The next afternoon, Morgan and Kevin were met at the airport by one of her father’s friends. He had explained on the way to the hotel that her father had been diagnosed with cancer two weeks earlier and had not wanted to deal with all the medical difficulties. He took the easy way out and had taken his own life by taking an entire bottle of sleeping pills and drinking an entire bottle of Scotch.
The next morning, Kevin and Morgan got out of the limo when it pulled up in front of the funeral home on the military base in San Diego. As they walked in the front door, the funeral director approached them.
“Good morning. May I be of some assistance, Ma’am?” the young woman asked.
“Yes. I’m Morgan Wolf and this is my fiancé, Kevin. Are you Sarah?” Morgan asked as she took off her sunglasses.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Do you know if…Never mind, my question was just answered,” Morgan said, as she saw her two older sisters walk in the door.
Kevin felt her stiffen slightly and heard her tone of voice change even as he saw the two women walk in the room.
“Morgan, why are you here?” one of the women hissed at her.
“The same reason you are, Cassandra: to pay my last respects to our father,” Morgan said, her eyes growing cold.
If her cold eyes sent chills down Kevin’s spine, the cold smile on her lips caused a shiver of fear through his body. “I’m terribly sorry, where are my manners? Cassandra, Kimberly, my fiancé, Kevin Richardson; Kevin, my sisters.”
“As in Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys? Who are you trying to kid, Morgan?” Cassandra smirked, looking at the tall dark-haired man wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, his long hair pulled back in a ponytail.
“Yep, the one and only; and yes, we are engaged,” the tall man said, as he took his sunglasses off. “It took a lot of convincing on my part as well as the rest of our friends to even get her on the plane to come here. I’m also very aware of the trouble you two caused her about your mother’s death; I don’t suggest you do that again. Just remember that you are the only blood family that any of you have now,” Kevin stated.
Morgan’s two sisters realized that it was Kevin Richardson of BSB and both turned brilliant smiles on him. “Well, at least our little sister is doing good for herself. You have anymore friends?”
Kevin was disgusted by the immediate change in the two women. “As a matter of fact, the rest of the Boys will be here any minute, with their girlfriends and I believe AJ will be here with his wife & step-daughter,” he said with a smile, watching as the girls’ expressions fell.
“Now, if you don’t mind,” Morgan said to her sisters, “I’d like to pay my respects to my father. Excuse us,” she said, as she and Kevin made their way to the room where her father’s body was ready to be viewed. They walked into the room, but Morgan stopped halfway to the casket, “I can’t do this, Kev. I just can’t!”
“Yes, you can, Baby Girl,” said a soft voice behind them.
Morgan turned around and saw Sully and Alexis walking into the room, followed by the rest of their friends.
“I told ya they would be here,” Kevin said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Sully walked up to her and put his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. “Come on, Morgan, we’ll walk with you,” he said, as he & Kevin led her towards the casket.
Tears filled her eyes as she looked at her father’s face for the first time in ten years. He had been a big man in life: tall, well muscled, and strong; but ten years and excessive alcohol consumption had not changed him.
Looking at the body of the man that had caused her so much pain, she broke down and cried, knowing in her heart that she had already forgiven him. Kevin and Sully led her over to a nearby pew, both men still holding her.
When Cassandra & Kimberly walked into the room twenty minutes later, Morgan had composed herself. She, Sully and Tessa had knelt down, holding hands and were praying softly in Gaelic. The rest of their friends had gathered around them, holding hands and each praying quietly.
The two sisters were noticed after the group finished their prayer. They were also surprised when Morgan walked up to them, her eyes a warm, deep, steel blue and smiled slightly, and spoke quietly. “I know you blame me for a lot of things, none of which has any basis. I was not to blame for our mother’s death, no matter what Dad may have told you. I forgive him for the pain he caused me after Mom’s death; I also forgive the two of you for the pain and humiliation that you caused me by not taking me back to Europe with you.”
Then with Kevin’s arm around her shoulders, she walked past them, her friends following close behind, walking out to the waiting limo and went back to their hotel.
Morgan had declined going to the wake that afternoon, leaving her sisters to deal with everybody. As she and Kevin were in the hotel’s restaurant trying to enjoy an early dinner, her two sisters approached their table. “Morgan? Is it alright if we ask to talk with you?” Kimberly asked, a shy smile on her lips.
Morgan put her wineglass down and looked up at her sisters, but it was Kevin who spoke. "“Why don’t you three girls sit and talk over dessert? Morgan, I’ll tell the waiter to just charge it to our room. I need to go get Diana and walk her, anyway. Ladies, if you will excuse me?” he said and got up. As he walked past Morgan, he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, whispering in her ear, “I love you. You need to do this.”
Morgan watched as Kevin walked out of the restaurant, tears in her eyes, knowing he was right.
She picked up her wineglass again and signaled to the waiter to come to the table.
“May I get you anything else, Ms. Wolf?”
“Yes, I’d like the strawberry cheesecake and the rest of the bottle of this wine, please. Would you two like anything?” she asked her sisters. “Now, what have we missed the last ten years?” she asked with a sad smile as the waiter walked off to get her sisters’ orders.
Almost two hours later, the sisters hugged and agreed that the talk with each other had gone well; they had been able to begin the reconstruction of their relationship, and to begin the healing process.
