Sam was not his brother Luc. Everything that Luc was Sam was not. Sam was a larger infant and grew at an alarming rate. He was very big for his age and so was often mistaken by strangers as much older than he really was. Sam had no interest in being a baby. At 4 months he could sit up. At 6 months he crawled up the stairs to follow Luc. At 9 months he was walking and by his first birthday would repeat any word said and run to catch his older brother.
It was early on that everyone realized that Sam had a propensity for trouble unparalleled by anyone. Unlike Luc who ultimately tried to do the 'right' thing and follow the rules, Sam tried to break as many as he could. Even at the age of one when someone shook their head no or said "No touch Sam", Sam's eyes lit up with the challenge and he would move just that much faster to accomplish the task before being picked up and removed from whatever situation he found himself in.
When in a confrontation Sam wouldn't back down no matter what, he had to be right all the time, he always had to win. And he had a temper to back it up.
It was thanksgiving the year that Sam had turned two and the McGee's had invited the NCIS family over for turkey, talk and togetherness. Everyone had arrived shortly after lunch in hopes of spending a little bit of time outside playing football before supper. Abby tried to quietly round up Sam and take him upstairs before everyone made their way to the backyard so that the toddler could have a nap and be well rested for supper.
"C'mon SamSam" she said holding out her hand.
"WHY?" he asked giving her a scrutinizing look.
"Let's go" she tried again. She knew he wouldn't be happy about a rest and thought that if they could get all the way to the bedroom he was much less likely to melt down.
"No" he said shaking his head. Luc watching this exchange from afar saw that things were not going really well and he had always had a knack at keeping his brother calm. "Hey Sam, come on, let's go upstairs." Smiling at his brother Sam stood up from his toys and began to follow Luc until he realized that his mother was right behind him and he stopped short. "You not allowed to come mommy" Sam instructed his round little hand held out like a police officer stopping traffic.
Abby hesitated as she didn't want this to turn into a scene yet she was not going to be spoken to that way by her son. "Sam, that is not an appropriate way to speak to mommy. You need to be polite. And mommy is allowed to come upstairs."
"No you can't. Luc and me are gonna play." Sam declared.
"Sam." Abby's voice taking on a stern tenor.
"MOOOOOMMMM" Sam echoed back shaking his head in a dismissive manor.
Luc watched the whole act play out before him from the top of the stairs. He just shook his head. His brother could be such an idiot sometimes, why didn't he just do as he was asked? Why did everything have to turn into a battle? And why when he tried to help him did he STILL end up landing in it. Luc just shook his head and went to his room, he didn't want to be witness to what he was sure was going to happen next.
Abby swiftly took hold of her youngest child and carried him unceremoniously up the stairs all the while Sam starting to really throw a fit. By the time they entered his room and Abby had closed the door Sam was yelling "I don't want to go to bed" at the top of his lungs accompanied by kicks and punches. Getting control of the wriggling octopus of a child in front of her wasn't and easy task. Finally grasping both of Sam's hands in one of her own Abby was able to turn him so that her free hand landed several sharp smacks to the little boy's rear end.
If it had been Luc, those smacks would have had him in tears of remorse and apologizing profusely. But Sam was not Luc and instead he turned and twisted so that he could show his extremely angry face to his mother and say "No smack my bum!" while he stomped his foot.
"I will smack your bottom if you continue to speak to me that way. Now it is in your best interest that you get into bed right now and have a rest so that you can come out later and play with us." Abby warned her voice as icy as she could manage.
Sam looked to the closed door, his mother and his bed and then back again to the door. Abby could see the calculations the child was making about whether or not he could make a good run for it. Before he had an chance to actually try any escape Abby picked him up and placed him in bed laying down. He quickly popped up and sat with both arms and legs crossed the scowl on his face deepening. "I am NOT going to sleep! I am NOT tired! You can't MAKE me sleep"
Abby closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. This child could be so infuriating. He would argue for the sake of arguing. What was it going to be like when he had a more robust vocabulary she thought to herself. Then as calmly as she could Abby turned on the CD player with lullabies, turned out the light and left the room closing the door behind her. As the latch clicked she heard a loud thud on the door as Sam threw one of his stuffed animals at the closing door. Deciding it was best to ignore him she started for the stairs. Luc popped out of his room where he'd been holed up.
Abby ruffled his hair as she invited him back downstairs to go outside with everyone else but he just stood looking at Sam's bedroom door.
"Look Luc I know you want to help. And I appreciate all the effort you put into being a great big brother. But Sam is going to make decisions for himself and he needs to understand that those choices have consequences. You are not always going to be there to 'save' him." She put her arm around her eldest and led him down towards the kitchen. "Look you tried, that is all anyone can ever do. Go on and have fun" she said pushing him lovingly towards the back door and the roaring game of something that resembled football was happening on the back lawn.