Wow---sorry about the massive amount of time between updates. Life has just been kind of hectic. I hope you all understand. I'm wrote you a long chapter to make up for it! Thanks for all the feedback and ideas. I know that in the first chapter there's a bunch of periods in the middle of sentences. That is because I have a habit of using "dot, dot, dot" and I always forget that fanfiction.net doesn't like them. I'm going to make sure to use dashes instead of dots to feed my addiction and if anyone really has a major problem with the first chapter, I'll go back and fix it! This chapter is still going to be kind of boring. I just want you to get the feel for Samantha and her relationship with Abby, Carter, etc. Just to remind you, this is before any of the marriage stuff came into play with A & J. Read, review, and, most importantly, enjoy! (PS- I'm looking for someone to proofread future chapters---if you're interested please email me at JanisRosen@msn.com. Thanks!)

THE NEXT MORNING

"Sam! Hurry up! We're both going to be late!" Abby screamed as she searched frantically for her keys. This was a typical morning at the apartment. If the girls had inherited one thing from their mother, it was her knack for never being on time.

"What did you say?" Samantha said as she stepped out of the bathroom, her long dark brown hair straightened to perfection.

"Grab your stuff, we've got to get going, if we're---have you seen my keys anywhere?" Abby went over to the couch and turned over a pile of clean laundry.

"Did you check your coat pocket?"

Abby picked up her jacket, which was hanging over a chair, and reached into the breast pocket, "I knew there was a reason you were here. Okay, plan of action: I'm going to drop you off at school and then jump on the El. I'll pick you up after swim team, unless I don't get out on time, then John will."

"Actually, Brian is picking me up for school. We were going to go over some facts for the final in the car. I'll see you after practice though."

"Would you have minded sharing this information with me before I had a panic attack?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders, "Sorry---things were sort of hectic, slipped my mind."

"Fine, for once I might be on time for my shift. Here, take a poptart, I'll walk you down."

Abby threw Samantha a poptart. Samantha tossed it back. "Those are disgusting. I'll grab something in the cafeteria before first period"

Abby put the poptart on the counter, "Cause I'm sure that's so much better."

The two walked out of the apartment and slammed the door behind. When they got outside, Abby headed for the El and Sam waited for her ride.

LATER THAT DAY

Samantha stood in front of the mirror putting her wet hair into a messy bun. The rest of the girls from her team were gathering their belongings from around the locker room and getting ready to head home.

"Hey Sam, need a ride?" asked Kelly Gannon, the best swimmer on the team and one of Samantha's best friends.

"Nah, my sister's picking me up. Thanks though."

"When are you getting your license anyway?"

"When Abby gets a car I can use. She's afraid I'll do a number on hers."

"You should just make that rich boyfriend of hers buy you a BMW."

"Yeah that's definitely the solution," laughed Sam.

"Whatever, it's better anyway. At least you have an excuse to drive around with Brian," Kelly joked.

"Let's get going," Sam said as she grabbed her backpack, "I'll walk you to your car."

Outside Samantha said goodbye to Kelly and looked around for Abby or Carter's car. With no luck, she sat down on the curb and pulled her cell phone out of her bag. Just then a car pulled up in front of her. The window rolled down and Sam recognized Susan Lewis.

"Hey," Sam said as she opened the passenger door and jumped into the car, "what are you doing here?"

"Ugh, major trauma at the hospital. Everyone got called in. Your sister and Carter couldn't leave but I managed to sneak out to pick you up."

"Thanks. But you know, someone could have just left me a message. I could have gotten a ride with Kelly or someone else. Cause you know ALL of my friends drive except me."

"Yeah I know, don't worry. Abby's stubborn but she's bound to cave eventually- maybe even by the time you're in your thirties."

"Thanks Susan, I feel SO much better now."

Susan interrogated Samantha all the way home about Brian, school, and everything else important to a sixteen year old and left her in front of the apartment building with "call every once in a while, don't be a stranger". Samantha always liked Susan. She was real- she always said what was on her mind. Her temperament was much more even than Abby's and Samantha could tell her things that were going on in her life without her going through the checklist of symptoms for bipolar disorder in her head.

Samantha opened the apartment door and pressed the button on the answering machine. There was a message from Eric and one from Brian. She picked up the phone and dialed Eric's number. She worried about him. Since he got sick it was almost as though he was the younger sibling and she was the older. After he got discharged from the military, he managed to get an apartment about two hours away from them. He had been taking his medications and going to therapy and even was holding down a job as a mechanic for an airline, but all that could change in a split second. Samantha knew the routine well; she had lived with it her entire life. Only with Eric it was different- she had known Eric when he was healthy, when he was really her big brother. She loved him so much. That's not to say she didn't love her mother, because she really did. It's just that she had known him before the disease and she remembered him separate from it. Abby felt the same way. When Eric wasn't healthy, Abby wasn't herself. She was depressed and distant and she snapped at anything. Abby had been through so much this year and Samantha was so afraid that if anything else happened she would go back to her old ways, she would go back to drinking.

Eric answered the phone on the third ring, "Hello?"

"Hey you, what's going on?" Sam said, in the least-concerned voiced she could manage.

"Nothing much. Nothing much. How bout with you? How's school? How's swimming?"

"You know, the usual. Same old stuff---I got your message. I know you were probably looking for Abby. She's at work. Apparently the ER is crazy today. Just thought I'd call you back and see if anything was, well, wrong."

"No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to let you guys know that I got a message from Maggie, I mean mom. She's coming to visit me. She sounds really good, Sam. I was thinking maybe we could do dinner or something, like a real family. It might be nice."

Relieved Sam answered, "Yeah sure that sounds great. Sorry for jumping to conclusions Er. I just care about you. You should call more often. I miss you."

"Don't worry about it. Sorry if I sounded annoyed. I'm just tired of people asking me how I am, tired of getting treated like a freak. I'm doing really good, really."

"That's really good to hear. Hey um Eric---"

"---Yeah?"

"How do you feel about taking me out driving?"

"I'd love to."

"Great! When's mom coming in again?"

"Sometime next week."

"Okay, I'll let Abby know and I'll have her call you to work out the specifics. Just don't tell her you're going to drive with me, you know how she's being about that."

"Oh a conspiracy, how dramatic," Eric joked, "I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Samantha hung up the phone. Eric sounded good, he actually sounded happy. Samantha was thankful. She was really excited to see him, but for some reason she still had butterflies in her stomach. She knew it was because she was worried about seeing Maggie, or rather, mom. Abby always got so upset when she called her Maggie, even though unless it was in conversation with Samantha, Abby rarely referred to her as anything else. Samantha knew Abby didn't want her to be angry at Maggie. Even if Abby had trouble accepting it, she did know that the disease wasn't Maggie's fault. Abby probably felt guilty about the lack of compassion between herself and their mom and she didn't want Sam to grow up and feel the same way. But it didn't matter why Abby was so insistent because Sam didn't have a problem calling Maggie mom. It was much easier for her to refer to Maggie as a mother now than it was years before; it was much easier to think of her as mom when she wasn't around.