Checking In (Rose)

[Milo Faulkner]

Milo couldn't remember anything about his father, save for one moment when he was scared due to a thunderstorm, and his father was hugging him until he fell asleep, according to Milo's mother. He always believed this was just something that came into his memories because of how many times his mother told him about it. He was told he was only a couple of months old, and only a week later, his father was killed while working on a story on dragons.

Even though, for all intents and purposes, Milo never knew his father, he felt like he did because his mother would talk about him often. He would visit the graveyard where his father was with Kyla a lot, and it was a habit that stuck.

He kneeled beside his father's grave, his eyes tracing the letters carved into the stone. Milo worried a lot, and dying was definitely on the top of his list. He didn't want to become this, a memory and a stone, but it was too late to change any of that. Someone would miss him, and he would be talked about. Being around his father reminded him of this.

"Hey, dad. Sorry, I know it's been a while since I've been here. How fair is this, that we always meet this way? Mom says how I should be meeting you at home during weekly dinners... she says how excited you were when I was born, your only son. Now look at me, sensitive and barely able to make money to pay mom back for everything. I'm not a very good son, am I?" He said, staring at the ground where his father's head was six feet under him.

Behind him, he heard someone walk up. Thinking it was either his mother or sister, he turned around with a smile on his face, but saw the one person he had the worst relationship with.

[Rose Faulkner]

Rose's weekly visits with Daddy were a very private thing. She always went on Sunday, because that had always been the traditional Daddy-Daughter day for them. They would pick a place to go each week, and he would take her out and spend the whole day with her. They went to the zoo, or they'd spend a whole day in London, or he'd take her to a play or a movie, or they'd go to the beach or an amusement park. It was always just the two of them. Kyla and Milo had been too young to come along, so Rose had him all to herself. She should have felt sorry for her brother and sister, because they never got to have those memories of their father. Instead, she guarded them jealously, held them up as proof that she was the favorite child.

She would remember them each week, and would bring him something from one of the places they used to go, so that Sunday would always be Daddy-Daughter day. But every other day, she refused to talk about him or mention him at all. It was no one's business, just hers.

Today she had stopped at the amusement park, bought hotdogs and cotton candy and even won a small teddy bear, which she would leave for him. Then she went into the ladies' room and apparated to the cemetary. She walked through the gates and made her way to her father's grave.

But as she approached, her heart sank. Someone was already there. Someone was intruding on her day with her father.

She knew who it was, even though she probably hadn't seen him in a year. Milo. He didn't realize it, but he looked a little like their father, which had always made Rose jealous. She looked like their mother, black hair and wide brown eyes. Kyla looked like both of them.

Angrily, she walked over to him, her arms still full of her treasures. "What are you doing here?" she demanded rudely.

[Milo Faulkner]

Milo wasn't surprised to have been met in such a way by Rose. They hadn't seen each other in a while, Milo had honestly lost count of how long it had been, but he wasn't expecting her to hug him and be glad to see him.

His smile vanished as he stood up, turning to his sister. She had snacks and a teddy bear with her, something Milo found weird. Was she going to leave that there, even though their father wasn't there to enjoy it? On the other hand, were you supposed to do that, bring stuff while visiting a dead relative? Milo had never seen his mother or Kyla do it, so he assumed he hadn't needed to.

He felt an instant of pity for his sister, seemingly stuck in her childhood when their father was still around. Even though they didn't get along, Milo still felt bad that his sister was so attached to him, even now.

"I'm saying hi to dad, what does it look like?" He asked, the rudeness in his voice not intentional. He never liked to stoop to his sister's level and be uncivil; he always tried to keep the peace, something his mother and Kyla were much better at.

[Rose Faulkner]

Rose narrowed her eyes at him. He may have been her brother, but to her he was practically a stranger. She preferred it that way. She could still remember when Milo had been born; their father's excitement over "finally" having a son after two daughters still filled her with bitterness. She had hated him even then, because she had been so sure that when he got old enough, Milo would take all of their father's time and she would be forgotten. Then Daddy-Daughter days would be no more, and in their place would be Father-Son days. She had been angry and hurt and convinced that she would be thrown away like an old toy.

