The whimsical death of one Kelton McGuire

Kelton gasped softly as he felt the new born baby slip from his body. His hand trembling in that of his lovers. He had done it, he had given Cade a baby but at what cost. Kelton smiled up at his lover, his face pink and his eyes watering as he stared at his lover. Soon the doctor though pulled Cade away.
"Sir, your baby's fine." the doctor handed him a small squirming bundle. "But you'll have to leave. His momm's fading fast."
And with that, the doctor was gone, Kelton taking his last breaths while simply watching his lover and his baby. He reached for Cade though, he was afraid, he didn't know he was dying, just knew he was hurting, so he reached out for help until his hand simply fell limp.

"Kelton... Kelton, you can't leave me." Cade's voice trembled as he shook his lover gently. This couldn't really be happening. "Kelton!"

But Kelton was gone and their was nothing anyonce could do.
It was over.

So that was why Cade in a church, two weeks later for the funeral of his lover.
He was simply standing there with Leon in his arms, along with the other family. He had not said a word since Kelton's death. Not to anyone...

It was open casket. Kelton looked lovely, his casket a sliver metal with a purple hue on it. Up front sat three pictures. One of Kelton alone, one of him and Cade, one of him and his family.
Everyone was there.
Aristotle, who had been one of Keltons best friends simply didn't understand that he was gone.
At first he had tried to talk to the corpse and give it a hug.
Not the best idea.
He had managed to knock over pictures and jar Keltons body, he hadn't meant to though. Chord was trying to make him stop and understand that Kelton was no more.

Asher was doing the same, gently taking one of Aristotle's hands. He was anxiously looking back at Cade, waiting to see if he was angry for Aristotle disturbing the corpse. He knew Cade was a gentle man normally but people aren't emotionally stable when a loved one dies... He just wanted to make sure he and Aristotle were out of his way if the boy snapped.

"No Asher! Stop!" Aristotle whined at his lover. "I'm talking to Kelton! He don't feel good!". The boy Protested, yanking away from Chord who was being a bit forceful.
Chord was heart broken, he had loved Kelton as a bestfriend and brother. "Get off of him! Ary your making a fool out of us. He is gone! He don't feel anything! Leave it alone.". Chord growled, embarrassed in front of all the people.
Aristotle shook his head fiercely. "Your lying! He isn't gone! He is right here! See?" Aristotle poked Keltons belly. He could feel the stitches from having the baby removed. The boy was immediately side tracked. He continued poking Keltons belly. "What's that Kelton."

Asher himself was upset as Kelton had been one of his friends as well but more than anything he was worried about Aristotle.
"Ary baby. Kelton is sleeping okay. don't wake him up, that's rude." He spoke gently. He would explain what really happened later but now he just wanted to get him away from the corpse. He could see Cade's jaw clenching.

"Nu-uh!" Aristotle shook his head. "Kelton always wakes up when I poke him like this!"
Another poke.
"When is he gonna wake up? I miss him..."
Aristotle just didnt understand it.
Chord shook his head, patting his friends back.
He glanced at Cade. "Sorry...He doesnt understand..."

Cade gave a light nod. He didn't know Aristotle that well but he knew the boy was slow.
"Ary baby, please just come sit down with me." Asher sighed, tugging at his lover.
If it was Aristotle's corpse in there, he would have killed anyone who kept touching the body by now. He was surprised Cade had so much restraint.

Aritotle slowly nodded, moving just to peck Kelton's forehead before letting his lover take him back to their seats. Chord finally felt more at ease now that Aristotle was not poking at the body.
He moved to the front of the room.
"Well....What can I say. I never thought this day would come. I figured if smoking didnt kill him nothing would." Chord chuckled lightly. I miss the hell out of him though. I have known him since I was a toddler, Kelton was my first real friend beside Aristotle, and we never really stopped being friends. We argued and bickered, and he hit me one time and blacked my eye which I never got pay back for." He smiled lightly. "Kelton was awesome. Had more piercings on him than he had experience in life. He did die to soon for me to think its all okay. He never got to be a mommy, or get married....So much he didnt get to do, but he will though. Kelton will live now forever in our hearts.
As he spoke, a large screen in the back played pictures of Kelton and Chord together. One of them at toddlers, playing kick ball. One at Keltons thirteenth birthday party. One of them sitting in Chords living room, high as kites. One of Kelton as five months pregnant, Chord hugging him around the waist. The last one was one of Kelton, Chord and Aristotle, all bundled up on the couch, snoozing together.
Chord stepped down, moving to peck Kelton's cheek, pulling a pack of Kelton's favorite cigarettes from his pocket. He slipped one from the pack and sat it in Keltons hand, the rest of the pack being slipped into the shirt pocket on the nice purple shirt he had been buried in.

