During the week of Tellus' fifth birthday, the family took their first real vacation. They explored the caves around Mount Parnassus, which held great interest for Tellus. Eve set out a picnic lunch near the entrance to a cave they'd been exploring.

Tellus worked hard at keeping her sandwich from falling apart, as she was too excited to eat. "Dad's here," she said to her mother.

"Yes, Princess," Eve said, helping Tellus with her food. She nodded towards her husband. "Daddy is right there."

Tellus looked directly into her mother's eyes with a serious look on her face. "No," she said. "Your dad. He is here."

Eve froze with sudden fear, while Adam choked on a bite of his lunch. "What?" they managed to say, both at the same time.

Tellus remained calm, speaking to her mother. "Your dad is here. My pappoús. He's here."

Autumn spoke up next. "Grandpa is dead, Tellus."

"Nuh-unh. He's alive. And he is right here."

"No," Adam said. "He's not. Mommy's dad left a long time ago."

Tellus remained firm, finally eating her sandwich. "He is here," she said with her mouth full.

Eve's gaze had been darting back and forth at her family. Then, with her eyes on the cave, she spoke in a serious tone, sounding much like her youngest child.

"There are bats in that cave. Lots of bats."

"Lots and lots and lots," Tellus said in agreement.

"All caves have bats," Adam added, trying to end the conversation.

Tellus disagreed. "Nuh-unh. This cave has Pappoús' bats."

Eve began to panic. "Oh, God," she said to Adam. "What if maybe she's right?"

Adam's voice was firm. "She's not. Your dad is dead. We all know it's true."

"All Dad did was disappear. In a hole. Into the ground."

"Uh-huh," Tellus agreed, munching on her lunch. "And now he is here with us, in this hole in the ground."

Adam put down his food, and kept his voice calm. "He got shot. And he was stabbed. He broke his neck and got buried." He smiled at his young daughter. "I'm afraid Mommy's daddy is not with us anymore, my little Princess. But you still have my dad as your pappoús."

"How come we never see your dad?" Autumn asked her father.

"Well, he lives far away. We're in Greece, and he's in America."

"We live in Greece to be with Mom's dad," Tellus said as a matter of fact.

Eve was at full panic. "He's here," she said in terror. "Oh God. That's why we're here. He wants to be with me."

Tellus touched her mom on the arm, showing her great love. "He's very very lonely."

Eve stared at where Tellus touched her. "He loves you, Mommy," she added. "A lot. A very lot."

As Eve hyperventilated, Adam took full charge. He spoke to Tellus directly, using a kind tone but firm words. "Listen to me, Princess. Mom's dad is not with us. We both saw him die, and he was not nice at all. He hurt a lot of people. People we knew as friends."

Still gently holding her mother's arm, Tellus turned to her father. "He was upset. He didn't mean to hurt them. He was afraid, and tried to help."

Adam took a big bite from his sandwich, trying to end the conversation again. "Oh, he meant it, all right. He meant every bad thing he did."

"Crow!" Eve shot out suddenly, choosing to scold her husband. "My dad's not that bad!"

"He hurt people. He hurt you. He did a lot of bad things."

Eve scrunched up her face in thought. "Well, he was angry. Over… you know. What we did."

Adam grew upset. "And just what did we do?"

Eve rolled her eyes, fussing with her children's food while staring hard at her husband. "Over… you know what we did. In the pumpkin patch. Together."

"What? We were in love. What we did in that field, we did while in love."

Eve whispered through tight lips. "Crow, you know what we did."

"Yes I do," Adam said. "We fell in love and got married." He smiled at his daughters. "And now we have beautiful children."

"Yes, Dear. Of course we do. But we also… you know. Back then."

"What?" Adam snapped back, growing ever more upset over Eve defending her dad.

She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I got pregnant before I got married."

"Yes. But then we got married right away, soon after."

"My dad did what he did when we weren't married."

"That doesn't excuse what he did."

"You took my virginity."

"Ack!" Adam said in anger, ending the conversation for good.

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After a minute of silent eating, Tellus spoke again to her mom. "I can make Pappoús happy."

Eve strove to stay calm. "Really? That's nice."

"I'll make it so he's not lonely."

As Adam's eyes grew wide, Eve spoke soft and sweet. "How will you do that?"

"I'll visit for a while."

"No," Adam said. "You can't."

"It will only be a short while."

"You can't visit Grandpa. He's not alive anymore."

Tellus seemed to show cheer. It surprised her parents to see it, as she often was so solemn.

"It's all right," she said. "I'll go and see him right now."

With that, Tellus bolted for the cave. Adam, scrambling to stand with a plate full of food on his lap, tore after her within seconds. He caught her once by the hem of her shirt, but she slipped from his grasp.

"Don't be afraid, Bampás," she called to her father. "I'll show you where he is!"

Immediately upon entering the cave, it was as if Tellus had disappeared. Days of searching by all manner of people soon turned into weeks, then months, and produced no results. Eve grew despondent from sadness, and on Tellus' next birthday, Autumn worked hard to find a way to cheer up her mom.

"Let's bake a cake for Tellus." Autumn said. "She likes lemon the best."

Eve managed to smile. "Of course, Sweetpea. Then we'll all have a piece together."

"And we'll take one to her."

"That sounds lovely," Eve said, not questioning her child.

"Maybe she'll blow out the candle."

"Really?" Eve asked, sounding hopeful. "How do you think she will do it?"

Autumn thought hard about her answer. "Well, if we leave the cake by the cave, maybe she will see it. And then she'll come out, and maybe she will eat it."

"Maybe she will, Koukla Mou. Maybe then, she will."

"And if she blows out the candle, we'll know she's okay."

Eve began to cry, but smiled for her oldest daughter. "Oh, Baby Doll. That's sweet. What a great idea. Let's do it right away."