Catching Feelings

Chapter Thirty-One: In Family (Part Two) (Skylar)

Chapter Thirty-One: In Family (Part Two) (SKYLAR)

Death was sad.

Funerals were sad too, but I already knew that.

I'd been through them one too many times before.

Isaac's funeral is extremely small, held in his house- Aislinn and Aidenn's house now. They didn't have any family so it was just us, plus my grandparents, my dad and Derek's aunt.

Aidenn talks first.

When he goes to the front of the room, he looks like he's going to cry. He takes a deep breath before starting.

"I'm not going to stand here and give you the story of my uncle's life, not going to tell you where he was born or how he lived his life in his sixty-two years, because none of that really matters. What I am going to tell you is that he was one of the most selfless, kind-hearted people I ever knew. He took me and my sister in and did everything he possibly could to keep us safe. He held a huge amount of love in his heart for every single person that he knew. He always believed in us and supported us in everything that we did. I remember he once told me that no matter who I became, or what I did, he'd still love me just the same, because I was still, me. That's the type of person he was. It meant so much to me at the time; it still does; to have a father figure in a world where we were cheated of. He not only loved us like a father, but treated us as if we were his own."

Aislinn steps in once she realizes his words are choking up and decides to take his place, replacing him with her own words.

"He created relationships with us that not even death could break; conversations and memories that will never be forgotten, laughs and cries and embarrassing moments that will always be a part of us, even fights that started with screaming matches but always ended in apologizes. He was not only an uncle, and father figure like Aidenn said; but a friend, and someone we could trust. He was not only the centre of our world, but made us the centre of his. And it meant so much; to have a person that loved you freely without asking any questions. Uncle Isaac loved us for who we are and never tried to change anything about us. He was there for us not only when our parents died, but every single day after that. He was there for the milestones, the creation of memories, the fights, the screams, the laughs and even," she pauses and clears her throat.

"The tears; because God knows there were a lot of those. He was there for us through it all, in a way our parents never could be. He always reminded us to keep them close to our hearts. Our memory of Uncle Isaac will go on for years to come as he rests alongside our parents, two people that he loved so deeply, and learned to love their kids even more. Which is why we have decided to bury him," tears start to flow freely down her cheeks as she gasps for air.

"We have decided to bury him with them, in our original home in Chicago."

Aidenn places his hand on Aislinn's shoulder comfortingly as he wipes the tears from his eyes and pulls Aislinn into his arms as she sobs loudly.

We all leave quickly after that, not wanting to overstay our welcome.

Derek offers to take me home but I notice my father being unusually quiet and decide that he can drop me off.

With a quick kiss from Derek on my forehead, he whispers, "goodnight angel."

My grandparents and everyone else leave, leaving just me and my father standing in the middle of the Futurms' driveway.

"Dad," I say, touching his arm lightly, "is everything okay?"

He quickly reacts, flinching away from my hand before withdrawing his own.