Asher waited for Chord to come back and watch Aristotle before he made his way to the front.
"I haven't known Kelton for too long but I loved him a lot as soon as I met him. He seems like a bitch sometimes but he's one of the sweetest people I know. He was a great friend. Whenever I didn't know how to handle Aristotle, Kelton always had the answer. We had a lot of fun and he was always my buddy when it came to getting piercings or tattoos. I didn't like going alone and he always agreed to go with me, no matter what he was doing or what plans he had. We had the best parties and I just loved hanging out with him. Man, I'm just realizing how much I'm going to miss him... Wow." He sighed heavily but smiled nonetheless. "I love you Kelton." He leaned down and kissed the boy's cheek before heading back to his seat.
Pictures flashed on the screen of the two of them. There wasn't many in the short time they'd known each other.
There was one with Kelton in the piercing chair at the tattoo parlor they liked to go to, Asher by his side. The next was the two of them posing with Xavier, the piercer Kelton had had the hots for. And a third showed the two of them in midair, jumping on Asher's bed.

Aristotle just walked up their, didnt even wait for Asher to sit down. He reached in the casket, pulled the body up, hugged it tight and left a sloppy kiss on the side of his face.
"I LOVE YOU KELTON!!"

Asher groaned inwardly as the boy pulled the body up, but he couldn't help but giggle at the boy.
Lance walked up next, his eyes red and puffy.
"Kelton was the best brother I could have asked for... I loved him as much as I could since... other people didn't..." He sighed. "These past few years I haven't spent much time with him, so thank you Cade... for making sure he was happy. I love you so much baby brother." He smiled tearfully as he readjusted Kelton's body after Aristotle had disturbed it.

The screen played pictures of Kelton and Lance. When Kelton was a baby in Lance's arms. At one of their birthday parties. One of Kelton holding a note saying "Love you Lance"
Next was Blaine Johnson. He looked a mess, sniffling and holding a teddy bear in each arm.
"I loved Kelton! He was my friend, he was like another bubba!! He was my big brothers special man..." Blaine smiled at Cade. "And he was a bitch sometimes! Cade can tell you that, I can, his family can, mine can, WE ALL CAN! But we loved him anyways. He always liked to sing and he played with me and my bears all the time and he kept my daddy company and his gave me a little nephew! And he was really good at making my big brother happy. I thank him for all the good he brought to my house, and im going to miss him very much every time I play with my bears or see my big bubba." Blaine stepped down, placing one of the bears in the casket, right beside Keltons head. He then pecked the boy on the lips, petting his head.
"Imma miss you bubba Kelton..."
Pictures of Blaine and Kelton flashed on the screen. When Kelton was pregnant he had Blaine hugging his belly. One of them playing bears, one of Blaines birthday. One of Blaine, Kelton and Barry singing together. Along with a small video of Kelton pushing Blaine on some swings.

Gabriel Johnson hadn't planned on going up at first because he didn't want everyone to watch him blubber like a baby but he had to... he loved Kelton.
"I'm... gonna miss Kelton a lot... he was like another son to me... hell, he WAS my son. He was MY baby. His family never treated him well so we took him in and I didn't regret it for a second. Now, the first time I met him, I still had my anger issues and I did hit him. I was never able to apologize enough for that. But I hope I made up for it with how much I loved him once I got to know him. He made my baby boy happy and I could never thank him enough for that. I messed up a lot with Cade but he turned out into a great boy and he'd never hurt Kelton because of me... Kelton didn't deserve a lot of the shit he got. He deserved love and he got a lot of that but not from the people who should have loved him the most." Yes, he did not like Dustin or Chris for that matter. "The point is... we're all going to miss Kelton... he made me happy. Not many people can do that. I loved him so so much..." Tears were dripping down the large man's cheeks as he bent over and pressed a kiss to Kelton's temple, strokng his hair.

Blaine frowned, standing and taking his fathers hand, pulling him to sit beside Cade.
"We love you bubba.." Blaine kissed Cade's cheek, smiling down and the new born in his arms.
Leon was beautiful.
So much like his mother.
Dustin had sat in back, his face drawn in a straight line. He stood and slowly made his way to the front.
"Alright. I was not the best father. For my own reasons I treated Kelton as less than. That was my mistake. I loved my son." He stared right at Gabriel and Cade as he said it. "He was MY child and though you might not know it, I love him. I think about him everyday. I never openly cared for him but I had my moments with him. As a father, I had my moments, days in the sun with him working on a car. I had my moments, where to him I was second to none and I did things I thought I couldnt do because of him." Dustin ran a hand down his face, a single tear falling. "I have missed Kelton every day since he has left my house and I will continue to miss him. Lance, yes I was a piece of sh*t father to him. I know that, everyone does. He has told me many times! But I loved him. I love him now. Just as I love all my children and im going to love my grandchild." He glanced at the tiny bundle in Cade's arms. He stepped over to Cade, knealing down and stroking the childs head.
"I want to be a part of the kids life. I screwed up with Kelton...I can at least be a good grandfather to her baby."
In the back a video played, Dustin was in the shop working on a car, Kelton as a small child sat beside him playing with his ball. A song came on the radio and Dustin began to sing with it, and after a while Kelton did too until Dustin poked his head out from under the cup and gave the child a small smile, singing to him.
"Sugar pie hunny bun!" The man drew in his thick accent. "Ya know that ah love you!" He poked Kelton in the chest. Kelton giggled and chirped alone. "I just cant help myself!"
Dustin stood and picked the boy up, throwing him in the air and catching him, kissing his cheek. "Ah love you an noboday else!"
The video then zoned out.

