Katie had been standing for what felt like an eternity, looking at her mother's casket in front of her. She couldn't bring herself to leave even though she knew she needed to. She had watched her cousins and uncle say their final goodbyes, knowing that she couldn't do that. How could she say goodbye to her mom?
Elizabeth had her hand on Katie's back and drew small circles on it. She had no idea how to comfort her. She had tried her best all week along with the kids and Henry but Katie just always seemed so alone and sad. At least she had Henry and he was great as always, she just couldn't allow herself to fall apart. She didn't think Katie could take that.
After a few more minutes Elizabeth placed her hand on her arm and pulled gently, "Honey I think we should go."
Katie took a deep breath and sniffled softly, "Just a few more minutes."
Elizabeth rubbed her arm gently and pulled her closer to her, "It's just going to get harder the longer we wait."
Katie contemplated her aunt's words for a few seconds before nodding, "You're right."
She took her aunt's hand and threaded their fingers together, walking up to the casket with her. She leaned down to the casket and kissed it, whispering "I love you." before placing a rose on the casket. She walked away, leaving her aunt to say her final goodbye.
Elizabeth watched as Katie walked away and placed the rose she was holding on the casket before leaning down to kiss it gently. "I'm sorry." She choked out, wiping the tears that had made their way down her cheeks. She sniffled and managed to get herself together before walking back over to Katie.
She found her niece hunched over, sobbing against one of the trees in the cemetery and walked over to her. She wrapped her arms around her and started walking back to the limo, keeping a tight grip around her.
Henry was waiting in silence with the kids when he saw Elizabeth and Katie starting to make their way back to the limo. He got out and helped them both in, "We're headed back to the house." He told the driver, watching as Elizabeth continued to comfort Katie. The kids just sat in silence, keeping their heads down. They didn't know how to deal with this and that was ok. No one really knew how to deal with these things.
Katie had managed to calm down by the time they got to the house. She rolled her eyes when she saw how many cars were outside, dreading the dinner that they were about to have. Why was there always a "party" after a funeral? It seemed like people only went to those things to get free food and act like they cared when in reality they probably didn't even know the person that well.
Katie followed her family out of the car and into the house where her aunt lived. It was pretty much her new home now until she could find a job and get settled. When she walked in she sighed softly, seeing all of those people looking at her with pity was just too much for her.
"Aunt Bess…" Katie spoke softly, looking at her aunt "I'm going to go hang out upstairs for a bit."
"Are you ok?" She asked, watching as her niece nodded to her.
"I just want to be alone for a little." Katie said before making her way upstairs to the room she now shared with Stevie.
Elizabeth crinkled her forehead, knowing that her niece was not ok but deciding to give her space. She started walking around to greet all of their guests, most of them were people she worked with or her friends from the CIA.
Katie flopped on her bed in Stevie's room and stared up at the ceiling. She was really not in the mood to speak to anyone today, including her aunt. She just wanted to be left alone.
Stevie walked up to her bedroom about an hour after Katie did and opened the door slowly. She noticed that Katie was getting dressed and looked like she was going out for the night. Stevie entered the room and closed the door behind her, "Going somewhere?"
Katie turned around startled and laughed a little when she noticed it was Stevie, "You know you sound like your mother sometimes right?"
Stevie rolled her eyes and sat down on her bed, "Where are you going?"
"Out." Katie said flatly, fixing her makeup and long curly hair in the mirror.
"Tell me where you're going or I'm not going to cover for you." Stevie fired back, knowing that she would cover for her cousin no matter what.
Katie sighed and slipped on her leather jacket, turning around to face her cousin "I was seeing a guy back home before this all happened. We're just meeting for a couple of drinks. I know your mom will never let me go so hopefully I can be back before she notices."
Stevie nodded and shook her head, "Ok but don't stay out to long. You know my mom and you know she'll be up here in a few hours if she doesn't see you soon. I'll just tell you're sleeping."
Stevie had a feeling that this was going to backfire on the both of them but she felt bad for her cousin and wanted her to be able to grieve however she wanted.
"Come down in a few seconds, I'll distract my parents and you can sneak out that back door." Stevie said softly as she walked out of the bedroom.
Katie smirked and sprayed some perfume on herself before making her way downstairs slowly. She nodded at a few people on her way out, looking over at Stevie who was deep in conversation with her parents. She made her way past them quietly before locking eyes with Alison in the kitchen. Katie put her finger up to her mouth and shook her head before making her way out of the backdoor quickly.
Alison narrowed her eyes in confusion as Katie walked out, looking over at Stevie when she walked in. "Does mom know Katie is going out?" She asked her older sister, knowing the answer already.
Stevie shook her head and groaned a little, "No, just pretend you didn't see her."
"Stevie if mom finds-"
"She won't find out if you keep your mouth shut." Stevie snapped at her sister.
"Fine." Alison said before making her way to the living room, sitting next to her dad on the couch.
Stevie ran her hands over her face quickly and started cleaning the kitchen. She felt bad for snapping at her sister and was starting to regret covering for her cousin. She knew if her parents found out then she was dead meat.
Once the last of their guests cleared out, Elizabeth noticed that Katie still hadn't come back downstairs. She walked into the kitchen and smiled when she saw the kids and Henry eating ice cream around the counter.
She ran her hand over Henry's hair and leaned against him, "Has anyone seen Katie recently?"
Stevie swallowed hard and her eyes widened a little, looking at Alison "The last time I checked she was sleeping. She said something about her head hurting."
"Maybe I should bring her up some water and aspirin then." Elizabeth said, making her way to the refrigerator.
Stevie shook her head and looked at her mom, "No…it's ok. She probably just wants to sleep." She said quickly, trying to ignore the look her dad gave her.
