Chapter Forty-Four: A Day To Say Goodbye

Bonnie used to like the color black. It was smooth and classic. It was also mysterious and sexy, but seeing all these people dressed up in black clothes, faces lined with either grief or condolence gave the color a whole different angle.

It was Friday noon and the sun was, inappropriately, shining down on the mourners in front of the church. Bonnie had never seen any of these people before, even though she had spotted Jessica earlier in the crowd. But of course the funeral of Evelyn Parker would be filled with old friends, coworkers of Joshua Parker, neighbors and acquaintances of the family. The mass of people scared Bonnie and she held on to her mother's hand for dear life. Abby had excused her from school so she could be here and had decided to come along. She never really knew Evelyn Parker but out of respect to her children and to support Bonnie, who had never been to a funeral before, she went along. Since Kai would be sitting with his family in the front row, Bonnie was really glad for her mother's presence because it would keep her from sitting next to a total stranger during the service.

Her gaze rushed through all the people that were gathered in front of the small church but she couldn't spot any of the Parkers yet. Kai hadn't texted her much either today, which was only understandable. He was probably busy trying to get through this day and helping his siblings do the same. Still, the absence of the family was odd considering that Mr. Parker probably had every single detail of this funeral planned out and had directed a special role to every one of his kids that was old enough to take the responsibility. It seemed like everyone else was already here, only waiting for the family members to arrive so that they could go inside.

Bonnie was nervously checking her phone, when two vehicles arrived at the parking lot. Everybody's heads turned in the direction of the cars and the feeling that usually told Bonnie that Kai was near flooded her. Joshua was the first one to pass her, a confused looking Bellamy walking next to him. They were followed by Dawn Abbott and Melinda Parker. The old lady smiled at her when she passed by. Even at the funeral of her own daughter it seemed like she was still willing to make sure that the people around her were okay. Joey was in a rush to get inside, so Bonnie barely noticed him passing by.

When Jo headed for the church she made a stop to hug Bonnie. There was only time for Bonnie to say some encouraging words before Jo had to move on. Right before she was turning away Jo gave Bonnie an intense look. The incomprehension about the meaning of that look was clearly visible on Bonnie's face. She knew Jo wanted to tell her something with her look, something that not everyone around them was supposed to know about. Jo read her right and quickly nodded her head in the direction she had come from. In the far Bonnie could now see Kai approaching. Bonnie quickly looked back at Jo and the question she was trying to ask with her eyes, if there was something going on with Kai, was answered with a barely noticeable nod from Jo before she headed inside the church.

Bonnie was feeling unnerved now. When Bonnie had reported her observations about Kai's behavior and lack of grieving to Jo and voiced her concern, the eldest Parker had reassured her that this was not unusual.

"Kai handles stuff differently. You know that he is not really good at dealing with emotional stuff, he just needs more time. As long as he is not shutting you out in every part of his life, there is nothing to worry about." Jo had said and Bonnie had taken her word on it, giving Kai time and space to deal with his mother's death on his own. But now, Jo's silent warning unsettled her. Had she tried to tell her that Bonnie was right after all? That Kai's behavior was strange and that she needed to look out for him?

She didn't get the chance to take a better look at her boyfriend though. He was carrying Briana when he passed by. The four-year old reacted to Bonnie's presence by reaching out her arms and when Kai was coming her direction Joshua Parker arrived in the entrance of the church and called for his eldest son to come in. Kai gave her an apologetic look and disappeared into the building, Briana in his arms.

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"This is your last chance, baby girl." Kai heard his grandmother say.

"I want to come." Briana yelled so that everyone would hear it. His grandmother put on Briana's black coat and turned to him.

"Are you taking her?" she asked and Kai nodded. Briana had made a scene earlier about only wanting to go with Kai and sit next to Kai at the funeral. Everyone had wondered if it was a good idea to take her but the girl had a strong will and was determined to come along, so his father had directed him the task of taking care of her that day.

