Several weeks later

Dave and Emily stood in the living room or the Rydons home.

"Thanks for this Mike," Dave told his friend one of the guardians of the Abernathy brothers. "We just want to have a quick word with Johnny."

"I understand that you're still pissed Dave I can't really blame you," Mike said.

"I got over being pissed sometime ago, Emily on the other hand is..."

"Still pissed off enough, that I want to strangle them," Emily answered. "Or at least Johnny. Spencer will never get over what happened not even if he lives to 90 years old. He'll never be able to forget that they deliberately started to destroy his violin right in front of him and Johnny deliberately did so because he wanted to see the horrified look on my fiancé's face. Spencer never cries, and he has spent several nights recently crying on my shoulder."

"Emily's right, I've never seen my son cry, not even when he broke his arm when he was 11. He's not one to burst into tears at drop of a hat. His emotions are more internal than external, it's always been that way."

Mike was nodding at this, as he had used to play the drums in a band and he understood how attached to an instrument someone could become. He still had his old drums in storage and would pass to my own to any grandchildren that showed an interest. The fact that the instrument was a family heirloom just added to Spencer's emotions.

"I understand, as I'm pretty attached to my drums myself and plan on passing them onto whichever grandchild that shows a talent and wants to pursue it as a career. Unfortunately, none of my children wanted to take up music."

"We'd just like a few words with Johnny and we can leave Clint out of it," Emily said, "as I understand he was mostly following his brother's lead and that he has started to feel guilty for what he did. This at least shows remorse while Johnny has not yet reached that stage. I just want to give him a friendly little warning."

"I'll go get him," Mike sighed. "I won't say he doesn't deserve it as he's only 15 months from being 18. I understand your feelings very well. You love him and you and Spencer are preparing for your wedding. I would probably do the same in a similar situation if my wife or my child had a favored instrument that was nearly destroyed by two bullies who had no idea of its true value. Even if it wasn't valuable moneywise that didn't give Johnny the right to destroy it right in front of Spencer's eyes. That's a good way to make an enemy that you have to watch your back for the rest of your life. This is not something that Johnny yet understands or at least he hasn't admitted to it, but then, most 17-year-old boys have a lot of pride. All I'm asking is there is no physical touching you can yell, you can swear at him, but beating him up like he did Spencer will teach him nothing."

"Alright," Emily readily agreed. "That wasn't my intent anyway, but I promise you he'll wish he had left Spencer alone by the time I'm done and I won't have to touch him to get my point across. I think I'll just threaten to burn his balls off right in front of him if he ever does something like that again. Once he's 18 that means he's an adult and under no one's legal guardianship. He can complain to the authorities all he wants, but he won't if he doesn't want me to do worse."

Both Dave and Mike winced at that threat, imagining their own balls being burned right in front of them, which meant they would never be able to reproduce, though in their case they had already had their children, but that wasn't true for Johnny who wasn't yet old enough to get married and have a family. It also meant they'd never be able to have sex again because a man's balls were essential to the process.

"Not to mention his previous assault would come to light as there is still a report on it, even if he has no official record," Dave said. "That would count against him if he did report Emily for supposedly assaulting him."

Mike quietly left before Spencer's fiancé got any ideas about his own balls. Emily Prentiss was apparently a spitfire, and willing to protect her man with everything she had. This was something that he could definitely appreciate and respect, but that didn't mean that he wanted to lose such an essential part of what made him male. Luckily, he didn't think Emily would do it to him or her future father-in-law, only to Johnny if he didn't straighten up and do it fast.

~~Spencer and Emily~~~

"You wanted to see me," Came the voice of Johnny from the doorway of the living room.

"Why yes, I did," Emily said pleasantly, though her expression was nearly feral. "You will listen to me, Johnny Abernathy. I am Emily Prentiss, fiancé to the man you assaulted."

Johnny gulped at Emily's expression and felt fear. Here was a woman that was willing to do him serious harm for what he had done to her fiancé.

"This is the only warning you will going to get. Dave here, has already made sure that you're going to pay back every cent of the repairs my fiancé's violin, which is several thousand dollars. But you will also sincerely apologize for your actions."

"Why?" Johnny asked.

"You want to know why?" Emily roared causing Johnny to take several steps back suddenly afraid of this Emily Prentiss. "What you did was callous and cruel destroying someone's treasured possessions right in front of them. I surely hope when your parents were alive they taught you better."

