THIS IS NOT EDITED NOR RE-READ FOR ERRORS. EXCUSE MY RUSHING OF THIS.
(back to) Emma’s P.O.V.
I woke up early that Saturday morning. Nobody was up yet; it was just me. Winter break had officially started and Christmas was just two days away. It was the perfect time to go to the cemetery and pay a visit to my parents.
I dressed, brushed my teeth, and crept through the mansion, being careful when I creaked the door shut. I stumbled down the steps, squeezing Ricky’s keys in hand. The cold metal poked at my skin.
“Ricky won’t mind if I go for a short joyride, will he?” I mumbled to myself as I quickly climbed into the cab and revved up the engine.
Wincing at the roar of the car, I wheeled out of the driveway and slid down the street towards the small graveyard that stood at the edge of town.
Truthfully, my parents hadn’t really been on my mind lately. It was mostly James and school and friends who had kept my mind occupied. But now that the holidays were among us, I felt a tad guilty for forgetting about them. Even if they were dead, I couldn’t just shut them out. They were still there, believe it or not. Just not in physical form.
I pulled in to a parking spot in front of the cemetery and stopped the car. It was a surprisingly short drive. This part of the city was very sleepy and humble compared to Ricky’s neighborhood. The surrounding houses were small and cottage-like and there were no large fountains in the front yard as there were in just about every house next to the Stephens’. I felt immediately out of place when I noticed that Ricky’s truck was the only flashy car in the vicinity.
Gripping the ends of my sleeves to my shirt, I started up towards the gated cemetery. Even though this was only my second time to be here, I remembered exactly where my parents had been buried. It was a little bit off to the side in a lonesome area where there were no other “neighbors” to keep my mom and dad company. But I liked that. I didn’t want an audience.
My Converse shoes sunk into the spongy ground with each step. The air hung heavy and I could see the tiniest bit of fog beginning to form. It seemed as if I was the only visitor today, but then again, it was only seven in the morning.
The two graves finally caught my eye as they came into view.
“Sorry I didn’t bring any flowers,” I apologized, feeling unexpectedly comfortable speaking out loud.
“Hi Mom. Hi Dad. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
I took my seat next to them, ignoring the wet grass underneath me. Their graves looked barren and unvisited. A pang of guilt slid up me and I sighed. It was my fault that they were so desolate.
I reached out and stroked my father’s marker. His name was perfectly etched into the concrete and the capitalized letters seemed to scream at me. The year 2011 seemed to be in bold compared to the rest of the writing. I felt something in my stomach pinch. It was the same feeling for my mother’s gravestone.
“Why?” I mouthed. “Why did you leave me?”
I was reminded of my strange yet frightening dreams that had been visiting my subconscious for the past couple of months. Would Mom and Dad really want me to kill myself just to be with them? Yes, I did miss them. But…enough to kill myself over it?
No. If anything, they would want me to live and be happy. That’s all they would have wanted.
And I was happy. Surprisingly, living with the Stephens had definitely raised my spirits and I was thriving in their family. I’d become attached to everyone. Henry, Michelle, Charlie, even Ricky. I was truly beginning to feel like one of them. Maybe Dad and Mom had chosen them on purpose. Maybe they’d known all along that I was the perfect piece to their puzzle.
I scooted towards the middle of the graves and rested against them, closing my eyes and letting out a sigh. Usually, graveyards would give me the creeps but I felt very content sitting between my parents. It was the closest I could get to being with them.
The annoying chirp of my phone interrupted my thoughts. I grabbed for my vibrating phone and pulled it out of my pocket.
Incoming Call: Dicky
I was quite rare for Ricky to be calling. I clicked Accept.
“Hullo?” I said drowsily.
“Princess…” he started real slow, then escalated in loudness. “Where is my goddamn car?!”
“Oh, right. I took it for a drive,” I snickered into the phone.
I pulled my ear away from the phone just fast enough to avoid the storm of curse words that were thrown against the speaker. I suppressed a giggle.
“Princess!” Ricky’s calling brought me back to the phone. “You better come back home now. Where the hell are you? You better not be with your little buddy Nathan.”
“I’m not; Nathan’s out of town. I’m actually at the cemetery.”
I let that sentence marinate in the awkward silence that followed.
“Oh. Well. Mom wants you home so that you can both go shopping for Christmas dresses. Um. Don’t hurry back. Okay, bye.”
The receiver clicked off and I stuffed my phone back into the pocket with a laugh. It was not common to catch Ricky off guard and make him feel awkward so I felt like relishing in this moment. And the thought of going out shopping with Michelle did not sound fun at all.
But I had to get back to my family.
“Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I’ll be back soon. Have a nice Christmas and I love you,” I called, getting up and strutting back to Ricky’s truck.
It was a good thing I’d come to visit, because I’d never had a Christmas without my parents. But I had a feeling this Christmas would be completely different.
FINALLY! I’M SO SORRY THAT I’M SO SLOW SDFJDSKJFDSkfj!!!!
The much awaited Christmas chapters will be arriving shortly. I love you all, my patient readers. Kiss!