Dan sat quietly in his car.
Rex placed his arm on Dan's neck and nuzzled the older buck, "Come on, we gotta go."
Dan kissed his young lover, "Alright, let's do this."
They both got out of the car then walked across the parking lot of the funeral home.
Inside, the funeral director, a middle-aged fennec fox waited with his sons to meet the two bucks. The kind fox kissed the older buck's hand, "You must be the husband of the deceased. I am truly sorry for your loss."
Dan smiled as he shook the hand of the director, "Thank you, yes. I'm Dan Fredrickson, Livia's ex-husband actually. We weren't together anymore, but I still should be here for her."
The fox, Takbir nodded respectfully, "Yes now, Mr. Fredrickson, my son, Isam will escort you to the parlor."
Isam, the older of Takbir's son's bowed respectfully to the buck, "Please follow me, sir." He turned in his fine-pressed white shirt and black vest, then walked on.
Dan followed after while Rex stayed behind.
Takbir smiled at him, "And you sir are?"
"Rex Clinton, I'm a friend of Livia's."
The fox nodded, "I see."
Isam stepped into the parlor, Dan came in right behind him then stopped in his footsteps as soon as he saw Livia's father.
The whitetail buck was in his 60s, turning gray in the fur. He frowned deeply upon seeing his former son-in-law.
Isam sensed the tension and stepped away in time to miss the fist which flew straight past his head and into Dan's face.
Dan fell as blood spurted from his nose and as the old buck stood over him, "Ya got a lotta nerve showin' up here after what ya did to mah baby girl!"
Dan avoided eye contact with Livia's father, "I know, I shouldn't be here, but I'm here anyway. I neglected her, wasn't there when she needed me, at the very least I could see her off, say my last goodbyes. I don't expect sympathy."
The old buck scoffed, "Sympathy... th' only place you'll find mah sympathy is in a dictionary, between shit and tumor." He was about to kick him but Rex stepped in between.
"That's enough! We're all here for Liv, now let's just keep this civil, you all can go back to hating each other after the service."
The buck rudely pushed the young reindeer, "And who da fuck are you?"
Rex took a breath, "I'm the guy your daughter was with after they separated, so if you wanna blame someone, you can blame me too, because I'm as much at fault. I'm the one who screamed at her, I'm the one who gave her the heart attack so if you're going to hit someone, hit-" A fist collided with his cheek, interrupting his speech and throwing him into the arms of his lover.
Dan held Rex and Liv's father put two and two together right there. "I see... you're a bigger man for speakin' up like that, but that ain't gonna soften my hate for this worthless boyfriend o' yers now go pay yer respects an' shut up."
Both bucks stood while Isam looked on, Rex looked to Dan, a red fist-shaped mark on his right cheek, "Did he call you me boyfriend?"
Dan chuckled, "That's what I am now ain't it?"
Rex shrugged, "Yeah, but that sounded more accepting than I'd expected."
...
Meanwhile, across town, Jesse and Kelly lay in bed together. They had spent the previous night and this morning making love now they cuddled while Jesse rubbed Kelly's belly and felt his unborn twins moving around inside.
Kelly leaned back and she kissed him. "Our babies are gonna be some horny teenagers when they hit high school." She joked.
Jesse laughed, "And you blame me when you're lying there just looking so sexy?"
She saw the time on her clock, "Almost time for my shift..."
She pushed herself up while Jesse held her, "Do you need help getting ready?"
Kelly scoffed, "Please, I'm a big girl, I can get dressed by myself, but thank you for caring." She smiled sweetly back at him.
They kissed then she got up.
...
Taylor was already at the bar. He stood behind the bar cleaning glasses and wiping the counter when he heard the door open, "Hello and welcome to Tail Twisters..." He looked up and blinked, "Vlady?"
The little fruit bat smiled as he walked in, "Hi, Tay!"
The rat shook his head to make sure he wasn't dreaming... he wasn't. "Vlad, what brings you here? Aren't you usually fapping to your girls with the big butts right now?"
The bat shrugged, "Eh, the internet's down in our area right now so I figured I'd drop in and see you, hon. I don't normally get to see the man I love at work earning rent for our house and for our food, you do so much and I never feel like I thank you enough."
Taylor grimaced, "You want to meet Kelly don't you?"
The bat blushed, "Am I really that transparent, Tay?"
"Vlad, I know you. You don't drink, you even tell me you can't stand the smell of rubbing alcohol."
The bat sat at the counter, "Yeah, but you've got food here right?"
Tay sighed, "Yeah... what'll you be having, sir?"
The bat kicked his feet like a kid on the bar stool as he looked over the bar menu. "I'll have the hot wings."
Tay wrote that down, "Alright hot wings for my little Hot Wings," he joked, "How hot would you like 'em, Vlady?"