Johnny winced at that, because his parents had tried to teach him better, to respect other people and their property.

"You will sincerely apologize and if you don't I will twist your balls off and burn them right in front of you, so that your prospect of having children one day is down to zero. Spencer is the nicest, kindest, gentlest soul I have ever known. What you did to him just because he didn't hand over his violin to you was evil. Do you really want to go down such a path where you can't have a decent job, where you assault people, where people want nothing to do with you, because you're known as a bully who steps over others and laughs.

"I'm assuming you want to one day get married and have a family and no woman in the world will ever have someone who does something so callous and cruel, not unless she's either incredibly naïve or dumb as a bag of stones. If you do convince some woman to marry you she would divorce your ass, if you treated her the same way you treated my fiancé. The only reason you got off so lightly is because you're not yet of age, something I know you're aware of. While I can understand Dave's motives it doesn't mean I agree with them, as I would've sent you straight to Juvie Hall and your brother to, where you would have either learned your lesson and done anything to never go back there or the next step would have been prison. I do understand Clint is still young and following his older brother's lead, but that doesn't excuse him from not trying to stop you, from beating up Spencer. How could any caring brother lead his younger sibling into a life of crime, a life were he cares about no one except himself and perhaps, his brother? I know living on the streets is hard, but what you did is just one slippery step down from murder you've already shown a complete disregard for other peoples feelings and possessions and that you're willing and able to beat someone to a pulp when they don't do as you order. I'm actually surprised you didn't use your switchblade on him since you had one, though if you had you would be in a great deal more trouble, as that would've upped the charges to assault with a deadly."

Johnny hung his head as Emily Prentiss was completely correct. Stealing was one thing, but beating up the guy just for trying to protect his violin had been to far and the fact, that he had enjoyed it had scared him. Johnny had started a cut the strings in front of his target just to see his horrified expression and he had gotten great enjoyment from his fear and desperation. Was this really who he wanted to be? Someone who stepped on others, destroying their possessions and then sat back and laughed about it all. Someone who felt no guilt for doing so.

"The only reason I'm not holding you by the ear, is Dave's friend made me promise no physical violence, but believe me, I want to strangle you with my bare hands for what you did, as if robbing Spencer wasn't enough, you took it a step farther and threw your good sense out the window if you ever had any in the first place, which I doubt. What has he ever done to you other than exist? I understand that physical violence would teach you nothing about how to treat people and would just start a vicious cycle, which is a good reason not to do it, not that that lessens my feelings," Emily said.

Johnny's eyes went wide in fear, as he thought Emily would really do what she said, as she was certainly mad enough.

"Spencer will never be able to forget your assault, never. His memories won't fade like normal one's do, because he has perfect recall. He literally can never forget what you did to such a precious family heirloom, which he cares about more than his own injuries. He's had nightmares about it ever since it happened and he might have nightmares about it for the rest of his life. He wakes up terrified, in a cold sweat at least 3 or 4 times a week, so sure that his violin has been destroyed that he refuses to listen to reason, until logic reinserts itself and he calms down. This is what you did, because of your cruelty, your callousness, your thoughtlessness, your arrogance and your anger at being disobeyed like he should have listened to a child, when he was over 10 years your senior, even one with a switchblade.

"Spencer's certainly kind, compassionate and considerate, something I doubt you'll ever be. Yes, you're only 17 now and were only 16 when it happened, but in my opinion you should've gotten what you deserved, instead of this cushy life where you might never learn a harsh lesson in reality. Spencer never wants to see your face again and he actually said he wanted to break your nose and violence isn't like him at all. I've seen him time and time again deal with idiots where I would have put them down on the ground after they annoyed me and never once did he lose his temper, though I won't say he wasn't irritated."

Johnny gulped, because if there was anything he had learned in the last few weeks was that the man he'd attacked Spencer Rossi was pretty mild-mannered most of the time, so if someone with such a mild manner wanted to break his nose then he had really messed up. It was likely that his victim would hate him for the rest of his life and would never be able to forgive him for what he had done. As it was he and Clint were going to be paying $5000 for the repairs and while that was a lot of money it was better than 50,000. It was possible to pay off 5000, though it might take him the next 10 years. Since he was the main one that had started cutting the strings of the violin, he was mainly responsible for paying for the repairs, though his brother disagreed.

