"Mom! Dad! Sam! We're here!" Jake called as he opened the front door.

"Hey, bro," his seventeen year old sister Samantha came in the living room nonchalantly. She was wearing blue jeans and an emerald green tee-shirt showing off her light green eyes. Her short blonde hair was cut chin length with the ends sticking out slightly at the sides. She came over to him and gave him an awkward hug and backed away to study the group.

Never before had she had met any of Jake's friends, well, because he never had any. She always felt bad for her brother. Their parents made him go to a shrink most of his life, which did absolutely no good and everyone in town treated him like he had the plague or something.

Sam admitted she did get spooked by her brother's prophecies, as some people called them. How he knew the things he did, especially predicting disaster, was something she could never understand.

She was grateful when he called and said he had made friends in California and was very happy. He even gave up his room to Sam which was twice the size as hers.

She saw the happiness in his eyes as he introduced her to the group. She quickly figured out that her brother and the blonde, named Emily, were something of an item. As were the gorgeous brunette guy, Ray and the equally gorgeous Italian girl, Isabella. In fact, they were all gorgeous. She was going to have to apply to college in California!

Their parents came in from the back door and introductions were made again. Sam showed Raven, Isabella and Emily to her room, previously Jake's, where they had squeezed in a second double bed sized mattress. George and Ray were to take cots in the rec room, and Tony whichever couch no one was sitting on.

Tony explained to Jake's parents that Isabella and he were cousins and both suffered from the same medical condition. First, they required blood transfusions, explaining the large cooler he was holding. They allowed him to transfer the contents into the basement refrigerator as long as they didn't have to look at it. And he explained secondly, that because of their condition they were both insomniacs and were only really able to sleep well during the day. They said they understood and that was fine with them, and to make themselves at home.

Jake was happy that everyone was getting along so well. His mother and Raven hit it off almost instantly. His mother pulled out Jake's baby and childhood photo albums and was showing them off to both Raven and Emily. Isabella and Tony had taken a nap during the day but rose for dinner and forced down the meal with pleasant smiles on the faces. Jake was grateful to them for doing so. There was no way he could explain vampires to his family. They didn't even understand him.

George and his sister surprisingly were flirting with each other. Jake found it amusing as he never really saw his sister flirt before. But she was hanging on to George's every word and he could see her getting upset whenever George would look in Isabella's direction.

The next day they had a nice Thanksgiving meal. They had a turkey dinner for lunch, watched the football game, played touch football and ate more turkey for dinner.

They sat in the living room and talked after dinner. The windows were open letting in the cool crisp autumn air.

"Sam, why don't you play us something?" their mother said gesturing to the piano in the corner.

"Mom," Sam groaned.

"Come on, I paid for all those lessons and the piano just sits their collecting dust."

"No one wants to hear me play."

"Sure we do," Jake said egging on his sister.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "No one wants to hear Mary had a little lamb, mom."

Their mother sighed, "Well, can anyone else play? It's such a lovely night for the piano."

"I can," Tony and Isabella said at the same time.

"The gentlemen, then," Jake's mom said gesturing to the piano.

"Oh, no, ladies, first," Tony said to Isabella.

"What do you like?" Isabella asked sitting at the piano.

"Anything. Whatever your heart desires," Jake's mom said smiling. She crossed her legs and leaned towards get in anticipation.

Isabella nodded. She closed her eyes and thought of what song she could play. Only one stood out. It had been playing in her head for weeks. She kept her eyes closed and played it by heart. She heard it over and over in her mind, in her heart, throughout her entire life. It was built up inside of her and needed unleashing. She put everything she had into it. Hearing her father play it, over and over, in his love for his wife, in his grief of wanting to reach the angels and not being able to.

Isabella would listen by the door to the parlor day after day, night after night, tears streaming down her face as she heard his love, heard his pain for her mother. She felt the same pain as he did. Helplessness. Hopelessness. Undying love.

When she done Isabella opened her eyes, she wiped the fallen tears. She looked at the group, who at some point became so quiet she had forgotten they were there. The women had tears streaming down their faces and were reaching for tissues. The men just stared at her, eyes moistened but not fallen.

It was Tony to speak first. He cleared his throat first, "I've never heard that. Where did you learn it?"

Isabella took a deep breath. "My father wrote it," She wiped her eyes again.

