𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ( 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞)

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 -𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧- 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

"Here we go," Lia says a moment before Dev opens her door.

They say every burial has its mourners.

I'm not one of the mourners at this funeral. I did not have an emotional connection to the departed, nor do I feel sad. But my father, uncle Rom, and uncle Raph are mourning. Their faces are drawn, their eyes sunken as they walk through the small church where father Josè is sitting waiting to give a small service before Dr Charlie is laid to rest.

I see Lia give a small bow to a woman at the front with her a black veil covering her face. She nods, and we pass to sit on the opposite side of the aisle.

"Thats Dr Orsini?"

Lia nods as she sits beside me.

I steal a glance at her. She had her head down, her hands on her lap. I couldn't imagine the pain of losing a loved one. I heard a lot about her yesterday night from our moms. She was the family obstetrician, she helped with the birth of all the others except me since I was born here, in Italy.

It's like they were waiting for us because a few minutes after we sat down, father Josè stood. He was getting old, his weight seemed to be too much for him, his hands too heavy as he placed them across the podium.

He cleared his throat.

"Buongiorno, è con molta tristezza che siamo qui riuniti.   Good morning. it's with a lot of sadness that we are gathered here

The service was beautiful. I listened to his comforting voice speaks of God calling us home, and while I do not understand much of that premise, I found it comforting to hear that Dr Charlie was in a better place—away from pain and I'm sure his daughter appreciated the priest's words more than anything.

Once the service was over, we remained seated while we waited for the others to move from the church. It also gave us an opportunity to say hallo to father José.

He smiled while walking toward us, ever so slowly because of his gout. We stood, moving to meet him halfway.

"Now now. Don't topple me," he said with a small laugh when Alessa and Sienna threw themselves at him. 

"It's good to see all of you though it is under sad circumstances."

We agreed.

"Let's go lay the good man to rest. We will have enough time to talk later" he added, unhurriedly walking out of the church between uncle Raph and Rom.

We followed them, keeping their pace.

The man had one daughter and two grandsons—twins almost the same age as Alessa or Nic and Sienna, no way of knowing unless one was to ask.

But that would be rude, and I didn't care much to ask anyway.

When Dr Charlie's casket was lowered to rest, I heard a sniffle and I looked up to see the daughter swipe away a tear under the veil, her sons holding each of her arms. There was no man beside her, perhaps she was unmarried or a widow.

It didn't take long, so a few minutes later, instead of waiting restlessly around while the patriarchs and father Josè commiserated with the family, we decided to take walk around. 

"That was a sad service," Alessa said, sighing the moment we were out of hearing.

"Yeah, but the man sure has beautiful grandsons." Sienna added. I stifled a grin, my hands in my pockets ,"has or had?" Nic asked. Sienna glared at him, annoyed with the question. "Do they stop to be his grandson after his death?"

Nic shrugged but didn't say anything.

"You know, I should marry a golden-haired man. Can you imagine our children?" Sienna continued with a soft longing tone. "They would be gorgeous."