"You had better start thinking Johnny Abernathy you need to start thinking about setting a good example for your brother or he'll follow you directly down the same path, probably too a sticky end. You need to think long and hard about what kind of person you want to be, though personally, I think you're a lost cause," Emily told him still looking pissed.

"No, I'm not," Johnny protested.

"Then prove me wrong," Emily challenged him with fire in her eyes making Johnny gulp again. "Your brother might have a chance in turning out decently, but I don't hold out much hope for you, not when you can beat up an innocent man who's just minding his own damn business and destroy his possessions. Spencer was only heading home after playing for an audience of thousands. Yes, he should've taken a cab and avoided walking, but he wanted to do something different and it was a nice night. That was his mistake, one he will never make again. You wrecked it for him, because of your idiocy, your thoughtlessness, your arrogance. He'll never be able to walk back to his apartment on a nice, cool night ever again.

"Also, tell me something, how would you feel if somebody came up on you snatched something out of your arms or stole something out of your backpack and then started to destroy it right in front of you? What if it was something you valued? A family heirloom or just something you loved? How would you feel if somebody did that to you? It's not the cash value necessarily that matters, it matters because it's a piece of his family's history. You nearly destroyed something rare and precious, something the family has carefully taken care of for the last 400 years. You think about that before you destroy somebody else's possessions just because you were piqued that my fiancé didn't obey your stupid, arrogant, high-handed order and order from a child. An order you had no damn right to give."

Emily turned away and walked out of the room her lecture apparently over or maybe she left before she actually did hit him Johnny realized suddenly. He would deserve it to, because she was right how would he feel if somebody stole something he or Clint valued, whether that was for sentimental reasons or because it belonged to his family. As she had said it wasn't necessarily the cash value of something, but sentimental ones.

"You had know this was coming," Dave told Johnny calmly. "I told you that Emily could be ferocious and she loves my son, so you had to at least suspect you were going to get a taste of her temper at some point. The only reason she didn't touch you is because she promised your guardian. Everyone deserves a second chance to change, particularly the young. I suggest you don't waste it. Oh and I suggest, that for right now, that you avoid my son at all cost, he hates you. If you encounter each other he's likely to give you that broken nose and probably destroy something you value just like you did for him, as it will teach you a lesson about respecting others things. You really messed up my son and I don't think Emily will ever be able to forgive you or Spencer either."

Dave then walked away saying nothing else.

Johnny sat there stunned at being yelled at, but deep down he knew he deserved it. As Spencer's fiancé had already said what he had done was cruel, arrogant, callous and thoughtless. Just because he was so angry at the world was no reason for beating up someone who had not attacked him first. He hadn't cared at the time, but now he knew, that was a good way to make enemies that might go so far as to try to kill him or his brother, because he had said or done something to someone, someone who thought that revenge was the way to go.

He could get his brother killed one day just for beating someone who had done nothing to him, and beating someone could easily lead to murdering them, even if that was on accident, just because they possessed something he wanted or because they made him mad. He had only been 16 at the time of the incident a few weeks previously and as Spencer's fiancé had pointed out why should his victim obey a kid when he was over 10 years older and who had never hurt anyone in all of his life? Even one with a switchblade?

That the man he had beat up felt like breaking his nose at least told him that he had better watch out. He had a switchblade sure, but unless he hit somewhere vital it likely wouldn't have done any permanent damage. Still, it was possible to kill with one, if you knew what you were doing.

It was then Johnny Abernathy began to change realizing that this was not the way he wanted his life to be and definitely not Clint's. His brother deserved a decent life, a decent job and shouldn't have to pay for his mistakes.

~~Spencer and Emily~~~

"Feel better," Dave asked his soon-to-be daughter-in-law.

"Some," Emily said shortly.

"I understand your feelings very well, as I have felt the same. I wanted to wring Johnny's neck, but I also have to consider that they are young and he and his brother had to survive someway. The young are often thoughtless and heedless of others feelings. I can understand robbing somebody to put food in your belly, as sometimes you have no other option, but as I told them at the police station beating up my son and deliberately destroying his violin was going to far," Dave said. "I've gotten over my first reaction now, but that doesn't mean that I have forgiven Johnny. Johnny and Clint are going to have to work to pay off the price for the repairs and $5000 is nothing to sneeze at. It was mainly Johnny that attacked my son while Clint was just there following his brother, though I won't claim he's completely blameless."

That Dave had felt the same initially, made Emily feel better.

