And Baby Makes...?

Chapter 28

Tyler POV

"Well," Brendon said, handing Rosie over to me. "That was weird.  What was that all about?"

"It appears Sam has an uncle who lives in England," I said.

I looked over at Samantha on the couch with Jenna. She was curled up against her and not really looking at anyone or anything. Her eyes were unfocused. Jenna had her arm around her and was rubbing her arm.

"Sam?" I asked. She looked up at me, her eyes focussing. "Jake said they couldn't find your mom's social security or marriage certificate. How did you know your mom's maiden name?"

"She told me. She used to say 'if anything ever happens to me, remember my name. Janet Solman'. Right up until the night she died, she told me that. But she never, ever said anything about a family."

I looked at Jenna and Josh. We were all looking at Samantha.

Debby kneeled in front of her.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?  This is a lot to take in."

Samantha looked at her.

"I don't know," she said, tears in her eyes.

"That's okay," Jenna said, hugging her tighter.  "It is a lot to take in. Finding you might have family you didn't know about. It's either an amazing Christmas present, or a cruel one."

"When he hugged me," Sam said. "I felt safe. Like when my mom would hug me. Or when you guys do."

I smiled. Jenna did too. Rosie reached out for Sam and Sam took her and snuggled her.

My phone beeped with a text. It was Jake. He'd already been able to set up the DNA test for the 27th at noon. At the hospital.

"Jake already set up the appointment for the DNA test. It'll be at the hospital, noon on the 27th. I'll text Mark."

"Already?" Jenna asked.

"He has connections," I shrugged. "You okay with that, Sam?"

She nodded.

"I really think he's really my uncle, though. But it would be nice to know for sure."

Slowly, we got back to the celebratory feeling Christmas is supposed to bring. Samantha wanted Rosie to enjoy her first Christmas, and though occasionally throughout the day I'd find her looking out the window, or staring off into space, she was engaged and chatty.

Before dinner, she excused herself and went upstairs. Jenna held me back to let her have some space.

"She has a lot on her mind, Tyler. Leave her for a little. Let her think for a bit."

I didn't want her to be alone. But I also knew she probably needed some time to figure things out in her mind.

Brendon's phone bleeped.

"Excuse me," he said. "I have to answer this."

He went upstairs with his phone.

About an hour later, Brendon came downstairs.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yep. Everything's fine. Samantha wants to talk to you, though," he said.

"Just me or Jenna, too?"

Brendon shrugged. Jenna and I both went upstairs to talk to Sam. 

I knocked lightly on her open door. She was on her stomach, her face buried in her pillow.

"Hey there, baby cakes. What's up?" I asked, sitting on her bed and rubbing her back. She turned her head towards me.

"What if Mark tries to take me away from you?" She asked. "I mean, if he's really my mom's brother, could he?"

This had been plaguing her all afternoon, I suspected.

"Well, honey," Jenna said, sitting beside me. "He has no real legal claim to you. He's never been in your life, through no fault of his or yours, but it's still important. And with everything you've been through, I can't imagine any judge would want to disrupt your life again and even more."

Samantha looked like she was thinking about that.

"But, what if a judge thinks since I have a blood relative I should be with him?"

"We can't answer that, sweetheart," I said. "But I have a question. Would you want to live with your uncle and aunt and cousins?  Since they're your family?"

Tears sprang into Samantha's eyes again and she shot up and threw herself into my arms.

"I never want to leave here. I don't want him to take me away!"

"Then, baby," I said. "If Mark tries, we will fight tooth and nail to make sure you stay here. This is where your life is. Your school. Your friends, your family and the life you know. But for now, let's not worry about it, because for one, we still need to get that DNA test done and two, he said he doesn't want to disrupt your life. I hope by that he meant he doesn't want to take you away, but wants to get to know you."

"What if he isn't my family?  What if he's someone Stanley got to come here?"

"Oh, sweetie," Jenna said, pulling Samantha into a hug.

We sat and talked with Samantha a little longer, then, when she seemed to have calmed down, we suggested getting changed for dinner.

We all went downstairs where Samantha helped Jenna and Sarah and Debby bring things in to the dining room. Dinner was a much more festive affair. Samantha seemed content that we'd do everything to make sure she would stay with us, and she became more animated and laughed easily.

As usual, dinner was amazing. Jenna and Sam had done a lot of the cooking over the week leading up to Christmas, and they had made a beautiful spread. Everyone was stuffed.

We decided to clear the table and wait a little for dessert.

I carried in our plates, Samantha brought in all the cloth napkins to wash and the cutlery.

Suddenly, behind me, I heard the sound of cutlery crashing to the floor. I spun around and Sam was having a seizure on the kitchen floor.

"Sam!" Jenna screamed, dropping what she was doing and rushing to Samantha's side. I put the plates down quickly and dropped beside her. I started a timer and helped Jenna turn Samantha onto her side.

Sarah, Brendon, Josh and Debby came rushing in.

"Samantha!  What's happening?" They asked.

"She's having a seizure. It's something that can happen from her accident in the fall. We have to time it to make sure it doesn't go over 5 minutes. If it does, we have to call an ambulance."

"Come on, Sam," Jenna said, piling some of the dirty napkins under Samantha's head. Tears were spilling out of her eyes.

Samantha threw up a bit and then stopped seizing. We let her lie on the floor for a minute to make sure the seizure was over. Her eyes were closed but her breathing seemed okay.

"How long was it?" Jenna asked me.

"One minute, twenty seven seconds," I said. Jenna sighed.

"Okay. No need for the hospital."