The though I can't do this ran through Damian McGinty's head for the third time since he woke up an hour ago. And he knew exactly why today was going to be hard, because to day was the day of his parents funereal.
"Damian," Nicola asked, tugging on the back of his shirt as he stood at the counter in the kitchen.
"Yeah?" he asked, wiping the tears away.
"When are we going to see Mommy and Daddy?" she asked.
Just by the sound of her voice, Damian knew the six year old was smiling.
"Noon, Cola." He said, loving the joy in her voice.
"Okay."
And with that she ran up stairs.
"Wake up Bridgett, while your up there!" he yelled after her.
"Okey dokey!" she giggled.
Damian looked at his watch, ten fifteen.
"I better get Coner." He said, pulling his shoes and coat on.
He pushed open the back door and walked outside. Conner had been spending the last few days in his old tree house in the backyard ever since he had heard about his parents. He slept out there every night despite the fact that it was never above six degrees at night and snowy.
"Coner. Come in, come inside." Damian shouted at the floor of the tree fort.
"NO!!" Coner shouted back.
"Fine! Then, I'm coming up." Damian said.
"Really?" Coner opened the trap door.
"Yeah. Sure. Why not?" he said, shaking his head and climbing up the wooden make shift ladder.
"You haven't been up here since you were twelve." Coner said in disbelief.
"Yeah, I know. We need to talk though." Damian said, pulling himself through the trapped door. "Wow, this place looked so much bigger when I was twelve."
"That's cause it was. There was way less shit in it at that time." Coner said, sitting down on the couch.
"How the hell did you get a couch up here?" Damian asked, staring at the couch.
"I have my ways." Coner smiled.
"There's the brother I know." Damian said, seeing his little brother smile.
"What do you want?" Coner asked, suddenly full of anger.
Damian sighed. Coner is not the crying type. He turned his sadness into rage, and hits and throws things.
"We're leaving in two hours." He said, trying to figure out where to start.
"And…"
"You can't stay out here forever."
"Watch me!"
"Coner! Be reasonable! You can't just hide out here until it goes away! It's not going away! Mom and Dad aren't coming back! It's not like they're gone on vacation! They're gone forever! And you have to realize that eventually. Preferably sooner rather then later. Because there are three other people I have to worry about who miss their parents just as much as you do! So get over yourself and help!"
Damian threw open the trapped door.
"And you better be ready to go soon."
He dropped down and landed on his knees in the snow.
As Damian walked back towards the house, he heard Coner sobbing.
Damian gave once last glance back to the tree house, and then walked inside.
"Why do I have to be up, when Nathan gets to sleep?" Bridgett asked, when Damian walked back into the house.
"Because you slept last night, Nathan didn't." Damian said, shrugging out of his coat.
"I hardly call what I did last night sleeping." Bridgett said, resting her head on the island.
"I know, but I need you awake. Nathan would just get in the way and make a big mess." He said, rubbing Bridgett's back. "People are going to be going in and out of our house all day, people we know, people Mom and Dad worked with, neighbors, and family. The last thing I need is Nathan being awake. He's a handful right now. So, please Bridgett? It won't be that hard, and you can sleep all day tomorrow if you want."
"Okay." Bridgett said, sitting up and hugging Damian.
Damian pulled her out of her seat; her feet didn't touch the floor. She buried her face in his collar.
"And this is one of the reasons I was hiding out side, to much lovey dovey, touchy feely, it's okay to cry, let's talk about it crap." Coner said.
"And you are…?" Bridgett asked, looking over Damian's shoulder at her other big brother.
"Haha. I get it. Coner hasn't been here the past few days and Bridgett forgot about him. Haha ha, that's just so hilarious." Coner said.
"I love you too, Coner." Bridgett laughed.
Damian returned his little sister to the floor and walked over to Coner. He hugged his little brother.
"Thank you." He said.
Coner hugged back.