"I know Spencer is old enough to handle his own affairs, but he needed me to support him after it happened. He could've called you or even his mother, but he chose me instead."

"I'm glad you were there," Emily said. "You helped steady him and I appreciate you being there for him."

"He's my son, I'll always be there when he needs me. So will his mother and his siblings. We are family, it's as simple as that," Dave answered simply.

"You are miles ahead of William Reid," Emily snorted her contempt for her fiancé's blood father obvious in her tone of voice.

"I doubt that Spencer's birth father really understands what he lost," Dave said. "He did not appreciate his son's talent and probably thinks it makes him a poofter."

"Like being a musician makes you gay," Emily chuckled sardonically.

"I'm just telling you how a certain type of people think," Dave said. "I'm not positive that's what Spencer's birth father thinks, since I've never met him, but I wouldn't be surprised. According to Diana she was yelled at for buying Spencer that violin in the first place, like a musical instrument automatically meant you were going to turn out to like your own sex. A lot of different people think that if you're a musician, especially one that plays professionally then you must be gay, which is a stupid way to think but..."

"People have opinions and you're not going to change them so why bother," Emily finished.

"Of course, this also includes people like painters. A lot of artists are seen as gay, even though that's not even close to being true. I won't say there aren't some gay painters out there or some gay musicians or some gay writers for that matter, but the majority of them are not gay simply because they're artistic," Dave said. "Of course, it might very well have been the noise of him practicing that annoyed William Reid, instead of him thinking of his son as gay."

"So many parents have expectations for their children that just never happens," Emily murmured.

"I know it," Dave said. "Not all my children want to be musicians, which is fine. Colton wants to play professional sports, which is certainly a dream worth pursuing. He's really not that far away from starting college."

"They grow up so fast," Emily said, "or least that's what I've heard."

"They do. It doesn't seem like 20 years, since I married Diana, but it has been. It's been the best 20 years of my life and I wouldn't change a thing," Dave agreed smiling.

"I hope I achieve that kind of harmony with Spencer," Emily said wistfully.

"You will, it just takes time, patience and understanding," Dave said. "You just have to remember at the end of the day that you love each other, as a lot of couples forget that after awhile, which of course, eventually leads to constant arguments and divorce."

Emily was nodding at this knowing that from her own parents.

"Feel better now?" Dave said and Emily nodded realizing she did.

"Yeah, I do," Emily said in surprise.

"So you know longer you feel like you want to strangle Johnny?" Dave asked.

"Not at the moment, though I won't promise it's the last time I'll feel like strangling that kid," Emily said. "I wasn't kidding when I told Johnny that Spencer wakes up three or four nights a week absolutely terrified. It takes at least half an hour to calm him down again, sometimes longer. He's like an animal backed into a corner. It doesn't help that his violin is still at the repair shop, even though it's been weeks. Yes, he knew it wouldn't be a fast process, but if he could actually touch it and play a few notes and that might make him see reason sooner."

"He's always found peace in his music," Dave said and Emily nodded in understanding. "He had a few nightmares as a child but they weren't consistent or anything."

"I think every child has a few nightmares, just not ones that are consistent and that replay over and over," Emily said. "I wouldn't call these nightmares exactly I would call them night terrors, which is totally different from your normal nightmares."

"His violin should be finished being repaired soon as the luthier is taking extra care with it at my request. He knows me and in fact we've been friends for a long time. He's excellent at his profession I promise you, as I only took it to the best. The violin wasn't as damaged as it could've been. It needs a new bridge and he's also going to put steel strings on it at my request instead of the sympathetic ones that Spencer was using. It'll change the sound of the music he makes I know, but steel strings can't be cut and they're harder to tear away from the pegs. Somebody won't be able to do it without cutting their own hands if their bare without any type of gloves. They would have to be relatively thick gloves and not thin ones like the plastic surgical ones. The neck was the worse and will have to be carefully glued back together, some of the wood replaced. Everything else was just cosmetic really."

"Well, hopefully, Spencer night terrors will start to dissipate once he's able to see that his violin is whole, even if it's not quite the same as it was before," Emily said hopefully. "I won't abandon him just because he's going through a tough time in his life and I know Spencer expects me to. He expects me to abandon him, because he's not perfect, but nobody is and this is the point I tried to get across to him, and it's one reason I wanted so badly to strangle that kid."

