Cath Trilogy: Hey Jane

Nicole and Max sat next to Ryan and empathized with him as his body shook from his sobs. The priest read the last rites, and Claire gave her son a knowing look from next to Max.

In the back of the pews, Jane and Rhys sat together. They both looked nervous and out of place. Jane put her hand to her neck and played with the locket that hung there.

“Both of my parents are alive, but Daniel isn’t. How’s that fair?” Jane asked and Rhys looked at the floor. “I don’t know that I deserve to live instead of him.”

Rhys looked at her then took a deep breath. “We’re all here for a reason, and even though it’s not always fair, everything is out of our hands. No one can control who lives and who dies so saying that you should die instead of someone else is just wishful thinking. In our profession, we can’t afford that.”

Jane just stared at him before asking, “Do you believe in God?”

“Not in Jesus, but I think there are things in this world that are inexplicable. There has to be some force that isn’t science that helps drive this world.”

“I can’t afford that wishful thinking,” Jane took a moment to answer.

Rhys smiled at her and realized that the funeral was over, and they were being ushered to a different room. Ryan stayed behind to look at Danny once more before he was cremated.

His mother stayed behind with him to serve as an anchor. “I wish I had taken more pictures,” Ryan whimpered. “The biggest fight we had was about how I didn’t want him to take pictures so often. I thought it was just a waste of time.”

His mother looked at him and said, “You don’t need need pictures. You’ve got the memories in your head.” As a joke, she added, “Both of them.”

“Mom, you’re so gross,” he smiled and went for the comfort of her grip.

There are plenty of of gay, bi, pan or trans men who will fill in the hole your father left in you. Maybe a few girls if you ever try that,” Claire shrugged. “Which I advise against because girls are evil.”

“Says the girl,” Danny muttered.

“I’m a girl!?” Claire gasped in mock horror.

Ryan chuckled and laid eyes on Danny. The boy has his eyes closed and his eyes moved into a forced smile. Ryan expected him to open his eyes and start complaining that the room was too hot or too cold or the next book in the series he was enthralled with wasn’t coming out soon enough for his liking. He would have been so excited to find out that Jane and Rhys came to his funeral. There had even been a nice lesbian couple who had looked familiar to Ryan. Danny would have recognized them in a heartbeat.

“Come on, everyone else is going to be wanting some alone time with him,” Claire led Ryan to the parish hall where they had the option to bolt and not have to be social. In the end, they decided it would be rude, and they would rather pretend to fit in. The only connection that the had with any of these people had been Danny, so they wouldn’t stay too long. A few minutes at the most.

Danny’s parents looked at them for a moment as if deciding whether or not they were to blame. It took them no time at all to come up and take Ryan under their wings. “How have you been managing?” Mrs. Richman asked with kind, gentle eyes.

“Fine,” Ryan lied.

“I’m sure you will be,” she said with a smile. “Just give it some time.”

“Thank you,” Ryan put on a smile of his own. Smiling hadn’t been in his field of expertise even if the smile was genuine.

“You’ll make it through,” Mr. Richman put a reassuring hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “We believe in you.”

With that, they walked back into the crowd of mourners. They received hugs and words similar to those they had given Ryan. He looked at Jane and Rhys for a moment.

Jane’s expression was something that made even him a little fearful. She was pale and begging Rhys to go. She didn’t offer him a reason, just said, “We need to leave.”

Too late, they were approached by Jamie Macleod and her current, serious girlfriend. “Hello,” Jamie said to them.

Rhys just looked at her with a blank expression, “Hi.”

Jamie had red hair that was a bit of a mess. Her face had freckles, more than Jane but not too many. Her skin was pale and contrasted her brown eyes which were medium while the woman she was with had tan skin and darker eyes. The woman next to her had blonde hair with her dark eyes which had streaks that matched Jamie’s eyes. They both had hair that ran to their shoulders, while Jamie’s hair was longer, but the woman next to her had more layers in her hair.

Jane tried to keep her wits about her, so naturally, she sputtered, “What do you want?” She didn’t care that she came off as having the emotional range of a pebble.

“I just wanted to say hi,” Jamie said, and the woman next to her tried to fade away.

“Do I know you?” Jane asked the woman with her senses still tingling.

“No,” the woman spoke the truth. “My name is Agatha.”

Jane gave a moment of confusion before her blood flow settled to a normal pace. “Jane,” she held out her hand.

“I know,” Agatha said.

“Oh,” Jane had a blank face until Rhys nudged her, causing her to think of the most appropriate reaction to what Agatha had said. She put on a frown of confusion.

“Nice talking to you guys,” Jamie said before taking Agatha in her arm and leaving.

“That was weird,” Jane said.

“Yeah,” Rhys scoffed then said, “Now we have weirder stuff. Time’s up, and I can’t believe Adam didn’t fall for a single one of our traps.”

“Do I have to tell Michael and Gabriel?” Jane asked Rhys.

“They’re your dads,” Rhys raised his hands. “This is your call.”

Jane sighed, and they went out to their already packed car to pick up William and Lucifer. They still hadn’t been able to think about age differences or the way William had traveled.