"Good." Dawn said and stroked his cheek before she took Melinda's and Bellamy's hands and guided them outside where his father was already waiting for them. Kai was supposed to follow them with Joey, Jo and Briana right away, but Jo had run upstairs for a last minute wardrobe change which left Kai waiting in the hallway, his hands buried in the pockets of his suit.

"Kai? Are you sitting next to me?" Briana asked next to him.

"Yup." Kai said without looking at his sister.

"Are we going to be able to see everything?" she continued to ask.

"There's not a lot to see, but sure." He answered, sounding bored.

"Can I take Penny Pennerbacker with me?"

"If you need to." Kai lacked any trace of emotion and care in his words. Actually Briana's questions were starting to get on his nerves. What did he care if she took her stupid plush-horse with her or not.

"Okay, here I am we can get going." Jo shouted from upstairs, heading towards the stairs.

"Can Penny sit on the other side of me?" Briana kept asking.

"Yeah, sure. Grab the stupid thing and let's go." Kai tried to usher his little sister to the door but she turned away from him and headed to the dresser where her horse was lying. Joey was already headed to the door.

"Do you think mommie would like it that I bring Penny?"

"I don't care."

"But I want her to like it. If she doesn't like Penny being there, I can't take her. She was sometimes a little bit mean to her, maybe-"

"For god's sake, Briana!" Kai raised his voice and turned to his sister. He couldn't take her blabbing any longer. "Can you just be quiet for 5 minutes or is that too much to ask?"

Everybody froze. Joey that was nearly outside the door by now was staring back at Kai. Jo who had finally put on her coat and was about to head to the door herself had frozen her movement. Briana was just standing there, watching Kai with big eyes. Kai looked down at his little sister. He knew that he was probably looking like he was going to explode but there was nothing he could do about it. All he felt was anger rushing through his bones.

"Joey, why don't you take Briana to the car?" Jo stepped next to Briana and pushed her towards Joey.

"Yeah, sure. Come on, Bree." Joey took her hand and went outside, very intend on closing the door behind him so that Briana wasn't going to witness anything else that would take place inside. Kai was already annoyed with Jo's very indiscrete way of trying to lecture him. He was in no condition to be lectured right now.

Kai hadn't moved since Jo had pushed Briana outside. He now only turned around because Jo was half dragged him around by his arm. "Are you okay?" she asked with warmth in her voice he hadn't expected to be there.

Kai scoffed. "Terrific. Can we go now?" He said in a nonchalant tone again, starting to head for the door but Jo put out her hand and placed it against his chest, making him stay back.

"Can you be honest for once?"

Kai tilted his head, watching his twin closely. The concern was obvious in her face. Kai wondered how a person could be so worried all the time. Jo seemed to worry about everything and anything, even though it seemed like a lot of times he was the reason for a lot of her worries, intentional or unintentional. While Jo's concern only seemed to grow the longer he stayed silent, a familiar deadness covered Kai again.

"Let's just go." He finally said in a dead voice and passed by her. He was halfway by his car when he heard the engine of his father's car getting started and watched the vehicle leave for the church. Kai said behind the wheel. He had to wait for Jo to arrive though. Apparently she had taken her time following after Kai but when she finally placed herself next to him, he started the engine.

The drive was silent, not even Briana said anything. The heaviness of the impending funeral overwhelmed the siblings and with every inch they got closer to the church, it felt like Jo next to him sank deeper into her seat. Kai instead only felt less of anything the closer they got.

When he turned right on the parking lot of the grave yard, he could spot all the people in front of the church, already waiting for them. Joey was quick to get out of the car, following the rest of the family that rode in his father's car. Jo only threw a glance at him before she too got out. She opened the back door of the car to unbuckle Briana when she started to scream and cry.

"Briana, calm down, please." Jo tried to soothe her.

"NOOOOOO! LEAVE ME ALONE. I DON'T WANT YOU TO DO THIS. I WANT KAI." Briana cried and Jo looked at him for help. He was in no mood to handle Briana's craziness right now, but he also wanted to get this over with, so he got out and took Jo's place. He indicated her to go ahead and she reluctantly did as he said.

