Godfather

4

The day of the funeral was extra hard for the newfound duo, as suspected. Daisy had just been released from the hospital, Luke was working on his plans to move Daisy back with him to America, and the cherry on top of everything just had to be the funeral of his best friend and his best friend's wife.

The boys had flown down for the occasion and had (thankfully) packed Luke's best suit with them. If he was being honest, if not for them coming in and taking a little bit of the load of his shoulders (no matter how small), he would have had a breakdown. But, they came, and he hung onto his sanity by a thread as he and his new daughter arrived at the funeral.

Daisy, however was still having a hard time coping with the untimely deaths of her parents. Being so young made it all the more difficult, as well. She didn't quite understand why they had to leave her so soon, or why she wouldn't see them again, but she just knew that there was an accident and because of that accident she couldn't. And that didn't make sense to her.

But she said nothing, sitting on her beloved Luke's lap and playing with his tie absentmindedly as the preacher man droned on and on. But eventually, it all became too much, and she began to cry. She wanted her mommy and daddy. It wasn't like she didn't love Luke with all her heart, it's just that she loved her mom and dad more.

So, in the midst of Luke trying to comfort her, she looked around at her surroundings before her eyes landed on the blown-up portraits of her parents. And before Luke could even process what the little girl was doing, she was out of his embrace and bounding toward the portraits, crying her heart out.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She exclaimed, rushing toward the portraits.

Every single person — no matter who they were — felt their heart break at the same time as she did that. The innocence and the fact that she was too young to process everything broke them. So, they watched as she tried to hug the pictures, tears streaming down their faces.

Luke, being too shocked to act at first, snapped out of it shortly after. Rushing the short distance to where she was, he hoisted Daisy up into his arms, much to her protests.

"No!" She cried, kicking and crying. "Put me down! Mommy! Daddy! I want to see them!"

Luke just held onto her tighter and rushed out of the service, exiting the church and setting her down on the pavement. Kneeling down so he was at eye level with her, he gripped her shoulders lightly and looked into her eyes.

"Daisy," He said, trying to break through to her through her sobbing. "Daisy, look at me. Look at me!"

Daisy, through her confusion and tears, met his blue gaze. The wind was starting to pick up, and her hair was sticking to her wet cheeks, but she could still see his pretty blue eyes through it all. Luke, however, wasted no more time in saying what he needed to say.

"Your mommy and daddy love you," He whimpered, trying to hold back the tears of his own. "So much. They love you more than anything in the world, baby. And they will always love you. Even if they can't be here to tell you or show you, okay?"

"Why did they leave then?!" Daisy asked, sobbing. "Where did they go?!"

"They're in heaven now, baby," Luke answered. "They're in a better place. And you'll go there one day, too. Just not yet. You're going to be with me, now. And I know I'm not your mommy or daddy, and I know that this is hard for you, baby. I know, and I am so sorry. But you have to be brave for me, okay? You have to continue to be the brave little girl that you've been your whole life. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Luke ignored his long locks whipping in the wind and his tears falling. He ignored his heartache, and he ignored the fact that everyone inside was probably wondering where they were and talking about it. He ignored everything but the little girl in front of him, the one that'd become his own just days before, and that's how he intended it to stay. She was the apple of his eye, now. She was all that mattered.

So when she sniffled and nodded her head, Luke sent her the most proud, reassuring smile he could give.

"Come here..." He spoke, sniffling, and bringing Daisy into his arms.

Daisy wasted no time in entering Luke's arms, welcoming his embrace wholeheartedly. She cried into his chest and he cried too, caressing her hair and protecting her from anymore of the harsh realities that she was facing. And they stayed like that for a short while, before they'd both calmed down a little bit, and Luke deemed it appropriate for them to enter the service again.

Picking her up, he placed her on his hip and walked inside, ignoring all the pitiful stares he got from everyone in the room. He just sat back down in his seat with Daisy in his lap, playing with her hair and lulling her to sleep.

The rest of the service was a lot easier for Luke, and it was almost cathartic. He got his feelings out, and he was pretty sure that he had explained things in such a manner to Daisy to where her confusion would disappear. Or, at least, dissipate a little bit.

Luke also had had a lot of other things lifted off of his shoulders as well. Daisy's paperwork had been filed and dealt with, his band mates had taken the liberty of talking to management, all of the legal stuff was being taken care of by the lawyers that his mother had taken the time to hire, Daisy was out of the hospital, and he was moving back to LA soon. Things were starting to look more... normal. 

"Everything okay, man?" Ashton asked, clapping his band mate on his shoulder as they walked out of the church. "Is Daisy alright?"

"It's been a hard day," Luke replied, bouncing Daisy up and down a little bit as she slept. "For all of us."

"Well I'm not concerned about us," The drummer replied. "I'm concerned about you and Daisy. You're the ones who are suffering the most."

Luke remained silent at this dear friend's words, instead focusing on Daisy and making sure that she was sleeping okay. Sighing, Ashton was about to give up and go back to his other band members when Luke finally spoke up.

"I love her, Ash," He stated. "I promised that I would take care of her, and I intend to make good on that promise. Nothing is going to stop me."

"I know, buddy," The curly haired boy smiled softly. "But you can't take care of her if you don't take care of yourself. You need her, and she needs you, but you also need yourself."

Luke took his friend's words as truth as he walked away, leaving him to have to deal with all the sympathetic words and awkward hugs from people he didn't really know (although having Daisy in his arms did help him quite a bit). If he was being honest, there were many other places he wanted to be at that moment. Actually, he figured that he'd rather be anywhere else on the planet. But he remained strong, and soldiered on through the tough times.

"It's always going to be you and me, Daisy."