Chapter 14

Egon lay on the ground, hands behind his head, as he stared up at the night sky. The stars were just beginning to appear as the sun had set only a few moments ago. Given enough time the sky would begin to tell a tale. A tale of Greek zodiac signs, of gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, all united in the constellations coming out for Egon to see.

Egon had never been one to sit still for any length of time. He was always busy working, experimenting. The only time he allowed himself to be still was at the opera or his daughter's concerts, but even then he wasn't still in his mind. He would listen and break down into parts the piece that the orchestra was playing. In his head he heard each part clearly. He would listen for each musicians individual interpretation of the piece, making the music his or her own, and then would put them all back together again.

Even though his body was still at those times he knew that he wasn't. But tonight was different. Egon had never sat and looked up at the stars before with pure enjoyment.

"That's a fruitless waste of time," Egon's father pointed out to him when he was young.

Uncle Cyrus and his children had come over to Egon's father's house to celebrate the fourth of July. After the fireworks were done Egon's uncle had taken his children out back to lie on the grass, watching the stars and connecting them to form constellations.

Cyrus was younger than Edison, Egon's father, and as such wasn't about to let life slip by without making each day special for his children and his only nephew.

Egon wiped away a tear that had managed to slip out of the corner of his eye. He missed his father and mother terribly on nights like this. Even though he wasn't alone, he had his daughter, Egon still felt alone in his heart.

"Egon it's okay to cry," Kane said as he watched his son-in-law wipe away the tear at the corner of his right eye. "It doesn't make you less of a man."

"I know," Egon replied turning to his right to see Kane staring at him, lying next to him on the ground. "I'm just thinking about my parents and how much I miss them."

"I understand," Kane said and turned to look back up at the sky.

Egon turned his attention back up at the night sky as he remembered how Kane had teased him a few days ago.

"Let's go climb a mountain huh," Egon said to Kane. "You had me going there, thinking I was going to be gearing up to climb a rock face."

"What?" Kane retorted back, "Afraid you wouldn't remember how?"

"No," Egon replied, "I was afraid that you and me would be joining my wife and parents when I fell to my death because I couldn't find a hand hold and you wouldn't have been able to hold on to me."

"Nice way to instill some confidence into your climbing partner."

"Yeah, sorry."

Both men fell silent lost in their thoughts as the planet Jupiter appeared above them. Soon after that Sirius, the Dog Star appeared.

"Egon?"

"Yes, Kane."

"Did you love my daughter?"

Egon sat up from the ground and looked at his father-in-law laying in the grass. Why was Kane asking him this now? Surely Kane knew that he loved Eden. What was going through the man's mind?

"Kane, you know I loved Eden. I still love her even now after her death."

Kane nodded his head stifling a cry before he spoke again.

"Were you gentle to her?"

Now Egon knew what was going on in Kane's mind. Eden's former boyfriend had been abusive to her. Egon knew that Eden had told her father about it. She had told Kane how Ben had physically, sexually, and mentally abused her. Then when Eden had become pregnant, because she was raped by Ben, he had attacked her in the night.

Eden had miscarried her baby girl and had spiraled down into depression and eventually thoughts of suicide. Egon had had the same thoughts of suicide that day when he had met Eden for the first time.

"Kane," Egon said reaching out with his right hand to touch the man's left arm, "I've been nothing but gentle with your daughter since day one."

"Eden told me about her past the night before we got married. She thought that I didn't want her because of what had happened to her. She thought that I would call off the wedding and walk out on her if I knew about her past with Ben. But I didn't care about her past boyfriend. We all have our own demons that we must face alone. Our past isn't our future. We learn from it, use it to our advantage, and grow from it, trying not to repeat our mistakes again."

"I always let Eden lead me in what she wanted when it came to loving each other. Is that what you wanted to know Kane?"

"You never forced yourself upon her?" the older man asked clearly troubled by something.

"No," Egon replied removing his hand, "never."

"Then you're a better man than me," Kane replied.

Egon narrowed his eyes at Kane. "What was going on," he wondered as he watched the man before him break down and finally cry up at the night sky.

Egon sat quietly, letting Kane take whatever personal time he needed to work what was bothering him out of his system. Eventually Kane's sobbing subsided.

