Pete has always hated funerals. In a way, they all led him to think of his father, so he tended to avoid them. This time, it was impossible to avoid. Artie had been taken from them too soon, and another hole had been ripped into his heart. The last four days have been a blur of comforting his children and crying into Myka's hair. He looked around and wondered how she had pulled this off so quickly and so well.
He watched her, kneeling behind their son, who was crying softly to himself, and was struck with a feeling of admiration. He has always admired his wife, and all the amazing things she manages to pull off. And he loves how gentle she can be with her children, putting their feelings ahead of her own, allowing them to lean on her as they need her. Today she will crash. And it won't be pretty.
He felt a hand on the small of his back, and turned around, meeting the eyes of Vanessa. Her blonde hair was pulled back, and she wore a red shirt and black blazer, looking professional as always. He immediately wrapped the older woman in a hug, listening to her sniffle in his ear. He rubbed her back. "It's nice to see you." He said to her. He left out the part about the bad circumstances, he always hated that part.
She pulled away and nodded back at him. "Same to you." She glanced around the room. "This place looks great."
Pete nodded and grinned. "Yeah, Myka does some great work. I don't know where she found the time." He glanced over at his wife, who looked deep in conversation with their nine year old.
Vanessa pointed at the young boy. "Is that Martin?" she asked, a small smile on her face. When Pete nodded, she continued. "My god he is big! I haven't seen him since the day he was born." Her face fell, as did Pete's. He hadn't realized how much time had passed since anyone had seen Vanessa. She started to search the room again. "What about Imogen? She has to be around twelve now."
Pete found his daughter quickly, sitting in a chair next to Claudia, her hair straightened and a bracelet on her wrist. He pointed to her. "Ginny is sitting next to Claude, she's thirteen." He explained.
"She looks like Myka." Vanessa observed.
Pete nodded. "Spitting image. If she didn't have my eyes, I would ask Myka if she even needed my DNA to contribute." He joked. He watched Martin walk slowly across the room, heading towards Levi's little girls. He was glad Myka had gotten him to do something other than cry for a moment. Ginny had moved over to Myka quickly, throwing her arms around her Mother's neck.
Vanessa smiled. "Well, she is growing up to be a beautiful young lady. And Martin is a handsome young man. You two must be proud."
Pete nodded and smiled back. He loved his family, it was better than he had ever expected it to be. "Yeah, we are very proud of them." He answered softly. Myka was rocking their daughter slowly in her arms, so Pete turned back to Vanessa. "If you would excuse my rudeness, my girls need me."
She glanced over his shoulder at the two women standing in front of the urn. "Of course. Go be with them." She hugged him once more, quickly, before Pete made his way over to his wife and daughter. He wordlessly wrapped his arms around both of them, feeling his daughter shake with sobs.
Ginny shifted, leaving Myka's embrace, and wrapping her arms around Pete's neck, burying her face in his shoulder. Pete wrapped his arms around Ginny's small frame. While her arms were wrapped around him, he wrapped his around her waist and squeezed, lifting her off of her feet. When he did that in public, she usually rolled her brown eyes at him. Today, it made her laugh a bit. Pete relaxed as she smiled, he didn't want to see her cry anymore. He glanced over at Myka, who was talking to Levi, and over to Martin, who was playing quietly with Kiera and Ashley.
Pete walked over to the chairs, still holding tightly on to his teenage daughter, and sat down, pulling Ginny into his lap. "How are you doing, baby girl?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "Not good. I mean, who will play chess with me, or help me with my homework, or tell me the real stories behind all the Disney fairytales?"
Pete wiped the tears from his little girl's eyes. "Well, Aunt Claude is pretty good at chess, she's even beat Artie a few times. I can always help you with your homework, and Mom knows just about every story known to man." He answered slowly. He didn't know who he was kidding, none of this was the same as Artie. Artie had a special way of storytelling with them, and a special way of teaching that still managed to challenge his children, his special children who had inherited Myka's photographic memory.