"Believe me, I understand and sympathize," Dave said. "But you also have to realize that Johnny's really only a kid himself, one that hasn't had a proper adult authority figure for awhile. Johnny and Clint were living on the street, because the parents died and nobody realized it for a few days. Johnny and his brother had already disappeared by that time, as I have no doubt they feared going into foster care."

"Rumors can circulate about how bad it can be," Emily agreed.

"Oh, there is a lot of decent foster parents out there, but landing with one is more down to luck than anything else," Dave said knowing this from experience.

Emily said nothing and the two of them walked to Dave's vehicle in silence.

~~Spencer and Emily~~~

Epilogue

Spencer played a few notes on his repaired violin. The luthier had done an excellent job. His great-grandfather's violin didn't sound quite the same, but then he hadn't expected it to really. Really, it was like his great-grandfather's violin had been reborn after such a vicious attack. His dad had insisted that he use steel strings, as they were a lot harder to damage and they gave the violin a different sound.

Spencer got lost in the music, as he played for the first time since his violin had been damaged that night and it felt freeing. Like he had been reborn, just like his violin.

He finished the song and realized he had an audience other than his fiancé.

"That was really good son," Diana told Spencer smiling.

"When did you get here mom?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, only a minute ago," Diana said. "I wanted to give you this."

Diana handed over an envelope.

"It was delivered to our address," Diana explained.

Spencer took the envelope and fingered it, before ripping open the top.

He took out the letter that was inside and read it rapidly.

"It's from Johnny Abernathy," Spencer said once he had finished reading the letter. "He apologizes for what he did and says he realizes that what happened was cruel and callous. He says he realized that what is the same thing could gave happened to him and someone could have tried to destroy something he valued. He explains he was angry at the world and when I refused to hand over my violin case he took it out on me, which was wrong of him.

He goes on to explain that his new guardians have been really kind to him and to Clint, but have made it clear that such behavior will not be accepted. He understands that I may hate him and that I have every right to considering, but he's hoping someday I'll be able to forgive him, but especially forgive Clint."

"It's the least he could do," Emily snorted, "other then paying your father for the repairs on the violin a little at a time. What he did to you was inhumane and yes, I know that all of us have it within us to be so cruel and callous. I've been told that he's young and that might be true, but it doesn't mean I'll forgive him for the way he hurt you deliberately."

"I'm not sure I can never forgive him either," Diana told Emily and Spencer. "I know he's only a teenager nearly an adult, but still... He hurt my son and though, I've never met either one of them that doesn't mean I don't hold some residual anger at them, particularly Johnny."

"You deserve to be angry mom, but sending them to Juvie Hall, or at least Johnny, would have done nothing and perhaps made him a real criminal once he was released. At least with the family that dad placed them with they have a chance at a real home and real life, something that they hadn't had in awhile. They now have a chance to learn better. It's up to Johnny to set a good example for his brother and Juvie Hall is only one slippery step up from prison and would teach Johnny nothing but to be resentful. Johnny knows that this is a one time only free pass because I didn't press charges. If he messes up again particular after he hits 18..."

"Then it's his fault alone," Diana said.

"Exactly," Spencer agreed. "While I can understand his reasons I don't know that I'll ever be able to forgive him, even though I have my violin back in working order. Yes, Johnny didn't know how precious it was to me, but it was still my possession and he went out of his way to destroy it and did it in front of it's owner. That's not the kind of thing you can forget, even if my perfect recall didn't come into play."

"Now, that your violin is repaired, perhaps your night terrors will stop," Emily said.

"We'll see," Spencer said cautiously. "I hope they will because I know they bother you."

"Don't worry about me," Emily told him firmly. "Worry about yourself for a change. Think about the fact that our wedding is coming up and I'm looking forward to having your children."

"So how many children do you want?" Diana asked

"I don't know," Emily said. "At least a couple. I never really thought about the number."

"I wouldn't say no, to four or so," Spencer said, "but we'll see how it goes. It's Emily's decision as well after all."

"I don't think we need to worry about that right now. We're not even married yet," Emily said.

"You will be soon, as the wedding is only a few weeks away," Diana said. "I'm really looking forward to it. Spencer is the first of my children to tie the knot, but since he's the oldest by a considerable amount that makes sense."