"Egon?"

"Right here Kane."

"I lied to you and everyone at Lizzie's funeral when I was giving her eulogy. I didn't marry Lizzie when she was eighteen and our first son wasn't born nine months later."

Egon didn't know what to say and kept quiet as Kane gathered his thoughts.

"Egon?"

"Yes, Kane."

"Can you keep a secret? It will have to be for the rest of your life. You can't even tell Echo."

"Why?" Egon asked.

"Because…," Kane started to say then broke off as tears came to his eyes once again.

Gathering his composure Kane tried again.

"Let me tell you a story Egon," Kane said.

"I met Lizzie when I was eighteen and she was sixteen. I was a senior in high school and Lizzie was the grade below me. When we first met I wouldn't even give her the time of day, but eventually we learned to get along. I grew to like her too."

"Christmas came and went and we started to hang out together after winter break. When the time for senior prom rolled around I asked Lizzie if she would accompany me and she said yes."

"I still remember to this day driving up to her parent's house with a pink corsage that I had picked out the night before. I knocked on the door and who greeted me but this angel in white. Lizzie had on a strapless, white long dress with rhinestones sewn into the netting of the skirt that sat over a satin underskirt."

"Her father took our picture after I awkwardly tried to pin the corsage onto her dress afraid of touching her breasts in front of her parents. Lizzie's older sister Beth thankfully came to the rescue that night."

Kane wiped away the tears in his eyes and then continued his story.

"Well I took Lizzie to the dance and we had a great time. There was only one thing wrong. Every time I looked at Lizzie I lusted after her. I knew it was wrong but my carnal desires just kept coming back. After the dance was over I suggested that we go for a drive before I took her home."

Kane sat up now and pulled his knees up off of the ground.

"Egon, I don't know why I did what I did even to this day," Kane said, "but I wanted Lizzie that night and that was why I took her for a drive."

"I had in my mind's eye of loving that girl slowly, gently and her loving me back."

Kane wrapped his arms around his legs before he continued with his story.

"But what we want sometimes turns out to be our biggest enemy."

"What happened?" Egon gently asked knowing that he might not like what he was going to hear.

"I drove Lizzie to a secluded place in town where no one ever goes. We got out and walked up the hill to sit on the grass holding hands looking out over the lights of the town. I leaned in to kiss her and was surprised when she kissed me back. I thought my dreams were coming true. She wanted me and would love me, just like I wanted her."

Kane turned his face towards Egon and started shaking his head back and forth.

"We were pretty heavy into it when I made my move and reached one hand under Lizzie's dress while my other hand went for her breast. Lizzie realized what I was doing and tried to back away from me, but I wanted her and I was going to have her no matter what."

Egon didn't say anything and sat there not knowing what to do.

"I won't go into all the details, but that night I forced myself upon Lizzie. The more she struggled to get free, the more I pushed her into the grass to have my way with her. You don't know what I did to that young girl and here I was, king of my domain, raping an underage child."

Kane stopped shaking his head and sat looking down the mountain to where Echo sat with Daniel by the campfire.

"I wish my first child would have been conceived out of love not rape," Kane said quietly.

Egon turned his head to look where Kane was staring. It was true his daughter Echo was conceived and born out of love for his wife.

"So is that why you married Lizzie?" Egon questioned quietly.

"Partly," Kane replied.

"When I was done having my way with Lizzie I released her. She struggled to get up. Her dress was torn, soiled, and she had a bruise on her left arm from where I had held onto her, holding her down on her stomach in the grass. Lizzie stood before me, a scared look on her face, before tears came to her eyes and she ran away from me."

"I tried to go after her but she ran down the hill and across the road to hide from me in the woods there. I looked for hours. I never found her and finally when the sun rose I drove back home alone. I don't know how Lizzie ever got home and I never saw her after that. She didn't come to school the last two weeks before summer break and graduation."

"I moved on with my life and started attending college in the fall. Even though I had put Lizzie behind me I always looked back on my time with her as something that I wish never would have happened. Lizzie was a beautiful girl that I wished I had gotten to know better before that night."

