Jules had shoved the grief support group flyer in my hand last week.
I stared at it for six days on my fridge under a magnet Cherry got from school.

"A new face," grins the man by the door.
He's British and chipper.
He holds out his hand.
"Dominick Adley. I'm a social worker and I kind of run these meetings. Glad to have you."
I shake his hand.
"Felicity Rivera."
He smiles and gestures to the chairs in a circle.

I don't talk.
I just listen.

There's an elderly woman who lost her husband of fifty years.
A young man lost his fiancée.
An older woman lost her twelve year old son.
Another woman lost her wife.
The few others don't share today.

Dominick clasps his hands at the end
He thanks everyone for coming and participating.
He gives us a few words of encouragement, I guess it'd be called.

I think I might come back next week.

~

When I show up, Dominick smiles at me again.
"Good to have you back."

The man who lost his fiancée, his name is Wesley.
He has thick, curly black hair, thick rimmed glasses, and freckles dusted across his caramel skin.
He seems really kind, but anyone can see how broken he is about losing Marley.
Cancer.

The woman who lost her wife is Sutton.
She has blonde hair and blue eyes.
Sutton seems like she used to be a different person,
like she doesn't know who to be without Noah.
I find out she'd known Noah since they were ten.
That explains it.

"Felicity?"
I barely heard my name.
It was the expectant stares that caught my attention.
"Sorry?"
"Would you like to share?" Dominick asks.
I shake my head.

~

"Felicity, may I speak with you?" Dom catches me before I leave.
Everyone walks out and he clears his throat.
"Are you sure this is helping you? I mean, you've been coming here nearly three months."
"Yes. Yes, it's helping. Listening, knowing I'm not alone. Really, it helps."
"Good, then. I'm glad."

~

This week, I share.

"I'm Felicity. Three months ago, my husband, Peter, and my daughter, Cherry, were hit by a texting driver. Peter was killed instantly. Cherry made it to the hospital, but she had a heart attack, so she died, too."

I'm asked how that made me feel.
"Shitty."
A few people chuckle.

Sutton comes up to me afterward.
"I get it," she says, "the shitty feeling. I mean, we all do."
"We're not totally sure Dr. Dom knows what he's doing," Wesley says as he joins us.
"He's nice," I say.

Sutton and Wesley become my friends.

I haven't had friends since Colorado.
Jules and I moved to this town, Peter's town, when he married me.
It's good to have friends that weren't Peter's first.
Friends who aren't too awkward to realize they don't have to make nice with the widow of the person you actually had common interests with.

i finished the book last night!! it's barely 3000 words but it's pretty good lol and i will be posting once every couple days :)