IT was now Saturday, February 10th. The day of Sherlene's funeral.

All three foster kids had arrived for this exact moment, yet none of them were prepared to actually face this heavy day. Each one began their morning in the best way they knew how, in hopes it would combat the growing pain of reality. The reality they would all now have to exist in, without their mother.

This was like losing another parent, for the three individuals who had already lost their biological ones.

Gideon started his morning off with a prayer. He was the more religious one of the three, but he did his best not to impose those practices on the rest of the home. His biological parents had been devoted Christians, and though their plane had crashed on the way to a retreat, killing both of them... that hadn't waivered his religious practices any. In fact, it had done the opposite.

Gideon's parents were verbally and mentally abusive, often ridiculing Gideon for any mistake he made, both big and microscopic. That crash had, in some twisted way, landed him at Sherlene's doorsteps. He felt nothing but gratitude for the woman who showed him the love his own parents were unable to give.

As far as he was concerned, today was the real first day Gideon had lost a parent.

Axelle hadn't taken quite the wholesome approach to this somber day. She was the first to shower and change that morning, pulling on some tight carbon colored jeans accompanied by a loose black blouse. Sherlene had never forced her to wear dresses back then, so Axelle sure as hell wasn't going to start making any exceptions now.

The speeds in which Axelle got to the showers was definitely by instinct. This home only had one public shower on the top floor where the foster kids bedrooms were located, then there was a private shower located in Sherlene's master suite. Axelle couldn't bring herself to enter that room after everything that happened, so she made sure she secured the first slot in the main bathroom.

Once Axelle was fully dressed and content with her look, she reached her hand back into the one duffel bag she brought, to pull out a small personal bottle of Elijah Craig bourbon whiskey.

"Well," Axelle sighed, giving the bottle a few turns in her hand. "This wasn't how I was planning on returning." The cap of the whiskey made a cracking sound, as Axelle broke the seal open. "When you said you'd get the last word in, I didn't think you'd go and die on me now. You dramatic bitch." she whispered that last part low to herself, as if Sherlene's spirit was in this very room and could hear her. Axelle brought the bottle to her lips, and took a sip. It was a burning sensation, as the devil's liquid slowly traveled down her throat. She then slipped the rest of the bottle into her small cross shoulder purse, and pulled it on over her shoulders. All she allowed herself was one more look in the full body mirror near her bedroom door, then she was out.

Geneva had started the morning quite differently from the rest of the foster kids. She had received a phone call from her fiancé at the break of dawn.

"Good morning sweetheart." Allan chirped into the line. He seemed to be in high spirits, which in return, made Geneva feel better.

Allan really took on and projected the emotions of his environment, which meant when he was having a bad day, everyone knew about it. On his good days though, his positivity felt contagious. Like Geneva could do anything with him at her side. She was so addicted to the positive, she found herself justifying the bad days with the good ones. I mean, that was what love was right? getting through the high's and lows? She thought to herself.

"Good morning babe." Geneva replied, in an attempt to match that positive energy. "It sounds like you had a great night?"

There was some rustling on the other end, before Allan replied. "Yes yeah, I spent most of it setting up for the exhibit. Nothing too special though. I wanted to check in on you. Today is the funeral, right?"

Geneva almost nodded against the phone, then she caught herself. "Yes, today's the funeral." She vocalized instead. "I'm just now about to get ready for it. I know we spoke about me staying here until Monday morning... but I was thinking I might come home tomorrow."

"How come?" Allan asked almost immediately. "I mean, you seemed pretty serious about staying there through the weekend. We even got into a fight about it. What changed since then?"

Geneva could already feel the irritation start to creep through. Allan thought everything was a fight, but Geneva rarely ever wanted to fight. She just wanted to have a conversation, yet Allan's responses almost always triggered something in her. "I just feel as if I left a lot of work at home, plus you were the one who wanted me home early anyways."

"Well yeah but-" Allan cut himself short a moment. "I think this would be good for you. You should spend as much time with your family as you can. I'll see you Monday morning, okay?"

Much like almost every disagreement, Allan had somehow managed to give Geneva no out. She wasn't going to tell him about Axelle, that's for sure. She would also already be missing most of his exhibit today, so there wasn't any real reason as to why she couldn't return Monday morning... especially now that Allan had changed his mind about it entirely.

