She sat opposite her doctor, nervous like a schoolgirl in the headmasters office. 'So I hear you've not been too well Cecelia?' He said and she hung her head. 'Its nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of people suffer with depression, it's very common but no two cases are the same. Your husband and mother-in-law have noticed quite a decrease in your condition and I think that you could do with some help. You used to be involved with theatre is that correct?' She nodded, keeping her mouth closed as long as possible 'so I suggest you do and acting class or a singing group, maybe join a choir? Does that sound alright?' She held out her hands questioningly 'I suppose' she said flatly.
She went to an acting class first, dragging Hayley along with her. She hadn't acted for years and by the end of the session, she had decided that acting was more fun as a kid. So Hayley pushed her to try out a singing class, but she didn't enjoy that either. They collapsed into the car, sighing in unison, 'do you want to come round for coffee?' Hayley nodded.
In their house, there was a piano in the living room that Hillary played whenever she came round. They often had singing sessions just the two of them, 'I didn't know you could play piano Ces!' Hayley gasped sitting at the huge wooden instrument on the cushioned stool. She played a few notes haphazardly and laughed it off, pretending to be a mad pianist who got fired from the orchestra. 'The phantom of the opera!' She sang, playing random notes and singing wildly out of key. Cecelia put her hand to her face 'I worry about you' she laughed, 'so why to have a fancy-pants piano if you can't play it? Does Oscar play?' She shook her head 'my mother-in-law Hillary plays it all the time' 'why don't you get her to come here? You could do like a one to one thing in your own house! It would be great!' Cecelia nodded and pulled her phone out of her pocket, dialling Hillary's number. She agreed to come and she was there in a matter of minutes. 'What shall we do first?' She asked finishing a tiny instrumental of a song with a flourish, 'how about Christmas songs?' Hayley asked clapping her hands excitedly, so they sung a couple of Christmas tunes. Hayley eventually got bored and walked around looking at the lovely house, she went upstairs and went to open the nursery door when she heard the piano stop. She walked in and the door flew open behind her 'Hayley what are you doing?' Cecelia asked, clearly distressed 'get out of here' she said quietly 'it's private'. They went back downstairs but no-one was in the mood for singing anymore, Hayley got up with a sigh 'I suppose I'll be going then' she walked to the front door and opened it. Hillary looked at Cecelia sternly 'what?' She raised her eyebrows 'fine. Hayley wait!' She called and caught her friend in a hug 'I'm sorry, I was a bitch' Hayley nodded and patted Cecelia on the back 'I shouldn't have been there. I know you're still hurting' she said getting into her car with a smile.
She had weekly sessions with Hillary but sometimes they would meet up a more often. It was quality time that Cecelia had never spent with her mum. One day, in May, they sang 'I Dreamed a Dream' from Les Miserables; Les Mis was Hillary's favourite musical. Oscar came in from work as they were halfway through but they were so engaged in the song that they didn't even notice him. 'Now life has killed the dream... I dreamed' they finished and Oscar applauded them 'it's kind if true' she said with a laugh 'life did kind of kill my dream, but life isn't going to win'. Her depression had lifted considerably and Oscar was keen for them to try again, thinking that if stress was making them lose the babies then the best time to try would be when she wasn't stressed. He took her to the kitchen to make his mum a drink, 'how do you feel about having another round?' 'Frankly' she said 'we just don't have the money. It's almost five grand, how can we afford that?' Hillary listened in from the door and hatched an idea to help them get another round to have the baby that was so important to them.