His baby sister, the little brunette bundle Eliza had brought home when he was seven had never been the same, not since Ariadne’s death. Not since an intoxicated fool ended the life of her other half, Z, himself never quite understood the agony Andy endured, until now, until Raz was taken from him.
A bottle of whiskey and a locked office never became a pleasure until now, his mind focused on the case files before him, his heart elsewhere. Raziel’s death had shaken a whole community, a town peppered with fear over the slaughter of a Constable, but this death was not just the murder of a Constable. It was the killing of a brother, a son, an uncle and no amount of liquor, no amount of condolences could change that.
The file on his desk was not a case, it was a will to accompany the funeral he had the duty of planning. He was the eldest child, the son who had to put on a mask of bravery and bury his little brother, no matter how much it pained him. Eyes rimmed with shades purple, lips chapped, exhaustion painted his features, Z sighed, shaking his head at his sister, this was no task for a mother to be. “Andy, you need to go home.” It wasn’t a suggestion, it was an order.
“You are more stressed than any mother should be, for my niece or nephews sake you have to stay out of this.” It was a huff as he ran his fingers over dark strands, he was barely able to complete the task, but grieving was not an option, weakness was not an option.
Andy didn’t make a habit of visiting her brother’s law firm, lawyers and cops, she’d learned to avoid when she ran away at seventeen. She was twenty now, and pregnant and there was no need to fear them because she wasn’t breaking any laws. Still, being in the building even alone with her brother, made her uneasy, but it was better than the alternative: not being around him. He’d just about locked himself up in his office all alone to plan the funeral for his dead brother. The oldest son, he would find a way to bear this burden alone so they would not have to feel it.
She could let him do that, of course, it was Z who’d grown up with Raz, they’d been the first sons, close in age and they had been brothers. He had lost a sister, too, when Ari was lost, but Andy had felt that pain more than all of them, her twin. Anything she had felt than must have been what he was feeling now and she would not let him bear that alone. Her hands fell to her stomach as her daughter or son moved fitfully inside of her. There was only so much weight she could hold, because of them, but she would find a way to help her family too.
She wanted to stand up to her brother, cross her arms and hold her chin high like when she was little, with a look that dared him to tell her what to do again. Truth was, she just didn’t have the energy for it. What would she tell him? That she wasn’t tired? That wasn’t true, on top of always being bone-tired, her dreams were haunted, and sleep was rare. ‘ I don’t want to. ’ No one had cared much lately what she wanted, she remembered, but that didn’t stop her from crossing the room in a few strides and placing her chin on her brother’s shoulder.
‘ I want to be with you, I don’t.. I can’t go home.. ’ Adrian was understanding enough, he had felt pain too, she knew ( THOUGH NOT WHAT ), and he would do anything to help her, but he didn’t know her brother and this grief was something she could only share with her siblings. If the bastards would feel it, she thought as she wrapped her arms around her brother’s chest, burying her face in his jaw. ‘ Just let me stay, talk to me, Z.. ’