You Are My Sunshine

Chapter 13

The piano woke her up. She didn't know why at first- she had fallen asleep with the piano going. Why would it keep her up now? Then she realized Gabby was singing along to her playing. Her voice was high, sweet, and slightly off-key. And the song, the song...

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey..."

Fallon threw back her covers and leapt out of bed, her green eyes smoldering. How had the little squirt gotten a hold of it? She was sure it hadn't been in the stack of music she gave her. Fallon dashed to her door, ready to throw it open, storm into the living room, and strangle her cousin.

"You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

Fallon stopped short, her hand on the doorknob. The song was about loss. It was about missing someone the singer loved. It cut into the core of Fallon's heart, past all the anger she had for the world, past the bitterness she had wrapped around herself to hide the raw, open wound behind it all:

Fallon missed her dad.

She slid down to the floor and cried, really let herself cry, for the first time since that last talk with her father. She put her arms around her knees and pulled herself into a tight ball of grief. She hadn't let herself heal from this. She had buried her pain deep inside and lashed out at everyone close to her. Now she was alone, and she deserved it.

She didn't notice when Gabby stopped playing, or when the door softly opened and quiet footsteps came towards her. But she did finally hear a little voice close by say "Fallon, what's wrong?"

Fallon sniffed hard and raised her head. She realized that she hadn't really looked at her cousin for days, and what she saw shocked her. Gabby was pale. She used to almost glow with energy and zest for life. Now she was quiet and timid. Even her hair looked lighter, not as golden. Yet her big blue eyes were filled with sympathy. She still cared, even though Fallon was the one who made her like this.

"It's me," said Fallon, "I'm all wrong." She covered her face and started crying again. Gabby silently sat down next to her cousin and put her arm around her.

"I don't think you're all wrong," she said gently, "I just think you're sad because of your Daddy."

Fallon just cried harder. Gabby was right about everything.

"...Are you still mad at me?"

"No," Fallon managed between tears. She at least owed the little girl that.

Gabby sat there with her until her sobs had diminished to a slow trickle of tears punctuated by the occasional sniff. Fallon wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"Gabby... where did you find that song?" she asked finally.

"The one I was just playing?" began Gabby hesitantly.

"Yes."

"Well...It was in one of those music books you gave me, the one with the Disney stuff. I was flipping through it and those two pages just fell out, and I looked at them and it said You Are My Sunshine, and I really like that song so I started playing it- just the top part 'cause the left hand looked too hard and-"

Fallon was smiling at her.

"What?" asked Gabby, bewildered.

"Nothing. Just glad you're feeling better." Fallon wiped her eyes one final time and picked herself up. She took a deep breath. "I guess I owe you an apology-"