Dare to Love

Disclaimer: Don't own a thing

A/N:

Chapter 37 (An Uncle's Farewell)

After a couple hours, Martin definitely had the art of fishing down rather well. The boat they'd been using was docked on the shore while they sat a few feet away at a hamburger stand. The waters had been still and every fish they caught, they tossed back into the lake. Nothing suspicious or bad happened, but Martin didn't quite let his guard down yet. He didn't think anything would go wrong, it was simply a reflex of his. All in all, his cousins had truly been exciting and fun.

Deciding to be alone for a couple minutes, he got up and walked off, trailing the shore of the lake. Ripping up the top bun of the hamburger he had, he tossed it to a group of ducks he saw along the way. They were mallards, playing in the water and flitting their wings. With a smile, Martin put his hands behind his back and gazed up at the crisp blue sky. "Is this right?" He couldn't wait to get back home to Kelly and his real family, where his best friends were likely waiting for him.

Pausing, he looked straight ahead and took a sharp breath. Scarcely he would have thought of calling Art and Mala his 'best friends', at this rate they were almost his only friends. It was hard to believe that his life could change so much in just ten days, Kelly had no idea just how amazing of an impact she had was. He kicked some dirt and looked down at the crystal waters. "Friends…Family…love? God, to think I probably should be dead right about now…" He moved his cell phone from his pocket and gazed happily at the background photo. He'd taken a photo of Kelly before leaving the house, and now it had been chosen as his usual wallpaper.

Already he activated the phone and added the numbers of the family he'd met, Mala and Art were in there as well. He still wanted to get Kelly a phone, because she would likely need one. "Can't believe my luck." The wind blew through his hair as he turned to look at the hamburger shack in the distance. Isaac had just done something to make the other cousins laugh. His heart rose up and his eyes started to fill with joy.

"To laugh and be happy is an amazing thing, isn't it?" He froze as the foreign, yet familiar voice struck him. Quick on his heels, he spun and saw his Uncle gazing sadly at him. "I didn't know you were here, Martin…"

"Eric, I want nothing to do with you." He took a step back, ready to run for his cousins. Eric started waving his hands, protesting and stating that he wasn't going to do anything. "What do you want?"

"Nothing! I honestly just came out here to think. Saw you here, and thought I'd say something." Martin glanced out the corner of his eyes, his cousins were now watching. They had serious expressions on their faces, angry glares digging into his Uncle. For the first time in his life, he felt his family had his back. Eric lifted his hands, showing he was unarmed. Martin crossed his arms and growled.

"I still don't trust you…even though Tabitha said you were different or something."

"Yeah…" The man inhaled deeply and moved back, leaning against a thick tree trunk. "Erin's powers are going away, it was more like a jolt recently. For me at least, her powers have been waning since Denise came back into my life."

"You and Denise…I guess you never technically cheated on Erin?"

"Other way around, if you want to call it 'cheating'." Eric narrowed his eyes on the lake, a peculiar darkness began filling them. "If you call being forced away by a bitch with an itching to control you cheating, then go for it." His voice was laced with such venom that it surprised Martin. Maybe it was true, maybe Erin's power was waning a bit. "Listen Martin, I just wanted you to know…you were always my favorite nephew."

"I don't want to hear this. I'm sorry."

"I know, but you need to." Eric started to pat Martin's shoulder, but he pulled away on reflex. His Uncle paused and withdrew his hand. "Right." Martin glared at him until he closed his eyes and exhaled. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you Martin. I know you don't trust me, but give an old man the chance to say goodbye." He raised an eyebrow and took a slow step backwards.

"What do you mean, goodbye?"

"Self explanatory." The two began to walk the edge of the lake, with Martin constantly keeping a close eye on him. Eric held his wrists together behind him and gazed up in longing at the sky. "I am more than aware Maxwell's in the hospital now. I know what's happened to the rest of the family, and all I can do now that I've run into you is say goodbye. I cannot possibly show my face around this family again. I'd like to know that you're going to be safe and happy, though…"

He huffed as Eric glanced over his shoulder. Since when did Eric give a damn about his well-being? "Be a first any of you people ever thought of me. I bet you don't even know the people I'm with right now." Eric's eyes drifted towards the cousins at the hamburger stand, all of whom were now standing up from the table and still keeping a close eye on them. "Those are my cousins. My mom's family."

"Ah yeah, I've always known she had family somewhere…"

"Kelly's friend has them protected, Aunt Erin can't detect them at all."

"Good. Last thing anyone needs is that wench destroying another family." How could this man speak so ill towards his own wife? Then again, with what Tabitha told of the past, he could understand the bitterness. "Martin, I promise you, this will be the last time you see me again. I won't kill myself like your mother or David did, not that I don't understand what they did…but for what I've done? A guy like me doesn't possibly deserve death."

