Chapter Seven – To Be or Not to Be

Sophie was happy.

They celebrated by finishing up the waffles for breakfast and going out for lunch, but then the time came to tell everyone. It might've just been easier to shout from the rooftops that Sam Carmichael was her dad; maybe all the billions of people on Earth would hear it. While Sophie and Timothy decided to play one more round of foosball, and Sam paid the bills, Donna decided to phone the Dynamos to tell them.

"Tanya?" The phone had clearly been answered, but no one was saying anything yet. "Tanya?"

"Donna? Can you hear me?"

"I can hear you. Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, kind of. Is it important? I'm kind of in the middle of trying to wake Kyle up. We have couples counseling in an hour and a half."

"Yeah, it actually kind of is important. Do you remember Sam? The architect that had to go home to get married." Tanya made a noise that signaled Donna she knew who she was talking about. "Well, several days ago, he came back to Kalokairi and announced he's getting a divorce. He wanted to know if Sophie was his, and there were two other guys around the same time I was with Sam, so I didn't know whose Sophie's dad was. And we took a paternity test yesterday-"

"Hold on, let me sit. Do I need to grab a bottle of wine if this is going to end up as a sad story?" Tanya asked.

"No."

"I'm getting wine anyway. I have a headache right now."

Donna chuckled as she waited for Tanya to get her wine, and then continued to tell her the news. "Sam is Sophie's dad."

"Oh, my God!" Tanya screamed with excitement which turned into a yelling match with her second husband, who was woken up by the screaming. "You had to wake up anyway. Get the hell over it."

Donna rubbed her temple, the conversation she was overhearing giving her a headache. "Tanya."

There was no answer, as Tanya and her husband were still arguing about small things that weren't worth fighting over. Would it be rude if she just hung up and called Rosie? It would be better than trying to get Tanya's attention for the next few minutes? Tanya would understand. Donna said goodbye before ending the call and dialed Rosie's number. "Yoo-hoo!"

That was Rosie's opening for whenever Tanya or Donna, anyone really would call her. "Hey, Rosie. How's the book coming?"

"It's going great. I'm working on chapter whatever right now – halfway done!"

"That's brilliant. Listen, I won't keep you long. I just had some news to share with you. Do you remember the guy I was seeing before Sophie? Sam Carmichael?"

"The one who lied about being engaged and you cried over him until Sophie turned one? Yeah, I remember."

"Well, there were also two other guys around the time I was with him, so it was never known who Sophie's father was. Well, Sam recently came back to tell me that he's divorcing his wife and he wanted to know if Sophie is his. A paternity test was taken yesterday, and the results came back this morning. Sam is Sophie's father."

Rosie cheered loudly, a high-pitched squeal being heard on the other end of the line. "Oh, Donna! That's great! How's Sophie?"

"She's really happy about it. She's been telling me that she really likes Sam. Emphasis on the really." Donna and Rosie chatted for a few more minutes about Rosie's book and whatnot before Donna decided to let Rosie go. Donna walked up the stairs and watched as Timothy and Sophie bickered over who won and who lost, letting time go by as Sam worked on a floorplan in his office.


Lorraine pulled in front of the house with Bentley sitting in the back. He'd been asking all morning if he could go back home, missing his father's presence. She parked in the driveway before allowing Bentley to unbuckle himself. They walked to the entrance and Lorraine unlocked the front door, so they could go in. "Hello!"

"Mom!" Timothy ran into her arms, embracing her tightly as Donna showed up in the doorway.

Lorraine hugged her son before Bentley got his turn for a hug. She looked at Donna. "Hey, how was it?"

"It was fun. We made smores, too." Timothy informed her. Lorraine and Donna greeted each other as they stepped into living room.

"Sam, Lorraine's here." Donna shouted as she and Lorraine sat on the opposite ends of the couch. They faced each other, both interested in conversation. Donna listened as Bentley and Timothy started to talk to each other about the latest episode of some cartoon show they watched on Saturday mornings. "How are you doing? You know, with this whole thing?"

