Choosing Home

Chapter Thirty Nine

Phil had honestly been avoiding this part ever since his parents came home from Auroria General a month ago with his new niece...and Audrey's body. Neither one of his parents was up for packing up Audrey's room so he thought he'd do it for them.

As a way to avoid them having to reopen the wounds of losing Audrey. It...it was the Kingly thing to do right? To take care of things so that his parents wouldn't have to worry about them? If he was going to be King of Auroria after his dad, he'd need to start doing things the Kingly way.

Besides, choosing the baby's name had been tough enough for his parents. They had decided to go with Paige, as both a way of connecting the newest member of the family to her grandfather and uncle but also a way to almost make sure Freddy's memory died out by not having any of his children have a letter connected to him. Paige's full name, they'd decided, would be Paige Audrey Rose.

At least Ari seems to like her little sister, Phil thought as he shifted the box that was under his arm. Looking around his sister's room, he sighed. He was definitely going to need more than one box but it was all he could really sneak up. Anything else would have been too noticeable.

Absently picking up a nearby stuffed animal that was buried under a mountain of pillows, Phil felt his heart break when he realized what he was holding.

Audrey's beloved stuffed rabbit—the one she had screamed at him for taking when they were six and four respectively because he needed a maiden to save from a tower. Bunnies could be maidens! At least according to his impressionable four year old brain.

Audie...why? Why'd you have to go? Why'd you have to hurt mom and dad one last time? They miss you...I miss you, Phil thought as he swallowed to clear the lump in the back of his throat.

"Phil?" Claudine's voice sounded from the doorframe and Phil looked over at her, accidentally tossing the rabbit into the closet as he spun toward the door. "What're you doing?"

"I...I was going to get started...I mean it has to be done..."

"Not by you though," Claudine said as she walked toward him, gently taking the box he was holding out of his hands. "Come on, you lost your sister. You should be mourning, not trying to handle everything under the sun."

"You...you lost your brother though and you..."

"I accepted the fact that Freddy wasn't the brother I once knew," Claudine said softly. The burial had been a private affair, just her, Henry, Mal, and Ben on a ship that King Eric and Queen Ariel had graciously loaned them.

It wasn't a pirate ship as Henry would have preferred but it was the best they had. Freddy would never know the difference considering he was, well, ash.

"But...who's going to do it if not me?" Phil asked, his soft voice pulling Claudine out of her thoughts.

"I will," Melody's voice came from the doorframe and Phil jerked his head back toward it. There she was, his best friend standing with their other friends—Evan, Ashaki, Neal, the Hatter twins, Alexandria, and even their new friends among the VKs.

CJ, Ryan, Brooke, Dizzy, Celia and Hadie stood in the back, holding boxes and in Hadie's case a tub of what looked like cooked chicken.

"Wha...what are you guys doing here?" Phil asked, more than a little amazed. The funeral had been a private affair, only family (which yes, did include Claudine thank you) so even if Phil wanted to invite his friends, he couldn't've.

He hadn't heard anything from his friends after the funeral. In all honesty he thought they were mad at him for not inviting them.

"Mal set out a message among the kids who's parents are in the Learning to be Royal club after your parents announced that Audrey had...had passed," Evan spoke up. "Akiho and Emir are leading the older kids in boxing up Audrey's dorm over at Auradon Prep. Mal would have been here herself but she's slammed right now according to Rowyn."