The Rosé Family (Pt 1)

The Heir Turned Orphan

"Father? Can you hear me?" Kingston's voice wavered, thick with desperation as he cradled his father's battered form against his chest. "Please, speak to me..."

With monumental effort, Dennis's eyelids fluttered open, revealing a dim spark still clinging to life within his clouded gaze. "My sweet boy..." The words were little more than a pained rasp, but brimmed with paternal affection. "I'm here. Don't fret, my son."

"How can I not?" Kingston choked out through a fresh torrent of tears. They streamed down his cheeks in rivulets, mirroring the storm raging within. "Look at you - at what's happened here!"

Despite his dire state, Dennis managed a faint, reassuring smile. With tremendous effort, he lifted a trembling hand to cup his son's cheek, savoring this tender connection between them. "You carry the very breath of your mother and the heartbeat of your father within you. We will persevere..." Though his voice remained frail, it held a quiet strength. "We must."

No matter the strain that had settled between them, no matter the hurts of the past, Kingston clung to his father with everything he had. His free hand sought out his mother's, clinging desperately to her still form as if their united love could anchor her fleeting spirit.

"I can't go on without you both," he pleaded through racking sobs. "Father, please...Mother, I need you!"

Dennis's gaze drifted briefly towards the woman who was the other half of his soul, his features etched with sorrow and a lifetime of memories. When at last he met his son's anguished stare, his eyes shone with unspeakable tenderness and hard-won acceptance.

"My child, you know as well as I that we were never meant to walk this world forever." He managed a wheezing chuckle, tinged with nostalgia and tears of his own. "Just know that your mother and I loved you with every fiber of our beings...and we will continue to love you for all eternity, even from the next life."

With those parting words, a weary sigh escaped Dennis's lips as the last vestiges of life slipped away. His hand fell limp against Kingston's cheek, and the dim light in his eyes winked out, leaving only vacant stillness in its wake.

In the aftermath of that day's unspeakable tragedy, Kingston found himself adrift - alone but for the stalwart presence of his dearest friend, Tobias. It was to the Frost household that he retreated in his hour of most dire need, pleading with the only solace he had left.

"Toby...I can't do this alone," he confessed, voice little more than a broken rasp. Sorrow hung heavy in every syllable as he implored his friend with reddened eyes. "Please, you have to help me...to lay them to rest properly."

Though weighted down by his own grief, Tobias did not hesitate. "Of course, Kingston. Anything you need." With a firm hand on his shoulder, he guided the bereaved young man back out into the dreary world, a shovel gripped in his other hand.

They dug in solemn silence for untold hours, the earth itself seeming to groan and resist their efforts. At last, when two modest plots had been carved out, Tobias dared break the stifling quiet with the question burning in his heart.