Unexpected and Unwanted.
The service would be conducted by the head undertaker, as Seth had requested that it be non-religious. He had just begun when there came the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside, and commotion. Then the door to the auditorium was flung open…
"Stop this travesty at once! This is not the funeral that we wish for our son, and you have no right to be holding it!"
There was immediate silence in the auditorium; a silence so deep that had the smallest of feathers fallen to the ground, the noise it would have made would have echoed through the room like a building collapsing. The expressions on the faces of those gathered there ranged from shocked to horrified to incredulous. Heads slowly turned as they wanted to observe the two people that now stood in the doorway.
The man had no resemblance to Seth; his face was heavily lined and leathery from being over tanned. His hair was thin and died an unnatural shade of black. He was clad in a suit that the more sartorial amongst them instantly condemned; to Isabelle Wright, sat there with her husband, the fabric was a horrendous check and far too shiny; the cut was wrong, and the ensemble too tight for the man within it. It did however look like it was from a reasonable tailor. It certainly did not go with the tasselled brown and white loafers that he was wearing.
As for his wife, her face was unlined but also expressionless, which lead the majority to jump to only one conclusion - botox. Her hair was platinum blonde, but with more than a hint of brunette at the roots. The low cut, tight red dress that she was wearing under a black bolero jacket, coupled with a pair of gold stiletto heeled shoes was hardly the attire of a devastated, grief stricken mother…
Mrs Carmichael's face had set into a deep frown, as she recognised the couple; they were indeed Seth's parents, two people she had seen only once before; that they had the audacity to return to Dalton today of all days made her seethe inside. To only come when their son had passed away, and then try and rob him of the dignified send off that he had wished for…! Her husband's hand moved to her shoulder, and that was the only thing that was preventing her charging down the aisle and punching the pair of them. He did not think that was wise or seemly for his wife, and in any case, he had seen movement elsewhere within the assembled mourners….
Thad's initial thought as he heard those words being uttered had been to summon his husband to his side from wherever in the room he had been watching. He felt the draught at once, and when he glanced to his side, it was to see Wes, visible now, frowning in the same direction that everyone else was. "I had no idea that they were going to turn up here, but I wish I had predicted it and followed their movements!" the angel whispered. "I have left Kurt and Blaine looking after Seth, although unlike all of you, he does not seem in the least upset or perturbed. In fact, I would say that he was mildly amused by their appearance; I mean, he did refer to his mother as mutton dressed as lamb, and that made Kurt laugh. I have to admit that they are an excellent fit as a stereotype of neglectful, deadbeat parents. My guess is that they are here for the money that they believe he might have left; it certainly isn't because of a sudden realisation that they love him…"
Thad nodded, then turned to look at Skylar; he was staring right at the two people that had just walked in and ruined his best friend's funeral, and if looks could kill… Then, before Thad could react, Skylar was on his feet, and with his eyes still fixed on the couple, he made his way to stand at the front by the picture of Seth. His face looked calm enough, but there was a fire blazing in his eyes…
He looked straight ahead at the couple in the doorway, and squinted as if he was trying to focus his eyes on them. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask - who the devil are you?" His words were said in a voice that was apologetic and moderate in tone, but loud enough to carry to the back of the room. That opener earned him a half smile from the watching Edith Carmichael.
"I might ask you the same question, you impertinent little brat!" Seth's father yelled back. "We are his parents! So if you will get out of the way and excuse us…"
"His parents?" said Skylar in a steely voice now. "I'm afraid that I don't recognise you; then again, I don't think the majority of the people here had ever met Seth's parents - or even seen a photo for that matter. If you are, then you certainly seem to have excused yourselves from every responsibility of parenthood up until this point. Still, fair is fair. If you are his parents, perhaps you could hazard a guess as to who I am…"
"I do not waste my time with young men that have no respect for their elders," came the snapped reply.
