G III: Chapter 18

In the morning, each family member went about their routine to get ready for school and work. James and the kids were up and out by 8AM. Isabel's funeral was to be held this afternoon/evening.

Daphne got up a little earlier than usual and was in her garden by 11. After she showered and ate, she made sure to call her employer and inform them that she would be unable to work this night.

The day passed by quickly. When the kids came home - as usual - they finished their homework and had a snack. By five o clock guests started to arrive for Isabel's service.

Susan Drake was one of the first to arrive. She and Brian met in school, and were becoming friends quickly. Being a teenage boy, Brian had already thought about taking the relationship with Susan one step farther. A funeral is not the time or place though. He would have to take her out on a date some other time.

"Thanks for coming Susan. How are you?" Brian asked

"I'm doing alright, and it's no problem. I'm happy to be here for you and your family." She replied.

"I guess we'll be having half of the services here at the house, but in about an hour we'll be going over to the cemetery. Her tombstone has already been placed there." Brian told Susan.

More guests poured in for the next hour. Once everyone was there and had time to greet the family, the crowd moved over to the cemetery. Rachel had brought a plate of hot dogs for anyone who wanted them, but most people didn't.

Visitors offered their condolences to the family. Daphne attempted to play Isabel's guitar, but she had never played before and didn't quite know how.

Isabel's headstone was placed next to Hayden's. It's where she wanted to be, right next to her love.

An adequate time passed by before the group broke up. Guests left one at a time offering help if it was ever needed. Susan was one of the last to leave, and made sure to give a friendly hug to Brian before departing.

The next morning the family tried to keep busy in order to occupy their mind. This seemed the best way to start getting back to normal activities. Isabel would never be forgotten, none of the deceased would, but life had to go on.

Brian and Dylan went to the basement to finish paintings that each of them had started a long time ago. Brian finished his quickly, and decided then that he would really prefer sculpting over painting. He hung up his artwork and started back on his sculpture.

Once he finished the table that he was making, he figured he was good enough to move on to Ice Sculptures.

The big block of ice stood there just waiting to be sculpted. While Brian looked at it, thinking about what he would make, he got a different thought in his head. He had heard before that if you put your tongue to ice, it would stick. Well he had had icewater before and it never stuck to that ice, so he didn't really believe it. There was only one way to be sure though.

Brian slowly stuck his tongue out and got closer to the ice. Just when he was about to change his mind the tip of his tongue touched it. He was stuck.

"Uh oh." He muttered. "Hep!"

Brian pulled and pulled to release his tongue from the grip of the deathly ice. Finally with a painful wrench, he pulled free.

"Ahhhhhgh. That hurt!" Brian yelled at himself. He held his hand over his mouth, and checked for blood. Lucklily there was none. Brian now believed the rumor.

With a little anger at the iceblock and himself, he pulled out a saw and started hacking away. He still wasn't quite sure what to make, but he figured it would come to him as he chipped the ice away.

Dylan had decided to join Johanna at the chess table after he finished his own paining. He was growing more and more attached to his sister as they both grew. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't really sure why he didn't want to get to close to her. It was not her that ditched him at birth. Johanna wasn't like that, she was no where near like her mother - from what he had heard of her anyway. Johanna was good, that was the best trait she had.

Daphne watched the chess match while James fixed the family laptop. No one knew what broke it, or who, but that didn't matter. The problem was getting the nerve to fix it. Everyone was still afraid to touch electronic since Charlie had passed. James had finally gotten tired of it sitting on the table broken and sat to fix it.

When the chess game was over, Johanna went across the street to fish in the river. She was determined to catch more than a minnow. A jellyfish did get caught on her line, but she wasn't going to keep that. She would use it as bait for other things.

Johanna had had her fill of chess and left to fish, but Dylan still wanted to play. He didn't want to play alone though, so he yelled for his brother to join him. Daphne stayed to watch her boys, and James joined her when the computer was fixed.

James watched Daphne. She was still quiet. Though she spent time with the family, she hadn't said much to anyone since Charlie died. The one person she finally opened up to was now gone.

Daphne happened to look over at James and noticed him watching her. He stepped up to her. "Chess is kind of boring, do you want to go play some video games with me?" James asked. He was hoping to get her to open up a little more. It really was unhealthy to keep things inside, she needed to talk.

"Sure James. Sure." Daphne said.

The two of them went upstairs and started up the game. A little while into it, James glanced over at her and was happy to see a small smile playing on her lips.

James and Daphne heard Dylan calling them from downstairs.

"Time for Jo-Jo's birthday!!" Dylan shouted.

Johanna waited for her family to come down before she blew out her candles. She made a small silent wish and puffed out the small flames.

Johanna was happy to grow, she wanted to be able to hang out with her brothers and she really couldn't do that when he was so much younger than them. But, since she would be entering her teen years, it would be a little easier to relate to them.

Her birthday presents consisted of a few books about fishing, what to use as bait for each fish and where to find them. The books were given to her by James and Daphne. She glanced at her brothers quizically.

"Well?" she said. "I heard through the grapevine that you were planning something special. What is it?" The excitement and suspense was killing her, she really wanted to know.

Daphne rolled her eyes at her sons and walked away. James followed her.

The boys smiled at Johanna.

"Jo-Jo, we're taking you on a little trip. That is if you want to go. Brian has booked tickets for us to go to China for a few days!" Dylan said.

"Wow! Yeah I want to go. I love it, thank you guys." Johanna smiled and thanked them repeatedly.

"No problemo sis. Happy Birthday. We leave Monday morning." Dylan told her.

"That's tomorrow! Wow, I better get packing." Johanna said.