Bingo last night was pretty good... Mum won me a blue- gym ball (which I asked for for my birthday) in the raffle. It was freezing, though! I ended up wearing my PE teacher's jacket- shivering despite the polar fleece. This chapter's for Tashie-Helena, because her family's going through a bit of a tough time at the moment. Read and review,
Love Rhyleigh xoxox
PS: This was going to be, like, two chapters. I'll make it two if you guys think its too long.
"Oh my God", Melissa whispered. "Oh my God".
"Hi!" Bailey said shyly.
Melissa shook her head, trying to shake herself out of her trance. "Hi, honey". She smiled at her. "Well, this is awkward".
"She's Nathan's", Sammy whispered.
Melissa just stared. Snapping out of it, she shook her head. "Want to get a coffee?" she suggested. "Um, we could go to the little cafe or your place or whatever?"
"Why don't you watch a movie, Bailey?" Sammy suggested, pouring a glass of milk and stirring in chocolate Nesquick.
"Can I watch Cinderella?" Bailey said excitedly.
"Sure, darlin'". Sammy pressed a kiss on the little girl's head, handing her the glass and going to the television. "I'll be a minute, Melissa".
Melissa was still shocked by the revelation. Sammy had a daughter. Sammy and Nathan had a daughter. She was an aunty. Again. She and Ben had another niece, to join Sophie. She had a four year old niece who was the spitting image of her mother. A spitting image of her sister in law with her brother in law's eyes.
This was not what she was expecting when she went to get the groceries.
Sammy tugged gently on her daughter's plaits, making the little girl giggle and squirm away.
"Coffee?" she suggested, moving to the coffee machine.
"Yes, thank you". Melissa nodded, trying to take it all in. "I don't really know what to say, you know?"
"I know". Sammy nodded, packing away the groceries. "I don't really know what I'm doing back here, but I want Bailey to meet Nathan. I don't know how I'm going to do that- but I hate the fact that she's going to grow up not knowing her father. I left him, not the other way around, and I know that. But I miss him. I hate him for what he did, but I never stopped loving him".
Melissa nodded. "When was Bailey born?"
"August. She's four".
"She's gorgeous".
Sammy smiled. "Yeah, she is. But every time I look at her I'm reminded of Nathan. Her eyes- oh, God, they're identical".
"You knew you were pregnant when you left, didn't you?" Melissa asked, the truth dawning on her. It all made sense- the timing was perfect.
Sammy suddenly became very interested in the coffee machine.
"Did you?" Melissa pressed, even though she knew what the answer was. She knew exactly why Sammy had fled Carrs Park, without any form of explanation. Or any form of explanation that wasn't, "I can't do this anymore! I can't continue to hide from Nathan here!"
"I found out that day. I was so upset; I didn't know what to do. I didn't tell Mum until we were well and truly out of here- but yet I'm back". Sammy laughed, trying to hold in her tears- very unsuccessfully. "It was so hard, Mel, to pick up my daughter, knowing that she would never get the chance to meet her father. It was so hard, to look at her and see Nathan in her eyes. That's what brought me back. Oh, God". She reached for a tissue, a small smile on her lips. "There's so many memories in Carrs Park, so many that I wish I didn't have".
"But if you didn't have the memories, you wouldn't have Bailey", Melissa pointed out, sitting down gingerly on the edge of a chair, resting her elbow on the one section of the table that wasn't covered in drawings of princesses and Prince Charming- Bailey was very into the Disney love stories.
"I know". Sammy sighed and poured a small amount of milk into a mug full of coffee. "Here go you, Mel".
"Thanks, Sammy".
The two had always had a bond- maybe it was because they weren't true Rafters. Sure, they were by heart, but not by blood. In the Rafter house, Sammy and Rachel had always had a really close friendship, but that friendship had suffered dramatically when Sammy left Carrs Park. Rachel couldn't believe that the unofficial sister, the girl she had trusted with everything, had left. Melissa and Sammy were seemingly the outsiders, at a family barbecue. While the other Rafters laughed about things that had happened years earlier (such as Rachel writing a letter to Santa Claus, telling him exactly where to deliver the presents to, when they spent Christmas on holidays, and proceeding to draw a map), they were left wondering what to say. Coming up with something wasn't a problem- it was saying it and not getting odd looks from their family.
But it didn't stop their family from not loving them.
"Why are you crying, Mummy?" Bailey wanted to know, coming over and climbing into her mother's lap. Shooting a look at Melissa, Bailey wrapped her arms around Sammy's neck, burying her head in her neck. "Who's that, Mama?"
"There was never a proper introduction, was there?" Melissa giggled, hearing the little girl's muffled whisper. "Hi, I'm Melissa. You can call me Mel, though".
"I'm Bailey". The little girl held up four fingers. "I'm four. Did you know my mummy when I was a baby?"
"I knew your mummy before you were born, Bailey". Sammy smiled at the little girl, seeing so much of both Sammy and Nathan in her innocent face. "A long time before you were born".
"Okay!"
