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Chapter 4

Elizabeth wandered toward the kitchen the next morning to see if there was any breakfast casserole left from the day before. She could hear Erin, Shane and Maureen in the kitchen, likely sitting around the table. She overheard the three talking and Maureen refer to her as Queen Elizabeth. That stung, especially since she hadn't really even spent any time with Maureen at all. She noticed that Erin and Shane didn't respond, so at least that was good, but they didn't stop Maureen either. She shrugged figuring they had more skin in the game than she did. They lived with Maureen, while she was only staying here for a few days. It probably wasn't worth it to take a stand against Maureen for someone they barely knew. Elizabeth thought about just going back upstairs, but that breakfast casserole was really good. The rumbling of her stomach made the decision for her and she pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen. "Good morning all," she said with as much chipperness as she could muster.

"Hey," both Erin and Shane replied. Maureen said nothing.

"Is there any of that casserole left? The one from yesterday?" she asked.

Shane tilted his head toward her. "I think it's on the table in the sunroom, but it might be frozen now. The temperature was right at 32℉ last night."

"We'll see. I can stick it in the microwave either way." Elizabeth went through the door with her plate and hacked a piece out of the Pyrex dish. She re-entered the kitchen and placed the plate in the microwave. "What time do we have to leave?"

Maureen looked at Elizabeth like she'd grown a second head. "The church is just literally around the corner. So, maybe three minutes before we have to be there." Maureen's snotty and condescending tone rubbed Elizabeth the wrong way.

"Okay, perhaps a better question would be, what time do we need to be there?" She eyed Maureen, daring her to say something else.

Erin spoke up, sensing the tension between the two older girls. "Mom said we need to be there no later than 9:45, but she wants to be there at 9:30."

"Perfect, we leave at 9:27. Thank you for your assistance in answering my question." Elizabeth took her plate out of the microwave, grabbed a fork and headed upstairs.

She sat on the end of Henry's bed pushing her food around the plate with the fork. "What exactly did I do to piss your sister off?" Elizabeth asked Henry.

"I'm sure you didn't do anything specifically. With Maureen, it's probably a lot of little things that are mostly in her head. She's jealous of what she thinks you have. You're smart and pretty. Mom likes you and so do Shane and Erin. You don't back down from her. Yeah, that's probably a big one. She likes to control things and you won't let her control you."

"But I could back down and let her have her way if it would help," Elizabeth said.

"Don't you dare." Henry turned away from the mirror where he was buttoning his shirt to look at her. "Don't give Maureen the time of day. It won't help if you do. She's too much like Dad."

Elizabeth poked a bite in her mouth and thought while she chewed. "I like them Henry."

"Like who?" he asked.

"Your family. Even Maureen and your dad. They've shaped you into who you are. And I like you."

"You like me, huh?"

"I like you. A lot." She grinned widely at him. He walked over to where she was sitting and leaned down to kiss her.

"You taste like bacon," he said, smiling.

"What else?" she asked, flirtatiously.

He kissed her again. "Eggs.". He kissed her a third time. "I don't even care." He took her plate away from her and reached out to set it on his desk before coming back to focus on her. He kissed her again.

"I need to get ready," she said while tipping her head back so he could kiss her neck.

"Yeah, you should probably do that." Henry said, continuing to plant kisses until her reached her collarbone. 'You are very sexy, you know that."

Elizabeth giggled nervously. "We'll see if you still think so when I'm wearing my funeral attire and not my pajamas." She squirmed away from Henry and stood, picking up her plate. She started toward the door, but turned and came back to stand in front of Henry. She ran her hand up his chest and stopped when it landed on his cheek. "I think you are the sexiest man alive and you make me feel things I've never felt before." She stood on tiptoe to place a sweet kiss on his lips and then she was gone. Henry fell back on his bed, grinning like a fool.

Elizabeth stepped into the bathroom with her duffle bag and dress on a hanger. She quickly fixed her hair, pulling it back and pinning it with clips. She then applied minimal makeup and sat down on the toilet seat to pull her black hose up. "I hate pantyhose," she muttered under her breath. "Not meant for tall people. At all." She finally got them somewhat functional and slipped her dress over her head. It was a simple sleeveless straight black dress. She got it zipped most of the way and dug her black knit cardigan out of her duffle, slipping it on to keep her warm on this cooler than average March 1st. She quickly put her jewelry on and placed her watch back on her wrist. Checking herself on last time in the mirror, she picked up her bags and headed out of the bathroom. She dug her heels out of her bag and tossed the rest of her things on the mattress she was sleeping on in the middle of the girls' room and headed downstairs.

Henry was waiting for her at the bottom on the stairs. "Yes," he said enthusiastically." She gave him a strange look. "You are most certainly sexy in your funeral attire," he whispered. She blushed, but tried to hide it by turning around.

"Do you think you could finish zipping my zipper?" she asked, dropping her heels to the floor and pulling down her cardigan to expose the open zipper. Henry moved her hair to the side and finished zipping it up.