Skylar smiled, and said, "Now I am afraid that you have made an error there; you see, I do respect my elders, as long as they have earned such respect through their actions and behaviours. That is probably why I have no willingness or patience for that matter to give you much more of my time. So, shall we try an easier question, a pop quiz if you wish… What did your son die from?"
"We do not have to answer…" began Seth's mother.
"I think that you should," came a new voice, and the whole room saw that Aaron Carmichael was now on his feet. "After all, his loving parents would know…"
"What is it with you people!?" she screamed back in reply. "We just want our son's body so that we can give him the funeral he merits!"
"And what sort of funeral would that be? This one seems pretty perfect to me…" came the voice of Burt Hummel as he got to his feet and turned to face the couple. On seeing him, the eyes of Seth's mother widened as she recognised him. "So, please, can you answer the questions we have. For a start, who is the older man that has just spoken to you?"
"Some interfering liberal that needs to learn that blood trumps everything!" said Seth's father angrily.
"Trumps? It kinda figures that they would be Trump supporters," said someone in a stage whisper. No-one knew exactly who it was that said it, and nor would they ever confess, although Sebastian denied strongly that it was him…
"Unfortunately, that is the wrong answer. The correct answer would be Aaron Carmichael, and he was the Principal of Dalton Academy for most of the time that your son was a student here. The identity of the Principal of their child's school is something that any good parent would immediately know. The fact is that to Seth, he was more than that; he and his wife were like parents to him, given that his natural parents were both AWOL." Before they could respond, Burt continued, "So to return to the previous question; what did your son die of, and who is the fine, upstanding young gentleman that asked you that in the first instance?"
There was silence as the couple looked at each other, and then came the answer from the husband and father. "He died of cancer, with complications from his long term condition, HIV…"
To say that there was a collective sharp intake of breath at that statement would have been an understatement. Skylar, standing at the front and able to see the faces of the assembled mourners saw a look simultaneously cross the faces of Santana and Kitty, which he read correctly as 'if you wish us to kill them both, here and now, then we will.' Similar expressions were appearing on the faces of countless others in the room. He moved his head slightly, just the tiniest of shakes, to show that was not required, at least not yet; such violence was probably inadvisable in any case given the presence of Burt, the First Lady, and several members of the Secret Service.
"Hmm, eck-hrrr," he said, giving his best impression of a wrong answer buzzer, to the amusement of some. "You are close, but you do not win the star prize. You are right that he had a three letter condition, but it was MND, short for Motor Neurone Disease. He did not have any form of cancer, or STD for that matter. Now, if you were indeed decent, loving, caring parents, then you would not have made that sort of frankly disgusting mistake."
"That is what we were told by his doctor!" came the retort, which made Skylar smile inwardly.
"Oh, really? What was their name, and before you say that you cannot remember, the good news is that his two main doctors are here with us today, so take a good look at the faces and see if you can spot them…"
As if on cue, the whole room turned round to face the two people in the doorway. Their eyes searched faces, and then with a yell of, "That's him!", they proceeded to point to Flint. He looked at them, and shook his head; secretly he was certain that had his mother been present, she would have been so proud that they imagined him to be that holy grail, a doctor…
"So," said Skylar, "you obviously didn't speak to his doctor, be it a him or a her. The irony is that the man you chose is married to a doctor, and before you say it was her, I should point out to you that she is a paediatrician. Right, so we go back to the start, and once again, for bonus points, who am I? Why am I the one standing here, asking you all of these questions, like some younger version of Alex Trebek?"
"Quite possibly because you have mental health issues and think you are him! Look, we have come for our son, and we will be leaving here with him, make no mistake! I have contacts who can have all of you arrested and charged if you try and obstruct us!" yelled Seth's father.
"And we have several covert members of the Secret Service in the room, given the presence of the Speaker of the House. Trust me, you will not be taking him from this room."
