The London Paradigm (book 4 of Adopted by the Josephs)

3. Samantha

"How was the flight?" Mark asked as we walked to the car.

"It was okay," I said. "There was this, like, businessman beside me and I swear he thought I was going to, I don't know, bother him the whole way?  He kept frowning at me and then as we were landing, he told me he was surprised I wasn't a pain in the neck."

"He said that?" Carol asked.

"Not exactly. But he basically said he was glad I didn't annoy him all the way. I kept to myself the whole time. So I don't know why it took the whole flight for him to realize I was going to actually behave. You'd think he thought I was going to get up and start, I don't know, vandalizing the plane or something?"

Mark laughed.

We got to their car and Mark loaded my luggage in the trunk. I only brought one suitcase. I didn't need a lot of stuff and they do have laundry machines in England.

The drive to their house wasn't too long, but long enough that I fell asleep. After all, there's a seven hour time difference and for me it was nighttime back home.

Carol woke me up when we got to their house.

"Come on sleepy head," she smiled. "Let's get you inside, get you some lunch and call Jenna and Tyler so they know you landed safely."

I grabbed my backpack and followed them into their house. The house was so cozy and inviting. It wasn't huge. It was smaller than our house in Ohio, but it wasn't tiny. They had a pretty big front and back yard, and they had four bedrooms, an office, a family room, a kitchen, a dining room and a rec room, in the basement. They also had a small computer nook upstairs and a mud room as they called it, by the back garden door.

I would be sleeping in the office which was also their spare bedroom. I'd share the bathroom with Emma and Benji.

Mark took my bag up to my room and showed me a few things. There was a closet and a dresser for me to unpack in and the night table had a power bar so I could plug in my electronics. They'd even gotten an adapter so I could just plug my stuff right into the power bar. That was cool.

We went downstairs and immediately, Carol told me to call home. Mark helped me because I've never called overseas before.

The phone rang once before it got picked up.

"Sam?" It was Dad.

"Hi Dad!" I said.

"Where are you?" He asked. "Are you at Mark and Carol's?"

"I am. Mark just showed me my room, and we're going to have lunch soon."

"You got through customs and everything okay?"

"I did. The lady from the airline helped and then Mark and Carol and Emma and Benji were right outside the arrivals door when I got there."

"How was the flight?" Dad asked.

"It was okay. The food was gross and I slept most of the way. The guy beside me was weird. Not like creepy weird. He just seemed so annoyed by me and then told me I wasn't as annoying and he'd been expecting me to be. He was weird."

Dad laughed.

"Probably thinking a kid alone in First Class is probably going to be a demanding little shit," Dad laughed. I did too.

"Sweetheart?" I heard another extension pick up.

"Hi Mom!" I said.

"You got in okay?"

"Yeah. I did. I just told Dad all about it."

"I heard some of it," Mom said. "Are you getting settled in?"

"Yeah. Mark showed me my room and we're going to have lunch soon."

"Lunch!" Mom laughed. "We just finished dinner and I just put your sister to bed!"

"Give her a hug for me," I said.

"Will do. Go have lunch. Give us a call tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed. "Love you guys!"

"Love you too, sweetheart," Mom said.

"Love you, kiddo," Dad said.

We hung up and I went into the kitchen where Carol was making sandwiches.

"I thought a light lunch might be nice after flying? I know I don't like a heavy meal when I travel."

"That's fine," I smiled. "Can I help?"

"No, thank you. You're our guest!"

"Okay. What kind of sandwiches?" I asked, getting ready to calculate my carbs and insulin.

"I have ham and cheese, turkey, or peanut butter and jam. Which would you prefer?"

"Um, peanut butter and jam, please. Can I please see the nutritional info? I have to calculate the carbs so I know how much insulin to give myself," I said.

Carol handed me the bread, peanut butter and jam and I calculated the carbs and adjusted my insulin.

"Oh!" I said. "I forgot. I have extra insulin. Can I put it in your fridge?"

"Of course," Carol said.

I ran upstairs and grabbed my cooler bag with my insulin pens and cartridges for my pump from my suitcase and went back downstairs. I placed it all on a shelf in the tiny fridge.

Carol made us sandwiches and we sat around eating and talking. It was nice. A lot of fun hanging out with them.

After lunch, Emma and Benji wanted me to go exploring with them. Carol reminded them that I'd travelled a long way and to not stay out long and to be home for tea. I had no idea what that meant, but they agreed.

We went out the back gate in the back garden and walked through the streets and their neighborhood. We went to a park near the house where there were swings and play structures, and Emma and Benji wanted to go there. I had no problem with that, so we did.

There were a few kids there and apparently Emma and Benji knew them.

"Emma!" a girl came running up to her. "Who's that?"

"This is my cousin, Samantha, from America. Her dad is Tyler Joseph!" Emma said.

"From twentyone pilots?" she asked, looking at me. I nodded.

"You're so lucky!" the girl said. "You know someone in twentyone pilots! Have you met them?"

"Tyler and Jenna and Samantha and Rosie came in the spring for a week's visit. Samantha's staying here with us!"

"For a month," I said.

"Right. She's here for a month," Emma smiled.