Chapter 1:

Tiffany Rhea Templeton sat in her seat with the envelope that contained the all important note gripped tightly in her hands. She had gone back and forth in her resolve to do this for the last week, since the crazy idea first popped into her 13 year old head.

She had to do it. There was no other way and she was determined to do something, anything, and this was one thing that she felt could work, if only they would agree. They were Il Divo, her all time favorite musicians.

Her mother knew that this was her greatest wish, to go to an Il Divo concert. So, even though it came at great expense in the family’s already disastrous money situation, her mother had gotten them tickets three months ago to the concert. Not only was the concert not near their Mid-Western U.S. home, but it was all the way in Dublin Ireland. Il Divo was doing a concert with Celine Dion.

Her mother had been a fan of Il Divo first and had gotten Tiffany to listen to their music one day during a particularly long doctor’s appointment. Tiffany had had to agree that their music had a wonderful calming affect on her and at this point in her life anything that helped to calm or soothe her was appreciated.

She quickly became a die hard fan and spent hours and hours on the forum, reading every tidbit of information she could find about them and talking to the other Diva’s on the forum, women from all over the world who shared the love of these four gorgeous, but also immensely talented men.

Tiffany was just coming to the age that girls really begin to think they know what love is and sometimes she didn’t understand everything the women were talking about with regards to the male, female relationships, but she could already appreciated good looks and the wonderful personalities that it seemed that the four men had shown to the world. She only hoped that they were as nice in person as they seemed, that was if she even got to meet them.

With one last big breath, she leaned over and told her mother that she would be right back.

“Where are you going? This is a big place.” Her mother said with a hint of fear in her eyes.

“Mom, I’ll be fine, I promise. I will just be walking around. I’m not going out of the arena.”

“Alright, just don’t be gone too long without letting me know where you are.”

“I won’t mom.” Tiffany said and leaned down to kiss her mother on the cheek.

Their relationship had changed dramatically over the last year. Tiffany and her mother had seemed to be permanently at odds over every little thing a year ago. The usual battle of a girl coming into her teen years, usually thinking they know everything already and not wanting to hear what their parents have to say, especially if it contradicts what they already believe to be true.

Now, it was different. They had long conversations, sometimes way into the night if Tiffany couldn’t sleep. Tiffany found herself telling her mother things that teens don’t usually tell their parents, feelings she had and hopes and dreams she had had locked away in her heart. Unlike most teens that usually didn’t appreciate their parents until later in life when they had their own children, Tiffany appreciated her parents and everything they did for her and her little brother Ryan. She saw their sacrifices and their drive to do whatever they could for their children.

Tiffany was still clutching the envelope and walked towards the staging area and looked for any familiar face. She didn’t expect to see any of the Divos out here now, but she had scoured the forum for pictures of the band and other Il Divo staff so that she would recognize them if she saw them.

Time was running out, the arena was filling up and before long it would be time for the opening act and she would need to return to her seat. She had come so far and she had thought long and hard about how to make this work. She couldn’t give up now. As the minutes ticked by though, she was afraid that she would not be able to complete this all important mission. Finally, just when she was about to return to her seat, she caught a glimpse of Mark Agnor and called out his name.

The band was used to the fans wanting to talk to them or get pictures but this was almost show time and he was in a hurry. The young girl stood at the barrier that kept unauthorized people from entering the backstage area. She was one of the younger Il Divo fans, he thought. Quickly, he stepped over to the barrier and smiled down at her.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go get ready for the show.”

“I know and I’m sorry to disturb you but this is very important. Could you please give this to Il Divo? It is very important that they read this tonight before the end of the show, Please.” She said again.

There was something akin to desperation in the girl’s eyes and he took the envelope from her and nodded and quickly turned and headed back stage.

The wave of relief that the first part of her plan had been completed washed over her as she headed for her seat. She had a smile on her face as she sat down and her mother asked her what she was smiling about.

“I’m just so happy to be here, Thank you Mom.”

“You’re welcome, Baby. I’m happy to be here too and especially since it is with you.” She said hugging her daughter.

They sat back as the music started and were ready to enjoy an amazing show. They loved Il Divo, but Celine was also one of their favorites too.

Meanwhile, in the backstage area where Mark had just passed on the envelope to David who just happened to be the first Divo he saw, Mark told him that it was a young teen who had given that to him and said that it was extremely important that it be read before the closing of the show tonight.

David was ready to go onstage, so he figured he could take a minute and see what it was that the little girl had sent to them, probably a note, expressing her undying love for the group or maybe even for one of them in particular.

On the front of the envelope were just the words Il Divo, in very lovely handwriting he noticed. He opened the envelope carefully so he wouldn’t rip anything it contained and pulled out the note that was written on stationary that had the letter T in the middle of the top of the page. He began to read what looked like a letter instead of a short note. He could see that the writing continued on the back of the page.

After reading the first paragraph, David turned and looked for a seat to sit in while he finished reading the note. He wasn’t aware of the time, when all of a sudden Carlos tapped him on the shoulder.

“Are you joining us tonight or is this just going to be the three Divos tonight?”

David’s head popped up and Carlos could see that David was upset about something.

“Are you alright, Amigo?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Let’s go.” He said standing to his full height and clasped Carlos on the shoulder and took a deep breath.

“Are you sure?” Carlos asked, seeing the distress on David’s face.

“Yes, I’ll tell you about it in a bit. Come on, we’ll be late.” He said and walked toward the stage.

The air was full of electricity as Il Divo took to the stage. Tiffany reached over and grasped her mother’s hand very tightly as the men took their places in front of them and were already singing.

While Tiffany thought all of the Divos were terrific in their own way, Seb was definitely her favorite and her mother had made sure that their tickets were right in front of where Seb stood for most of the concert. They were not disappointed. Seb took his place right in front of Tiffany’s front row seat.

Mrs. Templeton could feel her daughter’s excitement. She was having a great time herself and frequently could be seen watching Urs for extended lengths of time, but this day was about her daughter and she was determined that she would have the most unforgettable night of her entire life at this concert. She heard Tiffany’s squeal of delight when Seb looked right down at her and smiled and winked at her while he was singing.

David was distracted. Most nights it was Seb who could be expected to forget a line or two while he was singing. Tonight it was obvious to the other three and even some of the fans who had been to enough concerts, that David’s mind was somewhere else.

He looked along the front row. Mark said she was a young girl and the note said she was 13, so he scanned the front, looking for Tiffany. He had a few ideas of what she might look like by her description in the note, but when he saw her, he knew he had found the right girl. She was having the time of her life. Seb had just smiled and winked at her and she looked like she was having trouble sitting still.

During a break between songs, David went to Mark and pointed her out and asked if she was the right one. When Mark turned around and nodded that she was the right girl, several people around Tiffany, including her mother, looked at her.

“It looks like they are pointing at you, Tiff.”

Tiffany smiled and waved a small wave up to David so he would know that she saw them. He smiled back at her and waved, patting his pocket, telling her that he had the note. She sat back and tried to get the butterflies under control. “Step 2 accomplished. Letter is in a Divo’s hand, or pocket.” She thought smiling to herself.

Knowing that nothing could be done until after the show, Tiffany forced herself to forget about what would happen later and to just enjoy the rest of the show, which of course was fantastic.

The other two Divo’s questioned David about where his mind was tonight and he told them that he would tell them as soon as they had time and then he pressed himself to not messing up for the rest of the show. That didn’t stop him from frequently looking to Tiffany and seeing how she was enjoying the show. When the times came that he would be crossing in front of her as they changed positions on the stage, he would look down at her and smile. He figured that it must be her mother with her. The woman kept looking questioningly at her and speaking to her.

“Why do you think David keeps singling you out?”

“I don’t know, Mom, But I sure don’t mind.” She said smiling and covering for the fact that she knew exactly why.

On one of the breaks where they changed suits, David finally got a chance to quickly explain to the others what had him so distracted tonight. As they dressed, he told them briefly about the letter and that they had to try to meet with her before they left the arena tonight.

“Seb, she’s right in the front row, right in front of you.”

“Oh, the pretty young girl? She seems to be really enjoying the show.”

“I know…. I know we can’t discuss this now but if you can hang around for a bit after the show we could have her come back and talk to her. Just let me know before the end of the show.” He said as they ran to get back into their places and begin the next song.

By the end of that song, each of the other three Divos had let David know that they would stay and talk to the girl. David hadn’t had time to tell them what was in the letter she had sent back to them so they were all more than just a bit curious as to what had David so worked up and why he wanted to talk to her so badly.

For the Divo’s, the concert was a bit of an abbreviated one since they weren’t the only headliner there but, Celine had told them that she didn’t mind them doing their usual routine during Somewhere, so they kept the song in. If she had objected, they would have eliminated the song entirely to keep the fans in their seats.

Mrs. Templeton was very nervous about them being in the front row during Somewhere. She didn’t want Tiffany getting squashed, but Tiffany told her not to worry. This was all part of the experience. As the song started, they stood and went to stand against the stage where Sebastien sat down and hung his legs over the edge of the stage.

When he got situated and realized that it was Tiffany that was standing right against his leg, he leaned down and told her to wait in her seat after the show. She nodded to him and thanked him. He took the autograph book from her and signed it and let her mom take a picture of him and Tiffany, then he waved her mom over and he grasped the camera, holding it straight out so he could take a picture of the three of them together before handing Tiffany the camera back.

As they went to try to make their way through the sea of Divas towards Urs, Mrs. Templeton again asked her what was going on.

“I wrote a note asking to meet them. I guess they got it. I passed it to the orchestra director before the show.” was all she told her mother and then kept walking towards where Urs was sitting.

Once her mother got close to Urs, all of her questions were forgotten for the time being. She got her autographs and pictures and she made sure that Tiffany got her own before she reluctantly left the only man who could ever make her eyes stray from her beloved husband of 16 years and they headed back towards Carlos and then to David quickly before the song would be over.

Chapter 2:

By the time they reached David, the crowd was getting desperate, knowing that the song was almost over and they were running out of time to get close to the Divos. As Tiffany and her mother reached David, he looked down and smiled his thousand watt smile and said hello as he took her autograph book and signed it. As he reached out to hand the book back to her, he saw the push of the crowd that shoved her short body up against the staging and he reached down with both hands and lifted her rapidly out of the throng before she was totally crushed.

“Tiffany, are you alright?” he asked her, his heart beating so fast in his chest.

“Yes, I’m alright. Thank you” she said as she kneeled with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath that had been robbed from her as she was being pressed against the stage.

She had been separated from her mother and even through all of the noise; Tiffany could hear her mother calling out for her.

“Mom…Mom, I’m up here.” She said waving to her.

Her mother finally heard her and breathed a huge sigh of relief when she realized her daughter had been drawn out of harm’s way by David’s fast reflexes.

“Thank You.” She mouthed to him.

He winked and in between his time to sing he said “I’ll see that she gets back down to you safely.

“Thank you.” She said again.

She was relieved that Tiffany seemed to be okay. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying the whole thing. Well, who could blame her, she chuckled to herself. Even though Urs was her favorite Divo, she couldn’t help but have a huge soft spot for the big teddy bear of an American. His actions in saving Tiffany had helped to cement her views of his kind nature.

Tiffany stayed where she was. She was definitely not jumping back down into the crowd and besides she was enjoying being up on the stage next to David far too much to even think of going anywhere. This is where she had longed to be for as long as she could remember, on stage, singing. She loved to sing more than anything in the world and she had had so many people tell her that she was good too. Although when she watched American Idol, she saw that a lot of family and friends told people they were good when in fact they couldn’t even carry a note.

Tiffany believed with everything inside of her that she could have a career in singing if her life had been different. But maybe, just maybe it could come true for her. Time would tell, but her time was running out very fast.

When the song was over, and the guys were standing with their arms raised in the air and then bowed to the audience as they always did, Tiffany stood off to the side where David had directed her to go and wait. As the guys came over, he directed one of the stage hands to see that she got back to her seat safely and told her again that he would see her after the show.

They went off of the stage and Celine came out after a brief musical intro by her orchestra. Tiffany slid into her seat a short time later, still smiling like a Cheshire cat and her mother tried to frown at her but couldn’t help smiling back at her. Tiffany didn’t usually have much to smile about so she couldn’t begrudge her this fun. But she also couldn’t help worrying either. She was her mother after all.

A few songs later, the Divos reentered the stage as the music began for “Je Crois en Toi”, joining Celine for their Duet and closing the show. Tiffany told her Mom again that they had to stay where they were as David instructed her.

Once the crowd was sure that there were no more encores coming, they began to disperse rather quickly. David instructed the security officer to get Tiffany and her mother once there were just a few people left.

The security officer came up to Mrs. Templeton and asked her to follow him. They went behind a long black curtain and saw the flurry of hands already disassembling the equipment from the stage. They came to a door and the officer knocked twice and the door was quickly opened by David who welcomed them inside. He also thanked the officer before closing the door.

The first thing he did was place his hands on Tiffany’s shoulders and asked her if she was sure that she was alright after getting shoved up against the stage.

“I’m okay. I might have a few bruises but I’ll be fine. I just bruise very easily.” She assured him.

He straightened up and introduced himself, however unnecessarily, to Mrs. Templeton and then introduced the rest of the guys to both of the ladies.

“It is so nice to meet all of you and it was very kind of you to meet with us. You must be tired. I’m sure that you’ve had a very long day.” Mrs. Templeton said while trying not to blush too much when Urs smiled at her.

“Well, your daughter is very persuasive, Mrs. Templeton.” David said to her.

“Please call me Shirley.”

David roared with laughter. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me for laughing. Shirley Templeton, that’s great.”

“I know. Ever since I got married to my husband Tom, that has been my name and people comment all the time.” She said good naturedly.

The other three just looked confused.

“Haven’t you heard of Shirley Temple?” David asked the others, still chuckling.

“Oh yes, I’ve seen her. My wife loves her movies from when she was a little girl.” Carlos said.

They chit chatted for a few more minutes and then David asked if they could speak to Tiffany alone. “I don’t mean to exclude you but this is important, I think.” David said to Shirley.

Shirley looked confused and looked at Tiffany to see if she knew what was going on.

“It’s okay Mom. I asked them. Please Mom.” She asked, begging with her eyes for understanding and permission at the same time.

“Alright, I’ll go for a walk. David, do you have a cell phone?”

“Yes.”

“Please let her call me when you are done talking.”

“Absolutely.”

Shirley turned to go and with one last questioning look back at her daughter, she left the room, closing the door behind her. There were very few adult males that she would leave her impressionable 13 year old daughter in the room with, and here she had gone and left her alone with 4 of them. But she trusted them and hoped that she wouldn’t regret it.

She also trusted Tiffany but, she had no idea what was going on in her daughter’s head. They had been talking about everything together for months but, lately, Tiffany had acted like she had something on her mind that she wasn’t discussing with her mother. Maybe after they left Ireland and Il Divo behind, maybe then Tiffany would tell her what was going on.

“Thank you for meeting with me.” Tiffany said repeating what her mother said but for a more important reason.

“First, I would like for the others to read the letter that you sent back to me and then I want you to explain to us why it was so important for you to meet us.”

David passed the letter around and as each of the other three Divos read the letter, they understood why David had been so distracted and then adamant that they meet with her.

“Is this true?” Seb asked with a hint of a tear in the corner of his eyes.

Tiffany couldn’t speak. So she just nodded to him. Now that she was here and gotten this far, she didn’t know if she could go through with asking them. She straightened herself up and told herself for the thousandth time, that this was the only way to help.

“Yes, I was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor almost 4 years ago, that is on my brain stem. They tried to shrink it, which they were successful in doing for a while but, then several months ago it began growing again and they said that there is nothing more they can do for me.”

