Chapter 2

Tanya was watching the Tri-d recording. Tears were running down her face. Frank sighed quietly, hoping after he did that she didn’t misinterpret his sigh as criticism of her depressed attitude toward life now that Katie was gone.

She didn’t. Instead she turned her head toward him and smiled.

“She’s very pretty,” Tanya said, referring to the dark-haired beauty in the sky-blue wedding gown standing next to her grandson. This time, she was crying because she was happy that her grandson Jake had finally found ‘the right one’. “I hope she likes me.”

“Well, you have the advantage of not being her mother-in-law,” Frank said, chuckling. “Our darling Alicia will have that privilege. We will be the doting great-grandparents of their children, of which, I hope, there are many.” He smiled at his wife, glad that something could make her happy, if only for a little while.

“I hope he’s not as ruthless with his spouses as Alicia has been,” Tanya said, surprising Frank with her ... well ... frankness. “I’m sure Alicia cared for the men she married – maybe even loved them a little – but she kept her secrets to herself and, in the end, left each one in the ground and went on to the next.

“I wonder,” Tanya continued, almost to herself, “if she ever looked back, and regretted...”

“Darling,” Frank said, moving from the chair to sit next to her on the couch, “she never had the opportunity to make any of her husbands a part of our family. Béla was gone, and only she...”

“I know,” Tanya interrupted him and changed the subject. “I wonder where they’ll go on their honeymoon.” She smiled to herself, her mind wandering to happier times. “Do you remember when we closed down the business and took five years off to travel through Europe?”

“Yes,” Frank said, also remembering. “We took the kids and just traveled across Europe, moving from city to city, sometimes staying in one place for months at a time.” He chuckled, remembering, “Then there was that long, unexpected stay in Milan...”

“Where Katie was born...” Tanya said, the smile vanishing off her face. Then she was crying, again, sobbing into Frank’s shoulder, missing her youngest daughter all over, again.

‘Well, you did it again, you big dumb idiot... ‘ Frank thought to himself. After a few moments, he picked Tanya up and carried her into the bedroom. He lay next to her, holding her while she cried herself to sleep.

After a while, he fell asleep holding her in his arms, his own eyes leaking from the misery their lives had become. ‘Go to Béla. She will help your life-mate to get past her grief, ‘ he heard as he dreamed.

‘What about my own?’ he asked into the darkness. ‘Of all my children, I loved her the most... ‘

‘The Princess Béla can help you both, ‘ the words formed in his mind. ‘It is her wish that you know this.’

‘Please, then, let Béla know that her help would be accepted. I do not wish for my wife to die of a broken heart... ‘ Frank pleaded as the alien but somehow benevolent presence faded from his mind.

Frank slept, strangely peaceful. When he woke up, Tanya was sitting on top of him, slowly moving up and down on his morning hard-on.

“Good afternoon, lover,” she said, her voice deep with her lust. “I thought I’d better wake you up. You’ve slept all through the morning.”

Frank was suddenly wide-awake. “All morning?” he exclaimed. “I never sleep late!”

‘Well, you did, today, ‘ a familiar voice chimed into his mind, softly caressing his soul. ‘You needed as much help as Tanya did.’ It was Béla’s thoughts in his mind. Then he remembered the strange dreams that he’d had:

Terrible images of losing his parents, of his high-school girlfriend being killed in a stupid car accident, of Béla being burned alive, losing his favorite daughter, Katie. Béla had guided him through them all; back to where his grandmother had died when he was but a child.