Just prompts: Cemetery

[diaparker]

"Sammy?" The voice on the other side of the phone line asked. She grinned, "Yeah Uncle Michael? What's up?"

"Do you know where your mom is? I was going to stop in and see her while I'm here and I can't seem to find her anywhere." Sammy thought for a minute, "She's not at the house?" She could almost picture Michael shaking his head as he replied, "Nope, not here at mine or over at Parker Place." Sammy's eye caught the calendar on the wall, "Wait no, it's Sunday. She's over at Rosedale visiting Dad and um...Grandpa."

There was a brief pause and then she heard a soft, "Oh" from the other side of the phone. "Yeah," she agreed, she still missed her grandpa and her father dearly, but she couldn't bring herself to visit them every single week. She just...couldn't.

"Mom wouldn't mind if you showed up there." She added after a moment or two. "You're...you're sure? I don't want to intrude." He spoke. Now it was her turn to shake her head once, "Go ahead. She'll want to see you." Another pause. "Alright, thanks Sammy."

"Bye Michael."


Dia was sitting crosslegged in front of Max's grave when her baby brother showed up. She'd chattered away at Simon's grave, knowing that if her father could have heard her, he would have liked to know the ins and outs of the family day to day life. At Max's though, she sort of just sat and there was peace there. If she closed her eyes long enough, she could almost feel his arms around her and his strong presence there, just comforting her, like he had so many other times. There wasn't a day gone by that she didn't miss him with all her heart.

Her baby brother walked up behind her and she half turned to smile at him. "Hey you."

"Hey yourself." He replied softly, "Came to stop and see you."

"Before you go gallivanting off again?" She teased with a small grin, "I'm flattered."

Michael looked his sister over carefully, before plopping down next to her. "So how are you doing? Really."

Dia ran a hand through her hair, "I'm getting by. It's not easy. Losing Max and Dad so close together...it's been rough. Some days are better than others. Others I wake up and still reach over for him and he's not there." She brushed a small tear from her eyes.

Michael squeezed her hand. "I still hear Dad sometimes, randomly on the street or at home. It's hard, but you're not alone, Dia. You've still got Sammy and Matt and the rest of the horde. Mom hasn't left us yet. You've still got plenty of people who care about you."

Dia shot him a look. "Michael." Her baby brother was endearing sometimes, wrong but endearing.

"What?" Her brother shot her an innocent look. "It had to be said. You hate people tiptoeing around you."

She ruffled his hair. "I love you." He was a goof and hardly ever home cause of the job, but he cared, even when jumping to a wrong conclusion.

He grinned, "Meet me for dinner tonight? I'll even cook." She shook her head, "No the last time you cooked, the kitchen caught fire. I'll cook or we'll order out."

He grinned, "Perfect. That's what I was aiming for!" He kissed her cheek. "See you soon."

"See you." She turned back to the gravestone, tracing Max's name with her fingers. "I miss you, handsome. So much. Sammy's getting better about remembering the good times. You know she hated your job. She's coming around. Matt misses you too. He's dealing with it about as well as I am. I still reach for you sometimes in the middle of the night or right when I wake up."

She laid her cheek against the top of the headstone, "I still sleep in your shirts. They still smell like you and i'm not willing to give it up yet. Not quite. You're the only man I've really ever truly loved, Maximilian Parker. I'll see you in a bit. Sammy and Matt and Mom still need me. I'll come back next week though." She slowly stood up. "I have to go rescue the kitchen from Michael. I love you, my heart."

She slowly walked out of the cemetery and towards her car. A lone red rose rested on top of one of the graves in Rosedale Cemetery. The inscription on the headstone read, Maximilian Parker. Husband, Father, Friend. 1968 - 20xx.