(A/N: I know, it's short! I'm really really sorry, swamped with schoolwork right now but I wanted to post this :) I'm not very proud of it, it's kind of a filler chapter, but hope you like! Please review with constructive criticism, I love reviews that say more than 'I loved it'! Even if it's why you hated it :P Thanks, love you guys!)
Eight minutes and a humongous ham later, Sam and I sat at the kitchen table in silence. Sadie had stomped up the stairs, slamming the door right after Sam's realization.
"I can't believe it," Sam admitted. "How can she be deaf? She always had the most beautiful voice as a little girl, remember?"
"She still has it," I replied, smiling. "She can still sing some of the songs she remembers from when she was younger. She makes up tunes for the ones she doesn't, and she writes incredible songs herself. She's amazing."
"Yeah…" she replied. "I wish I'd been here. You did a wonderful job, Freddie. For a nub."
"I see you've still got it, Puckett," I told her, inching closer. I grabbed her sides as she erupted in giggles. "However, you're still as ticklish as ever!"
Then I paused. "Wait, Sam, how did you know about Sadie's voice?" I asked cautiously.
She blushed a bit, looking down. "I- I used to go to her performances. I always found a way to make it out here for them, except for one that Carls videotaped for me. I didn't even think about it when Carly stopped telling me about them when Sadie was ten."
"Yeah, well, Carly lied to both of us," I scoffed. "But seriously Sam, what have you been doing? All these years, where were you? I mean, do you have a guy out there in Bar Harbor? A new family? A job? What did you become?"
She shrugged. "No guy, no family. I got a job, though, of course. I work at a restaurant," she told me. "The salary's not the best, but Ruth lets me live in the apartment over the restaurant and I get food for free, so it's a pretty good deal."
"So it is," I agreed awkwardly.
She smiled weakly, looking at me with those awful blue eyes I'd watched Sadie grow up with. "Freddie, what happened? Why is Sadie deaf?"
"She had a really bad inner ear infection when she was ten. It's all better now, obviously, but there was nothing that could be done to save her hearing. I'm glad she's deaf, though," I replied.
"What? Why?" Sam shrieked. "She's our daughter! Don't you want what's best for her?"
"Of course I do," I told her calmly. "But both of us are happy the way we are, Sam. She remembers hearing, so yes, she does feel like she's lost something, but she's alright with that. This is the way our lives went, and Sadie accepts that."
"She's lost her hearing, Freddie. She can't hear music, or birds, or even you calling her up the stairs," Sam replied, fire in her blue eyes. "And you didn't even try to do anything?"
"I did!" I protested. "That's not fair. There isn't much they could do. I've been trying for six years, Sam. Where the hell have you been?"
She stared at me, then turned her wheelchair around, wheeling out of the room silently.
The next morning, Sadie stomped down the stairs late, grabbing a banana.
"I'll be in the car," she signed silently, glaring at Sam. Sam frowned, looking down at her bacon.
"Sarah Skye Benson," I replied back in a rough tone, my hands still. Sadie looked at me.
"I speak my own language in my home," she said simply. "She can learn it. I'm not changing my ways just for her."
"You may be deaf, and I know this is difficult, but Sadie, you can't shut her out." I told her, looking over at Sam, who was pretending to be engrossed in arranging her bacon and eggs. "She's your mother, and people make mistakes. She's not deaf. Neither am I. I know sign because I learned it for you. She didn't get a chance to, and I know this is not how I brought you up, Sadie."
"Hi, Sadie?" Sam asked, speaking loudly and slowly.
"Speak normally," Sadie interrupted. "I'm not dumb. Just deaf."
"Fine," Sam said in her normal, bored voice. "But just because I haven't been here doesn't mean you can be disrespectful, Sarah Benson. I am your mother, and you have no right to ignore me like that."
"Why not?" Sadie asked, signing along with her words. "You did for fifteen years!"
She stomped out as Sam slumped down in her chair.
"She hates me," Sam concluded. "My own fucking daughter hates me. And there's nothing I can do to change that! What am I supposed to do? I didn't mean to leave her for so long, to leave you for so long, I just… I was embarrassed to come back after a while."
"What happened, anyways?" I asked gently.
"None of your business, nub," she replied, and I watched as she threw her walls back up.
"Alright," I told her firmly. "It is too my business. But that doesn't matter. Right now, there's something more important."
"What?" she asked, confused.
"We're going to sort things out with our little secret-keeper over there. We're going to see Carly."
"Do we have to?" Sam whined, slouching down.
"Yes," I told her. "She's our best friend."
"She lied to both of us," Sam protested.
"True, but I'd like to find out why. Carly's not a selfish person," I pointed out. "Wait, does Carly know why you left?"
Sam nodded, looking anywhere but at me. "I told her before I left. I needed her help."
"You couldn't ask your own husband? That you have a goddamn kid with?" I asked angrily.
Sam shook her head. "I needed Carly," She said quietly, turning away and wheeling out to the car.
I stared after her. Fifteen years. That was a really long time to lose in a life. She wasn't the same person: that much was pretty obvious. She was quiet, so guarded. What happened to her?