EmPOV
Today, was Bella's funeral. It had been a week since we had gotten the news, and I don't think the house had ever been quieter. Grace had spent most of her time taking care of Lily, as she was a little bit too young to know what 'Gone to Heaven' meant. Henry, Jack and Ethan spent their time in each other's rooms, never leaving one alone. Like they were afraid that if they turned around, one of them would be missing.
Every night all five of them would sleep in the living room with me, because Edward couldn't return to his and Bella's room. He knew that he would have to go up there someday, but he just couldn't right now.
I straightened Jack's tie, which was an emerald green colour, and then moved on to repeat the action with Ethan and Henry.
During the week I had taken the boys out to get fitted for suits for the funeral, while my fiancé, Rosalie, and Edward's mother, Esme, took Lily and Grace out to get dresses. I was glad that they had my family and friends during this time, but I know we all wished that it wasn't necessary. We had probably all woken up hoping that it was all some terrible nightmare every day for the last week.
Each of the men were dressed in a plain black suit with a green tie, and the girls in matching black dresses with a green ribbon in their hair.
A tear leaked from my eye, as all of the kids walked towards Edward. He knelt down and took them all into his arms, hugging him tightly. We all watched, and we could feel the pain and sadness rolling off of each and every one of them.
When the cars arrived, Esme gently put a hand on Edward's shoulder and said "the cars are here sweetheart" in her softest voice.
I can clearly remember seeing the pain in his eyes as he reluctantly pulled away from his children. He looked down into their eyes and wiped their tears away. Each and every child was crying and sobbing quietly, and it made my heart break even further than I thought possible.
He took hold of Lily's hand and squeezed tightly before leading her out to the car. Henry followed with Ethan, and Grace and Jack followed behind them. We could see that Edward's efforts to dry up their tears had been useless, but we all knew that that was Edward's way of reassuring them that it would be ok.
After we arrived at the hall where the funeral was being held, we walked quietly to the front row. As no body had been found, we could not bury her, so we settled for a plaque underneath a shaded tree but we would be holding a service first. At the front of the hall, there was a large picture of everyone from last Christmas. Surrounding the picture were flowers arranged in all different shapes. There were freesias arranged in the word 'Mother' and roses arranged in the shape of a cross. There were daisies and lilies, and I knew that Bella would have loved them all.
When we sat down, we all sat on the front row with a child on our lap. Carlisle sat with Lily, gently stroking her hair as she sobbed into his shirt. Esme sat next to him with Jack cuddled against her. Rose was sat with Henry in a similar position, with tears streaming down his face silently. I was sat with Ethan, while Edward sat with Grace. I knew that Edward would need the support of his eldest daughter today, even if he didn't know it.
The ceremony started with a short video, being shown on the projector screen to the left of us.
It had started out with a short clip of Edward and Bella's wedding day, followed by them bringing Grace home, then the triplets home, then Lily home. After the clips were shown the fading in of music could be heard, and 'The Reason' by Hoobastank came on the sound system. Pictures were shown in a slideshow of all the important and happy moments of her life, and all too soon the film was over and we were forced to focus on our pain once more.
The ache in my heart was physically painful, and tears were freely streaming from my eyes. I couldn't imagine what Edward and the kids were going through and I honestly didn't want to know. A priest came out then, and read a speech from a sheet of paper on the stand. He prayed for god to take care of her and make her happy. He prayed to ease the sufferings of those left behind. And then it was time for the hard part.
We had each written speeches to read out. I moved Ethan off of my lap and onto Rose's other leg, while I cleared my throat.
"Isabella Marie Cullen, was loved by all. She brought happiness to my best friend, and introduced me to a love that I thought was made up for movies. She was a beloved friend, and mother, we will all miss her.
"I remember the first day I met Bella, she had bumped into me in the cafeteria at school and somehow managed to fall backwards onto a table, sliding all their food onto the floor and annoying many people. She blushed about 100 shades of red, before muttering an apology and walking out. Or at least she tried too anyway."
Nearly the entire room had chuckled during that last part of my speech, and I smiled to myself remembering the day.
After finishing my speech, I went back to my seat and took the boys off of Rose so she could speak.
"If Bella could see us now, I know she would be complaining that this was too much." She said with a smile, and the chuckles erupted again.
She then went on to tell the story of how she met Bella, which certainly was an interesting one.
When she returned to her seat, she picked Lily and Jack, allowing them to say their words.
Carlisle and Esme focused on Edward and Bella's wedding day. They threw in a few sentences that made us smile, before seating again.