"It's beautiful, what's it called?" Raven asked.

"He never told me," Isabella said getting up a bit shaken with the emotions of her father wrapped up inside of her.

"Please, would you play some more?" Sam asked.

"I...I can't. I'm sorry. Maybe later," Isabella sat down next to Ray on the couch. He put an arm around her.

"I think that's enough for tonight, mom," Jake said firmly, feeling Emily shaking under his arm.

"Dessert then?" his mom asked standing up.

"I'll help you," Raven said getting up and followed her to the kitchen.

The night wrapped up with pleasant chit chat. When everyone was sleeping, Isabella and Tony raided the blood supply. They waited for dawn to approach playing cards and laughing at each others jokes. Tony felt that Isabella was finally coming around from whatever dark place she had been in.

"Papi, why are you crying?" the little girl with dark black curls asked.

Jake watched his dream unfold from all angles. Jake was the man looking out through watery eyes at his daughter, Jake was the little girl emerging onto tears as she worried for her daddy, and he was the observer from above watching them both. Jake recognized the man to be Trey, who Raven had been so taken with.

"It's nothing, baby" Trey pulled her onto his lap and turned her to the piano."My mother taught me this song," he said starting to play.

The girl placed her hands on top of his copying his movements. "Some day, I'll play like you, Papi?"

"Yes. Maybe better."

"No one is better than you."

"You are," he said, kissing her cheek.

"And mama?"

"Yes, and mama too. You are the best of both of us and therefore, better than both of us."

"When is mama coming back from heaven? I have never met her. I want to meet her."

"I've told you, baby, when you go to heaven you don't come back."

"Why not?"

"That's just the way it is."

"Will you go to heaven someday, Papi?"

He stopped playing. "No."

"Good, I don't want you to go," she said putting her small arms around his neck, trying to protect him from anything that would take him away from her. "Papi?"

"Yes, baby," he said, kissing her cheek.

"Will I go to heaven someday?" she asked. He hugged her and cried for the loss he would one day face.

"Jake!" he heard Tony's voice and felt his body shake.

He opened his eyes to see Tony staring at him, his face pale. Jake looked around in confusion. He was sitting at the piano in the living room with his hands on the keys.

"It's okay. He sleepwalks," his mother said quickly coming between them and picked up Jake's hand. "Go back to bed, Jake, sweetheart. It's okay, it was just another of your nightmares."

"Was I playing the piano?" he asked dazed, swinging his legs around.

"It's okay, son. You go back to bed," his dad said, patting him on the back, and led him down the hallway.

"Jake doesn't know how to play the piano," Emily whispered, looking at Tony.

"How'd you know that?" Sam asked.

"He told me," Emily answered. "He said that you had taken lessons and that he wished that he had as well."

"He gets weird dreams sometimes. He probably just picked it up from TV or something," Sam said.

"I'm sure you're right," Emily told her reassuringly.

Sam looked at the group and went back down the hall back to her bedroom.

"My wife used to play that song," Tony said quietly, touching the keys lightly.

"It's probably like Sam said; he probably picked it up from TV somehow," Emily told him.

Tony shook his head slowly. "My wife wrote that song. It was never published." Tony sat down hard on the bench.

"Maybe she was just using Jake to say hello," Isabella said, touching his shoulder.

"Or a warning him," Tony answered.

"You can't think that way." Emily said.

"After all that's happened? It's the only way to think," he said, getting up. He went out the front door.

"Okay, everyone go back to bed," Emily told them.

"But..." Isabella protested.

"He'll be fine. He needs time alone," Emily told her.

Jake groaned as he rolled over in bed and opened his eyes to see Ray and George staring at him.

"What happened?" Ray asked.

"I don't know. Go back to sleep," Jake groaned again, rolling over embarrassed.

"Come on, man," Ray said, flipping on the light.

"Trying to sleep here!" George whined.

"Jake?" Ray asked.

"I don't know, Ray! I saw Trey playing the piano, talking to what seemed like his little girl. They were talking about going to heaven. It was weird. I don't know what it means. I found myself at the piano, everyone staring at me. I can't even play the piano! You think my parents didn't think I was already nuts?! They sure do now. So, can we go back to sleep now, please?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I guess," Ray said, laying back down, thinking about what Jake's dream could mean.