Natalya

         Morgan sighed in relief as she watched the white Zinfandel fill her wine glass to the brim. She usually would've filled it half-way, but she needed a full glass with the day she was having.

         "Should you really be drinking that right now?" Alice, her best friend, asked her with concern as she entered the kitchen carrying a plate of half-finished food.

         "If you had to deal with those crazy people out there, you would be drinking too," Morgan answered and took a sip of her wine.

         "Trust me, Morgan, I grew up around your family long enough to know that they can be-"

         "Howler monkeys?" Morgan interrupted, taking another sip of her wine.

         "Actually, I was gonna say Looney Tunes, but whatever works for you."

         Morgan took another sip of her wine as the doors to the kitchen opened. She saw her cousin Abby enter with her husband Jeff, tears streaming from her hazel brown eyes.

         "Morgan," Jeff addressed her, "we're leaving."

         "Okay," she said with a nod.

         Abby held her arms out towards Morgan for a hug, which she reluctantly accepted after setting her wine glass on the counter.

"I wish it didn't have to take this to get us to come together," Abby said tearfully while rubbing Morgan's back. "Maybe we should try to get together sometime, like dinner or something."

         "Awe Abbs," Morgan said, pulling away with a painted smile on her lips. "I'd like that very much."

         "Me too," Abby agreed with a nod before leaving the kitchen with Jeff through the side door.

         As Morgan turned to retrieve her wine glass, she caught sight of Alice shaking her head in disbelief. "What?" She questioned with a lifted brow of confusion.

         "I would like very much to catch dinner or a movie with you Abbs," Alice mocked her. "Morgan, please, you're so full of it. You and I both know that you are not interested in spending time with Abby."

"Alice, there are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year," Morgan began after taking another sip of her wine, "and out of all of those days, how many has Abby used to try to contact me to spend time together?"

         Alice furrowed her brows as if she was searching for an answer, but she didn't have to because Morgan already had one.

         "None. I mean, yeah, she calls to let everyone know that she's throwing a party at her house or that she's going out of town and needs someone to house-sit so burglars won't get in. She hardly ever picks up the phone to say, 'Hey family, let's hang out. Let's do something fun. Why don't we take a spontaneous trip? I'm just calling to make sure you're still alive and healthy.' No, it's always 'I need something.' And now she wants to wait until the day of my grandmother's funeral to want to make family plans? Puh-lease. I don't have time for that."

"Well, you know being a wife and mother can be very time-consuming."

         Morgan nodded and took another sip of her wine. "Yes, but if you have time to run your children all over creation and have an affair behind your husband's back, then you have time to make for the rest of your family."

         "And what makes you think she's cheating on Jeff?" Alice asked with a lifted brow.

         "Who doesn't know she's cheating on Jeff? The only one that doesn't know is Jeff's dumba-"

         "Arf!" Morgan was cut off when Natalya--a Yorkshire terrier her grandmother adopted last year--barked to get her attention, startling Morgan and causing her to spill the second half of her wine on her black dress.

         "Natalya!" She scolded the small dog, who responded with a whimper.

         Alice giggled as she watched best friend frantically, but futilely, try to dry herself with a paper towel. "You see, even Natalya knows you're full of it."

         "Dang dog!" Morgan berated. "Why did my granny even bother taking her in?"

         "Do we have to go over the story again?"

         "If I have to hear one more time about Mary taking pity on a puppy whose mom died on the streets, I will vomit."

         Before Alice could reply, Morgan rushed out of the kitchen in pursuit of her upstairs bedroom. When she turned a corner to where the stairs were, she bumped into someone.

         "I'm sorry. I didn't see you," she heard the familiar voice of Roger Jackson Jr. (or RJ, as he's often referred to) apologize to her.

         "Well, you should watch where you're going next time!" Morgan replied with a frustrated grunt.

         He gave her a sympathetic look and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, which she forcefully shrugged off. "How are you holding up Morgan?"

         "Let's see, my grandmother is dead, and her house is full of crying people, who barely did anything for her while she was alive. Gee! I feel like I won the lottery." Her sarcasm was emphasized by the toothy smile she painted on her face that quickly faded into a scowl.

         "I'm so sorry for your loss," he sympathized with her, but she wasn't accepting of it.

         "Why are you even here? We broke up after graduation, so you have no actual reason to be here."

         "You know Mary was a comforting source to my family when my father was killed in duty five years ago."

"Yes. Well, I'm glad she was able to comfort y'all through the loss. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go." She tried to walk away, but RJ grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her back.

         "Morgan, if you need anything, and I mean anything, don't hesitate to call me or Caroline."

         "The day I call you for anything will be the day when-"

         "Morgan," a male voice addressed her, interrupting her.