“Have they said how long?” David asked, not needing to say how long until you will die.

“They said that at the rate that it is growing, I probably have another five months, but that could change either way depending on the rate of the tumor’s growth.” She explained.

David didn’t even know this young girl but he felt like his heart was being ripped to shreds. She hadn’t even been really given a chance to live yet. She seemed very intelligent and spoke well. As happened a lot of times when children have gone through such a traumatic illness, they are forced to grow up much too fast.

“I came here to ask you all something and if you can’t do it, I will understand. But, I had to ask.”

“Alright, whatever it is, just ask us. Don’t be afraid.” Urs said, speaking to her for the first time.

“I……I want to sing with you. I know about those singles that artists put out and I was thinking especially since your fans have been going crazy for your new CD to come out and a new tour that maybe they would love to hear even a single.”

She hesitated briefly when she saw them all straighten up and shift in their seats. But she wouldn’t be swayed from her path and continued.

“I’m not asking for me… Well, I do want to sing with you, so that isn’t entirely true. But, the most important reason I am asking you is for my family. My parents don’t know I am asking you this and that is why I asked you to allow me to speak to you in private. I don’t want my mother to know the reasons for this if you agree to do this.”

Seb could see that the girl was shaking and he moved over and took a hold of her hand.

“Tell us why you want to do this for them.” He asked.

“Because, they have given up everything for me. My parents are about to lose our home because of my medical bills. They don’t know that I know this. They think they keep this from me when they talk late at night. But, I have a lot of trouble sleeping and I’ve heard them speaking about it several times. I’ve heard my mother crying.”

“I also have a little brother, Ryan. He is only 7 years old. Why should he have to suffer because of me? I’ve had a pretty good life, until I got sick. My father makes a pretty good amount of money but because of the amount of the medical costs and the search for any treatments that might possibly save my life; my parents are just about to lose everything they have worked so hard for. I want to help them save the house and maybe pay for some of the medical bills.”

By this time Tiffany’s control had slipped and she had begun to cry, something she had told herself she would not do when she spoke to them. Large tears flowed down her face and embarrassed, she wiped them away as quick as she could.

“I’m sorry, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry when I talked to you. It’s just hard when I think of the problems that I am going to leave behind.”

“I’m sure that your parents love you and do not blame you for these things that are happening to your family.” Carlos said giving her hand a squeeze.

“No, of course, I know they don’t blame me but……but I just feel like if I could only do something to try to help to ease their burden some before I go. It would be easier for me to go peacefully and not worry about them so much.”

Trying to lighten the mood a bit, David asked her, “So Tiffany, you want to sing with us. Can you sing?”

“I’ve been told I have a pretty good voice and all I’ve ever wanted to do was sing. I had hoped to be a recording artist when I grew up.”

“Can we hear something?” Urs asked, intrigued when she said she had always wanted to be a singer.

“Okay” she said and the butterflies increased a thousand fold, flitting around in her belly as she tried to compose herself enough so her voice wouldn’t crack while she sang. She cleared her throat and began to sing.

Immediately, the guys recognized that Tiffany was singing Over the Rainbow. Her voice was loud and clear with just a hint of nerves showing through as she sang. About halfway through the song, Seb joined her. She almost stopped singing but he shook his head and wordlessly pushed her on.

Little by little, the rest of the guys joined them, until all five of them were singing. Tiffany felt like her chest was going to explode from the excitement of it. She was actually singing with Il Divo.

When the song was finished, the guys all talked at once, telling her how wonderful her voice sounded and David asked her to sing it again. This time he directed who would sing when. He had a definite idea about it and as they got into it and the other guys saw what he was doing, much like when they were recording and one of them would get an idea and the rest of them just had to wait and see what the other one had in mind.
.
When they had gone through it the second time, David had a thoughtful look on his face.

“Tiffany, that was great. You know though, we can’t make this decision alone. We are under a contract. So, we have others that we have to consult with before we could commit to doing this. I’m not saying it won’t happen but, please try to be patient and the four of us will discuss it and then talk to the others that need to be included in the decision.”

“I understand all of that. I knew you couldn’t answer me tonight. I guess I need to go find my Mom now.” She said turning to leave.

“Hold on there. You can’t wander around here alone. I will make sure that you get back to your Mom.” Seb said to her.

“Thank you.” She said, blushing a little.

Seb had a sneaking suspicion that Tiffany just might be a young Siren. He told the others that he’d meet them back at the hotel in a while. He escorted her out into the main arena area and they searched for her mother. They found her sitting with her head back and her eyes closed.

“She has been really tired. She loses so much sleep taking care of me and my brother and worrying about me and then we had the long trip over here for the concert.” Tiffany explained when they saw her mother napping.

“She loves you very much.” Seb said.

“I know she does. I’m very lucky. I’ve known kids that don’t have the kind of family I have had.”

Seb had been repeatedly stunned at the maturity in the words of this young girl. She had just said that she was lucky. She knew that she was going to die, and very soon, yet she said that she had been lucky. Too bad everyone else in the world wasn’t as wise as she was.

Chapter 3:

As they approached her, Shirley awoke with a start and apologized for falling asleep.

“Don’t apologize. We understand the need to catch a nap when we can. I was wondering if I could escort you lovely ladies out for a late dinner.”

Shirley didn’t need to look at her daughter’s face to know that she was begging for her to accept Sebastien’s invitation.

“Thank you that would be very nice. Where will we go?”

“The hotel we are staying at has a great restaurant.”

“Alright, that sounds very nice.” Turning to Tiffany she asked her, “Did you have a good visit with the guys?”

“Yes, I did.” She answered, looking at Sebastien, hoping that he wouldn’t slip and say anything to her Mom about her real reason for meeting with them.

Seb knew that she was worried about that and when they reached the hotel, and her Mom slipped away to go to the ladies, Seb told her not to worry. He was good at keeping secrets and winked at her.

“Thank you, Seb.”

When they ordered, Seb asked Shirley if she liked wine and she said she did but hadn’t had any for quite a while. They discussed what they would be eating and he selected a couple of bottles to complement their meals.

Tiffany only drank bottled water. So many things made her feel ill. She also had to be careful what she ordered to eat and Seb noticed that she still only picked at her meal and didn’t actually eat very much.

He learned a lot about their family as they ate. Of course, Shirley had pictures of their family that she showed him that included her husband Tom and her 7 year old son Ryan.
Tiffany was actually glad that the focus of conversation was not just on her and her illness for a change. It was fun just being a girl having dinner with a really hot guy, even though her Mom was there too. Granted, he was way too old for her but with her limited time left, she could let herself dream, and dream she did as she watched her mom and Seb talking.

They were ordering desert when Urs walked into the restaurant. Seb spotted him and asked him to come join them. He had eaten a bit of dinner but was more than happy to join them for some dessert, much to the ladies delight, especially Shirley.

They continued to talk amongst themselves until it suddenly became obvious that Tiffany was very tired.

“I’m sorry. It just hits me all of a sudden sometimes.” Tiffany said sounding very disappointed indeed.

“That’s alright. This is not the end, Mon Ami.” Seb told her with a wink. “Let me get you ladies back to your hotel.”

‘Thank You Seb but, we’ll be alright getting back. I don’t think it was too far from here.” Shirley told him.

“Nonsense, I will not leave two beautiful ladies to get back safely without an escort at this time of night.”

As they all stood to leave, Urs offered to ride along as well and they made their way out to hail a cab. Once inside the cab, Shirley gave the name of their hotel to the driver and looked a bit shy when Urs turned around from his seat in the front next to the driver.

Tiffany was desperately trying to hold back the giggles that threatened to escape when she saw her mother’s cheeks redden when Urs had smiled at her. She frequently got the giggles when she was over tired but, she really didn’t want to embarrass her mother.

When the conversation hit a lull, Tiffany went from being silly to being so sleepy that she actually began nodding off. She struggled to keep her eyes open but, finally lost the battle and her head fell back against the seat and eventually rolled to the side coming to rest against Seb’s shoulder. Shirley went to move her daughter’s head over towards her shoulder but Seb waved her off and told her that she was fine where she was. Shirley nodded her thanks and sighed thinking what a good day this had been, so full of wonderful memories for them both.

When they arrived at the hotel, Urs hopped out and opened Shirley’s door and held out his hand to assist her getting out of the car. She turned around to wake Tiffany but, Urs was already helping Seb get her out and Seb lifted her into his arms.

“She’s not very heavy, is she?”

“No, she’s lost a great deal of weight, especially in just the last couple of months. You saw how she ate, or didn’t eat, I should say. She has very little appetite most of the time.”

“Lead the way, Mademoiselle.” He said brightly, while inwardly trying to keep his emotions in check.

He held the sleeping form of this special girl close to his chest as he carried her. She was so brave, at least outwardly. Who knew what battle she was fighting inside as she tried to valiantly save her family while at the same time staying well long enough to do this? It had taken a lot of courage for her to come to them and ask to sing with them and he for one, hoped that all of the red tape could be quickly dispensed with and she would sing with them before it was too late.

Urs hurried ahead to push the button on the elevator and the doors immediately opened for them. Shirley pushed the button for the fourth floor and stepped back and looked to see if her daughter was still asleep. She was sound asleep. They reached their floor and Shirley rushed to open the door and threw the covers back on the bed, allowing Seb to lay her down.

She watched as he gently laid her down, making sure that her head was on the pillow, pulled her shoes off of her feet and drew the covers up over her. Then after standing up straight, Seb leaned back down, brushed her hair off of her forehead and kissed her there. His eyes were suspiciously moist.

“Tiffany was going to give me your home information and her email address before you left. Would it be alright for us to keep in contact with her and you of course?” he asked.

“That would be very kind of you to do that.”

“She has touched my heart today and I wish we could spend more time together this week but, we’ve got to leave in the morning and so do you.” Seb said disappointed that their time was so short. He had a fear that maybe he wouldn’t see Tiffany again.

“She is a special girl and she taught me a lot today about what it means to be strong. I don’t know if I could go through what she has and be this strong. She is also smart for her age.” Urs said.

“She has grown up way too fast this past year. I miss my little girl already. But we also have some amazing talks like I imagined having with her as a young adult.”

As the two men were leaving they each leaned back in the door and hugged Shirley.

”Please tell her goodnight for us and we’ll be in touch with her.” Seb said.

“I will. Goodnight and thank you for everything.”

Once they were gone, she plopped down on a chair in their room. She was exhausted but, this trip had been well worth it. This experience would stay with them forever, although Tiffany’s forever was much shorter than hers.

Urs and Seb didn’t say much on the way back to the hotel but Urs could see the purpose in Seb’s steps as he just about marched to David and Carlos’ door and knocked. David opened the door, still awake, knowing that they would all be wanting to discuss what happened today and what they were going to do about it.

Without any pause after the door was closed, Seb immediately spoke,

“We have to do this for her.” He said forcefully. There was no question in his tone, only a statement of fact to the other three of them. Then he looked around and saw the look on their faces at his outburst.

“I’m sorry. I know this is something we need to discuss together, but I feel like we need to hurry and talk about it and then move on to getting the powers that be on board as quickly as possible….before it’s too late.” He finished, sounding like the wind had been let out of his sails.

“Do you guys think that we will have a problem with management on this?” Carlos asked.

“I don’t know. There has been such a push lately for giving to those less fortunate. If this isn’t that, then I don’t know what is.” David said.

“Well as far as the four of us, are we all in agreement to try to do this?” Urs asked, looking around at each of them.

As each of the others answered that they were on board, Seb began to smile again. They all knew where he stood but he answered “Yes” anyway. They talked for a few more minutes and then fatigue began to set in so Seb and Urs headed back to their own room.

Seb wanted to tell Tiffany that they had decided to help if everything worked out on the management end so he dialed the hotel and asked to be put through to their room. He hoped he wouldn’t be waking them up but it would be too late to call in the morning.

Sometimes when she was overtired like she was right now, Shirley would break down and cry but, not tonight. She would not allow anything to mar the memory of their special day so she took her nightgown into the bathroom to get a shower, leaving the door open just a crack so she could hear it if Tiff woke up and needed her.

When Shirley was brushing her hair after her shower, her cell phone began to ring. It was her husband Tom asking how their evening went. She told him everything that had happened, including the curious thing about Il Divo wanting to speak to Tiff alone. He jokingly asked her how much drooling she had done over her favorite Divo.

“I behaved myself, if that is what you’re asking Tom Templeton.”

“I had no doubt, My Love. But, I do hope that you had a great time.”

“Oh I did. I miss you though.”

“I miss you too, Sweets. How’s our girl holding up over there?”

“She seems to be doing well enough. The adrenaline has probably kept her going. I am imagining either on the way or once we get home, the fatigue will hit her pretty hard. She fell asleep in the cab, on the way back to the hotel after dinner. When she wakes up and I tell her that Sebastien carried her up to bed, I can only imagine her reaction.”

“Shirley! She’s only 13.”

“I know, Tom. But she’s allowed to have feelings too. Even without her illness, she is in an awkward place. She’s not a child anymore, but not quite a woman yet either. I saw the way she looked at him tonight. It’s just hard Tom, to know that she will never know the kind of love that you and I have had together.” her resolve not to cry tonight slipping furiously away.

“Please don’t cry, Sweets, not when I’m not there to hold you. I do understand what you’re saying. I guess I just still see her as more of my little Tiffy than the Tiffany that is on her way to becoming that woman you already are beginning to see. Go get some sleep while you can. Ryan and I will see you both at the airport. I love you, Shirl.”

“Alright, I love you too. Kiss Ryan for me and tell him I love him.”

They hung up and Shirley had no sooner gone to blow her nose after her cry then the hotel room phone began to ring.

As soon as she answered, Seb apologized for calling so late and said he hoped that he hadn’t woken her up.

“No, I wasn’t in bed yet.”

“I was wondering if you and Tiffany would have breakfast with us in the morning before we all head to the airport?”

“That would be lovely. Thank you for asking.”

“Great! I’ll be there around 8 so we can eat before we have to leave. What time is your flight out?”

“1 o’clock.”

“Ours is just after that. Alright, I’ll see you in the morning, Bon Nuit. Sleep well.”

Shirley hurried to get to bed and set the alarm so she could be up and have Tiffany up and ready before Seb arrived in the morning. She went to sleep with a smile on her face as the thoughts of this wonderful day swirled around in her head.

When the alarm went off in the morning, Shirley was surprised to see Tiffany already up. She had showered and dressed and was sitting in the chair next to the bed with the earphones to her IPod stuck in her ear. Shirley hopped up and kissed her on the temple before rushing to get a quick shower.

When she came back out, Tiffany asked her why she was rushing around.

“We are going to breakfast.”

“Okay.” She said not sounding too excited about eating. This was a constant battle to get sufficient nutrition into her to keep her strength up. Tiffany understood the need but also still had a hard time when it came time to actually eat something. Food just had no appeal to her.

Before she was sick, Tiffany had actually been a little chubby. Her mom had called it baby fat and told her as she grew it would go away if she ate healthy. She had lost all of that “baby fat” and even more. It was hard keeping enough weight on to help her through the times when she got really ill.

“Would it help if I told you that we are going to be eating with 4 very handsome men this morning?”

Tiffany’s head popped up and the smile on her face gave her answer. She jumped up and opened her suitcase.

“I can’t wear this. I need to change.”

And change she did, three times before settling on her outfit for the day.

When she was picking up the last of the mess she’d made as she tried different outfits on, Tiffany got thinking about the end of the night and how she didn’t remember saying goodnight to Seb and Urs. It kind of scared her. She didn’t know if she had blacked out or something.

