***Friday***
Jennifer woke up when Jonathan's alarm went off.
She kissed his chest and then climbed out of bed and headed for the shower.
He went to make coffee and brought her a mug as soon as it was ready.
She dried off and put her robe on and then went to make him breakfast.
He came into the kitchen just as she had his plate ready.
"I'll be home around 1, baby, and we can leave right after that."
"Perfect".
She cleaned the kitchen while he ate.
"Ok, I gotta go. I love you".
"I love you too. More than you'll know".
Several passionate kisses later, he was walking out the door and she was headed to the bedroom to pack.
She was all packed except for what she was going to wear to the funeral by the time he got home.
"Darling, I'm home".
"In here".
She came out of the bathroom and kissed him.
"Hi. How was your meeting?"
"Boring. I kept wishing you were with me".
"Want me to sit in on it next time?"
"Then I wouldn't be able to focus".
He kissed her again.
"Your dry cleaning came, darling. I didn't hang it up because I didn't know if you were going to take it with you."
"Wonderful".
She hemmed and hawed and finally picked a black wrap dress. She finished packing and then threw on some skinny jeans, heels and a green tunic.
They were walking out the door an hour later.
They stopped and grabbed lunch to go, and then headed to the airport.
"The flight to Boston is only an hour, and the hotel is close to the funeral home, so thankfully it won't take us long to get to either place".
"I'm glad. I hope Pa gets in ok".
He grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it.
"Thank you for coming with me, darling. I appreciate it".
"Nowhere else I'd rather be".
2 hours later, they were in the hotel, getting dressed for the visitation.
Jennifer looked absolutely adorable in a bright blue off the shoulder dress with black spiked heels.
She pulled out her jewelry and put on the diamond earrings she got when she turned 16, and a diamond bracelet that had been her mothers.
Jonathan held up two ties. One was blue with gray stripes and one was red with black stripes.
"Which one?"
"I like the blue. I mean I like the red one too, but I like the blue".
He came out of the bathroom.
"Darling, can you check this?"
"Sure".
She straightened his tie and then kissed him.
They headed to the elevators.
She laced her hand through his and they walked through the lobby and out the front door.
He hailed them a cab and gave the driver the address.
"Darling, maybe we should have rented a car."
"Darling, this is Boston. The hotel doesn't have a parking garage and public parking is so hard to find".
"Yeah, that's a good point".
"So, do you know what is taking place tonight?"
"I think tonight is just the visitation. It's supposed to be from 6-8, and then my father is taking us to dinner afterwards. Tomorrow is the service at 1, and then a luncheon at my aunt's house afterwards".
"So how many aunts do you have?"
"3. My aunt Victoria is the oldest, then my mom, then Aunt Emmaline, and then aunt Gretchen".
"Are you the only grandchild?"
"Yes, I am. Aunt Victoria never married, and Aunt Emmaline is married but she never had children. Aunt Gretchen had a son, but he died when I was 2. I never met him".
She laced her fingers through his.
"Aunt Victoria is very, very old fashioned. Way more old fashioned than Pa. Aunt Emmaline is the coolest, and Aunt Gretchen is very quiet, but when she speaks she has no filter".
"Sounds interesting".
"Yep. You never know what's going to happen with this bunch".
"So if your oldest aunt is extremely traditional and old fashioned, and your youngest aunt has no filter, and your second youngest aunt is very cool, what was your mom like?"
Jennifer teared up.
"Amazing. She was simply amazing".
They arrived at the funeral home and went inside.
She made her way to the viewing room, and found her aunts.
"Jennifer? Is that you? Oh my goodness!"
"Hi Aunt Emmaline! You look so pretty!"
"Jennifer!"
"Hi Aunt Victoria! So good to see you".
"Jennifer! My little Jenny!"
"Aunt Gretchen! I'm so glad to see you!"
After she hugged each of her aunts, she noticed they were staring at her. They all had tears in their eyes.
"What is it?"
"It's like Suzanne just walked in the room".
