Will It Ever Be The Same?

Chapter 12: Gone But Still Here

Ten days passed from when Callie Quinn Jacob had passed away in the small hospital room with everyone she loved surrounding her. Everyone except her true love. 

Brandon Foster had walked in one day too late. He missed his love's passing by one day. The day he had decided to disconnect, his soul disconnected. 

The funeral was approaching. One day until their final goodbye.

Everyone would gather. Everyone who ever met Callie. Her fathers, grandparents, and her family. Her family she was never legally a part of, but one everyone knew she was a part of. The funeral would be everything they thought Callie would've wanted. 

Days and days after, the family still sat in the same position. The family pitched random ideas to one another very rarely, but they still tried. The moms were the main planners. Stef had sat in her bedroom crying for hours the day after her daughter passed away. Mike had tried to help her, since he was the only family member who wasn't drowning in tears. Lena sat next to the tree- the tree that was planted when her daughter had died. This had felt just the same. 

Jesus wasn't that close to Callie when she first moved in. It took him nearly ten years to bond with her and just as they had began to become best friends, she had passed away. He was hurt and mad. This had not only hurt him, but it had also broken his family. Mariana sat in her and Callie's room. She was such a jerk to her when she had first moved in, but they became the best of friends. She had brought her sister back to their home and caused the attack that had caused this. At least that's what she thought in her head. The guilt was overwhelming for young Mariana.She stared across at the now once again empty bed where Callie had once slept. She sat there staring and crying. 

Two of the boys in the house were the most broken. They had both loved her. They loved her in two different ways, but it made the pain so surreal. They hadn't eaten much or even moved much. They sat crying or shaking. Every moment of every day. 

Jude had loved her how a child loved his mom. Callie had given up everything to protect her little brother and now he couldn't protect her. His guardian angel had passed away. No matter how much he loved his new family, Callie was the only biological family he had that he was close to. He lost his sister, but to him it had felt like he had lost a part of him. 

Brandon had loved her like a husband loves a wife. Sure, he was married now, but that was because he had thought that Callie wanted to be adopted. She was his paramour. He loved her and always would. He sat down, sulking all week. Catherine came in and out of his room to give him food. He hated that he didn't get to spend a happy first week with his daughter, but all he could think about was how he never told Callie that he loved her. The last time she said he loved her was at the GU fundraiser and even then he had walked away.

She came with a lot of  baggage, but she was worth it. She was his love.

The funeral morning approached quickly. The family got ready in all black very slowly. Mariana put on the dress that Callie had worn to Stef's father's funeral. She had to have it altered, but she really wanted to wear it. Jude cried in the bathroom while putting on his tie and Jesus had to stop and hug him. Everyone slowly walked to the funeral venue and they slowly accepted Callie's death.

The girl had one wish. She had wanted to die an expected death, but she couldn't even have that. The girl had died an unexpected death and her last dying wish hadn't even been granted. 

The family had planned speeches. Speeches to say goodbye. Goodbye the right way. 

The family approached the venue quicker than they wanted to. Everyone Callie had ever been friends with had come. From Wyatt to the GU girls- even some of Callie's friends from when she was little came. The people offered their prayers and condolences and Brandon grew extremely mad.