Worst Summer Ever... (Book 7 of Adopted by Jenna and Tyler Joseph)

4. Jenna

Getting Samantha up early Thursday morning for her TV interview was not fun. She'd stayed up late at the gala the night before and then, by the time we'd gotten her home, it was only a few hours before we'd have to have her up again.

Luckily, the crew was coming to the house and we could let her sleep until the very possible last minute.

I helped her up, helped her manoeuvre to her bathroom and then she claimed she was awake enough to do her own thing.

Twenty minutes later, she was showered, dressed and downstairs sipping on a coffee and eating some toast Tyler had made for her. She didn't look terribly awake and was grunting more than speaking when Tyler asked her questions but she was, arguably, awake.

"Can I take a nap when they leave?" She mumbled, her eyes closing.

"Yes sweetheart," I said. "You can sleep the whole day if you want."

"Awesome," she said, putting her head down on the kitchen island.

The doorbell rang and Tyler went to answer it while I drank a coffee and tried to keep Samantha awake.

"Sam," Tyler said. "Makeup will be ready for us in ten minutes."

"Mmhm," Samantha mumbled. I looked over at her and saw she was leaning her head on her arm and was pretty much asleep.

"Hey, wake up, sleepy head. This is your moment!" I said, shaking her gently.

"I'm awake," she said, standing up straight.

"Yeaaaah," Tyler said, brushing a crumb of toast off her cheek. "Go wash your face. You got jam on it."

Samantha felt her cheek and found the sticky spot where the jam was, went over to the kitchen sink and washed up a little, using a paper towel to dry off.

She came back, took another sip of coffee and leaned on the counter again.

When the makeup people were ready, I led Samantha over to them and they got her ready for TV. Then it was Tyler's turn. 

The two of them, their makeup done, were sat on the couch in the living room, and the lights and cameras had been set up to maximize the natural light in the living room, and to complement the artificial light they'd need to use.  The interviewer was going over some notes with their producer and they were talking amongst themselves.  There were people everywhere, but this was something I'd become somewhat accustomed to.  I had already set up coffee for the crew, and had had some pastries delivered early in the morning.  

I watched from the kitchen, out of the way of everyone and out of the camera shots, as our  daughter sat, smiling, beside her father. The two of them were discussing something and laughing, so it could have been anything from something one of Samantha's siblings had done, to something that had happened at school or anything in between. But to see her smile and laugh was my joy. 

The producer turned to Tyler and Samantha, and started talking to them while someone was checking lighting levels and sound levels from the microphones on Samantha and Tyler's collars. 

And I stood back and smiled, watching all this take place. Some people might think I'd be jealous or want to be in on the interview, too, but this was Samantha's doing, and I'm quite happy to sit back and watch things unfold. I've been involved in enough of Tyler's music and music videos that I don't feel any jealousy or desire to be in the spotlight. 

And I know Samantha isn't one for the spotlight either but she also wants to get information out on this scholarship so that it is something that will endure, long after she's finished school. And I couldn't be prouder of how much she's grown since starting this project.  

When it looked like they were ready to start the interview, I stepped back, so that I wouldn't be in anyone's way any further. I also had to make sure if Rosie or Junie woke up soon, that they wouldn't interfere. Though knowing Samantha, she would love the distraction of her sisters interrupting her interview. 

I listened in as she told her story.  I watched as she teared up a little discussing the shooting and discussing Blaine and his role in her survival.  And I was surprised when she mentioned her struggles with the aftermath of the shooting and even discussed having had to go to the hospital for it. I didn't know if she would ever discuss that with anyone. But as I've said from day one, it's Samantha's story, and hers to tell as much or as little as she wants.

When the interview was over, the photographers that travelled with the interviewer took some photos of Sam, Sam and Tyler and Sam, Tyler and myself. We knew they'd send copies. 

"I'm really impressed, Sam," I said, as the crew started packing up the equipment that currently littered our living room. "I didn't think you'd talk about last September and the time you spent in the hospital. I'm really, really proud of you."

"Thanks, Mom," Samantha smiled.  "I wasn't initially going to say anything about being in the hospital, but then I thought, Dad talks about his struggles with mental health, and it was an important thing that happened that helped me learn to cope with what happened.  I didn't talk about the... January thing, but I was kind of alluding to it, too because the support group has been so good for me and helped me work through all... that."

I wrapped my arms around my daughter. In a couple of weeks she was going to be eighteen years old.  

We had worried she wouldn't see this birthday. There were times we worried she wouldn't see seventeen. She struggled so hard with the shooting, and she had had so many traumatic events that could have gone either way. 

But here she was, nearly eighteen, finishing her Junior year in high school and looking forward to her Senior year.  We had helped her become the person she was becoming. And though somewhere before us, she had lost a year of school and would be nearly nineteen when she graduated, she was becoming her own person. 

And Tyler and I couldn't be prouder. This was going to be an epic summer.