Seattle, Washington -
Wednesday; November 01
To say that the past few weeks have been a challenge for not only Carter McKinney, but also for his immediate family and those closest to him would be something of an understatement. The passing of his father Cillian Macguire, just as the wounds from the past ten years of mistreatment and neglect were beginning to heal and to mend. And when Carter was prepared to sacrifice a part of himself in the hopes of saving his father’s life, or at the very least, prolonging it for a few years more, the news of his passing had reached his ears. Carter privately blamed himself for waiting too long to make that all-important decision.
And here at the McKinney homestead in Seattle, the family was looking - hoping - to bring about the final touches of this heartbreaking loss to a conclusion. The last time we visited this impressive house was almost a full year ago, when Carter had brought those closest to him home to Seattle for what Miles Kasey called “one of the best Christmases he had ever had”. It was a memory cherished by all, as it was a time where Carter was healing emotionally from the ending of an abusive relationship, and Miles growing closer to the man he would one day soon come to genuinely love. However – unfortunately – the same could not be said of this visit in particular, as Miles and Carter were brought back to Seattle for what would be the final farewell to Cillian Macguire; the Reading of the Will.
Nothing had changed - truly, in any sense of the word. Joan aka “Grams” even put Miles and Carter ‘to work’ once they arrived that very morning, taking down all of the Halloween decorations that had been put up to celebrate the most ghoulish of holidays, as the previous evening was spent with Joanna and her mother dishing out bowls full of candy to the multitude of Trick or Treaters. A small consolation to what had to be done today. Carter and Miles had arrived from Las Vegas to Seattle earlier this morning after a short flight of less than three hours. It was now just past noon. The weather was relatively cool mid-day, mid-fifties while overcast, the sun nowhere to be seen from behind the walls of gray clouds overhead. Somehow it felt fitting given what they were here for, and what was to come.
*So, is this everyone?" The older gentleman, mid-fifties perhaps, said from the place he sat at the head of the dining room table.
"I suppose so." Joanna sighed, a soft feeling of defeat coursing through her. "I thought someone else was going to show but maybe they changed their minds."
"God willing." The stage whisper was spoken, from not just Carter but his Grams as well. Jinx! Carter sat on one side of the table, his loving and supporting boyfriend Miles at his side. Across from them, Joan and Joanna.
The man, as it turned out, was the attorney to Cillian, and Joanna brought him here for the official reading. Just in case. Mister Noah Bennett. Oh well respected attorney in the state of Washington for the past 25 years.
"Well," Mr. Bennett said, clasping his hands together on the surface of the table. "Shall we get started?"
"Yes, thank you." Joanna said. "I'm sure you're anxious to get back to Olympia."
Mr. Bennett smiled and adjusted his glasses, picking up the papers in front of him. He cleared his throat and was about to begin when the telltale sound at the doorbell was heard, followed by a loud rap of knuckles on the door frame.
"Oh what in gay hell?" Carter mumbled as both his mother and grandmother closed their eyes, their hopes that these extra guests when it comes suddenly dashed on the proverbial rocks.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Mr. Bennett asked. To which Grams answered, "Fearful would be a more appropriate word for it "
Grams then turned to Miles and exclaimed, "I swear it's like Beetlejuice." Eliciting a snort of laughter to escape from Miles.
"Carter?" Joanna spoke up. "Can you let them in?" Causing Carter to roll his eyes and he pushed himself up to his feet. His Mom added, "And be nice."
"I'm always nice!" Carter declared before he exited the dining room. The gathered group listened as his footsteps were heard heading towards the door, followed by the sound of the door being opened and ultimately…
"Oh what are you doing out!? The sun is up!"
Joanna groaned, holding her head in her hand. Miles looked first toward her and then to Joan, but there was an uncharacteristic expression of annoyance on her face, none of her usual humor at Carter’s display of sass. The voices in the house’s foyer continued…
“Crude. Typical.” Was the voice of a woman.
"Are you going to let us in or not??" Followed by the tones of a man.
"You need my permission to cross the threshold?” Carter was overheard saying. “I knew you were a...!"
“Carter!” Grams called out so as to be heard. “Let them in please so we can get this unpleasantness over with as quickly as possible!”
Joanna looked at Miles who had his head down, eyes closed and shoulders trembling and she said, “When you laugh, you only encourage him.”