Briana was screaming in his ears, tears rolling down her cheeks while Kai unbuckled her and tried to get her out of the car. This was exactly why he thought that Briana should have stayed home. She was too young to understand any of this and it seemed like she would be screaming through the entire service. He could already hear his father's disparagement. 'Well done, Malachai. You can't even handle your own sister.' Kai shook his head.

"Hey Bree, look here. Here's your stupid horse. Wanna take her along or not?" Kai said in a not so gentle tone and grabbed the bear lying next to Briana. He wiggled it in front of her face but it didn't have the wanted effect. She grabbed the horse but her screams only got louder and she refused to get out of the car. Kai was losing his patience. Briana was in a full on screaming-marathon and Kai knew from experience there was only one way of getting her to stop.

Kai clapped his hands in front of her face very loudly and yelled "Hey". Briana's crys instantly faded and she watched her brother with big, wet eyes. "You gotta listen to me, Bree." Kai started. "I know you're feeling bad right now, trust me we all are. This is not easy for any of us but you decided to come here. I'm not telling you you can't be sad. I'm not telling you you can't cry, hell, you have every right to be, but I need you to calm down just a little bit."

Briana snuffled heavily but she stayed silent and kept listening to her brother. "There are a lot of people in there that expect you to behave in a certain way. I bet dad has told you to be a strong girl today, but I'm telling you you can let all the feelings out, if you need to cry, just do it."

"But dad said that I need to be strong for mommie." Briana tossed in and therefore verifying his assumption.

"That's bullshit, Bree. Mommie would want you to be just the way you are. I'll be right there next to you, so if you need to lean onto someone, or need to hold someone I'll be there. But right now, we have to get inside this church and we can't do that if you're being so ruffled. Do you think you can calm down just a little bit?"

Briana nodded. Kai tried a small smile, but he knew that it didn't look believable, not even to his 4-years old sister, so he quickly dropped it. "Come on." Kai said to her and indicated for her to climb out of the car. She immediately reached out both her arms, showing Kai that she wanted him to carry her. Kai sighed but gave in, reaching to her and placing her in his arms. Carefully, he got her out of the car, closed the door and locked it. Then he headed to the church.

The crowd of people was getting ready to head inside the church as well. Most of his family members were probably already inside and Kai shouldered his way through it. Suddenly he spotted Bonnie standing close to the church's entrance next to her mother. She had promised him to be there and seeing her face would have probably taken the edge of him on any other day, but her plain black dress and the concerned look on her face when their gazes met dragged him back to reality. A reality where even Bonnie Bennett's beautiful face couldn't make him feel anything. In his arms Briana was trying to reach out for Bonnie as Kai made his way in her direction.

A smile was forming on her face when he headed her direction. He just wanted to say a quick hello and then get inside but then he saw his father appear in the entrance of the church. He looked for him and when he found him he called his name and gestured to hurry, not accepting any delays. Kai had no other choice but to go straight inside. He really didn't want to get on the bad side of his father this early. It would happen eventually, but not right now.

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It had been a beautiful service if you could say anything like that about a funeral. The small church was packed with people and Bonnie and Abby had taken a seat somewhere in the middle. Bonnie had a very good view of everything but most importantly she had a good view of Kai. He was sitting next to Briana at the end of the first row on the other side of the church. During the entire service Bonnie always kept an eye out for him and what she saw unsettled her.

Jo's hint earlier had set her off. Something had happened and she nearly went crazy not knowing what it was. His reactions during the funeral only added to her growing worries. Kai looked untouched, deadpan, nearly impassive. While the other Parker kids and Dawn silently cried at various points during the service, Kai only stared into the far, seemingly not listening to anything that was said.

When Joshua Parker went to say his eulogy, saying goodbye to his wife and the mother of his children, Bonnie felt bad for the man for the first time since she met him. If Mr. Parker was good at one thing, it was using words to create vivid pictures. He made the life that the two had lived together sound like a fairytale and Bonnie teared up. This was the only point Kai had shown any kind of reaction. It wasn't sadness like everyone else, it was anger. His hatred for his father ran so deep that he couldn't even see passed it at his mother's funeral. Whatever it was Joshua said about his wife that angered Kai so much, Bonnie was sure that if no one made sure of it, the two males would clash today, for sure.