"Round about Christmas break I got in touch with my buddies from high school who had seen Lizzie. They told me "nice going", called me a "stud", and asked "how was it?" I didn't know what they were talking about until I forced them to tell me."

"They told me that Lizzie was going to have a baby. Well I didn't believe them because no one can get pregnant the first time, or so I thought, and I went to her house to see her. When Lizzie's dad answered the door I got punched in the face and told to leave."

"Lizzie, I found out a few days later, wasn't living at home anymore. Her parents had thrown her out of the house when she had told them that she was pregnant. I asked around and tracked her down a few weeks later. Lizzie was living with her sister Beth."

"I went to Beth's house January first, hoping beyond hope that what my friends had told me was a lie. I was expecting to see a skinny seventeen year old teenager answer the door, but do you know what I got instead Egon?"

"No," Egon replied, "what did you get?"

"I got this heavily pregnant young girl opening the door for me. It was like night and day. Lizzie wasn't that angel when I had first met her to take her to the prom. Gone was the white strapless dress. Here before me was a barefooted girl dressed in a pair of hand-me-down jeans, with holes in the knees, and an oversized man's shirt. Lizzie was about to slam the door in my face, but Beth stopped her and invited me inside."

"I sat there at the kitchen table while Lizzie let loose with everything that she could think of to say to me. And how did I answer her back? I couldn't. I had ruined Elizabeth's life. She wasn't going to be able to graduate from high school nor was she going to be able to go on to college because of me."

"My selfish desire to have her that lone night had turned her world into shame, remorse, and shambles. Here was Lizzie seven months pregnant and going to give birth in March with no job, parents that didn't want her, and living off of her sister."

"Her abuse resulted from my unrighteous attack on her freedom. It was my fault that Lizzie was like this. I sat at that kitchen table staring at the mess that I had made and knew that I had to do something to fix it. That was why I had to marry Lizzie. I had an obligation to take care of her and her child, so I did."

"I had to take a stand. It was not easy, popular, or fun, but I couldn't just look away or keep quiet about it. I became subject to ridicule, slander, and even physical abuse from my friends. "Why get involved?" "The child's probably not even yours." "Let Lizzie deal with it." And the most popular one was; "Just pay for the abortion." I was told over and over again."

"But I couldn't let Lizzie raise this child alone. My father told me once that 'A responsible parent chooses to make all sorts of sacrifices.' Sitting there looking at that crying, pregnant girl, made me realize what my father was talking about."

"My marriage to Lizzie wasn't going to be perfect, but it was going to be built on faith, prayer, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, and hard work. Our home was going to be a place of refuge, peace, and immense joy in everyone's lives."

"Beth signed the papers so that Lizzie could get married to me because she was underage."

"When we got married the next month on Valentine's Day I knew Lizzie wasn't crying because she was happy. She was crying because she felt forced into getting married. She felt that I was going to have my way with her again."

Kane stifled a laugh.

"I slept on the floor of our one bedroom family housing, at Central Oregon Community College, in a sleeping bag after we were married. I didn't want Lizzie to feel that I was ever going to take advantage of her again. Eight months after our son was born Lizzie felt sorry for me and told me that I was allowed in bed with her but NO TOUCHING WAS ALLOWED."

"You must have touched her at some point in time," Egon interrupted, "how else did you get all your natural born children?"

"Yeah," Kane replied laughing, "we did touch, but only after Benjamin turned one. I let Lizzie lead the way in our love making much like you and Eden."

"Lizzie spent a year in therapy which I supported and paid for. She felt guilty for what I had done to her. That was one of the reasons I spent the first nine months of our marriage on the floor. We both had to overcome our feelings of worthlessness, because the person that we wanted to be wasn't the person that was staring back at us each and every time we looked in the mirror."

"Egon do you know what I have learned from my life with Lizzie?"

"No," Egon replied.

"I have learned that it is hardest to show compassion and grant forgiveness to those closest to us and yet Lizzie forgave me for what I did to her. I learned that forgiveness is the greatest gift that I could offer Lizzie and myself. I learned that "tolerate" and "love" are two very different verbs despite what popular culture professes. I also learned that we all bear scars from the failures, disappointments, and fears in our lives. And, I prefer to wear long sleeves to hide those abstract scars that I think are on my arms, waiting there for the whole world to see and judge."

