Lyra had built up a routine during her stay at Lynn's house.
First, wake up. Lyra was usually crying because of a nightmare where she failed her family.
Next, give Loan her pills.
Go on a run with Lacy.
After the run, she'd get cleaned up and make sure the rest of her cousins hade done as well.
After breakfast, she'd make sure her cousins did their chores.
She'd chastize her younger cousins and brother if she found them bullying each other.
She'd then hold a cousin-meeting where the kids could vent.
Have dinner. Dinner was her least favorite part of the day behind the waking up crying part. The conversations were still somewhat stilted around Lynn even after he said they could talk during it.
Do the same things the next day.
Lyra started to get comfortable with the routine.
She hated the prospect of breaking it.
Lyra knew today she would break it.
When Lynn gave her and Liena the confirmed date for the funeral a couple of days ago, he gave her only one instruction.
"Make sure everyone would be ready when it's time to go."
And prepare them she did.
Lyra made sure all younger girls, except for London, got dressed adequately in black dresses gifted by Aunt Lucy had gotten them and made to promise to wear on special occasions. London wore a customary black and white suite joined by Lemy, who, although typically rebellious when told to wear formal wear, put up no protest today.
Lyra's least favorite Aunt was Aunt Lucy. Lyra still loved the gothic woman deeply, of course; she along with the rest of her Aunts helped raise Lyra and her brother and had been a constant presence in nearly every major event in their lives, and was Lyra knew Lucy would help them in any way she could. But in terms of which Aunt Lyra would choose to spend time with the gothic woman ranked last. It was primarily due to Aunt Lucy's sense of humor. Aunt Lucy liked to scare people. Or perhaps more aptly, she found it amusing how people could get freaked out by her just being herself. Lyra caught the woman quirking her lips in a half-way smirk a number after making a person or group jump in total fright. For each of the children's birthday, Aunt Lucy got the birthday boy or girl in question clothes she said were good enough to wear for a funeral. She always made the same dumb, dark joke. "You're one year closer to death; you should be better prepared for it." Aunt Luane groaned when the gothic woman made it. Luanne The only one who always laughed was London.
Today, although Lyra still couldn't find the joke funny, she could say the clothes did seem suitable for a funeral.
After everyone was suitably prepared to go, Lyra watched her cousins and little brother lounge around the living room in total silence as they waited for Lynn to come downstairs.
Usually, when going to a significant event, she was preoccupied with keeping the younger kids in line. They could be an excitable bunch.
Today most of them were quieter than a mouse. Even Victoria wasn't cracking jokes at one of her cousins' expense. The small girl was just sitting by her sister Lacy rubbing the larger girl's back. Liena held Lulu in her arms and gently rocked the little mutant while standing up. Loan was on her phone watching one of those Japanese cartoons. She was enthralled with the sound cranked up to a ludicrous degree. Usually, Lyra would try to get her oldest cousin to be more sociable in the presence of others. But given what today had in store, Lyra decided to allow the blonde girl her comfort. Leia was brushing Lizy's hair while Lops braided the older blonde girl's hair.
The only one who was talking was London, who was mildly scolding Lemy for his weak attempt to tie his tie. "I've must've shown you to do this a thousand times, and yet I feel I must show you to do so a thousand times more before you get it. Please prove my intuition wrong by paying attention this time." London sighed as she finished the knot for the boy.
Lemy just grunted in response to the chastisement.
Lyra knew today would be one of the hardest days of her and her family's lives. It was the day they'd be burying half of the family.
Lyra dreaded going to the funeral. It would make everything permanent. She'd officially be the leader of her family; that thought
She was just a kid. A scared kid with a moderately good poker faces good enough to trick other scared kids into believing she knew what she was doing. She could pretend to be strong or brave like her Aunt Lori, but it was all an act. Lyra would never say this out loud least she hurt someone's feelings But the blonde woman was quite frankly Lyra's favorite Aunt. The woman always exuded such confidence in whatever she did. Lori was the leader of the family. Whether it be kid or adult, if someone turned to her for help, she'd know exactly what to do.
