Nalaniangel24
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Family
Family
by Nalaniangel
Rated G
Summary: When their father, Adam, dies, Shalimar, Brennan, Jesse, and their cousins Leo and Lexa, try to figure out why Emma's missing. Very AU.
They stood like soldiers at the gravesite as the priest talked about the great man their father had been.
They had never been to church, especially a Catholic one.
Most of the people standing behind the three children were crying quietly, trying to show they were upset while not detracting from the funeral. And when everybody began to file out, only the children remained; the two boys were trying to be serious, one of them trying to hide his anger, and their sister crying openly, not caring if she drew people’s attention or not.
“Come on, kids,” Aunt Allison said, her voice dry from crying. “You’re coming home with me tonight.”
She put her hand on Shalimar’s back and guided the girl down the grassy lawn to the waiting black limousine. Her two brothers followed behind dutifully with their cousin.
“We can play with my Nintendo when we get to my house,” Leo offered to Brennan quietly as they waited for Shalimar and Aunt Allison to get in the limousine. “You can be first player, too, if you want.”
They all filed into the limo which would take them back to the Pierce household, where Adam’s newly-orphaned children would be staying. Brennan, Jesse, and Shalimar all leaned forward in their seats, taking one last look at the graveyard before settling back. Aunt Allison leaned forward, too, but for a different reason.
“Lexa Pierce, get in here,” she snapped at the girl walking slowly towards them, her black hair whipping around her face in the wind. Despite the coldness in the air, she held her black coat in her arms defiantly to her mom. When Allison called her, she looked up from the ground, her blue eyes glaring at them from under her brow ridge. If it had been any other day, Aunt Allison might have threatened more, or Lexa would have been more obedient, but it was the day of Adam Kane’s funeral and neither were their thinking straight.
Aunt Allison was a pinched, business woman who had married and had children early in her life. She thought she had to be the tyrant in her house full of disobedient children. She was nice, on occasion, though, but not enough to make Adam’s children happy about staying with her. The three had come together in a closet while their house was full of friends and relatives they had never seen and discussed how they could get Mr. Eckhart to take them home instead of Aunt Allison. Mr. Eckhart worked with their father for a company called Genomex. And while they didn’t know him well, Aunt Allison could be insufferable, and Mr. Eckhart had always brought them candy when he visited them.
But they had decided not to say anything because Lexa and Leo had found them in the closet and their joy at living together spread to the three siblings. Lexa and Leo had told them about all the fun things they could do together and that Aunt Allison would cook them spaghetti every night to make them happy.
Curiously, Brennan had gone up to Aunt Allison that day and asked if Emma was going to stay with them, too. Brennan was the leader of the six cousins, so naturally he had taken the initiative to find out where Emma had been for the funeral and memorial service. While Brennan, Shalimar, and Jesse all went to elementary school, their youngest sister had to stay home with their dad because she was too young. The accident had happened while they were at school, and none of the children had seen Emma since before they left.
“She had to stay at the hospital for a few days,” Aunt Allison had explained then.
Brennan bit his lip to keep a straight face. He didn’t want anyone, especially Auntie Allison to think he was weak. He was the man of the family now. “Is she okay?” he asked quietly, because could only force out a whisper without crying.
Aunt Allison looked away for a long while, running her fingers through her hair until the curls had torn apart and her hair was a disheveled mass on her head. Brennan tried to wait patiently for her to look at him again. Finally, she did. With tears running down her face, she answered steadily, “She’s just fine.”
Now, Brennan stood before his aunt again, watching her tear the long spaghetti noodles in half with her hands and toss them into a pot. “Where’s Emma?”
“Not right now, sweetie,” Allison answered, not looking at Brennan. She remained focused on making dinner, although the question still lingered in the air. Brennan waited another minute until he was satisfied she wasn’t going to say anymore.
Shalimar, with her ear pressed against the swinging kitchen door, grumbled angrily and stomped back to Leo’s bedroom, where they were gathered. Brennan came in a few minutes later, his red and wet in some places. It was obvious he had been crying and had rubbed his face too hard to get the tears off.
“She’s not saying nothing!” Brennan said angrily, sitting on the ground next to his sister.
“Mom lies about everything,” Lexa informed them, emphasizing the “everything”.