"There you go," he said, letting his hands rest on her shoulders longer than necessary. She bent down and picked up her heels and proceeded into the kitchen. Jo was scurrying around moving things from place to place.

Elizabeth caught up with her near the refrigerator. "Do you need some time before you go today?"

"I think I'm okay, but thank you." Jo squeezed Elizabeth's hand. She turned her attention to the room. "We need to leave in about ten minutes. Make sure you're ready."

Elizabeth fixed herself a piece of toast and poured a cup of coffee, which Henry drank part of. "Hey there buddy. We aren't married. Get out of my coffee," she laughed.

"I'm trying to save us from having to wash extra dishes," he said, refilling her cup before handing it back. She smiled. Elizabeth leaned against the counter and watched as everyone bustled around doing last minute things. This was definitely a scene missing from her own life now that her parents were gone, but she didn't know if she'd ever had it, with it being just her and Will. It wasn't that her own family never rushed around back in the day to get ready in the mornings or for weekend activities, but their rushing didn't look quite so messy because there were fewer of them. She'd never thought about having kids before other than in the most vague of terms, but now she decided that she wanted at least three, if not four children. She wanted the warm and noisy hullabaloo that was the McCord family. She looked over at Henry, who was now joking with Shane. She wanted his children and she wanted them to grow up in this family. She grinned at her own thoughts. Jo was right. She was going to need to start drinking a little more if she was going to spend much more time around this crazy bunch.

"Time to go," Jo's voice rang out over the chatter. Henry stepped over and took Elizabeth's hand.

"You look like you're in a good mood," Henry said.

"Just thinking about some things. I'll tell you later." She wondered if she would actually have the courage to be honest and tell Henry that she loved him and wanted him to be her forever love.

They walked into the church and Elizabeth's breath was taken away. The exterior of the building was beautiful, yet daunting, with its many spires and elaborate brickwork, but that didn't hold a candle to the interior. Elaborately carved woodwork, four side altars dedicated to various people. She would've asked Henry, but knew he would be unable to provide a short answer and she wanted to study everything. She'd ask later.

The crucifix was enormous. An intricately carved masterpiece. It was a beautiful sculpture, if that's the area of art it would fall into. Occasionally she wished she could see more in it than just that. She thought back to the time right after her parents died. Back then, she wished she had some sort of belief that would make it easier, but now, a few years removed from it, she wasn't sure how much it would have helped. She'd seen just as many people abandon their faith in hard times as those that clung to it.

They were all still standing in the back of the church when the director of the mortuary popped his head in. He spoke with Jo quietly and then disappeared. Patrick and Shane moved to open the outside church doors and the casket was brought inside. It was moved along a wall in the back and they opened it one last time. Patrick held Jo's hand as he led her up and one by one family members stepped forward to say their final goodbyes. When it was Henry's turn, he looked down at Elizabeth, silently questioning whether or not she would want to come with him. She took his hand in both of hers and squeezed it, and they went up. She watched Henry, who closed his eyes in prayer. She looked down and thanked the woman that she'd never met, but had greatly shaped the man she loved. A single tear slipped down her face and she quickly wiped it away, leaning into Henry's arm, her hands still attached to his. Henry moved away and Elizabeth followed.

They took their spots along the wall and waited for the rest of the family to say their goodbyes. Henry stood with his back pressed to the wall and was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for the women in his life. HIs mom, who stood on the opposite wall, was always strong and loving, but leaned on his father in hard times, just as she was doing now, both literally and figuratively. His grandmother, always seemed to be there offering just what he needed, whether it be a warm cookie, a band-aid, a listening ear or an occasional kick in the ass. That thought caused him to smirk, and Elizabeth tilted her head to look back at him to make sure he was alright. He smiled at her and kissed the top of her head pulling her a little closer. Elizabeth. He had known that he had feelings for her, and was actually afraid of bringing her to meet his family, but having spent the last five days watching her learn to navigate the McCord family, he was sure that he loved her and that he always wanted her at his side. His only regret was that she never got to meet his beloved grandmother. He tried to keep his emotions inside, but as they closed the casket, he sucked in a deep breath and tears welled up in his eyes. Elizabeth instinctively knew and shifted her body, threaded her arms around his middle and holding him close, her head on his chest.

The family watched as the casket was draped in a white cloth and topped with a gorgeous casket floral spray and a crucifix. Henry, Shane and four other cousins, who were pallbearers, gathered on either side of the casket and rolled it up the center aisle and turned it parallel to the main altar. The family followed behind filing into the pews in the front. Henry was waiting for Elizabeth and they sat in the second pew with Henry's siblings and their cousins.

