The Good, Bad and Ugly of Family

by Scarfy36

"My father and I grew closer after my mother died. Without her around it was just us against the world. There were times when I didn't think we would survive, but we managed to help each other through even the hardest of times."

A/N: I got the prompt "The good, bad and/or ugly of family" for my English timed task and we had to relate it to themes from 'Montana, 1948' so I wrote about the Sheriff and Stiles

My father and I grew closer after my mother died. Without her around it was just us against the world. There were times when I didn't think we would survive, but we managed to help each other through even the hardest of times.

The doctors are saying that my mother won't last the rest of the week. My dad doesn't want them to tell me that, but I am good at eavesdropping. I spend all my free time here at the hospital, watching my mother wither up and die slowly. I hate sitting still but my dad gets irritated if I move around too much and it makes my mom more tired, so I do my best to sit quietly for as long as I can. Dad sends me to get food and I know that Mom may not last the night, simply by the way they look at each other. I leave the door open a crack so I can hear what they're saying. Mom is telling Dad to look after me, reminding him not to get caught up in his work as the Sheriff and make time for me. Mom will be missed by everyone in the town, but I think Dad and I will be alright eventually.

I bring dinner to Dad at the Sheriff's station most nights now. We sit in his office to eat and he tries to distract me from the evidence board on the wall behind him. I try to ask him questions about the case but he keeps deflecting. He says that I shouldn't be looking at the evidence and files, as though I haven't been helping him with cases since he started bringing them home after Mom died. Finally, he caves in and we discard our half-eaten dinner to look properly at the files. He reminds me that he only got the files a few hours ago when I notice a connection that he had missed. It's times like this, making progress on cases with my dad, that make me consider wanting to follow in his footsteps and work in law enforcement too. When I see how late it's gotten I realise that if I ever want family, I never want to be a Sheriff. I look at how old this career is making my father and how much time we spend together at the station and I realise that this job is taking over my father. Although I love spending time here with him, I can't tell where my father ends and the Sheriff begins.

Dad comes home from work as I'm on my way to a party and attempt to rush past him, but I can tell that something is wrong. I notice that his gun isn't on his belt and I realise that he's been fired. It's all my fault – a practical joke got out of hand and had a restraining order filed against me, and now he has lost his job because of that. He says that he was told it reflected poorly on the county or the Sheriff's son to have a restraining order filed against him, and now he's on a temporary leave of absence. I have never felt worse. My dad doesn't pressure me into a certain career or hobby and he lets me make my own decisions. It's not often I disappoint him, but I can tell by the way he's speaking that he is disappointed in me.

Dad I went through more than most families have to go through. We survived the worst and we had each other to celebrate with during the good times. It seems only fitting that he died a hero's death. He was shot in the line of duty last week. I'm an orphan now, at the age of 23, but at least I have my friends to rely on. Seeing his coffin going into the ground today reminded me of my mother's funeral, but it was different with no one there to hold my hand. Almost the whole town showed up today for the funeral. It's a small town and everyone knew the Sheriff, but nobody knew him like me. Nobody else saw every side of my father, except for my mother, but she's in the ground next to him.