When Sharon saw someone who looked like Kiara, she told herself she must have been in a dream. A very bad one; to say the least. She rubbed her eyes and looked closely. It did look like Kiara. She stood up from her chair and walked towards the back of the church.
"Mrs Rain, come and sit down," a lady from her church tried to stop her.
"No. I need to see who that is."
She walked briskly, and soon she was standing right in front of Kiara.
"The nerve!" she said.
"Mrs Rain please, please let me explain. For the sake of closure, please may you allow me to…" Kiara did not manage to finish her sentence.
Since Sharon had shouted quite loudly, the two were already attracting attention. Jacob hastily came, and he told Kiara to disappear from the scene.
"Please Jacob, please, I am begging you."
"Go! Kiara, just go!"
All eyes on her, Kiara felt like an alien in the world of human beings. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she ran outside, only to bump into Nesisa.
"Kiara!" Nesisa was surprised.
"Please Nesisa, may you talk to them. Please talk to Jacob and Mrs Rain. I need to attend this service. I will do anything, please."
Nesisa pulled Kiara aside, and she whispered, "you're making a scene. Look; everyone is now looking at you. Can't you see that it's not proper for you to be here?"
Nesisa looked around and saw another young lady standing afar, her hands on a pushchair.
"Who is that lady? Is she with you?" she asked.
"She is my child minder. Her name is Rosaline.
"And the child? Is it your son?" Nesisa suddenly sounded very excited.
"Yes," Kiara nodded while the tears still ran.
"May I see him?"
"But I'm also asking you to allow me in, and you won't. This is for closure. I need to see him being buried. Please, Nesisa. I must bid him farewell. You know very well what he meant to me. He was my world."
"You know that I don't have such power, Kiara. If mum doesn't want you here, then there's nothing I can do to have you here."
Kiara cried. She then came up with a suggestion, "Can't I wear something to disguise myself? A hat? A wig maybe? Just so that I get to attend his funeral, please Nesisa."
"Mum will definitely see you. As you can see, there are not many people around here. All the ladies from church know you, and I'm sorry to say, but they all hate you."
"I know," Kiara swallowed hard and faced the floor.
"May I see the baby now?" Nesisa was adamant on seeing Vincent Lisandro. "You can see mine while I see yours."
Kiara was not even thinking about babies at that moment. She was in fact hurt that, at such a crucial moment, when everything was supposed to be about Jeremy, Nesisa still had the energy to be talking about seeing each other's babies.
"You will see him, but I also need to attend this funeral." She kept insisting, choking on her voice and crying.
"How about if I promise to send it to you? I mean the video." Nesisa suggested.
"You will?" Kiara widened her tearful eyes.
"I will."
"Can I at least have the coordinates so that I can watch the live stream?"
"You cannot. There are people who are making sure that the event is kept as private as can be. But the video, I can send you the video."
"Oh, how will you send me? I don't have a phone, I hardly ever leave the mansion."
"If you give me your mother's number, I can send her." Nesisa promised. "But this has to stay strictly between the two of us."
"Yes, yes, thank you very much. I truly appreciate this." Kiara cried.
Nesisa encircled Kiara as she ran towards Rosaline. She briefly greeted the maid, and then she peeped into the pram.
"Ohhh, what a sweet little child we have here. He is too cute." She took out her phone and was about to take a picture of the child when Rosaline quickly covered the little one and said,
"They don't allow people to take pictures of the junior master Vincent Lisandro Pinkerton."
"Ah! Did you have to say his full name like that? Master junior? What was that? What did you just call him?" Nesisa frowned.
"Junior master Vincent Lisandro Pinkerton." Rosaline's tone was very serious.
Kiara arrived and looked at the two. She was still crying for the love of her life who had died, and yet she was not able to attend his funeral.
Nesisa ran off and in a short while, came back holding a child.
"Here is my son, and I will say what I have to say. Dear Rosaline, please excuse us." said Nesisa.
Rosaline looked at Kiara for approval, then she left the place.
"What is it that you have to say?" Kiara was not really interested in what Nesisa had to say. She needed to be inside the church. She wanted to be there, sitting down and reminiscing on the very good times shared between herself and Jeremy.
"Here, Kiara. Look at our babies. Take your child out of the pram. Come on, take him out. Tell me; can this by coincidence? How come they look so much alike?"
"Do they?" A scowl appeared on Kiara's face.
"They do. May I take a photo, please?" she said while already taking pictures.
"Wait, let me also take some," Kiara said.
"I thought you didn't have a phone."
"I will use Rosaline's."
She called Rosaline and used her phone to take two pictures. Kiara was acting like a robot. Her mind, heart and soul were not in it. If it wasn't for Nesisa who continued to push and insist, Kiara would have preferred to sit alone in silence; even if it meant sitting outside the church building. Nesisa's chatting was cut short when a bell rang in the church, signaling the beginning of the ceremony. Nesisa excused herself, and Kiara walked and stood at the door. Seeing her, Jacob was irritated, and he personally stood up and closed the door. He gave an order that no one was to enter unless if approved by him.
From the other side of the church door, Kiara heard the voice of the pastor, "ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here to pay our last respects to Jeremy Richard Rain; the youngest son of Sharon Cecilia Rain and the late Michael Judah Rain. We came from dust, and to dust we shall return. Jeremy has run his race, and he ran it faithfully. Today, we bid him farewell, as he leaves the land of the living…."
Kiara could not listen anymore. She went straight to where Rosaline was standing, and handed her the car keys.
"Can you drive us home? I cannot drive," she wept.
"Yes ma'am I will drive." Rosaline took the keys.
In the car, Kiara could not stop crying. The words continued to ring in her mind "…gathered here to pay our last respects to Jeremy Richard Rain…..and to dust we shall return…we bid him farewell…as he bids farewell to the land of the living…."
"…farewell to the land of the living….farewell to the land of the living….farewell…." the words refused to leave her alone. She cried like she had never cried before in her whole entire life.