A/N: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK AND REVIEWS! You have no idea how happy they made me!
I do not know how funerals go so bare with me. I'm just making it up as I go along!
Disclaimer: Same as always!
May 26th, 2008 10:00 am
I paced the hallway, my heels gently clicking against the hard wood floors. I was waiting for Troy to come down the stairs. He had left me a few minutes ago to go get ready for the funeral. I looked down at what I had chosen to wear for the day's events. I had on a simple black dress and my hair was pulled back with a black ribbon. I turned when I heard Lucas and Tina come towards me.
"Hey guys. How are you?" I asked them sitting down on the piano bench. I picked Lucas and Tina and placed them on my lap.
"Good. Why dressed up?" Lucas asked me.
"We have to go say goodbye to someone. You guys are going to come with me." I told them.
"Why saying goodbye?" Tina asked me as I looked over at her.
"They died and we have to say goodbye. We're going to put them in the ground." I told them hoping they would in a way understand.
"Oh. Then what are we going to do?" Lucas asked me as I heard someone come down the stairs.
"Then we're going to come back here and everyone is going to come back here to see us." I told them.
"Oh I don't want to go." Tina told me looking at me with her sad eyes. She knew something was going on and didn't like it at all.
"Sorry baby but you have to go with me. You have to keep me happy." I told her.
"Where's momma Gabi?" Lucas asked me as I looked at Troy walking down the stairs.
"Come into the living room with us, Lucas." Troy told us grabbing Tina and walking into the living room.
"Lucas, Tina there's something I've been meaning to tell you." I told them as I grabbed Lucas and placed him on my lap as Troy did the same to Tina.
I saw his parents standing in the doorway and they gave me a reassuring grin.
"Lucas, Tina mom is the one we have to bury. She's the one who died." I told them trying not to cry.
"Died what does that mean?" Lucas asked me.
"That means she's gone forever. We won't see her again." I told them as Troy squeezed my hand.
"Oh. Where live?" Tina asked me as I looked at Jack, Dana, Hannah, Sarah, and Nathan standing in the doorway.
"We're going to live with Troy and his family. Is that ok?" I asked her praying they would be all right.
"That's ok. We are going to be family again?" Lucas asked me as I looked at Jack and Dana.
"We're going to be one big family. Is that ok?" Jack asked coming into the room.
"That's good. Let's go." Lucas told us getting off my lap and running to the door.
I motioned Jack and Dana to go ahead that Troy and I would meet up with them. I wrapped my arms around Troy's shoulders. He pulled me close and just held me while I cried.
"I didn't think they would ask that question until they were older." I told him laying my head on his shoulder.
"You've got two smart siblings, Gabi. I'm sorry you had to answer that." Troy told me pressing his lips to my forehead.
"I just hope they will be all right and deal with it with time." I told him picking my head back up.
"With a sister like you, they will be fine. You'll see." Troy told me as I smiled.
"Thank you. You ready to hit the road?" I asked him.
"Yeah let's go. We're going to take my truck because I know my parents are going to want to leave after the ceremony. That way you and I can come back whenever." Troy told me holding out his hand for me to take.
I walked outside as Troy locked up the house. I walked over to his truck and got in, shutting the door quietly. I watched Troy as he locked the door and then came over to the truck. He got in, started it, and carefully backed out. We drove to the church in silence. After parking the truck, Troy got out and came over to my side of the truck and helped me out. I took his hand as we walked into the church.
I looked around at all the people all ready seated in the pews. I pushed Troy to go sit with his parents as I walked over to my paternal grandmother. She leaned over to give me a hug before I sat down.
"How are you and the twins doing?" Belle asked me my eyes shifting up to where Lucas and Tina were sitting.
"I'm not doing so well; the twins are doing better than I am." I admitted to her.
"It will get better. I promise. So have you decided what you're going to do? My house out in New York is always available if you need to get away." Belle told me.
"I'm living with the Bolton's right now. It was in my mom's will that they raise Lucas and Tina like their own. Troy and I are going to go to the University of New Mexico and live at the house. Probably when we're juniors or so we'll get a place of our own." I told her.
"Sounds like you have a plan. But if you need anything, don't hesitate to give me a call, all right?" Belle asked me giving me another hug.
"I will. You take care of yourself, and I'll keep in touch." I told her smiling.
"I will. Now go sit with your new family." Belle told me patting my hand and then sending me on my way.
I saw a few more relatives that I hadn't seen in a while and talked with them before going and sitting with the Bolton's. I pulled Lucas to my lap as I sat down.
"What did your grandmother want?" Troy whispered as I took a seat.