So she was stuck here in the little town of Shoreville for another two full days. What she really wanted to know, was how to stop the spiraling thoughts of Axelle that were eating her alive.

Jackie had started her morning the same way she started every morning. She made the bed to her room, which was the guest room in the house, then she went on to tidy up the rest of the home. As each child had trickled out over the years, her daily tasks grew less and less extensive. Sherlene was excellent with cleaning after herself, which meant that Jackie's whole job more or less revolved around the children. When they left, Jackie just couldn't bring herself to leave Sherlene too.

She had been the one to find Sherlene, a few days ago. It had all happened so quickly, Jackie was still trying to piece together the details. That day, Sherlene was complaining about some pain, but she told Jackie not to give it too much thought. When Jackie found Sherlene clutching her heart as she braced herself against the kitchen cabinets, she knew it was serious. Far more serious than what Sherlene had led her to believe.

Jackie didn't even remember the 911 call. She must have been hysterical through the line, crying for someone to help her. She didn't know what to do, as her friend slowly started to lose a battle to something. Sherlene had told her in that moment whilst on the kitchen floor, that she might not make it. Jackie kept telling her to shut the hell up, but the look Sherlene gave her was serious.

Sherlene could feel it- the weakness engulfing her whole. She told Jackie in one intense moment, to call the kids. To ensure they would come, and to fix what she had started. Jackie wasn't paying much attention to her due to the sheer fear that was pulsating through every piece of her soul...

But she was now... listening, that is.

Sherlene was rushed to the hospital that day, and for a woman of her word, she did what she said she was going to do- pass on.

Jackie contacted the foster kids she still had a contact for, that very same night Sherlene died. She first spoke to Gideon because he was the one who stayed in touch the most. He still paid visits to Jackie and Sherlene every few months, to see how they were doing. When she broke the news to Gideon, he immediately burst into tears over the phone.

This was devastating for Jackie. How could she tell these kids who had lost so much, that they've now lost even more? Sherlene had always known what to do, but now she was gone. Now Jackie had no one but the children.

She spent a while on the phone with Gideon that night, talking him through this horrific news.

Getting ahold of Geneva was a little more complicated. All she had was an email, that Geneva would reply to just a couple times a year. It was always heartfelt replies, but Jackie had no idea when the next one would come in. She took a shot in the dark regardless, messaging Geneva to let her know about Sherlene's sudden death. Geneva called not minutes later, to make plans for her trip here.

The last person was Axelle. It had been over a year and a half since either Jackie or Sherlene had heard from her... or so Jackie had thought. Axelle changed numbers like someone would changed clothes, and whatever number Sherlene had somehow gotten ahold of previously, never worked twice. Because of Axelle's determination to keep communication at an arms length, Jackie was forced to do something the evening of Shirley's passing that she hadn't done throughout the last twenty years she'd been employed here.

She allowed herself into Sherlene's study.

Sherlene's study was off limits to everyone in the household. It was locked with a key that Sherlene kept on a chain around her neck, and Jackie didn't quite understand the importance of keeping that room locked, until Axelle had managed to get into it that night. Now she knew all too well the dangers.

There was information there about the kids, as well as the situations that had brought them here. Sherlene had really done everything she could, to protect these kids from more pain than the insane levels they were already experiencing.

It took Jackie a while to locate any information on Axelle's current whereabouts. What she found was an old photo of Axelle. On the back, there was text that said For Emergencies, with a phone number jotted right below. It was a number Jackie didn't recognize, which confused her further. Nevertheless, she gave the number a call. The voice she heard had startled her. It was Axelle, but with every year that passed, her voice sounded more and more depleted.

"Who is this?" Axelle had asked, after Jackie failed to say anything into the line for a few seconds.

"I-It's Jackie." She replied. Axelle took a few second of her own, before she responded.

"It's good to hear from you Jackie... but I don't understand how you got ahold of this number. Where's Sherlene? Can I speak with her?" Axelle asked.

That had made Jackie's heart break into a million little pieces, all over again. The thought of seeing that doctor come out of the operation room, with a somber look on his face mere hours ago. How was she going to tell Axelle? And why was Axelle the hardest one for her to tell?

"Jackie?" Axelle called into the line again. "Where's Sherlene?" There was panic in her voice now, as Axelle quickly realized this was no ordinary call.

"I-I'm so sorry-" Jackie's voice broke, allowing these emotions to wash over her now. "I'm so sorry Axelle..."

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