Figuring Things Out

It was bound to happen, I guess. Evelyn has figured out that death comes to us all. She has been asking questions and playing around the edge of things since we lost Stella two weeks ago.
She started with Billy Bones. She has had two cats die and she remembers them both, and even though we lost The Grinch about 2 years ago, she was still crying about him occasionally, well up to now. So she remembers. Now Stella is gone and Evelyn is older and wiser, and she keeps asking pretty difficult questions, like, "where are they?", "when can I see them again?", "where did you take them?", "why did Grinch have to go to the Doctor first but you just let Stella stay at home?". Even in the middle of some play time, she will just, BLAM! hit me with an inquiry and I stutter about and gulp down tears and try to answer as simply and honestly as I can.
Where are they? They are just gone.
When can she see them again? In a long, long while honey.
I took Grinch to the doctor because I KNEW he was sick and we were trying to make him better, didn't know Stella was going to die.
So THEN, she looks at Billy Bones, she knows that he has been having some breathing trouble. She says, "Mom, when will Billy die? , I answer that I don't really know but we will love him and enjoy him and try to keep him safe and healthy and happy. She seems okay with it but will fire off a "Billy will die in a few weeks" sort of thing. Okay, I get it, she is assimilating and coping but it still makes my heart jump whenever she says it.
THEN, she remembers that my Grandma, her GG, has been sick with heart stuff. Can you see where this is going? I actually had to walk out on that conversation and let Leslie take over.(he did a great job, by the way. Better than I would have done.)
NOW, she is asking when WE will die and if it will be in a few weeks. A few weeks is understandable, it's the outermost limit of her understanding of time. Understanding that lives end, that's .... well, that sucks.
I was hoping that she wouldn't come to these conclusions I was hoping that I could keep her ignorant a little longer. Maybe I could have, by telling sweet lies and keeping her insulated, that's just not my way though. I know how intelligent she is, I know how she resents being talked "down" to, hell, I know that I resented (and still do) that very same thing. I also feel that Life's hard truths are better broken down into small increments and handled a bit at a time....
With Mama.
And Papa.
And lots of ice cream.