Casey found himself grinning ruefully down at his food at the warning.  "Rivals though our houses may have been, I suspect your mother doesn't know us Murphys quite so well as she needs to leverage us."  He could have been wrong of course, but he had a hard time imagining anything the woman could do short of actual physical attack that could alter his course.<br/><br/>He tried not to let the subject sour the food in his mouth.  "It baffles me that she's so wrapped up in this.  That she'd rather keep us apart than see you happy."  His eyes, like chips of ice searched Evelyn's own.  "We'll be fine, Evie.  My brothers will come around once they see you're not awful.  Once they see I'm happy, and grief is out of the way."  He promised.<br/><br/>"We'll be okay."<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>The rest of the night passed with a somewhat surprising amount of mirth from Casey.  Tears came and went, and there was an hour or so he spent holding Evelyn's hand, recounting tales of his father both good and bad.  The times they'd butted heads, and he'd run away.  The last moments on his deathbed, with his children gathered 'round.  His last words.  "I'm proud of all of you."<br/><br/>Eventually, Casey admitted his weariness, and curled up on the couch, and slept.<br/><br/>---<br/><br/>It was the day of the funeral.  The ceremony had gone off peacably.  All of the Murphys and their kin were grief stricken, and while there was tension, there was too much weight in the air to open the can of worms that was the Frost-Murphy union.<br/><br/>Casey took his time getting back to the house, playing memories of his father back in his head as he eased his old Dodge Charger into the lot of Evelyn's apartment complex.  He supposed he ought to start thinking of it as his own, considering their living arrangement.  Lackadaisical as his driving had been, he didn't linger once the car was off.  Old habits.  He slipped out of the driver's seat, and closed the door.  His mind went to Evie.  Punching her contact in his phone, he lifted it to his ear, as he made his way for the exit to the lot.  When she picked up, he asked, "Hey Evie.  Just got back.  You home?"