"I agree. I swear, you are your mother's identical twin".
Gretchen couldn't say anything, so she just hugged her again.
"Aunt Gretchen, Aunt Victoria, Aunt Emmaline, this is my boyfriend Jonathan Hart. Jonathan, these are my aunts".
"Hi, it's lovely to meet all of you".
Just then, Stephen came in.
"Jennifer, sweetheart!"
"Hi Pa!" She went and hugged him.
"Hello Mr. Edwards".
Jonathan extended his hand.
"Son, you are part of the family now, you can call me Stephen".
"Part of the family? Was there an arrangement I didn't know about?"
"As long as you are happy with him, he's family".
They all sat down, and the aunts began to fill Jennifer in.
"We don't expect a big crowd. She outlived her friends. But we wanted to give everyone a chance to come pay their respects".
"I feel so bad I didn't get up here to visit her. I hate that she never met Jonathan, I just know she would have loved him".
"She loved you. You were her pride and joy. She told everyone that her granddaughter was a journalist and that she published the best articles".
"She kept your picture by her bed".
"I was going through her things this week and cleaning out her room at the nursing home. She had a box in her closet that was taped shut and she had written your name all over it. And the lawyer who handled her will told me that you were named in it, which is no surprise".
"Did he tell you when the will reading is?"
"Tomorrow. After everything is over. We have a reception planned, and then Sunday, I'm hosting a family breakfast for everyone."
"Wonderful! I love our family breakfasts".
As expected, nobody other than family and immediate friends of Jennifer's aunts came to pay their respects, so they cut it short and left around 7:30.
Stephen took everyone to dinner at a local seafood place.
The aunts decided to grill Jonathan and he was a good sport.
"How did you two meet?"
"We met in London. We had one date, and then we were in the plane crash together".
"And then he hired me to take care of him after we were rescued because his ankle was broken. We were just friends at that point, until I moved back to New York".
"Are you still working for the Times?"
"No, they transferred me to Australia, and then I came home, and they didn't have any openings. So, I'm writing freelance at the moment".
Their food arrived then, and Jonathan ordered Jennifer another glass of wine.
"No, actually, can I just have a water, please?"
"Right away, ma'am".
"Thank you".
"Jennifer, you are absolutely glowing. What is your skin-care routine?"
"I do a mask once a week or so, and every day I wash my face with Hydracare-it's a three step regimen."
Aunt Gretchen reached over and took Jennifer's hand.
"Your mom would be so proud of you. And I swear you couldn't look more like her if you tried".
"Well thank you".
After they were finished eating, they all headed out.
Aunt Emmaline spoke up then.
"You are all welcome to come to the house at 10 for brunch tomorrow, if you'd like".
"Thank you, that would be lovely".
They said goodnight and then headed back to the hotel.
As soon as they came into their room, she kicked her shoes off and started taking her jewelry off.
"You really charmed my aunts, darling. They absolutely loved you".
"They were fun. I imagine it was like meeting your mom".
"That's probably what it would have been like".
She slipped out of her dress and into a nightgown, and then washed her face.
She climbed into bed with him afterwards, and started to give him a chest rub.
"Oh, that feels good".
They repositioned themselves so that he was laying back against her between her legs and she was sitting up against the headboard.
She gave him a reverse facial massage and scalp rub.
He was putty in her hands.
She was rubbing his temples and getting him all relaxed.
"This is so amazing".
"You deserve it, darling. You've put up with my moodiness all week and you willingly came with me up here and let my aunts rake you over the coals".
"They were absolutely lovely. You get a lot of your personality from them".
She finished his massage and just held him for a minute.
He picked her hand up and put it back on his head.
She chuckled and lightly scratched his temples some more.
She kissed the back of his head.
He fell asleep on her chest and she just held him while she finished their movie.
"I love you, Mr. Hart. Always and forever".
***Saturday***
She and Jonathan were up early and made it to her Aunt Emmaline's house for brunch.
Jennifer had insisted they stop and get some croissants to bring and some flowers for her to put at the service.