"So what you are saying is that the Speaker of the House and his entourage will be part of a plot to deny a grieving family a chance to mourn their eldest child? That will sound great in an election year…"
Skylar shook his head sadly, then said in a quieter voice, "Did it never occur to you that that is exactly what you are doing right now? Let's cut to the chase and examine the facts; you abandoned Seth at birth, worried more about the possible scandal that him being conceived and born out of wedlock could cause, than his welfare. He was raised by his grandmother, with barely a visit from you in his entire childhood. He was sent to Dalton, and then the old lady died. He wasn't even informed of her demise until after the funeral, and barely got a chance to collect his few belongings from his childhood home. A letter was sent, telling him that he would stay at Dalton fulltime until he left for college. He was from that moment on an orphan to all intents and purposes, alone with no blood relations. So much for your love!"
He paused for breath, then went on. "He was going to be an engineer before his condition robbed him of his dreams; his work was still so great that he was offered a tutoring position at his former college when it became clear that the deterioration of his hands would mean that he could not pursue his chosen career in any other meaningful way. The professor that gave him that role is here today, by the way, along with several of the students he assisted. Seth had a voice that was equal to any music maestro when he sang; he had wisdom beyond his years, and an open, kind, giving heart. You come here and say that you are his grieving family. I say, how can you be? You did not know him! You rejected him and cut him adrift, an inconvenient reminder of a youthful indiscretion."
"The people gathered here, in this room, they are all his family. We are the people that cared for him, that kept him safe as his life ebbed away. In return, he cared for us and protected us. He was my best friend, my chief groomsman in this very place last year when I married my wife. He was ill that day, but I never knew at the time; he put my needs before his, as he always did. Then, when he became too ill to be able to live alone in New York any longer, we brought him home, and he came to live with us. And that is how he came to die in my arms last week, as the cruel condition that had reduced a vital, energetic teenager into an invalid attacked his defences for the very last time! He died with his true family; not one built on blood, but one built on love! And just in case you give a damn, my name is Skylar Willetts, and Seth, he was my brother…"
"And mine too!" said Edward, blinking away his tears and coming to stand at Skylar's side.
"And mine," said Colin, coming to join them as well.
Those two simple words echoed again and again as people, Warblers or not, rose to their feet. They came to join the three at the front, the Warblers amongst them first, but Mason and Kitty arriving before some of them did. That show was powerful, but it was little Wes coming up with his parents and saying sadly, "He was my uncle," that touched even the hardest of hearts in the room.
Burt got to his feet once more, and came to stand in front of the group. "I think that the message is clear; you need to go and let this family grieve for the man they have lost in peace. You forfeited the right to refer to Seth as your son the moment that you put society's opinion before your responsibility to your child. You do not deserve to call yourselves his parents; you might have created him in a biological sense, but that is where it ends. So yes, I think it would be best if you left now, of your own freewill, rather than being escorted off the premises by the Secret Service, don't you?"
With a snarl, Seth's father growled, "This is not over! We know our rights!"
"So do we," said Edward from his spot in the group next to Skylar. "Oh, and just to clear something else up, we can also tell you that he left no money. That is another reason for you to continue ignoring his very existence."
"This has nothing to do with money! He was our son!" came his mother's indignant scream back to Edward.
"Your son… You keep saying that, but if he was still alive right now then you would not have come anywhere near this place; the truth is, you were never here for him when he was alive, when he needed you to be. You act as if you love him dearly, but how can you claim that when none of his friends here have ever seen you before? How can you say that when you did not know what he was suffering from prior to his death, or who any of the most important people in his life were? You don't even know where he was living before he passed away, that he was staying with me in Tennessee…" responded Skylar.
"We did know that actually, Mr Clever Pants," screamed Seth's mother.
