Sam & Penny Short-Stories *English*

ORPHANS - Step by Step

Penny's POV

I woke up at dawn as usual - at least in the summer. In winter I was awake long before.

I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling as I thought about what I could do today to get the kids to trust me a little more. We wouldn't get anywhere like this and sooner rather than later the police would be at the door to pick them up and probably send them from one orphanage and psychologist to the next.

Sighing, I got up because I couldn't think of anything and disappeared into the bathroom. After a quick wash, I threw on my jogging suit and wanted to go downstairs. Since Sam was in the house, I could probably go about my morning routine with a clear conscience and pick up a few rolls from Dilys in town. As starving as the children were, they would certainly be happy with a hearty breakfast.

I took a quick look into the guest room and was shocked when I only saw the girl lying in bed. The boy was nowhere to be seen. I immediately ran downstairs and checked the front door. It was still locked. The back door too. Where could he be?

Sam. I had to wake him up! He had to help me look out for him!

I ran into the living room and immediately froze. A smile jumped on my face when I saw Sam stretched out on the couch with the little boy clinging to his arm, who, wrapped up in a blanket, was still playing a tug of war with Sam over his blanket.

I laughed quietly to myself as I watched the two of them pull the blanket back and forth in their sleep before I quietly slipped away for a jog.

When I returned, the house was still quiet. A quick look into the living room told me that Sam had lost the battle for the blanket. I smiled to myself as I went into the kitchen and started preparing breakfast.

I set the table as quietly as possible and made coffee. I was making milk for the children's cocoa again when I was startled by a dull bang.

I immediately stormed into the living room, only to see Sam straightening up between the couch and the living room table. The boy was still sleeping soundly, wrapped tightly in both blankets.

Our eyes met as Sam picked himself up and I could tell he wasn't nearly as amused by the situation as I was.

He quietly crept into the bathroom while I went back into the kitchen and left the door ajar so the noise I made wouldn't wake the kids.

It took less than a quarter of an hour for Sam to join me and once again run his hands through his now neatly styled hair.

"Slept well?" I asked him teasingly and handed him a cup of coffee. He looked like he could really need it.

"Not really," he simply mumbled, taking a sip after leaning against the fridge.

"Wow, you're a real morning person. Even worse than you are at work," I teased him with a grin and shooed him a meter to the side so I could get juice from the fridge. I stopped when I saw that yesterday's bag was gone. That's odd.

"Your couch isn't really comfortable and the other half of the night I had to fight for my blanket or freeze," he just mumbled and took another sip of coffee.

"If you want to stay here another night, we'll swap," I stated as I turned to the pantry to get a new bag of juice out of there.

"I'm certainly not going to sleep in your bed!" Sam stated, downright horrified, and I looked up at him in confusion before putting the juice on the table to finish the cocoa on the stove.

"Why not?"

"Because it's yours. It's not appropriate for me to let you sleep on the couch and even less to share a bed with you. Not if I haven't been invited," he stammered embarrassedly and ran a hand through his neck.