Little David would see his mother for the last time. Her funeral, as bad as it was, was already planned. She was far too young. But, when David went to visit her with his aunt, something remarkable happened. David said something strange. He repeated this several times. In reaction to this, it was decided to cancel the funeral… Rose and little David were the last of the guests to make their way past the coffin with David’s late mother in it. The boy was still too young to know what was going on, so Rose tried her very best to stay strong for him and not cry her eyes out… The sun beamed over the graveyard. Normally it would rain at this time of year, but not today. Rose took this as a sign. Her sister was watching over her. She took David in her arms and walked over to the coffin. She wondered how her nephew would react. David was restless. He couldn’t understand why everyone was crying. He looked at his mother with worry in his eyes. He opened his mouth and said something to her. Rose couldn’t believe what she was hearing and yelled for the undertaker.  But what did David say to his mother? And why was Rose so stressed about this? Haily was a loving mother to David. They did everything together. She loved him so much it hurt. There is a saying, “I love you so much I would die for you.” And in this case, that actually happened. Her bond with David was so strong she would do anything for him and give him everything he asked.  Every morning, Haily and David would go on a stroll. David loved to go to a nearby park and swing for hours. Haily would push him, and David would sit and giggle. He was not old enough to go to school yet, so he spent a lot of time with his mother. David’s father was not in the picture. He had left Haily just before she gave birth to David. He had never tried to contact them or get to know his son. Haily hated him for that. She never imagined her son having to grow up without a father. But Haily’s father, Jonah, jumped in and became the best role model for his grandson. Haily would drop David off at her parent’s house every Wednesday so that she could have a day to herself. She never fully enjoyed it because she missed David, but she knew it was good for her. She would go to the gym or spend time with her best friend, her sister Rose.  Rose and Haily had four years between them. She was very protective of her sister, being the older one. Haily could see that David loved his aunty and that they had a great bond together. So, she made Rose David’s godmother in her will. Rose didn’t know about this, but she would soon find out. Haily’s death was a tragedy. She died way too soon, and the whole community mourned for her. Something like this had never happened in her small town. It was peaceful there, and many families and elderly people lived there. But the town would remember this day forever… It was Wednesday, and Haily was getting ready to drop David off at her grandparents. First, she packed his bag and got herself and David dressed. She overslept that morning and was in a hurry to get everything done in time. But, while Haily was making breakfast, something horrible happened. It was time to eat breakfast. She looked for David, but he wasn’t in his play corner anymore. She started to panic. She searched everywhere in the house, but he was nowhere to be found. Then she noticed something. She had left the door open to the garden. How is that possible?! David had just learned to walk, so his legs weren’t very steady. He couldn’t have gone far, Haily thinks as she puts on her boots. She runs outside and starts calling for David. The worst-case scenario would be David walking to the playground on his own because he had to cross a very busy crossroad.  Haily then spots David’s little head in the distance. Her worst fear had come through. She sprints in his direction, but he has already started crossing over. She runs as fast as she can, not looking at the cars passing. And when she had almost reached David, tragedy struck. What she feared would happen to her son had happened to her… David didn’t know what was happening. His aunt Rose had come to pick him up and had brought him to his grandparents. He had seen police cars and an ambulance, so he was very excited. He didn’t understand why everyone was so sad around him and kept asking about his mother. Rose found out that she was David’s godmother. Why did her sister keep this secret from her? She loved her nephew, but she never imagined herself being a mom at this age. There was no place for David in her small apartment. But it turned out Haily had left her house to Rose as well.  David was to stay with his grandparents until after the funeral, so Rose would have time to move out of her apartment and into Haily’s home. It was tough for Rose to adjust to this. Everything was moving so fast. She had lost her sister, became a mother, and moved homes all in a matter of a few hours. On the morning after the accident, Rose got a call. It was from an unknown number, but she answered it anyway. A man started talking from the other side. She didn’t realize who it was at first, but then it clicked. It was Vincent, David’s father. He had heard about the accident and wanted to claim David. This was not going to happen. Rose told Vincent that she was his godmother and Haily wanted her to care for David. But Vincent disagreed with that. They heatedly argued, and Vincent told her to “watch her back because he was coming for her.” This didn’t scare Rose. Vincent had never been a real father to David. This was a done deal. That afternoon, the doorbell rang. When Rose opened the door, her mouth fell open. Vincent was standing opposite of her and barged through the door. “Where is my son?” he said. But David was still at his grandparents’ house. Rose wondered why Vincent was so keen on seeing his son. He had never cared for David, so why did he care now? “Why do you care about David all of a sudden? You have never been a father to him in the past. You weren’t even there when he was born, but I was!” Rose’s emotions were getting to her. She yelled at Vincent and started crying. “Why are you doing this?” she asked. “David doesn’t even know you. You never even paid child support or visited once…” Rose’s voice broke. She couldn’t bare to argue about this now. This was the worst timing ever. She needed to be alone and mourn for her sister, so she could be a positive influence on David when he moved back home. She asked Vincent to go home and let her rest until after the funeral. But this was not over yet. She went to her grandparent’s house the next day to tell them about what had happened, but she heard a familiar voice when entering the house. Vincent had beat her to it and sat on the couch in the living room. David played in front of him and smiled when he saw his aunty. He ran to her and gave her a big hug. “What are you doing here?” Rose asked Vincent as kindly as possible. She didn’t want to upset David. Vincent told her the story he had told her parents. But a lot about it wasn’t true. He claimed Haily had kicked him out of the house and kept David away from him, but that was all lies.  