SECOND CHANCES 2
Chapter 1
It was Christmas Day and Samantha Forster Ely was sitting in the family room at Three Ponies while everyone was opening presents. Though no one said so, or needed to say so, there was a touch of sorrow on this happy day.
Bryan Ely, one of the six Ely sons, had been killed in an accident four months before. Bryan, like the rest of the Ely men, was a volunteer fireman. He had been caught in a fire and perished. The youngest Ely son, Jake, had been with him at the time and only through a miracle had he survived.
Bryan had been dating Sam at the time. In fact, on the day Bryan was buried, Sam and Bryan were supposed to be married. Sam was carrying his child.
Before Bryan had gone into the building with Jake, he had eerily asked Jake to take care of Sam and their unborn child if anything happened to him. When Bryan had died, Jake had asked Sam to marry him.
The marriage was in name only, so the child Sam was carrying could carry the Ely name. However, over the past couple of month Sam and Jake had grown closer. They had always been friends since both were little children.
Jake was wary of his feelings for Sam since she had loved Bryan and was carrying Bryan's child. He was concerned with what everyone would think if suddenly the two of them got together. Jake knew that Sam still loved Bryan. However, the two of them had kissed a couple of times. Both had felt terrible about it afterwards, almost as if they were being disloyal to Bryan.
As if adding insult to injury, the cheap bands that Jake had purchased at the chapel in Reno when they had gotten married, had started to make their fingers itch. Sam's fingers were swelling with the weight from her unborn son anyway, but she had to take the band off because of the small welts that had developed from the ring. Jake had found his band had bothered the burns on his hands and had taken it off not long after the wedding.
Now, Sam sat on the couch next to Nate and glanced at Quinn before starting to unwrap the gift he had gotten for her. Quinn's grin didn't make her feel safe as she opened it. He definitely had a teasing grin on his handsome face, which usually served as a warning to anyone who saw it.
"It's not going to explode is it?" Sam asked.
"Sammy!" Quinn yelped, pretending to be insulted. "Would I hurt a pregnant woman?"
"If you could get away with it," Sam teased, causing everyone else in the family to laugh.
The wrapping paper was off and Sam looked tentatively at the box on her lap.
"Somebody knows Quinn pretty well," Adam joked and Sam gave a giggle. Adam was there for the day from Reno.
She glanced at Jake who was watching her with a soft smile on his face.
"You'll avenge me, right?" Sam asked him.
"Yeah Brat," Jake assured her, giving her a lopsided grin.
Sam slowly opened the box, peering into it as she did so.
"Oh come on, Sammy," Quinn complained. "Trust me, you'll like it."
"It's a new green bra, isn't it?" Sam gave him a disgusted look.
"No, but thanks for the idea," Quinn grinned at her.
Sam sighed and opened the box. She saw there was what looked to be a shirt inside.
"I bet it says 'I'm with stupid' and it points at Jake," Nate laughed, causing everyone except Maxine and Jake to laugh.
"No, but thanks for the idea," Quinn said again.
Sam pulled out the shirt and looked at the front of it. She burst out laughing and got up to give Quinn a hug and a kiss.
"What's it say?" Maxine asked.
Sam held it up and the family also started to laugh. On the front of the shirt were the words HOT MAMA!
"Quinn Ely," Maxine shook her head at her second youngest son. Quinn was Bryan's fraternal twin and Bryan's death had affected him greatly.
"Well she is," Quinn shrugged.
"Thanks Quinn," Sam sat back on the couch.
"You're welcome Sammy," Quinn grinned back at her.
Sam looked down at her pile of presents. She had received some board games from the family. She and Jake had started playing board games together sometimes when Quinn and Nate had gone out on dates.
In the beginning, Jake had gone with them since he and Sam were married in name only. Then he had started feeling almost as if he were cheating on his wife, even though he and Sam didn't sleep in the same room. Sam slept in Bryan's room while Jake slept in the room he'd had since he was a baby.
She glanced at Jake who was on the other side of Nate. His eyes met hers, almost as if he knew what she had been thinking, which could be true. He'd always had the uncanny capability to seem to be able to read her thoughts at time.