Aunt Lori also shared Lyra's inclination towards religion. During one of her mom's cross country tours, Lyra, Lemy, and her mother landed in a motel with a bible on its nightstand. Out of curiosity, Lyra opened it and began reading. Lyra tried talking about what she was reading with her mother, but her mother said religion was rubbish, and people should like what they like. The rest of her family was apathetic towards it-most of them said they believed in God but weren't big into religion, some like Lisa thought a god with a vested interest in humanity improbable. Aunt Lucy was pretty spiritual in her own right-and Lyra tried to respect her Aunt's beliefs. It wasn't the type of spiritualty she was interested in learning about, much to the gothic woman's disappointment. The only active worshipper in the family was Aunt Lori. The blonde always was eager to discuss her faith with Lyra. Aunt Lori taught Lyra Christianity, which was about love. It should never be a tool for bludgeon people. It was Aunt Lori and her uncle who rode with her to Church on Sundays. Her uncle tried to stay attentive, but often just fell asleep during the sermons. Aunt Lori was always just as enthralled with the sermons as Lyra was. They discussed their interpretations of what was said after the sermon. They'd participate in the Church's functions together. Heck, Aunt Lori, arranged Lyra's baptism.
Lyra hoped to be someday half the woman Lori was.
She knew wouldn't be.
Lynn came downstairs and was his usual sympathetic self.
"Get in the Van, we're leaving now." the old man announced before heading out the door.
Lyra and her cousins followed their grandfather and got in the van.
The vehicle did not start after the first turn. Nor the second. By the fourth attempt, Lyra worried the van wouldn't start, and they'd be late for the funeral.
"Come on; I know you could do it," Lynn muttered to the van, massaging the wheel. "Vanzilla, girl, please don't act up today, old girl."
He counted to ten before trying it again, and luckily this time, the old machine roared to life, and they were on their way.
"I hate this thing," Lemy muttered beside her.
She quickly shushed him, but Lynn heard Lemy's comment. Her grandfather spoke to the group. "Anyone who has a problem with Vanzilla is free to walk to whatever it is they need or want to go." he pronounced, "But I will not tolerate anyone disrespecting her while getting a ride from her."
Lemy opened his mouth, seeming to make a retort. Lyra glared at the boy. Lemy closed his mouth and looked down.
Lyra put a hand on her brother's shoulder and smiled at him to comfort the boy.
He did not smile back.
It hurt just slightly. But she wasn't surprised by it
The Church that Lynn parked out in front looked nice in comparison to the ones he saw at Royal woods. His children had moved away from him and Rita to town 20 minutes away.
Lynn always figured he'd die before his wife. He was older and less in shape. Before Lynn and Rita had Lori, the man even smoked daily; it was a habit Lynn kicked out of a sense of duty to his family, cigarettes killed, and Lynn wanted to grow old enough to see his baby girl grow up to be a woman. If he knew what she'd become, he'd probably have kept smoking.
He always imagined his children would be the ones to attend his funeral. It was the natural course of the world for children to die before their parents. Lynn feared the possibility of getting ownership of all his and Rita's possesions when they died so much he changed his will to make sure they got nothing shortly after Rita's death. They've taken enough for it as is. He made sure his will would allocate his assets to a beautiful group-the Rape, Abuse, Incest, Network formally known as RANIN. He thought it'd appropriate that all of his money be used to help rape and incest victims. Lynn also took solace in the fact it'd probably be seen by his children as one last dig by Lynn from beyond the grave. It was. But it wasn't just that, he legitimately wanted to help make a world a better place. If he couldn't help his children, perhaps he could help others.
He never imagined he'd attend his wife and children's funeral.
Lynn admitted had been a while since he went to Church. There never appeared to be much reason. God was everywhere, so anything you could ask him, would be heard just as loudly in a church as it would on the street, or in the comforts in your own home. Why must he dress in a suit to hear some man lecture give the same talks he'd provide all year round? It just didn't appeal to Lynn. There was also the fact He was never that religious. He believed in God; parents were Christian and taught him prayers, but they had little esteem for organized religion. They Found it too divisive. In their view, Jesus loved, so all one should do is show love to those around them. He taught his kids to be kind to others in general. In his mind, this was the only important thing.
