Janthony One Shots

The Funeral

     It was Saturday November 26, 2022. Anthony and Jasmine were getting themselves, along with their newborn, ready. Their outfits were simple yet elegant, with Jasmine and little Liamani wearing black dresses, and Anthony wearing a black suit. The mood in the apartment was very somber. Anthony's mother, Mildred, had recently lost her fight with Breast Cancer, and it was now time to lay her to rest. Anthony grabbed his keys and stood silently by the door while Jasmine grabbed her purse and put the baby in the stroller. "Are you ready?" Jasmine asked quietly. Anthony let out a shaky breath in response.

"It'll all be okay," Jasmine mumbled and they left for the funeral.

     When they arrived at the funeral home, Jasmine and Anthony saw Anthony's siblings, Mario and Stephanie, waiting for them outside the doors. Anthony walked over, and Jasmine watched the siblings interact from afar. She figured that the group needed a minute to themselves.

     While waiting for Anthony and his siblings to finish talking, Jasmine looked down at her daughter who was inside of her stroller. Then, she started to cry when the reality of the situation hit her. Her daughter was going to grow up having never really met her grandmother. Liamani was only a couple weeks old when Mildred passed away. Jasmine only had one picture of her daughter with her grandmother. "It was too soon," Jasmine thought as she looked down at her daughter. She looked up to see a teary eyed Stephanie standing in front of her. Jasmine immediately got up to hug her.

     Jasmine and her sister-in-law had never really gotten along. Whether they were arguing about something petty or something serious, they would always find a reason not to like each other, but today was different. It was as if the two of them had made an unspoken agreement. An agreement to put their differences aside and be civil. If not for their own sake, for their family's. It's what Mildred would've wanted them to do.

     Jasmine noticed that Stephanie was looking down at Liamani just like she was moments before. "Do you wanna hold her?" she asked.

"Are you sure you wanna let me?" Stephanie asked, making Jasmine laugh a little. Jasmine nodded her head "yes" and picked up the little girl.

"Make sure you support her head and neck," Jasmine told Stephanie as she handed her the baby.

"She's adorable," Stephanie said, looking at the child in awe. Liamani was a beautiful little girl. She had her father's freckles and green eyes, but she had Jasmine's brown hair and almost all of her facial features.

"I can't believe she'll never get the chance to speak to Ma," Stephanie said after a long period of silence.

"I know. That's what I was thinking about before you came over here. At least she'll have you. Sometimes you remind me of MIldred. You'll just be the rich auntie version of her," Jasmine explained. The two women continued talking about anything and everything. Both of them trying to avoid the inevitable moment they would have to walk into the building for the viewing of the body.

     A few minutes later, Anthony walked over. "I know you're talking, but I wanna go into the building. I need you to go with me. I don't... I can't do it on my own," he told her. Jasmine took Liamani from Stephanie and put her back in the stroller. Then she walked with Anthony to the doors.

     Anthony had always been the strong one in situations like these. Jasmine was the one who cried and acted weak, but he always made sure that she made it through everything. BUt it was very apparent that wasn't going to be the case this time, Jasmine needed to be strong for him.

     She held his hand tightly, and they both hesitated a little before finally deciding to walk into the funeral home. The small family walked to the room that the service was going to be held in and walked up the aisle towards Mildred's open casket. Jasmine looked in at her mother-in-law, and a wave of sadness mixed with happiness washed over her. Mildred had been fighting to stay alive for almost two years before she passed away, and even though she didn't want anyone to know, the whole family knew she was tired. MIldred was tired of fighting. She was tired of trying to survive for the sake of other people. But here, in her casket, she looked fine. For the first time in a while, Jasmine thought that Mildred looked genuinely happy even if she wasn't alive. Jasmine looked up at Anthony, and even through tears she could tell that he knew, just as well as she did, that his mother was in a better place. He knew that his mother was finally at peace.

     A few hours later, Jasmine; Anthony; and everyone else in attendance left the funeral home. They got in the car, but this time, Jasmine was the one who was driving (Anthony was in no state to do so). She followed the line of cars headed to the grave site, and she quickly got out and put Liamani in her stroller when they arrived. Anthony got out of the car, and they walked up to the grave. Everyone stood silently and watched as they lowered the casket into the ground.

     A few minutes after they arrived at the grave site, Jasmine and Anthony were getting ready to leave. "Are you... Mrs.Jasmine?" a young boy, who Jasmine recognized to be the funeral director's son, asked. Jasmine smiled,

"Yeah. That's me."

"Miss Stephanie asked me to give you this. She says that she's not going to make it to the repass, and she hopes you appreciate these," the young boy explained. He held out his hand to show Jasmine Mildred's necklace and ring.

"Thank you," Jasmine said quietly. The boy gave her the jewelry and walked away. She quickly put on the ring and necklace.

     When they got in the car, Anthony let out a loud, shaky sigh. As soon as Jasmine looked at him, she knew they wouldn't be able to go to the repass. She had been to funerals with Anthony's family before, and like a lot of other families, the repass was not nearly as sad as the beginning of the funeral. At the repass, they played music and ate food and celebrated the fact that one of their family members had ascended to heaven after living a long, fulfilling, happy life. Even though Anthony was happy for his mom, he was still missing her. Right now, he was more upset than he was happy. He wouldn't be able to handle a repass. Not to mention, Jasmine was tired. This entire day had been entirely too much, and she was drained. If she went to the repass, she would probably fall out. With all of this in mind, Jasmine decided to drive home.

     When they arrived home, it was around seven p.m.. The first thing Jasmine did when she got home was rock Liamani to sleep. Then, she made a quick dinner and set the table. "Love, are you hungry? I made dinner," she asked. Anthony didn't respond, he just got up and walked to the table. She sat across from him, they said grace, and then they ate in silence. It was going to be a minute before they both fully accepted this loss, but they would eventually make it through this sad period of their lives. They always did.