Who: Caroline and Ren What: Ren offers Caroline his condolences Where: The funeral reception When: Today Rating/Warning: Low/none. Mentions of parental death Status: Complete
The service for Caroline’s mother had been beautiful, including the rendition of Go In Peace, and the police tribute had been reminiscent of Ren’s father’s funeral. Ren had never known Liz, but he did consider Caroline a friend, and had come to show his support to her. He had lost both his parents when he was a child, and so he thought he was at least somewhat familiar with the pain that Caroline was no doubt going through.
He sought her out during the reception, wishing that he could offer her anything more than what he could. But all he had right now were his condolences. “Caroline, I’m sorry for your loss,” he said, and in a rare show of physical affection, he took both her hands in his.
Caroline had made it through the funeral. She managed to keep herself together and get through her song without bursting into tears. Of course there were a few moments where she teared up, but for the most part she had remained strong. Now it was time for the reception and Caroline was still keeping herself together.
It was easier at the reception. She didn’t have to watch people say goodbye to her mother anymore. Of course there were tons of stories going around, memories of her mom, which yes made Caroline miss her, but she was doing her best to just savor them all and not focus on the fact that she would never see her mom again.
And then there were people coming up to her. Expressing their sympathy. She truly did appreciate the amount of people that were trying to be there for her. That showed they cared about what she was going through. But still Caroline was trying to be strong through it all. She was a bit surprised when Ren approached. She didn’t even know he was there. But then there were a lot of people she didn’t see or hadn’t talked to yet. Still, Ren was a new friend. It meant a lot that he had taken the time to come.
“Thanks, Ren,” she replied with a small smile on her face. She removed her hands from his to give him a proper hug. It was what Caroline did after all. “She was pretty great,” she added as she pulled away.
Ren was a little surprised by the hug. He generally didn’t enjoy being touched, Nora being the only person he’d allow normally, but today he’d make an exception, and after a brief hesitation he returned the hug warmly. “She seemed like a truly remarkable woman. I regret that I never had the chance to meet her.”
“Me too,” Caroline replied. Liz always liked meeting Caroline’s friends, even the new ones. But with everything going on there hadn’t really been time to introduce Ren. Hell Liz barely even met Ethan. Thinking back on it now, that guy wasn’t worth her mom’s time. Or hers for that matter. “She would have liked you,” Caroline gave Ren a small smile, not exactly genuine but a smile none-the-less. She had to force a smile. Caroline didn’t want anyone’s pity. Besides today was about her mom, not her.
“I think I would have liked her as well,” Ren said. After all, he liked Caroline, and Caroline had clearly been close with her mother. “Is there anything you need?” he asked her.
Her automatic answer was no. But this was Ren. Although she hadn’t known him long she knew he was the type that needed to help somehow. That was evident when he brought her soup. Hell, even before that when he had offered to help teach her kung fu when he didn’t even know her. “Well, if you wanted to bring me some more of those cookie I wouldn’t say no,” Caroline said lightly. Of course she had more than enough food. It seemed to be what everyone thought would help her or something. But Ren’s cookies were pretty amazing so despite all the food she had, she would totally take some of those.
Ren would have been willing to do almost anything for Caroline, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make those cookies again. Not unless another jar of the red sap showed up from his dreams. The dismay showed on his face. “I’m sorry, Caroline,” Ren said. “I don’t have anymore of the syrup left. But I’d be happy to bake you some different cookies. What’s your favourite kind?”
There was no reason for Ren to be worried. Caroline did remember that he had gotten the syrup from dreams. Of course it wasn’t an endless supply. She was fine with whatever cookies he could make. If they came out even half as good as the ones she already had, she’d be happy. Well not happy that was a bit of a stretch at the moment, but she would definitely enjoy them. “Don’t worry,” Caroline replied with a small smile. “I know that was a limited supply. I’m good with regular old chocolate chip.”
Ren smiled. “Chocolate chip is my specialty,” he said, which may have been a bit of a stretch. He couldn’t really say he had any kind of specialty cookie, but he had made a fair amount of chocolate chip cookies, and they were quite simple to make. “Should I bring them by your place tomorrow?”
“That would be perfect.” She had a feeling after today she was going to need all the comfort she could get. Whether it be in the form of cookies or alcohol. “Thanks Ren.”
“You’re welcome, Caroline,” Ren said, offering Caroline one of his small smiles. “Take care of yourself.”