Sam stood on the platform, waiting for the train. It was nerve-wrecking to be sure, because she hadn't seen Nate since he went off to fight in the war. They kept in contact while he was away, but in his letters home, the cheerful attitude that he was almost famous for, seemed to have slowly ebbed away.
Samantha loved her husband. Nate was her best friend through school, college, and all the time they spent together after. When Nate had proposed to Sam on her birthday, it was the best present she could have ever gotten. Looking down, she nervously twisted the gold band on her right hand. Sam had made vows that day to stay with Nate 'til death do us part' and 'through sickness and through health'. Sam promised that she would stay up and hold him if he had nightmares, or help him in any other way she could. Sam just hoped that the man she married hadn't been left behind somewhere in a trench and that the person she was about to invite home wasn't some heartless monster.
Soon, the train's horn blew. Sam stood and picking up the picnic basket she had brought with her, waited to see her Nate. Veterans came off the train in droves. Sam was surprised that she recognized so many of them from the torturous years of school together. Some had gotten married to the girls that Sam was friends with in school. If they had even bothered to keep in contact with her afterwards, she might have known. Sadly, Nate still hadn't shown up and Sam was afraid that maybe he wasn't coming home. Suddenly, Sam heard her name being called.
"Sammy?" she heard. It had to have been Nate. He was the only one who would call her by that name. The only one allowed to anyway…
"Nate?... NATE?" Samantha called out. Then she saw him. Her Nate, through the crowds. Nate had a few extra scars now, but those deep blue eyes of his. They were just as deep as she remembered. Nate dropped his duffel bag and they ran towards each other, with Sam leaping into her husband's arms. Nate caught her effortlessly and spun around a few times before kissing Sam deeply and passionately. They hungrily locked lips, having been missing each other since Nate had gone away. After a few minutes, Sam broke the kiss. Her eyes were red and puffy from the tears she hadn't realised had been falling. Looking at Nate, the 'hardened soldier boy' was the exact same. Looking again into Nate's eyes, Sam saw that despite how he sounded in his letters home, the playfulness was still there. He may have some new scars, but Sam would take the time to plot out every new part of Nate's body. He was still her Nate.
A low rumble broke the silence, and Nate laughed while he rubbed his stomach.
"I don't suppose you brought those roast beef sandwiches I like? As much as I missed you, the army was practically starving us. That stuff that they tried to pass as food? It'd have killed you faster than any stray bullet…" Nate said. Sam laughed before she shook the wicker basket gently. Lifting one side of the basket top, Sam watched as Nate sniffed deeply. His eyes rolled back, and his tongue fell out of his mouth like a dog. Sam almost bent in half, laughing as hard as she was. Just as Nate went to swipe for the basket, Sam ran for their black sedan, laughing as Nate gave chase.
Later that day, Sam and Nate were lying down in a park close to Sanctuary Hills. While Nate was away, Sam's father had passed away. While Sam was heartbroken that she was alone, every letter she received from Nate would always say how sorry he was that he wasn't there when she needed him. Sam had also inherited a large sum of money from her father as she was an only child and her mother had died a couple years previous. With the money, Sam had bought one of the new houses built in Sanctuary Hills and had also put herself through law school. Nate joked about how much had changed since he left, but he promised that he wouldn't miss anymore. His fighting days were over, and if need be, he'd apply for a job over at the National Guard Post. Sam snuggled closer to Nate, feeling his heat through the light t-shirt and slacks that he'd thrown on. As the stars shone high above them, Nate wrapped his arms tightly around Sam, almost as though she'd disappear if he didn't. Sam welcomed the close contact. As Nate ran his index finger in small circles along Sam's arm, she shivered, and the hairs stood up along her arm. The years of friendship between Nate and Sam gave them the ability to talk to one another without words. They finished each other's sentences, the ying to each other's yang. In simple terms, they were made for each other.
Their simple night together turned into a night of intense passion and an overflow of emotions. The prospect of getting caught in such a vulnerable position only fuelled the fires of their love-making and from their night together, Sam and Nate had received the greatest gift of all. Nine months later, Sam had given birth to a healthy baby boy named Shaun. Sam remembered her mother talking about the first time that she had held her and the feeling that she had felt. That she'd have done anything for the little giggling bundle in her arms. Sam thought she was crazy until she had held Shaun for the first time. Life was looking good for the Winter's… but such good things must come to an end.
The bitter memory came to Sam as she knelt on the entrance to Vault 111, looking out at the ruin that used to be her neighbourhood. In the blink of an eye, Sam's life had been turned on it's head and burnt. Nate was dead, Shaun had been kidnapped, and the world was a ruin of it's former self. Sam cried then, cried for her Nate, her baby, and all the friends and family that she had lost. One thing that Sam knew for sure though, is that Shaun was still alive, her maternal instinct just knew it. Sam's baby was out there, trapped in this living hell and God have mercy on whatever came between them. Nothing would stop her.