When Evelyn's coffin was being carried out to the grave yard, the Parker family was the first to follow. Bonnie held onto her mother's hand for dear life. Even if she didn't know Evelyn Parker that long, the woman had shown her nothing but kindness. The short time she had been honored with her acquaintance impacted Bonnie in a very special way. She had nothing but respect for this woman and it was hurting to know that she was gone.

After everyone said their last goodbyes, the Parker family led the grievers back to the church and everyone gathered before it once more. Bonnie knew that there would be a memorial at the Parker house after the service but not everyone would be attending so a lot of people were gathered around the family members to express their condolences. It took the two Bennetts a while to reach the family because of the amount of people in front of the church but finally they did. Abby went to shake Joshua's hand, expressing her condolences. It was probably the first time ever that the two adults weren't at each other's throats but an occasion like this seemed to calm everyone's heads a little.

While Abby was talking to Joshua and Dawn, Bonnie headed straight to Kai, only to be jumped at by Briana. Bonnie hugged her tight. The small girl was in desperate need of comfort and Bonnie was afraid to let go of her. When Briana moved on to hold on to Joey's hand instead of Bonnie's, Bonnie slowly strayed towards Kai, who was pretending to be in a conversation with Jo and some old man. When their gazes met, Kai ditched the two without a single word and went to meet Bonnie halfway. She embraced him in a tight hug once they reached each other and she didn't let go of him for minutes.

When they let go of each other, Bonnie got a good glance at his expression. Just like during the service there was not a hint of emotion to be seen, even though he tried to smile at her right now.

"How are you feeling?" Bonnie asked while she took his hand.

Kai shrugged. "Okay, I guess." It was more like a question rather than an answer. Bonnie's intense inspection of his face puzzled him. "Is everything alright with you?"

Good, at least he hasn't forgotten what human emotions looked like, he was simply not able or not willing to produce them himself at the moment. To Bonnie it seemed like he was walking down a dangerous road. Bonnie knew there were different ways of grieving but pushing away your feelings was never good.

Bonnie nodded at smiled to overplay her concern. Right now was not the time to address this topic. She needed more quiet for that. "Yeah, it's just been a lot lately."

"I know." Kai leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Despite her worries for him, the gesture send the well know butterflies out through her entire body.

"Hey sweetie." Abby's voice reached them from the left. She smiled and turned towards Kai, hugging him to her. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm managing, somehow." Kai answered when Abby finally let go of him. Bonnie wanted to roll her eyes at his comment. If by 'managing' he meant suppress, then she totally agreed with him. But he was probably not aware of his actions so there was no way of blaming him for this and Bonnie suppressed her urge to make a sarcastic comment. Kai and her hadn't had their first real fight yet and she had no desire to rush into it, but she somehow had the feeling that this whole topic might turn out into their first fight. But tonight was not the day for that.

"Baby, I was gonna head home, are you coming along or do you want to stay?" Abby asked her daughter. Bonnie had promised to be there for the memorial, not only to Kai but also Jo. But she really wanted to get out of this dress and get into something more comfortable.

"No, I'll catch a ride with you." Bonnie said and she noticed Kai's attention spiking so she quickly reassured him. "Just to get a change of clothes. I'll be back later for the memorial, okay?" Bonnie placed her hand on his arm and Kai nodded.

"Alright, see you in a bit." Bonnie stood up on her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on Kai's cheek before she turned around and followed her mother. She threw a glance over her shoulder to watch Kai one more time but he was already surrounded by people again.

Bonnie hurried to catch up with her mother. When the two were in the car Abby asked if Kai was really okay. Even she had picked up on this freaking deadness. Bonnie reassured her mother that he'd be alright, eventually, hoping that what she said would come true.

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The black jeans and blouse Bonnie had changed into were a whole lot more comfortable. She was glad that she had decided to change before getting to the Parker's. When she entered she saw a bunch of strangers, still dressed in fancy suits and dresses but when Melinda passed by her, she noticed that she had also decided to change from her funeral dresses to more comfortable clothes.

