Finally Home

24. Tyler

Samantha picked a superhero movie and I ordered us popcorn. I reminded her to bolus her insulin and she replied that she already had.

The movie was pretty good. Followed the usual formula. We laughed and chatted during the movie. It was fun just being with Sam. We hadn't had a lot of opportunity between Rosie being born and tour and such.

I texted with Jenna after I sent Samantha to bed.

"How are you enjoying spending time with Sam?" Jenna asked.

"She's incredible. I mean, we know all this but she's so funny and smart."

"Fell asleep while she was doing her homework, huh?"

I smiled.

"And how did you know that?"

Jenna texted the photo of me asleep on the sofa in the room. I laughed.

"I told Sam that it would be a shame if that wound up on social media," Jenna said.

I quickly went into my Instagram notifications.

"@SamJoseph: Weekend away with Dad and I already outlasted him." Sam had posted with the photo. I smiled. The comments were funny.

"Yup. It would be a shame," I said.

"What's up for tomorrow?" Jenna asked.

"I'll take her out for breakfast, then we'll go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and at 4 we'll head to the arena so Sam can meet the Cavs and the Raptors. She doesn't know she's getting a bit of a basketball lesson with them."

"Tyler! How am I going to be her favourite parent if you keep doing the fun and awesome stuff?" Jenna said.

"You'll just have to try to keep up," I smiled.

"Okay hon, I'm going to go to bed. Rosie will be up by 7:30, I bet."

"Okay. Love you gorgeous wife," I said.

"Love you, handsome and talented husband," she said. I sent a kissy face emoji, plugged in my phone and got ready for bed.

When I woke up in the morning, I got up and dressed pretty much right away. I wanted to get this day started. I was so excited for Samantha. I hoped she enjoyed the day as much as I hoped she would.

"Sam, you awake?" I asked, knocking on the bedroom door.

"Yep," she called out from the bedroom and a minute later came hobbling out the door.

"Ready for breakfast?" I asked.

"Am I ever!" She said. I grabbed the room key, made sure we had everything we'd need for the day, and we left the hotel.

We took the truck and I drove to a restaurant I'd found called 'Grumpy's Cafe'. Samantha laughed when we pulled up and parked.

"Are you insinuating something, Dad?" I asked.

"Not at all," I smiled. "I just thought you'd get a kick out of the name of this place. We could go to 'Lucky's Cafe', I'd you'd prefer."

Sam had her phone out and was taking pictures of the sign.

"Nope. We're eating here. Definitely," she smiled.

We went inside and were seated quickly. I got coffee. Sam asked for hot chocolate and nutritional information.

We looked at the menu. Sam did some quick calculations based on what she knew about carbs for what she was planning on. The server came back with our drinks and a printed sheet with all their nutritional information.

"What happened to your leg?" She asked Sam. "If you don't mind me asking."

"I broke it playing basketball," she replied.

"I didn't think basketball was such a dangerous sport," the server smiled.

"It is the way I play," Sam laughed. "But really, I was playing with my dad the night before a game and landed funny. At the game the next day, I got bumped hard by someone on the other team and landed really hard on it and pretty much shattered it. The doctor thinks I might have fractured it the night before and the way I landed at the game, just... poof,"

"Sounds painful," the server said.

"Yeah. Sucks that my basketball season is over," Sam lamented. "At least as a player."

"Well, you make sure to order something good and healthy and let's get those bones mended, huh?"

Sam smiled and we placed our orders.

The food was really good and Sam was chatty throughout breakfast. She talked about what she thought her team should focus on in their next game and who she thinks her coach needs to work with more on her team.

We just sat and ate, talked and relaxed. It was so nice.

After we were done, we got back in the truck and headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sam absolutely loved it. We spent more time at the displays for bands like Green Day and The Police, Queen, and David Bowie. Sam was even patient when I wanted to linger at a few artists displays that I liked.

At 2, I declared it was definitely lunch time. I hadn't realized how late it was. I didn't think Sam had had a snack and checked her app.

"Yup. Definitely lunch, kiddo. You're starting to go low. Here, drink this," I said, handing her a juice box.

She took it and drank it quickly. We headed to the truck and found a restaurant near the arena to eat in. From here, we'd just walk over to the arena. I parked at the arena's lot and we made our way over to the restaurant.

Sam was getting more and more excited about meeting the Cavs, and the game tonight. And she was just overflowing with chatter about the Hall of Fame.

"Dad, really," she said. "Thanks so much for this weekend! It's been amazing."

"It is my absolute pleasure," I smiled at her. "You deserve it. And I'm glad that I could make it happen."

We ate lunch and relaxed a little before heading over to the arena.

"It's funny," I said to Sam as we walked, well, I walked, she crutched, over to the arena. "I don't think I've ever been here as a spectator."

Sam laughed.