Chapter 9

He kept his promise, Seth went to the funeral out of respect for Mercy and her children.

Seth had only ever been to one other funeral in his life and that was for his grandfather. Now he was driving a rental towards a church he had never been to in Greenwich, Connecticut. There were other cars there in the parking lot, but there had been the media, too. More than likely trying to catch a glimpse of Mercy and her kids.

Luckily he was able to get in with no trouble and sat in his rental for a little bit. Dean wasn't there for obvious reasons, neither was Roman. It was just him. Seth had come at the request of Triple H and there was no way he was going to back out of a promise.

But this funeral was for a little boy that was killed by a freak of nature guy, the bastard. Trips had told Seth that Owen Michael McMahon had been named after Bret Hart's brother, as a coping mechanism. Mercy had just started seeing a therapist and Paul said that she was doing better.

Someone tapped on the window. Looking out, he saw Sheamus there where a black suit and a black newsboy cap.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Seth mumbled.

Sheamus waited for him to get out of the car. "I was wondering if ya had decided to skip the service."

"No. I was just thinking about stuff."

"About her?" Sheamus asked.

"Do you know how's she's doing?"

"Nah, Trips ain't told me anything. Just asked that I be here, for her sake at least. Seems we've been green lighted to be around her."

Seth nodded. The conversation ended as they headed into the tall Catholic church.

Towards the front of the church there was an area where the casket was going to be. People were sitting around, people who mattered most to the McMahon family.

The woman standing up, wearing a casual black dress, was talking to someone. When she looked at them, Seth sucked in a breath. It was Mercy. Her hair hung freely down her back and instead of heels, she wore flats. Seth had to swallow the lump in his throat and shift when she looked at the two of them, rooted in place at the entrance doors to the church. Without a word she walked towards them, and that's when the family and friends watched.

"Why are you two here?" She asked.

"We've come to pay our respects, lass." Sheamus slid his cap off. "And to support you."

"I think I have all the support I can handle." Seth saw how her eyes roved over the top of Sheamus' head. "Did Paul ask you two to come?"

"Yeah, he did." Seth said. "And as friends, we have to stick together."

Maybe it was what he said, or how he said it, but what he had said made Mercy look at him. With her head tilted up, he saw the scars on her neck. He had to drop his eyes over towards where Mercy's family was sitting.

"You guys can go if you want to." She said. "I won't hold you against it. We don't even really know each other."

"Well I'm staying, Lass." Sheamus said.

"At least they had the forethought not to bring Cena here." Seth said.

She smiled, Mercy smiled. It wasn't a big one but she did nonetheless. "Is he really that bad?" She asked.

"There would have been more cameras." Sheamus said. Mercy shuddered slightly.

"How are Raven and Koda doing?" Seth asked.

"Okay. I'm going to sit with them and Mom. Stephanie still hasn't showed up yet with her daughters. Paul's not here either."

Sheamus and Seth shared a glance at each other before following Mercy up to where her children were sitting with Mr. McMahon and Mrs. McMahon. Seth sat down in a row back from them, his hope of giving the family some space. Instead what he got were two kids coming back to sit with him. He spied Vince looking at him, his wife and pretty much everyone else were looking at him. Though with Trips and Stephanie not there, he wondered how it was effecting Mercy.

It wasn't hidden from Seth that the two kids really liked him, which had culminated in Raven asking if Seth was okay after a match. Like Mercy, Raven was wearing a black dress and Koda was wearing a black bow tie suit. Mercy left her parents and went to sit on the other side of Koda, placing the kids between Seth and herself.

For the most part the small ceremony went off without much of a problem. It was the small details of Owen Michael McMahon, like how he died when he was a year old and realized how tormented Mercy must have felt. She didn't even raise her head through most of the religious ceremony, but he saw the tears trickling down her round flush cheek. It got to the point that Linda McMahon had to come back and sit next to Mercy.

By the end of the small service, they would escort the casket to the nearby cemetery.

A small hand grabbed his when he stood up. Raven didn't look at him but she did lean into him. Koda found a renewed interest in Sheamus when the older man approached.

"Hi, Red Man." The boy said.

It somehow earned a snorted laugh from Mercy, her hands coming up to cover her face as she looked at Sheamus in mild horror. Only Sheamus smiled leaning down towards the boy's level.

"Actually, it's Sheamus. I'm a friend of yer mam's."

"You talk funny." Raven said, though she had yet to relinquish Seth's hand.

"I'm Irish, I come from Ireland." Sheamus said.

"That's far away. I saw it on the globe Sissy showed me." Koda said.

Raven smiled. She had her mother's smile, which wasn't unusual considering how much they looked alike.

"Come on, we have to go." Vince spoke up.

Raven, hand in hand with Seth, walked between him and Mercy as Koda walked behind with Sheamus and the McMahons taking up the rear as they exited the church. Of course the moment they left the church the media was all over them. Although the SUV Mercy had arrived in with her family was parked out in front of the church, Seth and Sheamus had gotten into other vehicles of their own to head out to the cemetery.