Kane smiled at Egon in the darkness knowing that the other man wouldn't be able to see his face.

"You know Egon it's easy to take off your clothes and have sex. People do it all the time, but opening up your soul to someone, letting them into your spirit, thoughts, fears, future, hopes, and dreams…that's being naked."

"I opened up to Lizzie and she returned that favor, and do you know what happened? We grew. We grew closer together and never looked back on the past. Just like you said. The past isn't our future and boy did I ever learn from it! The challenges and rewards of marriage come as two people learn to be one."

"Well Egon," Kane said sighing, "the last night with Lizzie before she died was a long dead dream of mine that came true. That woman loved me. Slowly, gently just like I had imagined when I was eighteen years old and had sat on that hill overlooking the town. We loved many times until early in the morning when Lizzie was finished and she turned to me. With tears in her eyes she told me that she forgave me for that first night when I had forced myself upon her. She loved me and all of our children."

"I believe that Lizzie knew she was going to die and wanted to express her love for me that one last time."

"Promise me something," Lizzie said to me as she lay in my arms.

"What?" I asked her.

"That you will be with me and hold me in your arms when I die."

Egon nodded his head. He knew what Kane was going through. He had promised his wife something similar too the night before she had died.

Kane released his arms from his legs and slowly stood up.

"Come on Egon," Kane said offering a hand to him. "Let's go join the others. I have a presentation to make."

Egon grasped Kane's hand and stood up. Both men walked down the mountain with the help of the first quarter moon low on the horizon. Egon could see Daniel with his arm around Echo sitting with their backs to him.

Joseph heard his father coming above the crackling of the fire.

"Hello Father," Joseph called out to Kane as the two men approached the campfire.

"Good evening son," Kane replied as he and Egon came to a stop behind Echo and Daniel.

"Is everyone all here?" Kane asked, signing what he was saying to his daughter.

"Manny is just changing Lizzie," Sarah signed back to her father.

"I'll wait then," Kane replied as he made his way around his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to stand next to Joseph.

Joseph would be able to sign to Sarah this way and also Sarah would be able to see his lips. She had become an expert lip reader over the years but would still rely on signs if the person talking looked away or covered their mouth.

Egon sat down on Echo's left side on the blanket that Daniel had spread out for his daughter an hour ago. Soon Manny could be seen coming into view carrying a baby in his arms.

"I'm sorry Father," Manny said as he came around to sit next to Daniel.

"No worries," Kane said, "are we ready?"

"Yeah, but I don't think Echo, Daniel, and Uncle Egon know what's going on," one of Kane's great-grandchildren cried out.

"Summer hush," Ben's daughter told her child, "It's Grandpa Greats turn to talk."

Kane laughed at the reference that one of his great-grandchildren had given him. They had tried to call him Great-Grandpa when they were young and were just learning how to talk. It had come out Grandpa Greats instead. Kane had liked the name and so it had stayed.

"It's okay Helen," Kane replied, "I was going to tell them what we are going to be doing before I started anyways."

Kane turned his face towards Egon, Echo, and Daniel.

"When my kids were young, growing up, Lizzie and I would meet together as a family once a month and have a fireside chat."

"Like the radio addresses given by FDR in the 30's?" Egon asked.

"Correct," Kane replied.

"Who?" Daniel questioned Echo.

"FDR is an aberration that stands for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was the 32nd President of the United States. Between 1933 and 1944 he gave a series of thirty evening radio addresses to the nation called fireside chats," Echo answered Daniel's question.

"You're correct also," Kane pointed out to Echo, "only my "chats" usually involved a religious topic but tonight I am going to deviate away from that. Tonight we are going to be celebrating the life that Lizzie gave to us."

"I have asked each of my children to come up with their own special farewell to their mother. Benjamin Jay Parnell's family will be going first," Kane said before sitting down next to Joseph.

Ben stood up and spoke about how he remembered a time when his mother was painting a door. He was a toddler at the time and wanted to help, so his mother had given him a brush.

"I remember painting that door for about five minutes before something else caught my attention," Ben said. "I then dropped the paint brush on the floor and toddled off elsewhere happy in the fact that I had "helped"."