Miles looked back up and was quite clearly struggling to compose himself, but had the good grace to acknowledge what Joanna said as fact with a nod of the head. Satisfied, Joanna turned and everyone watched as Carter escorted three people into the dining room - and Miles recognized them immediately from Cillian’s funeral. Carter’s ‘other’ grandma who had tried to upstage her own son’s corpse at the services, and her other two sons – Cillian’s brothers and Carter’s uncles – who had tried to help her do so.
The three made themselves quite at home, taking the first empty seats at the table that they laid eyes on, trying to remain together. One of the men tried to take the seat beside Miles who put a restraining hand on the back and Miles spoke up, “This seat is taken.” The man shot Miles a sour look, but he paid heed by walking around the table and took a seat on the other side of the attorney and to Joan’s right. The look on the matriarch’s face made Miles second guess himself at not letting the man sit beside him. Better Carter would have sat at his Grams’s side than this asshole.
Once everyone was seated, Carter’s “other” Grandma looked around at everyone until her gaze fell upon Miles himself. Her eyes narrowed and she gave him a filthy look just as she did at the services, and she asked, “And you are.”
“Miles Kasey.” Came the answer, and Carter added for mere emphasis, and perhaps a touch of pettiness, “My boyfriend.”
To which Joanna stated, “And invited personally as his name is mentioned in Cillian’s will.” A fact Miles was still finding a tough time accepting. And that added statement had the desired effect, as the woman shared a look with both of her sons before she looked to Grams.
“Joan.” She acknowledged. “You look well.”
“And it’s lovely to see you too, dear.” Grams replied. “There. Now we’re both liars.”
“Miles?” Joanna spoke up. “This is Cillian’s mother, Fiona. And his brothers, Conor and Liam.”
“It’s nice to see some basic manners.” Fiona said with a haughty derision. “Can we begin?”
Joanna looked to Mr. Bennett who again cleared his throat and he started to read from an official capacity, “I, Cillian Quinn Macguire, resident in the City of Olympia, County of Thurston, State of Washington, being of sound mind, not acting under duress or undue influence…”
“I bet…” Liam mumbled, but loud enough to draw eyes toward him.
“Mr. Bennett continued, “...And fully understanding the nature and extent of all my property and of this disposition thereof, do hereby make, publish, and declare this document to be my Last Will and Testament, and hereby revoke any and all other wills and codicils heretofore made by me.”
“I direct that all my debts, and expenses of my last illness, funeral, and burial, be paid as soon after my death as may be reasonably convenient, and I hereby authorize my Personal Representative Joanna McKinney…”
“What!?” Fiona exclaimed, but it was as if she said nothing as the attorney continued, “Hereinafter appointed, to settle and discharge, in his or her absolute discretion, any claims made against my estate.”
“I further direct that my Personal Representative shall pay out of my estate any and all estate and inheritance taxes payable by reason of my death in respect of all items included in the computation of such taxes, whether passing under this Will or otherwise. Said taxes shall be paid by my Personal Representative as if such taxes were my debts without recovery of any part of such tax payments from anyone who receives any item included in such computation.”
“I devise and bequeath my property, both real and personal and wherever situated, as follows:”
“To Miles Kasey, currently of Las Vegas, Nevada. Miles, I am grateful for everything you have done for my son Carter when I was unable. Our talk did me more good than you realize and I appreciate the fact that we both hold an appreciation for cars. Therefore, I am leaving to you my cherished and restored 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 428 Cobra Jet.”
Miles blinked in complete disbelief at being willed such an unbelievable piece of automobile artwork! And Conor leapt to his feet and spoke up, “Hold on! No, no way! Cillian promised that car to me!”
“Oh he did not! Stop lying!” Carter retorted in defiance. “You haven’t spoken to Dad in years! You’d be the last person he’d leave that car…”
“Babe…” Miles placed a comforting hand on his boyfriend’s forearm, shaking his head “no” to calm him down before that wit and sharp tongue caused further trouble in the family home. Fuming, Carter’s Uncle Conor slowly sat back down, allowing Mr. Bennett to continue.
“To Joanna McKinney, currently of Seattle, as my ex-wife and in hopes of correcting my greatest mistake in disappointing you as both a husband and father to our son, I leave to you Harborview Cove…”
“What!?” Fiona all but shouted, clearly affronted, as both Uncles started to talk at once! “Absolutely not!” “No way!” “This isn’t right!” Miles leaned over to Carter to whisper, “Harborview Cove?”
