Chapter 9: The Goodbye.
Liz stared into the mirror as she brushed her long brown hair, she was wearing a black dress and a black cardigan, she sighed as placed the mirror on the table and looked up, there was a picture of her and Claudia hugging and laughing into the camera. She sighed as she picked it up and brought it down in front of her.
She heard the door opened behind her and looked in the mirror; there stood Max in his black suit and white shirt. She felt her heart jump when she saw him. Max came up behind her and took the necklace that Grandma had left her and placed it around her neck, fastening it for her.
"Thanks." She whispered and Max kissed her forehead.
"You ready?" he asked, Liz stood up and looked out the window, the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing. The perfect funeral for the perfect woman. She turned back to Max.
"Yes, I Am." She whispered, Max nodded as he kissed her forehead once more, linked their hands and led her out of the cabin to say goodbye to the one woman who had been there throughout her whole life and to face her future without the woman.
Liz was standing at the coffin; she looked down at her grandmother and sighed.
"Thank you Grandma for giving me a reason to look forward." Liz whispered and placed her fingers on her lips before placing them on her Claudia's cheek and moved over so that the next person could take her place. Max walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"You okay?" he asked and Liz nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. How about you?" Liz asked as she turned around to face him, she had a feeling that the funeral was bringing back memories about his sister. Max smiled down at Liz and kissed her forehead.
"I'm fine, I made my peace with Lizzie ages ago." Max whispered and Liz nodded. "Who are they?" Max asked as she pointed to the couple off to the side, Liz turned to face them and winced slightly.
"That's my mother and father." Liz explained and Max nodded.
"I'm guessing you don't want to see them right now." Max stated and Liz shook her head as she looked up at him.
"You don't mind do you?" she asked and Max smiled as he kissed her forehead.
"Nope, after what you've told me, I might just end up saying something I will regret." Max admitted and Liz nodded as he led her over to the pew as the priest stood up at the altar.
"Today we are gathered here on this sad day to mourn for a wonderful lady call Claudia Parker. She had a great life, she was full of life that it was such a shock to know that she had been stolen away from us at such a young time but God had his reason for this and we must appreciate it. Know that, death is never final as the people we love will always live onward in our heart." He stated.
Liz rested her head on Max's shoulder as they listened to the priest talk about how wonderful Claudia was and how much she did for the community. Max rested his chin on her head as he stroked back her hair, comforting her. They both were at peace; they had said their goodbyes to Claudia and knew that she was still with them in spirit no matter what.
Everyone around them were either wiping tears from their eyes or thinking back to all the time they had fun with Claudia, the whole town had been shocked to their core when they found out that Claudia had been taken from them by cancer and wondered how they had never picked up on it, they all knew that Claudia was good at hiding her emotions and feelings but couldn't help but feel that they had missed picking up on something.
Soon, they all went outside over the graveyard, Max was carrying the coffin with Jeff, Jeff's brother and Liz's cousin. Soon they set the coffin down, Max hurried back over to Liz and enveloped her into his arms, holding her close to his body.
"Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust. May you live your life in Peace Claudia and return home to your Husband, your soul mate." The priest stated as Max, Liz, Jeff's brother, and Jeff threw dirt on top of the coffin.
Liz found herself standing at the food table, she smiled slightly when she looked at Max; he was talking to his parents. All of the guests have come up and express their feelings on Claudia dying and how much they adored and loved her, which warmed Liz's heart. It was nice to see the community joining together through a hurtful period and she had a feeling that everyone was going to turn out stronger in the end.
She sighed as she turned back to the food and froze when she saw her parents heading toward her.
"Mom, Dad." Liz greeted.
"Elizabeth, why did you not call us when she went into hospital?" Jeff asked and Liz sighed.
"Sorry Dad, I was in too much of a shock that Grandma fainted then to find out that she was dying, it just threw me for the loop." Liz admitted and Jeff nodded.
"At least you are feeling okay now." Jeff stated and Liz nodded.
"So, how have you been getting on with your studies?" Nancy asked. Liz turned to face Nancy with a stunned look on her face.
"Mom, Grandma ended up in hospital and died and you are asking me how I got on with my studies?" she demanded.
"Elizabeth, I know you are upset but your studies are more important." Jeff stated and Liz rounded on her parents.
"I've just lost my grandmother, someone who was my best friend and you are concerned about my damn studies!" Liz snapped, unaware that she was drawing attention from the guests.
"Elizabeth Parker, keep your voice down!" Nancy hissed and Liz shook her head.
"Who are you? Someone in your family had died and you don't even care?"
"Of course we care, we are just not letting it get in the way of our lives." Jeff stated and Liz scoffed.
"Nice to see where your priorities lies." Liz muttered to herself and she looked up at her family. "Well, I don't give a damn about my studies, being with Max and Grandma made me realise that there is more to studies and Grandma told me to follow my heart and guess what? My heart doesn't lead me to my studies, in fact, it leads me to Max." Liz stated and Nancy scoffed as she looked at her husband.
