Sam and Ellie: Too Good to be True?

Ellie couldn't help it. She was mad. Really mad.

She was twelve years old. She was old enough to be told when something bad was going on. It also made her feel stupid when her parents told her that everything was okay and that 'mom and grandpa were just leaving to check something else'.

Well, duh. Ellie thought but was wise enough not to say. Of course you're going to check something out. What is it?

Ellie and Rachel had been staying with Sam for the week. Since Ellie was out of school and Rachel had not started yet, they were both home with him all day. Sam, who worked as a handyman in the apartment building Amelia and Ellie had been living in when she and Sam met, was not used to the both of them being home for days at a time. Rachel enjoyed going to work with Daddy, but Ellie was considerably less thrilled.

"I'm twelve. I can stay by myself for an hour. Please?"

But Sam wouldn't have it, and at least once a day she was dragged from the house and forced to entertain Rachel while he worked. Ellie swore to herself she would never take her mother's offers to help her at the animal hospital for granted again. But, other than the minor complaining when he first told her she had to go, Ellie came along easily enough.

Sam knew she was frustrated. He understood. She was twelve, was out of school, and wanted to enjoy her school break. She wanted to ride her bike, go see her friends, do whatever it was that twelve-year-old girls wanted to do, not hang out with him and her little sister. It didn't bother Sam that she didn't want to hang out with him. But Sam was scared. He hadn't said anything to Amelia. She had enough to worry about herself. But the fear was crushing. Amelia had loved Don. She believed, until she thought he was dead, that he was her soulmate. Would she leave Sam and go back to Don, now that he was alive and apparently well?

"Sammy?"

Sam looked to the hallway, where Ellie was standing in her pajamas. Sam's throat tightened when he saw that she was holding Moonpie in her hands. She only held him now when she was sick, scared, or worried. A bitter thought crossed his mind. She won't need him soon. Forcing the bitterness down, Sam smiled.

"Hey. You okay?"

"I can't sleep. Can I sit with you?"

"Of course you can. Come on."

Ellie walked over and sat next to him on the couch, then surprised Sam when she wrapped both arms around his waist and held on like she thought he was going to float away. Sam offered a comforting hand and smoothed down her hair, just like he did for Rachel when she was upset. He waited to see if she would start talking, but Ellie offered nothing.

"Why can't you sleep?"

"No reason."

"You sure?" Sam asked. "Sounds like a lot of reason if it's keeping you awake."

Ellie sighed. Sam had deflected the question when she'd asked before, but she decided it was worth another attempt. "Why did Mom and Grandpa leave?" Ellie felt Sam take a deep breath before answering. "And please don't tell me it's to take care of something."

"It's nothing to worry about." Sam said flatly.

"Then why can't you tell me?" Ellie asked. "You can tell me not to worry all you want, it won't stop me from doing it."

Sam smiled. "I know, sweetie. I'm sorry. But your mom doesn't want me to say anything until she comes back."

"When will she?"

"She called after I put you guys to bed and said they were coming back tomorrow. They should be here before dinner."

"Sammy? Are you and mom breaking up?" Ellie asked. It was the only thing she'd been able to think of that might make her mom leave.

Sam's heart twisted painfully at the question. "Why would you ask that?"

"It's the only reason I can think of. I already lost one dad, I don't want to lose you too…"

"Hey, hey, hey. Shh, none of that, now." Sam was swallowing his own painful tears as he wiped away Ellie's. "Listen to me. No matter what is going on, you will never, never lose me."

"That's not a no."

Unable to avoid the question anymore, Sam sighed. "I don't know, kiddo. I just don't know. But even if we did, I'm telling you, I will always be here for you. Always."

"Not just because of Rachel, right?" Ellie asked. "You'd still love me even if she wasn't here?"

"I'm gonna tell you something that a good friend of mine said to me. Family doesn't end with blood."

"What does that mean?" Ellie asked.

"It means that family isn't who you're related to by blood. It's who's in here." Sam pointed to Ellie's heart to emphasize his point. "And you know who's in here for me?"

