It was a sunny day that Tuesday in Brooklawn Cemetery. The trees were blooming, and it was warm. White chairs were placed all around where the casket was going to be placed in the ground. People had begun to arrive for the funeral service. People that Ryan knew, and others that he did not. Seth, Sandy, Ryan, and Summer were all sitting up front in the front row.
The Coopers were the next group of people to show up. Julie parked her car around the corner and they got out, and walked over to where the cemetery was. Her father put his arm around her neck as they walked over to the grave site.
"God, I hope no one steal's my Mercedes," Julie said.
"Now's not the time, Julie," Jimmy answered.
"Well, I'm just saying, We are in Chino," Julie replied.
"Mom, the car isn't going to be stolen," Marissa said softly.
Julie sighed and continued walking until the Coopers walked over to where the Cohens were sitting. Sandy stood up and he and the Cooper's exchanged greetings, where they sat down next to the Cohens. Ryan was placed next to Marissa and her mother.
"You don't mind that I'm sitting here, do you?" Marissa asked.
"No, it's fine, I don't mind at all. Listen, I'm sorry about what I said the other day. I was still just a little upset about Trey... you know. I know that you were trying to save me, and you did, and I want to thank you for that," Ryan explained.
"Listen, we don't even have to be friends if you don't want to. We can just see each other at school and stuff after this. I'll understand," Marissa replied.
"Actually, I was thinking just the opposite. I was hoping... maybe we could be friends, and maybe... maybe more than friends? Take it one step at a time?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, that'd be cool," Marissa agreed.
Meanwhile, while Marissa and Ryan were talking, more people were coming to the funeral. More people than Ryan expected to come, anyway. One of the unexpected people being Theresa. She walked up the aisle to find a seat with her mother and brother, who had just been released from jail. They sat down two rows behind Ryan and the rest of the Cooper and Cohen clans.
Theresa was not sure she wanted to talk to Ryan because she was afraid of her secret coming out - that she did not lose the baby. She knew that the closer they became, the easier it would be for him to find out. While Theresa did not want that on one hand, on the other, she felt bad for lying to him about what happened, and knew that if she did not tell him, he would never forgive her. She instinctively followed her mother's wishes, though, that Ryan not know about the baby.
The crowd was filling nicely, and the funeral was about to begin when someone showed up. Someone Ryan never thought he would see again - his mother. She came out of this old Chevrolet Cavalier and walked up the aisle to the front row where Ryan was sitting, and sat on the other side of the aisle. She did not say a word to him, but they did get the chance to lay eyes on each other for the first time in nearly two years.
Dawn took a good look at her son, to see what had become of him. She was happily surprised at what kind of boy he was turning out to be. He seemed happy with the Cohens and that was all that mattered to her - that she knew she made the right choice for her son. She could not change his past, but by letting him stay with the Cohens she changed his future.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are here to deliver the body of Trey Atwood to its resting place. We pray to God to deliver his soul. Let us pray now for his eternal peace. I am the resurrection and the life, 'saith the lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever believeth and liveth in me shall never die," said the minister.
The funeral went on for about an hour, and then Trey's body was lowered into the ground, never to be seen by the public again. Ryan stood in front on one side. His mother stood out front on the other side. They were facing each other.
"I'm so sorry," Marissa said to Ryan.
"It's okay," Ryan said.
After the body was lowered into the ground, it was announced that there would be a gathering for Trey at the hotel down the road. Sandy did not feel comfortable hosting something like this at his house, especially for a criminal, but at the same time, it was wrong to do nothing at all, so he booked a room at a hotel near the cemetery for the gathering, it was the least he could do.