It fell to Rita to teach the kids their prayers.
Rita was always more religiously inclined than him. She came from a proud Catholic family. Rita's parents ever made sure she went to Church every Sunday. She never pressed him to convert or anything and didn't try to get the family to make the trek to a church, but he knew her faith was valuable to the woman.
The last time he went to the Church was with Rita. It was the Church she went to as a girl, and the pastor of the Church had worked with Rita's father during his final days. She thought she needed to see a priest before she passed on-to confess her sins.
Lynn asked her if she told him anything about the children; she told Lynn the priest knew everything. Lynn was horrified at the thought of a relative stranger who knew about his family's dark secrets.
But Rita said she needed to be completely honest in this process. "He can't tell anyone what I told him. And's he's probably heard, worse," she argued.
Lynn seriously doubted the last part.
Rita blamed herself for how their kids turned out. If she had baptized them, or if she had taken them to a sermon, or if she talked to them more if she did something she didn't do, they could have turned out better.
Lynn's heart broke at his wife's self-deprecation. She simply didn't realize they were perfectly fine parents. They raised their children to be good people. Lynn was not the perfect father, but he'd argue he one and Rita was the best mother one could hope for. He kept telling her nothing their kids were doing was their fault. Some people were just broken. But she still felt guilt. Which in turn, made him feel guilty, but not for the actions of his children; of course, he recognized there's nothing he or Rita could have done. Lynn felt guilty at not being able to ease his wife's suffering.
Lynn was surprised to see some familiar faces in attendance at the Church.
He recognized three men in particular. They were the McBrides.
It's been years since he saw Clyde. The man had become a permanent fixture around the house. When Lincoln left, Royal Woods Clyde came over to gage the whereabouts of his friend. Lynn and Rita told him their white-haired son, had moved out. Lynn was not polite when Clyde pressed the issue as to why his best friend left. He essentially told Clyde to mind his business and slammed the house door in his face.
When Lincoln's childhood friend saw Lynn and the group walked up to them. Lynn was prepared for the man to lambast him. Lynn was not ready for the man to hug him.
"I am so sorry. Every one of them was a treasure."
Lynn disagreed. Clyde might as well said the sky was red. It'd be as true. Nonetheless, he returned the embrace.
"Thank you. I know Lincoln would appreciate you coming."
Upon letting him go, Clyde looked towards the children.
Particularly towards the teenagers.
"Hey, my name's Clyde McBride. I was a childhood friend to your uncle and mothers, I'm sure you guys don't remember me, but I never forgot you when I saw you when you were little. I've never seen your moms happier when they were with you. They were truly great people. If you guys need anything, please let me know."
The man took out a card and handed it to Lori's girl. The blonde girl immediately gave it to Luna's girl.
"Thank you; it's always a pleasure to meet a family friend. It's just a shame that these are the circumstances we met." Luna's girl said while holding a hand out to Clyde.
Clyde took her hand and shook. "If you guys need anything, you could try calling me. Maybe I could help out."
The next person to greet him was a friend and employee at Lucy's funeral parlor.
She was a Wicca Witch and professed that knew Lynn's children's spirits were free and unshackled, given the great lives they lived.
A guy from the Humanist society that Lisa was a member came up to offer similar sympathies next.
On and on, Lynn heard from friends and acquaintances of his kids how they were great people and how the world was worse without them there. Lynn felt like a liar when he merely nodded to their platitudes.
He knew they were trying to be sympathetic.
The group eventually sat down in seats reserved for family.
Lynn got more uncomfortable when the Reverend began to offer words on his children. The woman waxed poetically on the kind nature of his family. Mainly she talked about his eldest daughter. Lori was fairly active in the Church. She attended it every Sunday, ran a bible-study group, and was engaged in a ton charity hosted for the Church, Lynn never minded what others believed in terms of religion so long as it didn't hurt anyone else. But rapist and pedophile pretending to be a godly person sickened him. How could a woman who spent so much time in a church where they preach nonstop about what God hates to continue her lifestyle? Was it apart of the mask she and her siblings were presenting to the public? Did she do all of it just for some warped joke?