"It's kind of hard, actually. Never in my life did I think this would be happening." Lorraine let Donna know that she had no ill feelings for her. "But I do hope that your intentions are good, and you don't hurt him."

Donna swallowed. "Don't worry. Nothing's even happened yet."

"What are your plans for lunch?"

"Me?" Lorraine nodded. "Oh, I'm not sure, yet."

"Well, if there's nothing planned, why don't we go grab something to eat together? I'd love to get to know you better if that's fine with you." Before Donna could accept the offer, Sam walked down the stairs with Sophie in tow.

Sam decided to go ahead and tell her about the results. "The lab called us this morning. Sophie is my daughter."

Lorraine's face split into a small smile as she took in the news. Sophie looked happy about that, and she was glad that this didn't end up in disappointment after Sam worried for so long about it. Lorraine stood and hugged him. "That's great. You'll do great. Believe me."

"Thanks, Lorraine."

"Congratulations." She smiled at Donna and then at Sophie. "Well, um, I'm going to go. Actually, what are your plans for lunch?"

Sam gestured at Donna. "I was thinking we could go out to eat, and then around town to tell everyone the news. I was going to talk to you, Donna, about taking Sophie out for dinner with my parents."

"That's perfect. Maybe Donna and I could get to know each other and have dinner while you spend time with Sophie and your family?" Lorraine suggested. After a little bit of thinking, Donna decided it'd be a good idea. That way, they could get to really know each other without kids around or any other distractions. They set a time before Lorraine decided it was time to leave.

Sam walked over to Donna. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

"No, I'll do it. What could go wrong?"


Sam's parents lived in the suburbs of New York, which meant it wasn't that long of a drive considering they didn't live that far away from Sam and Lorraine's house. Donna and Sam sat at the front of the car, him driving and her trying to get some information about them so she didn't make a fool of herself. When she was younger, most parents didn't like her whenever the boyfriends she had in high school would bring her home.

They would always say she was too wild or too energetic, or 'too' something. Her own mother didn't like her that much, even more when she got pregnant at a young age.

Sophie sat in the back of the car with Bentley and Timothy beside her, and she was a little nervous as well. Here she was about to meet her grandparents for the first time. It kind of made her start to wonder about Donna's mom. She's heard very little of her, and from what Donna told her due to Sophie's constant begging, she wasn't a very nice person.

What if Sam's parents aren't nice either? What if they're worse? If they were, would he bring her to meet them? Why would they bother? What if she didn't live up to their expectations? What exactly were they expecting? Sophie shook her head to clear her mind. It did no good to overthink many things before meeting someone. Just go with the flow, Soph.

The car parked in front of the house and the five of them got out. Sophie stood close to Donna as they walked behind Sam and his sons. The door flung open and a woman, who looked to be around her early sixties stood in the doorway. Bentley and Timothy hugged her before walking past to go into the house. Sam hugged his mother. "Mom, this is Donna and Sophie."

"Sophie? Is that…?" Her eyes went from Sam to Sophie, and her face brightened up. She's heard about her, and when Sam told her, she hoped that Sophie was his. Mainly so there could be a change of pace; besides Lorraine and Sam's sister Grace, she was around boys almost all the time. Claire walked toward Sophie. "You look so much like your mother."

"Thank you." Sophie smiled. "People say I'm a lot like her, too. It's nice to meet you, Claire."

"Oh, please. Call me Grandma if you feel comfortable enough." She changed her attention to Donna. "I've heard so much about you. Welcome to the family."

Donna looked at Sam as Claire hugged her and was kind of taken by surprise. By now, the mother would be silently trying to coax her suitor to dump her on the curb. Claire, well, Claire wasn't. "Thank you. This is a lovely home. Well, on the outside, at least."

"I'm sorry. I'm being rude. Please, come in." The four of them walked into the house. "Don, they're here! Turn the football game off and come say hello, would you?"

There was a groan coming from the den before the sound of footsteps echoed, bouncing off the walls as Sam's father walked into the room. He was a tall man with a slim figure, and you could tell that a few hairs were graying. Pretty soon, his whole head of hair would be that way. He gave a smile before greeting their guests. He looked at the nine-year-old standing in front of Sam and Donna. "You must be Sophie. Sam won't shut up about you, or your mother."

