Chapter 82

Today is the day where we lay Collette and Todd on the ground. Today was supposed to be their wedding day—what a sad way to end things. The supposed-to-be grand wedding of the year became their funeral.

We are at the church for the mass and eulogy. Today is the saddest day of our lives. Collette is looking so beautiful in her wedding dress while Todd is wearing his tux. We requested the pastor to wed the two as planned.

We want to give them their dream of becoming husband and wife, even in their death. The wedding entourage is all present and is wearing their gowns. My little Sophie is wearing her beautiful gown and laid white rose petals on her Aunt Collette's coffin.

Everyone was so emotional. There weren't dry eyes inside that church. Mom Carmen put on Collette's wedding ring on her ring finger, while my father-in-law places Todd's ring on his finger. Now they can journey through the afterlife as husband and wife.

When it was my turn to talk at the eulogy, I breathe deeply and muster the courage to take the mic and start reminiscing my memories with my best friend.

" I met Collette when I was 8. She was my first friend when we move back here from Denver. The moment we first talked to each other, I knew then that she would be my soul sister. She has always been the life of every party. She's funny, smart, and brave." I started, pausing every once in a while to control my tears.

" She has always been my rock, my shield, my hero. She takes away with her a part of me, and I will always have a part of her in me. She may be gone in this world, but in my heart, she is still alive. I will always be in debt to her. To honor her memory, I promise not to learn to live without her, but to live with the love she left behind." I continued, and now I had a hard time stopping the tears from flowing from my eyes.

Everyone was crying and looking at me with pity. I turned to Liam and saw him staring at me with tears in his eyes. I smiled at him through my tears and looked at my in-laws. They had gratitude and love in their eyes and is smiling even in their grief.

" I would like to thank each one of you for being with us in this very trying time. For celebrating life and death. For paying your respects to our dearly beloved Collette and Todd. As we say our final goodbye to them, may we always remember, as long as we keep them and their memories in our hearts, we never truly lost them? Thank you all for coming." I ended my speech and went down the podium.

Liam stood up to guide me to our seat. He put his arms around me and kissed my temple. I looked up at him and touched his cheek.

" That was beautiful, baby. Thank you." He said and kissed my lips.

When the mass ended, heavy rain poured down from the sky. As if the heavens are mourning with us. We started the march to the cemetery, where we will finally put them to rest. Liam carried Sophie, and we held hands while walking. Under the heavy rain, tears flow, and emotions are overflowing.

Each one of us said our goodbyes to Collette and Todd and left with a heavy heart. Liam walked back to the church, where he left the car since it's only a 3-minute walk from the cemetery.

Back at the Jones' house, some guests still lingering around and extend their condolences to the family. I told Liam I'd be up in our room because I'm not feeling well. This pregnancy is quite different from my pregnancy with Sophie.

Maybe I was just too stressed and emotionally drained. Instead of going to our room, I sneaked into Collette's room and looked around. It was untouched like she never really left. I went closer to her picture frames lined up in a little corner of the room with teary eyes.

There were pictures of her and Liam when they were younger. Her parents, Todd's, and then there were her and me. From the day we first met until our school days. I touched our photos and swallowed the lump in my throat.

How happy we were back then. She also has a photo of Sophie when she was a baby. I remembered she asked me one when she knew about her. Then the photo when they were playing in the pool. She looks so happy in all her photos.

Then I went to her bed and brought her pillow to my nose, and inhaled her scent. I will miss her scent, her snoring, and her giggles. Soon I was sobbing in her pillows and laid down on her bed like a baby.

When I was dozing off, I swear I can feel a touch on my head, and a soft breeze came in the room. I can feel her, and it made me cry even more.

" Cols, I miss you," I whispered in the quiet room. I know she's in there with me. Then I drifted off to sleep, thinking about our happy memories.

I dreamed about the first day we met in school in 2nd grade. I was sitting by myself feeling scared and shy because I'm the new kid. Then this beautiful girl with blonde hair approached me and said.

" Hi, I'm Collette. What is your name?" She asked and extended her hand.

" Arabella," I answered shyly and accepted her outstretched hand.

" You're new here, right? Where did you come from?" She asked and sat on the chair beside me.

" Yes. We're from Denver. My mom and I moved back here when my daddy died. We live in my Nana's old house in Maddison Village." I answered her again.

" Maddison Village? That's where I live! What's the name of your Nana?" She asked excitedly.

" Nana Becky. She died a few years ago and left the house to my mom." I said.

" Really?! We are so close to each other! We are two houses up from your house! We are neighbors! I am so happy!" She clapped her hands and grinned at me. I smiled shyly at her.

" From now on, we will come to school together, and we will be best friends! I will take care of you, and I will protect you from the bullies. I will introduce you to my elder brother, Liam. He's in fourth grade now. I'm sure you will like him, and he will like you. In fact, I want you to marry him when we grow up so we could be real sisters! From now on, I will call you Bella." She said animatedly, and I stared at her in confusion.

This girl sure does have a wild imagination. She's planning my future already; how weird is that? She never left my side from then on. We are like magnets. We seldom separate ven in our sleep.

I spent my whole childhood in their house and had a lot of sleepovers. Until the day I developed a crush on her brother and eventually fell in love with him, she always supported me. Somehow she knew that Liam and I would end up spending the rest of our lives together.

She truly is our fairy Godmother. And for that, I will eternally be grateful to her. I will cherish her memories forever and will be telling my children about their brave and beautiful Aunt.

I woke up with a start when I felt a hand on my cheek. I opened my eyes to see Liam lying beside me on the bed. I was hugging Collette's pillow and dreamed about her. I stared at Liam with sleepy and tired eyes.

" Hi, baby. Why are you sleeping here? I was worried when I couldn't find you in our room." He asked me with concern.

" I passed by on my way to our room and couldn't resist. I missed her, Liam. I missed lying beside her and smelling her scent. I dreamt about her. I dreamt about the first day we became best friends." I told him, and my voice broke.

" Shhhh, baby. Please stop crying. You have been crying non-stop for days now. It is not good for your health and our baby. You should take care of yourself, babe. Collette wouldn't want you to get sick. I know that you miss her, I miss her too, but we have to move on, baby, and let her go." He said and pulled me to his arms. I buried my face in his neck and sniffed.

" Let's go down and eat dinner, okay? The guests left an hour ago, so the house is quiet and peaceful again. Everybody is having dinner downstairs." He told me, and I nodded. He got up and pulled me to my feet. We looked around the room one more time before going out.