Arranged

Goodbyes

Vixen's POV:
I stand in the mirror fixing my tie while Kyla fixes her dress and checks her makeup and hair.

"You ready?" I ask, watching as she takes a final look at herself in the mirror.

"Yeah." she says, turning around to walk up to me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"How you feeling?" I ask.

"Don't know. This feels weird. Going to my dad's funeral is something I never thought would happen. I knew he'd leave one day, I mean he had it coming.. but not this soon. I mean I know it sounds heartless, but in a way I'm glad he's gone. That fear of running into him is gone and I'm happy to have that kind of relief."

"That's not heartless. Him abusing you and your brothers, that's heartless. He deserved what he got. I'm sorry if that makes me a monster but other people seem to already think that's what I am." She looks down in thought, pausing. "We don't have to go if you don't want to." I say.

"No. I have to be there for my mom. She hated him for the fact that he abused her kids, but she loved him. He was her husband after all."

"You're right. Let's go." I say, kissing her and grabbing her hand as we walk out of the room and downstairs to leave the house.

When we get to the burial site, Kyla's family is already standing there by his open casket. Everyone stands there in black attire, holding a flower in each of their hands. As the ceremony goes on, they each place their flowers in his casket and they each leave a kiss on his head, although for Kyla, I'm sure it was all for show.

For any closing remarks, Davina steps up and gives hers, sealing it with another kiss on his head, then I look at Kyla to ensure she has nothing else to say and she shakes her head. Before he goes into the ground, Kyla grabs a bottle of his favorite Scotch that the family brought, and she hands it to her brother.

He pops it open and pours some on the ground and takes a swig, then her mother, then the other brother, then her. They leave her the most, so when she grabs the bottle and takes three big gulps out of it, until there's a little left. She looks at me and offers the rest.

"I'd prefer whiskey." I say. So she finishes it off and leaves the bottle in his casket.

"In loving memory of Peter Augestine." she says ironically. As he goes into the ground, Kyla wraps an arm around me and looks up at me. "I'm ready to go now." she says.

"Alright. We still going to your mom's?" I ask, rubbing her hip.

"Yeah." she says, watching as he goes into the ground.

"Okay, let's go." I say, turning around and walking back to the car.

Kyla's mom gathers the boys and they walk to their cars and they lead the drive to their house. When we arrive, Kyla hesitates going in.

"Kyla, we really don't have to do this. I know you hated him, but he's still your father, it's gotta sting a little." I say, letting her back out if she wants to.

"Yeah, it does sting. I'm remembering who he was before the alcohol got to him. He was every daughter's image of what a perfect father was. He was sweet. A good man. And now look where we are. I just wish that the father he was before was the father I got to see before he died." she says, now crying.

Jesus. I don't bode well with emotions. All I know is, I have to do something to take her pain away. I lean over the middle console and I put both my hands on each side of her face. I lean in and I kiss her as gently as I can, for as long as I can. When I pull away, she's stopped crying and she's sniffling and wiping away her tears. The last tear falls from her eye, and I wipe it away with my thumb, looking into her eyes.

"I know that this is a lot for you right now, and I know it's hard deciding whether to hate him or love him, but I think I can make it a little easier for you." I say, smiling a small, warm smile at her.

"How?" she asks desperately.

"All those good memories you have of him, the ones you hold closest to that big heart of yours, take them and never forget them. Because although the way he treated you darkened his image, and all that darkness spread throughout you from him, you still have that last string of happiness, real and true happiness, with him. And nothing is more valuable than remembering the good in people. Nothing. So forgive him. Give yourself a break. But never forget it, because it's gonna make you stronger in due time, you hear me?" I say.

Those words mean nothing to me, but I had to say something to make her feel better. I'd never think about saying those words to anyone, no matter how they felt. But it's different for her.

She smiles and kisses me softly.

"I love you." she says.

"I love you too, baby. Don't cry anymore. I don't like seeing you cry."

And it's true. Every tear she sheds breaks my heart a little more than the last.

Damn. She really has changed me.

She takes a deep breath and looks over at me, shaking her hands and exhaling.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" she says, sniffling.

"They might not notice." I reply.

"Ugh, you're no help." she says, a small smile showing on her face. "Okay, I'm ready." she says, sighing.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Come on." she says, fixing her hair in the mirror as I get out of the car.

I walk to her side of the car and I open her door and we walk inside the house.

"The last time all of us were together, things didn't go to well, but Vixen, I want to introduce you to my family. Jaxon, Mason, Mom, this is Vixen, my fiancé. Vixen, this is Jaxon, this is Mason, and this is Davina, my beautiful mother."

"Now I see where she gets it from. It's very nice to meet you guys. She doesn't stop talking about you all." I say, shaking the boys' hands and hugging Davina.

"You flatter me, Vixen." Davina says, smiling.

She reminds me so much of my mother.

We spend hours, talking and laughing with each other and I get to know a little more about Kyla and her brothers. Her smile is so bright, big, and genuine when she's around them. I understand why she loves them so much. From these conversations alone, I can tell that they love her just as much as she loves them, and I love to see it.

I get a phone call while Kyla's talking with her family so I step away as I pick it up.

"Hello?" I say.

"Someone just called with a threat. I think Malcom sent them." my mother says frantically on the other line.

Kyla calls out to me from the table.

"Vixen? Everything okay?" she says.

"I'm on the way with Kyla. Lock up, I have keys." I say as I hang up the phone.

"Kyla, we need to go, now. Mrs. Augestine, I'm terribly sorry, but we have some family matters to attend to." I say as I grab Kyla.

"It's alright, I understand. You two be safe." Davina says.

"I love you guys." Kyla says as she walks out the door.

"We love you Kyla." Mason says.