Blended Family

Pippa

Funeral homes always got me. They looked so homey and inviting and perfect, but they were actually the most dreaded, hated places in the world. Here, people said goodbye to their loved ones. Forever. More tears were shed here than anywhere else. More heartache.

I took a deep breath and opened the door. All around, people crying, talking in low voices. Frank and Anna had been in their early 30's. In the prime of their lives, with a growing family. They deserved to watch their children grow up. To take them to Disney World. Not this.

I breathed out and made my way to the line, where people were waiting to pay their respects. Because Lin and I had arrived together, he was right behind me in line. The only thing that made this worse was having to be here with him. I would never forgive him to what he'd done to my brother Andrew.

At least he seemed to get the message that I wasn't interested conversing with him other than what was absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, that would be happening a lot more now. We'd be connected for the rest of our lives now because Alexandra and Jack would link us.

Things hadn't always been this way. We'd been fast friends on the set of Hamilton. Our friendship was easy and full of laughter. I had even wondered if we might eventually start dating, once the show had ended. But then it had happened. Andrew left his heart on the floor when he auditioned for Hercules Mulligan with the Chicago cast. As the creator of the show, Lin had a hand in everything. He still liked to make casting decisions for every production.

Lin had met Andrew before and seemed impressed by him. Things seemed promising. One night when we were hanging out with a group of friends, Lin offered to walk me home. He was drunk off his ass. He'd leaned in to kiss me, but I wanted no part of our first kiss being a drunken one. I moved out of the way and I could tell he was hurt. Andrew's audition was a day later. I always felt in my gut that the reason he'd turned Andrew down was because I'd rebuked him.

His presence behind me irked me as we moved through the line of mourners. After a half hour, we reached the front, where Anna's parents and Frank's sister stood. They were a mess of course. I offered my condolences to them and Lin followed suit. We then took our seats for the ceremony.

Afterward the ceremony and burial, we hung around because we needed to touch base about the children. They were Alexandra and Jack's only living family left, after all. As the guests slowly trickled out, Lin and I waited in a sitting room on separate couches. Lin called Joey to see how the kids were doing and everything was fine.

Anna's mother walked over, looking heartbroken, and gave me a long embrace. "I can't believe they're gone," she sobbed into my shoulder.

"I know," I sympathized. "It was a shock to everybody. I'm so sorry."

Lin shook hands with Anna's dad and Frank's sister and had a quiet conversation. Anna's mom pulled away with tears in her eyes.

"How are Alex and Jack?" she asked.

"They're doing fine," I told her. "I don't think they really understand what's happening."

"Poor things," she commented. "Can I see them?"

"Of course," I said. "Do you want to come down today?"

"We have our van so we load their stuff in pretty easily," she mentioned. I stopped for a moment, realizing she thought the kids would be going with her.

"Ummm...their will said the kids would actually be staying with Lin and me," I told her gently. She looked confused.

"Why would it say that? We're their family, not you," she said. Lin had wrapped up his conversation and we were all forming a circle now. He stuck his hands in his pockets. I wasn't sure how to approach this. The reason Anna and Frank didn't want their kids going with their grandparents was because they didn't agree with their beliefs or they were alcoholics. How could I put this delicately?