         She looked in the direction of the voice to see Steve--Alice's husband since prom night of 2012--walking towards her.

         "What!" Morgan snapped at him, her voice full of agitation from her family and the day in general.

         "Your Uncle Brian and Aunt Pauline are in the driveway quarreling-"

         "Quarreling?" She cut him off and began walking toward the front door. "Seriously, Steve, no one in our generation uses that word."

When Morgan made it outside, she found her Uncle Brian--Mary's younger and only brother--exchanging angry and hateful words with his wife Pauline. Rolling her eyes, Morgan took it upon herself to intervene at the exact moment when Pauline was going to punch Brian in the face.

"Go ahead," she warned Pauline with narrowed eyes. Her face and words were enough to stop her aunt in her tracks. "No, go ahead and hit him. I want you to, so I can have the cops over here in a millisecond to take you to jail. The guys at the police station knew my granny very well, and they know that today was her funeral. All it takes is one phone call and they will slap cuffs on you faster than your head could spin. Try me!"

         Fortunately for both Morgan and Pauline, Erica--Brian and Pauline's daughter--chose that exact moment to exit the house. "Morgan, is everything alright?" She inquired of her younger cousin.

         Morgan shifted her still narrowed eyes at Erica. "Get your parents away from my granny's house before one or both of them goes to jail."

         Without hesitation, Erica nodded and gestured for her parents to head to the car, satisfied that neither of them protested. "I'm so sorry," she apologized when her parents were no longer in earshot. "I had hoped they would act rational, considering what today is."

         "Don't apologize," Morgan reassured her cousin, her voice still conveying frustration, as she folded her arms. "They're older than both of us, so they should know how to act during times like this."

         "Are you going to be alright? If you need some company, I can come back after I send them home."

         Morgan shook her head. "I'll be fine. Besides, you already have your hands full dealing with those two crazies."

         Erica giggled and gave her cousin a hug, which she gratefully accepted. "I'll check on you first thing in the morning, okay?"

         "Thank you," Morgan replied and pulled away from Erica.

Instead of turning to see her cousin, uncle, and aunt off, she entered the house and closed the door behind her. When Morgan glanced into the family room where everyone was crying, eating, and having conversations, she caught sight of RJ kissing Caroline, his wife of eight months, while his hand caressed her seven-month bulging belly. Rolling her eyes, she went into the kitchen to pour herself another full glass of white Zinfandel, forgetting that she needed to clean herself from the first glass.

         "Again?" Alice, who was still in the kitchen cleaning dishes and putting food in the fridge, asked when she saw her best friend fill the wine glass to the brim.

         "You see me pouring another glass, don't you?" Morgan said as if it was nothing.

         "What happened?"

         "Well, for starters," Morgan began, taking a sip of her wine, "Brian and Pauline are outside acting worse than teenagers, as always."

Alice rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I had to threaten Pauline with the police, but Erica took them home. How could they embarrass their daughter like that? I will never know." Rolling her eyes, she took another sip of her wine. "And then, RJ has the audacity to be cozy with Caroline in the family room."

         "She is his wife," Alice pointed out to the dismay of Morgan. "On top of that, they're having their first child. A pregnancy is a very intimate time for a couple."

         "It's also the time where people like me are disgusted by people like them," Morgan retorted as she took a large gulp of her wine.

         "Are you still upset that things didn't work out between you two?"

         "That was the past Alice. He made his choice, and I made mine."

         "In all fairness, you didn't give him much of one."

         "Whatever!"

Morgan took her glass and left the kitchen, making her way to the sun-room for some peace and solitude. When she arrived at the double-doors that led into the sun-room, she was disappointed to find Natalya resting in a comfortable ball on the bench, located under the bay window where she and Mary used to have intimate talks. Taking a sip of her wine, she gave the Yorkie a small glare, but Natalya seemed too engrossed in her own world to notice Morgan.

         "She loved that dog," Morgan heard a feminine voice behind her.

         She rolled her eyes and turned to face her aunt Linda--Mary's oldest daughter and Abby's mother. "Yeah. That was quite obvious from the way the little mutt would always follow her around the house. Not that you were here to notice," she mumbled the last part before sipping her wine.

         Linda gave her a comforting smile. "How are you holding up kiddo?"

         "About the same as someone would feel if they lost their best friend, their confidant, and basically the only person in the world who understood them."

         Linda nodded. "I can understand. Her death was a shock to us all."

         "Oh yeah," Morgan began sarcastically, "it's shocking that someone with heart problems could die from a heart attack."

Linda sighed. "Morgan, I understand you're upset-"

         "Yeah right!" She interjected while rolling her eyes and taking another sip of her wine.

         "-but please understand that I just lost my mother, and you lost a grandmother. We should be coming together as a family."