"Me and Rachel?"

"You and Rachel."

"Okay." Ellie said.

"Feel better?"

"A little."

"If you swear you won't tell Rachel I let you stay up late, you can stay here until you fall asleep."

"Deal."

Ellie eventually fell asleep on the couch, and instead of carrying her to bed or making her wake up and go back to her own bed, Sam stayed there and watched her sleep. He wished he could stop time and keep everything frozen. Rachel asleep in her room just down the hall, Ellie sleeping next to him cuddled up with Moonpie, and he and Amelia still together. Sam wasn't naïve enough to think that she would still want to get married that weekend. He just hoped it would happen at all.

The next day crawled for Ellie. She answered the phone both times her mom called and tried to get clues as to what was going on without actually asking what was going on. Amelia was sharp, though, and would only tell her 'we'll be home soon'. Finally, Ellie heard the car pull up and could barely restrain herself. Amelia had given her strict instructions to stay inside and not meet her and Jack at the car. Ellie waited impatiently as Amelia greeted Rachel and Sam, then finally asked the question.

"What's going on?"

Amelia turned to Rachel and said, "Rachel, go outside with grandpa, okay? Daddy and I need to talk to Ellie alone."

"Okay, Mommy."

Rachel ran outside and Amelia took her seat next to Ellie. Sam sat on the other side of her, and Ellie could no longer hold it in.

"Will you guys please tell me what's going on?"

"Okay, sweetie. I'm sorry, I know you've bene waiting. I just couldn't tell you this over the phone." Amelia had been waiting for this moment all week, and now that it was here, she didn't know how to say it. "The call I got last week, the night we were supposed to have that dance contest, was from an army hospital."

"Army hospital? Was it about Daddy?"

"Yes. It seems that there was a mistake when they told us that your Daddy died."

"Mistake? What kind of mistake?"

"Well, your Daddy went missing and they never found his body. What actually happened was that your Daddy was sent on a mission by himself and he got hurt. The other soldiers he was working with couldn't find him. He was found by another group of soldiers. They picked him up and tried to treat him, but he wouldn't wake up. So they sent him home to the hospital that called me."

Amelia was trying to keep the explanation as simple as possible without skipping any important details. She could see Ellie's brain working, and she saw the moment that Ellie figured out what she was trying to say.

"Daddy's alive?"

Amelia nodded. "Yes. He is."

"Where is he?"

"He's outside with your grandpa."

Ellie was off the couch before Amelia even finished talking. She threw open the door and ran outside screaming 'Daddy' before Sam and Amelia even had time to get off the couch. By the time the two of them stood on the front porch, Ellie's legs were wrapped around Don's hips and her arms were wrapped around his neck. Rachel was clapping and Jack was laughing. Only when Amelia and Sam had walked over to join them did Ellie show any sign of letting go of her father.

"Baby girl, you gotta let me go."

"No." Ellie said, and Sam could hear that she was laughing and crying at the same time. "If I let you go, you'll go away again."

"I won't. I promise. But you're choking me a little, kiddo." Don said gently.

Ellie reluctantly let him go, but held onto his waist. "Daddy, you're back."

"I'm back, baby." Don said. "I'm back."

"Daddy, look." Rachel said, grabbing Sam's hand and pointing at Don and Ellie. "Sissy's got her Daddy too. She's not sad anymore."

As worried as Sam had been about losing his family, he couldn't help but smile. "That's right, baby. She's not sad anymore."

"Daddy, where are you staying?" Ellie asked.

"He's gonna stay with me until he finds his own place, honey." Jack said.

"Can I go too?"

Jack started to answer, then looked to Amelia.

"Honey, you've got school starting soon…"

"It's Wednesday. School starts Monday. Mommy, please. It's been six years. I just want a few days." Ellie begged.

Amelia sighed. "Dad?"

"Of course she can stay."

"Alright. You can stay until Sunday night. But you have to be back at bedtime Sunday."

"What about after?" Ellie asked. "I'll still be able to see you, right?"