“Dad owned an apartment complex in Olympia.” Carter whispered in answer. “A successful one, too. Doesn’t owe anything on it.”
Miles sat back, whistled softly as Joanna seemed transfixed at being left something such as that. Fiona and her two sons were still protesting, reaching for the will but Mr. Bennett had the good sense of timing to retract it away from their reach. He then went on to read, “To Joan McKinney, my dear Joanna’s mother and a woman I was proud to be allowed to call ‘Mom’.” This in particular earned a hard glare from Fiona toward Grams.
Mr. Bennett continued, “The best thing I can say about you is I was never able to tell a mother-in-law joke where you were concerned. I remember you expressed an interest in my art collection, and so I would like to leave you the entirety of my collection.”
Grams just looked down, his fingers over her eyes at such a generous gift.
“And finally, to my son Carter, the one to whom I consider my greatest failure as a father. Not because of who you are, or who you choose to love, but because I failed you as a father in not being able to accept it until it was too late.”
Carter closed his eyes, feeling the salty sting of tears slowly grow and felt the arm of Miles snake its way around his shoulders to offer him some semblance of comfort.
“I was not able to offer you the home that you deserved as a child, so as an adult, I am offering you my house in Olympia.”
“Furthermore, all monetary assets including savings and life insurance, after payments made are to be evenly divided between Joanna McKinney, Carter McKinney and Joan McKinney to the sum of…” Mr. Bennett looked more closely over the rim of his glasses to be certain he was reading correctly, before he finalized…”$852,434.”
Fiona fell back against the back of her chair, her mouth wide open in shock as Cillian’s two brothers gaped. Almost a full million – and it had just been left for Carter, his mother and grandmother! The house was filled with a shocked silence until ultimately, Fiona stood upright once again and snatched the Will from Mr. Bennett’s hands, this time before he could see fit to pull away.
“No! I refuse to believe this!” Fiona raged as Conor and Liam stood up to read over their mother’s shoulders as she said, “I refuse to believe Cillian would ignore his own… ah ha! See? I knew it!” And Fiona started to read from the Will, “And to my Mother, Fiona Macguire and my two brothers, Liam and Conor Macguire; I was not good enough for you three to have around as family when I was alive, I saw no reason you should feel any differently when I’m dead. However, I made a promise to Joanna that I would remember you in my Will so here it is.” Fiona choked on the next and final word… “‘Hi there. See? I remembered.’”
Fiona looked to her sons who grabbed at the Will but she pulled it away and she started to rifle through the papers, “No… there must be more to it…”
“There is not, Ms. Macguire.” Mr. Bennett stated with grim finality. “Your son made his intentions very clear with me when he dictated to me his wishes. And it’s all right there in your hands.”
“And you could have seen it as soon as Dad died and saved yourself a trip.” Carter stated. “I mean it is a Will and they are considered public documents, after all.”
“Don’t get cocky.” Liam snarled. “And don’t get too comfortable with this. Soon as we get back to Olympia, we’re contesting!”
“Yes!” Fiona stated with a smug righteousness, her chin jetted out and nose practically in the air.
“On what grounds?” Mr. Bennett finally spoke up, growing weary of this display. “Ms. Macguire… gentlemen…” He acknowledged Conor and Liam. “This isn’t Hollywood. You can’t contest a Will simply because you don’t agree with it. You have to prove undue influence or forgery…”
Conor started to speak but the lawyer held up a hand, a gesture he perfected through his years of fighting cases in court. “And this Will was written well before Mister Macguire ever got back into contact with any present here today! It is ironclad!” He jammed a forefinger toward the papers in Fiona’s hands. “The only recent addition was the one given toward Mister Kasey here…”
“Well!” Fiona blurted out, “That explains it…”
“It explains nothing!” Mr. Bennett countered. “This addition was made over a month ago, and Mister Macguire was quite well aware of what he was doing. His illness played absolutely no role in his addition, whatsoever! And I am prepared to bring in his doctor to state as such!”
“This. Isn’t. Right!” Fiona threw the Will down onto the surface of the table, scattering the papers in every direction, “They don’t deserve any of this! We…!” She pointed toward her sons and herself. “... Are his family!”
“And what am I?” Carter countered.
“Oh we know what you are.” Conor sneered. “So save yourself some grief and keep quiet while the grown ups talk, Carter. You don’t know…”
“I know enough to know that it wasn’t Dad’s idea to suggest I be sent to that correctional facility.” Carter interrupted, silencing everyone present.