"Dad." Sam cleared his throat.

Sophie chuckled. "Yep, I'm Sophie. Hi, Don."

"Call me Grandpa." He smiled before turning back to his wife. "Can I get back to the game? The boys and I have a bet going on who wins, and I do not want to miss this."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Don stumbled back into the den and Sam looked at Donna, who just held back a laugh. It reminded her of her grandparents and she felt at home already. Claire clapped her hands together. "So, who wants tea?"


Donna met Lorraine at a New York restaurant about a half our later. She hoped Sophie would be fine by herself; she'd given her phone number to Sam and Sam's parents in case of an emergency. Lorraine and Donna sat at a table and discussed many things. Where they were from, and mainly of the past, along with sharing little anecdotes about each of their families.

Lorraine enjoyed Donna, and she could see why Sam loved her. She had so much love and passion for him that seemed so genuine. Donna took a sip of her tea. "How was Bentley after you got him last night? He was depressed when you two left."

"I think it's just now hitting him what the divorce means. The kid just turned four-years-old in August, and to him, all he knows is Sam and I being together. He's gotten used to it always being the four of us, and last night, he got a little scared about it." Lorraine explained. "I hope you didn't take offense to it."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't." Donna shook her head. "I actually know how he feels. My dad left when I was young, and after that, it was just me and my mother. We don't talk anymore, but it was kind of tough when we did."

"You don't talk anymore?"

Donna glanced at the menu. "I got pregnant with Sophie at a young age, especially out of wedlock, and it was against her religion. When I told her, she told me not to bother coming home and those were the last words I've ever heard from her."

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Sophie and I are better off. Believe me. I've had my two best friends to help, and other than that, we've been just fine on our own." Donna yawned as Lorraine started to panic a little when she looked at the doors to the restaurant. A familiar face scanned the room for she and Donna, and Lorraine asked Donna to cover her face with the menu. It was too late.

"You. Are you Donna?"

"Mom-"

Lorraine's mother stood in front of the two, and Donna looked up at the older woman with a look of confusion. When Lorraine tried to get her to stop, it became clear to who this was. "Listen, I don't appreciate you breaking up my daughter's family like this. You can't just come in here and hoist up your skirt and seduce Sam into leaving her."

"Whoa, who said I was trying to seduce Sam?" Donna stood up from her spot at the table while Lorraine wished she could just hide. Please, someone, hit this woman with a goddamn pan. Lorraine would volunteer as tribute if she could. "Who do you think you are?"

"I'm her mother. That's who I think I am." Lorraine's mother stopped Lorraine from speaking. "You are the reason my daughter's nursing a broken heart and you're over there playing house with my son-in-law like it's nothing."

Donna scoffed and put on a mad look. "Look lady, no one is playing house with anybody. I didn't come to Sam; he came to me, and I sent him back right away because it wasn't right for Sam to not let his family adjust long enough. I think you need to calm down."

"Look here, missy." Lorraine's mother put a tight grip on Donna's arm, and she flinched. "You can take yours and your daughter's ass out of here and hope that your daughter doesn't grow up to be a reckless little slut just like you are!"

Donna, furious that she was targeting Sophie just now, threw a punch at the woman. Her hand was hurting, and the woman's nose started to bleed. Lorraine stood there in shock, not knowing whose side to be on. The dinner went so completely sideways, and she didn't even know what to do. On one hand, her mother kind of deserved it. She had no right to come in here and attack Donna, especially Sophie, the way she did. But at the same time, that was her mother. She was in a tough spot here.

Donna grabbed her purse and walked out of the restaurant, wondering just what the hell Lorraine has been telling people. Lorraine yelled after her, trying to apologize, but Donna wasn't in the mood to hear it.

It was getting a little boring in here ;) Do you think that Lorraine twisted things around or was it Lorraine's mother blowing it out of proportion? Hope you enjoyed.