"So how do you like the new sound from your violin, son?" Diana asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Spencer said truthfully. "I'll need to practice on it more, get used to the deeper vibrations, the richer sound. I always strung it with the synthetic strings because that's the way my great-grandfather did it and it was a way to honor his memory, but dad is also right. Johnny would've had a harder time trying to break steel strings and probably would've cut his hands badly unless he was wearing reasonably thick gloves. He might've ended up smashing it, so it couldn't be repaired if he got frustrated enough with it if it'd had steel strings at the time, so it's likely just as well that it didn't."

"Well, let's be glad that didn't happen," Emily said.

"Believe me I am," Spencer said. "I dream nearly every night of Johnny smashing it on the ground to where it's nothing more than splinters. It's a very vivid dream and you know it always takes awhile for me to calm down again."

"Yes, I know," Emily said as she stepped into his arms. "It's hardly your fault you have these dreams. Johnny really did a number on your psyche. Anybody who had been through what you did would've had nightmares or night terrors like you have, because they're much too intense to just to be nightmares."

"I'm so sorry that happened do you, son," Diana said, as she kissed her son's cheek.

"Thank you, but you couldn't've done anything about it and in fact, he might have hurt you to if you had been with me. I doubt it would've mattered to Johnny at the time that you were just an old woman. Now, Johnny is hopefully, learning better, learning how to treat people with respect, which means he'll also treat their possessions with respect."

"Dave wouldn't have placed them with the Rydons if he didn't think that they would teach the Abernathy brothers about respecting others. The Rydons are good people, as I've met them a few times, but tough enough to handle whatever crap Johnny throws at them. Dave believes that Johnny's really a good boy down underneath, but that since he and Clint had been living on the street for awhile, well you have to be tough or you get taken advantage of, especially someone young. You have to prove that you're the biggest bully in the neighborhood if you don't want people to try to take advantage of you."

"Or at least you need to prove that you're tough," Spencer said. "There are many dangers on the street I understand that. Both he and his brother survived, so I think that proves that they're the small percentage that are tough enough to survive in such an environment."

"I suppose so," Emily said reluctantly in agreement.

"Let's not discuss the Abernathy brothers anymore," Spencer suggested, as he knew Emily was still rather pissed off at them for what they had done. This was not something that he could blame Emily for really, as someone she cared for had been hurt, but Spencer could also understand the circumstances behind such an attack by the two teenagers.

"I hope your nightmares will fade now, son," Diana said.

"I'll see," Spencer said repeated his earlier statement.

"I suppose it doesn't do to get your hopes up until you don't have them for at least a month running," Diana admitted. "Not with your picture perfect memory."

The matter of Spencer's nightmares as well as Abernathy's were dropped, as the three of them went to the living room to just carry on a conversation about normal things instead of more serious matters.

Spencer was looking forward to marrying Emily in a few weeks and knew they would have as harmonious a marriage as his parents did, though they would have to work towards that goal. Anything worth achieving was worth working for Spencer knew, as his mother had always told him and his siblings as much. He would happily settle down with the most beautiful woman he had ever met and have a family in a few years time, something he was really looking forward to.

The attack by the Abernathy brothers and his nightmares were put to the back of his mind, as he talked about normal things with two people he loved more than anything in the world.

Now that his violin was as good as new, better then good, he would get used to how it sounded and continue performing, though he would probably take a position here in New York instead of traveling, so he could see his children grow, just as his father had done once he had met his mother.

Intense nightmares and muggers were not going to stop him from living his life. He was made of sterner stuff then that. The bruises he had received from his beating had also healed which made him feel better, as did the letter from Johnny Abernathy. He would see how that played out he decided. See, if Johnny was sincere in his apology. If Johnny started living his life with honesty and integrity and turned over a new leaf he might actually be able to forgive him for what he had done, but he'd see how it went. He wasn't one to just forgive someone for such a personal affront, particularly since Johnny had deliberately tried to destroy his violin, just because he hadn't handed it over.

Spencer sat silently for the most part just listening to his mother and fiancée chat and felt contentment sweep through him. This is what he looked forward to, a life with the woman he loved surrounded by his family, with children that would come eventually. This was what everyone deserved.

Perhaps the emotional wounds he had received that night might finally begin to heal as well, just as the physical ones already had, now that he had his great-grandfather's violin back as good as new, better then new really. He would just have to see, but he felt hope that his life could now get back to something approaching normal for the first time since Johnny Abernathy had started destroying his precious violin.

At the moment life was just perfect and hopefully, it would remain so.