No one knew this, in fact, but one night she had tried to smother baby Milo with a pillow... but she couldn't quite bring herself to do it. She may have been filled with a lot of anger, but she couldn't quite bring herself to harm another person. Her soul was not that black.

And then their father had died, and Milo never got to know their father. In a way, Rose was glad of this, because it meant that she was the only one who had really gotten to know their father. He was hers forever. And Sunday was her day.

"Why would you need to say hi to him?" she said in a superior tone. "You never even knew him."

[Milo Faulkner]

Milo was ready to walk away, trying not to start any trouble with his sister, no matter how impossible that is. He didn't understand why Rose was so attached to him; maybe it was hard because he never had that relationship with his father, but Milo knew he would probably feel the same if his mom were to pass away.

"Rose, I'm sorry I'm here on 'your day' with dad. I know I didn't know him, but if you stuck around the house long enough you would realize mom talks about him so much that it feels like I knew him." Milo replied. He turned back to the gravestone, knowing that no parent would want their children fighting. He wondered if his father knew about the way Rose treated everyone, if he really was still watching over them.

"I feel like I should at least say something to him. If it makes you feel better, Kyla and our mother usually come down here a lot, too." Milo said, a smile on his face as he pictured Rose throwing a fit that the other members of their family came, too.

[Rose Faulkner]

No, that did not make her feel any better, and her frown deepened into a fierce scowl. In moments like this, she almost reverted back to childhood, and it took every bit of strength she had not to stomp her foot and throw a royal fit, like an 8 year old girl.

It didn't even occur to her that her father would be quite disappointed in her, if he could see her this way. She was selfish where he was concerned, and she needed to believe that she was the most important person to him. No one could possibly grieve for him as much as she did.

She had never really got along well with her mother, even before her father's death. She had been a Daddy's Girl since day one, and it had never changed, even with his death. Over the years, her relationship with her mother deteriorated until it was basically non-existent. Out of everyone in the family, the only one she could tolerate was Kyla, and even then, only barely.

Looking at Milo at that moment, Rose wasn't sure what to do. She wanted to yell at him, to scream and scratch at his eyes. Seeing him here just set something ablaze inside her, and she wanted to let loose on him. But she had an armful of goodies and she wanted to share them with Dad, even though he wasn't there to enjoy them.

"You didn't know him," she said again, gritting her teeth. "Not like I did. Stop acting like you have some kind of right to be here."

[Milo Faulkner]

Milo rolled his eyes at her. She was being stubborn, like he figured she would. He knew she wasn't going to walk away and leave Milo to finish his conversation with his father, and she wasn't going to let him forget the day she caught him here, whenever they would see each other again. Rose wasn't exactly the type to come around for weekly dinner at the house.

"I have just as much right to be here as you do!" Milo said. He felt terrible having this fight here. "I am his son. No matter how young I was when he died, nothing can change that." He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, and looked to the ground. Part of him wished Rose would get over whatever she still clung to about their father and move on with her life, but Milo knew that was just wishful thinking.

"Look... if it'll make you happy I'll leave, and you can have your little fantasy discussion with him. He isn't coming back, Rose, no matter how hard you pretend." Milo had raised his voice unintentionally, and he wished he could take the anger in his words away. He normally wasn't a mean guy, but his sister's selfishness got on his last nerve.

[Rose Faulkner]

Rose's jaw set angrily, and she felt the harsh sting of tears burning in her eyes. She turned away slightly, hoping he wouldn't see. The last thing she wanted was to betray any weakness in front of him, because she was sure that he would find a way to exploit it. The fact that Milo wasn't like that didn't occur to her; after all, she was like that, and it was certainly something she would do.

"Fine," she spat. "OK, you do have a right to be here, but not today, OK? Today is my day. You can have any other day of the week, just not today."

She thought she was actually be generous with this. She wanted to block him from ever coming here, but how could she? It was a public place. But today was her day, and she would fight him to make him leave, if she had to.