“Mom, I don’t remember anything after we were riding in the cab with Seb and Urs after dinner.”

“I should think not. You fell asleep in the cab.”

“You carried me up here?” she asked in shock. “Mom, I know I’ve lost a lot of weight but I don’t want you to hurt yourself. You should have woken me up. I could have walked.”

“I didn’t carry you. Seb did.” She said and watched as the realization washed over her daughter’s face.

She didn’t have any time to reply if she could have thought of one, because there came a knock at the door. Shirley opened it and welcomed Seb in.

“Good morning, lovely ladies. Is anyone ready for breakfast?”

I know I am hungry.” Shirley said and watched as Tiffany’s face got redder by the second as she processed what she had just told her.

“How about you, Tiffany, are you hungry?”

“Yes, I am actually.” She said softly, not sounding like the self assured girl he’d met yesterday.

“Is something wrong?” Seb crouched down in front of her chair and took a hold of her hands.

Tiffany just shook her head no.

“I just told her about how she got up here from the cab.”

“Oh, I see.” Seb said as he understood her shyness and probable embarrassment. “You were sleeping so soundly. We didn’t want to wake you. Don’t be embarrassed, please.” He said and ran his hand down her cheek.

Tiffany just nodded her head and excused herself to the bathroom and said she’d be right back.

“Please be careful with her Seb.” Shirley boldly asked. “She may seem like a child to you but she is beginning to have a young woman’s feelings.”

“I understand” he said just before Tiffany came out stating that she was ready to go.

“Are you ladies ready to go to the airport from here? I was thinking that you could both ride with us since we are going about the same time. We could take your things down now and take them to our hotel and leave right from there.”

“That’s very kind of you, we’d like that.” Shirley answered, seeing that Tiff was still fighting her embarrassment.

Seb called for a luggage trolley while the girls checked to make sure that they had all of their belongings together. When Shirley went to make a pit stop in the bathroom before they left, Seb went over to Tiffany, who had been keeping her distance from him.

“Are we okay, Mon Ami? Are you upset with me?” he asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Tiffany looked up at him. “No, I’m not upset with you. I just don’t like to be treated like a baby.”

“Non, Seb said emphatically. I would never treat you like a baby.” At the risk of giving the young girl too much information, he said carefully, “I have carried a lady to bed before when she was asleep.”

Tiffany didn’t reply, but as she looked at him, she saw that he was speaking the truth and not playing with her. She nodded her head and picked up her suitcase, carrying it to the door.

Seb came up to her and whispered, “The 4 of us are in agreement to do the single if it is alright with our management.”

Tiffany’s face lit up and she had to turn and hide it when her mother returned to the room.

Chapter 4:

The luggage trolley arrived and once it was loaded, they headed downstairs to the limo that was waiting for them. Shirley smiled at Seb with a silent thank you as they saw the look of surprise and happiness on Tiffany’s face when she saw it.

“I’ve never ridden in a limo before.” She said excitedly, for a second sounding like the little kid that she was trying so hard to break free from.

Seb waited for the girls to get in and then joined them. On the way to the hotel, he showed them all of the cool gadgets that the limo had and by the time they reached the other hotel, Seb felt like his and Tiffany’s relationship had been repaired.

After assuring them that their luggage would be fine in the limo, he escorted them into the hotel restaurant. The other 3 Divos had all just come down and gotten a table when Seb and the girls arrived. They all stood and gave kisses and hugs to both of the girls and then sat back down, ready to order.

Tiffany ate a bit more this morning than she had been able to at dinner the night before. Her mother was glad for that. Shirley also had a bag full of snacks for the flight home. She was always offering different things for her to eat, hoping to entice her into putting something in her stomach as often as possible.

When they’d finished breakfast, they still had some time before they had to head for the airport so they invited the girls upstairs to wait. David’s Playstation was still sitting out and he asked Tiffany if she liked to play.

“Are you kidding? With all of the time she has had to spend indoors, she is the queen of the Playstation with her brother a close second.”

“He is actually better than me at some games.”

“Wanna play for a bit?” David asked her.

“Okay”

David had a new game that Tiffany hadn’t seen, so he pretty well beat her soundly before they switched to another game that Tiffany was accustomed to. With that game she beat him and was proud of it. Seb took a turn and they played a game that he was familiar with and they were pretty evenly matched on it.

Shirley sat at the table with Urs and Carlos as they talked and watched Tiffany having the time of her life. “I don’t know how I can ever thank all of you. You have given her… us, some wonderful memories this weekend.”

Urs placed his hand on top of hers. “It has been our pleasure to get to know both of you.”

What had seemed like a great deal of time after breakfast, passed quickly and before they knew it, the luggage trolley was there for the guys’ luggage, which had all been brought into this room, and it was time to leave for the airport.

When they arrived at the airport and had gone through all of the checkpoints, Tiffany was obviously getting tired. When Tiffany was over looking into a shop window, Shirley turned to the guys and told them that she was going to go find a restaurant and try to get some food into Tiffany.

“Come with us into the business lounge. They have great food right next to it.” Carlos told her.

Seb had walked over to see what Tiffany was looking at. He saw that she had her eye on a beautiful porcelain doll. “She’s pretty.” He said.

Tiffany looked up at him. “Yes, she is. I used to collect them. But I told everyone to stop buying them for me. They are expensive. It would be different if I were going to have children to pass them down to one day.

He heard no self pity in her words, just a statement of the facts.

“Hey, look at that fluffy dog. He looks really soft.” She said as she walked over to it and picked it up squishing it against her chest to test its stuffing.

“Yup, he is.” She said and then put it back. Unlike most children that constantly hounded their parents for things, Tiffany rarely asked them for anything anymore. Her concern for their finances was so great that she refrained from even letting them know of anything she was interested in, except for Il Divo of course. She didn’t want them showering her with material things that would only put a further strain on their budget.

She turned and walked back out of the shop and over to the rest of the group. Her mom told her that they were going to go get something to eat and then wait for their flight in the business lounge with the guys.

They took a few steps and then Seb excused himself, telling the rest of them that he’d catch up. The rest of the group continued on until they’d almost made it to the restaurant. They’d been spotted. There was a group of girls that were all dressed in a uniform like a cheerleading squad. They had just exited from a plane and were like most young girls, loud and giddy.

A couple of them spotted the guys and ran over, having no inhibitions about coming right up to them. A few more of the girls who knew who they were slowly wandered over when they saw that the guys didn’t look upset. There were a lot of curious stares as the girls wondered who the woman and girl were who seemed to be traveling with them. Of course there was disappointment that Seb wasn’t here, but that was quickly washed away as he came strolling down the concourse towards them.

Once the girls had all gotten their autographs, their leader thanked the guys for being so accommodating and ushered them all on their way, allowing them to continue on to the restaurant.

They sat around eating and talking and then went to sit in the business lounge until it was time for the girls to head for their gate. When her mother announced to her that it was time, Tiffany got her usual tightness in her chest as she worried that she might not see them again. She knew that at any time, she could take a turn for the worse and be gone in a heartbeat so whenever she said goodbye to people, she always made sure to let them know that she would miss them.

The guys escorted them to their gate. The guys each hugged Shirley and made her promise to keep them posted on anything happening with Tiffany, to which she gave her promise.

Then one by one, starting with Carlos, the guys hugged and kissed Tiffany, telling her that they would see her soon.

David lifted her right off of the floor when he hugged her making her giggle. Her feet were dangling a foot off the floor. “Take care, Sweetheart, alright.” He said sounding a bit choked.

Urs kissed her on the cheek and hugged her, whispering in her ear that they would contact her as soon as they had any news.

Seb was last and as he stepped up to her, he held out a shopping bag to her. She took it and looked inside of it. She looked up at him as she pulled the plush dog out of the bag and squeezed it to her chest again.

“Thanks, Seb.” She said and he wordlessly pulled her in for a tight hug. He held her close for several seconds until their flight was called. He didn’t want to upset her by seeing him cry but the emotions that were flowing through him at the reality that they may not see each other again hit him.

“That’s us.” Shirley said.

“I’ll be talking to you, okay.” He said as he wiped a tear from his cheek. Her took her face between his hands and kissed her forehead.

Tiffany didn’t answer. She just threw herself back into his arms for another hug and then turned and walked towards the gate. She and her mother turned and waved at the 4 precious men who had given so much to them in just one day. As they walked down the entrance to the plane, Tiffany wiped her tears away.

“Are you alright, honey?”

“I’ll be fine, Mom. Thank you so much for taking me on this trip. It was fantastic.”

“It was, wasn’t it?”

As Shirley expected, Tiffany got home and after the initial flurry of the tales from their trip were over, her strength quickly disappeared. For nearly a week, Tiffany stayed home, sleeping most of the time. Seb had emailed her, giving her a private email address so he would be sure to get any message they would send. Shirley also emailed him, thanking him and the rest of the guys again for making the trip so special for both of them.

Two weeks after they had returned home from Ireland, Tiffany logged in to her email and found a message from David.
************************************************************************
Tiffany,

I am so happy to tell you that we have cleared almost all of the obstacles that were standing in the way of doing our duet with you. We are all very excited about it and can’t wait to schedule it. We are checking into recording studios that are close to you. One of us will get back to you about it when we have it figured out. Take care and write when you have time.

Love and Hugs,

David
Il Divo
***********************************************************************

Tiffany almost squealed out loud but stopped herself in time. Her mother would have come running in to see what was wrong. She wrote a reply to David thanking him for telling her and telling him how excited she was.

Shirley sat across from Tiffany at dinner and saw that she looked really excited about something. “What’s up, Tiff?”

“Oh nothing, I just feel really good today and I got a hello email from David.” Tiffany really hated lying to her parents especially when all she was really trying to do was help them but, she was so afraid that they would reject what she was trying to do and put a stop to it.

She effectively changed the subject, asking her brother about his day and the couple of hours he’d spent at a friend’s birthday party. Lately, she’d spent as much time with her brother as possible but, when there would be a lot of people in a small enclosed space, she stayed home. She stuck to going to his soccer games where they would be outside in the fresh air and the possibility of catching someone’s illness was lessened to a great degree.

Ryan loved the extra attention his sister gave him. He knew that she was sick a lot. He even knew it was cancer but, they hadn’t told him that she was dying. They wanted him to be able to enjoy as much of his time with her as possible without worrying all the time, at least not more than he already did. He was a smart kid and had heard things from other kids and people at school and on TV about cancer. He knew they could die from it. They would talk to him soon.

Chapter 5:

That talk would come much sooner than any of them imagined when the following week, Tiffany wound up in the hospital again. She had woken in the middle of the night with a blinding headache that actually did steal her sight away for a time. They thought it would be permanent. They had been warned of the possibility a couple of months ago that by the end, Tiffany might lose her sight.

They had all gone to the hospital, including waking Ryan and taking him with them in his pajamas. As they sat and waited for Tiffany to come back to her room from the CT scan they were running, Shirley and Tom decided that it was time. They didn’t want her to die and have Ryan angry that they hadn’t told him.

Ryan, Buddy, come sit here with us for a few minutes.” Tom asked him.

“When’s Tiffy going to be back?” he asked using the name he had called her when he was learning to talk.

“Soon. When they are finished running the test.”

“Is my sister going to die from the cancer in her head?” he asked, blindsiding them with his foresight.

Tom took a deep breath and took hold of one of Shirley’s hands and one of Ryan’s in his own.

“Yes, Buddy. Tiffany is going to die.”

Ryan jumped up.

“Where is my sister?” he hollered. “I want my sister.”

Tom rushed over and gathered his young son into his arms. “I’m sorry buddy. I know it hurts.”

“When…when is she going to die? Is it going to be today?” he asked frantically.

“No, I don’t think it will be today.” He answered softly, trying to calm the boy.

The doctor stuck his head into the waiting room and told them that she was back in her room and without waiting for the rest of them; Ryan ran out of the waiting room and ran all of the way into Tiffany’s room. When their parents caught up with him, he was up on her bed and had his head lying on her chest, crying uncontrollably.

Tiffany looked at them with the unspoken question and they nodded their heads. She knew that they had told him. She pulled him up so that he was lying beside her and his head was up on her pillow next to her.

“I love you, Ryan. I always will, you know. You’re my best friend.”

“I don’t want you to die, Tiffy.” He said still crying, huge tears flowing from his eyes.

“I don’t want to either, but they can’t do anything else to fix what is wrong.”

“You won’t die today, will you?

“Nope, not today.” She said trying to sound cheerful as her own tears mingled with his on the pillow.

Their parents had stepped out into the hall to give their children a few moments alone, Tom holding his wife while her own tears fell onto his chest. When they went back into the room, the children were just lying there talking. Tiffany had been successful in changing the subject.

The doctor wanted to keep Tiffany another 24 hours, so the rest of them went home to get some sleep only to be called back about 8 hours later. Tiffany had gone into respiratory arrest and they had had to put her on a ventilator for a short time. It was not unexpected as the tumor would compromise her body’s systems as it grew.

Shirley made a few calls to people that she had promised to contact when Tiffany was in crisis. Once she was done with the family and close friends in their area, she decided to call Seb. She tried and only got a voicemail message. She left only a message for him to call her when he got a chance and then she tried David’s number. He picked up almost immediately.

Shirley told him of the crisis and told him that things seemed to be settling but they could never be sure so she was calling as she had promised to do. He thanked her for taking the precious time to call him and told her that he would pass it on to the other guys.

David hung up his phone and dropped it into his pocket, grabbed his jacket and hurried down to the café where they were meeting for lunch. He filled them in on the phone call he’d just received and told Seb that she’d tried to call him. Seb pulled out his phone and found that he’d left it on silent when they were at the radio station this morning. He turned the ringer back on and put it back into his jacket pocket, sitting back and thinking about what to do next.

“Could you get along with the interviews without me for a couple of days?” Seb asked the others. They had no official singing appearances until late next week.

“Are you going to go see Tiffany?” David asked him.

“Yes, if you all don’t mind.”

“Well, I’d like to go with you.”

“Well, Carlos, Urs, Would you mind doing the interviews alone while we go and check on her?” Seb asked the other two.

“I don’t see why not. I wish we could all go but, not right now. You two go and give her our love.” Urs said and looked to Carlos for confirmation that he agreed.

Carlos nodded and said, “Si, you two go. Tell her hello and she better get feeling better so we can sing with her.”

So within four hours, Seb and David were on the first available flight to the U.S. Two hours after landing, they had arrived at the hospital only to find out that Tiffany had taken another turn for the worse and wasn’t allowed any visitors, except for her parents. David asked if the Templeton’s were at the hospital. The nurse made a call up to the ward where Tiffany’s room was and when she hung up, she told David that they were up in the waiting room near Tiffany’s room. They were welcome to go speak to them up there.

Shirley looked up in total surprise when she saw David and Seb standing there in the doorway to the waiting room. She jumped up and hugged them both.

“I can’t believe that you both came.”

“We had to.” Seb answered.

Shirley introduced them to her husband who thanked them for taking such an interest in his daughter since Ireland. He told them what a boost it had been for Tiffany to talk to them and get their messages.

“How is she?”

“She’s not doing very well at all, David. She keeps having trouble breathing. They said that the tumor has grown to the point that it will keep interfering with her organs’ abilities to work correctly.

They sat and talked for a while and when it came time that they could go and visit her again, her parents told Seb and David to go in and see her.

“I thought only you could go in.” David said.

“That was at our request. We didn’t want everyone trying to come up at once to see her and wearing her out.” Tom told him.

“Oh Well, if you’re sure. We would really love to go in to see her.” Seb said.

