Five years earlier:

I stood in the cemetery next to Uncle Ben with Max standing in front of me, my arms wrapped around his shoulders in a hug. I stared blankly at the two coffins that lay beside each other, as the preacher read scripture over the bodies of my parents.

"Now the brother of the deceased would like to say a few words." Pastor Freddie Gonzalez said, shutting his bible and motioning my uncle forward. "Benjamin, if you will."

I heard Ben let out a shaky breath, before slowly making his way in between the coffins. He took a moment to look at my dad's coffin and place a shaky hand on the slick black lid. My uncle muttered something that I couldn't hear, before removing his hand from the coffin.

"Wesley was the best big brother in the world." He started, pulling out two folded pieces of paper. "I remember when we were kids, we were sitting in the living room and out of nowhere he just says, 'When we're older, like with kids and families and such, promise that we will be as close as we are now.'"

Ben chuckled lightly as he continued. "I remember just giving him this look of pure surprise and confusion. I stayed silent for a moment and he looked me in the eye and said. 'Promise me, Benny.' So I nodded and laughed as I told him 'of course we will, Wes. We're brothers.'"

"When I was twelve and he was fourteen, Wesley saved my life. We were floating the river, just letting the current take us down towards the south side of town. The current was nice and strong that day, giving us the perfect amount of speed to race. We usually didn't go as far as we did that day, so we weren't as familiar with that part of the river. You see, just a ways past the river bend were these really bad rapids that had a fallen down tree mixed in with it. Neither Wes or I knew about that, so we just continued on our merry way."

"That specific day, I decided that I didn't need a life vest or a floatation device of any sort. Our parents didn't care if any of us actually wore a life vest in the river. Hell, it was the eighties, none of the adults cared much about the safety of us kids. Not until we went and did something stupid, while getting injured or arrested in the process."

"So we were floating down the river and I get caught in the rapids. I kept trying and trying to get out, but my leg got caught in a cluster of branches from the fallen tree. The more I struggled against it, the current kept pulling me under the water and causing me to hit my head a few times on the tree."

"The tree only went about a third of the way out, so Wesley managed to avoid getting stuck in the branches like I did. You see, he was sitting on an inner tube, so it took him longer to realize that I was on the verge of drowning and make his way over too me. The current kept pulling him farther away from me, as the rapids kept pulling me under. I started to hear muffled shouting from what I could hear was a group of boys and who I'd guessed was my brother.

"At this point I was struggling to get a breath and I was slightly disoriented from hitting my head so many times. I was about ready to give up, when a pair of arms grabbed me around my chest. Another pair wrapped around my abdomen and helped the other pair of arms start to pull me up. I felt a hand grab my shin and start to maneuver my ankle free of the branches."

"I was pulled up from the water to find Wesley and Mike Fitzgerald, a boy who went to school with us, were the ones to pull me up. I saw a boy from my class, Eddie Danvers, laying on top of the fallen tree and realized that he was the one to free my leg from the branches. It made sense that Eddie was the one to free my leg because he's the smallest, so his arms could maneuver themselves through the branches easily."

"Eddie's twin brother, Richie, was freaking out about how I almost died, using some very colorful language that Pastor Gonzalez would not appreciate coming from the mouth of a twelve year old." Ben said with a small chuckle at the memory.

"Mike's friend, Billy Quinn, had gotten the local sheriff and brought him to where we were just as I was getting pulled out of the water. Sheriff Stilinski helped Mike and Wesley carry me to the river bank, before taking the six of us to the station and calling our parents. That experience not only gave me four new friends, but it also gave me a whole other kind of respect for my older brother."

"That was only one of the many times that Wesley protected me. Whether it was bullies, or sports, or me doing something incredibly stupid," Uncle Ben chuckled, getting a few laughs from the mourning crowd. "Wes always had my back, no matter how badly or how many times I screwed myself over."

Ben paused as he started to cry, his voice breaking. He started to wipe his tears with a shaky hand, his entire body shaking with silent sobs.

Max broke away from my grasp and approached our heartbroken uncle. My little brother slipped his little hand into the twenty four year old's larger one, resting his head on Ben's shoulder. I joined them up front, wrapping my arms around Uncle Ben's bicep in a comforting manner. Our uncle gave us both a broken smile and a kiss on the top of our heads, muttering a quiet thank you. He took a deep and shaky breath before continuing.

"Wesley and Beverly Greene were without a doubt in my mind, a blessing to everyone who knew them. There isn't enough people like them in the world. With their kind hearts and slightly sardonic sense of humor, they brought joy and light into the lives of everyone that was lucky enough to meet them. I was lucky to have such wonderful people as my brother and sister in law."

"When Wes and Bev had their eldest, Athena Diana Greene," Ben started, placing a kiss on the top of my head. "I remember them looking so proud and in love with this little girl who came out giggling. Yes, giggling. Not crying like you would expect a regular baby to. Nope, this little ball of sunshine and sarcasm came out giggling. I remember Wes telling me that since he now has his little princess, all they need is a little superhero and everything would be perfect."

"Ever since then Wes, Bev, and I would always joke that Wesley was psychic. Because five years later, Maximus Ares Greene was born." He laughed, nudging Max gently.

"I had never seen either of them as happy as they were when the four of you were together." Ben told us with a smile, becoming serious. "And I know that they would be proud of you both, if they could see you now."

Max and I both hugged our uncle, tears streaming down all three of our faces. He wrapped his long arms around the two of us and accepting the hug, before ushering us to where we'd previously been standing.

When the caskets were lowered into their separate graves and the prayer was said, we each took turns dropping a rose and a handful of dirt into each grave.

After the funeral, Max and I were immediately moved in with our uncle. The three of us struggled for the next five years, but we survived.

And we did it together....

As a family.