At the cemetery, as Mercy watched her first son's casket get lowered into the ground, with a Priest officiating the entire thing, Mercy heard people approaching. Mercy stood with Raven on her left, who was hold Seth's hand. Koda was on her right, holding her hand but also the hand of Sheamus. The only thing that connected Mercy to either of the men were her children. Her parents were standing with Marissa and Shane and their boys to Seth's side.

Turning her head, she looked over and found Bret Hart approaching, with Paul were young three girls, all ranging in ages from eleven to four. Like pretty much everyone else at the burial site, they too were wearing black in mourning.

"Bret," she whispered only to have Seth and Sheamus turn around.

At lot of thoughts ranging from what did he think about her naming her son Owen after his brother to why would he bother to show up at all. Why was he there? Was that older woman Natalya Neidhart? Did her nieces know her at all. All of it crash in on itself in her mind as she watched the group walk up.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, may little Owen Michael McMahon rest in eternal peace with our father, the son and the holy spirit." The priest said.

The casket was buried, the dirt would be thrown on top of it and this was where Mercy's first born son was going to be laid for all eternity.

"Sorry that we're late." Paul said. He didn't elaborate on it but Mercy had a guess as to why her own sister wasn't there.

"We're going back to the house. You're invited to come, Bret." Vince said as he walked up behind Mercy.

"Nanna, I'm hungry." Raven said looking at Linda.

"I know you are. Momma needs some time to herself. We'll take the kids to the house, Paul. You can meet up afterwards." Linda said.

"Okay."

"Can Seth come, too?" Raven asked.

"And Sheamus?" Koda asked.

"Yes, they can go with you." Mercy said as she ran her hands over both of their heads. "I'll be there in a little bit."

She looked at Seth and Sheamus, both of whom shrugged. They walked away with her parents and the three little girls that looked like a mix between Paul and Stephanie. Paul and Bret, and the blond woman, were the only ones left with Mercy.

"How are you doing?" Paul asked.

"Good, I think. I don't know." She rubbed her neck, trying to find something to focus on. "I think Mom and Dad wanted my Owen's last name to be McMahon."

"He was a McMahon." Paul said.

"Not according to my husband."

Mercy saw the thick column of Paul's neck flex around the collar of his black suit. But he didn't say anything to contradict what she had said.

"But I like McMahon better. Raven Aurora McMahon, Koda Paul McMahon, they all sound better than Dickson."

"You named your daughter after your niece?" The woman asked.

"No, because the night I gave birth to her, the aurora borealis was lighting up the night sky. I thought Aurora just fit. Ernie didn't care, as long as I didn't name her after someone from my dead past." She admitted.

They fell into a silence and Mercy knew it was because of her.

"Can I give you a hug?" Bret asked.

He still had the long hair, though it was a lighter shade of black. He looked older, as anyone did when life changed beyond her control. But she nodded.

Having Bret there meant that at least she had held onto hope long enough. Even as she cried, remembering things like Owen Hart's death, then her Owen's death at the hands of Ernie, she cried. She held onto Bret's jacket, his hands cupped the back of her head and she continued to cry.

After what seemed like hours she finally had the courage to stop, thankful that she wasn't wearing makeup to have it streak down her face. And Paul was there, which was just as good to have, since her sister was being a bitch.

"Thank you." Mercy said as she wiped at her eyes. "For being here."

"Don't mention it. I brought Nattie just in case you needed someone to talk to."

"Natalya Neidhart?" Mercy looked at the blond woman.

"Yeah, I think we met when we were younger."

Mercy sniffed. "Yeah, I think I remember that, too. You were really nice to me." She wiped at her eyes again.

They had decided to go back to the house. Paul and Bret took one car and Nattie and Mercy took another. The women left first and then the men left after them, Mercy hiding her face as the media tried to get pictures of them.

By the time they got to the open road that wound its way to the McMahon house, Mercy was able to relax. This was a private neighborhood, but it still didn't mean that someone was going to try to come get pictures of her.

"Your son and daughter really seem to like Seth and Sheamus." Nattie said.

"Yeah. I guess its my fault that I didn't tell them Sheamus' name. They only knew him as The Red Man. Koda likes him, but Raven's fond of Seth."

"It's so cute, though."

"It doesn't bother me."

"That's not what I meant. I meant that for whatever reason, kids don't seem to click with Seth all too often. With Roman's daughter Jojo, she was more of an Uncle Dean kind of girl."

"They met Seth a couple of days after we got here. He was the first superstar they met, besides Paul and Shane. I don't even know why Paul brought him."

Nattie stayed quiet.

"Seth seems okay with them, which I think is a good quality." Mercy said.

"It is." Nattie said. "Children seem to know when someone is good."

"Adults don't. They think someone is one way but then that person turns out all wrong." Mercy said as she watched the trees go by.

They made it back to the house without incident. Paul and Bret waited for them to get out of the car. The four of them headed inside for the little gathering.

