The Unexpected Nanny

14- Saying goodbye

For the next couple days Antonio had been busy with funeral arrangements, he took time off work, he let the courts know what was going on, and that he would be back when the time was right. He also called all his clients, letting them know that their court dates were going to be pushed back until further notice.

Antonio still hadn't told the girls where their mom was at, he had been trying to figure out how to tell them. They were all sitting at the dinner table eating lunch, Isabella stopped eating her sandwich and looked at Antonio. "When is mommy coming home?"

Sadie looked at Antonio, and gave him a funny look. She couldn't believe he still hadn't told them, "I'm going to leave." she says, standing up.

"No, stay here." he says quietly, resting his hand on top of hers. "Please." he says, looking at her in desperation.

Sadie sat back down, and leaned over to his ear, whispering to him. "You seriously need to tell them."

Antonio clasped his hands together, rested his elbows on the table, and leaned his forehead onto his clasped hands, trying to figure out how to say the right words to a couple of five-year old's. He took a deep breath and sighed while looking at them. "Oh God." he said and looked up at the ceiling.

"I really don't know how to tell the both of you this, but your mommy is up in heaven right now, she's our angel now." Antonio said, with tears filling his eyes as he spoke.

He choked up, got mad at himself for crying in front of them, and covered his face. "I'm sorry, I'm not being strong enough for you kids right now, but daddy is really hurting right now."

"Mommy isn't coming back?" Gabriella asked. She got off her chair, and walked over to Antonio. He wrapped his arm around her, with Isabella joining them.

"No kiddos, mommy isn't coming back, she's here with us right now in spirit, and as your guardian angel."

The girls cried wanting their mommy home, they didn't understand that she had passed away, and didn't understand that they would not see her anymore. Seeing them cry, hurt Antonio even more.

Sadie's heart broke seeing them all upset, and stood up sneaking out of the room to let them be alone. She figured that it was their alone time to grieve together.

Antonio released the girls from his hug, and looked at them. "Tomorrow, we say our goodbyes to mommy."

"Can we make something for her?" Isabella asked.

"Of course you can, I'm sure Sadie will help you out with that." he says, looking over to where Sadie was sitting, and saw that she wasn't there anymore. He turned his head looking for her and stood up. "Finish eating your lunch, then go find Sadie, and have her help you. I have a couple more things that I need to take care of before tomorrow."

The girls finished their sandwich and ran around the house looking for Sadie. They found her downstairs doing laundry. "Sadie?" Isabella asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes Izzy?"

"Can you help us make something for mommy?"

"Sure, let me finish this quick, and then we can make something."

Antonio came down the stairs, looking for Sadie, finding her with the girls. "I have to go to the funeral home and finalize everything." he says, sounding tired, running his fingers though his hair.

"OK. I'll help the girls make gifts for their mom, while you're gone."

Once Antonio left, Sadie grabbed art supplies, and helped the girls make something for their mom. She used Antonio's printer, and printed off a couple pictures of Harlow with the girls, while the girls made frames out of popsicle sticks. She painted the frames, and grabbed some construction paper to cut some hearts. She placed a picture on each of the hearts, glued them, and placed them inside the frame. The girls also wrote their mom a letter, to place inside the casket.