“Go ahead in. We’ll go next time.” Shirley told him, settling back into her husband’s comforting embrace on the sofa.

They opened the door to her room quietly so they wouldn’t wake her if she was sleeping. They were both shocked to see the little girl that was lying in the bed. She looked so much smaller than when they had last seen her. Seb even backed up to check the name on the outside of the door to make sure they had the right room. He and David just looked at each other, not needing to voice the thoughts in their heads.

Her eyes began to flutter open and when she had gotten them focused, they widened as she realized who was there.

“Hi” she said in a very small voice.

“Hello Mon Ami. How are you feeling?” Seb said as he sat in the chair right next to her bed and noticed that tucked up under her arm was the stuffed dog he’d bought her at the airport.

“Very tired. Thank you for coming to see me.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” David said and moved to help her as she tried to sit up.

They could see how weak she was as she struggled to lean up so David could fix her pillows.

“I’m not going to die right now, you know. I don’t know if my parents believe that or not, or even the doctors but, I am determined to do what I set out to do before I go. I have to help them if I can. I just hope that my voice is strong enough for a while longer. Will we be able to do it soon?” she asked and looked like that little bit of talking had wiped her out.

“We will see that it is arranged as quickly as possible, sweetheart. I promise.” David told her.

“You still haven’t told them have you?” she asked weakly.

“Of course not. We would not break your confidence like that.” Seb told her firmly.

The nurse came in and told them that they had just five more minutes and then she needed to rest. David kissed her cheek and told her he would be back to see her before they left town. He was going out to make some phone calls.

Since David came out, Shirley was able to go in and when she opened the door, she found Seb sitting on her bed, holding her hand as he sang softly to her. Her eyes had started closing, even though she was struggling to stay awake. He brushed the hair off of her forehead as he sang to her.

“Don’t fight it. Sleep now. I’ll be back whenever they let me in.”

She finally gave in to her body’s need for sleep and let her eyes close. Seb felt her squeeze his hand. He didn’t let go of her hand until he felt her grip loosen, letting him know that she had fallen into a deep sleep.

“How do you stand this every day?” It breaks my heart to see her like this.” Seb said with tears falling.

“I do it because I have to. She is my child. I will have all the time in the world to grieve when she leaves us. If I let myself go now, I’ll have no strength to care for her or the rest of my family.”

Seb hugged her and they both let silent tears fall until they pulled apart and Seb stepped out to let her have a moment alone with Tiffany.

David meanwhile, was on the phone. He was using every bit of clout and being as forceful as he needed to be to let people know that this thing had to happen soon or it would be too late. He had seen how much she had slipped away since they had seen her in Ireland. She had lost even more weight and the dark shadows under her eyes were so ominous.

By the time he had dropped his phone back in his pocket, he finally had a date for them to go into the studio. Now they just had to hope that Tiffany was up to the task.

Later that evening when she was awake, David sat on Tiffany’s bed and took her face in his hands. “Listen, I’ve gotten things settled and a date for us to go into a recording studio. The rest is up to you. You need to be well enough for us to get you there. We’ll handle the rest.”

“I’ll try my best, David. I have to do this.”

She looked over at Seb who was looking out of the window.

“Seb? Please don’t cry for me, at least not before I’m gone. Help me to do this for my family. I need all the help I can get.”

“I guess I’m just not as strong as you or your family when it comes to handling this. You are much too young to have to be dealing with this. Why don’t you just let us help your family with their finances so you can just rest? It is too hard for you to do this now.”

“No Seb, I appreciate it. But, I have to do this for them. It’s my fault that they are in this mess.”

He rushed over and sat on the other side of her. “There is nothing about this that is your fault. So don’t you say that any more. Do you understand?” Seb said to her, sounding angry and it frightened her. He immediately apologized to her for being so harsh.

“I just don’t want you spending another second thinking that there is anything you could have done to prevent this from happening.” He said as he touched her cheek. “I’m sorry, Ma Cherie. Don’t cry.” He said pulling her into his arms and rocking her.

Tiffany leaned back against her pillows and asked David when the time was scheduled for the recording studio.

“The week after next. We had some commitments to take care of, the end of this week and next week and then we’ll be free for a couple of weeks.”

“Okay, I guess I just need to spend the next week getting stronger and work on the song until I have it perfect.”

“We’ve also decided to make it double sided. We can just put one of ours alone or we can have you sing another one with us if you’d like to.”

“I’d love to. What song would we sing?”

“I don’t know, we’ll have to think about it. If you think of a song that you are comfortable with, let one of us know and we’ll start working on the arrangements for the five of us.”

“Okay.”

The nurse stepped in and told them they had five more minutes.

“We have to leave tonight, Sweetheart.” David told her.

Tiffany’s face took on a look of panic. The guys sat on either side of her and held her hands. “We’ll see you in less than two weeks, alright?” Seb said to her. “I’ll call you every day.”

“Will you really?”

“Yes, I will. I promise. You take good care of our little friend here, okay?” he said picking up the stuffed dog, and getting the desired result when she smiled at him.

When the nurse came back in to shoo them out, they each gave Tiffany a long hug and a kiss on her cheek.

“Please say hello to Urs and Carlos for me.”

“We sure will.” David promised her.

“You take care of yourself and try to eat and get your strength up.” Seb told her.

“I will.”

She grasped onto him once more before he finally stood to go.

He felt his heart tightening up when he heard her crying as they left. He knew that she was afraid that she might be gone before they got back. All they could do was go and get finished with their commitments and come back and help her to complete her mission.

Chapter 6:

As promised, Seb called her every day and most often, at least one of the other guys was around and talked to her too. For them, the time flew by as they completed their interviews and other appearances. On the other hand, for Tiffany, the time moved so slowly.

She did however; gain some of her strength back buoyed by her determination. She forced herself to eat even if she felt terrible. She could be constantly seen snacking on something, mostly fruit or crackers and sometimes even a large bowl of some fattening ice cream.

She had been allowed to go home two days after the guys left and she worked on perfecting her part of the song and searched for another song to sing with them well enough for them to add it. She already knew that Over the Rainbow sounded pretty good.
If she couldn’t perfect another song, she would just let them go ahead and put one of theirs by themselves.

In one of their conversations, David asked her if she thought she could do Celine’s parts in I Believe in You. She told him that she sang it pretty well and that she would work on it and let them decide if they thought it sounded good enough, when they came back to town. Her biggest concern was the French words. She didn’t want to murder Seb’s language for the whole world to hear.

David mentioned this to Seb and the next time he talked to her he told her to expect a package in the next couple of days. When it came, she found that it was a web cam that he had purchased online for her and her dad hooked it up for her. He figured that Seb had just gotten it so they could chat.

The next day, when he called her, he told her to get online and they began French 101. Well, at least the French words that she had to know for the song. They both knew that she didn’t have the time to learn the whole French language. With the webcams, Seb was able to see her pronunciation of the words and correct where necessary. He was also able to see that she looked quite a bit better than when he’d seen her in the hospital and he told her so.

“I’ve been making myself eat and it does make me feel stronger. I also drink protein shakes but they taste nasty after a while.”

For Tiffany, being able to talk to Seb and the other guys was a dream come true. She didn’t tell anyone on the forum or even most of her friends. She didn’t really have many close friends. She had missed so much school that she had been kept back a grade, making her friends leave her behind when they went to middle school. Now that she was so sick again, her parents had totally withdrawn her from school.

They had had to get special permission with a statement from the doctor as to the finality of her condition before the school board agreed to let her drop out. That is not to say that she wasn’t learning. Tiffany was an avid reader anyway and completed any assignment that was sent for her to do while at home as long as she wasn’t too ill.

Finally, the day came when the guys were to be back in town, all four of them. Seb called Shirley and told her that they had some time off and wanted to come and spend it with them. When they arrived, Shirley had already cooked a lovely dinner and insisted that they come and join them.

Tiffany had butterflies swarming around in her belly. It was time, Il Divo was helping her complete her mission and thankfully she felt pretty good this week. She practiced the two songs, mixing enough of the others in so no one would get suspicious about her singing the same songs over and over. Seb had helped her and she felt more confident singing I Believe in You, now that she was saying the words correctly.

She changed her clothes about 10 times that afternoon while she was waiting for the guys to come. David said that they would take care of getting her to the recording studio, so she was curious as to what they would say to her parents to convince them to let her go. He’d told her that they would not tell her parents any lies. They would find a way to ask without lying.

The doorbell rang and her nerves jumped into high gear but she was also so excited to see them that she ran out to the living room. Ryan had opened the door and was standing there staring at the four guys.

“Hey, I’ve seen you guys singing on the video that Mom and Tiffy watch all the time.” was what he said in greeting them.

They all smiled but Tiffany had turned a hundred shades of red. It only lasted a second before Ryan finally moved out of the way and she launched herself at David and then Seb and finally the other two came up to her and hugged her as well. She hadn’t spent as much time with Urs and Carlos; therefore she wasn’t quite as familiar with them.

She welcomed them into her home and called for her mom. Shirley came to the living room and welcomed them. Tom would be home in about a half hour, and then they would eat. Tiffany showed them around the middle class home. It wasn’t terribly fancy but it was clean and neat and they could tell that she felt comfortable here. She gave Ryan a look when he kept staring at the guys and following them around the house. Shirley finally called him to help her in the kitchen.

Urs followed Ryan and asked Shirley if he could do anything to help. Shirley wasn’t sure what to say. She really didn’t need any help. It was almost done, but she was also feeling like she would be crazy to turn him away. How often did an Uber Babe have the Swiss Rock God in her kitchen offering his help? So she showed him where the ice and glasses were and he helped Ryan get the glasses ready.

Tiffany got the rest of the guys to come into her room and asked David what he had planned for asking her parents. He didn’t have time to answer her because her father came home a few minutes early. Seb and David introduced Tom to Urs and Carlos and after Tom had had a couple of minutes to change out of his suit, dinner was served.

The conversation flowed well and Tiffany looked around her table and thought about how lucky she was today, having her family together and Il Divo sharing a meal with them. Seb caught her smiling and looked at her with a question in his eyes. She just smiled again and took another bite.

When there was a lull in the conversation, David spoke up, making sure to direct his question at Tom.

“Tom, we are doing a bit of recording at a studio about an hour from here. We were wondering if Tiffany could come and join us tomorrow.”

Tiffany was careful not to show much reaction like she knew about the request but she begged him with her eyes to let her go. When he didn’t answer right away, she spoke up.

“Please Daddy. I really would love to go.”

Tom knew of her love of music and especially the music of these four men. But, was he comfortable letting her go off with men he hardly knew? They seemed nice enough, but they were still men and he could see with his own eyes that Tiffany was quite enamored with Sebastien.

“My girlfriend will be here tonight and will be able to be with her when we are busy recording.” David said. He could see the conflict in Tom’s eyes and Tiffany looked stricken like she was afraid he would say no.

Tom looked to Shirley and asked him to join her in the study. They were gone for several minutes. Nothing was said at the table while they waited. Everything that they had been planning hinged on getting to the studio.

Finally they came back and no one could tell what they had decided. Tom took Tiffany’s hand in his.

“An hour away from here is a long way. What if you get sick or get a headache?”

“I know Daddy but..” Tom had silenced her just by raising his hand off of the table.

Everyone could see the tears that were sitting in the corners of her eyes and she was embarrassed as they fell down her cheeks. She was just about to bolt from the table when her father said,

“You can go.”

“What? Oh Daddy! Thank you. You won’t be sorry.” She jumped up and flew into his arms.

He held her close for a long moment then looked each one of the guys in the eye. “You’d better take good care of my little girl.” There was no hint of any humor in his voice or on his face.

“Don’t worry Tom. We’ll take excellent care of her.” David said equally as serious.

That evening, before the guys left for the night, they all sat with Tom and Shirley and listened as instructions were given in the case of an emergency. They knew the gravity of the situation and this was no laughing matter. They paid close attention to every word that was spoken.

Shirley had convinced Tiffany to go at least begin getting ready for bed so she could get a good nights sleep. Before they left, Seb knocked and when she called for whoever it was to enter, Seb poked his head in and told her that they were leaving.

“We’ll see you in the morning. Sleep Well, Ma Cherie.” He said hugging her tightly.

“Good night Seb.”

She followed him out and said goodnight to the others too. Once they were gone she quickly went back into her room, jumped back onto her bed, pulling the diary out from under her pillow where she had slipped it when Seb knocked.

Dear Diary,

Seb just hugged me again tonight, several times. REALLY TIGHT!!!!! I get all these jittery funny feelings inside of me whenever he touches me or smiles at me. And the times he has sat with me when I was sick in the hospital and he sang just for me, well as sick as I was, It made my heart feel so full to hear it. His voice is so amazing, peaceful, soothing etc.

I wish I was older. I know I am too young for him to think of me the way I wish he would. But I guess I’ll have to settle for just being near him and be happy that he cares about me at all. I just wish he would kiss me, just one time before I die. That is my greatest wish. Not like on the forehead or the cheek, but full on the lips. I can only imagine what that would feel like and I’ll never know what a real kiss feels like now. But he would probably think it was gross kissing a kid. I don’t feel like a kid anymore though.

Tomorrow is the big Day. We are going to the recording studio. David was so smart in the way that he asked Daddy. If I had asked, he might have said no. I don’t think he wants me to go but he trusts the guys to take care of me. I’m sure Mom had a lot to do with that. I know it is only because he is worried about me and rightly so. But, I NEED to do this for them. I hope when they find out what I’ve done…. I hope they aren’t angry with me for deceiving them. I just love them and want to make things better for them after I’ve gone, maybe even before.

Well, I’m going to go to sleep so I won’t get too tired tomorrow. I’ll write again tomorrow night if I’m not too tired when I get home. I’m sure that I’ll have plenty to write about since I’m spending the WHOLE DAY with Il Divo and especially Seb.
I LOVE SEBASTIEN IZAMBARD!!!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Signed Tiffany Rhea Templeton

She closed the diary and placed it in the drawer next to her bed. She had written faithfully in the diary every day since the counselor that she went to see suggested that it might help her to get her feelings out about everything if she wrote it down. It worked most of the time. She wrote something every day, unless she was in the hospital, even if it had been only to say that it was good to be alive today.

She fluffed her pillow and before falling asleep she put her earphone from her IPod in her ear and turned the dial and got Seb’s Libre songs playing. It helped her on days and nights when bad stuff had happened or she felt particularly lousy, to hear his voice singing in her ear. Tonight, she just wanted to hear him sing to her.

The next thing she knew, her mother was lightly shaking her and telling her to wake up.

“Time to wake up, sleepy head. The guys will be here soon.”

That was the ticket. With those words, it jumped back into her mind what today was and what she was going to be doing. And the best part was that she was spending the whole day with Seb.

She was ready in record time, including eating the fairly large breakfast that her Mom fixed for her. Her Dad came to the table and kissed the top of her head.

“Have fun today, Baby.”

“I will, Daddy. Thank you for letting me go. This is really important to me.”

She mentally kicked herself. She’d almost said too much, but she was saved by the bell, literally, when the doorbell rang. Again, Ryan was up and running before anyone else and he returned with the Divos and a very pretty lady.

“Good morning everyone. I’d like to introduce you to my girlfriend, JoAnne. She will be going with us to the recording studio today.” David said.

Everyone said hello and Tiffany jumped up and put her plate and juice glass in the sink. Shirley handed her the backpack she’d fixed with all of her medicines and some snacks for her.

“I’m ready.” She said excitedly.

“Let’s hit the road then.” David told her.

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand that one.” Carlos said shaking his head, speaking of the term, hitting the road.

Everyone laughed except Seb who didn’t understand it either.

