Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 37th cycle. Now cycle 38!
PRE-CHRISTMAS NON-CHRISTMAS: It's already my third holiday season of Gleekathon, woo! So happy about that :D Anyhoo, just to explain what I'm doing for it this year: How it goes is I always have a set of stories with Christmas-y titles but non-Christmas-y plots, so to give an air of the season but not too much ;) First year was '12 Days of Christmas', last year was 'Reindeer'. This year's theme is "Christmas Movies" :) It'll run from December 8th to 19th, after which I have a slightly bigger undertaking to take us to Christmas Eve (stay tuned and find out, ha! ;)). So here we go!
"It's A Wonderful Life"
Sam & Family
[A/N: I know it's juust after midnight where I am, but we're not going to have
electricity for most of the day tomorrow AND I have my last final exam, too, so
I wanted to make sure to get this to you guys ;)]
He didn't think he'd let go of their hands since they'd gotten out of the car. His brother on one side, his sister on the other, he followed his parents as they headed to the office where the motel manager would sign them in, hand over their key… They probably looked like just any other vacationing family, but of course they weren't. If anyone should have looked at them, really looked at them, they would feel the air that hung over them, of a deep sadness and confusion and just… helplessness.
Just a couple hours ago they had still been in their home, their… It wasn't their home anymore. The sooner he made himself say it, the easier it would be to try and help his brother and sister through it, right? They had no idea. They'd been telling them, trying to, but Sam could see neither Stevie nor Stacey actually really understood what had happened back there and why they were now checking into this motel. He could imagine Stevie would get it first, just like he knew that once Stacey figured it out she would cry. They'd be there to comfort her when that happened.
The five of them walking along the row of numbered doors, it felt like it wasn't real, like a really bad dream. But then his father opened the door, looked to his wife, then turned to the three of them. "Well, this is it…" he motioned for them to head inside.
"Come on," Sam encouraged the two of them to move forward; they still weren't letting go.
The room wasn't that bad, he guessed. It could have been a lot worse. It didn't change what it was though; it didn't change what it wasn't. "Are we all sleeping together?" Stevie asked, seeing there were just two beds, and Sam could imagine this had brought on memories for his little brother of that time they'd gone on vacation a few years back and had had to share a bed, the two of them and Stacey.
"Yeah, we'll keep each other warm, okay?"
"Can I be in the middle?" Stacey piped in.
"Wherever you want," he promised. Sam looked back, seeing his parents take in the bags they'd packed back at the house. They still had some things, but very few. The rest was in the car. "How about we check out the television?" he looked back to the kids, and they finally let go, to sit on the carpet while he went to turn on the television. At the very least it was keeping them occupied for the moment. Sam could tell his parents were trying to get to talk to him, but he didn't want to have to do that in front of Stevie and Stacey, and they weren't going to leave them.
They'd been there less than an hour when the younger kids started complaining that they were hungry, and the others realized they hadn't really had much of a lunch. Sam instantly offered himself to go get them dinner; he had to get out of there. His father held out the money to him, and Sam looked at him, silently asking how much he should spend, if he was supposed to bring some back. His father answered just as silently… He didn't know, but Sam should do his best to bring something good back under the circumstances. Already looking at the money, he knew how much it usually cost to dine out, the five of them, and this wasn't it. He added some of his own money to the amount; with the day they'd had they could use as much as they could.
He got to the pizza place, momentarily staring at the 'help wanted' sign in the window before going in to place his order. He would have to wait a few minutes, so he went to the bathroom. He felt flush, so he ran the cold water, touched some to the back of his neck, splashed his face… He still felt too warm, and it wasn't until he looked back up and caught his reflection in the mirror that he realized it was anger that was making him burn.
But who was he mad at? His parents? No, he was sure they'd done everything they could to prevent something like this from happening. Somewhere out there though there had to be some solid reason for his family's predicament, and sight unseen Sam just focused all this anger on to them.
It did manage to leave him, leech out, but what it left behind now was the rest… exhaustion, fear… He wasn't going to let his family see him like this, no. He wasn't going to cry, no matter how much it ached in him not to. His family needed him, and he would be of no use to them if he couldn't be strong. He reached for a paper towel and dried his face, taking a few deep breaths and looking at himself again before he could exit the bathroom.
He picked up the order, absently noted the phone number on the box, thinking maybe he should try and get hired. Walking back to the motel, he looked around, realizing he had better figure out the new 'neighborhood.' He worked out his route to school, to his siblings' school, anything to keep his mind busy. He tried to think of something, anything, that could get him smiling in that moment, because he desperately needed it.
What was there to smile about though? The fact that his family had lost their home? That his family now had to live in a motel room and could well end up losing that as well?
His family… There was something to smile about, as bittersweet as it was. His family was still together, despite all this. They were all still together, and if Sam had anything to say about it then he would make sure it stayed that way. Then maybe they could get through this, maybe… He didn't know for sure, but he didn't need for sure in that moment. He just needed maybe.
THE END
A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!