I don't know

4

Whoever created ties should rot in hell. Anthony fumbled for a good 45 minutes before he finally tied that darn thing ,choking himself a good 5 times. He scrunched his nose in disgust before he stuffed the ironed blazer that he had bought the day before, back in his cupboard. He decided Cam could wear it to Anthony's funeral.

Sierra walked into the room, holding a pair of black boots. 'Daddy? Mummy told me to get you to help me put my shoes on.'

'Hand them over,' Anthony replied, crouching down to her height. He took the boots from her hand, put them on her feet, and started lacing them up.

'Daddy, where is Grandad?'

Anthony sighed, knowing this question would come. He wasn't surprised that it was coming from Sierra, as she was the most observant one of the triplets. He finished lacing the second boot up and looked up at Sierra.

'Love, see the thing is he's gone to a safe place: where Uncle Connor is,' Anthony said softly, caressing her hair.

'Mummy's brother?' Sierra asked hesitantly. Anthony nods. 'Am I gonna see him again?'

'Maybe one day, hun.' Anthony said as he got up. 'Go downstairs, and I'll be down soon.'

Sierra nodded as she bounced down the stairs, one at a time. Anthony rubbed his eyes as he entered the guest bedroom. 'Mum?'

Lucia was on the bed, dressed in all black with her hair up. Tears were rolling down her face, which she wiped with the back of her hand. She turned around to see Anthony and smiled softly at him, acknowledging his presence.

'Do you want to come down for breakfast, or do you want me to bring it up?' He asked, standing by the doorframe.

'I'll come down.' She whispered, barely audible.

'Thank you,'

Anthony smiled and couldn't help but feel triumphant. He left the bedroom and walked back into his own. It was going to be a hard day, and he hoped it would go by smoothly.

He ran a comb through his unruly hair, trying to get it tone down. However, it just popped straight back up. He groaned in frustration and decided his hair would remain the way it was. His father would've hated it and tried to smoothen it down. Anthony smiled sadly at the memory before heading down the stairs himself.

~~~~
The funeral was a quiet gathering, only consisting of close family and friends. It was a peaceful, simple yet beautiful event. Lucia talked to many of the guests, but Archie had kept himself to himself the whole day, not talking to anyone. Ally was dealing with the triplets as Anthony bustled about greeting people and thanking them for their condolences. Austin had stayed with Ally, but he interacted with a few people, helping his brother here and there.

By the time everyone had gone home, Anthony was mentally and physically drained. He laid back on the sofa and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He loosened his tie and closed his eyes, trying to get some rest. The last 3 days had been horrendous.

Archie walked into the living room where Anthony was lying down. He sat down next to his brother and said. 'You really didn't like him, did you?'

'What tells you that?' Anthony asked. Whenever him and Tom argued, they always made sure that the kids were never present.

'Today, you seemed as though you go to your father's funeral every day. Like you don't care about him. '

Anthony scoffed, 'You think I don't care?'

'No. I think you hated him, and you're glad he's dead.'

That's when Anthony saw red. If his brother was in front of him for another minute, he might punch his face open. 'Archie Oliver James, go upstairs. Now.'

'Gladly.' He said as he stormed out and up the stairs. Anthony sighed in frustration as he ran a hand through his hair. Of course, he wasn't glad Tom was dead. He wasn't a sadist. He had only kept himself together for his family - and here he was with his own family accusing him of hating his father.

Ally walked into the room holding Sydney, who was half asleep.

'Daddy.' Sydney whined as she held her hands out for Anthony. Anthony got up from the couch and gently prised her out of Ally's hands and into his. She snuggled into Anthony's arms and rested her head in the crook of his neck.

'Can you put her to bed?' Ally asked, stroking Sydney's hair.

'Yep.' He said as he began walking up the stairs.

'Anthony?' Ally called. 'Get some sleep. You need it.'

Anthony nodded as he continued up the stairs. If only getting sleep was as easy as promising, too.

~~~

'Can I go to school today?'

That wasn't a sentence you'd hear from any 13-year-old ever. But in this situation, Austin wanted to go back to school as quickly as possible. Not that he liked school. But because it would take his mind off... everything, really.

'If you want to, you can.' Anthony replied. 'You have your uniform?'

Austin nodded. ' I got it when we went back home to get our stuff.'

'Go get dressed then. Quickly. I'll drop you off.'

Austin shoved the last of his cereal in his mouth and rushed up the stairs. Ally looked at Anthony and said. 'Surprising that he wants to go back to school.'

'Can't blame him. Can you drop off the triplets so I can drop Austin off?'

'Sure.'

Anthony was left in the kitchen as Ally walked out. He did not want to work this morning, but his editor insisted all of them were present so she could assign everyone a new article. He hadn't seen Archie since his accusation yesterday, and he assumed that he did not want to go to school today.

In less than 10 minutes, Austin was downstairs, wearing his uniform with his school bag.

'You brought your school bag as well? All of your books?'

Austin looked at the ground. 'Not all of my books.'

'I'll write you a note.' Anthony said as he ripped a post-it note  and started scribbling on it. He handed the orange note to Austin, who tucked it away in his blazer pocket. ' Is Archie not up yet?'

'He's asleep. Well, I think he is.' Austin replied, following Anthony out of the door and into the car. Anthony nodded, knowing he had to check on his brother, just in case.

'I'm sure he didn't mean what he said yesterday.' Austin said as he pulled the seat belt on. Anthony was a tiny bit surprised that Austin knew about that conversation.

'Thank you.' Anthony said gratefully as he pulled the car out of the driveway. At least one of his brothers didn't hate his guts.