That was good enough for her- she had the attention span of a gnat, according to her grandfather.
"Bailey Claire", Sammy chuckled, as the four year old tossed herself onto the lounge, hugging her toy elephant (so originally named 'Ellie' ) to her chest. "She looked like a Bailey".
"She is a Bailey". Melissa nodded, still having trouble believing it all. "She's your Bailey. Yours and Nathan's Bailey, I mean".
It was going to take a while to sink in, that was for sure.
And, sitting there, Sammy told her the whole story.
"Look, I've got to go, but call me. Any time?" Melissa checked, standing up and placing her coffee mug in the sink. "Wow. I still can't believe this, you know?"
"I know". Sammy nodded sheepishly. "I want to see Nathan, you know, but its all very surreal. I can't believe I actually did this- packing Bailey up and sticking her into the car for a few hours. This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out. This wasn't the plan".
"What was the plan?"
Sammy shook her head. "I don't know, Mel".
"Want me to tell Nathan?" Melissa was cautious of her offer- four years ago, when she had suggested something; Sammy had thrown her out of Trish's house.
"Not yet". Sammy shook her head. "But I do want to see him".
"Can I tell Ben?"
"He knows I'm still in Sydney, he doesn't know anything else, does he?" Sammy wiped her eyes free of tears. "You can tell Ben, I don't really mind. Just don't tell Nathan, not yet".
"Call me, any time". Melissa embraced her sister in law in a hug. Sammy hugged her back, leaning on the woman she had cared for so much. "Bye, Bailey!"
"Bye!" Bailey called, too entranced by Prince Charming to tear her eyes away. Sammy saw her out, and went to sit next to her daughter. Bailey scrambled into her lap, leaning against her mother's chest. "Mummy, who was that? How do you know Melissa?"
"She was one of my best friends, before you were born, darlin'".
"Does she know my daddy?"
"Yes she does, baby".
"Am I gonna meet my daddy?"
"One day, Bailey". Sammy didn't even and try to stop crying, as Bailey focused her attention back to the television.
Melissa was unfocused the entire drive home, almost steering the car right past their driveway. Stopping the car, she started to unload the groceries, her mind completely on Sammy and her daughter.
"God, Mel, way to take sixteen years!" Ben laughed, as Melissa hauled the shopping inside. Shoving the bag with the teabags and cereal at him, she ignored his comment. Ben looked at her worriedly, as she unpacked the cold groceries into the fridge and freezer. "Mel, is everything alright? What happened?"
"Nothing". Melissa forced a smile, still trying to get her head around the entire situation. But, she knew that she couldn't hide anything from her husband. So, she dragged him upstairs.
"Whoa!" Carbo teased. "Do what you gotta do, mate!"
"Shut up, Carbo". Their bedroom door slammed and Melissa threw herself onto the bed, sighing.
"Seriously, is everything okay?"
Four years ago, when Melissa was the only one who knew Sammy was still in Carrs Park and not London, Ben was the only one she told. Purely because he was the only one she couldn't keep secrets from. She had told him when she left, and they had often wondered where she was. But now she knew.
"Sammy's back".
"What?" Ben's eyes bulged and Sammy winced. "Why? How do you know? Is she okay?"
Ben and Sammy had always had an unexplainable bond. He was one of the most caring, compassionate people in the world, and he had comforted her when she needed it most. No one really knew why they were such great friends- not even they knew- but they loved each other, and Ben was always there when Sammy needed him. He was like the protective older brother she had never had, she had told Rachel and Melissa once.
"She's fine". Melissa nodded. "But she's not alone".
She actually thought his eyes were going to fall out of his head, even though she knew it was impossible.
"She's not alone? She found another guy?" Ben panicked. "Oh my God, is he like Nathan? If he's like Nathan, we're intervening".
"We are not intervening, because it's not a guy".
Ben looked at her, taken back.
"Don't be stupid", Melissa laughed, seeing how Ben had interpreted her words. "No, it's a little girl. Sammy has a daughter".
Ben flopped onto the bed. "A daughter? As in a small, female human child? Like, Ruby little?"
"Well, she's not a dog, Ben".
"Her daughter? Nathan and Sammy's daughter or Sammy and some tool's daughter? Because I will hunt this guy down if he's left her, and I will kill him".
"There's no need to kill anyone, Ben. Its their daughter".
"They have a daughter?"
"Four years old, brown hair, blue eyes, spitting image of Sammy. I'm pretty sure that's who Rachel saw at the park the other day".
"We have to tell Nathan!"
"We can't tell Nathan! We couldn't tell Nathan that Sammy wasn't in London, we couldn't tell Nathan where she was, and we couldn't tell her where she was going. Actually, we didn't know where she was, but that was beside the point!"
"Well, if we had a daughter I'd want to know!" Ben snapped.
"Are you listening to yourself, Ben?" Melissa asked in disbelief.
"Clearly I'm not!"
There was silence.
"So..." he said finally. "What are we gonna do?"
"I don't know, Ben". Shaking her head, she just sighed. "I don't know".