Disclaimer: Nope I still don't own 'em and sadly never will.

Chapter 9

Sprawled face-down on the floor, Samantha felt something warm and wet on her face and ached all over but it was the slight tingling in her back that alarmed her. Her vision grayed out briefly as she fought to maintain consciousness.

"Sis?" Shaking off the alarm that was building up, she managed a small groan in response.

Her mumbled, "that frickin' hurt" comment brought sighs of relief from Alex, Gordon, and Philip. "Probably should get Brains here." Warm hands gently tried to help her roll over only for her to tell them no. "I have a weird tingling in my back and would feel better if I could wait until Brains checked me over before moving." As luck would have it, Benny and Nick, who'd been playing in Benny and Mikey's bedroom, saw something on the floor just beneath Sam's head.

"AUNT SAMMIE, YOU'RE BLEEDIN'!" Nick cried out in alarm. Of all his aunts, Sammie was his favorite cus she was his daddy's twin and he knew that his daddy loved her a whole bunch. And she had shown him where his daddy was when he had to go away for two weeks for work. She had even given him a telescope so that he could be just like his daddy, an astronomer. Benny squatted down next to his mother, cocking his head until he could glimpse where her owie was.

"Mommy, you got a big owie and it's bleedin' a bunch," he said, scooting back so that Alex could squeeze in alongside her.

Gently lifting her head, he placed a folded hand towel under her face. "Brains is on his way. Which means that your dad will be joining him as well." He watched what he could see of her face as she rolled her eyes.

Closing her eyes, she muttered, "Not a baby anymore." Gordon and Alex couldn't help but to chuckle at her remark. Though Philip came to his daughter-in-law's father's defense.

"No matter how old you get, young lady, you will always be his baby girl." The sound of the screen door slamming shut drew the attention of all those gathered at the foot of the staircase. Jeff hurried to his only daughter's side, worry expressed in the way he gazed down at her.

Sensing his presence, she quipped, "Hi, Dad, just thought that I'd have a lie down." Gordon smiled despite his worry while Alex and Brains groaned. They'd both been around Gordon for far too long and that was something that he'd have said if he'd been the one lying face-down in a small pool of blood on the floor.

"S-Sam, c-can you m-m-move your l-legs?" Brains stuttered, hastily. In response, Samantha shifted each leg as he asked. "I-I'm going t-to have A-Alex and Gordy r-roll you over s-so that I c-can s-s-see where the b-blood is c-co-coming from."

Steeling herself, she rolled herself over before her husband and brother could touch her. "No, I don't need any help." Stubbornly, she bit back a slight whimper when she was lying flat on her back. Brains immediately set about cleaning up the blood on the side of her face and along the wound.

"Y-you need st-st-sutures," he said, needlessly to those who saw the cut above her right eyebrow. Further examination showed that she had sprained her right wrist and had multiple bruises that were beginning to show as well as a nice lump on the side of her head where she'd hit a stair or two.

Unwilling to have her son or nephew traumatized by watching her get stitched up, she spoke up. "Pop, can you take Benny and Nick over to Catie's for about a half an hour." She'd taken to calling her father-in-law Pop whenever he and her dad were together as a means to keep from confusing them.

Gently grasping both boys on the shoulder, he directed them out of the Murphy home and down to Catie and John's home. "We'll be back in just a bit, won't we boys?" With a last worried glance at his mother, Benny reluctantly nodded.

"Be careful with Mommy, Brains, please." The screen door closed softly behind them.

Brains carefully helped her to a sitting position and then motioned to Alex to help her to her feet while he grabbed his medical bag. "L-let's get y-y-you up and si-sitting in a ch-chair." Closing her eyes as the room did a quick rendition of a Tilt-a-Whirl, she waited until she felt balanced enough to walk. Once seated, Brains quickly numbed and then stitched up the cut. "All d-d-done," he announced, snipping the excess thread of the final suture.

Alex helped her to her feet again and led her to the downstairs bathroom so that she could change her t-shirt and he could wrap her wrist. "I'll grab a t-shirt for you. Call out if you need anything." Once she'd nodded, he hurried up to their bedroom to grab her a clean t-shirt. Ten minutes later, she was sitting on the couch with Benny and Nick sitting next to her. Catie and Julie had come over to check on her as well.