Lynn was not a religious person, but the thought of people seeking to ridicule others for their beliefs was appaling;Lynn thought he raised his children to be better than that. Even from beyond the grave they continue to dissapoint him.
After the Reverend, more people came, a lot of the same people he expressed sympathy earlier, with many professing the message that his children were such wonderful people.
Eventually, the Reverend asked if anyone else would like to speak. All eyes in the Church came on him.
Lynn walked up to the podium.
He did not know what to say when he got up there.
It felt wrong that such morally decrepit people were being talked about as if they were saints.
They were monsters.
What Lisa did to her child was even far more horrific than anything than he could imagine.
And even in death, he still covered for their lies so far. He felt dirty because of it. If he told the world what they had done, it'd be only a little bit of punishment that they'd deserve.
Lynn covered for his children when they were alive to protect them from a world that'd destroy them. Who was Lynn protecting now? His kids were dead.
Lynn wondered what the reaction would be if he just told everyone there what they're kids had done?
They'd probably stop saying his kids were such great people.
He was tempted to do so when another of Lisa's colleague's at Michigan's top research institute on how the woman has helped saved countless lives. Lisa did not save her mother. The most intelligent person in the world, and somehow defeating breast cancer, was beyond her abilities.
They hurt Lynn.
They hurt Rita.
They didn't deserve to be seen as saints.
The angry man opened his mouth, intending to tell the world everything.
But then he looked towards the faces of the children in his care. At the praise of their parents' accomplishments and character, some of them smiled at hearing what great people they've had been. They were still mostly crying — the only ones who weren't Lucy's girl and Luna's girl. But the pain was evident in the latter's eyes; oddly enough anger seemed to be in the gothic-suite wearing teen. The lie of their parents being great people was comforting to them. He honestly envied their ignorance. They would be devastated if they ever knew the truth. Lynn knew this was one of the worst days of their lives. They've suffered enough.
So instead, he decided just to play the part of a grieving father.
"There is no greater sense of loss a father could feel than that of the loss of his child." he stared at the caskets and the pictures of his children that were above them. The injuries his children sustained made the bodies unfit to be viewed by the public.
"If you would ask me, what was the greatest day of my life I honestly couldn't tell you; every day god gifted my beloved wife and me a new person to love and nurture was the greatest."
"I mean, I know most parents would say their kids are talented, but I feel my kids honestly were possibly the most talented people you'd ever meet. If you need a great dress Leni could make you one in an hour tops-and if you needed, she'd do it for free. it was just the type of person she was."
At this, Leni's girl smiled. The girl always did look like her mother when she smiled. It usually hurt him to see her do so a little, But for some reason, it didn't right now.
"If you needed something fixed, Lana was your girl. She fixed Vanzilla more time than I could count by the times she was 12 years old." Lynn, there were plenty of men who would feel emasculated at being outperformed in being able to do anything mechanical by a little girl. Lynn couldn't careless, especially when it was his girl showing him to be a fool.
"Lisa was probably the smartest person who ever lived. She started doing my taxes when she three. The girl got Rita and me a tax-refund for a couple thousand the first year. Of course, we put most of it towards paying the bills, but we saved some for some fun. My wife and I told Lisa we'd use that money to take the family anywhere she wanted."
And do you know what she said?" Lynn smiled. "A science museum. Her siblings hated it. Rita hated it. I hated it. Museums are boring. But the look of wonder and joy on Lisa's little face was something I loved."
Lynn looked over to the babe in Leni's girl's arms. It's ashamed Lisa couldn't stay that innocent; in the end, she became the biggest monster in regards to Lynn's children.
"Luna was a master at every instrument she got her hands on. The woman could even make the music coming from bag-pipes sound almost half-way decent. Bag-pipes! If you needed someone to give an extremely tacky joke, there was no one better to deliver it then Luanne. She could truly make it sound...a lot tackier than anyone else could."
At that part, those in attendance laughed. Lynn pointed directly at them, "See right there that was a better reaction than most people have had to her jokes."
That last note only prompted more laughter, even from Luane's girl. He thought she looked beautiful.