Tiffany went to her parents, hugging and kissing them each and thanking them again. Then she hugged Ryan and told him if she got home too late that she would see him in the morning.

Seb took the back pack from her and she thanked him and smiled as she headed outside. She stopped short when she saw the limo. It wasn’t just any limo. It was a hummer/limo.

“WOW!” Tom said. “I don’t know Tiff, you might just have to stay here and let your old Dad take a ride in that.”

“Would you like to see inside of it, Tom?” Urs asked him.

“Sure”

Ryan ran with his dad and climbed inside for the tour.

“Have a great day today. I’m kind of jealous you know.” Mom said to her with a smile.

“I will Mom and I’ll take lots of pictures. I have my camera.”

“Oh good.”

Ryan and Tom climbed back out and since it was just about time for Ryan to go to school, Shirley told everyone goodbye and ushered her son inside.

They finally got underway. They had an hours drive and had to get to the studio and make the most of their time recording. Once they were all settled and had a little small talk amongst them. Seb asked her how she was feeling today.

“I feel pretty good. I was so excited when I woke up and realized that today was the day.”

“Would you like to rehearse a little, and warm your voice up a bit?” Urs asked her.

“Sure okay.” She said but began having a case of nerves.

Seb saw it and took her hand in his. “Look at me. You have a wonderful voice and I just want you to close your eyes and picture your most special place. Picture where you would most like to be and what you would like to be doing. Go ahead and close your eyes.”

She did as he asked; only her cheeks turned hot as she did as he had suggested and pictured herself kissing Seb, or him kissing her, because that is what she would most like to be doing. She was already where she wanted to be. He had his arm up over the seat behind her and his fingertips were resting on her shoulder, his thumb on her neck. She gave herself a mental shake and straightened up. This was serious business. She had to get prepared to sing when they got to the studio. She cleared her throat and without opening her eyes, she began to sing Over the Rainbow.

It sounded rather loud in the confines of the Hummer so she backed off a bit on the volume. Seb squeezed the hand that he was still holding. He was so proud of her. She already did things musically that professionals sometimes didn’t even know how to do.

When they went through it the second time, the guys joined her and Urs told her of the arrangement they had come up with. They went through it several times. David reminded her to only sing at half volume to save her voice for the recordings. When they felt good about where they had that song, they moved into doing I Believe in You.

The rest of the guys were pleased with her part and told her so. She had worked hard with Seb to make it perfect over the last week. They went through it a couple of times and then told her to rest her voice for the rest of the ride.

“You are very good Tiffany.” JoAnne told her.

“Thanks. I am so happy to be getting this opportunity. Singing is what I’ve always wanted to do.

It wasn’t much longer and they pulled up to the studio. Everyone piled out of the Hummer and into the studio. Everyone including the guys were completely shocked when they saw their manager Simon Cowell standing in the studio talking to the producers who were helping them out with this recording.

Tiffany looked up at David looking very afraid. “He won’t bite. I know you’ve probably seen a lot of him on TV. He isn’t anything like that. Come on I’ll introduce you.”

“Hey, there you all are, and this must be Tiffany.” Simon said moving over to them.

“Hello, Mr. Cowell. Thank you for allowing us to do this. It is very important for me to be able to help my family.”

“You are welcome and I’m looking forward to hearing you sing. I hear that you have quite a lovely voice.”

“She does. I’ve just heard it in the car on the ride up here.” JoAnne told him.

“Hello, JoAnne. It’s good to see you again.” He said moving over to kiss her cheek.

The two of them continued to talk while the guys ushered Tiffany into the studio area where the sound boards were and explained what they were and their functions before going into the recording booth to do some test recordings.

They came back out and let her listen to the tests. Her smile got so wide when she heard her recorded voice. She looked up at Seb and he winked at her, sending shivers all over her, which sent him into a panic.

“Are you cold, Tiffany?”

“No, I’m fine. I just can’t believe that’s me.” She said trying to change the subject.

“Well, it is you. Are you sure that you don’t need a jacket?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I promise I’m fine, Seb, really.”

JoAnne saw and heard the whole exchange between Tiffany and Seb. Being a woman, JoAnne realized the real reason for Tiffany’s shiver. She watched the way Tiffany looked at Seb when he wasn’t paying attention. “Typical Man” she thought. “He hasn’t got a clue, I’d bet.”

“What are you thinking so hard about?” David asked her as he slid his arms around her, enjoying the feel of her body against his. It had been so long. Up until last night, it had been two months since they had been together.

“Does Seb realize that Tiffany has a huge crush on him?” She asked him quietly.

David’s head popped up and he looked at Tiffany. “What, they are just really good friends, Jo. He really has been hit hard since he’s gotten to know her and knowing that she is going to die soon has been hard…. for all of us.”

“It’s more than that David. I’m sure of it. He needs to be really careful not to hurt her. I know he wouldn’t do it on purpose and it would probably hurt him too if he did something without being aware of it until it was too late.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to him tonight. I don’t think we’ll have the opportunity today. We have to get these tracks down. It’s really important to her. She calls it her mission.” He said smiling a sad smile.

They got to work and after running through Over the Rainbow one more time, they were told they would be recording this time.

As the music began, Tiffany felt a wave of happiness come over her that her plan was happening just as she wanted it to. Well, at least as far as the recording went it was. But of course it would sell. Just having Il Divo’s name on it was going to make it sell; at least she hoped that people wouldn’t see a kid on the cover and decide they wouldn’t buy it after all. But she couldn’t worry about that now. She had to give the guys her all today so they wouldn’t regret going into this with her.

She began to sing and let all of her emotions move through her as the notes flowed out of her, all of her fears about dying, her regrets about not getting to live to adulthood, her sadness at leaving her family and friends behind, it all came out and it was obvious to everyone that Tiffany was in a zone separate from them right now. They could she that she was putting her whole being into this one song.

The guys sang their parts along with her and the blending sounded fabulous to those out in the other room. When it was over, she went and sat in a chair. Her whole body was shaking.

“Did I do alright?” she asked Carlos who had crouched down in front of her and was about to ask her if she was okay.

“It was amazing Querida. It was wonderful.” He said as he stroked the side of her face.

He had told his wife all about this little pixie he’d met and told her he wished she could meet her.

They took a break and the guys had ordered ahead to have plenty of good healthy foods to snack on and drinks. While they were eating, Simon pulled David aside and told him of an idea he’d had and that part of it was already in the works if this wound up sounding any good and he already thought it did.

After eating and letting Tiffany rest for a bit longer, they got to work on I Believe in You. As before, they did a run through, testing the arrangement they’d come up with. When they were satisfied with it, they did a first recording. About half way through Tiffany became short of breath. Seb ran to her back pack and pulled out her inhaler and helped her to take the two puffs.

“Do we need to stop?” Urs asked.

“No, please. I’ll be alright. Please let me try it again.”

They did it twice more and each time Tiffany became short of breath in different spots. She was becoming very frustrated.

“You’ve done so much today, Tiffany. Let’s call it a day.” Urs said to her. “You’ve done an amazing job for your first time in a recording studio.”

She looked up at him with the saddest face he’d ever seen.

“Why couldn’t I hold out for just a bit longer? I wanted to sing that song.” She said and hung her head.

“Hey, everyone come out here and listen to this.” Simon said.

“Come on. Let’s go see what he wants us to hear.” Seb said taking a hold of her hand and coaxing her to follow him.

First, they played the recording that they considered to be the best offering of Over the Rainbow. Everyone clapped and whistled as she sang her solo parts. It really did sound wonderful. Then they began a recording of I Believe in You. Tiffany looked up in confusion as the song played through. First she looked at the guys and then the producers.

“I know I didn’t sing it all the way through like that.”

“Editing, my dear, the magic of editing.” Simon said smiling. “They’ve pieced together the best parts of the three recordings and came up with this complete song. They do it all the time.”

“So, is that it? It’s done?” She said in disbelief.

“Just about. We will do a bit more editing and come up with the final product by the end of tomorrow.

After listening to it once more and declaring it a keeper, the guys suggested that they go find a place for dinner before heading out to take Tiffany home. Tiffany was glad. She didn’t want the day to end yet.

Being in the small studio all day had allowed Tiffany to stay close to Seb without looking obvious, or so she thought. JoAnne noticed and after she had mentioned it to David, he noticed it as well. David wasn’t sure what he would say to Seb without sounding like he was insulting him. So he decided to wait until they were back at the hotel, just like he’d planned to do earlier.

They ate dinner and then started the hour long ride back home. Tiffany was worn out but tried to stay in the conversation and awake. She lasted about halfway home and then started to nod off. There was plenty of room in the vehicle and Seb told her to lie down on the seat, patting his leg to let her know that she could use it as a pillow. She laid her head down and enjoyed the feeling of her head lying in his lap. She did however fall asleep and before long she was dreaming.

Seb held her in his arms and stroked her face as she lay with him. He was trying to help her get some much needed rest. She leaned up and pressed her lips to his and told him that she had plenty of time to sleep when she was gone. “Please just hold me Seb, and don’t let me go. I don’t want to leave you.”

Meanwhile, as they rode in the car, Seb was unknowingly fueling her dream as he gently pushed her hair back from her face. “Seb?”

“Shhh, Ma Petite, I’m right here. Sleep now.” He said and ran his fingertips over her cheek.

“I don’t want you to leave, don’t go.” He said to her and then slowly, for the first time, he lowered his head and touched his warm lips to hers. They were both shocked at first but they both liked the way it felt. He smiled at her and then kissed her again and held her tightly against him.

Seb watched as he could see that she was dreaming. Her face kept changing. One second it looked like she was smiling, the next, she looked sad and then frightened or upset, and then she smiled again and her fingers grasped a hold of his shirt at his side. He leaned back against the seat and rested his hand on her arm and closed his eyes.

He tried so hard not to keep thinking about the fact that sometime in the next few months, this beautiful little girl would be gone from this earth. Her light would be snuffed out by this cruel illness. He knew that she had gotten attached to all of them and especially him, and quite frankly, he had gotten attached to her. She had taken up residence in his heart and he knew when she was gone it would break his heart. He was glad that they had been able to get the recording of the songs set up and accomplished. Now the world would know of Tiffany Templeton even after she was gone.

Chapter 8:

They returned Tiffany to her home and told her that they would be in touch as soon as anything was settled about the release of the CD. All of them had things to do on this break and were glad for the time off. She kissed each of their cheeks and gave extra long hugs, thanking them for doing this for her. Of course her parents just thought that she meant taking her with them. When she came around to Seb, she had a hard time letting go of him, but reluctantly did before she made a fool of herself.

“Take good care of yourself, Ma Petite, alright. I’ll be in touch and you can always call me too.”

With one last hug, he turned and got back into the Hummer and they left. As always, Tiffany worried that it may be the last time she saw him.

When they got to their hotel, David and JoAnne went to speak to Seb.

“Can we talk to you for a few minutes?”

“Sure, What’s up?”

“It’s about Tiffany…You do realize don’t you, that she has a huge crush on you?” David asked him.

“She’s just a kid, David.” Seb said thinking that it was ridiculous for him to think that.

“I know that.”

“That’s not entirely true. She is almost 14 years old. She is at the age when a lot of girls already have what they consider serious boyfriends. I saw the way she looked at you, Seb. She’s in love with you, as much as a girl her age can be, anyway.” JoAnne told him.

Seb sat down heavily into the chair in his hotel room.

“Look Buddy, we aren’t trying to upset you. We just want you to be careful.”

“Her mother said something like this in Ireland, but I didn’t take it seriously. What do I do? I don’t want to hurt her. She is precious to me.”

“We know that. She is special to all of us. We just felt like you needed to be aware of the situation.”

“Are you sure about this? Could you be mistaken?”

“I don’t think so, Seb.” JoAnne said and laid her hand on his shoulder that was slumped down.

“Alright, well thanks for telling me. I guess I did need to know.” He said sounding anything but thankful to know this.

One morning about a week after the recording session, Tiffany tried to get up to go into the bathroom and couldn’t move her legs. She became very frightened.

“Mom….MOM…Daddy…Please help me! Please…I’m scared.” She screamed.

They both came running into her room, followed closely by Ryan who was frightened by his sister’s screams.

“What’s wrong Tiffy?” Ryan cried.

“I don’t know. Mom, Daddy, I can’t move my legs. I’m afraid.”

They held her for a few moments and then Shirley asked Tom to carry her into the bathroom so she could do what she needed to and then they would get dressed and take her to the hospital. Tom carried her in and then ran to the bedroom to dress, instructing Ryan to do the same. When he came back, he carried her over to the bed and stayed with Tiffany so Shirley could go and dress.

Within 20 minutes, they were all in the car and heading to the hospital. Tom and Shirley and even Tiffany hadn’t been totally unprepared for this. It had been explained, all of the possible effects of the tumor pressing on her nerves and cutting off blood and oxygen supplies as it grew.

The doctor confirmed the diagnosis. She would probably not get the feeling back in her legs. While they weren’t totally without feeling yet, there wasn’t enough for her to control them or move them much on her own, so now she would be confined to a wheelchair for the time she had remaining.

This caused depression to set in for Tiffany. She could feel the end coming and it frightened and angered her. They tried to get her to talk to the counselor but, she figured what was the use of that. It wasn’t going to change the outcome. She was also missing Seb. He had promised to keep in touch but had only emailed her once since he left. In her troubled state, it didn’t enter her mind that it had only been a week and he had told her of several things he had to accomplish on this break.

A couple of days later, David called to speak to her and she talked to him but, he could tell that she was very unhappy. He hoped that his news would cheer her up.

“It’s done, Sweetheart. The CD is finished and will be released next week. I don’t know if you realize this, but the time it took to do this was incredibly short. CD’s usually take many months to put together and get released.”

“Good, I’m glad it got done and I hope it will help things here.”

“David was beside himself. He didn’t know what to say to help her. Her words sounded happy about it but her tone sounded anything but happy. He couldn’t blame her, he guessed. Things weren’t going to get any better for her.

“I can’t walk anymore. I have to stay in this stupid wheelchair all of the time.”

“I’m so sorry, honey.”

“I’m sorry, David. You didn’t call to hear me griping about my sucky life.”

“I’ll listen to whatever you want to say, Tiffany. We all care so much about you, you know.”

“I just want to thank all of you for everything you did to help me and my family. I probably won’t see you all again so I just wanted to tell you that.”

David hung his head and didn’t know what to say to that. He knew that Simon had something in the works for next week but, he couldn’t say anything to her about it yet, when it wasn’t set.

Before they hung up, David did manage to get her talking a little and even coaxed a laugh out of her once. She sounded a little better when they hung up.

Three days later, Shirley’s cell phone rang and she didn’t recognize the number and almost didn’t answer it. She had the shock of her life when she did.

“Hello, Mrs. Templeton?”

“Yes, speaking.”

“This is Simon Cowell.”

“Um, okay. Hello, I heard that you met my daughter a few weeks ago.”

“Yes, I did. She’s a wonderful girl.”

Shirley had a fleeting thought that he wouldn’t think she was so wonderful today. She was acting out in her anger and had even told her brother to go away and leave her alone, which had hurt his feelings. Shirley understood that it was all out of her fear and frustrations but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with or to explain to a 7 year old that she didn’t really mean to act that way.

Her mind went back to the curiosity about why he was calling her. “What can I do for you?” Shirley asked him.

“You can allow me to fly your family to Chicago the day after tomorrow.”

“Chicago, what is in Chicago?”

“Well, that actually is a surprise but, I hope that you will all agree to come. It is important.”

“Well, I really would need to talk to Tom, my husband. Can you call me later tonight?”

“Fair enough. I’ll ring around later this evening then.”