"Aunt Sammie, how come Uncle Gordy is here?" Julie asked, innocently. "Did you make up and start talking to each other again?" Turning to look at her uncle, she continued on in a way that only a child can. "Does this mean you won't be sad anymore when you look up here from the pool, Uncle Gordy? I think you really missed Aunt Sammie and I know that she missed you cus Benny and Mikey told me so." Such was the bond of the Tracy and Murphy families that even the children had picked up on the distance that Gordon and Samantha had kept since the night of Grandma's death.

Benny looked up at his mother, anxiously, and rather hopeful. He hated to see any of his family members at odds and the whole thing between Uncle Gordy and his mother really bothered him. He'd heard his mother crying after Uncle Gordon walked away from her without even saying a word or even noticing her on more than one occasion since Grandma went to heaven so that she could help his pretty Grandma Lucy who looked like his mommy. Now he, his brothers, his sister, and all of his cousins had two grandmas watching over them from heaven.

The room suddenly went quiet until Gordon nervously cleared his throat. "Sammie, I've been a total as-jerk," changing his word before it slipped out all the way, "and owe you an apology. Not only for blaming you for something that you had no control over but for manhandling you that night. I don't understand or know why I reacted like that. I knew even when I was saying all those hateful and hurtful words that you'd done everything you could and after thinking it over, a lot, that night was really harder on you because you were home alone to deal with it and then I had to come in and behave like a raving idiot." Casting his green eyes to the floor, he waited for his big sister to tear into him or at the very least have Alex remove him from their home. A slight shuffling noise and suddenly her arms were around his neck and she was crying against his chest. Instinctively, he held her close to him, thankful to have had the chance to right a major wrong and gain her forgiveness. "I love you, big sister, and I'm so very sorry for treating you so wrongly."

Tightening her hold on him, she wept harder so much so that he could barely make out the words that she sobbed. "I love…you, Gordy, and…I was never angry at you. I…knew that you were…lashing out in emotional…pain. I'd never do anything…to hurt you and yet I…could do nothing to make…that nightmare go away or…erase the pain that my…brothers and Dad was feeling."

Hiding his face in her hair, he was unable to stop the tears that suddenly leaked from his eyes but at the same time he felt a sense of calm, love, and forgiveness as his sister held tight to him. "I know, Sis, I know. And I knew that then but…"

Angling her head so that she could look up at him, her expression grew stern. "Don't go there, Gordon Cooper Tracy. I have no bad feelings against you and I won't have you continuing to blame yourself for expressing your grief in that manner. It was unfortunate but I knew and I won't deny that it hurt. I've let go of it and I need you to do the same. Those feelings will fester and eat away at you if you don't let them go."

Staring directly into her bright blue eyes, eyes that radiated the love she had for her family, he nodded. "Okay, Sis, no more self-recrimination. I have to say this one more time though, thank you for forgiving me and loving me even when I'm going a bit mental."

"Oh, Gordy, you're always a bit mental," Catie chimed in sweetly. "But we love you anyway." Jeff and Philip's deep chuckle caused the rest of those to start laughing as well.

Virgil heard the laughter as he was passing the house with Ani toddling alongside him, her hand gripping two of his fingers, and decided to make a quick stop. "Ani, should we stop and see what's going on at Aunt Sammie and Uncle Alex's house?"

"'Am, Dada, 'Am," she jabbered, tugging on his hand. A slight thudding made him look up the path towards his own home and he saw Kaia, Lucy, and Johnny running towards them. "Here comes your big sister and cousins." He waited for them to join him.

"Daddy, where are you going?" Kaia asked. Lucy and Johnny bounded up the stairs to the front porch and disappeared into their house.

"Ani and I thought we'd check on Aunt Sammie and Uncle Alex," he answered, leaning down to hug his first-born daughter. "Care to join us?" Instantly, Kaia grabbed his free hand and mounted the steps as they, too, disappeared into the coolness of the Murphy home. Virgil was surprised yet pleased and relieved to see his next youngest brother and only sister hugging each other.

Kaia had no problem saying what was on her mind and said it loud and clear so that the family heard her. "Daddy, Aunt Sammie and Uncle Gordy love each other again just like brothers and sisters are supposed to, right?"

"Kaia, you are so right," Jeff said, scooping his granddaughter up into his arms causing her to giggle in delight. "Brothers and sisters are supposed to love each other even if they're being silly and stubborn."