Thanks for the many reviews about the new idea. I have made my decision – I will be keeping this story and after I finish, I will write that idea. The more Donna/Sam stories, the better :) Let's give Lorraine's mother a name – Victoria. Here's chapter eight. Enjoy!
Chapter Eight – Everything Happens for a Reason
"I can't believe you did that." Lorraine wet a rag before handing it to her mother, and she was certain Donna had broken the woman's nose. It was understandable – Lorraine was pretty sure that if anyone started verbally attacking her or her sons, she'd break their nose as well. She watched as her mother pressed the rag to her nose.
Victoria sent daggers to her. "I can't believe you're not fighting for your husband. If you really loved him, you would spill blood to be with him. If I were you-"
"But I'm not you!" Lorraine raised her voice, not caring who was in the house or who would hear her. Her voice had gone cold and her tone icy. "My heart is broken, and I do love Sam so much. We have two children together. But he's not happy being in this marriage anymore! Just because I love him doesn't mean I'm going to make him be miserable for the rest of his life. He deserves to be happy with someone he loves!"
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Do not take that tone with me, young lady! I am your mother and you will treat me with respect."
"Oh, the way you treated Donna with respect at the restaurant tonight?" Lorraine scoffed. "You don't get to walk into a public place, verbally attack a woman and her daughter, and then demand respect. Kind of hypocritical, don't you think?"
Victoria didn't say anything. Everything her daughter said was true. She did nothing but look at her daughter, but it wasn't with guilt or anything. It was the kind of look that tried to tell Lorraine she had a plan. Lorraine continued, "Sam's going to think I put you up to it."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you love to put the blame on me for everything just like you did when I was a kid. If you forgot to do the dishes, you would tell Dad it was my fault because I scraped my knees on the sidewalk. If you spilled something, you would yell at me for it when I was nowhere near the damn thing! Now I can only imagine what you'll tell him. Or what Donna would tell him."
Victoria didn't speak once more. She just let Lorraine yell at her. "I was trying to have a civil dinner with her for the sake of my ex-husband and for the sake of my children, so they don't have to deal with their parents hating each other because of a divorce! But you had to come in and ruin every damn thing! I'm going to check on Donna. Don't. Follow."
Victoria grabbed her car keys, storming out of the house and violently slamming the door behind her. Holly smirked as a plan popped up in her head.
Dinner with Sam's parents had gone well.
They had hamburgers – Sophie's favorite, especially with loads of mustard – and put some fries in the oven for a while. There was a hot tub in the backyard and the children got in for a little bit after dinner. Sophie enjoyed her grandparents. She got to learn a lot about them, and they got to learn a lot about her. Her grandfather fought in WW2 at just 25-years-old, and he told her about the scar on his temple after a bullet had grazed him. She thought it was interesting. He refrained from telling her the gruesome stuff and promised to tell her when she was older.
They'd left an hour and a half later, awhile after Donna called Sam to tell her she was back at the house. He noted that she sounded angry; he'd talk to her about it when they got home.
Sam sat in the driver's seat, heading to Lorraine's house to drop Timothy and Bentley off for the night. Both boys wanted to be with their mother tonight, and with their father and Donna the next night. He kept his eyes on the road as Sophie sat in the passenger's seat with him. "What did you think?"
"They have a nice house. Grandpa Don is funny. Is he always big on football like that, or was it just for tonight?" Sophie tilted her head a little in curiosity.
Sam chuckled. "He is."
"One time," Timothy leaned forward. "He skipped out on my soccer game because there was a football game on TV that night, and he didn't want to miss it. After everybody came back home, Grandpa Don yelled at us to shut up because the team was about to win. They lost, and we had a cranky Grandpa for the rest of the weekend."
Sophie laughed hard at the story while Sam pulled up to the driveway of Lorraine's parents house. Sophie decided to stay in the car, so Sam cracked the windows a little and locked the car doors before going in with Timothy and Bentley. They found Victoria sitting in the living room, the rag still pressed to her nose.
"Grandma are you okay?" Timothy rushed over to his Grandmother's aide. "What happened?"
Sam showed some concern for her as Victoria told her grandsons that she was okay. "I went over to your house with Lorraine to get some stuff. When we walked in, your woman wasn't thrilled to see us and she tried to punch Lorraine in the face. Me being the loving mother I am pushed Lorraine out of the way, and Donna ended up punching me instead."
"She punched you?" Bentley was a smart kid and had good judgement for a four-year-old, so when Victoria told her little story, he didn't really believe her. He didn't want to believe her. Donna was a nice and caring woman – she wouldn't do such a thing. Would she?