"I knew that you shouldn't have let her come here Jeff, your mother does nothing but ruin things." Nancy stated and Liz lost it.
"All Grandma did was taught me love, more than you ever did anyway. She loved me and she cared for me, me, not my damn studies or my background or whatever, me!" Liz snapped.
"Elizabeth Parker!" Nancy snapped and Liz turned tearful eyes to her.
"It's true! The only time you took any notice of me was during my studies!" Liz stated.
"Right, hanging around here has obviously gotten to you, I think its time you got home and started to get your life back on track." Nancy stated as she set down her glass and grabbed Liz's arm.
Liz fought against the hand and ripped her arm away, causing Nancy to look at her daughter in a stunned shock.
"I'm eighteen now, you can't tell me what to do and my life is on track, it's with Max." Liz stated quietly.
"Who is this Max!" Jeff demanded.
"I Am." A male voice stated, they turned and saw Max standing there, looking furious as he hurried over to Liz and checked her arm. "Are you okay?" he whispered.
"I'm fine." Liz whispered back. "This is Max Evans, my boyfriend." Liz introduced.
"Boyfriend?" Nancy asked. "We did not send you to this island so you could turn into a slut Elizabeth." Nancy snapped, there was a collective gasp in the background and Liz had to place her hand on Max's chest to calm him down.
"If you must know, Max was my first and only." Liz snapped back at her.
"We don't have time for this, you are coming home and that's final." Jeff snapped and Liz shook her head.
"I am home." Liz whispered and looked at dad. "This is my home, I belong here, near the dolphins and Max and Grandma." Liz explained.
"What do you mean 'the dolphins'?" Jeff asked, gulping.
"I have inherited Granddad's gift for understanding dolphins." Liz stated, holding her head up high, refusing to let her dad intimidate her.
"How? I kept him away from you!" Jeff snapped.
"It's in my blood, you can deny it all you want but the truth is, I'm more like Grandpa and Grandma than you think." Liz snapped back.
"Come on Nancy, let's leave." Jeff stated to his wife, Nancy nodded as Jeff turned back to Liz. "You better be ready by the time I come and pick you up to take you back to your home." Jeff stated and Max lost it.
"She already told you! Her home is here!" Max snapped and shook his head. "Why can you respect what your daughter wants?" Max asked.
Jeff turned his nose up and led his wife out of the building, not once looking back. Liz sighed as she rested her head on Max's chest and Max wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his body.
"Thanks." Liz whispered and Max kissed her forehead.
"He had no right to talk to you like that, no matter what." Max whispered
A lot of the guests came up and expressed their views on Liz's parents and how concerned they were of Liz. They couldn't believe that someone as wonderful and kind as Liz had cold and unfeeling people for parents. Liz had thanked them for their concerned and waved away their views, she was used to her parents acting like that way that she learned to accept that was the way her parents were going to be.
Diane and Phillip had waited till everyone went home before meeting Liz for the first time; they had heard so many stories from Max and Claudia that they wanted to meet the real person.
"Mom, Dad, this is Liz Parker, my girlfriend." Max introduced, Liz smiled at them and Diane felt her heart warmth. "Liz, this is my mom, Diane and my dad, Phillip."
"It's really nice to meet you. Max had told me a lot about you." Liz stated warmly as she shook Phillip and Diane's hands.
"It's nice to meet you in the real for the first time. Max and Claudia have spoken highly of you." Diane stated and Liz blushed slightly.
"Thank you." Liz stated and Diane nodded.
"I have to say that their words don't do you justice, you really are amazing woman, I'm really sorry about Claudia, she was a really good woman and she will be missed sorely from everyone in this country." Phillip stated and Liz nodded.
"She was an amazing woman." Liz agreed and they nodded.
"Listen, we have to get back to the café, it was really nice to meet you Liz and I'm sure that we will meet again." Diane stated and Liz smiled.
"It was really nice to meet you too." Liz stated; she hesitated for a minute before leaning over and enveloping Diane in a hug. "Thank you." Liz whispered and Diane smiled as pulled away and stroked back a lock of Liz's hair
"No, thank you." Diane whispered as she, slyly, flicked her eyes over to Max before looking at Liz. Liz got the message and smiled, as she pulled away in stepped back into Max's embrace.
"I'll see you tomorrow, I'm gonna stay here and make sure Liz will be alright." Max stated to his dad while the women were busy and Phillip nodded.
"Take care of her." Phillip stated and Max smiled as he looked at Liz.
"With my life." Max breathed out and Phillip smiled at his love-struck son as Liz stepped back into Max's embrace.
The adults left as Max and Liz headed out to the porch.
"Do you think Grandma's happy wherever she is?" Liz asked and Max smiled down at her, they were sitting on the porch swing.
"Yeah, I think she's happy and looking over us." Max replied, Liz looked up at him and smiled, she kissed him gently on the lips before resting her head on his shoulder, both of them looking up at the sky in peace.
They were together and nothing was going to tear them apart.
The end.
Next chapter: the epilogue.
Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter and I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Till the next chapter.