Quietly I sat on the plane. We were on our way home to Oklahoma. By now I was sure that our parents death was all over the front pages of all the newspapers, I could just see the headlines, ‘Pop Phenomenon Hanson Orphaned.’ I knew already that their death wouldn’t leave the papers for weeks and weeks. We were in for one hell of a time.
"Jess?" Avery said to me. Even though she’s 10, she seems so much younger, especially now.
"Yeah, Avie?" I replied.
"I miss them already."
"Me, too," I said, looking out the window. There sure were a lot of clouds out there. When something like this happens, you always notice the small things. The things you always took for granted in the past.
"This is just the beginning, isn’t it?" she asked me.
"Yeah, I’m afraid so," I replied sadly.
"Do you think they’re in Heaven?" she asked, staring at me with those big hopeful brown eyes.
I smiled back weakly. "I know so," I replied after a moment. "I like to think so anyway."
"I think they’re up in Heaven watching over us," Avie told me.
I smiled at her. "If you believe, then it’s true."
"Jessie?"
"Yeah?"
"I feel a little better now."
I smiled at her. "Me, too, Avie," I said. "Me, too." And I did. Even our brief talk about Heaven helped. Our parents were gone, but we were going to get through this. Together. Because us seven, we’re a team. We’ve got to be.
