Adopted

Chapter 101

Jess died on a Friday morning at the end of May. She was surrounded by Sarah and I, my parents, Zack and Kala, the Matron of the children's home we'd adopted her from, Paige and her mom, Joshua, and her Uncles.

The night of the prom, Jess had a seizure that lasted fifteen minutes. We'd called 911 and they'd brought her to the hospital to help stop the seizure.

When they were finally able to stop it, Jess slept. We were able to bring her home again, but already we could see we were very near the end. Her breathing had changed.

Two days after that, Jess had another small seizure and lapsed into a coma. We started making funeral arrangements.

A week later, after days of sounding like she was struggling to breathe, after we'd called everyone who could be, to come be with her, Jess sat up in bed, cried out "Mommy! Daddy!", then fell back on her pillow and was gone. Sarah and I held her body, telling her how much we loved her and how lucky we'd been to have her in our lives.

Charlotte had called Doc earlier in the night and he'd been by Jess's bedside, monitoring her throughout the night. Kathleen had come on at seven in the morning, but Charlotte wouldn't leave.

Sarah and I broke down when Doc declared our girl. I held tight to her body. She looked so peaceful. She was free from the pain that had marked her last days before the coma.

Bogart had taken up a place at the foot of Jess's bed, and howled when Jess died. Penny Lane hopped up on her bed to be beside Bogey and whined and sniffed at Jess.

We held her funeral graveside. It was a beautiful and sunny day. All our friends, all of Jess's friends, Darren, and his buddies Adam and John came. My brothers and sisters and their families came. Jess's seventh grade English teacher and Ms Abigail came, as well.

We'd asked Joshua, Kevin, Darren, Pete, Josh and Zack to be pall bearers and take our girl to her final resting place.

I spoke my final words to my darling daughter.

"We knew, from the day we adopted Jess, that this day would come. But even knowing it, we were never prepared.

Jessica was 13 when she came into our lives. She was sarcastic, or opinionated, as she liked to say, smart, mature and humble. She knew she was smart, but she never held it over anyone.

She was a fierce friend. If you were lucky enough to be in her close circle of friends, you became like family.

Jess had many ups and downs for someone so young. She lost her biological parents at the age of eight, and lived in a children's home until she was 13, when we adopted her. We always made sure to remember her biological parents and always let Jess tell us about her previous family life. We wanted to make her parents part of our family. I think we struck a good balance.

She weathered disappointment, misunderstandings, a physical assault and illness with the strength and tenacity only Jess could muster.

Despite a small hiccup the first time they met, Jess and my parents forged a strong bond that even now, will never break. Jess loved her PopPop and Granny and their relationship grew stronger over the years.

Despite us not adopting her until she was 13, Jess felt like she'd always been a part of our family.

She was always thankful. She never asked for anything and was always grateful for gifts she was given. She never took anything for granted.

We gave Jess a life she probably would not have known if either we hadn't adopted her, or she hadn't lost her parents. But she never took it for granted. She never expected anything or any special treatment because she was now my daughter. She was always humble and sweet. She met many of my fans and she was always generous with her time when they'd speak with her. She listened to people. To my fans. She loved interacting with them. Even though she didn't love being the centre of attention.

She's leaving a huge hole in my heart and in our family. Jess, Mom and I love you so much. We miss you so much, but we're so glad we had you as our daughter for the time we did. You taught us more than you could have ever imagined."

I finished with tears in my eyes.

We'd asked Paige to speak too, and so I called her up to the lectern.

She took a deep, shaky breath.

"Jess was the first person I met on the first day of school in Seventh grade. Both of us were new to the school. I had just moved to LA from Toronto, she'd just moved to the district. I didn't know who her parents were and didn't know until attendance that first day. And she was so... normal. Even though we'd found out she was a celebrity's kid, she didn't act like I'd expect a celebrity kid to act. She was, like I said, normal.

She was funny and always had our friend group laughing. Our friend Astrid liked to give both of us a hard time. Me for being Canadian, Jess for being Brendon and Sarah's kid. Jess always laughed with her, and usually had some comeback. We loved Jess. And I'm pretty sure Jess loved us.

Even as Jess got sick and stopped coming to school, we made sure she was still a part of everything. We visited, caught her up and hung out. The Urie's house, over the past couple of months, sort of became our house, too.

Brendon and Sarah, I don't think we ever appropriately thanked you for letting us be a part of your family while you were facing the worst nightmare parents can face. But thank you for letting us be there with you, and with Jess, at the end.

Our school is going to hold a memorial too, for Jess. She was a big part of the school community. Even when she couldn't be there. Something not a lot of people know, is that Jess was crowned prom queen in absentia at prom. Everyone loved her.

I can't say I'm going to miss Jess because she'll always be in my heart and in my mind. I have so many great memories with her, and I'll carry those forever. But I will miss seeing her every day, and I'll miss hearing her jokes. Or teasing Astrid back.

But we got four years to share our amazing friend with her amazing family. And for that, I will always be grateful."

Paige spoke so beautifully. Sarah was crying, my arm was wrapped around her.

Finally, it was time to lay out beautiful daughter to rest. Sarah and I sobbed as her casket was lowered into her grave. People started leaving. Pete and Meagan had offered to host the post-funeral reception at their house. We'd accepted because we knew we wouldn't be ready to face our empty house.

Once Jessica's casket was lowered, Sarah and I found the strength to turn away.

A boy, about 17, came up to us.

"Mr and Mrs Urie?" He asked, looking very nervous.

"Yes?" Sarah said.

"I'm Jacob. I went to school with Jessica in seventh grade until I had to switch schools," he said.

"Oh? Why did you 'have' to switch schools?" I asked.

He took a deep breath and looked like he was ready to run.

"It was my older brother and his friends that beat her up,"

"Oh," Sarah said.

"I heard about Jess passing from a friend of mine at Mulholland High, and I wanted to come offer my condolences. I never had any problem with Jess and her diagnosis never bothered or scared me. My brother and I don't really have a relationship because of what he did. Now that he's away at college, I don't speak to him. I liked Jess. I thought she was really funny, sweet and nice. I felt horrible after Eric beat her up. I didn't ask him to do that. I never said anything to him about her at all! I don't blame you if you're mad at me and I'll leave if you want, but I wanted you to know that I'm so sorry. Both for what my brother did and for your loss."

I wrapped the boy in a hug.

"Thank you, Jacob. I'm sorry you got caught in the middle of all of this. Please come to the reception. You can reconnect with your Mulholland Middle School friends, if you want.

And thank you for your kind words."

We left the cemetery. We left our daughter behind, in her final resting place, protected by Mr. Bunny, with her drumsticks in her hands.