Finally Home

94. Tyler

Samantha was less than thrilled that we'd thrown her a welcome home surprise party. She thought it was making too big a deal about her leg. She was somewhat embarrassed that right now, she needed a wheelchair to get around as her balance was still off using crutches. She tried to walk from the car to the front door and still nearly managed to fall over. Luckily, I was right by her, with her borrowed chair, and caught her before she fell over.

As soon as we got her in the house, and everyone cried out, 'Surprise,' she turned her chair around and rolled right out the front door. Jenna went after her first, and I followed a couple of minutes later to check on her. She was angry and crying, saying she hadn't wanted a party of any sort, and she didn't want attention called to her leg. We had to remind her no one was there because of her leg. That everyone was here to celebrate that she was home, finally.

We wanted to celebrate that our whole family was home. Junie and Samantha, making our family currently complete.

Eventually, Samantha came around and came into the house. The party could continue. I watched as people adjusted themselves to get to Samantha's height. They'd sit on chairs, the couch or the couch arms so that they wouldn't be looking down at Samantha. I don't know if it was a conscious choice or habit, but it was nice to see, I thought.

Everyone stayed for a few hours, then the kids had to head home to get ready for school the next day. It was Friday and we decided to keep Sam home the one day and send her back Monday. That would give us the weekend to help prepare her. We'd already let the school know.

Josh and Debby and Brendon and Sarah were the only ones left after the rest of the guests left. Brendon and Sarah were staying with us, Josh and Debby lived nearby and Pete and Meagan, Patrick and Elisa were staying at a hotel nearby and were going to come by tomorrow and over the weekend for brunch or a barbecue and to just hang out.

Everyone was expected to leave by Sunday night and Sam would be back at school Monday.

Once everyone had left, and it was just the 9 of us sitting around the house, Sam started rolling herself towards the stairs.

"Sam, where are you going?" I asked.

"Upstairs," she said.

"Come here," I said. "I want to talk to you."

She rolled her eyes, assuming she was in trouble or something, and rolled herself into the living room.

"What?" She challenged.

I had a surprise for her this weekend that I hoped wouldn't blow up in my face.

"I was thinking about basketball," I started.

"Well, you can stop thinking about basketball now. Because I'm done playing. Obviously," she interjected.

"But you don't have to be, darlin'," Brendon said. "Your dad's been doing some research for you."

"In case you all have either forgotten or haven't noticed I don't have a right leg anymore!" She exclaimed. "How do you expect me to play basketball with no leg!?"

"There are adaptive sports groups. Wheelchair basketball."

Samantha glared at me. Oof. If looks could kill.

She spun herself around and wheeled to the stairs. Then stopped, looked up the stairs and sighed.

"Can someone help me upstairs please?" She muttered.

"Nope," I said. "I want to talk to you about basketball."

She glared at me again, locked her wheelchair and pulled herself up onto the stairs. She hopped up the first stair, and after a few, I saw her leg getting shaky. So she sat herself down and bum scooted up the stairs.

"Her stubbornness is only going to help her," Brendon smiled. "And I don't think she realizes that."

"It's a double edged sword, though," I said. "Because it might also hold her back. I want her to know, to see, that there are so many ways for her to do the things she used to do."

"What about her school team? Is she going to be able to play with them?" Sarah asked.

"Not in a wheelchair. Maybe with a prosthetic. The coach said with a sports prosthetic, she can play, but not in a wheelchair, understandably."

"So then why were you talking about the game on Monday with the captain?" Josh asked.

"Because we have something planned," I said.

They wanted to know what, but I wasn't going to tell them.

The six of us talked for a while after Jenna put Junie to bed and checked in on Samantha and Rosie.

Samantha, she said, was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling and wouldn't talk to her.

"We'll give her some space. She's still dealing with things. After the weekend, I bet she might have a better outlook."

"I hope so," Jenna said. "Because I hate seeing her so upset."

"I know. Me too. But she needs some time. And space. I know she seemed to come to terms with things in the hospital, but now that she's home, she's seeing the reality of her new life at home. And she had to process some of that again."

Josh and Debby left around eleven and Brendon and Sarah, and Jenna and I, headed upstairs to our bedrooms.

I stopped in to Sam's room. She was still awake, still staring at her ceiling. I went in and sat on her bed.

"Hey there, chickadee," I said to her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. There is literally nothing going on," she said. I nodded.

"It's getting late. Do you want help changing or using the washroom?"

"No thanks, Dad. I can manage four feet across my room on crutches," She snarled at me.

"Okay," I said. "Mom or Aunt Sarah are in their rooms if you need them."

She rolled her eyes at me then turned over onto her side, away from me.

"Well, I'm heading to bed. Goodnight my firstborn daughter," I said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. Whatever," she replied. I sighed as I left her room.

"Sam okay?" Jenna asked as I came into our room. I sighed again.

"I don't actually know. I think she's angry right now. She's definitely being stubborn. I really hope meeting Kaitlyn this weekend will help and not blow up."

"Same," Jenna said.

Suddenly we heard a loud thud, the breaking of glass and an expletive laden diatribe coming, loudly, from Samantha's room. 

Jenna and I ran to her room.