"She wanted to know how I was doing. She offered me her place anytime I need to get away." I told him.
"That's good. Are you going to keep in touch with her?" Troy asked me.
"I have to. She's my only connection to my dad. My grandmother is my only connection to my mother." I told him.
"Where are your mom's parents?" Troy asked me as I looked around the church.
"I think they're following the casket up." I told him looking in the back of the church and seeing my maternal grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
"There they are all." I told him pointing to the back of the church.
"Who are the other people?" Troy asked me turning his head back to the front of the church.
"My mom's sister, brother and their family. Which means all my cousins will be at your house later on. I'm not looking forward to that." I told him rolling my eyes.
"It will be fun to see you interact with your cousins." Troy told me causing me to cringe.
"Me interact with my cousins? Please. It's going to be torture because I'm the youngest out of all of them. They think I'm too stuck up." I told him rolling my eyes.
"Keep the eye rolling to a minimum, Gabi." Troy whispered to me as I giggled.
"I'll try to. I might need your help later on." I told him as I watched the casket roll up the aisle.
"Doing what?" Troy whispered holding my hand and squeezing it every now and then.
"Planning my escape route." I told him grinning and turning to the priest in the front of the church.
The service went on and before I knew it, I was crying like a baby. I couldn't believe me at 18 burying my mother who was barely 42 years of age.
"Do you want to go say something?" Troy asked me as he took Lucas from my lap.
I walked up to the front and stood at the podium. I looked at the people who sat in front of me.
"My mother was one of the greatest people I had the pleasure of being around. She wasn't like every other mother. She let me have my freedom but she placed boundaries that were appropriate to me. We were more like best friends than mother/daughter. We would stay up until midnight talking, usually about my love life and what was going on in school or with friends." I started before taking a deep breath.
"She's a person you can't easily forget. She one that is going to stay with you for eternity. Anyone who spent five minute with my mom could tell many things just by the way she act. My mother was immensely proud of me and my siblings. She was proud of her friends and everything they had accomplished. She was a hard working person who spread a little cheer when anyone was done. Anna Maria Montez, you will be sorely missed by your friends, family, and anyone who ever knew you. I will keep a candle burning in the window for you." I said as I walked to the casket and gently kissed the hard wood.
After kissing the casket, I walked back to where I was sitting and took Tina on my lap and gently kissed her and Lucas's foreheads.
I sat there and listened to the rest of the service before watching the casket being pushed back down the aisle and being loaded into the hearse.
I sat there staring at the front of the church until I felt Troy touch my shoulder. I turned around and looked at him.
"Are you ready to go?" Troy whispered to my as I stood up and placed Tina on my hip.
"Sure let's go." I told him lacing my fingers with him. We walked down the aisle ready to face the burial. I stopped by a table which there was several different colors of carnations. I grabbed 5 of them and walked out of the church.
Troy and I walked over to his parents' car and I quickly strapped Tina into her car seat. Troy and I walked over to where our friends were standing and hugs were quickly exchanged.
"Gabi what you said was beautiful. I'm proud of you for going up there and talking." Chad whispered in my ear as he hugged me.
"That was the hardest thing I think I will ever have to do." I whispered back.
"Remember the hardest things make you stronger." Chad told me as he pulled back and as I nodded my head.
"Thank you guys for coming. I really appreciate it." I told the 7 faces as I looked around.
"There's no other place we would rather be than right here by your side." Taylor told me as I nodded my head.
"There are a couple of places I would rather be but I'm glad you guys are here to help me get through this." I told them.
"What's going on after the burial?" Kelsi asked me as I turned to Troy.
"Troy's parents are inviting everyone back to their house. All my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents will be there. But I might need your help." I told them giggling at the thought.
"And what would that be?" Jason asked me as I shook my head at them.
"I'm going to need to plan an escape route. I'm not going to be around my cousins so I need to get out of the house." I told them.
"Why don't you want to be around your cousins?" Sharpay asked me.
"You know how you used to be with you being all bitchy and all that?" I asked her as she grinned.
"With my attitude and all that?" Sharpay asked me as I nodded my head.
"Yeah well my cousins are ten times worse than that. They think they are all better than me because they live in upstate New York and in Massachusetts." I told them.
"Well we're going to have to show them a lesson or two!" Sharpay told me.
"They're all older than me. It's not going to be pretty." I told them.
"We'll deal. Besides we should probably get to the cemetery before the ceremony starts." Troy told us as we all broke off promising to meet later.
I climbed into Troy's truck as he started to drive. I had a song stuck in my head which I started to hum. Troy knew what I was humming and started to sing.