Something was going on. Sam knew Donna wouldn't have punched Victoria unless there was a good reason. There had to be a reason. She wasn't like that from what he remembered. Sam just nodded before saying goodbye to his sons and leaving to the car. Sophie was occupying herself by messing with hems of her dress. Sam got back in the car and thought to himself for a quick second.
"Soph."
"Yeah, Sam?" She wasn't ready to call him Dad yet.
"Has your mother punched anyone before?"
Sophie chuckled a little, recounting the memory. "I was being bullied in the second grade for not having a dad and Mom tried to talk to the girl's parent, so she would stop. When the mom wouldn't put an end to it and instead told Mom to go do a certain thing to herself, she broke the lady's nose."
Donna had a reason at that time. Maybe she had a reason this time. Sam just nodded before starting the car and driving away, wondering just what the hell Victoria was up to.
Lorraine was never able to make it back home after Victoria called her and said Timothy was feeling ill. Her kids came first – Donna could wait, couldn't she? She'll check on her after. Sam and Sophie walked into the house to be greeted with complete silence. "I thought she was home."
"She said she was." Sam and Sophie looked everywhere for her, but there was no luck until Sophie found her in the guest room. She could tell her mother was hurt, angry, and sad. There were tears in Donna's eyes that Donna wiped away before Sophie could see.
Sophie walked over. "Mom? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, sweetie." Donna accepted Sophie's hug as her daughter climbed onto the bed next to her. "I'm fine. How was dinner?"
"It was fun, I guess. It would've been better if you were there. I missed you."
Donna smiled. "I missed you, too, hon. Listen, I'm really thirsty so why don't you go get me a water bottle from the pantry? Please? Mom needs some time to herself for now. All of this has just been really overwhelming."
"Okay." Sophie got off the bed. "I'll be back."
Sam stepped in after Sophie left, noticing Donna letting the tears come out now that she was alone. Something happened, he could tell. Sam walked over, taking Sophie's spot on the bed. "Donna."
"Go away, Sam."
He didn't go away. Instead, all he did was just wrap his arms around her. Sam knew it was about what happened with Victoria, as Lorraine called him and explained what had happened while he and Sophie were on their way home. Sam pressed a kiss against her head, and Donna's tears soaked the shoulder of Sam's shirt. What had happened that made her cry this much? "It's okay."
"No, it's not. It's not okay. Not only does my mother think I'm a reckless, little slut, the bitch of New York does also." Sam held back a chuckle at the nickname for Victoria – he's known the woman for as long as he's been with Lorraine, so he's seen and heard about plenty of her bitchy moments. Sam stood and let Donna know he'd be right back. Sophie was on her way up the stairs and he stopped her. "Hey, your mom's pretty upset right now. Why don't you go sleep in Timothy's bed and let her be alone tonight?"
"Are you sure? I don't like leaving her alone when she's this upset." Even when Sophie was the one she was mad at. Most children would avoid their parent until the moment of anger had passed, but not Sophie.
"Yeah, she'll be fine." Sam hugged Sophie before she decided to go get dressed for bed. She'd left her pajamas from the night before in there, so she was all set. Sam walked in and shut the door behind him as soon as Sophie disappeared into the bathroom. Donna was lying in the bed now, still upset, and the tears had dried.
Sam walked over. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah. Like you told Sophie, I'll be fine." Sam started to walk to the door, but Donna stopped him. "Sam, will you stay with me tonight?"
God, how long has he been waiting to hear that? He walked over, kicking his shoes off before climbing onto the bed beside her. They cuddled the rest of the night, falling asleep in each other's arms after Donna had told him everything that happened at dinner hours before. Sam succumbed to the exhaustion before her, and before Donna did so herself, she pressed a soft kiss against his lips before snuggling closer to him.
Lorraine didn't speak to her mother for the rest of the night. She stayed in the room the whole time, and mainly talked to her dad or her sons. Never her mother. Boy, there was no going back from this. Her mother would never know anything happening in her life every again. Lorraine really hoped that what happened didn't tear anyone apart, but instead brought them closer.
Timothy was wide awake with her, and it was getting late. While she figured Victoria might've been lying when she said Timothy wasn't feeling good, she showed up to find Timothy throwing up and running a fever. He's been around Sophie and Bentley a lot in the last few days, so she hoped that whatever it was wasn't contagious. She'd take him to the doctor in the morning. He might've just eaten too much. For a seven-year-old, he had a pretty big appetite.
"Hey, mom." He turned to her.
"Yeah, bud?"
"I don't believe Grandma. I don't believe Donna punched her for no reason."
Bentley had overheard the conversation. "Neither do I."
"Yeah. Believe me, there was a reason. I'll tell you boys later. Go to sleep, both of you." Lorraine shut the TV off before laying her head on the pillow in hopes that Timothy felt better tomorrow.
How about that Donna/Sam moment? Review please!