When they disconnected, Shirley sat there stunned that she had just had a conversation with one of the most hated men on TV and he sounded….nice. She got up and busied herself with preparing dinner and when Tom came home, she pulled him into the study and told him about the call and that Simon was going to be calling back soon, looking for an answer.

Tom told her that he didn’t see why they couldn’t go. It was probably for Tiffany and she could use whatever happiness they could give her and as long as it wouldn’t cost them any money to go then he thought they should do it.

“Ryan…” Tiffany called out to him as he passed her bedroom door.

He backed up and looked in at her as if he was afraid she was going to yell at him again.

“Come here.” She told him and patted the bed, next to where she was sitting in her wheelchair.

“I’m really sorry, Ryan. I don’t know why I yelled at you earlier. Do you forgive me?”

Ryan had no words. He just threw himself over into her arms and hugged her. When their parents came looking for them to tell them about their trip, Shirley was glad to see that they had made up. Shirley told them about the phone call and that Simon was calling in a while to find out if they would be able to go. Tiffany knew that it was probably about the release of the CD.

Shirley’s cell phone rang and she stayed right there to answer it and gladly told Simon that they would be happy to go. After he confirmed that all four of them would be coming, he said goodnight and told her that he would see her the day after tomorrow.

Knowing that her mission was just about completed did help to buoy Tiffany’s spirits a little. When it came time to go, she was at least happy about the CD and the fact that her family was hopefully going to be helped out of their financial troubles because of it.

Simon sent a limo to drive them to the airport and when they got there, they expected to be taking a commercial jet to Chicago. Instead, Simon’s personal jet was sitting there waiting for them to board. Tom carried Tiffany up the stairs and the pilot carried her chair and put it into the cargo hold along with their luggage. Simon had told them to be prepared to spend the night.

It wasn’t a very long flight and soon they were coming down the steps of the plane and heading straight into another limo that was waiting right next to the plane. They were whisked off straight to a complex of buildings and when they exited the limo they saw the sign that told them where they were. Harpo Studios, the home of the Oprah Winfrey show. Tiffany had no idea what was going on. David had told her that the CD would be released this week but no other details about it.

They were quickly taken inside and while they waited to find out what was happening, they looked around at the studio that they had seen on TV.

“Hello” a male British voice said.

They turned around to find Simon Cowell standing there with Oprah Winfrey.

“We need to borrow your daughter for a while if you don’t mind, Mr. and Mrs. Templeton.” Oprah said after introductions had been made.

“Please call us Tom and Shirley.” He said.

“Alright Tom. Tiffany, would you come with us please?”

“Okay.” She said a bit nervous.

After they were out of earshot of her parents, Oprah explain that Simon had told her about the new CD that she had recorded with Il Divo, one of her favorite groups, and she wanted to tell the world about it on her show.

“I can’t go on Television.” Tiffany said mortified. “I look terrible and I definitely don’t have anything suitable with me to wear.”

“Don’t you worry about your wardrobe. We’ll take care of that and you don’t look terrible. You are a beautiful girl.”

“Did you see these?” she said pointing to the very dark shadows under her eyes that were only getting worse by the day.

“We have some terrific make up people here. They’ll help you with those. Any more objections?” Oprah asked with a smile.

“I guess not but, I’ll probably freeze up and not be able to speak.”

“Don’t think about the people watching on TV. This isn’t live TV. All you will be speaking to is the studio audience for now, and to your parents most of all.”

Tiffany’s eyes welled up with tears. “They are going to find out today what I did?”

“Yes, they will be so proud of you. I’ve heard the songs. They are fabulous.”

“Thank you”

“Let’s get you set up with some clothes and make up and we’ll be all set to go.”

“Well I guess I will see you ladies later. I am going to go keep the rest of your family occupied until the taping begins.” Simon told them.

The next hour went by in a flurry of activity for Tiffany. Oprah had called and had a representative of Nordstrom’s deliver a selection of clothes for Tiffany to try on. While they waited for the clothes to be delivered, they ate from a small buffet of little sandwiches along with fruits and vegetables.

While she was looking more at the jeans and sweaters, Oprah, for some reason, was pushing her more towards a dress. In the end, Tiffany went with the dress and picked one that pretty well hid the fact that she was mostly skin and bones. It was comfortable and Tiffany thanked her for talking her into this one.

Then they moved over to the hair and make up area and after donning a plastic smock like they use at a hair salon, they got to work on fixing up Tiffany’s fairly long hair. It had been months since her last treatments that had stolen her hair before and her hair had always grown very fast, so her hair was the one thing she liked about herself. They styled it beautifully so that the sides were swept up and the back hung loosely, with some of it draping over the front of her shoulders.

Then the make up lady stepped in and showed Tiffany how she could pretty much eliminate the dark shadows under her eyes with the proper make up. Tiffany looked in the mirror and smiled at the vision she saw in it. They had removed the smock and she sat there looking at the entire picture she made. With her hair done up nicely and the make up that had been applied expertly, you could hardly even tell that she had been sick at all.

Oprah saw that she was about to cry.

“None of that now. They’ll have to start all over.” She smiled at the girl who was obviously overcome at the sight of herself at least looking well.

The paleness that had been so evident was now covered with a natural looking skin tone and the shadows under her eyes were effectively covered for the time being.

“We have just a few more minutes until we begin taping. The audience is all in place. We’ll wheel you out to the sofa and help you transfer to one of them. Then the taping will begin, alright?”

Tiffany nodded her head. She wasn’t really sure if she was alright. Her parents were about to find out what she had been up to, beginning with the trip to Ireland when she met Il Divo. Plus, she was going to have to speak in front of the whole studio of people.

When she was settled on the sofa, she spotted her family sitting in the front row, looking stunned at her. Simon was sitting next to them and smiling at her. She tried to smile back at all of them but wasn’t sure that she had pulled it off. Her nerves were wound so tight.

The usual opening for Oprah’s show began and she came out and joined her on the sofas.

“Hello everybody, today I am going to introduce you to a brave and beautiful young lady. There is something she is here to tell her family. Tiffany Rhea Templeton has been suffering from an inoperable brain tumor for over four years. In the beginning, they thought they had shrunk it enough to help her but it began growing again and is now to the point that there is no more that the doctors can do for her. Tiffany is almost 14. Not even 14 years old and already dealing with the reality that she will not finish growing up. Tiffany may be young but, she is a very wise girl. Unknown to her parents, she has overheard many times as they discussed their disastrous financial situation brought on by the insurmountable medical costs due to Tiffany’s medical condition.”

The cameras panned to the Templeton’s, who were in an obvious state of shock at the topic of discussion. Tiffany was afraid to look at them. She kept her eyes focused on her hands that were lying in her lap.

“Tiffany found out several months ago that her mother had gotten them much coveted tickets to the concert in Dublin, Ireland for the concert that included Celine Dion and her and her mother’s favorite and one of mine as well, Il Divo. Tiffany had an idea pop into her pretty head and thus began her mission.”

“She boldly wrote a note and somehow got it back to the band, which, in the beginning, out of curiosity, had to meet her and later wound up spending time with the band with her mother. Since then, they have become quite close I’m told.”

Tiffany could feel her face becoming hot as the color crept up in her face.

“Anyway, the reason Tiffany wanted to meet them, besides of course the fact that they are amazing musicians and quite gorgeous I might add, she wanted to sing with them, not just sit in the backstage area and sing but do a recording with them. You see, Tiffany’s mission was to do a recording with them and have it be sold. Knowing that, with Il Divo’s popularity, the CD’s would sell no matter who else sang with them. Her mission was to do this to help out her family, so that after she is gone, her family will not have to suffer financially because of her illness.”

Again, the cameras focused on her parents and you could see the tears streaming down both of their faces as they heard Oprah’s words.

“Now, most of you are aware of my other show, “The Big Give.” Well, this is one of the most selfless acts of giving that I have ever heard of. Instead of thinking of herself in her time of pain and the realization that she is dying, this young lady, thought of her family and the struggles that they are living through now and will be after she is gone, because of money, or the lack of it.”

“Today, we are going to hear the results of those recordings. Tiffany spent a day in a recording studio last month and I am jealous I might add that she got to spend the whole day with those four gorgeous men and they recorded 2 songs that will be released alone on a CD, of which the proceeds will go completely to the Templeton family.”

Tiffany’s head popped up. She never thought that it would all go to them; only her share of the profits split 5 ways. She looked down at Simon who confirmed this with an almost imperceptible nod and a smile. Then she finally looked at her parents. She couldn’t tell what they were thinking. They both had been crying.

“We are going to take a break and then hear these wonderful songs.”

Chapter 9:

After the applause died down a bit, Oprah asked her if she was alright. She nodded but wasn’t quite sure herself. She watched as some changes were being made to the stage area but, had no idea what was going to happen. When they called for quiet and then Oprah began to speak, Tiffany sat back and thought that the worst of it was over. Her parents now knew. She didn’t have to keep it a secret any more. The audience would hear the songs and then it would be over.

“Alright, as promised, you are now all going to hear the end result of Tiffany Rhea Templeton singing with Il Divo. Please join me in welcoming.. IL Divo to the stage.”

The crowd clapped loudly as Tiffany turned in her seat towards the curtain where it opened to reveal the 4 guys all decked out in their Armani and their beaming smiles. In the center of the stage, between David and Sebastien was a tall stool that stood empty.

Seb stepped over to her and with only a smile and a wink; he lifted her gently from the sofa and carried her to the stool. She was so stunned. Was she really expected to sing today? She’d had no idea. She looked into his eyes in total fear.

Oprah recognized this and took the time to speak to David, Carlos and Urs, asking them questions about the recordings and their time with Tiffany while Seb softly spoke to her.

“You can do this. It is what you were meant to do. Sing with us, Ma Cherie, Please.”

Seb was staring directly into her eyes. How could she deny him this when he asked her like that?

“Alright, I’ll try.”

“You’ll be fantastic.”

A microphone was brought to her and the rest of the guys came over and kissed her cheek and whispered hello and that she would be great. Seb leaned down and told her that if she was nervous about the crowd, to focus on an inanimate object at the back of the room.

They really didn’t need to worry, because as soon as the music to Over the Rainbow started, Tiffany went into her own little world as she sang with them, just like when she was in the studio with them. The sound was loud and clear and the audience was totally silent as they listened to their combined voices as well as the occasional solos.

When the first song was over, the applause was deafening. Tiffany looked round at the guys to see what they thought and their smiles were comforting.

“Now we are going to sing the second song on the CD. We are going to sing I Believe in You. I usually do the solo parts sung by Celine Dion, but today, they will be beautifully sung by Tiffany.” David said and winked at her as the music started.

Carlos began with Urs following as usual. Then Seb began his part and came to hold her hand and looked into her eyes as he sang his solo. Then the guys sang their group part and Tiffany took a deep breath in anticipation of her solo beginning. She began to sing her part but at the same time she could hear Celine singing as well and the audience went wild with their applause. Tiffany tried not to make a mistake, but her eyes were as round as saucers and she kept singing along with Celine who smiled at her and nodded as she joined them on the stage.

They sang without any errors, Tiffany couldn’t believe that Celine was here and they were singing the part together flawlessly with no rehearsal. As the song neared the end, Celine stepped back from where she had been standing between Tiffany and David, so that she was behind Tiffany and the guys all closed in on Tiffany and sang to her as they sang the words, I Believe in You. Be yourself, an angel of kindness. There’s nothing that you cannot do. I believe, I believe, I believe in you. Then, Celine stepped back up and the two ladies sang their ending parts together.

When the song ended, the applause went on for several minutes. During this time the guys and Celine bowed and Tiffany bowed just a bit so she wouldn’t fall off of the stool.

“You are an amazing singer.” Celine said into her ear so she could hear over the still thunderous applause.

Oprah walked over to the stage where they had sung and told the audience that she was giving each of them a copy of the new mini CD and for them to pass the word about it and support this wonderful family. Then they went to a commercial.

“That was wonderful, everyone. Celine, I am so happy that you could make it. We were told that you probably couldn’t come.” Oprah said to her.

“I had to come. When Sebastien called me and told me about this beautiful young lady that was going to be singing our song, I had to see my competition, didn’t I? She said with her usual smile. “And I was not disappointed at all. She is très magnifique.”

When the show came back from the commercial, Tiffany had been carried back to the sofa by Urs. Simon, as well as the Templeton’s, were summoned up onto the stage.

“Jason, you had an announcement to make.”

“Yes, I met Tiffany at the studio the day they recorded these songs together and was totally blown away by her maturity and her drive to do this for her family. I don’t know how long it will take for enough of these CD’s to sell to be able to make a significant difference in their finances, so I am going to help give them a jump start by paying off the mortgage on their home. They should not have to worry about losing their home while they are struggling with Tiffany’s illness.”

Again, the audience clapped enthusiastically. The Templeton’s again had tears flowing and were thanking Jason. They finally made it over to their daughter and hugged her tightly and then Il Divo as well.

Oprah spoke to the audience reminding the TV viewers to go out and purchase the CD in a couple of days once it was in the stores and then announcing her guests on the next show, she said goodbye and the show was over. Slowly, the audience filed out as they were trying to catch final glimpses of the guests and Oprah.

There was a flurry of several different conversations on the stage as Celine was being introduced to everyone and the guys were saying hello to the Templeton’s and Jason. All around, everyone kept rotating to speak to everyone else. Except for Tiffany, she sat where she was and they all came to her one or more at a time, telling her how wonderful she sounded and especially with no rehearsing and she hadn’t missed a note when Celine came on and joined her.

Jason invited everyone for dinner and they all agreed that it would be much more pleasant to talk when they could sit and relax.

Seb realized that Tiffany had been watching him while he spoke in French to Celine. It had been almost 2 weeks since he’d seen Tiffany and they really hadn’t spoken since he’d left her. Now he was having doubts about what David and JoAnne told him. He was a bit uncomfortable. He didn’t want to make her think that he had those feelings, but he didn’t want to hurt her either. He had really avoided talking to her on the phone those first few days after they told him, and then he had gotten busy and now he felt guilty that he hadn’t spoken to her more.

Their eyes met and she looked away from him bashfully. “He couldn’t know how she felt, could he?” she thought in a panic. She’d never spoken of her feelings for Seb. She’d only ever written of them in her diary. She didn’t have any more time to think about it at the moment as they were whisked off to the hotel suite that Jason had booked for them so they could rest and then meet for dinner in a couple of hours.

Ryan found out that there was a pool inside of the hotel and he just had to go for a swim. Tom said that he would take him down and Tiffany said that she wanted to go down too.

“Don’t you need a rest, honey? It’s been quite a long day for you.” Shirley asked her.

“I’m too keyed up to sleep right now. I’d rather go down and watch Ryan swim.”

Ryan was happy that Tiffany was going with them to the pool.

“Will you come in and swim with me, Tiffy?”

“I don’t have a suit, Buddy.”

“If you want to throw on some shorts and a T-Shirt, I’ll hold you in the water, Tiff.” Her dad said.

“Well….I guess that would be okay.”

They got changed and went down to the pool. Tom spent a few minutes with Ryan and then Shirley played with him in the shallow end. Tom helped Tiffany sit on the edge of the pool and after he’d jumped back in, he pulled her off of the side and into his arms.

“Tiff?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“Thank you” he said in a choked voice filled with the emotion that had threatened to overtake him today when he’d heard what she had done for them.

“I love you Daddy, you and Mom and Ryan so much, and I just needed to help somehow.”

“Thank you” he said again, the tears that had fallen at the studio came easily again.

