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

5. Samantha

We stayed in the park for a little while. I mostly watched Emma and Benji play with their friends while I sat on the swings. Emma's friend Beth kept coming over and asking me questions about my dad and Josh.

"Your dad is really Tyler?" she asked, sitting on the swing beside me.

"Yes," I said.

"So, Jenna is your mum?"

"That's right," I said.

"But Emma is your cousin? How?" Beth asked.

"I'm adopted. Emma's dad was my mom's brother," I said.

"What happened to your Mum, then?"

"She died," I said.

"Oh. When?"

"A long time ago. I was eight." I said.

"What about your dad? Couldn't you live with him?"

"He wasn't a nice person. And he's also dead now."

"How did they die?"

"I'd really rather not talk about it," I said, feeling myself getting mad.

"Why?"

"Because," I said. "It wasn't a good time and I don't want to talk about it."

Beth got quiet. Then Emma called her back over and I saw the two of them whispering. I rolled my eyes. I wanted to go back to the house, but I wasn't sure where it was.

"Hey, Emma, Benji, let's head back, okay? I'm getting tired from the jet lag," I said. I saw Emma roll her eyes, but Benji came running.

"I'm going to stay at the park for a while. Benji can take you home.

"Emma, you know Mummy doesn't like us staying at the park alone. You have to come home, too."

"I don't want to, Benji. I'm older and I can stay if I want," Emma said, clearly showing off for Beth.

"I'm telling Mummy," Benji said, taking my hand and leading me back towards the house.

"She's going to be in so much trouble when we get home," Benji said. "And she's being mean. She was telling Beth how your  Mummy and Daddy died."

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't sure if they even knew the whole truth. Until Benji stopped and looked up at me.

"Did your daddy really kill your mummy?"

"What did your parents say?"

"Daddy says that your daddy was a mean man and he killed your mummy."

"That's pretty much it," I said.

Benji was drawing circles with the toe of his sneaker. I could tell he wanted to ask something else.

"What is it, Benji?" I asked.

"Is it true, I overheard Daddy telling Mummy one day, that your daddy really meant to mean to kill you and not your mummy."

I sighed.

"Yeah. That's true."

Benji hugged me.

"I'm glad he didn't," he said. "Because I really like you."

"Thanks, Benji," I said, hugging him back.

We walked back to the house, with Benji holding my hand. Back at the house, Benji immediately ran to Carol, who was in the sitting room, and tattled on Emma. I wondered if Rosie was going to do something like that one day when she was older.  Probably by that point, I'll be too old to be doing things she'd tattle on me for. But I couldn't help but to smile.

Carol came out of the sitting room and saw me at the stairs.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm just going to lie down for a while. Jet lag," I said.

"Okay. I'll come get you for tea, okay? Are your sugars okay?"

I checked my app.

"Yep. They're fine, thanks," I smiled.

"Great. I'll wake you when it's time for tea," Carol smiled.

I went upstairs and lay down on my bed and I think I fell asleep, because Carol was sitting beside me and gently shaking me awake.

"Hi sweetheart. You fell asleep. It's tea time, and I believe you're supposed to eat fairly regularly, right?"

I looked at my watch and saw I'd slept for just over an hour or so.

"Yeah," I said, rolling over onto my back. "I'm up. I'm coming."

"Okay. I'll give you a few minutes to wake up, freshen up, and then come on down to the kitchen," Carol smiled at me. I nodded.

I lay on the bed for a minute before sitting myself up and looking around. I still couldn't believe I was here. And without Mom and Dad. A year ago, I wouldn't have even thought about travelling alone. And while I was still nervous when I flew out here alone, it worked out, right? Everything seems to have gone just fine. I smiled at myself.

I got up, went into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face, then went downstairs where Carol was bringing what looked like little pancakes to the table.

"It's crumpets," Carol said. "And yes, they look like little pancakes."

"They're really yummy," Benji smiled at me. "Come sit beside me!"

"She's sitting beside me," Emma said.

"I think I'll sit beside Benji," I said. "He asked first, sort of."

Benji smiled and stuck his tongue out at Emma. Emma glared at him.

"Kids, stop with your bickering!" Carol said.

Mark came in while Carol was finishing up bringing things to the table.

"Did you have a good nap?" he asked me.

"I did, thanks," I said.

"Jet lag's a bitch, huh?"

"Daddy said a curse!" Benji cried. Emma laughed and Carol sort of frowned at Mark.

"I apologize, Emma, Benji, don't repeat that."

"Well, it is, though," I said.

Mark laughed, and then Carol couldn't exactly contain her laughter either.

"You'll feel better tomorrow.  Early to bed tonight, you'll be all refreshed and more on a normal schedule tomorrow," Mark smiled at me.

Benji explained crumpets and clotted cream which sounded gross, but was pretty good.  They also had jam or maple syrup or corn syrup.  I had some with cream and some with jam, and was careful to bolus for them.

After tea, we went into the sitting room, which I would call a family room, and watched some TV until Carol said it was dinner time.  They said they wanted to take me to a local pub, so we went out for dinner. A pub, it turns out, is a bar! But in England, they're like family restaurants. Kids can go in and eat, too. Not like at home, where if it's a bar, if you're not old enough to drink, you're not supposed to be in there. I thought that was kind of cool.  There was music, and some people were playing darts, a game I don't think I'll ever understand. And then there were some pool tables, too. But we just stayed in the restaurant part and had dinner. 

I had fish and chips. It was really good. So much better than at home! Benji let me try a bit of his Yorkshire pudding, which isn't pudding, like Jello, but like a fluffy muffin almost. But way lighter. Mark and Carol said they come to this pub fairly frequently, and we'd be back and that I had to try some of the other foods there, too. Like the curry or the shepherd's pie. It all looked so good, and the smells of all the different foods were so good too.

With a full stomach and still having jet lag, I fell into bed gratefully when we got home, and slept hard.