With that Skylar began to laugh, an almost maniacal chuckle. "And once more, eck-hrrr! I'm afraid you fell for the trick question! He lived with me in my home, not 20 minutes away from here, in Westerville." Skylar's face was growing redder by the minute, and Thad moved over to try and stop him, but he stepped forward before he could reach him. "You come here," Skylar yelled, "on a day that was dedicated to his memory, and was meant to mark his tragic early demise with dignity and respect. A day that was meant to be filled with love and affection for the sweetest guy any of us knew, and try to destroy it! You might have delayed and disrupted our plans, but we will not allow you to spoil them with your vile behaviour. In case you are interested this is the funeral that your son asked for, his plans, to the letter. We respected him, but you cannot! You cannot handle the fact that he was a young man over whom you had no hold or power. Do you know that he was asked if he wanted you found so he could see you before he died, and he refused. He said that it was much too late for that now. He did not need you, and he certainly did not want you!"
Pausing to take breath, Skylar continued, his face nearly purple, his voice raised and full of anger. "My guess is that the only reason that you deigned to make an appearance here today is because you fear that someone out there is about to disclose the truth, and is going to try and shame you publicly, or blackmail you. What was the plan then? Were you going to tell the world that your evil mother forced you to give him up, because she is not around to deny it? Spin your tragic tale to the media, shed a few crocodile tears, then bury him in some quiet and neglected corner where he would to all intents and purposes vanish again? By the way, what is the opinion of your other two children on their new elder sibling, or have you not told them?"
"You two are a disgrace, and trust me, your other children will be finding out about all of this. You see, the presence of Burt Hummel at any event attracts the media, and this is a good story. The tragic life of Seth Kennedy will be all over the media soon enough, and the whole world will know what a loathsome pair you truly are! Now, as Mr Hummel has already said, albeit more politely, get the hell out of this school and give the people that actually gave a hoot about Seth the opportunity to send him off in the manner that he deserves! No? Mr Hummel, how do I get the Secret Service to attack, detain and remove? Is there a codeword?"
"Yes, there is son, and I will have no hesitation in saying it in a moment unless they turn around and go…" said Burt.
For a moment, the couple stood their ground, and then they all heard a click, the sound of a safety catch being removed on a revolver - and as hastily as they had arrived, Seth's parents beat an undignified retreat…
There was silence again, and this time it was broken by Beats, who turned to Flint and said, "So, yeah, that is my impression of the safety catch on a revolver being removed." He said it in such a flippant, throw away manner that Flint started to laugh, and then someone else did, and before anyone knew it, the entire room was filled with the sound of laughter…
In the midst of all of the hilarity, in the centre of the knot of people at the front, stood Skylar and Edward. They were silent now, Edward's arms wrapped around Skylar, who was leaning on his friend, tears welling up in his eyes, their hands clasped firmly together. "That was eloquent and magnificent," came a voice next to their ears, and they both knew that Seth was standing with them. "The boy I protected has become my champion, defending and saving me; I am so proud of you, Sky! And my oldest friend was the first to stand with you, even though he was in misery and pain. I am so proud to be able to call you both my brother right now!" The two mortal Warblers felt the touch of an angelic hand on their shoulders then, the closest that he could get to hugging them right now, but an indication that they would be both be receiving one of those later…
Then with just the slightest of draughts he was gone, and looking up, Skylar and Edward saw that people had headed back to their seats. They smiled at each other, just for a moment, and with hands still joined, headed back to their own. With them back in place, the funeral proper could resume. Although it was not overtly religious, there was an undertone of faith nonetheless. Alongside the hymns, including The Lord is My Shepherd, sung to Howard Goodall's arrangement, there were songs celebrating brotherhood, sung in harmony by a choir of young men who shared the same standards of morality and decency. There was also a moment of laughter when a song that had been a particular favourite of Seth's was played; nobody expected Windmills of Your Mind by Noel Harrison, even if it had been his audition song all those years ago... Then, with all of the rituals around the funeral completed, it was time for the delivery of the eulogy…
Thad had offered to be the one to give it before they had known Seth's instructions, but he had put forward another name himself. He had entrusted the job to the most literate of the close circle around him, and they had accepted the task without a moment of hesitation. Thus it was Trent that made his way to the front, and he delivered a poignant and moving address to those gathered before him. He ended with the following words…
"How then do I sum up Seth Kennedy in a few words? At first, I was not sure that I could, but now I know exactly what to say. He was loyal, generous and talented. He cared deeply for his fellow man, and would protect those that he loved and cared for to the end. He was brave, and never allowed his condition to bring him down. He had the ability to design things that were both practical and beautiful at once, and until he was robbed of the use of them by his condition, he could produce models of such intricacy and detail with his talented hands. The thing about him that will always stay in my mind, however, was the way that he faced his trials and tribulations head on. He knew that his time here on earth was short, and that his life was ebbing away, but he did not wallow in self pity. He fought to carry on, and that made him the man that he was. He was looking forward to the future right up to the very last, and we would all be very blessed if we even half of his determination and hope. It is only by living that way that we can hope to triumph. His memory will not die as long as we do the same, and his legacy will continue from generation to generation if we keep that spirit. He was our brother, and we, his family, will never forget he was here."
