What's Normal?

Chapter 6

Finally, the three long but incredibly lovely months passed, and it was time for Sam to collect her mom from rehab. Hugging Aunt Sue goodbye, from the corner of Sam's eye she could see Ollie getting upset because he doesn't want her to go. Letting go of Aunt Sue was a struggle, she didn't want to let go; Sue finally let go and Sam threw the little man up in the air and hugged him goodbye, "I'm going to miss you, little man." She says,

"I'm going to miss you too, tall girl," Ollie says in return,

"Goodbye dear, we hope to see you soon. We should organise a date again." Aunt Sue says, trying her best to keep a smile after forming such a connection with Sam over these past few months.

Sam picked up her bags and put them in the boot of her car, she waves them goodbye and drove to rehab to collect her mom. Playing her infinite playlist, Sam realised how much she has missed seeing family; she used to see other members of her family a lot when she was younger but since the incident with Leon, Sam and Claire, it became very difficult to see family – Claire was always too drunk to drive, Sam was too young to drive, Aunt Sue didn't want to visit if Claire was drinking. Rehab was two hours away from Aunt Sue's and three hours away from home. James' cassette he made Sam managed to play twice during Sam's journey. Sam was falling tremendously in love with James, but will that change when she finds out what James' big secret is? We will get into that later on in the story.

Sam pulled into a parking spot just next to the parking lot of rehab – it was full – it must've been collection day? Walking into the tall building that was newly refurbished and cleaned, Sam felt a huge amount of fear, excitement; anxiety it was an unusual feeling – one she had never felt before. Awkwardly stood alone, the receptionist asked politely, "Excuse me, ma'am, are you waiting for somebody?"

"Yes, my mom, Claire Smith?" she replied, nerves were building up and not the nice kind of butterflies starting fluttering around in her stomach.

The receptionist buzzes Claire out and it was like a movie the way Sam and her mom ran to each other. It was truly beautiful. Sam jumped on her mum like a spider monkey and Claire spun around holding Sam tightly. Overwhelmed with excitement, Sam drove herself and her mom home so they could celebrate; she introduced Claire to the mixtape James made for her. As the songs played, Claire sat there uncertain of what she was supposed to be listening to – she couldn't hear anything but Sam singing along to songs that weren't being played through the speakers. Claire didn't care that she couldn't listen to the music, she was just happy she could see her baby again. Gazing at Sam, feeling full of pride, Claire is so proud of Sam's accomplishments and achievements; she didn't let what her father did to her, define who she is. They arrived at home and walking inside felt odd as neither of them had been in there or looked at the house in three months.

"To a fresh start," Claire says, looking into Sam's eyes and back at the house,

"To a fresh start" Sam repeats, agreeing with her mom.

Grabbing her mom's hand and running in the house together they played around the house like little children, sprinting and chasing each other through the living room, upstairs, back downstairs, through the kitchen and back to the living room; they both collapsed on the floor trying to catch their breath back. Sam turned on her side and looked at her mom and said, "I've missed you, mum." Turning to her side and looking back at Sam, Claire responded with something Sam didn't expect to hear:

"I've missed you too chicky. I am proud of you by-the-way; I feel like you don't hear it enough, by me, the school, your school friends who I haven't happened to meet yet." Claire responded.

Sam started smiling like James, as wide as a Cheshire cat, she moved closer to her mom and hugged her and whispered a subtle, "Thank you."

Unpacking their bags, Sam wanted to know how her mum felt - "Hey mom, how you feeling? Seriously..." she asks,

"I'm okay, I feel regenerated. I feel alive. I love life as of right now." Claire responded.

Sam's heart exploded, her mom's finally feeling something, that made Sam feel so good. Knowing her mom has changed and is willing to stay clean of alcohol to stay alive and feel regenerated made Sam feel safe, it made her realise that this is what home is supposed to feel like.

In the evening, Sam had organised a movie night with her mom. Popping popcorn was being put in two bowls with butter melting over the top, fizzy pop was being poured into two large glasses with ice and a slice of lime to give that extra *chefs kiss* flavour. Reclining the sofa, placing some fluffy blankets and placing the food in between their designated seats, Sam called her mom down from upstairs and said, "I'm ready for you now, come on momsie!!" An exotic waft of salted, buttered popcorn floated around the house and the surround sound system was almost deafening, but it was worth it. They decided on watching a movie called, Jaws.

When the movie finished, Sam kissed her mom goodnight and took off to bed. Dragging herself upstairs, Sam turned on the stairs and looked at her mom on the sofa to take everything in as she hadn't fully processed how amazing her mom is doing. Finally arriving at her room, she jumped into bed and started writing in her diary, another good day to remember and read if things get bad again. She wrote about how proud she is of her mom and how Claire seems pretty determined to maintain this new, healthy lifestyle. Once Sam finished writing in her diary, she put it down, turned her light off and went to bed.