"Lori always was one to take charge of the situation. The woman never shirked from any sort of responsibility. I remember when Rita and I first left her in charge alone of all her siblings when she 14-years old. Not an ounce of hesitation or nervousness at the prospect of handling nine rowdy kids by herself. When I came home seeing all her siblings tuckered out and in bed, I felt pride. I thought Rita and I were raising a truly responsible young woman." He was wrong, of course.
"Lucy was an empathetic girl. I know to many people she may have seemed emotionless, but she was far from it. The girl was pouring with emotion. She loved comforting those who've suffered a loss. I was there for the first funeral she conducted. It was for a pet squirrel of one of the neighborhood boys. I'll admit I found the thing a little strange. I thought it looked downright weird seeing a 6-year old do this. But as I waited in the car, I noticed something; Lucy was hugging the boy who lost his pet. The kid messed up Lucy's dress with the amount snot and tears he poured onto it, but Lucy did not seem even an ounce concerned with it. She appeared happy after we left the kid's house. I asked her if she had fun, and she said and I quote, 'It was wicked to help someone who needed me.' end quote."
Lucy's girl did not take her eyes off the caskets. She still looked angry for some reason. It bothered him. He did not know why,
"Lola was a Princess. Not in just being prone to be fancy, but in her kind heart. One of her friends in her eighth-grade class had gotten cancer. So Lola managed to get the entire class to shave their heads in support of the girl. Lola never bragged about it around the house. Quite the opposite-she complained about having to cut it for; I assumed she mostly did it not to be isolated from her class. I only learned that the whole thing was her idea from her teacher during a parent-teacher conference. I asked her about it. She said she didn't want to get attention for what she did. She wanted to show her friend support."
Lola's girl was full-on sobbing. The twins by her side were petting her in an attempt to comfort the girl. lynn's heart ached to look such a display,
"There was never a fight Junior ever backed down from if she thought she was in the stubbornness gave Rita and me the biggest headache yet at the same time it was her most excellent quality. I remember being called by her Highschool and told the girl had been suspended for a week; this was during finals week mind you, so I thought it even more irresponsible for Lynn to get in a fight. When Rita and I asked her why she got into a fight, I expected something petty like someone said she did a lousy throw at practice.
Junior said some boys were harassing a couple of girls who were kissing in public. She then told us her only regret is that guys she beat still had their teeth. Rita and I still grounded her. Then after she was grounded Rita and me took her to a Sport's bar to celebrate what she did." Lynn saw Junior's girls light up with a little smugness at hearing the story of their mother being a hero.
"Lincoln called himself the man with a plan. The nickname was warranted. The plans weren't always good. Often, they backfired, but my boy was the most innovative guy you could meet. Put him in a bad situation. He'd create 50 plans on how to get out of it before the average guy would know they're in a bad situation."
He took a deep breath. "On my forty-first birthday, they scrambled around to get me a present after made me a scrapbook of beautiful moments. I had the luxury of having as a father. They spent over 700$ after getting this insane idea that what they had made wasn't enough." Lynn laughed at the absurdity of the notion. "It was the perfect gift. I'm not ashamed to say I cried with happiness. "
Lynn talked more of some of the various adventures his family got into before he and Rita learned, and how proud he and Rita were so proud of them
The weird thing was that he wasn't lying. Despite everything, he loved his children. He was sad that they were gone, and despite everything they did, he felt the world was worse without them.
His eyes started to blur. He put a finger to his eyes and saw that he was crying.
He looked towards his grandchildren. "They were truly great people whose presence will be missed by the world." That was a lie. But it was a lie; everyone else needed to hear right now. It was a lie the children in his care deserved to hear. It was a lie he would've loved to be able to believe in as well.
Lynn directed his eyes towards his grandchildren. "I know they loved their children, just as much as I loved them."
He honestly believed that was the case for at least many of them. Clyde was right. His oldest girls and Lincoln never looked happier when they were with their children.
When he saw Luna singing to her daughter and son, or Luanne was dressing up as a clown to amuse her girl, or Lori starring her daughter and saying "She is literally perfect." he thought they looked beautiful, that he couldn't help but remember feeling pride for them.
