Whisper

77

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"Noooooo. This is perfectly normal behaviour..... for a lunatic," Bobby snapped, half laughing.

"Sorry man. Even I don't believe you."

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"If there is nothing going on, my darling, why are you walking away from me and ...

why are you not looking at me?"

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I turned toward her, not looking into her eyes.

"See. I can look at you."

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"You are looking at the floor, Will."

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"Daddy, do it."

Whisper's voice filled the room.

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"I hear you Whisper," Evangeline informed her.

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Whisper giggled.

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"Will, sweetie, honey, what the hell is wrong?"

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I took her by the hands and sat her on the piano bench.

I started pacing and rambling.

"You know I love you. I would do anything in the world for you and I want to be with you for the rest of my life and I want to have children with you and more children with you and I want to grow old with you and have grandchildren with you and spend my whole life with you."

By now I had walked to the far end of the studio, some 25 feet from Evangeline.

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"Sweetie. Will? Honey?"

Evangeline was calling to me and waving at me.

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I turned around, not realizing I had walked away so far from her.

I smiled, nervously.

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"I have no idea what you just said, sweetie."

She motioned for me to sit on the piano bench with her.

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"That makes two of us," Bobby chirped.

"You are just mumbling about children and life and ...

Ouch."

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Jessie slapped him in the shoulder. "Sshhhh. Just listen."

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"I was listening," Bobby informed her.

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Jessie gave him 'the look' and he quieted down immediately.

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I walked over to where Evangeline was sitting and I got down on one knee. Whisper appeared next to us.

I could see a tear in Evangeline's eye.

"I love you," was all I could say.

I reached out to Whisper. She handed me a ring box. I opened it and showed it to Evangeline.

"It is but a trinket compared to the beauty that I wake to every morning, but I give it to you with all the love that any man could ever give a woman.

Will you be my wife?"

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"And my Mommy," Whisper added.

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We both looked at her and smiled, extremely nervously.

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Evangeline held out her hand. "Yes."

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I put the ring on her finger.

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She kissed me and then turned and kissed Whisper.

"To both of you, yes. Of course I will. With all my heart and soul."

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Bobby and Jessie let out a scream together and ran to us.

There were hugs and kisses all around.

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I went to the refrigerator and got a bottle of champagne and poured each of us a glass.

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"To the happiest day of my life."

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The three of us downed our champagnes, while Evangeline had but a tiny sip.

I went back to the refrigerator and opened her a bottle of sparkling cider.

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We toasted again and all left the recording studio.

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It wasn't until we got up to the living room, that I noticed Whisper was not with us.

"Have you seen Whisper?"

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Evangeline shook her head.

"Not since I kissed her, after you proposed."

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I hurried off down the hallway.

As I opened her bedroom door, I saw her laying on her bed.

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"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

I walked toward the bed.

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Whisper shook her head.

"I don't know Daddy."

There were tears in her eyes.

"I just don't feel right."

She slowly sat up in bed.

"I think my time here is coming to an end."

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Evangeline walked into the room.

She went right to Whisper.

"Then I guess your Mommy and Daddy had better get married, so you can be a part of it."

She looked at me.

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I nodded.

"We will set this wedding up as quickly as we can."

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Whisper hugged Evangeline.

"Thank you Mommy and Daddy."

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Whisper stayed in her room, assuring us that she was okay and just wanted to rest after all the excitement.

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Neither of us believed her.

We knew she was nearing the end of her stay.

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As soon as we got to the living room, we asked Bobby and Jessie if they would help us set up a quick wedding.

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And one that Whisper could be an active part of.

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Jessie, Evangeline and I tried to come up with a way to have a wedding with Whisper in it.

We tossed around all kinds of crazy ideas, but none seemed to be feasible.

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Finally Bobby spoke.

"I know exactly what to do."