“Oh! It’s beautiful!” She answered honestly. “Truly, it is.” 

Alex smiled brightly, her eyes closing as she did. 

“That’s fantastic to hear.” 

“I love the paintings in the chapel. Your mother had that done?” 

“Yeah, before she passed, she hired a guy to do it. It was something she always wanted to do for the place.” Alex nodded, sipping her glass of red wine. At this point, Nichols and Lorna had strayed off into their own conversation. 

“Your mother passed? I’m so sorry to hear that.” Piper said, looking over Alex as she said it. Alex shrugged, setting down her glass. 

“That’s life, unfortunately. People die everyday.” 

“So did you….I’m sorry that’s not an appropriate question.” Piper shook her head. 

“You can ask, it’s okay.” Alex reassured her. 

“Did you have to embalm her?” 

“I couldn’t have even if she’d have wanted me to.” Alex shook her head, taking another drink of her wine. “Mom wanted a natural burial. So that’s what we did.” 

“Can I ask what that is?” Piper pressed.

“We wrapped her in a white sheet and lowered her into the ground. Took turns shoveling dirt onto her.” 

“I’m sorry.” Piper couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Don’t be. Death happens to everyone, eventually.” Before Piper knew it, Alex had downed her glass of wine completely. She ordered another with her meal. 

“So…Tell me about you, Piper.” Alex asked, sticking her fork into a salad. 

“Well, I live with my fiance. I went to school for accounting.” She answered.

“Then what are you doing picking up corpses?” Alex laughed. 

“I don’t know.” Piper smiled. “Looking for an adventure.” 

“Well you’re certain to find that.” Nichols replied, stealing a ravioli off of Lorna’s plate. Alex pressed on.

“And what does your fiance, uh..” 

“Larry.” Piper interjected. 

“And what does Larry think about your new endeavour?” 

Piper sipped her own glass of wine. 

“He thinks it’s gross. He really didn’t want me to take the job, honestly. He’s still kinda shitty about it.” 

“You haven’t even seen the worst of the worst yet. Wait until you come across a burn victim. Then we’ll see what’s gross.” Nichols said. 

“Or a baby. Those always ruin my day.” Lorna said sadly. 

“I still fucking hate organ donors. Ugh.” Alex said, taking a bite of her salad.