Part Seven

"Matt, it was a beautiful ceremony. I'm sure Lita would have been pleased by it." Chris Jericho reached out, squeezing the dark haired man's shoulders in a reassuring gesture.

"Thanks, man. I just wanted to do something nice for her. So we can all say goodbye. You know?"

"I do know. We're going to miss her. Man, she was certainly something else. Her smile would brighten up the room. Red was always so happy around the locker room."

"She usually was," Matt agreed. "Until lately."

"Matt, don't dwell on that. She seemed really pleased about the baby. It's just the circumstances were... unsettling to her given what'd been happening. You guys were going to work it out. You just didn't get the time."

"Don't try to placate me Jericho," Matt said. "It's not your strong suit."

"I'm not." Jericho looked uncomfortable. "Look Matt. I know you loved her. And she loved you. Last time I saw her I asked her how she was doing. She told me she had hope, and that she hoped the baby had lots of dark curly hair, so he or she would look just like their daddy. She was dealing with it, Matt. As best she could."

"Thanks, man." Matt found it hard to look at his friend, so he shuffled his feet instead, watching them work intently with his eyes.

Jericho pushed his hands through his thick blonde mane, not sure what else to say. "It's not going to be the same without her around to kick my butt from time to time."

"Yeah. She was the best." Matt smiled, looking up briefly, then looked away uncomfortably, not wanting to talk about Lita with Chris. He knew the blonde Canadian was trying to lighten up the somber mood with his comments about Lita, but it only served to make Matt more sad. Matt faced his friend and half-smiled. "Hey, there's plenty of food in the kitchen. Make sure you grab a bite."

"Sure," Chris said, knowing how hard this day was for Matt. "You know, I need to go see how Jeff's doing anyway. You want me to get you some food?"

"No, thanks anyway," Matt answered. Chris nodded and left, leaving Matt alone once again. Looking across the large living room of his house, Matt took in his friends and family. All of whom had also been friends of Lita's too. All of them had cared about her. But none had loved her more than he had. His heart was breaking and he struggled to hide it.

Outside, a black rental car slowly rolled towards the Hardy home, coming to a stop about a hundred yards from the driveway. Slipping the car into park, the driver marveled at the number of cars parked everywhere.

"Wow," Lita said to herself. "It's nice to know people care. I can hardly believe this," she said, pushing up her dark sunglasses. She pushed away a strand of loose blond hair from her face. Gazing into the rearview mirror, she subconsciously checked her appearance to ensure no one would recognize her. Not that anyone would given her disguise. It seemed everyone was inside the house at the moment. Still, she couldn't take any chances.

Lita sat still in her car, gripping the steering wheel. Not sure what to do. She had acted completely on impulse, ignoring Stephanie's orders to stay away. Her heart had once again overrode what her head told her to do. "Oh Matt," she said to herself. "Are you doing ok?"

Before she got a chance to answer herself, she was startled as the passenger side door was yanked open. Lita gasped as someone jumped in, plopping down in the seat beside her.

"Oh my God. It's you!" the passenger cried.