"So what do you mean, then?"

"I mean I'm leaving." Eric's jaw locked and his fists clenched tight. "Once I kill that witch, I'm taking Denise and leaving. For where, I don't know yet, but we'll find somewhere to go. I imagine you've already done the same?"

"Kelly and I are talking possibilities…" He wanted to be with his family, and he definitely wanted Kelly with him. He didn't know how to respond to Eric, in regards to his desire to kill Erin. It seemed like something that would be truly difficult to do. "Uncle Eric…Kelly's friend is a witch. It was she who put that hex on Aunt Erin." Eric looked smug, with a mixture of pride in hearing what had been done. "She cursed Erin to lose more power every time her power was used, that any curses she set on people would start fading away, and finally she'd freeze up if she ever had to fight another woman."

"I see…"

"On another topic, this woman Aunt Erin always complained about…I guess since it's the other way around and all, did you to ever-"

"No, no sex. The love ends spells thing is true, and for that matter, Denise practiced a little magic in her day so she has that witch aura. If we had sex at all, Erin's magic likely would have been completely erased from me…You know, I wanted to marry that woman. Your father was to be my best man." Eric rubbed his chin and snapped his fingers. "I have some really old home movies in my car if you'd like to see them." He tensed a bit at the offer, intrigued but uncertain just how he'd feel if he wound up watching those.

"No, just send them to my post office box, we acquired one yesterday." He wouldn't let anyone send anything directly to his family's home, not with the risk of Erin still out there. "So what are you expecting to do with Aunt Erin? How can you possibly 'kill' her?"

"I once told Denise, I would find a way, and I will. She destroyed everything, and it's because of me. Because of me that my brother's dead and the other one's slipping in and out of comatose states. Because of me being so incredibly weak that everyone's livelihood has been shattered." The man clenched his fists and struck a nearby tree in his anger. Martin flinched and quickly cleared his throat.

"So you're honestly just going to vanish from the area?"

"I cannot show my face around any of you. Not you, not Maxwell. I just want you to know, you were loved, Martin. You were my favorite. I know Tyler always felt like he got shit attention…" Tyler's biggest problem was his mother and father not paying him any mind, he literally was always forgotten. Knowing what happened with Eric and Denise, then Erin, he could understand why things were the way they were. "Conceived the one time Erin and I ever…I was unwilling in that moment anyway, but a witch typically gets what she wants."

"I guess so."

"Look Martin, I'm sorry. For everything." Eric turned fully towards him, breathing heavily and for the first time he looked older than he truly was. "I'm not asking for your forgiveness, lord knows none of us deserve it. I just don't want you going through life, thinking everybody in the world really hated you. It's only Erin that did, and that's only because you got away. That girl you met? She saved you."

His heart skipped a beat and he slowly glanced away, towards his cousins. "I know…" He couldn't think about forgiveness just yet, but it was interesting to see these splotches of gray area here and there. He still felt like screaming, the sea of nausea inside him not daring to subside. "I guess, thanks then. Does she know you're out here?"

"No."

"How come she's never gone after Denise."

"Denise knows how to keep herself off Erin's 'radar' so to speak." Eric looked to his wristwatch, then over to his blue minivan. "Okay, I do have to go. By the way, you may want to get in touch with the family lawyer soon."

"Why?"

"Because you're the last Lamont, though not officially…I did see Tabitha, and I know what everyone's 'fate' is…" Martin meshed his brow together and watched as Eric started walking away, bidding him one last farewell. His legs felt weak and he was almost certain of collapsing.

"How am I supposed to react to that?" The man opened his door and Martin called out to him an angry tone. "How am I supposed to respond!" Eric looked up from the car, his lips thinned and in a flat smile. His uncle waved and entered the car, started it up, and drove off.

"Martin?" He jumped and looked back, his cousins were lined up behind him. He didn't like for people to come up behind him, it freaked him out and didn't help with the recovery from his abuse. James was the one who spoke. "You all right?"

"Yeah…I'm fine…I just didn't expect to see my Uncle. He didn't do anything, just wanted…to say goodbye." The cousins frowned and looked towards where Eric had driven off to. While Martin may have had a difficult time forgiving, he understood how his uncle's situation was similar to his own. Kelly and Denise were two of the same basic coin. He couldn't help but to wish Eric the best of luck in whatever his future entailed. He actually believed the man when he said that they would not be seeing him ever again. "He was always the Uncle most like me. He said I was his favorite nephew…"

"What do you want to do?" Sarah asked, "We still have an hour left, but can go home if you'd like." He was grief-stricken, tears stung his eyes. He swept them away and huffed.

"No, let's keep fishing. I'm actually enjoying it."

"All right then."

A little bit bittersweet, what do you think of the conversation with Uncle Eric?