They never complained about their lot in life, never screamed, it was unfair. He thought, at the very least, was admirable until he learned about what they were doing.
"They raised good kids." Lynn could not say he loved them. But they mostly seemed nice enough even the boy didn't seem that bad.
With that walked back to his seat.
Luna's girl walked up to the podium after him.
"My mother and her siblings were truly great people. They raised me, my brother, and my cousins with nothing but love. They taught us to be kind, strong, resourceful. They drilled into us that there was nothing we couldn't do. I-I know my cousins will make them proud."
With that, she returned to her seat.
Lynn put his hand on her shoulder. "I think you're mother and siblings would be proud of you gir_ ." he stopped himself. "I know your mum and her siblings are proud of you, Lyra."
With that, Lynn saw the girl get misty-eyed. She quickly brushed her eyes.
He was surprised to realize he was telling the truth.
Victory was a rational person, generally. She took after her Aunt Lisa in only genuinely believing in something if evidence could not support it. Aunt Lisa once said, "Faith is a poor substitute for reason." and Victory took that lesson to heart. All evidence showed her mother and her mother's siblings were dead. She had even cried about that fact so hard her eyes had become dry. It made absolutely no sense for her to expect a miracle to come about as she and the rest of her family arrived at the cemetery to put her mother and her mother's siblings in the ground. It'd be illogical. Aunt Lisa wouldn't have approved; the thought of disappointing the woman who she most looked up scared Victory.
So why was a part of her still hoping to see her mother, Aunts, and uncle to suddenly spring up from their coffins as they were about to be put in the ground forever? Why did she still feel this may be an elaborate prank from Aunt Luane? It was quite frankly irrational beneath her.
But Victory still hoped.
She still had hope as the caskets were set over the burial plots even as the coffins got lowered into the ground.
The small genius felt disgusted with herself that she felt disappointed that they didn't rise before the ground got sealed.
Only then did the last flicker of hope finally go out; it was a relief.
Victory looked over to her little sister and rubbed the girl's back as she sobbed along with the rest of her family. Only Lyra and Lois remained dry-eyed. It was natural seeing Lyra like that. The girl was the strongest person Victory had met besides Aunt Lori and her mother. Lois, however, didn't look her stoic-self. She looked angry.
Lacy was still Victory's little sister despite being so much bigger than Victory. It was the sharp-toothed girl's responsibility to make sure Lacy was ok.
Victory offered her little sister a forced smile that she hoped looked comforting. "It'll be alright. Victoria needed to provide her little sister hope-even if it was a false one.
After the funeral, Lyra held a cousin meeting to gauge how everyone thought the funeral went.
London was surprised; the first thing that brought up wasn't the most obvious problem with the funeral; the flowers.
"The old man sounded human. Victory, did you replace him with a robot?" Lacy asked.
The small brunette shook her head. "Nope, rather not get my butt tanned by Lyra." Little looked at the older girl. "And the guy is family who I value so deeply."
Why isn't someone mentioning the flowers yet?
Liena talked next. "It's never easy to say goodbye forever. But it was nice to see so many people pay tribute to the finest mother and uncle there was-even Lynn and I honestly thought Lynn hated them. It was nice to see he cared."
At this, the group nodded,
No one was going to mention the flowers.
"The flower arrangement was wrong." she blurted out finally
Her cousins just stared at her. Usually, she'd take pleasure in this, but today their reaction simply frustrated her.
London's mother always talked about her work. Could they still be that dense on the most obvious problems in the funeral they just attended?
"Aunt Lana should have had Gladioli on her casket because she was of such a strong moral character. Aunt Lola should have roses. She loved to be loved. Someone mixed it up, and they got the wrong flowers, places on their coffins." London explained as patiently as she could.
Lemy's response was less than satisfactory. "I-I mean they're just flowers."
It was London's turn to just staring at him. "Those sort of details have meaning!" she snarled at him finally.
Everyone gawked at her.
London did not care. She pointed to the twins sitting beside Leia.
"You, are you seriously ok with your mother's funeral not having the right fucking flowers on their caskets? That she didn't have the perfect funeral. What is wrong with you?" she shrieked.