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
"Thank you." I told Troy simply as he pulled into the drive of the cemetery.
"For what? I just sang what you were humming." Troy told me parking the truck along the grass.
"That song has been stuck in my head a couple of days now. I think that's what's helping me through." I told him climbing out of the car and walking over to where Dana and Jack were.
"Which one do you want?" Dana asked me giving me a reassuring smile.
"I'll take Lucas. Troy could you hold Tina?" I asked him as I grabbed Lucas from Dana's arms.
Troy took Tina from his mom's other arm before walking with me to where my mom was going to be buried. We went and sat down in the chairs that were provided. I bounced my leg up and down trying to calm my nerves and keep Lucas calm.
Troy grabbed my hand and held it through the ceremony. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked back and saw Chad standing behind me. I put my extra hand on his and gave it a squeeze.
The priest came to the front and started to read a bible verse that was very familiar to me.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Man started out as ashes and one day must return to ashes. Some people are called too early in life and others go at the right time. Anna Montez went too early but our lives are better because she was in them. If you have flowers, please come up one at a time and drop them on top of the casket." The priest said before turning around and walking away from the casket.
I picked up two of the carnations and walked over to the casket. I placed them gently on the top of red roses all ready on the casket. I pulled one of the roses out and walked back to my seat.
Troy pulled me close as I sat down. I knew this would be the hardest part of the whole ordeal. I felt the tears flow down my face as I watched the men lower the casket. I heard people start to leave as the casket continued going deeper and deeper into the ground.
I stood up, still with Lucas in my arms and walked over to the hole in the ground.
"Could I have a minute alone, please?" I asked the grounds men as they nodded.
I just stood there trying to gather my thoughts. I felt Lucas give me a hug as I just stared down at the hole.
"Well this is time for goodbye, mom. I know you're not really gone because you'll always been in my heart. I love you and I'm so happy you were my mom for 18 years. I'll teach Lucas and Tina everything about you and I'll even show them how to make your killer Mexican dishes. I love you and I'll never forget." I told her walking away and caught up to where Troy was.
We walked hand in hand out of the cemetery and walked towards the Bolton's car. I handed Lucas over to Dana and then Troy and I walked over to his truck. I got in and laid my head on the glass as Troy started to drive. I didn't pay attention to where he was going.
It wasn't until he pulled into a parking lot did I notice where we were. I smiled as he pulled into the drive through and started to give our order.
"Yes hi can I get a large strawberry shake and a large chocolate shake?" Troy asked as I shook my head at him.
"Please drive forward." The lady said as Troy pulled forwards and turned to me.
"What are you doing?" I asked him smiling faintly.
"I've always heard that you can get a woman to smile if you buy her ice cream and I'm trying that theory out." Troy told me.
"I'll be sure to let you know if it works." I told him as the lady handed us our shakes.
Troy started to drive again and I just sat there sipping my shake. I noticed him glancing over at me every couple of seconds.
"Troy I promise I'm fine. I'm just a little sad." I told him taking another sip of my shake.
"It's ok to be sad and you don't have to be the strong one every time. I just want you to give me one of your killer smiles so I can tell everyone the theory worked." Troy told me showing off his pearly whites.
"Ok fine. I guess I could do it for you." I told him smiling like I had before the whole situation happened.
"Thank you Gabi. You just made me the happiest man alive." Troy told me leaning over and giving me a kiss.
"And I just got a taste of your chocolate shake." I told him grinning.
"There's the smile that melts my heart everything you show it. I'm glad you're back, Gabi." Troy told me.
"I'm not 100 back yet but give it time and I will be." I told him taking another sip of my shake.
"Time is the one thing we have enough of to make it last." Troy told me as I leaned over and kissed him again.
"Hm . . . your strawberry shake is pretty good. Wanna trade?" Troy asked me.
"Nah Chocolate isn't my thing. Beside I've gotten enough chocolate from you." I told him grinning.
"And you will continue to get chocolate for the rest of your life." Troy told me.
"Hey Troy. Thank you for everything you've done the last few days. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't by my side." I told him glancing over at him.
"There's no place I would rather be. You are quite welcome, my dear." Troy told me as he started to the truck back up.
We drove back to the house, me mentally preparing myself for my family and Troy preparing himself to deal with me. We stood out in the driveway for what seemed like forever until I got up the nerve to go in. I knew I would be ok because I had my soul mate by my side.
To let you know how much I get into my stories, I'm sitting here crying right now. Feedback and Review are welcome, appreciated, and expected! ENJOY!
