Chapter Four

Danny chased Mike all through the golf course until finally both men were out of breath and panting for air.

"I ought to kill you," Danny said in between pants.

"I said I was sorry," Mike responded, his breathing equally labored.

Danny rose to his feet and sighed deeply and looked at his friend, "What do you mean you think Ed and Sam are sleeping together. Ed just lost his wife six months ago, no way in hell would he just jump into the sack and screw the first woman who smiled at him. Besides, Sam has the kid to think about and she's got her own place, she wouldn't just bring the squirt to Ed's house for a rendezvous and she wouldn't have Ed come out for a session of mattress dancing."

"Mattress dancing?" Mike asked, an amused smile on his face.

"You know what I mean, Mike. Where'd you get the idea that they are doing the deed?"

Mike shrugged, "I don't know. They are always together and the other night I went into Ed's office to ask him a question and Sam was sleeping on his couch."

Danny sighed, "Yeah? So? I've gone into Ed's office and found you sleeping on his couch before."

"Yeah," Mike began, "But you've never found my head in his lap."

Danny stopped in his tracks, "Hold on... You found Sam sleeping in Ed's office, on Ed's couch with her head in Ed's lap?"

"Yup."

The ex-Marine let out a low whistle, "Whoa. Sam and Ed... That's..."

"Creepy." Mike said.

"No kidding. Listen," Danny said as the two began to walk again, "Until we get absolute 100 verifiable proof, I don't want to go around saying that Ed and Sam are sleeping together. For one, Ed would kill us and it would really hurt and embarrass both Sam and Ed. Plus, I rather like my job and I don't want to put it in jeopardy."

"Fine by me," Mike said as they reached their cars.

"Oh and another thing, Mike?" Danny said as he stopped before his car. "Never again will I play golf with you."

Mike just grinned as he got into his car.

"So, what do you want for Christmas?"

Sam looked up from her latte at Ed. "Me?"

"No, the other beautiful brunette who has mysteriously invaded my life during the past six months," Ed responded dryly.

Picking up a grape, she threw it at him to which he laughed. "Yes, you."

Sam shrugged as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "I don't know. Peace and harmony, I guess."

Ed chuckled as he sipped his coffee, "That sounds like a tall order."

"Yeah, well, I'm a high strung girl." She responded with a grin. "What about you? What do you want?"

The man shrugged as he reached for a piece of toast. "I don't know. Nothing really."

"Ed, come on. It's Christmas. You have to want something."

"What I want I can't have, Sam." He said simply.

Sam cursed to herself as she mentally kicked herself. "Ed, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have worded it like that. I know what you want. And believe me, if there was anyway in this world I could give it to you, I would. There have been nights when I've begged God to take me and send her back to you."

Ed looked at her thoughtfully. He reached across the table and took her hand and kissed her inner wrist lightly and smiled at her softly, "That's probably the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me, Sam. Thank you. But, I wouldn't want to trade you. Danny, maybe, but not you."

Sam laughed softly, "Hey, now, Danny's been great."

Ed laughed as he nodded in agreement, "He has. I'm only kidding." Sighing deeply he sat back. "What do I want? Well, I guess I want for my daughter to be able to get through these holidays in one piece, I want the same for myself."

Sam nodded in understandment, "So do I. Listen, Ed, Jasmine's got her heart set on having you guys over for Christmas. If you don't want to, I'll totally understand."

Ed couldn't help but smile softly, "How in the world can I resist that?"

She laughed as she shrugged, "I don't know, she's pretty persuasive. She also wants you to come over for dinner tonight."

"Wow," he said quietly.

Sam just looked at him as she ate her fruit. "What?"

"Well, it's just I'm not sure if I can handle that. You know... spending all that time with two gorgeous women. A man may have a hard time controlling himself."

Sam narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm sure you can muster up your strength, Mr. President."

Ed laughed and shook his head, "I guess I'm gonna have to, aren't I? Yes, Sam, I'll come over for dinner and yes, we will spend the holidays together. But listen, I want you and Jasmine to come out to the house for that. I want to try to make this as normal as I can for Delinda."

She nodded, "Understood loud and clear, Ed, and thanks." Just then she heard her pager go off and she sighed as she looked at it. "Crap," she said as she stood up. "I completely forgot I was meeting with a client today."

"Go, I'll cover this," Ed said as he rose to his feet.

Sam smiled gratefully as she went over and kissed his cheek and hugged him, "Thanks. I'll see you later, Ed."

Ed smiled as he watched her go, his heart light and free.

"So you think Delinda knows something's going on with Ed and Sam?"

Danny shrugged as he kept his eyes on the monitors, "Wouldn't doubt it. Delinda is Ed's daughter. She's not exactly an idiot." He paused as Mike gave him a 'whatever' look. "Okay, she's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but she's not a complete idiot. I think Ed said something about her having a genius IQ or something. Besides, how can she not know something's up? Ed's playing daddy to Sam's kid."

"Foster kid," Mike pointed out.

"Whatever. Everybody knows that once the paperwork gets in order Sam's gonna adopt her. At least she'd better. It'd be pretty crappy for her not to."

