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> So that was the story of the boy who could hear numbers. My story. The guy sitten on the floor of the bathroom crying with a pee stick in his hand and a key. I'm still trying to get my shit together to stand up, wash my face, go to the kitchen, pick up the cake and go to my daughter's birthday as if nothing is going on. Come on, Schrodinger, you can do this! It is just a tiny play of let's pretend.

'Knock, knock, can I come in?'; asked Robert while knocking on the bathroom doorframe with a six-pack of cold beer. One thing about Pi, everyone forgets easily to lock the doors.

Eske raised his eyes, exhausted and dishevelled with dark circles under his bloodshot yellow-golden eyes and nodded his head to Robert to sit next to him on the cold tile floor. Robert joined him, offering a fresh ice bottle of beer which Eske took as he drained it down in one gulp and then handed it back. He wiped away some beads of foam from his lips with his sleeve.

'I'm sorry,' said Robert apologetically, placing a hand against Eske's shoulder. 'It's going to be fine.'

'Robert, Penny..., Penny is missing too.' said Eske. His voice cracked like an old man trying hard not to cry.

'I know.'; replied Robert. 'They called me from HQ. Marie Sue told me before leaving for the party. I know, buddy. It's fine.'

The two men were silent for a long time before Eske broke the silence again by passing him the pee stick. 'Also, this, I'm going to be a dad.'

'Congratulation.'; Robert smiled at his friend until he realised and understood why they were hidden in a bathroom, sitting on the floor drinking beer: 'Shit!'

'Shit, indeed.'

'Are you going to call up an SCA?'; asked Robert.

'No,'; answered Eske shaking his head. 'Not yet. Not now. Later after we sing Ava's happy birthday.'

Robert took the stick from Eske's hand and asked: 'How long do you think she is pregnant?'

'One month.'; responded Eske. 'Maybe less. How many weeks do you need to give a positive?'

'3 weeks or around 21 days. Nona didn't complain about being late?'; inquired Robert.

'Not really.'; replied Eske, wiping off his cheeks.

'Well, we went through this one time. We will go through a second time.'; he looked into Eske's face. 'She'll be here in no time. You know that. That woman is crazy about you and Ava.'

'If she remembers...'; whispered Eske.

'You need another beer! And me too.'; said Robert opening two bottles of beer and passing them over.

Eske chuckled: 'Fuck, they are gone, and everyone is pretending that nothing happens just so my baby girl has a nice party.'

Robert laughed aloud, but when he saw Eske staring down and playing with a key and looking very serious, he stopped laughing abruptly: 'What's that?'

'A key.'

'What's the key for?'; asked Robert, raising his eyebrows.

'Oh, shit.'; sighed Eske.

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'What?'; repeated Robert.

'That's probably my new kid's room.'; replied Eske.

'So what? Aren't we not going to look at it?'

'Not yet. Now we need to get our asses out of the floor, get that cake out of the fridge and sing my baby girl happy birthday.'

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Eske arrived with Robert and a giant frosty cake at Ava's party. The celebration took place at Robert and Penny's yard, where a number of their friends were gathered around an improvised barbeque pit, all smoking or eating as they chatted among themselves in the glowing light of candles and torches on hot summer evenings when it seemed that time could not be ever interrupted.

The children played about underfoot amidst piles of cushions and toys.

At the same time, the adults sat near the open firepit sipping cold beer from paper cups. Eske looked for his daughter when he finally found a short pinkish astronaut with fairy wings running in his direction. He caught her by the hand just before she ran into him and lifted her up: 'There is my birthday girl!'

'Higher!'; she demanded between giggles.

Eske lifted her higher as his arms would allow him: 'Having fun?'

She nodded enthusiastically. She took her helmet off, revealing her long black hair. Her black eyes widened over Eske's shoulder: 'Where's mummy?'

'Mummy is late, sweetheart. I told you on the phone.'; then, seeing she might not have heard what he said, he repeated himself aloud: 'I'm sorry, but Mummy will be coming later tonight because she has some work to do.'; he tried to explain.

The child frowned: 'Is something wrong? Why are you here and not with mummy?' Ava was today seven years old, and Eske was still baffled by how smart she was. Compared to other children of her age, Ava would put most grown-ups in a corner.

'That is an excellent question, sweetheart.'; Eske replied seriously. 'Daddy is waiting to see before I need to call upon an SCA. You know what it is, right?'

'State of Calamity Alert, which activates the proper protocols to keep the safety of our world. If mummy disappears, is automatically a MI SCA after 2 hours of SLA.'; the child explained as if she was reciting from the book.

Eske scratched the back of his neck while sitting on one of the cushions with her on his lap. 'Do you know which protocol daddy will need to start?'

The child shook her head.

He sighed heavily, but a smile smirked out on one of the corners of his mouth: 'Ava's Incident Protocole. Happy Birthday, sweetheart.'

As Eske watched her face lighten up, her eyes widened, and she started to jump while clapping her hands: 'I'm going to be a big sister? I'm going to be a big sister!'; and she ran around the party shouting: 'I'm going to be a big sister!

Ava Perenna Schrodinger had two dreams. First, be the oldest sister of all her upcoming siblings. And second, return to space.

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