Tevo woudl have preferred an earlier start time for the funeral, but this evening slot was the first available, so he had taken it. Maybe being sl close to dinner time, t would be easier for everyone to eat afterward.
“All right, let’s get inside,” he said, scooping Olivia up into his arms. Holding her close was comforting for both of them.
Olivia had somehow managed to tear her dress in the chaos of getting ready, which was why she wore one of Alexis’s hand-me-downs, the first thing Carrie had found. Luckily, Olivia didn’t seem to mind.
How was he supposed to give an eulogy when his throat was choked with unshed tears? Swallowing convulsively, Tevo drew on his public speaking experience, waited until his family and guests were seated, and began. He didn’t know everyone in the audience, but perhaps they were friends or acquaintance’s of Jeb’s? Though that one man wearing regular clothes and a hat was probably a funeral-ccrasher if such a thing existed. Whatever, it wasn’t worth stopping to make him leave. He could stay as long as he wasn’t being disruptive.
Though his appetite was gone, Tevo knew it was time to eat. He only hoped he could keep his food down. It did smell delicious. He followed Carrie into the larger reception hall where the buffet sat waiting in a corner. “Thanks for taking care of this, love.
“No need to thank me. I wanted to do it.”
Though it was good to see that his brother-in-law Frederic had shown up – probably tor Carrie – Tevo was especially happy to see his siblings and found a smile when Tina and Inacio joined his table. He knew Dora was around somewhere too.
Tevo greeted Rashidah Watson, his cousin Bane’s mother-in-law, before turning his attention back to his siblings. “It’s good to see you guys. I just wish it wasn’t at Daddy’s funeral.
“Yeah, we know,” said. “Did you hear that Carmela named her daughter Jaclyn in honor of Daddy?”
It took him a minute to place the name. Renato’s daughter, and Jaclyn was the seventh, no, ninth great-grandchild. Tevo also remembered that the other eight were Sofia’s and Tina’s grandchildren.
“Really? That was so sweet.”
“I wonder if someone will do that for Dad too. Could start a new tradition,” Inacio mused.”
“Maybe.” Teo took in his brother’s appearance. “What’s with the alien suit?”
“I couldn’t take the stress of maintaining the disguise today. I need to be my true self,” Inacio explained briefly.
Tevo nodded, knowing wearing the disguise or not was a very personal thing. Most of the Michauds preferred not to, but Carrie did for her own reasons.
Carrie, Espe, and Eli were first to finish their meals and venture outside to Jeb’s graveside to mourn. Eli wailed loudest, upset that she would never get to spend more tie with her grandpa.
Victor was the next to join his mother and sisters, stepping out in front of them so he had a good look at the tombstone. He looked around, hoping for a sighting of Jeb’s ghost. But there was no sign of him.
By the time Tatiana and Sam appeared with a sleepy Olivia,, Victor had kelt on the hard dground nearby, ignoring the grass stains on his pants and the cool wind blowing past his face. He brought out his toy. “Look, Grandpa, it’s the one you gave me. It’s my most favorite toy ever.”
Behind him, he heard Espe saying, “Mom, do you remember when -?” as eye shared a memory of their grandpa, but Victor was too absorbed in his play to pay much attention.
Coming outside after ending his conversation, Tevo looked over his children’s heads at Carrie. “I saw Eli slipping back inside, but where’s Alexis.”
“He’s not with you?” Carrie was surprised.
“He’s in the bathroom,” Sam told his parents.
“Oh, that explains why I didn’t see him then.”
Lea ing Victor to it since he wasn’t hurting anything and the play seemed to be calming him, Tevo let the tears flow. He had learned from Dora that their surviving father was int he building but had wanted to be alone with his grief. He did hope Desi would come out and join them to say goodbye though. He was just glad Dora had agreed to take the lead Desi’s funeral; he wasn’t looking forward to doing this again. They would join forces to handle Kayla’s funeral and deal with her estate when the time came.
As if summoned by his son’s thoughts, Desi emerged fro the private room where he had been struggling to come to grips with the los of his husband, his other half., the love of his life. Maybe it was better thaat Jeb had died first: losing Desi would have broken him and pushed him into a depression too deep to emerge from. Desi had been glad to discover he could still fit into the suit he had worn at their wedding and found it fitting to don the outfit to say goodbye.
“Oh, there you are, Dad. Shouldn’t you be sitting down?”
“I’ll be fine in a minute, don’t worry.”
Once the spasm had passed, the two men hugged before Desi’s grandchildren converged on him, each vying for his attention.
Sam retreated inside with his journal. He couldn’t very well go for a jog at night wearing his suit, so this was the best way to work out his feelings. He was starting to come to terms with his grandpa’s death, but also wondering if he shouldn’t put off starting at Britechester until he felt better and more clearheaded. But then again, maybe this was just the distraction he needed. He just hated to leave his family at a time like this.
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