Most of the family was gathered in the main living room, Shane and his sons weren't there. Koda was being held in the secure grip of Sheamus and Raven was looking at an older dark haired girl that had the same annoyed look that Stephanie usually gave her.

"Are you stupid or something?" Aurora asked Raven. "Mom was right, you are retarded."

At which point Raven ran away, all the while she cried. The family had gone silent for the briefest of seconds.

"Aurora!" Linda yelled at Paul's daughter.

Mercy eyed Seth before going to find her daughter.

"What's wrong with you?" Vince demanded of his oldest granddaughter.

"Mom says that they don't know anything about wrestling. I just got tired of that girl acting stupid." Aurora said shaking her dark hair just like her mother did often.

Seth looked around, his eyes catching with Sheamus as he held Koda on one hip. Koda wiggled and Sheamus let him down, then the kid ran off after his mother and sister.

"Aurora, you're old enough to know that they were raised alone. Of course they don't know how to react or interact with people." Paul said looking down at his oldest daughter.

"Mom said that Aunt Mercy wanted to go with that man."

Even crickets stopped talking at that innocent reveal. Aurora's two sisters looked loss in translation and Seth kept glancing at the stairs.

"I'll go check on them." Linda started to say.

"No, we'll go." Seth said as he motioned between him and Sheamus. "Maybe hearing it from us will be better."

Vince didn't object, nor did Paul. No one else seemed to object to the statement.

"Maybe we should have been more forthcoming in the beginning." Sheamus said.

"Yeah, I just keep forgetting that they don't know anything about wrestling or this company." Seth said. "With the way they lived, I can only imagine what they were allowed to do."

They found Mercy in her bedroom, the room had two smaller beds in it where the children slept at night. Mercy sat on her bed, rocking Mercy as the little girl cried. Koda was standing next to the bed watching the entire thing going on.

"Sissy, don't cry." Koda said.

"She was mean," cried the little girl. "She talked like our old Daddy."

"He's not here, Raven." Mercy said as she pushed the black hair out of the girl's face. "You know that Daddy won't ever come back to hurt us."

Seth felt his heart squeeze in his chest. What had happened? What did that asshole do to them?

Mercy turned her head and saw the two men standing at the door. Seth bit his bottom lip and decided to walk in. There was no way he wasn't going to leave Mercy like this.

"Hey, guys." He said to catch the kids' attention.

"Hi." Koda said as Seth walked over to sit behind Mercy on the bed.

"What happened? What did Aurora say to Raven?" Mercy asked him.

"Raven just told her that she was worried about me getting hurt. Aurora just reminded her that it was all scripted and stuff. You heard the last of it."

"I don't want Seth hurt Momma." Raven held onto her mother's arms.

"I don't either but it's a sport, sweetie. You've been told before that what they do is dangerous but it is planned out. I felt the same with Uncle Paul."

"Really?"

Seth walked up to the bed and sat behind Mercy, leaning over to face the little girl. "Things happen in a ring, sometimes. I hurt myself not too long ago, Raven."

She wiped at her blue eyes. "Really, Seth. How?"

"My knee, I twisted it really bad and had to not wrestle. But I got better and I got back in the ring."

"It's okay to be scared for us, you know. Fans care about us all the time." Sheamus said. "And I bet Seth wouldn't mind getting a call from you because you're the first girl in a long time to really care about him. He's pretty lonely."

Seth glared at the redhead man. "I'm not lonely."

"Ya keep telling yourself that, fella. You ain't had a pretty girl worry about ya in a long time."

Not really but Seth wasn't going to mention his ex issue. Not when the small black haired girl was looking at him as she hugged her mother.

Now that Raven had calmed down, Seth reached up and rubbed the back of Raven's head, smiling at her. She smiled back. Sheamus was still there, but he had Koda's full attention for a boy that didn't sit still all too well.

There was a knock on the door and Paul walked in. "Sorry to interrupt, Mercy, guys, but the FBI agent is here to talk." Paul said from the door.

Seth saw Mercy stiffen, so he placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and then at Paul.

"I'll take them." Sheamus said. "Shane and his lads can keep us company in the game room."

"Thank you." Mercy said as she stood up.

Seth followed her out of the room, whereas Sheamus turned left and headed further down the hall to where there was noise coming from a room not too far away. Raven looked at them before following her brother and the Irishman.

"I'm sorry for what Aurora said." Paul said.

"I know she doesn't fully understand, Paul. I was the missing aunt and now here I am with cousins they don't understand." Mercy said as she led the way down the stairs.

"It doesn't negate the issue, Merce, that your sister told her those things. I love Steph, you know that. But what I don't understand is why Steph said that stuff."

Seth didn't say a word as he followed Mercy and Paul down the main stairs. He knew he had no say in the matter. Seth did hope that things would get better soon. But with Mercy being a McMahon, it was no wonder what had happened next had her nearly come unglued.

I tried to make this chapter as good as possible. I hope you guys liked it. I'll try for another soon, I hope.