Everyone had been dreading this day – the day of Phil and Melissa's funerals. The event had an air of finality. It was a closure to someone's life; an end. Alexis and Emma would have no choice but to leave their old lives behind and move forward with the Mirandas.

Lin kept sneaking glances at the girls in the rearview mirror. They seemed to be holding up pretty well, considering. Numb was a more accurate description. Both girls, normally vivacious and outgoing, had been subdued the last few days. Sebastian and Francisco were at his parents' for the day so they could focus on the girls.

"You two doing okay back there?" Lin asked, knowing it was somewhat of a dumb question to ask a couple kids on their way to their parents' funeral.

"Super," Emma answered sarcastically, staring out the window. She felt ridiculous in her black dress and cast.

"It won't be much longer," he said.

"Are we going to see their bodies?" Alexis blurted.

"That's a morbid question," Emma commented.

"It's okay," Vanessa assured her. She and Lin had agreed to be as open and honest as possible with the girls. "It's going to be a closed casket, so no, sweetheart."

"Why's it closed casket?"

"Because they're too messed up beyond repair to be seen," Emma quipped, tired of her sister's questions.

Lin and Vanessa were surprised at her bluntness. More and more the last few days, she'd been short and sometimes mean to her younger sister.

"Emma," Lin admonished her, eyeing her in the rearview mirror. "That's not necessary."

Emma sighed and rested her head against the window.

"Lexi, their injuries were pretty severe, so we thought it was best just to let them be," Vanessa patiently explained.

"But what if I want to see them?" Alexis asked.

"Ew," Emma made a disgusted face. "You want to see them all mangled?"

"Emma Elizabeth," Lin said more sternly. "One more comment and we're pulling over."

Emma wasn't sure why she was being so awful to her sister. It was something she could control, she supposed.

"How do you know my middle name?"

"I know many things," he replied. "Like how to make some mean enchiladas."

"Or burn them," Vanessa commented.

"That was one time," he defended himself.

Soon, they pulled off the interstate in Danbury and made their way to the funeral home. Emma knitted her eyebrows at the home-like structure. How did such a sad, crushing thing happen in a place that looked so safe and cozy?

The four of them piled out of the car, Emma hopping towards the trunk. Lin opened it and handed Emma her crutches. He leaned in to whisper to her. "You need to cool it with your sister, Em. This is a hard day for everybody."

"Well, why is she asking all those weirdo questions?" She defended herself as she tucked the crutches under her armpits.

"She's allowed to ask what she wants," Lin told her. "Same goes for you."

"Why does she have to be such a creeper?" She asked, testing his question.

"Em," he said simply, raising his eyebrows at her.

Emma sighed as they both headed towards the funeral home doors. The parking lot was mostly empty, save for a couple cars that belonged to the staff. Plus, that God-awful hearse. Actually, there were two. Two hearses for two dead parents.

Emma and Alexis mostly stayed out of the way as the adults talked about final preparations and arrangements in low, hushed voices. Vanessa and Lin kept looking over at them, like they were going to break.

Finally, they were brought into the room where the ceremony would take place. At the front of the room were two caskets – both closed, as promised. The girls both wondered how the two people they knew and loved the most were somehow just contained inside those seemingly small boxes. They were hidden away – forgotten, almost.

Vanessa put a hand on both their shoulders. "Take your time, girls," she said softly. "I'm right here."

Alexis froze momentarily, then darted out the room quickly. Vanessa ran after her. Lexi ran up the stairs, wanting desperately to be out of the situation. She found an open door, went inside and slammed it shut. She dropped to the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest.

Out in the hall, she heard footsteps. The quick, but confident clicks of Vanessa's high heels. "Lexi?" She called out. "Sweetheart, where are you? It's Vanessa."

Alexis didn't answer as she tried to cry as softly as she could. Outside, Vanessa could hear the sounds of crying, so she stopped to figure out where it was coming from. As she stepped closer to the sound, she could tell what door it was coming from. She carefully sat down, her back to the door.

"Lexi, I can't imagine how hard this is for you," she began.

Silence for a while.

"Can I sit here with you?" She asked quietly.

Alexis sniffled some more before replying with a weak, "Yes".

Vanessa decided to change the subject, hoping a distraction would help pull Alexis out of her hole. "I meant to tell you about something Sebastian did the other day," she began. "He found some of your nail polish in the bathroom and insisted I put it on his toenails so he could be like you."

Alexis gave a weak smile, as they sat back to back, the door in between them. She had to admit it was fun being around Sebastian and Francisco. They had a sense of fun, and they didn't keep asking about how she was feeling.

"Vanessa, I don't know if I can do this," Lexi admitted, with a hitch in her voice. The whole day just seemed overwhelming.

"I know, sweetie," Vanessa said gently. "I don't know if I can either."

"Really?"