Rose was full of emotions. Her voice trembled. “How can you lie to my parents like that?” Rose tried her best to explain everything to her parents, but Vincent kept interrupting her. He denied his allegations, but her parents knew better. They had never trusted Vincent, so why would they now? They kicked Vincent out of their house and told him not to return. But Vincent was persistent. He wouldn’t give up that easily. Rose had to be careful. She called the undertaker and gave an explanation of how Vincent looked. The last thing she needed was for Vincent to crash the funeral. The funeral is in three days; after that, David will be her responsibility. This scared Rose. She hoped that her maternal instinct would show up and she would just know what to do, but she couldn’t be sure. So she decided to look through her late sister’s things. Maybe she could find her sister’s diary. She knew it wasn’t ethical of her to read her sister’s diary, but she saw it as research. She hoped Haily would describe how she disciplined David or anything that would help her raise the boy. Rose found a little red book and opened it. This is it. She starts reading and tears up. She misses her sister. Haily wrote about the fun times she and her sister had. And how “perfect” her little boy is. She also wrote about Vincent. How he never returned her calls and never even mailed a happy birthday card to his son. If he didn’t want anything to do with his son then, why now? Rose finds this shift in behavior strange. She wonders if Vincent has an ulterior motive. Maybe he wanted to get money from the government or help around the house. But that would never happen. Not as long as Rose was in charge of David. She went to the police station the next day. She figured that would be the wise thing to do. But the officers told her that she needed proof. All she had now were accusations. But that wouldn’t last long because Vincent was waiting for her at her doorstep when she returned. She invited him in. She told him that she had been to the police office today to inform them about his latest actions. Vincent turned pale as he heard the words “police office.” Rose frowned and asked him about it, but he got up and left in a hurry, not saying a word as he walked out of the door. Rose hoped that would be the last she saw from him. But not a minute later, the doorbell rang again. “Back aga…” Rose couldn’t finish her sentence because it wasn’t Vincent who stood in front of her door. It was a police officer. They had looked into Vincent and found some worrying information about him. It turned out that he drove the same car as the one that had hit her sister in that freak accident. Rose couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How is it possible that Haily and David never spoke to each other, and yet he was the one who hit her with his car? The police officer continues. They had been looking for the owner of the car but failed. And now that they know who the car belongs to, they ask Rose to help them catch Vincent. She agreed but told them she had informed Vincent about her visit to the station and doubted if he would ever return. They came up with a plan. It was possible that Vincent felt guilty and would show up at the funeral to pay his respects. If that were the case, the police would be informed immediately. Rose told the undertaker and her parents the plan so everyone knew what was happening. The funeral was tomorrow, and Rose dreaded this day. She couldn’t believe that this was all happening at the same time. But tomorrow would be the day everything comes to an end. It was the morning of the funeral, and Rose was sick to her stomach. She wanted this day to be over quickly, but she also wanted to be present at the funeral and say goodbye to her sister. She met her grandparents at the crematorium and took David in her arms. They would start the ceremony by saying some words about her sister. It was a small ceremony. Rose and her parents spoke a few words about Haily; what a good mother she was for David and how she had left this world way too soon. Rose was on edge for most of the time. Looking around her to see if Vincent had decided to show up. But he wasn’t at the ceremony. Maybe he would come to say goodbye at her coffin. After the ceremony, there was time to say goodbye. Everyone formed a line, and they could walk toward the coffin to say something. It was an open casket, and Haily looked peaceful in it. Rose suddenly sees two police officers walking through the room. She wonders if the undertaker had called them because he had seen Vincent in the building. But Rose decided to let it go and focus on herself and David. This was an important time for him to get some closure. It would also be the first and last time he would see his mother again. David was still too young to know what was going on, so Rose tried her best to stay strong for him and not cry her eyes out. She wondered how her nephew would react.  David was restless. He couldn’t understand why everyone was crying. He looked at Rose, and she smiled at him for comfort. Rose and David were the last of the guests to make their way past the coffin with David’s late mother in it. He looked down at her with worry in his eyes. “Mama sleep?” he asks Rose. “Yes…” she replies, not knowing what to say. She notices that David got a strange look on his face. He mumbled something Rose couldn’t understand and got frustrated when she didn’t do anything. He tried to worm himself out of her arms, but Rose stepped away from the coffin and put him on the ground. David started to cry. He tried to lift himself on the edge of the coffin to look over it at his mother, so Rose picked him up again. She looked around to see if someone could help her, but no one was in the room anymore. She calmed David down and asked him what it was he was saying. This time, Rose understood him and notified the undertaker about David’s findings. She knew she couldn’t go through with the funeral if this weren’t sorted out. Rose assured David that they would look into this and all they could do was wait now. David calmed down, and they waited outside. The sun beamed over the graveyard. Normally it would rain at this time of year, but not today. Rose took this as a sign. Her sister was watching over her. A tear rolled down her cheek, and David wiped it away. She looked at him and suddenly felt it was all going to be alright. The undertaker walked outside and informed her that the issue had been resolved. She walked inside with David in her arms and looked at her sister. She looked complete now. Rose couldn’t believe David would notice such a small detail about his mother. This showed how much he loved her. David noticed that Haily wasn’t wearing her necklace with her and David’s initials. She had gotten that necklace from Rose for David’s birth and had worn it every day since then. But the paramedics had to take it off after her accident. Luckily for Rose, someone could pick it up at the hospital. The funeral could continue, and it was a beautiful ceremony. She got cremated but still had a little memorial stone on the wall, so David had a place to visit. Rose went to her parent’s house afterward to pick up some of Davids’s things and suddenly thought about Vincent. She hadn’t seen him all day. Her parents told her that Vincent did show up, but the undertaker noticed this and notified the police immediately. This way, it didn’t disturb the mourners, and the ceremony could continue without trouble. Rose was happy to hear this. They could finally let this all behind them and get some closure.