It was all he could say as the words were being choked back and he pulled her to him. They remained that way for a few minutes and Tom just floated around in the water holding his little girl close to his heart, just like he did the day she was born. The first time he held her; he cradled her just like this and rocked her. Now she was bigger but the feelings were the same.

Even though he knew he was no slouch and had always worked hard for his family, he had felt inadequate in providing for them since the medical bills that weren’t covered by their insurance had started piling in. Then when they had gotten notice that their insurance had reached the limit of the coverage they would provide for her, it had become insurmountable and it had felt like they were being buried under their bills that were unable to be paid.

There had been nothing Tom could do but continue to work as hard as he always had but he had known that it just wasn’t enough. He and Shirley had agreed that they would try not to worry too much about it until after Tiffany was gone and just concentrate on their family while it was still complete.

Now, Tiffany, his 13 year old daughter had devised a plan that had totally eliminated their problems. Because of her “Mission” as she had called it, she had met Jason Stevens and today he had said that they would not lose their home. The proceeds from the CD would help with the rest over time.

“I Love You, Baby.” Tom told his daughter.

“I know you do, Daddy.” She said as she snuggled in closer to him.

Times like this, she still felt like the little girl that he used to give rides on his shoulder and sit in her room and share a tea party with her and her dolls when she asked him to.

A few minutes later, the door to the pool area opened and Urs came in in his bathing suit. Shirley had to turn around and start talking to Ryan to keep the others from seeing her reaction to Urs’ nearly naked body. “Oh My God” she thought “If the other Ubers could see this.”

“Mommy why is your face all red? Are you sick?”

“No Ryan I’m fine.” She said whispering to him and hoping that no one else heard him ask that. Unfortunately, with the way it echoed in the pool area, the chances of that were slim. She had confirmation when she finally looked at her husband and both he and Tiffany had a hint of a grin on their faces.

“Hi Urs.” Tiffany said to him.

“Hi Tiffany, You were amazing today, you know.”

“Thanks, it was fun after my nerves went away. Were you ever nervous on stage when you started singing?”

“Yes, in the very beginning and I started singing solos.”


Seb had gone to the suite to talk to Tiffany and when he knocked and no one answered, he turned to leave.

“Sir, I believe that they went to the pool. They all had towels with them when they left the room.”

“Thank you for your help.” He said to the housekeeper that was standing at her cart in the hallway.

He turned and headed for the pool area and when he entered, there in the pool was Urs standing in the water next to Tom who was holding Tiffany.

He remembered his own years just between when he was still a boy, running through the streets of Paris but was starting to feel like he should be treated like a man. And those times when he first started noticing the pretty girls. It must be just as hard on a girl when she is in that awkward in between phase, not yet a woman and definitely not a little girl anymore. Even more so for Tiffany, she was trying to fit in the things in her life that should have come in their own time but would never be. It made him sad to think that she would never know what real love felt like. Even if what David and JoAnne had said was true, he didn’t believe that a girl of 13 could really be in love with a man, more like infatuated or a crush.

Chapter 10:

Another family had come into the pool area just before Seb had arrived and they had a little boy just a bit older than Ryan so they were already playing together on the side of the pool.

Seb removed his T-Shirt and entered the pool in one dive into the deep end and came up just a few feet from Tom and Urs. He shook his head spraying the water all over them. Tiffany giggled and Urs said “really mature Seb”

Seb winked at Tiffany and swam off to the other side to do some laps while the boys were out of the pool. The boys were on the side of the pool near where Urs and Tom were talking. Tiffany had let Tom take her to the side of the pool and she was hanging on to the edge, with her Mom right outside of the pool in case she needed to get pulled out when she got tired of holding on. She had turned and was watching Seb swimming, so she didn’t see when the other boy that was playing with Ryan decided to jump off of the side into the water, knocking her hands off of the edge of the pool.

Shirley jumped up and screamed to Tom to get her. She had no use of her legs and therefore couldn’t kick to push herself up. Tiffany had been pushed far enough over that she was in Seb’s swimming lane. He was swimming mostly under water but as he came up for air, he heard the shouting and came up in time to see Tiffany underwater just in front of him.

He dove under and grabbed her arm and pulled her up and over to the shallow end. Urs and Tom saw this and hurried over to the shallow end to help him get her out. By the time they got there, Seb had lifted her and was climbing up the steps and out of the pool. Thankfully, she hadn’t lost consciousness. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and her head lying on his shoulder. She was totally worn out from struggling to make her legs work. He realized that the droplets of water on her cheeks weren’t just water from the pool, she was crying too.

“It’s alright, Ma Cherie. You’ll be okay now.” He tried to set her down in the lounge chair and she didn’t let go, so he turned around and sat with her in his lap as his chest heaved from the exertion.

“Tiffany, look at me.” Her father said to her.

She raised her head up and he could see the fear still in her eyes. “I was so scared Daddy. I couldn’t swim. I used to be such a good swimmer.” She cried.

“I know, Baby.” He said as he pushed her hair back off of her face.

“I’m tired, Daddy.”

“Come on, I’ll take you up for a nap.” He said, lifting her and setting her into her chair.

The parents of the other boy brought their son over and told him to apologize.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s alright, son. We know you didn’t mean it.” Tom said and ruffled the boy’s hair.

He told Shirley that he would take Tiff up for a nap and she could stay with Ryan so he could swim.

After they were gone, Shirley sat in the lounge chair feeling totally wiped out, physically and emotionally. The meltdown that she had tried to hold back for all of these months was becoming harder to keep in check. She didn’t want Tiffany to see her losing control. Tiff was having a hard enough time without worrying about her.

Urs and Seb came over and sat with her. They each took hold of one of her hands.

“You can’t be strong all of the time. You are human. You are losing your daughter.” Urs said to her.

Hearing him speak those words made the dam break and she collapsed against him and cried until there were no tears left. He held her and just let her cry, knowing that she needed this release or she would wind up having a real breakdown.

“It’s really happening.” She said when she finally began to speak again. “I can see her slipping away more every day. I kept hoping that they would call us and say there is something else we can try. But, they haven’t done that.”

“Is money an issue as far as what they are willing to try? If it is…”

“No Seb. I asked them that when I found out that the insurance was cancelled and not long after that was when they said there wasn’t any more they could do. I don’t know how I’ll live without my little girl. From the second I knew I was pregnant with her, I felt a connection with her and she has been such a big part of my life for 14 years now.”

“I don’t know, Shirley. I know that we haven’t even known her for more than a couple of months and she is already a big part of our lives. We will miss her too.” Seb told her.

Tiffany seemed better after her nap. They got dressed and left their room meeting the other guys down in the restaurant. The discussion at dinner centered around the performance that Tiffany had given on Oprah and the release of the CD in two days time.

“I expect that the CD will do very well. There have already been a huge number of advance orders, just since the press release on the Il Divo website this morning.” Jason said.

A huge smile came over Tiffany’s face and gave her such a boost that the depression she had been feeling was, at least for now, lifted away.

Jason left after dinner, apologizing for not being able to let them take the private jet home, but he had commitments to take care of.

“Please don’t apologize. You have done so much already. It will be fine to fly home the usual way.” Shirley told him.

He came over to Tiffany and crouched down beside her.

“Take Care, Tiffany. I am so glad to have met you. You have made the world a better place.”

Tiffany sat there in a bit of shock after he left. “That was nice of him to say that, wasn’t it?” Shirley whispered in her ear.

The conversation with the adults was still going strong but Ryan and Tiffany were both worn out and looking very sleepy.

“Mom I’m going up now and I’ll take Ryan and put him to bed. He can give me a push.”

“I’ll walk up with you if that’s okay.” Seb asked looking to her parents for permission.

“Sure, okay. Thank you Seb.”

Once they made it to the room and had Ryan settled for the night, Seb sat on the sofa with Tiffany.

“Seb, will I see you again after we go home?”

“Of course you will.” He said and then he realized that the truth was, he wasn’t sure of it at all. They had commitments to keep. Once they were back into the swing of things, their calendar was usually very full. Most of the time, they would be very far away, too.

He tried to keep the feelings he was having from showing on his face, but she saw before he could hide it.

“I won’t will I?”

“We don’t know that. I will be back as soon as I can. I promise. And, we still will be able to speak on the phone and on the webcam, too.” He said and squeezed her hand that lay between them on the sofa.

Tiffany wanted so much to tell Seb that she loved him but was too afraid that he would be angry with her for her feelings. He was still holding her hand and she was thrilled at the feelings he made her have. She knew now that her greatest wish would never come true. This might even be the last time they were together.

Seb decided to find something for them to watch on the TV and wait for her parents to come back up.

When they came into the suite, Shirley and Tom found Seb and Tiffany both asleep on the sofa. She had her head resting on his shoulder and his head was lying back on the sofa, looking quite uncomfortable. Tom lightly shook him and woke him. He woke with a start and looked around to figure out where he’d fallen asleep. He remembered and looked at Tiffany who was waking up herself.

“Come on, Baby. I’m going to put you to bed. Tell Seb goodnight.”

“Goodnight Seb thanks for staying with me.”

“Goodnight Ma Petite. I’ll see you in the morning before we leave.”

“Alright” she said as her Dad carried her off to bed.

“Good night Shirley.” Seb said before leaving.

The next morning, everyone was hurrying to be where they needed to be and there was only a short time for goodbyes.

Hugs were given all around and they promised Tiffany they would be in touch as often as possible. She looked very maudlin this morning. Shirley didn’t like the look in her daughter’s eyes, like she was giving up. She hugged each of the guys and told them goodbye and then turned her chair and headed for the cab that was waiting for them.

Seb went after her and stopped her. “What’s wrong? Are you upset with me about something?”

“No, why would I be upset with you. You and the rest of the guys have been great to me and my whole family. It’s just time to go, that’s all.”

Seb knew that wasn’t it but didn’t push her on it. Instead, he leaned down and kissed her cheeks again before he steeled himself and walked back to the others. He shrugged at the rest of the group, looking quite upset himself, but as Tiffany said, it was time to go. He would talk to her tomorrow and hopefully he would be able to get her to talk to him then.

Over the next week, the news kept coming in to them that the sales of the CD were unbelievable. Stores were running out of them and they were getting requests for it in other countries now too. The record company complied as quickly as possible and got the ball rolling to make them available in dozens of other countries by the end of the next month. The Templeton’s also got the final paperwork from the bank that had held their mortgage, showing that the mortgage was indeed completely paid off.

The guys called and talked to her and her family almost daily. Tiffany never did tell Seb why she was so upset but, she seemed to gradually come back to her old self as the news about the CD only got better everyday. There were also requests for her to make appearances on other programs but, they turned them down, knowing that all of that activity would only wear her out much quicker.

They celebrated Tiffany’s 14th birthday quietly with a cake and a surprise webcam visit by all 4 Divos who sang Happy Birthday to her and stayed on while they had cake and Ice Cream. The guys had even gone and gotten a cake so they could eat some too.

Tiffany had received several gifts in the mail, some from all 4 of them but, one was a necklace with a delicate rose on it, from Seb. She had called to thank him as soon as she had received it. He could see that she was wearing it.

The trips to the hospital became more frequent over the next few weeks as new problems popped up and the Templeton’s were advised to begin looking into hospice care for Tiffany if they wanted to keep her at home when the time came. That was a difficult meeting as they realized that the end was coming much quicker than they thought it would.

They began the calls to family and friends and told them that if they wanted to come and visit with Tiffany, they should do it very soon. They also didn’t want an influx of visitors at the very end. They wanted to keep that a mostly private time. So over the next couple of weeks, people stopped by, some staying only for a few minutes and looked very uncomfortable and some who stayed for a couple of hours bringing meals and offers of help when things would get to the point that Tiffany needed more hands on care.

Seb and Carlos came for a few hours one day with no advance warning, surprising them all and making for a happy day. They had come to bring her an award that had been given to them as well for 1 million downloads of each of their 2 songs on I Tunes. They hung it over her desk where she would be able to see it when she was lying in her bed.

When they left, the 2 men didn’t speak much. They were saddened to see the deterioration of Tiffany since they’d seen her. She got on the webcam occasionally to talk to Seb and the others but they couldn’t really see the whole picture, not until today when they saw that she was really going downhill, and fast. Seb told Urs and David that they’d better go see her soon.

So the next weekend they made their own visit and found that she had been admitted to the hospital again. Shirley and Tom made sure that the guys were allowed to go in to see her. They all knew that this would be the last visit for them. Tiffany tried to be cheerful but she was having a hard time breathing a lot of the time and had told them that she didn’t want to be put on a ventilator. She would be unable to talk and knew that that would signal the end for her.

David tried to be his usual funny self and made her laugh a couple of times. Urs even cracked a few jokes. When it was time for them to go, they kissed her and told her that they loved her and would miss her. They could feel how weak she was as she tried to hug them back. Urs settled her back against the pillows.

“Don’t ever stop singing.” She told them.

“Don’t worry, we won’t Sweetheart.” David said as they left the room.

David had to step into an unoccupied room as he broke down. Urs wiped at his own tears as he tried to comfort David.

Tom found them when they were leaving and stopped them to ask a favor of them.

“If there is any way for you to come, would you sing at her funeral?”

“We will do everything in our power to be here, even if only some of us can make it.” David promised him.

David hugged Tom and they left for the airport. Urs called Carlos and David called Seb to let them know of their visit and how soon it looked like it would be, as well as telling them about Tom’s request.

Chapter 11:

Two weeks later, during another hospital admission, Tiffany again told them that she didn’t want to be intubated. She just wanted to go home. The doctor told her parents that there wasn’t more than a week left at most and if they wanted to, they could take her home and make her as comfortable as possible or they would keep her admitted and they could give her some medication that would make her comfortable but she would be unaware of her surroundings. Her vision was going again now too.

Tiffany refused the medication. She didn’t want to lose one minute of her time left with her family. So they took her home. Shirley called Seb and told him of the doctor’s prediction.

Ryan was having a very rough time dealing with all of it. He refused to leave her side most of the time and had made himself a bed of blankets on her bedroom floor in case she needed him, he said. Sometimes, their parents would find him in her bed and their arms around each other, sound asleep.

Three days after calling him, Shirley answered the door to find Seb standing there with a small suitcase in one hand and his guitar in the other.

“Could I bunk here for a few days?” he asked. “If it would be too much or you would rather I stayed at a hotel, just say so.”

“No Seb. I’m glad that you came. Come on in. She’ll be happy that you are here.”

“Seb thought that he’d prepared himself for this but as he walked into her room and saw her, his heart felt like it was being squeezed quite painfully. He knew that her vision was almost totally gone now and she needed help with the smallest of movements and had to be fed, but could only eat a soft or liquid diet now.

She seemed to be asleep and he sat on her bed next to her and lifted her hand and held it in his own. He sat that way for almost twenty minutes before he could tell that she was slowly waking up.

It was a struggle for her to focus as she was figuring out who was sitting there. She could tell it wasn’t her Dad’s hand. All of a sudden the realization of who it was hit her and she smiled.

“Seb! You came!” she said happily but weakly, her voice not sounding like her at all.

“Of course I did, Ma Cherie.”

“How long can you stay?”

“For as long as you need me.” He said and the unspoken words, that he would be here until she was gone, hung in the air.

She let out a big sigh as she settled into her pillows after he had hugged her. “Thank you Seb. I know you have more important things that you could be doing.”

He took her face in his hands. “There is nothing on this earth that is more important than where I am right now.” His accent was growing thicker with his emotions running so high.

Ryan came running into his sister’s room when he got home from school as he did every day. His parents were trying to keep him to his usual routine as much as possible but had decided that after tomorrow, when he got home from school that he would not return until sometime after her funeral. They had spoken to the principle and his teacher and she was going to send some of his work home tomorrow and during the week next week in case he had time to do any of it, so he wouldn’t get too far behind.