“What?” His Mom started to ask but Carter’s gaze burned straight toward his “other” Grandma and his two Uncles. He said, “I know you three were behind it all. You two…” he pointed between Conor and Liam. “Hounded my dad day and night over sending me away because I soiled the family name! And I know that you…” He pointed right at Fiona. “Threatened to cut him off from the family if he didn’t! The only reason he went along with it was because he didn’t want to be cut off from your money that he depended on to support Mom and me! Well guess what!? It didn't work anyway, because it made them get divorced! And even then that wasn’t enough for you because you disowned him anyway! So how DARE you walk into this house, acting like you’re owed anything from a man you had nothing to do with for the better part of a decade! Not even when he was sick!”
“Oh and you did?” Liam questioned.
“I spent weeks going to doctors to ensure my kidneys were healthy enough to donate to my dad and try and save him!” Carter declared, drawing the collective gazes of both his Mother and Grams who until now, had no idea. “Which is a hell of a lot more than even his own brothers did!”
“You can seriously sit there with a straight face and steal from a grieving mother!?” Fiona started her fake sobbing act, but Carter had dealt with far too much over the past several weeks and he was having none of it! He said, “I think you mispronounced ‘greedy’, not grieving!”
“How DARE…”
“Oh give it a rest!” Carter shouted over her. “I don’t doubt that MAYBE you’re feeling a small ping of grief over losing a son in that withered, black heart of yours, but enough with the act! It’s as bad as what you pulled at the funeral! I mean, my God! Amber Heard put on a better performance in court than you did at Dad’s services!”
Amazing how quickly Fiona stopped “crying” as she stared daggers at her grandson, saying, “If I wasn’t such a lady I would slap some respect into you!”
Which made Grams say, “And if I wasn’t such a lady, I’d say you put one finger on my grandson and your teeth would be back in Olympia before you are.” Prompting all heads to turn toward Joan as she was never known for saying something like that! But threaten her family – ESPECIALLY her grandson… and all bets were off!
“Ladies, please!” Mr. Bennett said, hands raised in an attempt to help cooler heads to prevail. Liam and Conor stood on either side of Fiona as Mr. Bennett stood up, gathering the scattered papers of his client’s will. Once he had them in hand, his eyes settled on the three. He said, “If you wish to follow through on this threat and contest, that is certainly your right. But I feel it only fair to warn you that you will lose. Because Mister Macguire saw this coming from a mile away and he set aside a settlement toward me to represent his family in court. Just in case.”
Fiona’s lips trembled as she stood fast, not wanting to admit defeat.
Mr. Bennett eyed Liam and Conor and followed up with, “So you had best think about how you want to look in the eyes of the court and society. Because not only do I have Mister Macguire’s doctor on standby, but also his therapist. And I can tell you here and now that they and I would just love to take all three of you apart in front of a judge.”
It was like a standoff in the Old West films of the 1950s, with Cillian’s family staring down the attorney but Mr. Bennett had been up against the best in court and he was not going to back down with these three. It continued until…
“Come on, boys.” Fiona turned around to take her leave.
“Mom..” Conor started to speak. “No…”
“Let’s go!” She said in a final tone that would brook no argument. Liam put a hand on Conor’s back and ushered him out of the dining room and moments later, they heard the closing of the front door. Joanna fell into the arms of Grams – and Carter was held tightly by Miles.
It was finally over.
“Well, looky here at where I am!”
“I know I've had a pretty rocky past few weeks happening in my life, both personally and professionally, but I’d like to think that I’ve made it out of the chaos with my head still relatively held up high. I know I got all butt hurt when I didn’t come out of High Stakes XIII as the new World Heavyweight Champion, but I’m counting my blessings. My man is still the Internet Champion and my BFF finally won a championship that has been a long time coming. Okay, sure that made me feel like the odd man out, being the only one out of our little trio to not pick up a win, but I thought surely after what I went through, something good would come my way.”
“Well, yes and no. On the plus side, I get to team with Ariana again and trust me when I say, that is something I never tire of. But on the down side, I saw the rest of the card and I see Goth going up against Austin James Mercer as a reward for their showing in the Six Pack match, and the winner goes on to face J2H for the title. Um… hello? The second runner up, standing right here! I outlasted both Austin and Goth – hell! I’M the one that eliminated Goth and yet I get completely passed over for the chance to challenge J2H, and I’m instead put into a match against two others who had no more luck at High Stakes XIII than I did! The now-former Mixed Tag Team Champions, Olly Zahn and Eiley! Well, I'll correct the oversight in due time. Right now I have a tag team partner and more importantly, a best friend, depending on me to make good in her first match as a champion -- and Carter does not look to disappoint.”
