And Baby Makes...?

Chapter 65

Tyler POV

Mark and Carol wanted Samantha to come visit them over the summer. Just Samantha. I couldn't shake the feeling they had something up their sleeve when they suggested it.

Samantha asked if she could think about it, and they'd said of course she could. But it nagged at me.

The morning of our flight home, Mark picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the airport. Samantha was quiet, looking out the window as we drove. 

Jenna had expressed concern when we'd returned to the hotel the night before and Samantha had gone into her room.

"Do you think she wants to come back?" Jenna had asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I think so, but I'm not sure she wants to come back without us."

"She got along so well with her cousins. And Mark and Carol are really fantastic with her. Mark told her so much about her mom.  What if she wants to come here?  What if she wants to stay?"

I didn't have an answer. Did we have the right to stop her? She's still a minor and she's legally our daughter. But could we still lose her?

I hadn't slept well and I was trying to keep my cool with Mark. I couldn't help but be suspicious.

At the airport, he was genial and said goodbye to each of us. He made Rosie laugh and hugged Samantha.

"Think about coming during the summer, okay?  No pressure. We'd love to have you though," he said to her. Samantha glanced over at me and nodded.

"We'll talk over Zoom, though, right?"

Samantha smiled.

"Yeah. I'd like that," she said.

On one hand I was happy that she'd found someone to tell her about her birth mom when she was growing up. On the other I was afraid we were going to lose Samantha. We'd been through so much with her, the thought of her wanting to leave us, her family, her friends, her school, Rosie.

We checked in for our flight and went to wait in the lounge. Samantha was quiet and Rosie was in her stroller playing with a toy Mark and Carol had given her.

Even on the flight, Samantha was quiet and distracted. I didn't want to ask her if she was contemplating going back for the summer. I didn't want to encourage it. But I didn't want to discourage her.

Samantha fell asleep on the flight, leaning against me, her mouth hanging open. She looked so relaxed. And of course, I worried she had come to a decision. And I was worried her decision would mean our family would change. For the worse.

Don't get me wrong, Rosie is the light of my life. But if Samantha decides she wants to live with her blood relatives. I don't know that I'll ever recover from the loss.

Jenna looked over at me and Samantha. She smiled a sad smile at me. I wondered if she was thinking the same thing.

I did manage a bit of a fitful sleep during the flight.

When we landed in Columbus, I was irritable and kept to myself. I didn't want to take my irritation out on my family.

Samantha kept looking over at me with an unreadable expression.

I silently loaded our luggage into the car I'd ordered to take us home and we climbed in. Samantha sat in the back with Jenna and Rosie.

At home, Samantha took her luggage up to her room and didn't come out. Jenna took ours into the laundry room and took Rosie upstairs to put her down for a nap.

I went to my office and checked emails. And emailed my lawyer.

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Samantha POV

Dad's mad about something. I don't know if he's mad at me or something else, but he hasn't said a word since we got on the plane. And when we got home he went straight to his office. I went to my room. I had a lot to think about and I also needed to figure out what I'd done to make Dad mad at me.

I was lying on my bed thinking when there was a light knock on my door. Mom came in.

"Hey sweetie," she said. "You going to take a nap?"

She came over and sat down. It was then she noticed the tears.

"Sam! What's wrong?" She asked, wiping a tear away.

"Dad's mad at me," I said.

"No he isn't. What makes you think that?"

"He hasn't said a word since we got on the plane, and he just looks at me and looks mad. I don't know what I did to make him so mad," I said, more tears leaking.

"Sweetheart, I guarantee, your dad is not mad at you, okay? I don't know what's going on with him, but there is no way he's mad at you," Mom said.

I didn't believe her.

"Look, you relax, rest up. I'll go see what's going on with him."

I curled up on my side and tried not to cry anymore.

Mom left my room, but left the door open. I heard her go downstairs but I didn't hear her talking to Dad. I wouldn't if Dad was in his office in the basement.

A little while later, Dad came into my room and sat on my bed beside me.

"Mom says you think I'm mad at you," he said, rubbing my back.

I nod.

"Why wound you think I'm mad at you?" He asked.

"Because you haven't said a word to me since we got to the airport. In London. And every time you looked over at me, you looked kinda mad," I said.

Dad sighed and pulled me up.

"Sweetheart," he said, hugging me. "I am not mad at you. Not at all. I'm worried. You've been offered the chance to go visit Mark and his family over the summer and I'm worried you'll want to stay. Or they'll try to convince you to stay. And I'm afraid of losing you."