Chapter 9
It was exactly three weeks since the death of Tom and Joey's mother. Today they were going to bury her ashes. Joey suggested that they cremated her. Only later did Tom find out any reason.
The day before, Joey had said, "it's the least she deserves, after what she's done to us!" Tom couldn't believe he would ever say such a thing. She had done wrong, but she was his mother. Joey was in such a bad mood, he shouted foul things. It took Tom two or three hours to get him to calm down.
Joey was incapable of doing most things for himself, because of his injuries. At first, he felt it embarrassing that his brother had to dress him. But, he knew he couldn't do anything about it.
Tom was just tying Joey's tie, when he had to tut at a comment his brother made. "This jacket feels strange with the cast underneath."
"Give your arms here. I'll roll up the sleeves."
"Ah ha, thanks bro."
They slowly made their way towards the lounge, where Sam, Michael, their dad, Chloe and the kids were. They were going to meet their other siblings at the church. Honestly, they didn't want lots of people there, just the really close ones.
"Michael, you don't have to come. You're dad's brother, not hers," Tom said, as they entered the churchyard.
"She was my sister in-law and your mother. I'm staying here."
Joey felt sorry about what he said yesterday, and asked if he could bury the box. Tom agreed.
They didn't stay long, at the church. Nobody wanted to be there. All they wanted to do was be in and out as soon as possible.
Two weeks later and Joey was walking around unaided, most of the time. He hated having to be help, but he gave in as he knew they only wanted to do the best.
All of them - Joey, Tom, Sam, Chloe and her kids - had decided to go sledging. There was a thick layer of snow on the ground. They knew it wouldn't be like this for long, so they took the advantage.
They just had fun. It was the first time in a while that they had felt true happiness. With all that had happened, they thought it could only get worse. They were glad they were wrong.
That night Joey had literally forced Sam and Tom to go out for a night, just them. Chloe and her sister were having some time away. This left Joey to look after his nephew and nieces. This was the first time he'd be able to have it as just them and him. He liked the idea. At least now he knew he was trusted enough. He knew that took a lot for Chloe to leave them, after Benny died.
Sam and Tom had gone out to dinner. Tom had insisted they went to a nice restaurant. Sam wasn't too keen, but after seeing how much Tom wanted to give her the best, she accepted. She felt a little guilty. She wanted to go with Tom, out to dinner, but not in a fancy place. But, she thought, it wouldn't hurt just once. It wasn't her thing, though. She hoped Tom wouldn't suggest this often. If he did, she hated the thought that she would have to tell him no.
She didn't know where they were going. Tom had called for a taxi. He had told her to wear something nice, and then he told her she always looked nice.
She thought about why Tom was asking for all this. It was Valentine's Day. To her, it was just another day. How can their only be one day in a year that you give the one you love so much? You can't do that in a day. You should do that every day.
They got out of the taxi. Tom paid the cab driver, turned around and held out his hand. Sam took his hand and they walked inside the restaurant.
They were seated and were looking through the menu. "You ready to order?" Tom asked.
"Um, yes," Sam replied. "Tom, why are you doing all this?"
"Can't I take out the woman I love to dinner?" Tom said with a nervous laugh.
"Of course," Sam smiled. "But, why such an expensive place?"
"Because the woman deserves the best."
"The woman?"
"Yes. The woman I love. I've never really told her I love her, but I need to, because I do."
"She knows," Sam said. She leant across, to kiss his cheek. He turned his head, ever so slightly, to catch her lips.
They ate dinner and talked about anything and everything. They had made their way to the bar, by the end of the night. They weren't drunk, but slightly tipsy. Sam suggested they should go home, when it had just gone midnight. Tom had led her outside and they got into the first taxi. He told the cab driver the address and turned to Sam to give her a kiss. She responded, so he deepened the kiss.
They broke apart when they felt the taxi come to a halt. Tom paid and led Sam indoors.
Joey was at Chloe's house, so they didn't bother about being quite. They ran to the bedroom and enjoyed the night.
