Moving Forward (Completed)

Chapter Forty Three

The weekend after Amber's passing, Katherine had arranged a small service to be held for her. Liv had located the cemetery Amber's parents were buried in and when a plot not far from them had been available, Katherine made sure it belonged to Amber. She was torn on who to invite to the service and how to invite them. She had no idea who Amber's friends were. MJ offered up a couple names, but she didn't know how to contact them. In the end, Katherine relied on Amanda to see who she could locate and opted to run an announcement in the paper, hoping if it did bring people to the funeral service, they weren't people Amber would have rather not had there. The problem was she knew nothing about the woman she was making arrangements for.

The service itself had turned out nice despite all the uncertainties. Katherine let MJ talk with the person performing the service from the funeral parlor, focusing his script around the Amber MJ knew as a mother. The few friends Amanda could find showed up, sharing a few stories with MJ before and after the service. There was a nice turnout from the school, a handful of MJ's former teachers... the ones who were open enough to recognize the growth MJ had made in the last two years. Ms. Winters and Mrs. Andrews arrived shortly before Mrs. Rydel and Ms. Sanders, MJ's current teachers, the four finding seats with the others from their school.

MJ showed more poise than Katherine though possible for her age as she greeted those who came and publicly thanked them for coming during the short eulogy she gave. The service itself had been held at the cemetery. MJ hadn't wanted a viewing, the idea of seeing her lying in a casket hadn't set well with her. It was a reaction Katherine could relate to. She avoiding viewings at funerals for the same reason, preferring to remember the lively person she knew, not the lifeless form that laid in their place.

As time moved on, the three people living in Rafael and Katherine's apartment had adjusted to each other rather smoothly. MJ initially spent a good deal of time alone in her room, Katherine letting her have space to process her mothers passing while still checking in on her from time to time, if for no other reason than to briefly pull her into the real world again... not wanting her to stew too long in her own thoughts. Soon enough, MJ was spending the evenings working on homework at the dining room table while Katherine graded or planned for class, often reading on the couch when her school work was complete.

The routine was simple enough. They all had breakfast together, then Katherine and MJ took the train to school, using the car service only on days one or the other needed to lug more than was easily carried. Katherine and MJ would then either meet up with Rafael for dinner, eat just the two of them, or make dinner at home where Rafael would join them somewhere in the middle of the preparation. It wasn't much different from the routine Rafael and Katherine had shared before, it just contained an additional person, one Rafael was finding himself enjoying the company of

"No homework tonight?" Katherine asked when MJ headed straight for the couch after they returned home from school.

"I finished it while you were in the copy room." MJ shrugged.

"Must not have been very much." Katherine gave her a playful smile before turning to the fridge to decide on dinner.

"There's two weeks left of school... Ms. Rydel and Mrs. Sanders have pretty much given up on homework."

Truth be told, so had Katherine. She was happy if her kids managed to finish the work she assigned in class at this point. "Do you want anything specific for dinner?"

"Not really." MJ shrugged, sticking her nose in the book without actually looking up at Katherine.

It was the most normal adolescent behavior Katherine had seen out of MJ since she'd moved in with them and she fought back the urge to smile at it. MJ had been walking on eggshells, trying not to over step or over stay her welcome... almost as though she were afraid of being thrown out if she wasn't the perfect guest. It was nice to see her just be a kid, even if was something relatively minor.