Trent's words would be the last spoken at the funeral, the climax of the service, later than had been planned thanks to the unwelcome guests. As Trent took his seat once more, the musicians began their final piece, with a solo violin playing the opening of The Ashokan Farewell. Skylar recognised the music at once, having heard it played more than once whilst Seth was a guest in his home. It was a haunting and mournful tune, but at the same time it had a great majesty and dignity to it, particularly as the other instruments joined in and the sound began to swell.
The sadness of the plaintive notes of the violin at the beginning had an almost instant effect on Edward; he began to cry, and Colin instantly wrapped his arms around his husband as his tears quickly developed into heartrending sobs. That set Jeff off as well, and that, in turn, set off little Wes. Nick wrapped his arms round his son, and looked on as Trent pulled Jeff into his chest as he wept. Nick then felt a hand grab his own, and he saw that Sebastian had taken it, needing a little support too as tears trickled down his cheeks…
Across the aisle, Mason was sobbing too, Roderick doing his best to comfort his best friend; Jane was absent, as she, like Izzy, had stayed in New York with her young child. As for Mrs Carmichael, she sat with her eyes downcast and her handkerchief clutched in her hands. She was not shedding tears though, as she knew where Seth had gone, and was glad that he was no longer in pain. It was that thought that kept Skylar from sobbing too, although like so many others there were tears rolling down his face. That was true of Thad, sat at his side; he knew that there would never be a day when Seth would be absent from their lives, and the fact that he had returned to his old, healthy self as an angel was an immense source of comfort to all that knew him…
As the music reached its midpoint, the undertakers began to prepare to remove the coffin from the room. They removed all that was on top, bar the paper plane, then went to lift it. The moment that they did, Skylar was on his feet in a silent tribute to his friend; Thad was a split second behind him, and that started a wave, as one by one his mourners got to their feet to watch in sadness as his coffin was taken from the auditorium again, the music now coming to its end, and dying softly away. With almost split second timing, the final note was played as the undertakers turned the corner, and were lost from the sight of those sitting in the auditorium…
With the coffin gone, most people sat down again, bar the First Lady, Burt and Rory. They had a schedule to maintain, and the small amount of time that had been allowed for the post funeral period had been used up. Carole however was not going with them, as she had made plans to see her family in Ohio, and would return home later in the week. It was only as they headed for the door, having shaken a few hands with those in the front row of mourners, that the members of the Secret Service that had been assigned to protect them revealed themselves, as they too left.
Then it was the turn of the handful of people that would be accompanying the coffin to the crematorium to observe the final moments of the rituals. Seth had specifically asked that not everyone be there, and had given permission only to the Carmichaels, Skylar and Julia, and Edward and Colin to attend. Edward was not looking forward to it at all, but he knew in his heart that he needed that psychological final closure; he needed to see that very last moment. Only then would he be able to return to some degree of peace and normality, as they prepared for the arrival of their first child. As they walked out, there were no words said, just nods and sad smiles exchanged. Nobody envied them what was coming next…