It was then that the doors opened and others entered filling the pews behind them. Elizabeth sat quietly thinking about her own parents' funeral. She couldn't remember much about it as a whole. It was in the funeral home and not a church since neither of her parents had been churchgoers. But the things she seemed to remember were the small details. She obviously remembered the smell of the funeral home, even though she didn't realize the impact it made on her at the time. She could still feel the plushness of the carpet that her new heels sunk into, giving a physical element to her deep feeling of being off balance. They were her first pair of real heels that her mom bought the week before the accident, the ones purchased for the school dance that she never attended. She could still see delicate petals of the white roses she was given to hold at the cemetery. She focused on the slightly turned edges of the petals that had started to fall victim to the heat. She felt the pull of Will's hand at her elbow tugging her toward the grave where she dropped the roses hearing the soft thump of them hitting the casket..

A shiver went up her spine, and Henry put his arm around her. "Are you okay?" he whispered.

She looked at him and thought about lying, but knew that he would see right through her. "No," she said. "You?"

"No." She put her head on his shoulder and placed her hand on his thigh. Henry covered her hand with his and waited for the service to begin.

The actual funeral Mass was pretty nondescript as far as Elizabeth was concerned. She really wasn't following along other than to do what everyone else was doing. She watched Henry carefully, comforting him as best she could. At the end, Henry and the other pallbearers went and stood in the front, flanking the casket. There were ushers that emptied the pews, and the family went to stand outside near the hearse. Others went to their cars and waited to get in the procession line to the cemetery.

Elizabeth became a much younger version of herself doing the same thing years earlier. She thought she had herself under control until Henry and the other pallbearers walked outside carrying the casket. Elizabeth closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the memories of not one, but two hearses sitting side by side and her parents being rolled into the back. She stood stock still not wanting to cause any kind of scene, but the waves of despair she felt now, just like that day, were unrelenting. She tried to pull herself out of it. She knew this was Henry's grandmother, a woman she'd never met. She knew that this woman had lived a joyous life and had been around to watch her children have children of their own. It wasn't the same kind of situation at all, but somehow she couldn't separate her feelings then from the situation now. She felt herself being wrapped into someone's arms and she couldn't hold on any longer. All of the tears she couldn't cry then came bubbling out right then. Those tears she'd tucked away, swearing that she'd never let go.

She heard Henry's voice, distant but strong, "I've got her now." She felt her fingers being pried off the fabric they were wrapped around and being shifted into someone else's embrace. She knew she should try to figure out who she had been clinging to, but she just couldn't think about it. "Shhh, babe. It's okay," Henry whispered against her. Finally, after what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Elizabeth calmed enough to look at Henry.

"I'm sorry," she choked out. "This shouldn't be about me."

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Do you think you want to go to the cemetery? We don't have to if you don't want to."

"Henry, you need to go. You'll regret it if you don't. Come on.". She tugged Henry toward the line of cars that stinks had family members climbing inside. "Which one?"

"This one," Henry said, gesturing to the car immediately following the hearse. She got into the limo to find the rest of the McCords already inside. She looked around and Maureen was visibly biting her cheek.

"Let me have it," Elizabeth said to Henry's older sister. "I know you have something snide to say." Elizabeth dabbed the rest of her tears away with Henry's handkerchief.

"Mom told me she wouldn't pay my car insurance if I said anything, so I'm opting out of this discussion," Maureen said.

Elizabeth found that extremely amusing and couldn't help but laugh. "If I'd known that was all it would take, I would've made that request five days ago."

Patrick chuckled and Elizabeth turned her attention to him, noticing his shirt which was damp with soft makeup smudges on it. "Uh, sorry I bawled all over you."

Patrick shrugged. "You'll find it hard to believe, but that isn't the first time that's happened, although usually it's with my own woman, not someone else's.". Jo threw an elbow into Patrick's side and he flinched, causing Elizabeth to laugh, as did Erin and Shane. Even Henry and Maureen cracked a smile.

As the car pulled into the cemetery, Henry murmured, "You can stay in the car if you want."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, I'll be fine." Henry eyed her. "Really. I will."

They got out and made their way to a canopy next to the gravesite and sat down. Henry, Shane and the other pallbearers carried the casket to the grave, then took their places with the family. Once everyone made their way to the grave, the priest said a prayer and gave a blessing over the site. One by one, the family members removed a flower from the floral spray and dropped it into the grave. People began to disperse. Jo and some other family members stood around and talked for a while, then wandered off toward the car. Elizabeth thought about the events of the last few days and then of her parents, who would never get to meet Henry. It saddened her greatly, but then she thought about Henry's grandma. She wouldn't have the opportunity to meet her in person, but she'd helped Elizabeth face a lot of things surrounding her parents' deaths that she didn't even realize she needed to happen. Elizabeth felt a lot more confident than she had in a long time and she knew it came from a sense of peace she gained these past few days. Elizabeth stood and walked toward the grave, and plucked a white rose from the remaining flowers. She studied it for a moment, letting her fingers brush against the petals' perfect edges. She dropped it into the grave and whispered, "Thank you."