Chapter 2: Growing up… a bit.

Disclaimer: I Do NOT own Now and Then, I just own my ideas and this story.

About two weeks after Catherine's funeral, Roberta returned to pre-school a little subdued and disruptive. Her teacher ended up ringing Roberta's father.

"Bertie, I know you miss Mommy, but you cant be disrupting the class, Ok, you behave now, or the teacher will put you into another Time Out."

"But Daddy, No one understands how I feel, not even you!"

"Honey, that's not true, I understand how you feel, and I miss Mommy too and so do your brothers, they miss Mommy too."

"Alright Daddy."

Two Years Later

(A/N: I guessed that Sam would have been about six when Angela was born, because Angela looked about six in the movie)

"Hey you guys, guess what! My mommy's going to have a baby."

"Really that's so cool, you're going to be a big sister"

"Yeah, Roberta, isn't it great? What is it like having brothers?"

"They're a pain and they're mean, but still they let me play with their cars and tools and things that they had when they were little. I lost the dolly that Mommy gave me before she died. I wish I knew where it was…"

Nine Months Later

The Albertson's now had another little daughter, whom they called Angela, because she was an angel to them and helped them stop fighting for a bit. Samantha and her friends were constantly trying to play with the new baby, and they were a little upset when every time they went near it, it cried, then to make matters worse, they were getting into trouble for upsetting Angela.

"We're sorry Mrs. Albertson, we didn't mean it."

"Yeah, Teeny's telling the truth Mommy, we didn't mean it"

"Well, You four run along and go play outside and leave poor Angela alone."

"Ok."

Six Years Later - The Summer of 1970

(A/N: this will be brief, because you know how the movie goes)

With all the Sex talks and Séances, the four girls were getting up to some mischief. Teeny and Chrissy had stopped going to Ballet ages ago, and as a result Chrissy had put on some weight. Secretly she was hoping no one would notice, but Teeny did.

Doing the first séance in the movie.

"It's so cold out here!" Complained Chrissy.

Thankful she'd thought to wear layers, Roberta handed Chrissy her shirt.

"Here, take my shirt. Now I'll be cold, but maybe you'll shut up!"

Putting it on, Chrissy says "It makes me look fat."

"You are fat!" Teeny had just said the one thing that had been bothering Chrissy for weeks now.

Denying it, Chrissy growled. "I am NOT fat." Then to Roberta, just to calm her doubts, "Am I fat?" Roberta shakes her head.

Although Roberta did not say that she was fat, Chrissy thought "well you probably think I am too, and so does Sam" and she let it play on her mind - "You are fat!" she just didn't know what to do. She did in fact receive what she thought to be a confirmation that Sam thought she was fat a couple of days when they had stopped off for a break on the way to Greenfield. They were stealing the Wormer's clothes and Sam, and Roberta for that matter, said that she had better get ready to make a mad dash and that she had better start now.

Chrissy just knew she had to go on a diet, but how? Her favourite foods were Pudding and Twinkies.

While Chrissy was concerned with her weight, Roberta on the other hand was trying to deal with her adolescence without her mother, she didn't know what to do, she couldn't ask her Dad for advice or pads or anything like that because he wouldn't have a clue. She couldn't go to Teeny's mother because, she didn't really know Teeny's mother. There was no way she was going to Chrissy's mother, because she was misinforming Chrissy and making Chrissy make a fool of herself so that Chrissy had to go to her friends for the advice. It really was a nightmare trying to figure out where Chrissy's mother had lied to Chrissy and undo the damage. Sam's mother, well that would just be too embarrassing, what happens if Sam walked in and saw Roberta asking her mother for advice. So, secretly she was going to her local doctor, which, thankfully was a female doctor. Roberta knew what she wanted to be when she grew up, a doctor.

Sam was desperately trying to keep secret the fact that her parents had split up and were preparing for divorce. She hated her Mom's new boyfriend, Bud, or "Bug" as she had mistakenly called him on the first time she saw him. That night, after she had left her mother's first date with him, she confided in Teeny, who had broken her beaded necklace just to make friendship bracelets for the two of them. Riding home on her bike, it fell off and slid down into the drain. She climbed down to get it, but it started to pour with rain and she couldn't get out. If it hadn't have been for "Crazy Pete" she would have drowned. Teeny took her home, and her mother insisted on calling the doctor to make sure she was ok.

The next day in the local newspaper, there was an article about "Crazy Pete" saying how the previous night someone had witness him save a young girl's life and that she and her friend returned home safely. It stated "Neither the 12 year old nor her family had not come forward for comment. We are still trying to find out who this young girl is, but rumours are that she goes by the name of 'Sam'."

The next night, while they were leaving after had given up on the séances, they saw him enter the cemetery. Teeny and Sam told the others to "just leave him alone". Chrissy and Roberta had read the paper that morning, and they now knew who Pete had saved from drowning - their Sam, however they didn't say anything.

Sam went back to Pete and thanked him for what he had done for her.

Teeny was still dreaming about acting, but she had a long way to go. In the coming year she would put her name down for drama class at school. She thought of nothing but boys and acting. It annoyed her that all of her friends were developing into young women, but that she still had the body of a child, how was she supposed to prove that she was just as desirable as they were. Pudding in balloons stuffed into her bra that she'd insisted her mother buy for her (even though she didn't need it) were what she had thought of so far.

Part way through the summer, Roberta had, with Scott Wormer, had her first kiss. She didn't think much of it, but the next day when she saw him, she felt something there, in her stomach. Her friends noticed that while his brothers were being as obnoxious as usual, he was being a gentleman. To Roberta that is, not really to the rest of them, but she was not going to say anything to them, they'd reject her for a while.

As it stood the summer was a blast. They'd educated Chrissy on Sex, found out that "Crazy Pete" was not "crazy" at all, just a very lonely old man, opened up about some of their problems, and most of all, they'd been there for each other when they had been needed.