My Ex Husband's Father Is My Baby Daddy

The Funeral

The parking lot was busy as the Carrington family arrived at the church, eyes following their movement. Felicia had insisted they all arrived together, putting her hate for Silver aside for appearances' sake.

As they entered the church, people greeted them; many mistook Silver's presence as a sign that she was back together with Burke, much to both Silver and Felicia's dismay.

Inside the church, an empty casket sat before the altar, a reminder of the body that was never recovered. Silver looked away, gripping her mother's hand tightly.

“Let's find a seat," Tatiana whispered, and Silver nodded, sniffing. Bartholomew had come to mean so much to her in the past three years that she never thought this day would come so quickly.

They all walked to the front row, and as they sat, Felicia glanced at them.

“Try not to embarrass the family." The woman gritted out, irritating Silver, but she held her tongue; she wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of ruining the funeral.

The Pastor climbed the podium, preached about how big Bartholomew's heart was and how much impact he made in his lifetime, but not many of the family members seemed to share the same sentiment. Burke left at some point during the message, his face hard. Felicia didn't like it, but she couldn't follow him.

After the service, Silver stood up, wanting to leave before people would start to approach the family to offer their condolences, but she wasn't fast enough.

“Silver Lorraine Carrington, is that you or do my eyes deceive me?!" The Pastor queried excitedly as he came down the altar, his voice loud enough that Silver couldn't pretend not to hear him.

Forcing a smile, she stood in a spot as the man approached her while other members crawled toward the family.

“Hello, Pastor Raymond,” Silver murmured, holding her hand out for a shake, but the older man scoffed and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Come on now, I raised you in these halls, surely you wouldn't insult me with a mere handshake as though we were strangers,” The man boomed, earning him a chuckle from Silver. As they hugged, Silver's eyes met with Felicia, and the woman shot her a glare.

Silver froze, realizing the father had ignored the mourning widow to address her first. Gently, she broke the hug.

“It's good to see you, too, Pastor. And thank you for the service, it was lovely." Silver murmured. The man nodded, his face growing thoughtful as though he was going to say something, but Silver interrupted him before he could.

“The whole family is grateful." She smartly added, shifting her posture so her back was to Felicia and only the pastor could see her face.

Nodding in the other direction, she gave the man a meaningful look. Pastor Raymond blinked, realizing his error, and he grimaced. Patting Silver both in appreciation and dismissal.

“Mrs Carrington!” He boomed, "I'm so sorry for your loss…” The Pastor walked towards Felicia as he spoke, and Silver used the opportunity to escape the church through the back door.

As she walked through the backyard, memories of her childhood assailed her. She used to escape service with Burke and Maya. But it eventually shifted to her and Burke because it was the only time they could be alone without their parents' supervision. The church was holy ground; they didn't expect that they would do anything unholy here, but didn't they?

They were rabbits, barely able to keep their hands off one another.

Silver chuckled, shaking her head as she roamed the green land. She reached the tree house, and she paused when she spotted a familiar figure. His back was to her, the black suit he had on hugging his tall frame. His brown hair was styled backward, and his Oud perfume reached her nose.

Burke turned around, sensing her presence. His eyes were red, and they sobered Silver up, making her swallow the snarky comment at the tip of her tongue. She silently walked towards him, neither of them spoke for a while, they merely stood beside one another, reminiscing on the life Bartholomew lived.

“I’m really sorry you lost him.” Silver eventually said at some point.

Burke glanced at her, studying her face. She had little makeup on, her lips were bare, though. Her hair was packed into a ponytail, the front scantily styled. The black gown she wore was strapless, a fact he didn't like when he first saw her this morning, but now he wished he could push the material further down her body.

Swallowing, he looked away, jerking a nod. He turned around and walked away before more could be said or done; he wasn't in the mood or headspace for it.

Back inside the church, he found his mother now at the gallery talking with some women from the church. He approached them. The coffin was set to leave for the burial ground in thirty minutes from now, after which the reception would take place in the mansion.

Burke had no plans to go to the burial ground; his father wasn't in the coffin, so he saw no point to it. This was all just courtesy. Bartholomew had died in a crash, and his body unfortunately wasn't recovered; the craft exploded into a million pieces.

As he neared the women, the topic of their discussion made him uncomfortable, but he didn't back away.

“So Malia’s really gone?" One woman said.

"Wouldn't you leave if it were you?” Another said.

"What is Burke doing about this? What are you doing about this, Felicia? Surely you're not going to let that girl infiltrate your home again after all she's done?” Someone else questioned.

Felicia was just about to answer when Burke spoke.

"Mom, we need to go.” He said, his voice firm. The gossiping women cowered at his presence; a few of them managed a smile, but Burke didn't care to return it. He hated gossipers.

“Alright,” Felicia responds, standing up. She offered her arm to Burke, and he took it. The mother and son started to walk towards the stairs when suddenly Felicia stopped, her face morphing into a thunderous glare.

“The nerve of this woman and her daughter." She spat. Burke didn't need to look to know she was referring to Tatiana, still he looked. At the edge of the stairs were Tatiana and Pastor Raymond. Tatiana is distraught and sobbing loudly, her face buried in the pastor's chest, who held her gently as he offered words of consolation.

Felicia started towards them, and Burke tried to stop her.

“Mother, no!" He whispered harshly, but Felicia didn't listen. She stormed towards them, her clicking footsteps commanding attention from others in the hall.

“Shit." Burke cursed as he caught up with her. His mother didn't need any further stress, especially on an emotionally challenging day like this, it could trigger her.

“You people just don't know when to stop, do you?” Felicia snarled as she stopped in front of Tatiana and the pastor. Tatiana's head shot up, her eyes bloodshot. Burke blew a breath, trying to communicate with Tatiana through his eyes, but the woman didn't seem to notice him.

“What is it, ma'am?" Tatiana whispered in confusion.

“Oh, please, drop the act! You chased my husband repeatedly when he was alive, and when you couldn't have him, what did you do?

You had your daughter seduce him, and now that you've both succeeded, you won't even allow me the dignity of mourning him without having to contend with both of you for attention?!" Felicia exploded, jabbing accusing fingers at Tatiana. The other woman gasped, taking measured steps back.

"What are you talking about? I never chased Bartholomew. We were friends even before he married you, and I certainly didn't have Silver seduce him; this has all been one big mis…”

"Mama!” Silver snapped from below, cutting the woman off. Tatiana sighed, burying her face in her palms.

Silver glared at Felicia, unable to believe she would bring this up here. It wasn't enough that she lied about her father the other day?

“Mom, let's just go, please," Burke said softly, reaching to hold Felicia on her shoulder, hoping to calm her down.

The woman aggressively reacted to the touch, throwing her hands out to get his hands off her.

“No! I'm done with this nonsense! I won't…” Her words got cut off by the collective gasps of horror that filled the room, and when she turned around, she saw her son tumbling down the stairs. Her eyes widened with horror, her lips peeled open as a scream evaded it.

“Burke!"