She told her that she would find the others in the backyard. When Bonnie stepped outside she found nearly the entire family, except Joshua and Melinda, sitting around a table. Even the twins were there, one of them sitting on their grandmother's lap the other one sleeping peacefully on Jo's. The heads turned to her when she stepped outside and she was greeted with a warm hello. The Parker's had gotten so used to her being around. When Melina caught Bonnie and Kai kissing in the kitchen a few days ago, she was running around the house screaming and telling everyone about what she saw. She probably did it to piss off Kai, because she knew that he didn't like the way certain news were handled in the family but Bonnie had to think that maybe she just did it because deep down, the 'mature' Melinda was still just a kid.

"Why are you all hiding out here?" Bonnie asked while she headed to where Kai was sitting.

"Have you been in there? It's like a freaking zoo." Joey scoffed and Bonnie understood. She sat down on the armrest of Kai's chair and smiled down on him. The corner of his lips went up for the tiniest part of a second before he went back looking uninterested. Her chest slightly pinged as she saw the change happen but she didn't let it show on her face, instead she placed a reassuring hand on Kai's shoulder as the conversation, that Bonnie's arrival interrupted, resumed.

"Anyways, I thought he was being out of line, that's all." Jo concluded a statement that she previously started. Bonnie couldn't follow but apparently the others could and everyone agreed with her. She felt Kai lean back in his chair. Instead of showing any kind of reaction to Jo's statement like the others did, Kai only looked into the far of their back yard.

"Alright my darlings, it is time for me to get these little nuggets to bed." Dawn carefully rose, seeing that Lucas- or was it Olivia?- seemed to have fallen asleep as well. She put the baby into the buggy before taking the second baby off Jo's lap and repeating her actions. She left the other kids alone and disappeared into the house.

When his grandmother was out of sight, Joey leaned forward and said, in a hushed voice "So, should we do something about it?"

"No way! Nothing is set in stone anyways so leave it be, Joey." Jo immediately and firmly said and Bellamy seemed to agree with her. Bonnie couldn't follow the conversation but it seemed important to Joey. It was probably the same topic they had been talking about before. Joey wasn't satisfied with that answer and looked over to Kai for his reaction.

"What are you looking to me for?" he asked bored.

"Well, what do you think?" Joey asked directly.

Kai shrugged. "Do something, or don't. What do I care?" Kai waved off the question and Joey seemed confused.

"I thought that you might have the strongest opinion about it."

"Why?"

"Because it's dad being a dick? Normally, you would jump at his throat if he decided something over our heads. And this is something major, I thought that you might be a little more concerned about the fact that he wants Briana and the twins to go to boarding school once it's time because it is more convenient for him now that mom isn't around anymore."

Bonnie raised her eyebrows at what Joey had mentioned. Mr. Parker wanted the three youngest to go to boarding school? Wasn't that a little early and a little drastic to decide just after their mother had died? Bonnie turned to look at Kai again who still seemed too relaxed and uncaring in his chair.

"I just think there is nothing to be done about it if dad had set his mind to it. We don't have any right to object to this so it would be a waste of time to even think about it. But go ahead, talk to dad about it. He sure would be happy to hear your opinion and consider it in his decision." Kai spat out.

Joey glared at his brother, something like betrayal visible in his eyes. "Wow, I never thought I'd see this day. We should all go and bow to the almighty Joshua Parker for finally breaking Kai's personality. Since when have you become dad's little lap dog?"

Kai's face darkened at Joey's statement and he leaned forward. "What did you say to me?"

"I think you heard me just fine." Joey spat back.

"Alright guys, that's enough." Jo tried to interfere and Bonnie placed her hand on Kai's arm in order to draw him back casually. But Kai freed himself out of her grip when Joey got to his feet and provocatively loomed over Kai. The latter was about to follow his brother's example if Bonnie wouldn't have gotten up from the armrest and placed herself in front of Kai, successfully blocking him from his brother's figure while Jo tried to calm Joey down at the other end of the table.

"Kai, please." Bonnie uttered and wanted to continue calming him down when a commanding voice reached them form the patio door.