         "It's funny that you want to mention family, Aunt Linda. Where was family when my grandmother was laying on her deathbed, sick as a dog and needed to be driven from one doctor's appointment to another?"

         Linda opened her mouth to answer, but Morgan continued before she could utter a syllable.

"I know where I was. I was the one taking her from doctor to doctor, making sure she had and was taking her medications, staying at the hospital with her when she needed surgery time and time again, and hiring a caregiver so I could work to buy groceries and pay her utility and medical bills. Where were you huh?! Not here! Because you were too busy cruising all over the world with your new lover! And if my mother hadn't died of alcoholism, she would be less of a daughter than you! Knowing her as I do, she probably would've killed my granny for the insurance money to feed her habit!"

         "Morgan?!" Alice addressed her with concern.

          When Morgan's brown eyes locked with the sympathetic ocean blue ones of her best friend, she could feel a lump forming in her throat. She looked around and noticed that she had caught the attention of the guests, who were gawking at the scene she had just made with her aunt. She took a moment to clear her throat before saying, softly at first, "I want everyone to leave." When no one moved, she raised her voice. "Didn't any of you hear me?! I said, LEAVE!!!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO HOME, BUT YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE RIGHT NOW!!!"

         Within the next ten minutes, the guest had grabbed their belongings--purses, children, and leftover food--and walked out of the door, neither of them bothering to bid Morgan a goodbye. Morgan didn't mind, however. She only wanted to see the backs of her family members leave Mary's house without a thought of returning.

         Once they were gone, the house fell silent, the ticking of Mary's grandfather clock being the only sound.

         "I'll...um..." Alice broke the awkward silence, receiving a stressful frown from Morgan. "I'll clean the kitchen and Steve can get started in the family room while you go lay down to get some rest. If that's alright with you?"

         Morgan, still fashioning the frown, returned with a nod of permission before walking upstairs to her room.

~~~

         Later that night, Morgan sat in her bed with her back to the headboard, staring at her feet as if they may fall off and run away. She had already changed into a pair of flannel pajamas, and Alice collected her wine-stained dress and put it in the washer.

         "Morgan?"

         She looked up when she heard her best friend address her, and saw Alice carrying a glass of water in one hand while the other one cradled something inside of Alice's clenched fist.

         "These are to help you sleep," Alice referred to the pills in her hand while walking over to Morgan's nightstand and setting the water glass on there. "You won't be able to, otherwise."

         Morgan nodded and took the pills from Alice, thinking it was best not to fight her. She took a sip of water and slipped the pills in her mouth, swallowing them. "Thank you."

         "No problem," Alice said before helping Morgan to lie down and tucking her in. "Do you want Steve and I to stay with you, so you won't be alone?"

         She shook her head. "No. I'll be fine."

         "Are you sure?"

         Morgan answered with a nod, which Alice accepted.

         "Alright. But Steve and I are a phone call away. We'll come right over if we have to. We're going to set the security alarm before we leave."

         "Thank you."

Alice tucked some of Morgan's hair behind her ear and placed a friendly kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams suga'."

         "You too," Morgan said with a smile and closed her eyes.

         Alice turned off the lamp on Morgan's nightstand before turning to leave the room. Upon reaching the door, she was greeted by Natalya, who stretched her fore-paws to touch Alice's leg. "Well, hello there little Natalya," she greeted the dog as she picked her up. "Are you off to bed?"

         Alice received a lick on her left cheek, causing her to giggle.

"Okay, hun. You take very good care of my Morgan, will you?"

         Natalya barked as if to tell Alice that she will do her best.

         "That's all I ask. Now, you get some rest too." She gave Natalya a small kiss on the forehead before setting the dog down and leaving the house.

         Once Alice and Steve were gone, Natalya paced in a circle before walking into Morgan's room where the young woman was half-asleep. Squatting and stretching her fore-paws to touch the bed, she jumped once, twice, the third time was the charm as her paws made contact with Morgan's semi-conscious form.

         "Ugh. Get off me, you mutt," Morgan whispered in frustration, gently pushing Natalya off with her backhand.

         When she did this, Natalya lost her footing and landed on the carpet on her back. She released a whimper as she stood up, the fall not hurting her one bit, before stretching her paws again and jumping onto the bed again after the third try.

         "Ugh," a displeased Morgan released. "Fine, you can stay, but only for tonight."

         Natalya barked as if she understood and made herself comfortable between Morgan's sheets. She laid on her side and rested her head on the young woman's chest.

         Morgan released an exasperated sigh and gave Natalya a small head rub before falling asleep from the effects of the pills Alice gave her.

         Natalya waited a couple of minutes and closed her eyes, allowing herself to fall asleep.

         While both human and dog were resting in a peaceful slumber, the moonlight leaked into the room and shined on them.