Sam and children were three hours from their home. Kyle, Baby and Samuel sat in the backseat while Michaela acted as Sam's co-pilot. Occasionally Sam would look back and see Kyle and Baby whispering to one another and giggling. The entire time in the back seat he was holding her hand.
"I guess I should have asked you this before I started holding your hand, but do you have a boyfriend?" Kyle asked.
Baby laughed. "Do you think I'd let you hold my hand if I was seeing someone else? I was dating someone about a month ago but it ended badly."
"Who ended it? You or him?" Kyle asked.
"I ended it. He punched me and then he seemed to run into my bat maybe four times and then got his hand stuck under my combat boot."
Kyle exclaimed "What an unlucky guy!"
Baby laughed. "I know! When my Dad went to talk his parents, they seemed to think I was the one who provoked their son to punch me."
Sam overhearing the conversation, asked "That conversation didn't go over too well, did it?"
"When Mason's Dad said I deserved to be hit and Mason had the right to hit me as my boyfriend, my Dad slammed his Dad into the living room wall, almost breaking his arm at the elbow. I'd say the conversation went just great! Mason won't even look at me in school."
Kyle replied with a simple "Wow! You are pretty scary and I"ll have to remember to not upset you. I don't want to run into your baseball bat...or your father for that matter."
Baby smiled at Kyle and said "I could never do that to you. You are the sweetest guy I've met in ages. You are helping me with no questions asked and no fighting. It's nice to to fight with someone all the time. That's all Mason and I did, fought constantly over everything."
"Well, that's not my style." Kyle answered.
They drove in silence for a bit before pulling off for gas. Kyle and Baby stayed with the car, pumping the gas. Michaela and Samuel went to the bathroom, while Sam got some snacks for everyone. As Sam paid for the gas and food, he looked out the window and saw Kyle lean towards Baby and give her a slow, sweet kiss.
"I kissed you." Kyle said as the kiss ended, their lips still being very close to one another.
Baby giggled "I know. I liked it. Maybe we could do that again?" She said in a whisper.
Kyle put the gas nozzle back into the pump and wrapped his arm around Baby. She immediately threw both her arms around his waist. Sam watched as Kyle nuzzled his nose into her hair.
"Baby, get your brother and sister. I need to talk to Kyle for a second" Sam said as he approached the two lovebirds.
Once Baby was out of earshot, Sam whacked Kyle across the back of the head.
"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing the sore spot his father created.
Sam looked frustrated. "You kissed a girl that you have known for less than a week. I see you two holding hands and getting cozy in the back seat. Cool with the romance Romeo. We are going to help them out and then head back home, so don't go getting attached "
"What if I wanted to stay with her? Before you even fight with me, I'm telling you that wherever she is, that's where I am going to be. I am not leaving her." Kyle said.
Sam was going to answer Kyle, but Baby came back. Instead he spoke sternly to the two of them. "Cool the romance, we have a job to do. We'll talk more about this later. Get in the car and let's get to the house."
Quietly the group piled into the car, Sam taking the steering wheel. Occasionally he'd glanced back at Kyle and Baby, watching them hold hands and steal tiny kisses when they thought no one was watching.
Kyle brushed the hair from Baby's ear and whispered. "My Dad doesn't want me to get attached to you."
Baby pulled back and gave him a questioning look. Kyle pulled her close again and said "He doesn't know that its already too late. Fiona, I think you are stuck with me."
"I couldn't think of a nicer guy to be stuck with than you Kyle." Baby said in a whisper, as she kissed him on the cheek.
Michaela asked out loud "I wonder how things are going at home. We haven't heard from Mom and Dad. When I texted them pictures, I got no answer."
"No response at all? They always text back." Samuel said.
Baby squeezed Kyle's hand a little tighter and asked "Sam, you think everything is ok or should I worry?"
"If I know your parents as well as I think I do, they already have a plan in motion. Don't worry. Everything will be fine" Sam said, saying a silent prayer that he would be correct.
After about driving an hour, the truck began to make a clunking noise. Swearing under his breath, Sam pulled over and got out of the car. He opened the hood and began tinkering underneath.
Sam threw his wrench down in frustration. "Any of you good with cars?" He shouted. Michaela hopped up from the grassy side of the road and ran over to where Sam was.
"I'm good. Isn't Kyle a mechanic?" Michaela asked.
Sam looked over at Kyle and Baby on the side of the road playing a game that loosely resembled football. Mostly she would run with the ball and be would grab her at the waist, spinning her around.
"He is but he looks like he is having fun with your sister, so I'm just going to let him be. Since his mom died we've both been in a fink. Its nice to see him happy." Sam explained, realizing that maybe he shouldn't be trying to take away something that was making him so happy. They both had been through the wringer lately and maybe this was the break Kyle and Baby needed.
Sam instructed her on what she needed to do with the wrench. "You have no boyfriend?" He asked.
Michaela shook her head. "Not a single one. Plenty of guy friends but I keep up my studies and work on cars with the other guys. Just not big on dating. Dad said that if by the end of the school year I maintained a 3.8GPA, he would find me an old junker that we could rebuild together. I'd rather have the car and it the one special thing I do with Dad."
"Special thing?" Sam asked.
Michaela grabbed the duct tape Sam handed her and showed her where to tape. "Dad has one special thing he does with each of us. No one else is allowed to do it with us. Just something he can share to give us individual attention. Mine is cars, Samuel is carpentry, and Baby is cooking. He tried to teach us all how to cook but Baby had an interest in it. When mom got sick last year, Baby was the one who cooked for us."
Sam probed more. "What was wrong with Mom?"
"Ovarian cancer, but its in remission and she's really doing a lot better. Baby did the cooking while Samuel and I did the cleaning. Dad kind of shut down at times and just wanted to be with Mom. I mean, he was there for us if we needed him, but he didn't interact much until he knew she was going to be ok." Michaela explained. "Baby compensated for his lack of talking by overtalking. I'm serious! She never shut-up!"
Sam laughed. The more he talked to Michaela while they fixed the car, the more he realized one thing. Once you got Michaela talking, she was just like Madeline-a chatterbox.
The car was finally fixed and they all piled back into the car. Sam decided to let the lovebirds snuggle in the back. Michaela looked tired.
"Samuel, feel like directing an old man on how to get to your house?" Sam asked.
"You could always let me drive!" Samuel exclaimed, hoping Sam would hand him the car keys.
"Slim chance kid, get in the passenger seat and don't mess with my radio." Sam retorted as he climbed into the truck and drove off towards the children's home.
