"Hey" Natalie said lightly from David's doorframe.
David, who was staring blankly into his closet, turned to look at her. Natalie didn't say a word, but rather walked into the room and began rummaging through David's closet.
"What about this?" She asked, pulling out a yellow floral dress.
David shook his head.
"We could always buy something new"
David shook his head again.
"It's not that" He said, sitting on the bed. "It's that anything that you would bury someone in isn't what she would wear"
"Well... who says she has to be buried it something traditional?"
David breathed in deeply, putting his face in his hands.
"I can't do this"
Natalie put her hand on his back.
"Are you sure you don't want me to?"
"Yeah" He said, sitting up. "I'm sure"
He smiled a little, walking to the closet and pushing some clothes aside. He eventually pulled out a forest green sweater. Natalie's face softened as she looked at it.
"The one she was wearing when you proposed"
David nodded. Natalie did her best to wipe the tears that were falling onto her face away.
"I think that's perfect"
David compiled the outfit and gave it to Natalie, who drove it over to the funeral home. It was the final thing needed for her service. The Laurents decided that, despite Maddy being from New York, she was building her life in LA and should be buried on the west coast. They would hold a service in New York later that week.
The next evening, David arrived at the funeral home alongside the Laurents. The room was large, and covered with sunflowers, Maddy's favorite flower. They had been sent from all over the world; from David's family in Slovakia to Maddy's family in France; from friends in New York and friends in Los Angeles. A small smile spread across David's face. Pictures of Maddy were around the room too; from her as a baby to her in the hospital with Cecelia.
Maddy was an avid reader, and always annotated her books. Elle had taken a few days to go back home and pack Maddy's favorite books into a suitcase, going through all of them and pulling Maddy's favorite excerpts that she had highlighted. The books were strewn throughout the room, bookmarks in her favorite passages.
That evening, everybody who loved Maddy gathered into one room to celebrate her life. They celebrated her accomplishments and gave a beautiful tribute that was nothing but bittersweet. Finally, it was David's turn to give the eulogy. He walked to the front of the room, wearing the same outfit he was wearing when he proposed to Maddy (which made Liza break down in tears so loudly she had to leave the room when she noticed).
"If you know Maddy, you know she wouldn't want anything said about her at all. She wouldn't want me to stand up here and talk about how amazing and smart and beautiful and funny she is, she would want everyone to just go somewhere and have a good time. Well Maddy, I hate to break it to you, but it looks really weird when you don't do a eulogy and people start asking if there's a typo on the program, so we have to do this."
Everyone in the room who wasn't crying either smiled or laughed, and continued crying/smiling/laughing through the rest of David's eulogy. He was holding Cecelia the entire time, and when he was done, he ended with a line that made everybody emotional all over again.
"Maddy is my rock, my better half, and the most incredible person I have ever met. She will continue to be those things until the day I die, because although she may be gone, her love certainly isn't. I now have the privilege and honor of giving that love to Cecelia and everybody else in this room and help her spread it until my final day. I love you, Maddy"