“Hi Tiff he said and then he saw Seb sitting in the chair, picking softly on his guitar. “Hi Seb.”

“Hello Ryan and how was school today?” he asked the boy.

It was alright, I guess. I just wanted to come home though.”

“I understand that.”

Over the next 2 days, Seb tried to help as much as possible instead of just being in the way. He helped cook or keep Ryan occupied or just sat with Tiffany. She was never left alone now. She was afraid of being alone, especially since she couldn’t see more than shadows now. His being there also let Shirley and Tom, who had taken a leave of absence as of yesterday, take some time for themselves now and then. They never left the yard but occasionally would go outside for a walk to get some fresh air and clear their heads.

Since there were three of them to rotate sleeping, they had no need for constant hospice care. The volunteer would come in twice a day to check on things like her feeding tube that had been inserted yesterday when she was having trouble swallowing her food or make sure that they didn’t need a break which they never did.

During the overnight hours on Sunday night, Tiffany seemed to be extra restless and Seb was sitting with her. He began to strum his guitar and sang softly to her and it seemed to help her to settle a bit. When he thought she was asleep, he leaned over and kissed her cheek and realized that her skin was dry again. They had been loading on the lotion on her skin that was becoming dry in spots. He smoothed on the lotion as he hummed a lullaby to her.

The next day, Ryan was happy that he didn’t have to go to school. He had been spending all day at school afraid that he would come home and she would be gone and he wouldn’t have gotten to say goodbye. They let him spend quite a bit of time with her, even just sitting on her floor playing his Playstation while she slept. It seemed to make him feel better just to be close to her. Everyone understood that since they all felt the same way.

Shirley went to get herself a drink and stopped to talk to Seb and Tom who were sitting in the dining room talking. She sat down and joined them for a cup of coffee. When he was finished with his cup, Seb went to sit with Tiffany and found Ryan sitting on the floor beside her bed reading a book.

“What are you reading, Ryan?”

“A book that Tiffy wrote. See she writes in here every night. I’ve seen her and then she hides it in this drawer.” Ryan handed him the book and within seconds he knew that this book was not meant for his eyes. The book was turned to the page where she had told of her greatest wish for him to kiss her and where she had written I LOVE SEBASTIEN IZAMBARD, in giant letters.

Seb quickly closed the diary and placed it back in the drawer.

“Ryan, those are private words that were not meant for any of us to read. You shouldn’t touch it, alright?”

“Alright, Seb.”

Seb spent the rest of the day thinking about the words that he had read. Should he tell her that he knew how she felt? He wasn’t sure.

Later that evening, everyone else was sleeping except for her and Seb, who was sitting with her. She had the feeling that something was wrong. He had been talking to her a lot or singing when he was with her. Something had changed. Tonight, he was very quiet. She couldn’t see his face to tell what was wrong, so she had to ask him.

“Seb, what’s wrong? You are very quiet tonight.”

“It’s nothing, Ma Petite. Don’t you worry your pretty head about anything.” He said stroking the hair back from her forehead.

“I’ll miss you Seb. I really will.”

Seb looked up at the ceiling trying to keep the tears from falling.

“I will miss you too, Tiffany, very much.”

“I don’t think it will be much longer now. Will you check on my family every now and then, for me?”

“Of course I will.”

“Seb?”

“Yes, Ma Cherie?”

“Would you hold me for a minute? I’m kind of scared.”

“Should I get your Mom and Dad?” he said afraid that she was leaving them.

“No, not yet.”

“If you’re sure.” He said and then lifted her up enough to slide his arm under her frail body, so he could draw her close to him.

“I Love you, Seb.” She said against his chest.

“I know you do” he said in a tone that made her take notice.

“You do?”

“Yes, I’m sorry but I saw your diary, quite by accident.”

“Are you upset with me for writing those things?”

“Of course not. I was going to ask you if you are upset that I saw it.”

“No, I’m glad now…. I wish I was older Seb?”

“I know.”

He laid next to her holding her and kissed her forehead. He felt her breathing even out just a bit, letting him know that she had fallen asleep. She slept in small fits and starts, usually never more than 15 or 20 minutes at a time so he stayed where he was, humming against her head. She had told him about using her IPod to help her sleep. He knew that music was very soothing to her.

She woke with a start, her eyes flying open and it scared Seb.

“Tiffany, what’s wrong, Sweetheart?”

“I think you should probably get my Mom and Dad now.”

Seb’s breathing became heavy and he moved to get up off of her bed.

“No, wait….” She said desperately, grasping at the front of his shirt when he was still only inches from her.

“What is it?” he asked her as she hesitated.

Then, using his shirt to pull herself the last couple of inches, Tiffany kissed him, not on the cheek, but full on the lips. It was only for a second and then she had to lie back down.

“Please don’t be mad at me Seb.”

Still in a bit of shock at what she’d done, he said, “I’m not mad at you.”

“I’ll be right back.” He said after leaning down to kiss her forehead once more.

The tapping on their bedroom door woke them both quickly. They had become very light sleepers. Shirley threw on her robe as she reached out and opened the bedroom door.

“She asked me to get both of you.” He said and then turned and went back into her room.

Shirley knew what he meant just by the look on his face and she hurried Tom to come with her. When they entered the room, Seb was already waking Ryan up. He was having trouble waking himself up. After all, it was only 3 o’clock in the morning.

“What?” he asked Seb.

“You need to come and give Tiffany a kiss and a hug, buddy.”

Once the meaning of Seb’s words became clear, Ryan jumped up off of his pallet on the floor and ran over to Tiffany’s bed where his parents were already sitting on either side of her, holding her hands and speaking softly to her.

“Tiffy? Are you still here?” he asked her.

“Yes, Buddy.” She answered in not much more than a whisper.

“I love you, Tiffy and I’m sorry I read your diary when I shouldn’t have.

So that’s why Seb wound up reading it. She thought and her lips curved up in a small smile.

“It’s okay, Ryan.”

“Are you angry?”

“No.”

Once he knew she wasn’t angry with him, he climbed up onto the bed and lay beside her with his skinny little arm stretched out across her abdomen.

“I love you Ryan. You’re the best brother.” She said and Seb and her parents could hear that her breathing was becoming more labored. “Would you take care of him for me?” she said handing him the stuffed dog that Seb had bought her in Ireland.

“Okay” he said clutching her prized possession against his chest.

Seb felt like he needed to let them say goodbye alone, so he leaned down and kissed her cheek, with his hand on the top of her head.

“I’ll never forget you, Ma Cherie, Never. I love you, sweetheart.” With one last kiss on her temple, he turned to leave the room.

“I love you Seb, Goodbye.” She said almost inaudibly.

He left the room and sat on the couch for what seemed like hours, but in actuality was only about 20 minutes as he waited. When he heard Ryan’s cry, he knew that it was over. She was gone and in no more pain. The tears that had been falling almost nonstop for over 2 days finally did stop, as the relief he felt that she was no longer suffering, washed over him.

It was still a while longer before the Templeton’s and their son emerged from the room. Shirley was carrying her son, who did not want to leave his sister. He was still holding on tightly to the dog and his mother as he was inconsolable. Shirley took Ryan to his bedroom and lay with him until he had cried himself to sleep.

Tom went and made the necessary phone calls and then joined Seb in the living room. Neither of the men spoke, they just sat there in the silence until Shirley came back out.

“He’s asleep.” was all she said as she joined them, climbing onto her husband’s lap and laying her head on his shoulder.

Seb felt like somewhat of an intruder and after figuring time differences, moved out to the kitchen to make some calls to the rest of the guys. When he came back out to the living room, the car had arrived to take Tiffany to the funeral home. The necessary verifications were being done, since she had died at home.

While the rest of them were talking, Seb wandered back into her room. Her covers had been straightened and she looked like she was just asleep in her bed. He leaned down and brushed a tear from her temple that had escaped from under her eyelid.

“Sleep well, Ma Petite, Bonn Nuit”

“They’re going to take her now, Seb.” Tom said to him.

Seb just nodded and stepped back out of the way as her father lifted her gently from her bed and after one last hug and kiss, he carried her out to the living room and laid her down on the gurney that had been rolled in. Shirley kissed her once more and then collapsed into Tom’s arms as a sheet was pulled up over her and she was wheeled outside to the waiting car. The three of them just stood there and watched as the car pulled away.

Not knowing what to do with himself, Seb went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. By now it was almost 6 AM and as tired as he was, he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep so just to keep busy, he began preparing some breakfast. Tom and Shirley came into the kitchen and looked at him strangely.

“I didn’t know what else to do. You’ll need to keep your strength up too.” He said by way of explanation.

They just sat at the table with their coffee and picked at the food, none of them saying much. Seb did tell them that the others were on their way.

Three days later, they were all in the church that was packed out with family and friends and some people they’d never met. At the calling hours the day before, many people came through that wanted to offer their condolences that the Templeton’s didn’t even know. Tiffany had become quite a celebrity after her appearance on Oprah. They suspected that some came just out of curiosity because of her “celebrity” status.

There were so many flowers in the church. Some had been sent by friends and family that were far away and unable to make it to the service, some were from people who were here. There were large arrangements sent from people like Il Divo, Celine, Oprah and of course Jason, who called and told the Templeton’s that he would have come but, didn’t want their daughter’s funeral to become a media circus because he was there.

As requested, Il Divo sang at the funeral. They sang Ave Maria and in honor of her love for it, they sang Over the Rainbow. It was all Seb could do to get through the song without breaking down.

Just before they were to close the casket for transportation to the cemetery, Tiffany’s family filed past her and said their final goodbyes. Ryan was holding his mother’s hand and still holding tightly to the dog that had hardly left his hands since Tiffany had given it to him. When he stopped in front of her and didn’t move when she gave his hand a small tug, his mother wound up having to pick him up and carry him away.

Once the family had gone past, anyone else who wanted to did the same. All 4 guys went up together and said goodbye to the young girl that had forever changed them.

“She looks beautiful” David said and the others agreed.

Seb noticed that she was wearing the rose necklace that he had sent for her birthday and he was glad. He felt Carlos squeeze his shoulder as they had begun to move off and let others make their way over.

Once the time at the cemetery was complete, the guys came back to the house for a short time. Tom and Shirley again thanked them for everything they had done for them and especially for Tiffany. Hugging each of them and kissing their cheeks as they left, Shirley stood on the front porch and waved goodbye to them as the cab took them to the airport.

Epilogue:

As he had promised her, Seb checked on Tiffany’s family from time to time and saw the evidence of healing in them as time went on. Ryan took her death the hardest and it was a long time before they saw any evidence of him being the happy child they once knew. It was only when, just under a year after her death, they welcomed their third child, another girl, whom they named Isabella Grace, that Ryan began to heal and vowed to be the “best brother” as Tiffy had called him, that he could be.

The CD had sold millions of copies and because of her association with Il Divo and her beautiful voice that sang along with them, Tiffany Rhea Templeton’s name was known all over the world.

Each year both on her birthday and the anniversary of her passing, the Templeton’s would receive a large spray of flowers from Seb. When he was able to, he came in person to celebrate the life of the girl who had meant so much to him in a very short period of time.

He married several years later and when they found out that their first child was to be a girl, Seb called Tom and Shirley and asked them if they minded if they named her Tiffany.

Of course they didn’t mind and told him that they were happy for him and hoped that he would bring her to meet them when she made her arrival, which he did.

Ten years after the release of the CD, Shirley went to bring in the mail and found a large yellow envelope addressed to her. Inside of it, she found tickets and backstage passes for the whole family to the Il Divo concert that was going to be held near their home in a month’s time.

Inside was a note from Seb.

Shirley and Tom:

I hope that this note finds you well and that you and the children will be able to be our guests at the concert next month. I’m sorry that it has been so long since I’ve actually had the time to come and personally visit. With four children and the touring we are still doing, my life is extremely full. I do think of all of you and Tiffany, often. When I think that she would now be 24 years old, I wonder what she would be like and if she would have followed her dream to sing.

Again, I do hope that you will be able to make it to the concert. I, as well as the rest of the guys, am looking forward to seeing you all.

Love Seb
XXXX

The day of the concert, there was great excitement in the Templeton household. Shirley still listened to them frequently and even Isabella knew how special they were to the family. She knew all about her sister Tiffany, who had died less than a year before she was born. She could be heard singing the song along with her sister on the CD. They had bought quite a few copies once because they were afraid that they would wear them out and not be able to find it again.

They showed their backstage passes before the concert and were ushered back to the dressing rooms. When Tom knocked on the door and David opened it, his face lit up in his usual smile.

“Tom, come in. It’s great to see you again.” He said shaking Tom’s hand heartily. “Shirley, Hi, how are you? You look great.” He said kissing her on the cheek.
“Ryan? No Way, that can’t be you.” He said to the boy, who at 17 wasn’t a whole lot shorter than David. And this is Tiff.. I mean Isabella. I’m sorry. It’s just that you look so much like your sister.

“I know I hear it all the time.” The ten year old said smiling and it didn’t sound like it bothered her.

Urs and Carlos came over and said hello to everyone. Seb was not presently in the room.

“Where is Seb?” Shirley asked.

“He had some things to take care of before the concert. He’ll be right back. He is really looking forward to seeing all of you.” Urs told her. She looked at the Swiss Rock God who at almost fifty years old, still took her breath away. He was still very fit and still frequently used his lethal Blink to wipe women out.

Seb came rushing into the room and stopped short when he saw them. He hugged Shirley and shook Tom’s and Ryan’s hands. When he came to Isabella, he stopped and looked into her eyes.

They saw the little shake of his head as he tried to pull himself together.

“Hello Isabella, How are you?”

“I’m fine.” She answered, smiling the same smile that he had seen on Tiffany’s face all those years ago.

When the crowd in the room had begun talking amongst themselves, Isabella went over to Seb who for the moment was by himself fixing his tie. She gave his jacket a tug.

“Are you the same Sebastien that my sister loved?”

Sebastien cleared his throat, not sure how to answer that. Then he nodded his head.

“Yes, Isabella. I am. We were great friends.”

“Oh okay.” Was all she said before going back to join her mother.

Shirley had seen and heard the exchange and gave Seb a smile that told him that she remembered all of that.

Minutes later the call went out that it was time for the guys to take their places. They told the Templeton’s that they would see them after the show and they would go to dinner to properly catch up.

This was the first concert, promoting the upcoming release of their Greatest hits CD and during their return to the stage after a short intermission, the CD was revealed for the first time. David held it up and showed the audience. Each of them read off a few of the songs that were included on the Disc. When it was handed to Seb, he read the names of the last few songs and when he reached the last one, he made sure that he was standing right in front of the Templeton’s.

“The final song on the CD is very special to us. It is one of our duets. Ten years ago, we met and had the extreme pleasure to get to know and sing with a very beautiful and talented artist. Her name was Tiffany Rhea Templeton. Unfortunately, she left us shortly after and we’ve missed her and the music she would have given the world if she had been able to stay with us. The last song on the CD and one we’d like to sing now is Over the Rainbow.”

As the music started, Seb leaned down and handed Shirley the CD. She stared at it and turned it over to find a collage of pictures of the covers that were on all of Il Divo’s projects on it and one of the pictures was the one that had been on the 2 song CD that Tiffany had done with them. She looked at the picture of her daughter’s smiling face and clutched the CD to her breast as she looked up at the men singing.

Seb saw the emotion on her face and smiled down at her as he sang out loud and clear as thoughts of Tiffany flowed through all of their minds. They knew that she was looking down on them and smiling her bright smile at them tonight.