Fourth Chair
Chapter Ten
By Missy

TITLE: Fourth Chair
PARTS: Ten of Ten
RATING: PG-13 for one adult reference and one mildly salty word; use caution.
DISTRIBUTION: To LW, FG and Kai so far; any other archives are welcome to ask, but disclaimers must be included, my email left intact. send a URL, and provide full disclaimers as well as credit me fully. Please inform me if you are going to submit my work to any sort of search engine. Â Please do not submit my work to a search engine that picks out random sets of words and uses them as key words, such as "Google"
Please contact me in order for this story to be placed on an archive, or if you want know of a friend who would enjoy my works, please email me their address and I will mail them the stories, expressly for the purpose of link trading. MiSTiers are welcomed! Please do inform me that you'd like to do the MiSTing, however, and send me a copy of the finished product. I'd also love to archive any MiSTings that are made of my work!

CATEGORY: SOL
PAIRINGS: What do you think? ;-)
FEEDBACK: PLEASE?!
SPOILLER/SUMMARY: Laverne and Lenny's daughter may be a great cellist in the making; one whose intelligence makes them feel both blessed and mystified. Can they possibly let her go to New York alone?'

NOTES: And here's the conclusion!

For Chesh

****

She watched the bus' approach in silent contemplation. It seemed far bigger than she, an ocean liner cutting through the curb.

Her father's hand lay heavy upon her shoulder, as though encouraging her to move forward into a universe he did not quite understand.

"You promise you're gonna call?" Laverne asked, suspicion in her tone.

Aria nodded her head solemnly. "Every day."

"You better." Laverne smiled at her first-born.

Lenny's arm lay tight around his daughter's waist. "You're gonna make it beautiful, honey. You just keep practicin'. And don't let 'em get to ya!"

Aria nodded. "Oh, daddy!" She sniffled against his chest.

"Aww! Honey, don't cry!"

"I'm not gonna." Her eyes were bright as she smiled at her father. "I'm going to be strong. I'll do just what you told me to, daddy."

"Oh boy! Yer finally gonna listen to me!" Aria made a face, and her father gave her another squeeze. "There's a great big world out there, Ari." He said, as the bus' door opened. "You're gonna do so good. You got yer mom's brains and you got your grandpa's heart. I promise you, you're gonna do good."

Aria nodded, smiling through her tears as she climbed into the bus. "I love you guys so much." She said, before disappearing inside.

Lenny watched his little girl in silence as she pushed through the crowd, taking a seat at the back of the bus. Her pink head distinguished her well from the crowd. She waved back at her parents, who waved their own hands in unison. And, together, they watched the bus pull away from the curb, heading in the direction of Interlochan.

"Do ya think we can take it?" Lenny asked.

"Huh?"

"Three months of her being away. Only seeing her on weekends."

Laverne thought about this for a moment. "Well, we got someone right here," She patted Christian's head as she hung in her sling, "Who's gonna need us for awhile."

"True..."

"...We ain't ever gonna fill up Aria's chair." Laverne smiled. "Just cause she leaves it sometimes don't mean she won't come back."

Lenny smiled. "I know."

The road was crowded with other departing parents. But Lenny and Laverne waited a little while longer. Staring into the distance growing between themselves and their daughter. It was not permanent. It would grow.

And that was for the best.











To Chapter 9

















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