Cade said nothing, simply nodding at Dustin and holding his child closer as Chris stepped up.
"I loved Kelton.... he was my baby even if I didn't act like it. I made a stupid mistake when I was pregnant with him and that's the reason Dustin was never close to him. Everyone blames my husband for not acting like a father should but if anyone is to be blamed for it, it's me. I never stopped regretting that mistake and I still haven't. I missed him when he went to live with Gabriel and Angel but I'm glad he was able to be happy there... Thank you Gabriel and Angel for taking care of my baby. You guys loved him when I didn't. You have every right to hate me if you love him that much but thank you anyway. And Cade, thank you to for making him happy... I miss you Kelton.." He nodded down at his son.

Angel timidly stood up, taking a deep breath.
"Kelton didn't always like me but I loved him. He made my Baby happy. I hope he rests in peace." angel moved to sit down. Blaine smiled at his mother, looking st Cade after. "Cade, you wanna let the baby see his momma?"

Cade paused but nodded, walking over with his baby and holding it up to the casket as he began to speak, his voice low and gravelly.
"Kelton was my everything. When I was younger, my life was a living hell. I hated everything but my mother. I wanted to die but I knew I couldn't because without me to protect him, momma would die too. That's all my life was, protecting him. I never did anything without making sure he was okay first. My life had no purpose other than that. Until I met Kelton. He was gorgoeus and I knew right away I loved him. It was really love at first sight. Then I got to know him. I got to know all about his past. How he felt rejected by his family, how an old boyfriend hurt him, everything. And suddenly, I had a new purpose. To protect him as well. To finally make him feel loved. My new purpose was to show him that love was not a bad thing. People had only hurt him in the past, my goal was to show him that he was special, capable of being loved. And I hope I accomplished that. He gave my life meaning... he made me not hate life anymore. He showed me that i could be loved as well. He showed me that I should be protected instead of just protecting others. He made me feel better than I ever had. He fixed everything wrong in my life." He paused, looking down at the corpse and trying not to cry at least until he finished talking.
"From the time I was little, I wanted a baby. I wanted to bring a life into this world. But I knew I couldn't because I had no time for relationships, I had a mother to protect. And if I had a baby, he'd be abused like I was. I didn't want that to happen. But when Kelton helped me out of the situation I was in, I wanted that baby more than ever. I wanted to bring a little boy into this world and show him that boyfriends were not punching bags, they were precious things that needed to be handled with care... I wanted him to be like me. I wanted him to never even think about harming his lover when he got one. I wanted that baby so bad and now... I finally got him. But at what cost? I... never thought that by having the child I always wanted, I'd lose my entire world. And... I'm not sure what to do now... Kelton... I said it already but Kelton was everything to me. When I met him, my world stopped revolving around my mom and it revolved around Kelton instead. Every thought I have is of him... there's not one moment he's not with me in my thoughts. My life will never be the same again. I'm not sure I'll ever be truly happy again but I'm going to try for my Leon..." With this last statement, Cade finally broke down into tears, collapsing to his knees in front of the casket and holding his baby close along with his lover's dead body.

Angel rushed forward, wrapping his arms around his son, trying to give him any comfort possible. Baby Leon crying in his fathers arms. The room was silent except for Cade and his new born baby. Keltons body was pressed to Cades like it had been so many times before.

This was the first time Cade had cried since Kelton's death. He'd been holding it all back until now. It was all bursting out of him. His Kelton was dead...

The last video to play was a simple one. Blaine had recoded it while Cade was at work. Kelton, nine months along sat in a chair. This was only a week before his death.
Kelton smiled at the camera, petting his belly.
"Hey, see here?". He nodded at his belly. " I'm having a baby! I'm having Cade's baby." Kelton cooed softly as he continued to rub his stomach.
"I'm going to marry Cade one day... We will be married and have a baby.". Kelton held out his hand with his beautiful ring on it.
His engagement ring.

Cade sobbed hard at this. He would never get to marry Kelton like they'd planned..

Blaine whined, hugging his brother tight and looking for Barry. He didn't know what to do with his brother.