Betrayal

Chapter 48- 'Please say yes'

Reagan POV

“Just stand in silence as we all let Kadin know how much she will be missed.”

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. All of the boys were crying along with their wives. Josh wouldn’t allow himself to stand near any of us, but it was very obvious that he was crying also. I’m pretty positive it wasn’t for the same reason I was crying; he didn’t know Kadin well enough to be that broken up about her death. But, I would bet all the money in his bank account that he was blaming himself for her death.

“Liam, are there any words that you would like to say in remembrance of the lovely woman that was your wife?”

This was only the 2nd time that I had allowed myself to look at Liam since the funeral began. The first time I looked at him, I had to glance at Ariel and Aiden. And, the way that they were crying, shouting at the casket and begging their mom to “wake up”, made my knees wobble. If Avery and Trinity weren’t holding my hands, I would’ve collapsed by now.

Ariel and Aiden took the news of their mum’s death like any almost 5 and 8-year-old. They screamed, told their dad to quit telling them a story, and to show them “where mum is really hiding.” It’s been 5 days, and they haven’t gotten any better. But, I didn’t expect them to. They lost their mum. I, for one, know how that feels.

Liam was holding it together for the most part. He put on a brave face for his children, but all of us could see that he wasn’t dying inside, he was already dead. Louis found him crying in his car after he dropped Ariel and Aiden off at his parents’. Since Louis has never really gotten over the loss of Grace, he got in the passenger seat and cried with him.

“I just want to say that if ever the phrase ‘gone too soon’ was more accurate, it would be right now. Kadin and I were together for 10 years, since we were 14. I’m not going to lie; it hasn’t always been easy. I’m sure you all can vouch for the rough patch that we had 5 years ago, us being separated and all. It was a little touch and go there for a while until another, much younger, angel was brought into this world. My daughter, Ariel, named by her adorable brother, Aiden. After being with them and seeing just how much Kadin loved them and loved me, I couldn’t ask for anything more. It may have taken us a little while, but we managed to get back on track.”

Ariel and Aiden both pulled their hands from their grandfather’s to join Liam at the podium. After wiping a few of their tears, he picked them both up and faced all of us once again.

“She was, is, and always be the light of my life. And, not a day will go by that I won’t miss her and the happiness that she brought everyone. I’m not sure I’ll ever be as blissful as I was with her, but she did leave me 2 beautiful children, and I plan to let them know just how amazing their mum was. She deserves the best memory. I hope you all feel the same.”

Instead of responding, we all just looked at Kadin’s beautiful casket and said a silent prayer. It was hard to believe that she was in a better place, but if I wanted to remain sane for the rest of my life, I had to accept it.

What other choice did I have?

-------

“Stop calling me. Take a hint.”

Yet another cryptic text message that I was going to ignore. I was used to them by now, especially when they came from Josh so they didn’t dissuade me in the least bit.

They did annoy me though.

“Why do you even want to talk to him?”

“Because…”I told Avery, “I want to know why he’s taking it so hard. Louis saw the whole thing just like Josh did, yet Louis is doing relatively fine.”