Diamonds or Dirt?

Chapter 23: England Again...

Rylee's POV:

"Can it be mine too?" I ask him and the smile on his face is enough of an answer for me.

Sam pulls me into a bone crushing hug and spins me around. He then sits me down and grabs my hand, "come on, I want to show you around." He says pulling me through the house.

I can tell he is happy to be home. He hasn't been able to visit in years. His voice is full of energy as he shows me his home. When we reach the last door in the hall he pauses and turns to me. "This is my room." He says before throwing the door open.

I walk past him into his room. It's nothing like I would have expected. There are no posters on the wall, nothing on his dresser or bedside table except 1 picture in a frame. I walk over to it and pick it up. There is a younger looking Sam with a sad smile on his face beside a woman lying in a hospital bed. Unlike Sam's smile hers was one full of joy that was evident in her eyes as she looked up at the boy beside her. It looked as if for this moment she wasn't in pain, she wasn't suffering, she was just enjoying the time she had left.

"Yeah, that's my mom." Sam says walking over to me.

"She was very beautiful, and its obvious she loved you." I said looking from the picture to him.

He gave me a small smile and took the picture out of my hands to look at it.

"This is the last picture I have of her... it was taken the day she died... I was sitting by her side in the hospital...

**Flashback**

"Sammy why do you look so sad, it's like you're the one that's dying." My mom jokes her smile so full of life that I can’t believe she is dying.

"Mom, please don't joke like that." I beg her holding back tears.

"Baby it's a fact of life, people are born and people die. It happens every day, it's what makes us human. I lived a great life. I gave birth to three amazing children, and I married the love of my life. I have no regrets." She tells me her voice getting weaker.

"Momma, I don't want you to go." I tell her.

"Well we don't always get what we want do we Sammy?" She says in a voice that can only be described as motherly.

Right then a nurse comes in and my momma asks if she would take our picture. Of course the nurse says yes and my mom pulls me close to her and smiles at the camera. It takes all I have to smile too.

Through the rest of the day I watch her getting weaker. Her smiles don't quite reach her eyes like they normally do. She asks people to do things for her that she would normally do herself. By midnight I can tell she is in a lot of pain, but she keeps pushing through. It is just past 2 a.m. and I can tell she is about through.

She had been coughing for hours and there was nothing I could do. The nurses tell me I can leave and they would call if anything changes but I can't take that chance. So I sit there watching my momma die. She looks so frail and cold. It is 2:15 a.m. when she looks over and smiles at me. I barley bring myself to smile back and I know she can tell something is wrong. She turns her head and whispers in my ear the last thing she ever says.

"You were never a mistake baby you were my miracle. Your daddy loves you and so do I, never forget that. I want you to tell Baylee and Kyle that I love them too. But you will always be my baby. I love you Sammie and I want to stay here with you. I want to see you get married and have a family, but the lord has a different plan for me. Stay strong Sammie. Be good to your daddy. Help him the best you can. I send everyone my love, but I will always love you. You are my baby."