Competition •{Complete}•

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mom comes rushing in behind the guard.

"Grandma..." she trails off. Oh no. I pull away from Dad and go hug Mom.

"Mom."

"Sweetie-" and Mom bursts into tears. It's strange seeing her like this. She usually hold her tears in or refuses to cry. Dad rushes over, too and hugs both of us. "S-she's d-dead..." And then I burst into tears. I start falling to the floor, pulling Mom with me but Dad crouches down next to us. Mom hold me and Dad holds her.

"H-how?" I ask between cries.

"Shh," Dad comforts.

"She c-co-mitted-" I already knew what Mom was going to say before she started crying harder.

"Oh my gosh!" I cry and push my head farther into her chest, seeking for comfort. How did Mom find out? Why did Grandma do it?

"One o-of the ma-maids f-f-found her de-dead," Mom answers my unasked question. "We-we think Grandma did it be-because she was o-overwhelmed or up-upset about K-Kaleb."

"It's okay, Naomi."

"No, it's not Joseph!" she shouts and tears away from both of us. Dad has been crying, too. "My mother- my own mother- just killed herself! How is that alright?" By the end her voice is lowered. Dad doesn't say anything, just grabs Mom and holds her.

***

The next few days I was either in Mom and Dad's room or my own. All meals were brought up to us, but Dad had to go to his office often for work.

Right now, Hannah and Emma are helping me get ready for Grandma's funereal. The three of us are silent. I put some blackish panty hose on and Emma hands me a short black dress. It falls to my lower thighs and flares out at the waist. The dress has fitted long sleeves and a V-neckline. Black lace frames all the hems of the dress. I comb my hair and slide a black coat with silver buttons (the one attached) on. Hannah hands me a pair of black heels and I slip them on. I leave my face free of makeup. Emma hands me a pair of black leather gloves, that I put in my pockets.

They both give me a hug before I leave and head downstairs. Once I get down there, my parents are already there.

"Morning," I greet wearily. Mom nods her head, Dad smiles weakly. I never knew Dad was close to Grandma.

"Do you have gloves? It's supposed to be very cold," Dad asks. I nod. A guard walks over to us.

"The limo is ready," he announces.

"Thank you," Dad, being the only brave one to talk, says. Dad holds both arms out, one for me and one for mom. We both take it and he ushers is out to the limo.

It's cloudy and looks like it might rain. In the car, I cuddle up to Dad as we drive to the cemetery. The cemetery has it's own little chapel in it, so we won't have to drive a lot.

Mom's friends from when she was a commoner and maybe even some that she was competing with are here. All of the British Royal family is here except the king and queen, who left almost a week ago. The Greats are here, too. And of course there are photographers, who I want to shoo.

"I-I don't know if I can do this, Joseph," Mom admits.

"You can, honey. She'd want you here," Dad reassures her. Mom takes a deep breathe.

The mass went pretty smoothly, although when we were processing in, I started crying and my legs almost gave out, but I just grabbed onto Dad. The same thing happened to Mom when we were processing out to her grave, but it was worse. Dad had to almost carry her. She stopped and fell to the ground. I tried helping her, but with the tears in my eyes, I couldn't.