SUNSHINE

thirty-nine

Casey had felt numb the days following the death of her mother. She had been assisting her father with funeral arrangements since Sunday, and it was now Tuesday, the funeral was tomorrow, then she was back to Orlando. They were both struggling, but deep down she knew they would be alright. Everyone had reached out to give their condolences and prayers, and she thanked them, but right now she was experiencing the worst type of heartbreak.

Alessio had gone back to Chicago but had promised to be back for the funeral. She did not ask him to, but he wanted to be there for her. He was flying in tomorrow morning for the service and staying through the weekend for their game against Reign FC. She was shocked he could get so much time off, but then she had to remember he was the CEO of his own company and could take days off whenever as long as he was reachable. Alex had come down that evening to stay with her for the night, and it was something she did not realize she was missing. That night she cried into Alex's shoulder on and off for a few hours, and she knew all the right things to say to console her.

The following morning she felt a little relieved that the day they were putting her mother into the group was finally here. Her funeral was more stressful than her death, for it was affecting her and her father greatly. They arrived at the funeral home a couple hours early to set everything up and be able to say their goodbyes in private before all their friends and family came. Everyone was flying in for North Carolina, where her father and mother were from. This would be the first time since she was very little she would see them. She wished it was under better circumstances, but if this is what brought them together, so be it.

Noon came and the funeral visitation began. The viewing time was allotted for noon to one-thirty, then the ceremony began right after. She felt the most put together all week as she stood and accepted condolences from her parents colleagues, ones that watched her grow up. A lot of her parents' friends were there, and both sides of her family had come to support her father, her, and say their goodbyes. Everything was beautifully put together, and she could not believe the amount of people that were there.

Alessio had arrived around one in the afternoon and stayed with her the rest of the time she was there. Alex had come with them to do what she could to help set up, so she had been there the entire time, but what she did not expect was all of her teammates from the Orlando Pride showing up to share their condolences. Even the coaching staff had come, and she never felt more loved than at that moment. None of them really knew her mother, but they were there because their teammate was going through something horrible, and they wanted to be there to support her.

The ceremony started at a quarter to two and went on until almost three. Her teammates had not left and stayed through the entire thing, as well as Alessio, who did not let go of her hand or took his hand off her thigh except for when she stood at the podium and spoke about her mother. It was comforting, to say the least, but when it came time for them to do the procession to the cemetery where her mother was going to be buried, her teammates had decided they would just let her family be. Alex was the only one who stayed, which she did not mind. She was surprised they had even come, and they hoped to see her soon.

After they all laid roses on top of her mother's casket, her family had all dwindled off, telling them to keep in touch and to let them know when she was in town for soccer and they would come to a game. She gave them empty promises that she would, for she barely knew her family and they did not really know her. Alex had left after they started piling the freshly dug up dirt back into the grave, and she told her she would see her tomorrow.

While they were burying her mother, Casey could not bring herself to leave. Her father had gone with her family to go to the small reception they were having at a local banquet hall, but she could not get herself to go. She felt she would be letting her mother down by leaving, and she did not want to abandon her.