Dot sighs. The family home was too painful to stay in after her mother passed away, so the Sykes siblings gather at Quartz and Shanda's house for the "funeral". It's just a small gathering of the family and some friends before they hold an actual funeral.
Dot looks sadly at her younger brother. It's too bad they had to see each other again under such sad circumstances.
Gala Ball-Bailey was a fan of Damaris's and came by to give her condolences. She suddenly feels a bit...
Funny.
Aloiso is the first to notice Gala's ghost.
"Mom! No!' Erich cries for his mother. She and Damaris were close in age, so her passing isn't unexpected... but Dot's heart still feels heavy.
Even the family cat cries.
"That is so sad," is all Dot can say.
Quartz blinks back tears.
After Erich is escorted home and the long, unbearable silence finally breaks, they decide to hold the funeral somewhere else.
They gather in the ampitheatre in the evening.
Tatum notes the profound lack of lights.
She isn't really sure what to do. She's never been to a funeral before...
Though it feels a little forced, she plays some of her grandmother's top hits from her phone and dances. She would've wanted us to not be sad, Tatum tells herself. And grandma did love to sing...
"Look at her, Lu," Kaira whispers quietly to her "friend". Lu turns into doll form if she leaves the house. She wouldn't bring him normally, but all this funeral stuff is weirding her out. Lu, at least, can't cry and make her also feel sad. "Crying and dancing around. She's so weird."
Lu can only be silent, but Kaira's ok with that.
It takes some coaxing and some tears, but Tatum gets her mother to join her dancing. Santiago joins in, though his heart doesn't seem to be in it.
"It isn't the same," he admits to Dot.
"I wish she could be here too..."
Santiago goes home early with Kaira, but Dot and Tatum go out for dinner.
"It feels weird, to try and be all happy when grandma isn't here," Tatum confesses quietly. Dancing felt...wrong. Even if Damaris would've liked it.
Dot sighs. "I know. I miss her a lot, too. Coming to terms with it is going to take some time.'
Tatum wants to ask "how much time?" but knows her mother can't answer that question. Instead, she nods and wipes her eyes. "I don't want to feel sad anymore."
Dot hugs her daughter, not bothering to cover her tears now. "Me either, sweetie."
They stay like this for a long time, but Tatum eventually pulls away. "Let's eat?"
Dot gives a small smile. "Let's eat."
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AN: A short chapter. It was originally just a part of a longer chapter but it felt weird to have this right before more mundane events.
I invited the entire family to the night time funeral but no one showed up... I guess seeing Gala pass on was too much for one day :(
