Don't Know Why

~~~~~2008~~~~~

**********

It felt as if I’d been having a terrible nightmare, but I couldn’t remember it. One second I was embroiled in a mess of dreams that felt like barbed wire in my skull, and the next I was almost fully awake and tied to my bed. "Mom!" Aiden called out to me, and it felt like I’d been doused with ice water.

"Aiden!" I cried out, and immediately I felt Egon’s hands on my face.

"Becca, try to calm down. Aiden is here, he’s safe. No one is hurt, but I need you to calm down." He instructed me. My brain was trying to tell me to panic, but my body was too tired to obey.

"Egon, you shouldn’t be here... I don’t want you to get hurt. It’s never been this bad... not even that night." I said as tears leaked from my eyes.

"Mom, I didn’t know who else to call." Aiden said, and I suddenly realized the bed was moving. "You were floating on the ceiling, and I couldn’t wake you up." He said frantically. He sounded so scared it made me cry even harder.

"You did the right thing, Baby, but I need you to listen to me. I need you to go back to the station with the guys. I don’t want any of you to get hurt."

"Becca, we’re not leaving you here alone." Ray told me.

"I’ll stay." Egon volunteered.

"No, Egon, you know I love you, but you can’t be here. You know this only gets worse when we’re around each other." I told him.

"It only emanates as luminosities when we’re happy together. The luminosities are harmless..."

"The light swaying at the station... the lights bursting yesterday... that wasn’t harmless. Last night I was here alone, and it’s worse than it’s ever been. Please, just leave me here alone. It has to dissipate soon." I begged.

"She’s right, Egon. If you’re causing the emanations to flare up you should take Aiden to the station. The two of you can get to work trying to find a way to help her. I’ll stay here until things die down." Ray agreed with me. Egon and Aiden looked down at me with twin expressions of concern.

"Mom, I don’t want to leave you." Aiden said. I choked on a sob, and I didn’t know how to respond.

"Aiden, I could really use your help back at the station. Your mother and Ray are right. We’ll be more useful there." Egon told him in a decidedly fatherly manner. For a moment I thought maybe there was a chance this could all work out. As soon as the thought entered my head, the bed quit moving. The rest of the room was still running amok, but at least it was a start.

"I promise I’ll call you just as soon as things calm down. Everything will be okay, and we’ll have the talk I promised you." I assured him. Egon put a hand on Aiden’s back and led him from the room. "Ray, make sure Aiden has everything he needs for school tomorrow. There’s money in my purse for his lunch, and you should take some for his food tonight..."

"Don’t worry, Bec. Egon will make sure he’s okay."

"No he won’t. Neither he nor Aiden are very good with practical things. You know that." I worried.

"All right, calm down." Ray said, following after them. I heard him telling Aiden to make sure he had everything he needed for school the next day, including books, clothes, his laptop and some money from my purse for lunch. I heard Egon tell him not to worry about the money, and, after a few minutes, they left. Ray came back in the room and smiled at me. "I can’t believe they haven’t figured it out... Aiden is Egon’s son, isn’t he?" Ray asked me.

"Yes." I answered.

"Were you ever going to tell them?"

"I was trying to protect them both from... this." I sighed, but ‘this’ was slowly declining in intensity. The closet door had quit moving.

"I didn’t know you’d ever... dated... Egon. He never spoke of it." Ray replied.

"He never told you about the silverware?" I asked.

"What about the silverware?"

"We were setting the table at your house on the Thanksgiving right before... I’d been flirting with him, but he acted like he didn’t notice. Finally, though, he almost touched my hand. The silverware at the setting literally curled up. I finally admitted what had been happening."

"He never told me."

"He was afraid everyone would think he was too old for me. I was fifteen, almost sixteen, and he was twenty. He probably thought it best not to say anything." I replied, watching the dresser drawers slow until they stopped.

"As long as you were both happy together we all would’ve been, too."

"He was scared, and I was jail bait, but he made me happier than I ever was in my whole life."

"What did he mean about the luminosities?" Ray asked.

"Whenever we were... together... well, sparks would fly. Little orbs of light would pop in the air, or entire rings of it. They’d instantly show up, and then they’d just dissipate." I explained.

"But what happened yesterday? I thought all that was from Peter yelling."

"I was getting ready to tell him about Aiden. I know this is all stress related, but the last time I had any problems with this was when I was giving birth to Aiden. I caused a power surge in the room that blew a few bulbs. Of course they didn’t know it was my doing." I chuckled. As I did I felt my body settle into the mattress.

"If we can resolve your stress we can probably keep this from happening again." Ray suggested.

"Maybe, but I doubt Peter will ever trust me. I should’ve realized he didn’t invite me. Aiden was just so excited when he found out I knew you guys. I want so badly for this to all work out for him. I’m just so scared Egon’s going to hate me once he realizes I've kept Aiden from him all these years." I sighed.

"I’ve never seen Egon act the way he’s been acting around you. I’m pretty sure he loves you, and nothing’s going to change that. Knowing Aiden is his son will only add to it. I just wish Mom had got to meet Aiden." Ray smiled sadly.

"I sent her pictures of him. I asked her not to tell anyone about us, but I kept in touch with her in cards and letters. She understood I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I miss her and Papa so much." I told him.

"Me, too, but we should probably stop talking about it. Things are finally calming down." Ray cautioned.

"You’re right. You think you could untie me now?" I asked. Ray unclipped a devise from his belt and waved it over me.

"You’ve got a residual reading. You should be okay, though." Ray said, loosening my hands first.

"I need to get dressed and get this place put back together. Today’s your day off, isn’t it? I’m so sorry to cause such a ruckus." I apologized, sitting up.

"You’re family, Bec. You should know we’d do anything for you or Aiden. Pete’s scared of you still, but Egon and I aren’t."

"I really missed all of you guys. Have you had lunch yet? Give me a few minutes, and I can make you something. I think you’re right. I think everything’s going to be all right." I said, feeling hopeful for the first time in years thanks to Ray’s optimism.