighing happily in her sleep. So much like her mother, so much like the little girl who had been my whole world and who was still my whole world, even as an adult. She still needed me to protect her.
I'd made my choice long ago. It was the only way.