Mike sat down next to Danny as he zoomed in on a monitor, "Yeah, I agree," he said slowly.

Danny glanced over to see what Mike was doing, "Whatcha got there, Mike?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I want to keep an eye on this woman."

The other man looked closer at the monitor and rolled his eyes, "Mike, she's 112 years old. I hardly pose her as a threat."

"Yeah, but her actions are funny."

Danny rolled his chair over and looked into the monitor with Mike, noting that indeed the elderly woman's actions were a bit suspicious.

"She's a bit old for you two, don't you think?"

Mike and Danny spun around and saw Ed standing behind them. Ed had a small smirk on his face, "Oh, and you two did clock out before your little golf rendezvous, right?"

Walking into his office with a grin, Danny just looked at Mike, his jaw dropped, "How in the hell does he know this stuff?"

Mike just shook his head, equally stunned, "I don't know, dude, they must have tweaked his wiring or something while he was in the CIA and turned him into Scary Ed."

When Ed walked into his office, he was greeted by his daughter who was sitting in a guest chair. "Daddy, we need to talk."

Her father glanced up and smiled at her as he kissed her cheek, en route to his desk. "Honey, I'm a little busy this morning, but what's up?"

"It's about you and Sam."

Ed dropped the folder on his desk and looked at her. "Me and Sam? There is no 'me and Sam', Delinda. She's turned into a good friend. She's really helped me deal with your mother's death. I'm in no way ready for a relationship beyond friendship."

"But you are helping her raise her daughter," Delinda pointed out as she sat down.

"Jasmine needs a father figure in her life and, yes, Sam has asked me for my help. I thought you and I have been through all this already and that you were fine with it all."

Delinda sighed deeply, "Daddy, I'm just worried about you. Mom hasn't been gone a year yet and already you are dating."

"Dating?" Ed responded, his eyes wide. "I'm in no way dating Sam, Delinda."

His daughter rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Daddy, you are always taking her out to breakfast or lunch or dinner or something. She's almost always out at the house. It's just a little creepy."

"Honey," Ed sighed as he walked around the desk and sat on the edge, looking at his daughter, "I love your mother. I will always love your mother. Sam knows this. But, Delinda, you know yourself that before she died, Mom told me that she wanted me to date and fall in love again. Granted, I'm not planning on running down to the all night chapel with Sam anytime soon, but right now, me helping out with her daughter, it gives me something to look forward to. It helps me not always focus on how much I miss your mom, because I do miss her, Delinda. I miss her every second of every minute of every hour of every day. My heart aches for her. I miss the sound of her voice, her laughter, I miss the way she smelled... I even miss her lasagna, and you know how much I hated her lasagna."

Delinda laughed softly as she nodded, wiping a tear, whispering softly, "I'm scared I'm going to forget what her voice sounded like."

Her father nodded, quietly, "I have that fear myself. But we have to keep pushing forward, honey. We have no choice. You know that your mother wouldn't want us to sit around crying all the time. She'd want us to get out there and resume our lives. I promise you, Delinda, that I will not allow myself to get involved with another woman for quite a while, and no matter what happens, we will always keep your mother's spirit alive. We will continue with the traditions that she started, and we will leave her pictures up in the house, because it's important. And if anybody has a problem with that, if anybody feels threatened by that, than that's their problem, not ours. Okay?"

She rose to her feet nodding, tears falling, and hugged her father. "I miss her so much, Dad. Sometimes I'm having a really crummy day and I pick my phone up and I start to dial her cell phone number and it hits me that she's not there to answer. It hurts so bad."

Ed nodded as he held his daughter, whispering softly, "I know it does, baby. It hurts me too, but in time, the pain will ease. I promise."

Delinda nodded as she pulled back and grabbed a Kleenex from Ed's desk and sighed deeply. "What are we going to do for Christmas?"

Her father took in a deep breath, "Well, actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."

She sighed deeply, "Sam wants to come over."

Ed walked back around and sat down, "She said that Jasmine wants to spend Christmas with us."

"Dad," Delinda groaned as she sat back down, "I'm not in the mood for a big Christmas this year."

"I know, honey, I know, but it really means a lot to her. And it'd really mean a lot to me if you came out. I want to have at least one of my girls with me this year."

His daughter looked at him and sighed, nodding, "Alright, alright. I'll be there. But I really want to keep it as low key as possible, Dad, alright? Please? I can't deal with a big to do."

Ed nodded, "I promise. Just a tree, a few lights, some ornaments, a dinner and a few gifts. Nothing extravagant."

Delinda nodded as she stood back up, "Okay. Let me know what I can do. I gotta get back to work." She walked over and hugged him and kissed his cheek, "I love you, Dad."

Ed smiled as he kissed her cheek back, "I know, honey, I love you too. Have a good day, and I'll see you in a bit."

She nodded as she walked out of his office, leaving Ed to his thoughts. Sighing softly, he sat back down at his desk and allowed his eyes to wander to a picture of Jillian. Reaching across his desk, he picked it up and looked at it, speaking softly, "Please help me through this... Help me do right by her, and by you." Caressing the picture gently, he placed it back in it's place and got back to work.