The Music Academy

Baby Mine - Alison Krauss

~A~

Owen paused in clearing out a spot in the attic, his eyes catching on a box marked 'Sang'.

He wasn't sure how they'd managed to fill up the attic in the time they'd lived here but apparently none of them ever felt like cleaning out the attic.

EVER with big capital letters.

He nudged his glasses up at the corner, wrinkling his nose at the dust that attacked him and stifling a sneeze as he waded through discarded bins of clothing towards the box in the corner. He made a mental note to ask Gabriel to please make a donation. Or two. Or three.

Or five hundred.

To a local thrift shop or charity because well, ten people lived in this house and he could pretty much be absolutely correct in assuming there was 9 years of clothing for ten people up here.

He brushed the dust off the top of the box with the handkerchief that was always in the pocket of his suit. He frowned down at his attire. "Yes, why did we insist on venturing into the attic still in today's suit?" He muttered, making another mental note that there would need to be a dry cleaning run soon.

He didn't recognize the box at first.

Until he opened it.

Then he remembered, and realized, that it was the box Marie had thrust at him and Sean on the day that they'd fully moved Sang out of the house on Sunnyvale court. She'd mumbled something about it being the only box in the shed that was Sang's and she had no use for it. It had been a pretty emotional day for Marie. She'd gone from prepping the house for her mother's return only to have her mother finally pass away from her illness. Neither she or Sang had any desire to live together at all so they were permanently moving Sang out and Marie was going to end up selling the house and moving elsewhere.

Sang, of course, hadn't wanted anything to do with anything they'd removed from the house and so this box, and the other items had lived in the attic, undisturbed, for the past 9 years. He pursed his lips for a moment, thinking of Sang.

The beautiful love of his life had settled into their chosen life quite nicely and at 25 was still the stunning beauty that she'd been at 16.

He reached in and pulled out a video tape of home movies. He frowned at it and read the label more than once before it dawned on him. He packed up the box again and left the attic, forgetting what he'd actually been up in the attic to do.

Owen made a beeline from the attic to his office space, box in hand. He went into his office, setting to box down on a side table before sliding his jacket off, removing his tie and unbuttoning a couple of the buttons as he considered the box and rolled up his sleeves at the same time. He flipped the lid of the box off again and pulled out the tape.

He went to the shelves and found the one remaining VHS VCR that they owned. Victor had actually taken a class in VCR repair when it became apparent that there would be no replacing it if it died a horrible death. They didn't need to use it very often but on occasion, they ran across security cameras that were still backed up to VHS tapes. He popped the tape in and turned on the TV monitor and pressed play, having determined it was rewound.

His eyes widened and his jaw slackened slightly as a gentle lullaby started to play in the background and he locked eyes with the woman in the tape before his gaze dropped to the infant in her arms.

He rubbed his eyes for a moment, blinking at the screen again.

It was like looking back in a time traveling mirror.

She was the spitting image of Sang at 16.

Baby mine, don't you cry

Baby mine, dry your eyes