Grace then stood up, taking Ethan's hand and leading him and their other siblings up to the front of the room.
Lily's sobbing could still be heard as she buried her face into Jack's chest. He rubbed her back comforting her, while Henry hugged then both. Ethan still stood holding Grace's hand that wasn't occupied by paper, as she opened her mouth to speak.
"Our mom, was the best mom we could have asked for. She was loving and kind, she was supportive and sweet. And she made the best cookies in the world. She would protect us… when we …were …scared…"
Ethan then took the paper from Grace, when he noticed her struggling and read for her.
"She would protect us when we were scared, and sing to us. In fact she would sing all the time. She sang while she cleaned, while she cooked, while she showered. Sometimes we wondered why she didn't become a singer instead of a writer. We miss mommy a lot and wish she was with us, we lo-ve you mommy." His voice cracked on the word love, and tears started to form in his eyes. He looked up to Edward, who ran to them immediately. He gathered them all in his arms and let them all sob into his chest.
I desperately wanted to run to them too, to take them in my arms and protect them, but I knew I shouldn't. I looked towards Rosie, whose makeup was running all over the place with her tears. I put an arm around her, and pulled her close to me.
I couldn't imagine what I would have done if it had been Rosie instead of Bella, but I imagine the hurt would have been the same. I loved Bella. Maybe not in the same way that I loved my Rose, but Bella was my little sister in every way other than biologically.
I closed my eyes gently, as another tear rolled down my face, but it wasn't long before I felt a small tap on my leg. My eyes shot open and I saw Lily looking up at me with teary eyes. I lifted her up and pulled her into my arms. Grace sat down next to me, on the empty seat that Edward had been occupying and was watching her father. I quickly pulled her onto my lap, and she glanced up at me with a half-smile in thanks.
I looked up to Edward and saw him mentally prepping himself for what he was about to say.
"Bella was-" he took a deep breath.
"Bella was an angel inside and out. She was kind, beautiful, honest, loving and no one will ever replace her in our hearts. She loved our children beyond what most people would think possible, and I know that she is missing them from heaven. But she is with her parents now, who I know will take care of her for us. Charlie and Renee were definitely two parents not to be messed with when it came to their baby girl." He chuckled to himself, half-smiling before continuing.
"They raised their daughter into the beautiful woman we all knew and loved, and I have always been grateful to them. And although we will miss her, we shall never forget her. We shall never replace her. We shall always love her."
He breathing was shaky as he took his seat, and pulled Grace into a hug. He held her tightly, rocking backwards and forwards slightly. I didn't even have to look at them to know that they were both crying desperately.
I closed my eyes, and bowed my head softly.
Yeah I'll tell you something
I think you'll understand
When I say that something,
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand,
I wanna hold your hand
Oh please,
say to me you'll let me be your man
And please,
say to me you'll let me hold your hand
Now let me hold your hand,
I wanna hold your hand
And when I touch you
I feel happy inside
It's such a feeling that my love,
I can't hide
I can't hide,
I can't hide
Yeah you got that something,
I think you'll understand
When I say that something
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand,
I wanna hold your hand
I wanna hold your hand
We all walked out to the song that was playing, not one of us with dry faces. The tree in which her plaque was being placed, wasn't far from the service hall, and it was beginning to rain softly around us, not that we cared.
Isabella Marie Cullen
Mother.
Daughter.
Wife.
Friend.
Will be missed by the world.
Those were the words that were elegantly placed on it. Next to it was a simple vase of 5 white lilies and a single red rose. It was truly beautiful, but sad at the same time.
One by one, each of the kids went up to the plaque and kissed it whispering something.
By the time it had gotten to Lily we had pulled out the sunglasses to hide our red, bloodshot eyes.
We carried the kids back to the cars, and made our way back to the house. We ordered pizzas and sat in front of the TV watching home movies of Bella and the kids. But it wasn't long before almost everyone was asleep. We turned off the movie's and a soft singing could be heard.
don't let me go,
don't let me go
we're falling apart
and coming together again and again
we're coming apart
but we pull it together
pull it together, together again
don't let me go,
don't let me go,
don't let me go,
don't let me go,
don't let me go,
don't let me go
AN:/
So that was the funeral 3 What did you think? I know some of you wanted me to not kill her off, but I already have this story planned out in my head. The songs in this chapter were 'The Reason' by Hoobastank and 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' covered by Glee. When I wrote it I imagined the Edward was singing 'Never Say Never' by the Fray.
I hope you liked it.
-StrawberryMopet