Ben recalled how his mother was left to fix his "helping to paint the door" mistakes.

"She was always there for me, my wife and kids whenever we made mistakes," Ben said quietly. "Never judging, always there with open arms ready to accept us as we were. Just like the painting of the door, she helped us all. I love you Mother."

Ben sat down as his wife placed her hands on top of his, giving them a squeeze.

Tommy, Ruth's husband stood up next.

"I only knew Elizabeth through my wife," he stated, "but what I knew of her will remain with me until I die. She was a kind person thinking of others before herself. Before I married Ruth she told me a secret. A secret that would make our marriage the best for both of us, she told me."

Tommy paused before he continued.

"Elizabeth told me; "Lead Ruth with grace instead of trying to control her. It's not the love that sustains the promise. It's the promise that sustains the love."."

"I miss you both," Tommy said before sitting down.

Sarah stood up next as her husband Marcus rose up with her also.

"I wish to let you all know that I loved my mother," Marcus said as he watched his wife signing to him.

"I want to describe my mother with words that I have learned from her over the years," Marcus said.

"Hardworking. Trustworthy. Kind. Sympathetic. Understanding. Loyal. Patriotic. Diplomatic."

Kane's children laughed at this and Marcus held his wife's hands still until they stopped. Sarah smiled. She knew her mother was judge and jury for many a childhood quarrel growing up. Marcus released Sarah's hands when the laughter died down.

"Honest," Sarah signed as Marcus resumed his translation for her.

"Adventurous," Sarah said as Kane nodded his head in agreement.

Kane remembered when he had taught Lizzie how to rappel. She had been scared at first, then after the basics were down she had begged for more. Kane smiled and turned his attention back to his daughter.

"My Motivating, Outgoing, Trusting, Honest, Energetic, Remarkable MOTHER. Lizzie was the only one who accepted me for me. It didn't matter that I couldn't hear. She showed me how to feel instead. I will miss you terrible," Sarah signed and then turned into her husband's shoulder to weep openly.

Joseph stood up with help from Kane as Sarah and her husband sat back down.

"We come into this world alone and we leave alone," Joseph said holding onto his father's arm for support, "but within that time we create lasting memories with our loved ones that will forever bind us in this world and beyond."

"Lizzie loved us all," Joseph said. "I remember a time when I hated being blind and being a burden on everyone so I ran away."

Kane stifled a laugh remembering the incident all too well.

"Lizzie found me next door hiding in the neighbor's doghouse which I had thought was a playhouse."

"You were six at the time," Kane told his son.

"Yes I was," Joseph replied, "but Lizzie taught me something that day that I will never forget."

"She sat outside that doghouse and told me; 'There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what the lighthouse on the shore can rescue if we only raise our heads and look.'."

'It beckons through the storms of life. It calls, "This way to safety. This way to home." It sends forth signals of light easily seen and never failing. If followed, those signals will guide you back home.'

"I remember yelling at her that what good was a lighthouse if I couldn't see it. Lizzie calmly took her hand and reached inside that doghouse until she found my hand. Holding it tight she told me that she was my lighthouse and if I followed her advice it didn't matter that I couldn't see. I remember telling her that I wished I had died when I was born."

Joseph paused as tears fell from his eyes. He swallowed before he continued.

"Well when Lizzie heard that I wanted to be dead she climbed into that doghouse with me and pulled me into a hug. She then said something that changed my life forever."

'Joseph Dean Parnell, Don't you quit! You keep walking! You keep trying! There is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven. But they will come. It will be all right in the end. Trust me Joseph and believe in good things to come.'

Joseph wiped the tears away from his eyes and continued.

"Lizzie changed my life. I learned to play the piano and compose songs for her. I learned to respect other people around me. I began to have a desire to help others too. Because of my blindness I had an opportunity to be a blessing in the lives of others so I became a concert pianist. I wanted to show others how they could overcome trials in their lives. If I could overcome being blind, why couldn't they overcome their own problems."

Echo smiled. She was sitting with her head on Daniel's left shoulder his left arm around her. She had seen Joseph's concerts. They reminded her of Victor Borge's comedian routines.