Before the two girls just starred at her like she was a dangerous animal. Leia got up and marched towards London her face laced with absolute fury. "You don't get to talk to them like that you death-obsessed freak. You better say you're sorry, or I'll give you the perfect funeral." the little Princess growled while balling her hands into fists. Before the pig-tailed girl could get to London, Lyra interceded by placing herself between the two.
Lyra pointed to Leia. "Don't you ever threaten a member of this family like that again We've lost enough." the older girl than spoke to the gothic girl, "London, I know you take funerals seriously but_."
"A person cannot have a perfect life, but they can have a perfect funeral." London declared. It was one of her mother's saying, and London tried her damnedest to live up to it when she got a job. She always wore suits to signal to others that she was a professional.
"If my mother was was in charge of this funeral_," London stopped. Her mother waw here. That was her funeral. And it was imperfect.
Her mother's funeral was imperfect. Her mother truly couldn't get anything she deserved.
"It's so unfair, they deserved better, they all deserved so much more, they all shouldn't be dead."
She started crying, and Lois put around the gothic-suit wearing girl.
"The funeral should have been perfect." London cried into the older girl's shoulder.
"Should have been." Lois agreed.
"They deserved better." London proclaimed
"Absolutely."
"There's nothing we could do for them now."
The old girl pushed London back lightly and looked her in the eye. "Sure, there is. We could try to be good people like they were."
London finally looked up to the rest of her family. "I-I'm so sorry, guys."
Lemy was quick to forgive her outburst. "The day's been rough, dude. I get it."
Leia snared at her first and proclaimed she would beat London's ass if she ever cussed at the twins again. After being cuffed on the head by Lyra, the seven-year-old said she forgave London.
For a minute, no one said anything.
London felt bad at derailing the conversation.
"Can I tell you guys a story?" London asked her remaining family.
Lyra, despite her earlier anger, offered London a smile. "Of course, dear."
"We all know how my mother enjoyed giving others a little fright, right?"
Little chuckled. "Biggest understatement of the year cuz."
London nodded to her small cousin
" When I was six, I decided to give her a piece of her own medicine, strangely enough, succeeded. " at this, her cousin's eyes widened.
London chuckled. "Yes, I know it does seem hard to believe, but it's true. It seems impossible. The woman was as Wicked as they came!" London pronounced. She then proceeded to go into a tangent on how awesome her mother was-she only stopped when Little came over and put her hands on her face. "London focus. You were telling us how you scared Aunt Spooky." her small cousin reminded her.
London feeling a little embarrassed resumed telling the story didn't begin.
"I knew I'd have to get creative when trying to frighten my mother. I had a plan. I'd sneak out and head to the bushes by her funeral-home. When she arrived to work, I'd jump out and scare her. Admittedly this wasn't the brightest idea." I got lost on my way to her work; it was pure dark luck that a police-officer stumbled upon me and brought me to the station. When my mother came to get me the first thing she did was take me in her arms, and cry that she had never been more afraid in her life, and made me promise never to scare her like that again. And that is how I scared my mother."
Lyra was the first one to respond. "That's a beautiful story London." then her eyes widened. She turned to the youngest kids. "Please don't do what London did."
Leia sighed. "I'd only ever do anything London does if I wanted to be weird."
London looked towards and offered the girl a smile, "Thank you, Leia." London meant it too. Being normal would be so dull.
"I have a cool story about my mom too." Lemy piped in.
"Me too!" Lacy quickly said. The sports-obsessed girl began to talk. Lemy tried speaking over her. The two had always liked the chance at beating the other in anything. Who has a cooler story about their awesome mom is a challenge neither could pass up.
Lyra smiled and raised her hand for the two arguing kids to stop.
"Guys, everyone will have a chance to give a story about how awesome our mothers were. And of course, our beloved uncle."
And so for hours, the Loud kids talked about their mothers and Uncle.
Some were funny enough to get everyone laughing. Others were so heartbreakingly beautiful they made everyone, but Lyra tears up.
It made London feel better. Wherever her mother, aunts, and uncle were, she hoped if they were watching, that it made them feel better too.