Author's Note: Hey guys! I finished chapter three today, so I thought I'd share it with y'all. Enjoy!

-Cade

Chapter Three

Connor

Connor laid his hand gently on his husband's face, knowing this would be the last time he ever saw him. He looked so peaceful; his face was smooth and still, his eyes were closed. One could almost believe he was asleep.

"Oh, Kevin..." he whispered, stroking his face slightly.

"Um, Mr. McKinley-Price, sir?" came the meek voice of the funeral director. Connor turned to face him.

"Yes?"

"Well, I'm very sorry to disturb you in your mourning, but we were wondering if you'd take your husband's rings? People aren't usually buried with their jewelry and we like to offer the spouse the chance to remove it themselves."

"Oh. Okay. I'll do it. Thank you." He turned back to Kevin, gently taking one of his hands in his own. It was cold and stiff and Connor almost recoiled at the sensation. This was not Kevin's hand. Kevin's hand was warm and soft. This was just the hand of an unnamed body.

He sighed, "I'm sorry, Kevin." He tugged first as the engagement ring, a silver band with a Mickey Mouse shaped diamond. It came off without incident. He then moved on to the wedding ring, pulling slightly on the gold band- and band that was slightly too small for Kevin's fingers, a fact Kevin had refused to admit. Connor stopped tugging, took a deep breath and then pulled on it again, twisting slightly until the ring finally popped off.

He stared at the two rings in his hands. His last visible connection to Kevin was gone. A sob overcame him and he could feel two delicate hands on either of his arms.

"Come now, Connor. Let's sit down." It was Nabulungi, a long time friend of Connor and Kevin's, whom they had met on their mission in Uganda.

She led him to a section of three empty chairs in the front row. He sat down in one and could feel her flutter into another. The third, Connor reasoned, must belong to her husband and Kevin's mission companion, Arnold Cunningham.

"W-where's, Arnold?" he asked her, his fist tightly closing around the rings.

"He went to the bathroom. He's very sad and very nervous. He told me he's going to read something but would not let me see it first." She pursed her lips. "I am very nervous. I'm always nervous when he talks in front of people without letting me see what he's written first. I'm always afraid he'll make another Book of Arnold." She and Connor chuckled slightly at the memory.

"Oh, Naba, I just miss him so much." Connor sighed, wiping away the last of this wave of tears.

"I know, Connor. I miss him, too." She said.

"Why do such bad things happen to such good people?"

"I do not know."

"Why does Heavenly Father allow for people to die so young?"

"I do not know."

"Why does Heavenly Father allow the General to cause such pain?"

"I do not know."

"How am I going to live without Kevin?"

"I do not know, but I do know that you will."

"Maybe I should just kill myself."

"Elder McKinley! That is not what Elder Price would have wanted!" She scolded, slipping back into referring to them by their missionary names, something she often did when upset with one of them. "He would want you to go on and have a long, happy life, you know that!"

"I know, Naba, I know." Connor sighed. "Do you think that he'd still be alive if I never told him that I loved him?"

"Connor, why must you ask such questions?"

"I don't know. I need a reason to feel this way. It just...hurts, and I need a reason for the pain."

"The pain is there because you just lost your husband. The pain is there to remind you that it was a relationship worth having."

"Why are you so much smarter than I am, Naba?"

"I do not know. I just am."