"I love you Lizzie," Joseph said, "and I want to leave you with my favorite quote from another piano composer Beethoven."

"Don't only practice your art, but force your way into it's secrets. For it and knowledge can raise men to the divine."

"Lizzie knew all of our secrets and raised us all up to become what we are today. I thank her for taking me into her home and family," Joseph said as he sat back down onto the ground.

Echo knew it was her family's turn. They had agreed upon a song. She saw her father pick up the borrowed guitar that sat next to him and place the strap over his head before he rose up.

"Like Ruth's husband Tommy, I knew Lizzie through marriage," Egon stated. "I wasn't privileged to know Eden's parents until after we got married."

"My biggest fear when I met Eden's parents for the first time was that they would hate me for taking and marrying their daughter without even inviting them to the wedding, but that turned out to be wrong."

"Eden and I had planned a wedding in the spring so that everyone could come, but after my near death experience I couldn't wait."

"I wanted Eden to be my wife because I knew that life was short and at any moment either one of us could be gone forever."

Egon wiped away at his eyes. How true his statement had been.

"I had Eden for eleven wonderful years and then I lost her. Lizzie was there for me along with my own mother."

"I remember suddenly being a single father to a nine year old daughter who wanted only one thing in life, and that was for her mother to come back to her."

Echo started to cry at the mention of her mother and buried her face into Daniel's chest.

"I remember a day that I didn't want to get out of bed. Lizzie was staying with us at the time to help me with Echo. "What good would it do," I told myself, "to get out of bed and pretend that everything was alright"?"

"Well Lizzie came into my room and sat down on the bed by my side. I remember pulling the pillow over my head and telling her that I wished I would have died instead. It was just too hard to go on living without Eden."

Egon paused and strummed a few chords on the guitar before he continued.

"Lizzie didn't sugar coat it for me. She knew what I was feeling."

"Egon," she told me, "we have to experience sadness so that we may better measure joy. Life has a way of balancing the sorrow with the joy, the disappointments with the hope, and the emptiness with the meaning. After all, how could we ever dry the tears of others," she told me as she tenderly removed the pillow from my head, "if we had never cried ourselves?"

"Lizzie allowed me to talk to her about Eden's death and about my feelings. I expressed my grief openly to her and Lizzie just sat and listened to me. Never judging."

"One of the things that I was haunted by the most was Eden's personal belongings being gone through by her siblings and taken away, never to be seen again."

Egon paused again and wiped his eye with the sleeve of his windbreaker before he continued.

"Lizzie said something to me that helped me that day to get up out of bed and continue on with life."

"Egon," Lizzie said to me, "you, and only you, should decide what should be done with Eden's clothes and personal belongings."

"Don't force yourself to go through them until you are ready. Take your time. It isn't hurting anything to leave Eden's belongings right where they are for now. You will determine when the time is right."

Echo knew that her father had left their bedroom alone after Eden had died. His wife's clothes were still in the closet and her jewelry still sat on the night stand, next to her side of the bed all these years later.

Egon placed his hand onto the neck of the guitar and started playing the introduction to the song that Echo, Daniel, and him were going to sing.

"I want to leave Lizzie and Eden with a song," Egon said before he broke into singing in his deep rich tenor voice.

"There are loved ones in the glory,

Whose dear forms you often miss;

When you close your earthly story,

Will you join them in their bliss?"

Echo, who had been crying during her father's speech, wiped her eyes when she heard him start to sing. Daniel helped her to her feet and joined in with Egon on the chorus.

"Will the circle be unbroken

By and by, by and by?

In a better home awaiting

In the sky, in the sky?"

Echo was supposed to sing the next verse but she could not. The pain that she thought she had buried with her mother's death was fresh again in her heart. Egon played the introduction once again for his daughter but Echo just shook her head.

"I can't," she cried into Daniel's arms.

Manny stood up and sang the next verse as Egon continued to play. When he came to the chorus Egon and Daniel joined in with Manny as one by one Lizzie's children, grandchildren, and even the great-grandchildren who could sing joined in to sing with them also.