"Is there a problem out here?"

Everyone turned to watch Joshua Parker's firm posture standing in the opened door, watching his children and Bonnie. Jo was quick to reassure her father that everything was under control but Bonnie knew better when she saw the way Kai still glared at his brother.

"Good." Joshua said coldly. "Malachai, I need you to come with me." He then commanded, leaving no doubt that this wasn't a request but a command. Kai inhaled deeply once more before getting up. Bonnie stepped away from him just an inch so that he would have enough room to stand. He quickly took her left hand in his and squeezed it before he turned to follow his father inside. When he was gone, Joey snorted annoyed.

"See what I'm talking about?" Joey pointed in the direction Kai and his father had just disappeared to.

"You should play it down a little, Joey." Bonnie said, annoyed at his unreasonable outburst. Joey only shook his head and went inside.

Bonnie exhaled and let herself fall into Kai's abandoned chair. No matter how much she loved this family, being with them was always nerve wrecking. Bonnie wondered if this was just how it was when you had siblings.

"Excuse my stupid brothers, I guess they are a little on edge these days." Jo apologized.

"Don't bother. It's not like I'm not used to this kind of tension." Bonnie joked and Jo chuckled. She moved over from her seat across the table to sit down next to Bonnie.

"How are you doing?" Bonnie asked her friend. She hadn't had the opportunity to talk to Jo earlier at the funeral and she needed to make sure she was doing okay.

"It's hard. Especially when my siblings behave like this. Sometimes I feel like their nanny not their sister." Jo said honestly and Bonnie could completely understand after what she just witnessed.

"You know you can always talk to me, right?" Bonnie placed her right hand on Jo's and squeezed.

Jo smiled. "Can I? I mean, now that you and my twin brother are in cahoots, you're sure you can stay liberal on matters that concern him?" Jo looked at her, a mocking smile on her face.

The two broke into laughter. It was good seeing that at least one Parker was handling this situation accordingly. "Trust me Jo, you will never hear me say anything against you if you're complaining about Kai. I get what kind of pain in the ass he can be." Bonnie chuckled and the two friends smiled at each other.

"Hey, I never got to tell you that I am really happy that the two of you finally hit it off." Jo stated. "You two are really great together and I think that Kai really need someone like you in his life right now."

Bonnie couldn't help but feel the heat rush to her cheeks at Jo's nice words. "Thanks, Jo."

Jo smiled at her but then suddenly her smile died. The expression on her face reminded her of the expression she had worn earlier in front of the church. "What is it, Jo?"

"You know when you asked me if I thought Kai's behavior was odd and I said that he'll be okay eventually, that you shouldn't worry about it because that was his way of handling things?" Jo asked and Bonnie nodded. "Well, maybe I wasn't right about that." Jo continued.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked worried.

"These past few days, I have noticed the same things you told me about. He seems moody, which is not anything too strange for him, but he only seems to be in a bad mood over something concerning dad or otherwise he's just- I don't know, apathetic. I had put it off as grief but somehow I feel like he is not facing his emotions properly. I'm kind of worried what this might lead into and he won't let me in."

Bonnie sighed. Her fears about Kai's recent behavior were returning at full scare now that Jo had confirmed them. "I'm waiting for the right moment to address this, but I'm afraid that he still might not talk to me about it. It's like he is suppressing his feelings and I don't have a way in." Bonnie confessed her concern.

"But will you try? I'm really worried, Bonnie."

"Of course I will. This is no way of handling his grief. I want to help but I can't if he won't let me. I can't promise anything but I will try and make him open up." Bonnie promised and Jo squeezed her hand thankfully.

The wind had picked up around them and the sun that had warmed the earth during the day was starting to set, giving way for the clouds to take over. Bonnie shivered.

"Alright guys, let's get inside." Jo said to Bellamy, Briana and Bonnie and stood up. Bellamy took his younger sisters hand and led her inside. Jo followed his example and took Bonnie's hand into hers. When they were inside, Jo turned to close the door behind her. There were slightly fewer people in the house now, but it still took Bonnie a while to find a place to sit. On their way over to the couch Bonnie and Jo spotted Kai and Joshua.

