Rollercoaster (The Circle Series - Part 3)

Chapter 12

Julie woke with a start and found herself still in Sammy's chair. The bed was empty so she assumed that Sammy had gone down to the media room to watch cartoons since it was a Saturday morning. Groaning as she stood up and stretched, she quickly righted Sammy's bed and headed to their suite.

She desperately needed a hot shower to work out the kinks. Julie went to knock on Ari's still closed door but stopped herself until she was a little more awake. Seeing their own bed still made from yesterday made Julie stop, her breath hitching slightly as all the memories from last night washed over her.

Julie guessed that Jon took her at her word and slept in the office. With a heavy sigh Julie stripped off yesterday's clothes and stepped under the hot shower letting the water wash away her tears and pain as well as loosening her cramped back muscles.

Meanwhile downstairs, Sammy was wandering the house looking for Jon. She found him on the couch in his office. His mouth was hanging open and he was snoring lightly.

"Daddy?" Sammy whispered and shook him a little, "Daddy, wake up."

Jon's eyes cracked open against the sunlight and focused on his youngest daughter nose to nose with him. He wiped away the dried drool from his chin and cheek with his shirt, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Morning, Sammygirl," he grunted, stretching out his neck.

"Why are you down here, Daddy?" Sammy asked as she snuggled into him on his lap. "Mama is sleeping in my chair."

"It was a long night, baby," Jon said with a kiss to her forehead, "Where's mama now?"

Sammy shrugged and tucked her legs into Jon's lap. "She was still sleeping when I got up. I got woken up last night by a thump thump outside my window."

"Maybe it was just the wind, baby?" Jon shrugged, still half asleep, "You didn't hear anything else?"

"Lots of shouting but I thought it was the TV," Sammy said. "Kinda sounded like you and Uncle Lema."

"Ah baby... I'm sorry you got woken by that," Jon stroked Sammy's hair, "It probably was us. We had a lot of stuff to sort out about Ari and Ethan. Things got a little out of hand."

Sammy sighed and looked up into Jon's eyes. "Oh daddy, can't you see that Ari is Ethan's princess, like in the Disney movies? I've seen it for years...it's about time everyone could!"

"You can see that, huh?" Jon studied his youngest daughter, "What makes you say that, baby?"

"The way he looks at her is like Aladdin when he took Princess Jasmine on the magic carpet ride. He kisses the back of her hand like a true prince," Sammy listed off, "The way Ari smiles when Ethan says something funny or about her, the way he sticks up for her in front of kids at school for bullying Ari. Did you know he got detention for hitting another boy for doing that?"

"How do you know all of this, baby?" Jon looked down, curious, "You're in different schools."

Sammy blushed and averted her eyes. "Her diary and times that she's had to babysit me and Ethan's been by."

"Have you been snooping, little one?" Jon raised his eyebrow and tweaked her nose.

"I wouldn't call it snooping, Daddy," Sammy giggled. "I would call it finding enlightenment through a bit of research."

"Well look who has found some big words," Jon snickered a little, "You sound like your mama."

"Oh oh," Sammy grinned and lightly slapping her fingers against Jon's chest. "...and she even got a carriage like Cinderella!"

"Huh? What do you mean, Sammy?" Jon questioned, a little distracted. He'd been thinking about what Sammy had said and if he pushed himself, he could see it also. He'd been blinded by his father's love for his child to notice the changes between the two young adults.