Things couldn't have gone smoother.
The weight of doubt and fear on her back was slowly taken off. Sarah learned that Sammy had a quick judgement of character- much faster than Willow. Each time they came around Henrik, Sammy would stand next to him, as if measuring himself against his father's impressive height. Willow would stand by Sarah's side, relying on her protection if Henrik ever lost his control- he never did.
Some nights, they'd stay late. Most of those times were during the weekend, when Willow and Sammy didn't have to catch the bus to their public school. During those times, Henrik would spend time with his children, trying to get a sense of what they were like.
Sammy would walk past Henrik's bedroom, his eyes lingering into the space for too long. Eventually, he saw an instrument in the corner. Henrik noticed that he was standing outside his bedroom door, staring in, unmoving and silent. He took off his reading glasses, softly getting up. Willow's attention was on him now, her body alert and ready to take action.
Henrik approached Sammy, his eyebrows furrowing.
"You okay, buddy?" Sammy finally looked at him. Willow began to slide off the couch, watching Henrik closely, gaze glancing up and down his lanky frame. Sammy pointed into his room, right in the corner to the stand that held the instrument.
"Is that yours?"
Sarah glanced up from her spot at the table, noticing how the two had the same stance. Henrik glanced into his own bedroom as if unfamiliar of what he had. When he laid eyes on his guitar, he nodded gently, looking back at his son.
"Yes...?"
"Can I touch it?" Sammy asked. Willow's feet were touching the floor, her hands resting on the cushions, ready to push herself off to protect her little brother. Henrik simply shrugged and walked into his room. The guitar seemed small compared to him, though hilariously large when put into Sammy's hands. Henrik crouched down, his hands hovering underneath the guitar in Sammy's grip, as if Henrik were afraid he'd drop it.
Sammy plucked a couple strings, moving his fingers along the neck. The metal feel of the strings felt weird to him, though he was curious on how the instrument was played.
"Can I play it?" Sammy asked. Henrik shrugged, adjusting the guitar in his grip correctly. Sammy dragged his finger along the strings, the vibration of music coming from the instrument dully.
"Cool," Sammy huffed.
"I can teach you." Henrik found himself smiling, suddenly feeling warm that his son shared a sudden interest in something he did as a hobby. Sammy snapped his gaze back to his father, eyes slightly brightening as if he was presented with an opportunity of a life time.
"Can you?"
That night, before Sarah took them back to go to sleep, Henrik taught Sammy how to properly hold it. Each day when they'd come back, there was a small lesson that Sammy would look forward to. Henrik would hover his hands over Sammy's, teaching him about each string and how to play notes. He would adjust his son's fingering on the neck, moving his hand to curl neatly underneath.
Willow would sit at the table, watching as Sammy grinned as the sharp vibration of notes and hums came thundering out of the guitar as he strummed viciously. Willow slowly found herself starting to smile, watching as her brother gained happiness from learning an instrument, one that Henrik said he had a special natural talent with.
Must be genetic. Sarah joked.
Soon, dinners were shared between them. Sammy would crack a joke and Willow would resist her laughter. Henrik noticed what kind of jokes would make her crack up. Sarah noticed that Henrik would listen as Sammy read from a small joke book he'd sneak to the table. She also noticed that Henrik would make an attempt to make his daughter laugh when Sammy was too busy plucking the strings to his guitar.
Sarah put a hand to her mouth, hiding her creeping smile as Willow laughed. Henrik started to blend into their small family, with Sammy almost begging for extra time with the guitar, telling his father to watch as he plucked the strings slowly, watching his hands to make sure the notes were correct.
The smile that would beam on Sammy's face when Henrik applauded was one Sarah would replay in her mind. Sarah noticed that Willow was beginning to speak more, cracking jokes to Henrik who would chuckle gently.
The holidays were smooth, Henrik keeping them together as he cooked for them. Sarah and Henrik would spend time together, him littering kisses on her neck as she cooked. Willow would watch as Sammy would play with the guitar, hissing in pain as he plucked strings. She would pull the instrument from him, running his scarred fingers under water as small trickles of blood flowed with the water.
It wasn't until mid September did Sammy finally call Henrik dad. He was tuning the guitar, glancing up at Henrik who was searching through the books he got his son so he could play the guitar with more guidance than he could give Sammy. Sarah was in the kitchen, cleaning up dishes, Willow helping her put them away. Sammy looked up at him and softly spoke.
"Dad, I'm probably not going to use those."
Henrik stopped in his tracks, halfway through flipping the page. He glanced down at his son, eyes slightly wide. Sammy recoiled gently, still keeping an eye on his father. Sarah peaked into the living room, eyes wide as she stared at the two. Willow continued to dry the dishes.
"Why not?" Henrik asked, voice beginning to tremble with a feeling he never experienced before. Sarah could see it in the way his shoulders began to heave. She couldn't tell if he was about to cry or if he was just shuddering from shock.
"I'm a visual learner. You teach me better than books can. I think."
Henrik put down the book, and kneeled in front of his son, hand on his. He ruffled his son's hair, a smile coming to his face. Sammy could see the sudden presence of tears at his father's waterline.
"Thanks, buddy."
"Why are you crying?" Sammy asked, eyebrows furrowing.
"No reason, I just-" Henrik softly removed the guitar from Sammy's lap and hugged him. Sammy hugged back, feeling a sense of fullness in his heart. A feeling he hadn't felt since he was little, in a world where he believed everything was perfect.
"I'm not crying." Henrik said, wiping his eyes when nobody could see him.
Sammy would call after him in his title, eventually growing comfortable with the fact that Henrik was his father. Then, it became a title he'd abuse, not that Henrik would start complaining. It seemed to become Sammy's second favorite word.
The holidays came and went, with Sarah almost always asking Henrik when she could meet his family. He never answered her directly but Sarah never probed for more clues.
Come Christmas time, Henrik and Sarah sat together. Henrik was watching his son play Christmasy tune on the guitar and Sarah was watching Willow do a word puzzle with a cracking pencil. It was close to silent, with Sarah on the couch with Henrik, cozying up to him as the TV played. Sammy was playing quietly, bowing his head to listen to the vibrations of music.
Suddenly, Willow muttered a curse. Led smeared across the page and she sat up, rubbing out the aches from her belly from the floor. She held up half of the snapped pencil and sighed gently.
"Hey-dad? Do you have an extra?" Sarah squeezed onto Henrik's hand and he squeezed back.
"Yeah, I'm sure I do somewhere." He was quick to get up, his touch sliding off of Sarah as if longing to touch her again.
Sammy glanced down at his sister, raising an eyebrow. A part of him wondered if Willow broke the pencil on purpose just so she could say it, and the other part knew she created the opportunity. He knew his sister as someone who would make things happen just so she could get the reaction that she wanted into the situation. Sammy huffed gently.
"What?" Willow stared at Sammy who simply shrugged and shook his head.
"Nothing." She continued to stare at him, noticing how he didn't even bother to glance back at her. Sarah was silent, watching as her children seemed to have a staring competition, with one of them not even participating. Sammy returned to retuning the strings, listening to make sure they sounded correct. While he did, his mind returned to his sister.
You did that on purpose. Sammy scoffed a chuckle and shook his head before going back to softly playing the guitar.
YOU ARE READING
The Grean Household
Romance"It was a mistake..." She told her mother, folding her hands into each other. "Marrying him..." Her mother said nothing, she simply sat there as her only daughter stood across from her, on the verge of collapsing from bruised ribs and cracked shins...