“Then how do you know when she’s telling the truth?” Jesse asked.
Leo and Lexa looked to each other for answers, neither of them coming up with anything. “I usually just find out for myself,” Lexa finally answered.
They sat in silence, until Shalimar jumped off the bed with an idea. “We gotta find out where Emma is!” she said, her determination spreading to her family.
“How?” Jesse asked, jumping off Leo’s beanbag chair in suit.
“Like how we used to find when Dad was gonna have to go on a busi… bissiness…”
“Business trip,” Jesse finished for Shalimar.
“We spy!” Brennan shouted excitedly, bouncing off the bed. His shout was met with an equally loud “Shh” from the other four. “Me and Shalimar will go.”
“Aww,” Jesse and Leo groaned immediately.
“They’re the best listeners,” Lexa told them. “You guys always get bored and Mom always sees you.”
Lexa, Leo, and Jesse all jumped up onto Leo’s bed and began to wait as Brennan and Shalimar slowly opened the door and made their way down the hall.
“This way,” Brennan whispered. “I hear her in her bedroom. She’s on the phone.” Both kids pressed their ears up to the door and listened.
“Jeff told me I should tell them, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I know I made a bigger mess out of it all, but, well you try telling them.”
“Is she talking about us?” Shalimar whispered. Brennan shrugged, and then slowly nodded.
“Paige agreed to watch the kids when we have to go back to the graveyard for the burial… I was thinking about having them go, but it might be too much. They did just watch their father get buried,” Alison continued. “I just don’t have the heart to tell them what happened.”
Brennan worriedly turned to his sister. “Do you get what she’s saying?” he asked.
“Nope,” Shalimar answered. “But I think it’s got something to do with Emma, because she said she has to tell us something and that’s the only thing we want to know.”
“Shh,” Brennan whispered, putting his finger to his mouth. Shalimar didn’t lean back in, but watched her brother instead.
Suddenly, Brennan’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, his little fingers covering it as best they could.
“What is it?” Shalimar asked urgently. “Brennan, what did she say?”
Slowly, he began to cry, hiccupping out his first sob. More and more, the tears began to flow, and Brennan couldn’t control it anymore. He had tried to be the man of the family in front of his sister, but it was too much. It was way too much now. Allowing himself to be engulfed in his anguish, his whole body began to shake as tears raked his body.
“Brennan, be quiet, she’s gonna hear!” Shalimar pleaded anxiously. She tried to get him to look at her, but he was furiously trying to wipe away the tears before the fell down his face. Seeing that he wasn’t going to stop crying, she grabbed him by the arm in an attempt to pull him back to Leo’s room, but he didn’t move. “Brennan, come on! You’ve gotta come with me!”
As if he were in a trance, he allowed himself to be led back down the hall, through the family room, and back to Leo’s room. Before they went in, Shalimar forced Brennan’s back to a wall. “Wake up!” she shouted frustratedly, trying to get his attention again. Finally, he managed to focus on her. The noise caused Jesse, Leo, and Lexa to run out of the room and stand behind Shalimar. The four looked at him expectedly.
“Brennan, what happened?” Lexa asked. “Did she spank you for spying?”
“No,” Shalimar answered absently, still focused on Brennan. “Come on, what did you hear?”
Brennan wiped his final tears from his eyes and tried to muster the even tone his father had used.
“Emma’s dead,” he told them, before giving into his pain and crying again.
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6/4/2004, 10:48 am
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Nalaniangel24
Head Administrator
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Registered: 04-2004
Posts: 70
Karma: 0 (+0/-0)
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Re: Family
**
They stood like soldiers at the gravesite as the priest talked about the short life their sister had lived.
They had never been to church, especially a Catholic one, until two days ago, when they had gone to their father’s funeral.
Most of the people standing behind the three children were crying quietly, trying to show they were upset while not detracting from the funeral. And when everybody began to file out, only the children remained; one boy crying openly, as if he were trying to make up for all the tears he refused to shed at his father’s burial, the other holding his sister’s hand supportively, just like he would do for the rest of his life, and the girl silent, for she had no more tears to give.
“Come on, kids,” Aunt Allison said, her voice dry from crying. “Let’s go home.”
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6/4/2004, 10:49 am
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