After a lovely brunch, Aunt Victoria came over and gave her the box that had her name on it.
She opened it up and found a box full of pictures, mostly of Jennifer and her mother, and her mother as a girl.
At the bottom was a jewelry box.
Everything in it had a tag on it. Each tag had a number, like H2 or B3.
On the inside of the lid, there was a list.
She started with A1.
She found A1 on the list and read "The first piece of jewelry your grandfather gave me".
It was a gorgeous sapphire ring.
She and Jonathan went through the whole list.
By the time it was over, she had amassed quite a collection.
"I can't believe she left me all of these. I bet she had intended them for Mama".
"Probably."
She found some love letters that her grandfather had written her grandmother. She began to read some of them.
Stephen was looking through the photos.
"I haven't seen some of these photos in years. You were such a gorgeous little girl, sweetheart".
"And now, she's the most beautiful woman in any room".
"Aww, thank you".
She leaned over and kissed him.
Jonathan picked up one of the lists she had in the box.
"March 20th-she met your grandfather".
"March 20th?"
"That's what it says".
"Must run in the family, since that's the day you found me in Australia".
Jonathan got up and headed to the bathroom.
Her aunts sat down next to her.
"Do we hear wedding bells in your future?"
"Well, not at the moment. Maybe in a few months".
"What's he like in bed?"
Jennifer blushed while the other aunts admonished Gretchen.
"I would prefer it if my daughter didn't answer that question in front of me".
"Don't worry Pa, I wasn't going to answer it all".
"Oh come on, Stephen. You have to have wondered…"
"Aunt Gretchen!"
"No, I have not. There are some things about my daughter I would just prefer not to know".
Jennifer covered her face with her hands.
"That good, huh?"
"Aunt Gretchen!"
"There is nothing wrong with sampling the goods before signing on the dotted line".
"Gretchen, mind your manners!". Victoria turned to Jennifer.
"I saved all of your mother's wedding things from Grand-mere's house for you".
"Oh wonderful! Thank you very much".
Jonathan came back out again and sat next to Jennifer.
"Can I get you anything?"
"I'm fine, thank you".
He rested his arm along the back of the couch behind her.
The phone rang, and Emmaline went to the kitchen to answer it.
She came back a couple of minutes later.
"Ok everyone, the limo is here to take us to the church".
They all got up and gathered their things and headed outside.
The service was very nice. The minister gave a great eulogy about how loved she was and hit some of the highlights of her life.
Jennifer managed to hold it together in the service, but she was unable to stop the tears when they were following the casket outside.
Jonathan let her lean on him as they walked to the limo to go to the cemetery for the graveside service.
He handed her his handkerchief when they got in the limo, and she dabbed at her eyes.
The graveside service was very, very quick. Jennifer stepped up with her aunts and tossed a rose into the grave on top of the casket.
Her Aunt Victoria went first, and tossed two roses-one for her and one for her father.
Stephen went next and tossed one in for himself and one for Suzanne. Jennifer tossed hers after her father.
Emmaline went next, with her husband Doug.
Gretchen and her husband Michael went last.
Victoria and Emmaline stepped away first, and after about 3 steps, Victoria took a tumble. Jonathan lunged forward and caught her, and then helped her up. He held onto her arm the entire way back to her seat.
"Thank you, son".
"Anytime, ma'am".
Jennifer and Stephen walked over and spent a few minutes at Suzanne's grave. They placed some flowers and cleaned it off some, and Stephen pulled out a handkerchief and polished it.
Jonathan stayed with her aunts so that Jennifer could have some time with her father.
Jennifer looked over and saw the aunts laughing with him.
She walked over and he immediately stood up to offer her his seat.
"Oh, no thank you, darling. I'm fine".
Victoria went to stand up, and Jonathan immediately offered his arm to her to help her up.
Stephen offered his other one, and they walked her to the limo.
Jonathan came back to walk with Jennifer.
As soon as he got to her, she looked up at him and smiled.
"Yes".