Other Things – Freddie POV

"Happy birthday, squirt," I said as I came down the stairs and saw Cece eating cereal at the kitchen table.

"Thanks. Where's mom?" she asked cautiously.

"Oh… Ya know… Just… mourning and whatnot?" I answered, sitting down next to her.

"I'm sorry," she responded, turning her attention to her fascinating cereal.

I would've made a good breakfast for Cece's birthday, but Sam does all the cooking. And Sam was… unavailable. Due to… other things.

"Nah… You don't need to be sorry. It's not your fault."

"Well it's not yours and it's definitely not mom's!" she said.

"We know that."

She stood up and literally threw her bowl in the sink. "Gah, then who's is it?"

"Cece, calm down. It's nobody's fault… It was planned," I offered.

"Oh, right. God's oh so magical plan. Writing off infants before they're even born," she said sarcastically.

"Cece, I know you're upset and we all are. But that does not give you the right to go knocking God."

As Cece was about to rebuttal, Sam walked downstairs.

"H-Hi, mom…" Cece stammered.

"Good morning, Cece! Happy birthday!" she said, more chipper than ever.

She wrapped Cece in a hug, which Cece confusedly returned. Over Sam's shoulder, she gave me a 'What-In-The-World?' look, which I returned with a shrug of the shoulders and the mouthing of the words, 'Go with it'.

Sam unwrapped her arms around Cece. "So what did you want for breakfast?"

"Oh, I-I already ate, really, I'm fine," she stuttered.

"And what did you have?"

"Cereal."

"And what did you have in it?" Sam pestered.

"Root beer."

"Well, good, at least it was a balanced breakfast," Sam said as she poured some chocolate milk.

"Mom, a-are you okay?"

"I am perfectly fine," she responded as she took a sip of her chocolate milk.

I grabbed the cup from her. "Sam, you can not keep acting like this."

"Acting. Like. What," she said, pronouncing each word.

"You can't pretend that you're fine when you know you're not!"

"Well what do you want me to do?" she yelled.

"I don't know, rant! Or yell or just talk or something! You can't keep acting like everything is okay!"

"I don't wanna rant or yell or-"

"STOP!"

That would be Cece in case you were wondering. I would never have the nerve to interrupt my wife.

"You both are handling this the wrong way! Dad, if mom wants to cope by being nice, then let her cope by being nice! And mom, you can act like nothing's wrong on the outside, but it's gonna be eating you alive on the inside. Gah…" she stopped and grabbed her forehead. "If either of you wanna rant or yell or talk, I'll be in my room waiting for my lecture on being insubordinate," she turned around and walked towards her room, but not before turning back to face us. "On my birthday." And then she was gone.

"Why did this happen. To us," Sam asked.

"C'mon, Sam, you know there's no answer to that."

"Well, why do you think, huh? We're good people, we go to church, we don't swear, and we donate money to charity, so why is this happening to us?" she begged for an answer. "And how come you're not upset?"

"You don't think I'm upset? Sam, I'm furious!"

"Then how come this is the first time you've mentioned it?"

"Because, I-… Look. I loved that kid. Whoever he or she was. I never got to meet him or her, but that's not gonna change my love. That was my son or daughter," I said.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Because I'm avoiding it!"

She looked me in the eyes.

"And I'm not gonna choose to feel sorry for myself when I can spend my time doing something better. Listen," I said and grabbed Sam's hands. "We're never gonna forget that kid. Nothing can change that. But you know what? We still have an amazing life. And we do have a family, which one third of is in her room, upset, on her birthday."

Sam took a deep, shaky breath.

"And she was right," I continued. "We aren't handling this the right way."

"Am I ever gonna stop feeling like this? Like there's something I could've done? I know there was something I could've done!"

"No! Sam! There isn't! And you will stop feeling like that in time."

She leaned up against the counter and crossed her arms. "When did Cece become smarter than us?"

"Well, she's a teenager now. Officially now knows more than her parents."