"I don't know if anyone really feels like they can face a funeral," she went on. "It's one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do. But you have to remember that people are here to support you. People aren't expecting you to be putting on a show."

"People keep asking me how I'm doing," Lexi complained. "And everyone keeps looking at me like they feel sorry for me. I just want people to leave me alone and treat me like a regular person."

Vanessa nodded. "A lot of people just aren't sure what to do or say in a situation like this. Don't feel like you need to go into any sort of explanation of how you're doing. You can just politely say thanks for coming. You don't have to tell people anything you don't want to."

Alexis started to wipe at her eyes and get herself together.

"Remember, if you feel overwhelmed, you can step out. That's why there's rooms up here. So people can escape and be by themselves," Vanessa reminded her. "Are you ready to come out, or do you want to stay up here for a bit longer?"

"Give me a few minutes," Alexis told her, grateful that she wasn't being forced to come out.

"Okay, sweetheart," Vanessa said as she stood up. "I'll be downstairs. You come down when you're ready."

Vanessa made her way down the stairs where she found Lin standing with the funeral director. "Is Lexi okay?" He asked as his wife approached.

Vanessa nodded. "Just a little overwhelmed. She's in a room upstairs taking a few minutes to herself. How's Emma?"

"Texting her friends," he said, nodding in the teenager's direction. "I think she's anxious to see them. It'll do her good."

"After something like this, kids need their friends," Vanessa agreed. "It's a shame that we live so far away."

"We live in the age of social media and technology," Lin said. "At least they're just the push of a button away."

"It's not the same," Vanessa reminded him.

"I know," Lin said.

Just then, Alexis came down the stairs, looking a bit more put together. She walked up to Vanessa and rested her head on her shoulder. "Doing a little better, kiddo?" she asked, and Alexis nodded. Emma walked up to the group, her phone in hand.

"Can I stay over at Kelsey's tonight?" She asked Lin and Vanessa. They looked at each other, considering. It would take some logistics of how to get her back to the city, but they didn't see a problem.

"Um, sure," Lin told her. "How are we gonna get you back to the city in the morning?"

"I could take the train," she told them.

"Have you taken the train by yourself before?" Lin asked her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Of course I have. I'm sixteen."

"That's fine as long as her parents are okay with you staying."

Emma turned her attention back to her phone, her thumbs flying as she typed her response. She'd known Kelsey since 3rd grade, and they'd never spent this much time apart. Emma needed her now more than ever.

Soon, the viewing started and friends and neighbors began to file in. Lin and Vanessa stood by with the girls to give them support as guests gave them their condolences. Every once in a while when they were looking overwhelmed, Lin and Vanessa would put a hand on their shoulders or whisper something encouraging in their ears.

The funeral and burial were horrible, as most are. Emma and Alexis both gravitated towards their friends as the day continued. Finally, it was time to leave.

"Alright, are you ready to head over to the house?" Lin asked the girls, surrounded by friends. They both nodded and chose to ride in their friends' cars to spend a bit more time with them.

When they arrived, the girls headed straight up to their rooms with their friends. It was time to relax and unwind before starting some packing. The last time Lin and Vanessa had been here, it was for the party a week and a half ago. The house had been full of laughter and fun. Now, it was empty. They walked up the stairs to the master bedroom with a stack of boxes in hand and opened up the walk-in closet. They'd decided to donate all the clothes to Goodwill.

"I'll get Phil's stuff if you wanna start on Melissa's," Lin told his wife. She nodded and they began folding clothes and setting them in the boxes. The task of gathering and selling all of Phil and Melissa's stuff would be a hard one. They needed to get the house ready to put on the market. Most likely, they'd be coming up to the house for the next several weekends to work. It was probably a good thing for the girls to be up here so much.

____

In Emma's room, Kelsey went straight to her radio and turned on their favorite station. She plopped her backpack down on Emma's bed and pulled out a pair of shorts and a tank top to change into. Both teenagers were anxious to get out of their funeral clothes and into something more comfortable.

"So, did anything interesting happen at school this week?" Emma asked as they both began changing.

"Grace and Paul broke up again," Kelsey told her. "Very publicly. She's been trashing him on Twitter like crazy. It's getting pretty ugly."

"He can do so much better," Emma said, trying her best to balance on her one good foot as she tugged some shorts on. "I mean, didn't she lose her virginity in, like, 8th grade?"

"Yeah," Kelsey agreed. "That's disgusting."

"For real."

"So how are the Mirandas treating you?" Kelsey ventured. She didn't want to pry, but they were used to telling each other everything.

Emma sighed. "They're fine. They're really good people. I just don't know how they're going to handle four kids all of a sudden. They've already got a toddler and a newborn. They don't need Alexis and her issues, and it's not like I'm practically grown. I wish I could just stay here."