Ginny sighed. "I guess. It just won't be the same without Granpa Artie." She answered, her voice hitching.
Pete nodded. "I know, baby. But you are lucky to have had that experience with him. And he will always be with you in your heart." Artie would be in everyone's hearts. He was the one who really advocated for this family that they had grown to become. At first, Pete had worried that it may fall apart, but if these last few days were any indication, it was destined to become stronger than ever.
Ginny sat in the seat on his left as Myka joined them, sitting on his right. Martin sat next to Ginny quietly, and rested his head on her shoulder. As the services started, Pete tuned out. Claudia deliverd a eulogy that brought the room to tears. She called Artie a hero, talking about how he saved her brother, and thus, saved her. She talked all about how Artie was the only father figure she could remember, and how she would always love him for that. And how much she hated the fact that he would never meet her eventual children, if she ever found someone to settle down with. She looked longingly toward Pete and Myka at that point, giving them a small smile. She looked at Vanessa as she talked about not regretting what hadn't happened, but remembering everything that had. When the picture slideshow started is when Myka lost it.
Watching the pictures pass of his life was difficult, but it became harder when they got to the most recent ones, the ones of his life with them. There were numerous selfies that Claudia had made him pose for, pictures of him and Martin together at the piano, Pictures of him bent over a book with Ginny. It was the first time Pete had seen tears fall from Myka's eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, and she coiled into his chest, sobbing quietly. Pete felt selfish. The past four days, she had been doing this for him, and his children, but he hadn't been there for her. That changed today. He held her for the remainder of the service, stroking her hair, rubbing her back, anything he could do to be comforting.
The reception was almost fun. He enjoyed sitting at the table with his family, swapping stories about Artie, listening to Claudia's spot on impression, and just enjoying each other's company. The regents had taken over artifact hunting for a bit so that they could all have time off if they needed it, so it was interesting to see how everyone interacted without the stress of work on their shoulders.
Soon, it was time to go. Pete gathered the kids, and a dazed looking Myka, and headed toward the car. Myka stared ahead the whole trip, her eyes glazed over and unwavering, her brow creased in the center of her face. Pete squeezed her hand so she would look over at him. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"I'll tell you later." She replied to his unasked question. He was happy that they got each other enough to ask each other questions telepathically. It must just come with the territory of being married for almost fifteen years. He nodded and looked ahead as they drove to the Bed and Breakfast.
Once home, Ginny and Martin ran upstairs to change into more comfortable clothing. Myka sat down at the table, and Pete could practically see the gears turning in her head. He sat down across from her. "What's up?" he asked, grabbing on to her hands.
"Mrs. Frederick offered me Artie's job." She answered bluntly.
Pete wasn't surprised. She was the best person for the job, she knew the handbook inside and out, and had a different connection with the warehouse than he did. He nodded. "Okay, that sounds great. What are your thoughts?"
She sighed, her green eyes meeting his. "I don't really know, I mean, it would definitely challenge me in a different way, and it's an amazing offer, and I'm sure it's a raise which will be great in the long run, but…" her voice trailed off.
Pete squeezed her hands a little harder. "But what? It seems like an amazing opportunity for you."
She flashed him a worried smile. "Pete, it means that you will need a new partner."
So she was thinking of him. She always did now, he didn't know why she was surprised. But she couldn't worry about him when this opportunity was so great. "Mykes, I'll be fine, you know that. As long as I can come home to you at night, I don't care who my partner is." Yeah, it would be different, but it was better in the long run.
She ran her thumbs over his hand. "Are you sure you're okay with that?" Pete smiled and nodded in response. She laughed. "Okay. It's settled then, I'll take the job."
He leaned across the table and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Sounds like a good deal to me. You'd be great at that, Mykes." He smiled at her before jumping up from the table. "Now, if you'll excuse me, those finger sandwiches were not nearly enough. I'm starving!" He rubbed his stomach and flashed a smile her way before rushing into the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, it was clearer than ever that no one had really been in their right minds. The ingredients needed to make a good sandwich were missing, along with any leftovers. Pete closed the fridge, disappointed, and made a mental note to do some grocery shopping. He trudged up the stairs, his stomach still growling.