Daniel took the third verse like they had planned and once again when Egon played the chorus everyone joined in. Egon went to finish the song but Kane stood up and motioned for Egon to continue to play on. Egon did so as Kane went into the next verse.

"You can picture happy gatherings

Round the fireside long ago,

And you think of tearful partings,

When they left you here below."

Once again everyone joined in singing as Echo lifted her head off of Daniel's arm. She looked towards her father and caught his eye. Egon knew what she wanted to do. Slowly he strummed the introduction once again as Echo took a breath and started to sing. When Echo started to sing Egon played chords following his daughter's lead as she sang from her heart, feeling her rendition of how she wanted the next verse to go.

"One by one their seats were emptied," Echo sang slowly.

"One by one they went away," she sang softly.

Here Echo paused and Egon stopped playing completely. Only Echo's voice could be heard echoing up to the stars reaching, hoping her mother and grandmother could hear her.

"Here the circle has been broken

Will it be complete one day?"

Egon softly started playing again as he started the chorus back up. Slowly one by one everyone joined in and Egon played the chorus once again before he finished, took the guitar off, and sat back down along with Kane, Manny, Daniel, and Echo.

No one said a word. It was Manny's turn now. After a long moment of silence in which nothing could be heard but the popping and crackling of the fire Manny finally spoke.

"Father?"

"Yes Manny."

"Can I save my farewell for Lizzie until tomorrow?" Manny asked. "I can't think of a better way to end this fireside than with Uncle Egon's song."

"If that is your wish, then yes you can," Kane replied.

"It is," Manny replied standing up holding a sleeping infant against his chest. "Goodnight Father. Goodnight everyone."

"Goodnight Manny," Kane replied getting up himself.

Slowly, quietly the Parnell family said their goodnights and slowly made their way back to their tents. No one wanted to disturb the mood that had been set. Soon only Egon, Echo, and Daniel were alone by the fire with Kane.

"Goodnight Father. Grandpa," Echo said as she hugged and kissed Egon and then Kane. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Egon. Kane," Daniel said shaking the men's hands before turning to escort Echo to her father's tent.

Egon watched them walk away from him. He knew that Daniel would be sleeping in Kane's tent tonight. He was proud of the change that Daniel had taken with his daughter.

"Egon would you like to help me douse the fire?" Kane asked.

Egon turned his face to look into Kane's eyes.

"Actually," Egon said, "I would like to stay up a few more hours. I'll put the fire out before I retire for the night."

Kane watched Egon's face as it slowly changed into sadness. Kane knew that Egon was missing his wife and he needed some time alone.

"Well then," Kane said hugging Egon, "Goodnight son."

"Goodnight Kane," Egon replied glad that Kane hadn't asked him why he wanted to stay up late.

Egon watched Kane walk to his tent before he sat back down on the blanket, that Daniel had left by the fire, and picked up the guitar once again. He placed his left hand onto the neck and started plucking the strings with his right hand. Soon the melody of "Danny Boy" could be heard in the stillness of the night. Egon was missing his family terribly tonight and his heart was aching at the loss.

Glancing down at his right hand Egon noticed the thin gold steel band on his wrist. His daughter had one too. He could see his wife's name engraved on the front. Underneath this was his unborn son's name, Edison.

Edison. His heir that would have kept the Spengler name alive. Egon's hand started shaking and he stopped playing. How he had wanted a son. Eden had known it. Deep down, even with him not telling her, she knew. Eden knew Egon better than he knew himself. Egon brought his right hand up to his face to wipe away a tear. Even if Daniel was to ask Echo to marry him and they were to have a child, the child wouldn't be a Spengler. Egon was the last of a long line of proud men. Men who could produce male heirs. He wished in his heart that Eden had lived so that she could have born him that coveted son. Sometimes, very rarely, Egon wished that Echo had been a boy.

Egon bent over the guitar and wept openingly. What was he thinking? He loved his daughter. He wouldn't change a single day that he had spent with her. Yet his heart yearned for something that he would never have. This was his demon that he had to face alone.

"Oh forgive me Echo," he cried.

Egon knew that this was a secret that he would have to keep from his daughter for the rest of his life. He never wanted her to find out about tonight. His secret desire for a son was not going to come between him and Echo. He would see to it.