"Shit." I grabbed my phone. I knew without looking at it who was calling and why. I let it finish ringing as I rushed to a quieter place just outside the cafeteria.

I called my mother back as soon as I was alone in the hallway.

"Mom?"

"Sam?"

"What's going on?"

"What?" she was breaking up.

"HOLD ON A MINUTE," I waved to another volunteer motioning that I was heading outside and she nodded. Once outside, I started over again.

"Can you hear me now?"

"Yes. Sam-" I took a deep breath as I prepared for what I knew was coming. "Your dad died."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Mom."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry there's nothing I can do at the moment. I'll be home as soon as possible though."

"Alright. Love you, sweetie."

"I love you too. I'll see you soon."

We hung up and I immediately called Josh.

"Dad's gone," I whisper into the phone.

"Aw, I'm so sorry. Do you want to come home now?"

"No," I say, shaking my head. "No. I need to do something productive. If I came home I'd just pace."

"Alright. "

"I do need to head back to Ohio for this though. Probably a week at least. Could you get the tickets worked out?"

"No problem, Sam. I'll get it taken care of. Don't work too hard tonight, alright?"

"I know," I whispered. "Take it easy. I'm prepping the desserts and then doing the ticket table. Doesn't get more low-impact than that."

"Mmkay. Call if you need anything, okay?"

"Yeah. Love you."

"Love you too."

Clicking my phone shut, I returned to the cafeteria, where they were underway the rehearsal for the cabaret show. The proceeds from the tickets were going into the choir booster club's treasury. I was the youngest volunteer there, since the rest were parents of the high schoolers in the show, but I had called and asked if they needed help. I believed in giving music students the chances they deserved as much as the guys, and was disheartened to discover how hard it was to keep money coming in for the music programs in our district alone.

The desserts finished and still a bit of time left before the audience were due to start arriving, I did a few errands that had me going all across the school, just to keep busy and not thinking about my parents.

Finally, it was time to do the ticket table. Most people had bought advance tickets, so it was just collecting them and checking off a list. Near the time the show was supposed to start, someone placed cash on the table and asked for two tickets. I got the tickets ready and paused when I looked up to nod the person in, seeing Chris standing there with Josh.

"Didn't know you were in town," I said to Chris.

He flicked his head towards Josh. "He asked me to come out with him."

"Aww, adorable. Where's the kids? Don't say Lance has them..."

"No, I called in a favor with someone else," Josh said, taking the seat next to mine at the table.

"Ah, I see. You called Justin."

"Tyler."

"Ah. Look, you two, the show is about to start, so you better see if you can find seats."

"I'm good," Josh said, taking my hand into his under the table. I looked up at Chris.

"Sorry to hear about your dad, Sam." I nodded, giving him a small smile, and he took a seat at the table closest to the entrance. Josh stayed next to me as I counted up the tickets and money, admitting one last person before closing up the money box and taking it to the person in charge.

My duties over with for the time being, I grabbed a couple of desserts and joined Josh and Chris at the table and watched the show. The kids were all very good, and all too soon the show was over and people were leaving,  and cleanup began. I supervised the beginning of it, finally helping when it came time to move the wooden dividers back to where they were supposed to be. Josh and Chris pitched in, and I let myself loosen up a little, giggling as I climbed into the center of mine and walked it to it's place, giving the appearance that it was moving on it's own. Since I was unable to see where I was going, I hit a fire exit sign, and some ceiling tile rained down. I picked up a few pieces, putting them into my pocket for reasons I don't quite understand other than I felt I should.

Cleanup finally over, Josh, Chris and I split up in the parking lot, each heading to our separate cars. I followed Josh home. Finally exhausted, I thanked Josh's brother for his help that night and his condolences and heading directly up to the bedroom. Josh followed shortly after, and by that time I had checked on the kids, changed and was getting into the bed. Josh got ready and climbed in as well, setting his alarm.

"The flight leaves at eleven, and you're all packed and ready to go in the morning," he said as he pulled me to him. I just nodded into his shoulder and finally let loose the few tears that came before I fell asleep.

The flight home was uneventful, even with six kids and only Josh and I to keep them in order. Josh had surprised me (though I should have known) with the fact that he was able to get eight seats on the same flight - probably because Ohio in February was not the optimal tourist time. Lance offered up his house for us to stay in if we wanted to, which I declined at first but he insisted that if things got too much to take the keys and go over there.

The memorial service was scheduled for the next day - falling bemusedly onto Super Bowl Sunday. Bemusing because while my father was never a big sports fan, he was raised in south west Pennsylvania, and the Steelers were his favorite team, and they were in the super bowl that year. I played nice with the members of my parent's church, especially since I hadn't seen most of them in probably close to a decade. I was slightly annoyed that I wasn't able to give a few words, and that the pastor joked about having a 'tailgating party' afterwards. Everyone joked and seemingly had fun during the refreshment part afterwards, and many people came up to me, telling me they were sorry for my loss or commenting on the size of my family. I thanked them and was polite to the overly nosy.

Finally, the memorial service was over and we returned to Mom's house. We put the food away and got the kids ready for bed before sitting down and talking. We had coffee, tea and hot chocolate and sat around the dining room table. Mum and I shared stories of Dad with Josh, Mum shared stories of when I was little, Josh and I shared stories of what her grandkids got up to. We were starting to get tired and just sitting quietly when I dropped the bomb.

"Mom?"

"Yes?" She took a sip of her coffee.

"I'm pregnant again," I watched her as she let it sink in.

"That's wonderful, Sam. How's it going?"

"Just fine. We're only five weeks along so nothing major yet."

"That's good."

The following two days between the memorial service and the actual burial were quiet ones as we mourned and adjusted to the knowledge that my father was gone. The burial was a quiet ceremony, Dad's ashes were being buried on top of his mother's coffin. There was a little bit of a strain when both my Grandfather's pastor and my parent's pastor arrived to do the service. But the pastors did a general service and most of the animosity was between my mother and grandfather.

The services over and our flight back to LA set for the following day, Josh and I helped Mom go through some of Dad's clothes, packing a few things up that Josh said he'd wear and a few of his other things to go back with me.