Outside his door, he paused. He could hear voices inside, deep in conversation. He quickly identified the voices as his wife and daughter, deep in conversation. "What I am about to tell you is extremely classified, okay? I only get to tell one person in the world, and I want to tell you." Pete smiled. Ginny was getting older, and it may be time that she knew what her parents actually do for work. He decided to listen in, and get some pointers for when Martin became his One.
"You don't want to tell Dad?" Pete heard his daughter enquire.
"Dad already knows, I don't have to tell him. We share this secret together, and he gets to tell one person too. Since I am telling you, he will eventually tell Martin." Pete heard Myka pause, and even he wondered where she would go next. "It's really hard to explain. You already know that Dad and I collect artifacts, right?" He heard another pause, and guessed that Ginny was nodding. "Well, these artifacts sometimes have magical powers, and sometimes, they threaten to end the world." When said out loud, it sounded like they belonged in an asylum. A lot of agents end up in an asylum anyway. "Like, there was a jar from the Donner Party that froze everyone and made them really hungry." Pete could hear Myka's stomach growl through the door. His lips stretched into a smile when he heard his daughter laugh.
"Bringing back memories for you?" Ginny teased.
Myka laughed. "Yeah!" Pete didn't like to think of that day much, it scared him. Any day that Myka almost died because of an artifact was not a day he liked to remember. He heard her continue. "Your Dad got bit by a guy who was affected, he thought it was a zombie, and told me that if he turned, he wanted me to take him out." As Ginny laughed, Pete smiled. He remembered being appalled when she agreed to take him out so easily. "Two shots to the head, right? Pop! Pop!"
"Typical Dad." He heard Ginny respond. "Zombies are not real." Pete wanted to go in right there. Open the door, and tackle her to the bed and tickle her until she took that back. His arm was on the door, he was poised to pounce, when he realized that it would be known that he was listening the entire time. He backed down, but made sure to remember the comment for later.
"I know. And anyway, he wasn't affected, I was. And he had to work hard to find out what it was that was affecting everybody. As I'm sure you know, the Donner Party didn't end well." Myka explained, knowing full well that Ginny knew what happened during the Donner Party.
"People could have died." Ginny answered.
"Yeah. But Dad saved me." She answered.
After a brief pause, Myka continued. "Artie was our boss, and he saved the world on more than one occasion. He helped us save it. He saved Claudia, and Claudia's brother. He went through a lot, and got very little thanks. He was a hero." Pete felt his own tears begin to well up again, just when he thought he couldn't cry anymore. Truthfully, Artie was more than just their boss, he was a member of their family. As he fought his own tears, he could hear the sniffles on the other side of the door. Now he was in an awkward position. He didn't want them to know he had been listening, but he wanted to comfort them.
He was relieved when Martin came up to them, dressed in Angry Bird pajamas that were slightly too small for him. Ususally they would tell him to change, but tonight, he just wanted his son to be happy, and if too small angry bird pajamas made him happy, then he could wear them. Martin hugged his father from behind. Pete touched the hands that were clasped in front of his throat. "I think Mom and Ginny need some cheering up, want to help me?"
Martin nodded silently. Pete stood up, and pushed the door open slowly. They rushed to the bed, each of them wrapping their arms around the two women on the bed, Ginny in her pajamas, Myka still in her black dress. And they stayed like this for a while, all holding each other up, all there for one another.
"Mom?" Ginny's voice broke the silence, and her brown eyes explored her mother's face. "Will you take me to see it one day soon? The Warehouse?"
Pete wondered if a sense of adventure was something that you were born with, a gene you could pass on. It had been said previously that his mother raised him for the warehouse, whether she intended to or not. He wondered if he and Myka had done the same with their children. Myka smiled softly, and tenderly rubbed Ginny's cheek with her thumb. "Of course, baby. Of course."