Mary sat on the bench, silent, as she stared at her sleeping daughter. Kevin, her father, stood holding her close. He stroked Emily’s hair tenderly as he gently rocked her back and forth. He spared a glance at Mary, noticing her gaze before offering her a sad smile, which she returned. Her eyes fell back to her daughter. Emily looked peaceful. So peaceful. Mary turned, glancing out over the cemetery, her smile fading as she stared out into the distance.

For some reason Emily had been quiet the entire service, before drifting off to sleep once it had ended. Mary had been grateful for that. Peter and May had said it’d be ok to bring her, said William would have wanted her there. But of course she’d still worried. It’s why she’d sat at the back with Kevin. She felt guilty now. That she'd doubted Kevin could keep Emily quiet on his own, and that she'd spent half the funeral worrying if Emily would do something.

Still, she felt a weird sort of pride. She looked at her daughter, taking in her fair skin, and bright orange hair. Did she understand what today meant? Did she somehow understand it’s importance?

Mary doubted it. Still she couldn’t help but feel grateful she hadn’t inadvertently ruined this moment for anyone. She would’ve never been able to forgive herself.

She looked back out over the fields, staring out at the rows upon rows upon rows of headstones. The sun bathed the cemetery in a soft glow, a gentle winter breeze blowing through. It was an unnecessarily nice day for a wake.

Her eyes panned across the fields until they fixed on to Peter and Liz, standing next to each other, arm in arm as they stood over the grave. Everyone else had left by now. They had been standing their for a while. She frowned as she watched them closely. It was apparent they were on the verge of collapse. She wanted to get up and run over to them, offer them words of encouragement, but they'd just be empty. She could feel it in her heart.

With everything that had happened, there wasn't any words she could give, anything she could say to them that would make anything even remotely better. Gwen's death, Harry’s year long coma, Pete’s constant injuries, Eliza’s miscarriage, Aunt May’s cancer and now this? She couldn’t even convince herself that it was all part of a bigger picture. Hell, she was starting to doubt there even was one. It just all seemed cruel. So unnecessarily cruel.

She let out a small sigh, placing her hands into her lap as her lip trembled. They’d known this was coming. Grandpa Will had been getting steadily worse for a while now.

It didn’t make today any easier.

It made her feel small. Helpless like when her mother had left. Still she tried to do what she always did in tough situations. Remember the good times. And she could. She remembered him fondly. There were so many amazing things he'd done for her. For everyone. When they were younger he’d visited May’s regularly. He’d made it a point to visit whenever she’d been tutoring Harry and Pete, and he’d always made an effort to have fun with them somehow. She couldn’t remember how many times he’d taken them bowling. She let out a small chuckle, then pressed her trembling lips together tightly, her eyes watering. Harry would’ve wanted to come. He really would’ve wanted to.

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Grandpa Will and Harry had had an unusually close bond. They both had the same sense of humour, and Harry had always gone to him for advice. He’d probably seen him as somewhat of a father figure. She felt a bittersweet smile tug at her lips. He’d been somewhat like that for her as well.

She’d always gone to him for advice as well. When it’d been time to apply for college, he and May had been the first people she’d felt comfortable asking advice from. He hadn’t just helped her through good times either, but through the bad as well. Whenever Phillip had one of his bad spells, whenever he’d drunk too much or gotten too aggressive, Grandpa Will had always sorted him out.

She frowned. Her father had changed recently. Since Emily had come around. It’d been a welcome surprise. He’d been a good grandfather. A kinder, better person. He still had his moments, but never around Emily. She remembered when he’d first started to change. She’d been more scared than anything. She hadn’t wanted to let him into Emily’s life for fear of what he could do, but had felt guilty withholding Emily from her grandfather just because of her own relationship with him. Kevin had been supportive, but it had still eaten away at her. Grandpa Will had noticed something was up one of the last times she’d visited him. She’d told him everything, even if she probably shouldn’t have put a burden like that on him. And he’d made a funny joke. She couldn’t remember exactly what he’d said, she just remembered it being funny. And then he’d comforted her. From his hospital bed. He’d been the one comforting her. She sniffled trying not to blink.

She was just glad he’d gotten to meet Emily. When he’d held her in his arms he’d been so happy. She’d never ever forget his face. She looked to the ground, closing her eyes. She would’ve liked for Gwen to meet her too. And Uncle Ben. Uncle Ben would’ve liked her. None of it would ever happen, but her heart yearned for it.

She looked out over the graveyard again, her eyes focusing on Peter and Liz. They were making their way over to them looked so tired. Everyone probably was, but them more so. Funerals were always like that.

“You alright?” she asked. She knew they weren’t but she felt she had to say something. Pete nodded before looking to the ground.

“I… sorry… Liz and I are going to head to Aunt May's. I- I should’ve told you earlier.”

“You don’t have to apologise Pete. Do whatever you need to” Mary said. He nodded, sniffling, his eyes.

“Thank you” Liz said, her expression worth a thousand words. “Hopefully we can go out some time in the next week”

“We’ll look forward to it” Kevin said softly.

Pete offered them both a nod, and then started limping away, supported by Liz. Mary wiped at her eyes then turned back to Kevin as she sat back on the bench. Emily was stirring now, looking around with a confused daze. Kevin kissed her atop the head, before looking to Mary.

“You ok?” he asked. She shook her head. He nodded and sat down next to her, letting her rest her head against his shoulder. They sat in silence for a while, looking out over the graveyard. Then Emily reached out for her mother, squirming as she babbled. Mary took her with a chuckle, quickly hugging her tightly to her chest. Emily looked up at her with soft brown eyes, her face set in an adorable frown.

“You want to go home?” Mary whispered to her. She buried her face into her mother’s chest to escape the cold.

“I think she does” Kevin said with a small chuckle.

“Alright then. Let’s go home”

They stood together, and Kevin took Emily from her before they slowly began making their way out of the cemetery, hand in hand. As they neared the gate Mary paused and turned, looking out over the fields. She felt her eyes grow wet as she held Kevin’s hand tighter.

Wherever Grandpa Will was, hopefully he was at peace.

“Honey?”

“Sorry... sorry” Mary said wiping at her eyes and turning quickly. Kevin offered her a small smile, squeezing her hand back.

“You don’t have to apologise” he said softly. She nodded back and together they walked out of the cemetery.