Sequel of "Come Back...Be Here - Charles Leclerc"
Four years later, Mary and Charles inevitably cross paths again.
Will they rekindle their love? Or are the scars too deep?
After having turned off the TV, I went to take a shower and tried to wash off everything. My intimate area felt sore and I washed it out for a few minutes. I saw that Carmen had packed a dry shampoo in the bag with the black clothes and I tried to tame my hair as best as I could. Then, I put on her black knee-length dress with its matching jacket. My hair still looked like shit, so I pulled it up in a high ponytail.
Suddenly, there was a knock on my door and I got out of the bathroom to see Bobby's parents standing there. His father wore a black suit with a black arm band and his mother looked impeccable as always in a similar outfit to mine. We stood all there, with tears in our eyes until Carolyne took a step towards me and hugged me tightly, which I immediately reciprocated. His Dad joined in and we stood there for a few minutes.
"Did you see him already?" I asked. "No. I gave the mortician his clothes and told him to get him prepped, I don't think I could bear seeing him on that metal table" Carolyne sniffled. "He'll be ready by 6, the priest will be here around 6.30" his father Tony said. I nodded. "I lost our baby. I was just 5 weeks along, I didn't know..." I said and my voice broke. Carolyne looked at me and her eyes welled up even more. "Did they recover it?" "No, it was way too small" I whispered and they both nodded. "Are you feeling well enough for all of this?" Tony asked me concernedly. "I'll pull through" I said and nodded.
We then made our way to the hospital chapel where Bobby had just been laid out in the coffin. He looked much better than yesterday, a lot of his scars were concealed and the suit fit him perfectly. The three of us stood next to him, each one with their thoughts and prayers.
The door creaked and I turned around to see Lando, George and Carmen entering the chapel. They immediately walked up to Carolyne and Tony to offer their condolences and I could see that they were happy that we weren't the only ones with Bobby in this moment. The priest arrived shortly after and did a small blessing ceremony, spraying his body with Holy Water and speaking a few prayers before the morticians closed the coffin and laid the American flag on it.
Six men lifted up the coffin and we started to make our way outside, Tony walking in the middle, having me and his wife on each of his arms. My friends walked behind us and I turned around to see their faces. They looked gloomy and devastated as well. A small part of me had hoped that Charles would have joined them, but then again it would have been weird maybe with my in-laws around.
As soon as we stepped foot outside we were met with camera flashes. Everything was a blur for me and I could only remember the men pushing Bobby's coffin in the hearse and me getting into a black car behind it with his parents.
When we arrived at the airport, there was already a jet waiting for us at the tarmac. They loaded in the coffin and we boarded the plane to Boston. From there, we were picked up by another hearse and car that drove us straight up to Hyannis Port, where those members of the family who lived close by, had already gathered to receive us.
The first person I saw was Grandpa Joe and he had tears in his eyes. I walked towards him and hugged him tightly. "This is all so awful" I sobbed when I was in his arms. "Grief is the price we pay for love" Joe replied and patted my back a few times.
The next days were filled with preparations for the funeral, which was taking place on Sunday. Bobby was going to be buried here in Cape Cod after a mass at the local church. Cardinal O'Malley, the Archbishop of Boston would be conducting the ceremony. My family, Alice and Carmen were set to fly out here. Lando and George couldn't make it as they were already racing in Canada again this weekend.
Bobby's younger brother Joe and I spent a day in Boston on Wednesday to gather some stuff from our/now my apartment and to do some paperwork. Joe was as gloomy as I was. "Now you're the oldest, you know what that means" I told him while I was rummaging through my cupboard, trying to find my best black outfit for Sunday. He sat on the edge of our bed looking around the room. "I'm not like Bobby. I don't have his charm, his rhetoric, his wit..." he said. "They said the same thing about JFK" I replied. "Yeah, but he had Jackie" Joe chuckled. "Then you should set out and find your Jackie" I replied and smiled at him.
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mary.wright98 Goodbye, Bobby ❤️
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Sunday was the hardest day of my life. Instead of walking up the aisle to get married to my fiancée I was walking up the aisle to meet his coffin which we were set to bury mere hours later. There were around 500 people attending, and the Kennedy family was present almost completely. I was sitting in the first row on the left side, with Bobby's parents and siblings next to me. On the right side, Caroline, JFKs daughter and her family were sitting next to Grandpa Joe. The rest of the family was seated in order of the closest relative to the furthest. My parents and brother were seated just right behind them. After the mass, we made a procession to the graveyard where our wreaths were carefully displayed next to the hole in the ground which had been dug out for his coffin. We took our seats again and there were fewer people here now. A military band was there to pay their respects to the deceased and when it was time to lower the coffin into the ground, a soldier carefully folded the American flag and walked over to us.
I would have loved to get the flag, but I wasn't his next of kin and so, the soldier gave it to Carolyne. A funeral feast followed at the Compound and I was grateful to have Joe by my side throughout the day. So many people, who I didn't know, came up to me to offer their condolences and my feet moved almost automatically by now. I stiffened when I saw Ralph Lauren, accompanied by his daughter, walk up to me and gripped Joe's arm a little tighter. "Mary. I am so sorry for this unbelievable loss. You would have been such a beautiful bride, I am at loss for words" he said, taking my hand. I just nodded and shook his hand a bit harder, I was at loss for words too.
Slowly, the guests started leaving and Carmen had offered to drive back to Boston with me and spend the night there so that I wouldn't be alone. We were sitting in the car when her phone chimed up. She read the text message and said: "George and Lando have wrapped up Canada, they're asking if they can come down to Boston too?" "Of course, I'd be glad to have them around and see other faces than Kennedys." I sighed. "And Charles has asked if he can join them..."