“First of all, allow me to congratulate Eiley for winning the 2023 Future Star award. I would be lying if I tried to tell the world that you didn’t deserve it, because you do. You came right into SCW and the first thing that you managed to do of any import was win a major World championship! If that didn’t qualify you for the award, nothing would! But you’re not the one that I have to go up against, are you? No, see you get to face off against someone who actually won a championship two weeks ago, and that’s my bestie Ariana Angelos! No, her Bombshell Internet title isn’t on the line from what I understand, although it really wouldn’t matter if it was. You see, Ari is coming into this match with not just gold round her waist, but all of the momentum behind her! Eiley? You really don’t have any, so to speak. Just excuses and declarations that you and Olly are going to correct that silly little thing you called a mistake; namely the loss of your titles.”
“No, the one I have to face head on is the prized student of Jet City, Oliver Zahn. Now Olly… I can call you Olly, right? Everything that I said before about Eiley, well I have to say in regards to you too. You had just as much experience as your tag team partner – which is to say none at all – and look at the teams you beat to walk away as the champions in your first match as a team! I say BRAVO! And, as hard as it must have been to win those titles, you held onto them for a long time, didn’t you? Beating some of the best teams in SCW, former champions and not! You brought the Mixed Tag titles from oblivion and raised them up to where they haven’t been in a very long time! That must have made that loss at High Stakes XIII really stick in your craw! I mean, here you go and win the titles in your first match as a team – and then you go and lose them to Finn and Kayla in only their second match together. That fact alone had to be a real kick to the bojangles, hm? Well, I’m sure the bosses have laid out some plans for you two to get your rematch eventually … but for now you have other problems to deal with; namely Ari and myself.”
“And you - Olly – Christ I admit a bit of surprise that you didn’t win that Newcomer award. You’ve had some pretty good matches out there with some of the best. You had yourself a great series of matches against Ben Jordan of all people, and while you walked away the winner in your tag title match, Ben got the better of you in your singles match and that’s nothing to be ashamed of! Ben is and has always been one of the very best SCW has ever had to offer. My point is, much like my big match against J2H, you gave Ben your all and you managed to impress the best. That speaks highly of you as a competitor and when the time comes, the world is going to be your oyster. Just… not quite yet, and not this weekend in particular.”
“Now I don’t want you two jumping to conclusions about the things you might think I’m going to say here tonight. I know that everyone and their mother have been calling you two Kris and Mikah 2.0 and it has to be really getting old, yes? Well don’t worry. I’m not going to join the likes of Austin and Tempest and whoever else has been jumping on that bandwagon. Because I don’t consider the two of you carbon copies of Mikah and Kris, two of the best Sin City Wrestling has ever had to offer. Well, not exactly. You see, when the two of you are inside of the ring, you both are your own people. You were each trained by two former World Champions, but you took what they taught like any good student and made it your own. Inside of that ring, you are not Kris and Mikah 2.0. Outside? Now that might be a different story. Because whenever the cameras catch you two backstage or conducting one of your promos, one could be forgiven for thinking you were watching Kris and Mikah because of the way you two interact with one another?”
“It’s the exact same way that Kris and Mikah do. The same sassy exchanges with each other. Both of you in Hawaii just like them. You two treat each other, the same way that they do. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you two ended up living together or in a flirty relationship – again, just like them. I know Eiley responded to Tempest once by saying she took it with great pride to be compared to Mikah and… well, different strokes for different folks. I can see wanting to be compared in regards to success but when it comes to your own individualities? I would think that would be where you’d draw the line and want more so to spread your wings and experience life from outside of their shadows rather than embracing it. But, you do you. If you want the world to watch your promos and forever compare you to someone else rather than celebrate your own selves, well I say more power to you. I am just here to reiterate one final point.”
“Despite all evidence to the contrary, despite anything that I or anyone else might have said before or in the future, you two are not Kris and Mikah. You see, Kris and Mikah were undefeated as a tag team.”
“You’re not. You lost to Finn Whelan and Kayla Richards, which means one very important thing going into our match this Sunday. You’re human.”
“You’re vulnerable. You can be beaten."