Kelsey's eyebrows shot up. "We should ask my parents if you can stay with us!" she suggested. "They love you, and that way you wouldn't have to move schools and have your life upended."

Emma paused for a moment, considering. Lin and Vanessa were fine, but she would obviously be more comfortable with Kelsey's family. "And don't the court systems let kids of a certain age have a say in where they end up? I should have a choice between living with the Mirandas and going somewhere else."

"My parents aren't foster parents, though," Kelsey pointed out.

"Maybe they could get approved real quick. Or if they just flat-out adopted you, I don't know how fast that would happen."

"I'll ask Lin and Vanessa later tonight," Emma decided.

___

Several hours later, they'd all made good progress in packing. The girls had loaded up their most prized possessions into their boxes. Lin loaded the last of the items into the trunk.

"Alright, Em," he said, letting out a breath from all the exertion. "Are you heading over to Kelsey's now?"

The girls both nodded. Kelsey only lived a couple blocks away. Emma had an overnight bag packed.

"Alright, be safe," he told them. "I'll look at the train schedule tonight and book you a ticket."

"Thanks, Lin," she said. "Bye, Vanessa. Bye Lexi."

The girls took off as Lin climbed in the car and turned on the engine. In the back, Alexis was tired and mopey. "How are you doing back there, Lex?"

"I'm hungry," she told him.

"Me too," he buckled his seat belt. "How about we run through a drive through. You pick, Lex."

After stopping by a McDonald's, they were on the road back to New York City. Everyone was looking forward to a shower and a quiet night in. The boys were even staying overnight at Lin's parents so they wouldn't have to deal with bedtime. That night, everyone slept well.

In the morning, Lin double checked the train times online. He imagined the girls had stayed up late, so he knew a 9:30 train wouldn't be a good option. There was a train leaving at 12:25, which seemed reasonable. He texted Emma to make sure the time would work for her.

Lin: About to book 12:25 back to NYC. Does that work?

Emma: Actually, I'm gonna stay a while longer.

Lin: 2:30?

Emma: I mean, like, a few days.

Lin: No, you need to come back. We're looking at schools tomorrow.

Emma: I'm not switching schools.

Lin was confused at the exchange. They'd talked about this before. There was no way she was going to take the train to and from Danbury every day for school. It just didn't make sense. He knew that as a teenager, it probably seemed like the end of the world to have to switch schools, but kids had to do it all the time.

Lin: Em, that's not going to work.

Emma: It would if I stayed with Kelsey.

Lin breathed out, exasperated. Why was she trying to pull something like this over a text message? He pressed her contact information and dialed her number. She didn't pick up. If she was going to play childish games, then he was going to step it up a notch. He found Kelsey's parents' number in his contact list. He'd asked for it yesterday when he knew Emma would be staying the night. A female voice picked up.

"Hi, this is Lin Miranda," he introduced himself. "Is this Janet?"

"Yeah, hi Lin," she said. "Did you figure out what train Emma's coming back on?"

"I was just about to book her the 12:25, but I need to talk to her. She didn't pick up her phone."

"I'll go grab her," she said.

A few seconds later, he heard the phone change hands, probably reluctantly.

"Hello?" Emma asked, not really wanting to have this conversation. Texting was so much easier.

"Emma, this move is not up for discussion," he didn't bother beating around the bush. He sounded annoyed.

"Why not?" she complained. "I'm 16 years old. I'm practically an adult. Don't I have a say in what happens to me?"

"Not in this case," he told her. "Your parents specifically asked in their will for you both to come to us. You cannot just abandon your sister and choose to stay with your friends because it's more convenient for you."

"I'll be moving out in 2 years anyway," she pointed out. "Why does it matter?"

"Because your dad was one of my best friends and I made a promise to him to take care of you," Lin told her.

"He'd want me to be happy, and I just don't see how moving me away from my school and my friends will do that," Emma said. "I'm not coming back."

Lin was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say to that. Clearly, he was going to be much more firm and clear with this one. "Emma Elizabeth, you do not get-"

She cut him off. "Stop using my middle name! You're not my dad, and you're not deciding what I get to do with my life." She hung up the phone.

Lin was about to go on, but realized he'd been hung up on. He scoffed, running his hand over his face in frustration. He knew this new arrangement would be an adjustment, but he never anticipated Emma flat-out refusing to go along with it.

Vanessa had heard one end of the exchange and walked over, alarmed. "What is going on?"

"Emma has decided she's living with Kelsey and her family," he said. "She's refusing to come home."

Vanessa let out a shocked sound and shook her head. "Wow," she said flatly. "How are we gonna handle this one?"

Lin paused for a moment and then picked up his keys from the counter. "I guess I'll have to go get her myself."

A/N:  It's been a bit angsty so far!  It should start picking up a bit more now. :-)  Happiness and drama ahead!