The next morning, we arranged Agathe's funeral. For the flowers, the baby's breath, and her clothes, Adelaide chose the white dress. Everyone was dressed in black that day.
Her father and his new girlfriend dared to arrive at Agathe's funeral when all he caused was pain.
"HOW DARE YOU COME HERE!" I was about to punch him in the face when they restrained me.
Adelaide said she could handle this. He and Adelaide walked outside my home and talked. He looked at me with rage, but I didn't care. He drove away and Adelaide went back inside.
I don't want to see Agathe from her coffin, so I went upstairs to check on Jasper. He didn't sleep the night Agathe died because of the noise we made. He was in his bed, fast asleep.
I looked at his face. I ruffled his hair gently when his green eyes slowly opened. I sat there watching him as he sat down while rubbing his eyes.
"Hi, Papa."
He hugged me and then I started crying. I can't move or speak. I just embraced my son. He is so precious.
"Why are you crying?" He asked while he wiped my tears with his little hand.
"Aunt Aggie went away..."
"It's okay, Papa."
He is just like his mother. He held me tight with his tiny arms. I turned around and saw Melissa with her black dress and her green eyes. I gestured for her to hug the both of us. And she did.
"Everything is going to be okay..." Her comforting and warm voice wrapped around my ears.
We went down to see many people at our home. There are some faces I can't recognize, some of them are old classmates, some of them were Agathe's old friends, and some of them were Agathe's relatives.
"I'm sorry for you lost."
I saw a woman leave after she said that to Adelaide. Agathe's mother doesn't seem to be bothered by things that were happening around her. She isn't happy but she isn't sad.
"Have some breakfast with Cleo, babe," I told Melissa and went to talk to Adelaide.
As I was getting closer to her, Mom came. She hugged me and the first thing that came into my mind is what she had done to Dad. I didn't hug her back and she thought it was because I was grieving Agathe's death. She asked where Mel and Jasper were and I told her they were in the kitchen. I stood next to Adelaide and she just kinda talked.
"At some point, you'll have to stop crying, Brahms."
I looked at her with confusion.
"I talked to Agathe before we sleep," she said while I was looking at her. "She said to me that when she dies, you all should be happy that her suffering is now over."
I can't help but tear up. She was also tearing up at that moment.
"I know it's hard, mind you, I raised that girl and it's harder for me to do it. But I want Agathe to be happy. So it's best if you would do what she wished for."
I nodded and hugged her. I, again, went upstairs to lie down. But, I saw Kath with Mathis. He was trying to comfort Kath. I continued to walk to our room and I lay down.
Out of nowhere, on a bright sunny day, it rained. I remembered that Agathe loved the rain. It reminds me of how much excitement it brought to her. It made me weep yet again. I heard that someone came in. It was my wife. She stood in front of me as I cried while I caressed her waist closer.
She smoothed down my hair and sang to comfort me.
"Did I drive you away?
I know what you'll say
You say, 'Oh, sing one we know'..."
Melissa and I love Coldplay's songs. It is our comfort band. But all out of their songs, Sparks is our favorite.
"But I promise you this
I'll always look out for you
Yeah, that's what I'll do..." Melissa continued to sing.
Her beautiful voice drifted me off to sleep. An hour later, I woke up. I went downstairs to check, and my friends were gathered at something. There was this guy. And said he was Agathe's ex.
His name was Eris. He was tall, dark-skinned, and has brown bushy hair. He was from England, London to be exact. He brought tons of things that Agathe told him to bring to us.
Her diary was given to Maia, two phones were given to Regina, Kath have the records Agathe had, Thaddeus was the old ring Agathe wore, Mel also received Agathe's favorite necklace, her Mom had her favorite car, and mine was letters.
The letters came in a small but wide dark green box. I didn't have the nerve to look at the letters, let alone read them.
Eris stayed for a while then left immediately. He said he has something important going on in London. He said his goodbyes to Aggie and then left.
August 29th, 2004
Three days later, she was buried. I know it was a short period, but that's what she had wanted. We just did what we were told. Adelaide said Agathe wants a eulogy before she was buried. We started with Maia.
Maia stood in front with shaky hands.
"Good morning, you may know me as Aggie's best friend. I'm Maia Quinn... and I think you all know why we are gathered here. When we were kids, Agathe and I used to dream about having kids and dreamed that our children would be best friends just like we are. Little did I know she was going to get away. She was so brave for fighting. She will always be in our hearts. I hope wherever you are, you're happy. Thank you for all the memories that you brought us since we met in that school. Thank you for teaching me how to love myself. I hope you know how much we all love you."
Her mouth was covered by her hands. Regina went next, and just like Maia, she had shaky hands.
"Hi. My name is Regina Martins and I am also one of Agathe's friends..."
I didn't hear the rest she said. All I can hear was a muffled voice. Like I was under the water, drowning. My lungs were burning, my eyes were on fire, and my body was weak. But there was one thing I felt and I was never numb for it. Jasper was holding my hand throughout the time. My vision was blurry until they called Melissa out. Turns out I was like that for forty-five minutes. Katharina, Adelaide, and Thaddeus were done speaking before I could hear and see clearly.
Melissa put Jasper on my lap to sit. She stood there holding a paper.
"My name is Melissa Kline. I would say that I was Agathe's friend too. When I found her she was sick. And wished to see my husband. I might know her for a short period, but I am very sure, that she has a heart of gold and a beautiful soul. I wish that I knew her more than that. I want to thank her for making my husband happy and I want to say that, I'm keeping my promise forever. Or until my heart stopped beating. I wish that wherever you are, you're contented and happy. You will be missed, Aggie."
I looked at my wife who was at the time, crying. She sat down beside me and up her head on my shoulder, while Jasper was now sleeping on my chest. I held my wife's hand as they were about to call me. I didn't want to speak and so I didn't move from where I was. She wouldn't hear me anyway.
Before she was buried, for one last time, I saw her inside her coffin, she was sleeping, peacefully. Like nothing could ever bother her anymore. She was lying there knowing she wouldn't hurt any longer from her sickness.
The service ended by lunchtime. They all went home, but Melissa and I stayed at Aggie's grave. We were both crying which I didn't understand. I didn't know Melissa was going to feel sad like that.
When we went home, Melissa spend time observing Aggie's old necklace, while I found myself in our room crying my heart out. It started raining again. There was a knock on my door. I saw Maia come in and sat beside me. She was holding Agathe's dairy. And without a word, she gave me her notebook. It was thick. The cover was in the shade of gray and has her name written on the left-side corner of the journal.
I sat there, wiping my tears and flipping the diary that has been given to me.