"Of course you will." Don said. "But your mom's right. School's important. You'll still see me after you start school, I promise."

"Okay." Ellie said. "Mommy, can he stay for dinner?"

"I was counting on it." Amelia said. "You remember Daddy's favorite dinner?"

"Um…." Ellie closed her eyes for a moment, then looked up to Don. "Steak and eggs?"

"You got a good memory."

"Come on, let's go get it started." Amelia said, gathering everyone into the house.

A few hours later, Sam was lying awake in bed, waiting on Amelia to join him. He was still worried about Ellie's earlier question. It rang through his head and refused to let him rest. Are you and mom gonna break up? He understood Ellie's anxiety now. Wondering whether or not your family would be intact left your heart feeling like there was a hole in it.

"I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

"I'm sure you are." Sam said. "How was the trip?"

"Interesting." Amelia flipped off the light and joined him in the bed. "But that's not really what you wanted to ask me about."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're worried about something else that you're not telling me about." Amelia said. "What is it?"

"Ellie asked me a question last night and I didn't know what to say. Because I didn't know the answer myself."

"What was it?"

"She asked if we were breaking up."

Amelia frowned. "Is that what you've been worrying about?"

"Well, yes, honestly." Sam said. "I mean, I hope you don't, but I'd get it if you went back to Don…"

"Stop." Amelia said, placing a finger on Sam's lip. "Stop. I'll be honest, I thought about it. But part of the reason Dad and I were gone for so long is that Don and I talked about things before we came home. I wanted it all to be settled before we brought him back here back into Ellie's life."

"That's smart."

"Anyway, like I said, I did think about it. But I was going for a walk and I got to thinking about years from now. When Ellie's going to college, when Rachel goes on her first date, both the girls getting married. I started thinking about all that, and the person I saw standing there with me was you. I love Don, but you are my future. Okay?"

"More than okay." Sam said. "It's perfect."

"And just to settle your mind, nothing happened between me and Don. All we did was talk."

Sam nodded. He didn't want to admit it, but he had been worried about that.

"And about the wedding? Since Don wasn't officially declared dead, he and I have got to divorce. So that's gonna take a few months. But I do still want to get married. Okay? We good?"

"We're amazing." Sam said.

"And I'll talk to Ellie when she comes home. Let her know that everything's okay."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Did you see how happy she was?" Amelia asked.

"I don't think I've ever seen her smile that much."

Sam's words about Ellie's smile would come back to bite him. The first few days after Don's return was relatively normal. Don picked her up from school each day, spent an hour or so with her, then repeated the process the next day. Ellie spent Friday night to Sunday night with Jack and Don, and Sam started to believe that everything would be okay. But on the Saturday night of Ellie's second weekend with her father and grandfather, he and Amelia were enjoying a date night. Mrs. Quimby was taking care of Rachel, and Sam was finishing up a bag of popcorn for the two of them to watch a movie. With no warning, the front door flew open, and Ellie ran in towards her bedroom. An angry looking Jack walked in and a regretful Don followed after Ellie.

"Ellie, come on, honey…"

"GO AWAY!" Ellie screamed, throwing something out towards Don before slamming her bedroom door. Sam was shocked to see that Ellie had thrown out Moonpie.

"What in the hell is going on?" Amelia asked, too in shock to say anything at first.

Don had picked up Moonpie from the floor, and Jack closed the front door behind him. "This idiot," Jack seethed, looking towards Don, "is trying to reenlist."

A/N: In case anyone reading this is a veteran or current soldier, or has family members who have or are currently serving in the armed forces, please know that my intention with Jack's last line "This idiot is trying to reenlist" is not to insult anyone for their military service. I have nothing but the utmost respect for anyone serving in the military. My intention is to portray Ellie as a child who is intensely proud of her father's service, but she is heartbroken at the thought of possibly losing him again after having just got him back. Amelia and Jack are worried about her becoming depressed again, which is the reason they are (and will be) so angry at Don. I hope that makes sense, and in case anyone does fall into the categories I mentioned above, I thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul for your service.