Elizabeth looked at Henry and pursed her lips before making her way to the staircase, "If my suspicions are correct your cousin is not going to be in your room and when I get down here you're going to have some explaining to do. So why don't you just save me the trip and tell me the truth…now."
Stevie blinked a few times and went over to the table to sit down, "Fine." She knew that her mom could read the whole family like a book and always knew it was a mistake to try and get one over on her.
Elizabeth went over to the table and sat across from Stevie, folding her hands "You two go upstairs." She said to her youngest, watching as they nodded. Alison looked at Stevie and shrugged before making her way upstairs. She knew this wouldn't turn out well. They learned at a young age not to try and hide things from their parents.
Henry sat next to Elizabeth at the table and ran his hand over her back, "Start talking…"
"It's really no big deal. She said she was meeting this guy she was dating from back home and she would be back soon. I felt bad for her and thought that we should let her grieve the way she wanted too." Stevie reasoned, hoping her parents would just take that as her answer.
"And you really bought that?" Elizabeth asked. "If I know Katie, right now she is at some club with some friends, getting wasted."
Henry nodded and leaned forward a little, "Your cousin is smart but she's a bit wild. We used to see her at school hungover the majority of the week."
Before they could say anything else the backdoor flew open and Katie staggered in, "Well look what we have here…" She slurred, making her way over to the table "Did all of your friends leave?" She asked with mock sadness, looking at her aunt.
Stevie sighed a little and stood up, facing her cousin "Hey leave her alone, she lost her sister too." Stevie felt like she had to do something since this was partially her fault.
Katie laughed a little and rolled her eyes, going over to the refrigerator, "She didn't care about her." She said bitterly, glaring at her aunt as she threw the door open.
Elizabeth raised her eyebrow at her niece and stood up from the table, "Stevie go to bed." She said as she kept her eyes on Katie.
Stevie started to protest before feeling her dad's hand on her shoulder, shaking his head. She nodded and made her way upstairs, "This is going to be bad." She mumbled to herself, closing her bedroom door.
Elizabeth walked over to where her niece was and slammed the door to the refrigerator, crossing her arms "You need to remember that you are in my house little girl and whether you are drunk or not will show me respect."
Katie crossed her arms and stood toe to toe with her aunt, she always became brave when she had some alcohol in her. Under any other circumstance she would never speak to her aunt in this way.
Henry watched as the two woman stared each other down and moved to pull Elizabeth back, "Come on. Let's talk about this is the morning."
Elizabeth pulled away from him and looked over her shoulder, "Don't touch me." She knew that he wasn't a part of any of this but the last week was starting to catch up to her and she was about to snap on everyone.
"Fine." Henry said, throwing up his hands as he made his way upstairs. They needed to fight this out themselves.
Elizabeth looked at her niece and shook her head, "If you really think that I didn't care about your mom then you don't know me at all." She said softly, her hard exterior starting to fade a bit.
Katie laughed bitterly, "I don't have time for this." She said, starting to walk away.
"I don't think so." Elizabeth said, grabbing her arm gently "You do not get to walk away."
"Ok, if this is what you want…" Katie started, standing in front of her aunt again.
Elizabeth placed her hands on her nieces shoulders, "Before you say anything else…I want you to think about it. You don't know what happened between your mother and I and I don't want you to regret what's about to come out of your mouth."
Katie sighed and blinked a few times, still drunk "I do know. I heard the whole argument from the living room that night." She said, feeling her eyes well up "My mom would have done anything for you and when she needed you the most you abandoned her! So don't stand here and act like the grieving sister. What you're feeling right now is guilt…and you deserve it." She said through gritted teeth, pulling out a letter from her purse "I found this in her desk, I guess she decided not to send it." She pushed the envelope against her aunt's chest roughly before making her way upstairs.
Elizabeth clenched the envelope in her hand and kept it against her chest. She looked down and took in a deep breath, feeling her bottom lip quiver. She sniffled and blinked back a few tears, wiping off the one's that had made their way down her face.
She stood there for a few more seconds, trying to get herself together before making her way up the stairs. She got to her bedroom and opened the door with a shaky hand, closing it behind her. Suddenly, her chest felt like it was getting tighter and she looked up at Henry who was sitting up in bed.
She started gasping for air and leaned back against the door, keeping her hand on the envelope and her chest. "Henry…I can't... I can't breathe." She managed to get out before feeling Henry's hands on her shoulders.
"Baby look at me…" He said softly, lowering his eyes to hers. She looked into his eyes, still struggling to find her breath. "Just try and focus on taking deep breaths." He said, breathing with her to hopefully try and calm her down. After a minute or so he heard her breathing slow and he ran his hand over her cheek before wrapping his arms around her. He figured she needed a hug after today and whatever just happened downstairs.
Elizabeth accepted the hug and wrapped her arms back around him, still holding onto the letter tightly. It was the last part of her sister she had and she didn't know if she was ready to face what was written on it. Katie was right, she did feel guilty and she probably would for the rest of her life.
She buried her face against Henry's chest and finally let go of all the emotions she had been holding in all day. She grabbed onto his shirt and tried to muffle the sounds of her sobs, not wanting to wake the kids. She continued to cry against him and could feel her legs start to give out.
Henry felt Elizabeth staring to slip from his grip and moved her over to the bed, pulling her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms back around her and kissed her forehead, letting her cry for as long as she needed to. He rested his cheek on her head and felt a tear slip down his cheek as he felt her body wracked with sobs. He hated seeing her like this and it always broke his heart whenever she was this upset.
Henry cleared his throat and rubbed her back gently, "Just let it out."