The two were standing in the hallway, away from all the guests and out of earshot. Joshua was speaking to Kai, in what seemed like a seriously angry way. Kai didn't look at his father and seemed like he had trouble keeping himself in check. Bonnie and Jo threw each other a worried glance and secretly agreed to get over there to be de-escalating the situation but someone else was faster than them.

Dawn Abbott joined father and son and started to talk insistently to Joshua. Kai stepped back a little behind his grandmother and watched her. A hint of the devilish smile Bonnie had seen on Kai so often appeared on his face. From the far, it seemed like Joshua was being scolded like a dog by Dawn. He lowered his gaze and Dawn's forefinger pointed at him accusingly, only stressing the impression of a dog and it's owner. After a while Joshua seemed to have come around and briefly said something to Kai. The latter replied something and turned around to leave him alone, his grandmother following him to talk to him in private.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked, a little taken aback by the scene.

"Well that was granny doing what she does best." Jo laughed. It seemed like she had seen something like this play out more often. The fact that she could laugh about it confused Bonnie even more. Jo witnessed her confusion and elaborated further. "It's obvious that dad and Kai don't get along very well. Dad is always too hard on him, expecting thing from him that are more than utopian. Actually, Kai is always doomed to fail in dad's eyes. You may have noticed that granny isn't dad's biggest fan. They never liked each other but granny always had a soft spot for Kai. I think he is her favorite. So, whenever she has a chance to protect Kai from dad's irrational wrath, she does and in a convincing way, as you just saw. I think granny is the only person that dad is actually afraid of. That's why he doesn't like when she's visiting or when we, especially Kai, spent too much time in England. He thinks her personality could rub off on us."

All that Jo just said made sense. The way Dawn talked to Joshua, Joshua backing off and the way she was now talking to Kai, in what seemed like the total opposite to the way she had just spoken to his father. But something about all this was bothering Bonnie. "You say this like you don't even mind that Kai is Dawn favorite."

Jo laughed again. "How could I, Bonnie? I know that granny loves all of us dearly, she has enough love to suffocate all of us a hundred times over. I love Kai so much, he is like my second half, and so does granny. How can I blame her for feeling exactly the same as I do? Also, I think he can use someone in his corner." Jo looked at her and then smiled. "And now that he has you, I don't even have to be so worried about him once granny leaves for England."

Bonnie looked at her with wide eyes. Jo didn't say anything else but only went to sit down next to Briana at the couch. Bonnie stayed put, a little startled by what Jo just implied about Bonnie being Kai's new crutch in life. The importance Kai's twin sister assigned Bonnie with was encouraging and scary at the same time.

She was still frozen in place and in her thoughts when she felt someone take her hand and put a soft kiss on her knuckles. Bonnie awoke out of her rigor and looked into Kai's gray eyes. She had to smile instantly at the now familiar feeling that spread through her whenever he was close.

"You okay? You seemed to be thinking about something." Kai asked.

"I'm good. What about you? What was that talk with your dad all about?"

Kai scoffed. "He was trying to get me to talk to some of his company clowns. I don't know why but when I refused he thought it was time for a serious father-son conversation in which he only ranted about my inability to behave properly at- well anything."

Bonnie reached out her hand to cup his face. She couldn't believe that Joshua would go just as far as using his wife's funeral to push Kai further into the role as company heir. Kai seemed to be pretty cool about it, either because he didn't expect anything from his father anymore or because of his weird way of being untouched by anything lately. Even though Kai didn't seem to need comforting, he still closed his eyes and leaned into Bonnie's touch. Out of all the emotions he suppressed, Bonnie was at least glad that he seemed to allow the feelings revolving around herself to be present at all times.

Kai reopened his eyes and looked at her with warmth. Bonnie smiled lovingly at him and pulled him down to her for their first kiss that day. It lasted only seconds but after it Kai rested his forehead against hers. "Thanks for being here, Bon."

"There's no place in the world I'd rather be." Bonnie silently confessed.