Samuel holds my hand while we sit and wait for the doctor to come in with the results. I look at him with a smile while he fiddles with my wedding band gently and try to keep calm. The doctor walks in a smile on his face while he walks over to sit at his desk.
"Well, I was not expecting both of you here today. But it is a good thing you are both here, because the scans show that we got all the tumors and you are not showing any new growth," the doctor says. I let out a sigh of relief and Samuel puffs his chest out to hold in his happiness. We leave the doctor after discussing what is to happen next with my job and when I will be able to go back to work. Samuel gets out to the parking lot when he lets out his shout of excitement while spinning me around in his arms. I laugh while holding onto him tightly before he stops and kisses me deeply.
"We need to celebrate tonight or even right now," Samuel says. "We also need to call Bran."
"Sweetheart, breathe," I giggle.
"I am just so glad that you are better and we can be together forever," Samuel says with a big smile on his face and tears in his eyes.
"We can celebrate when we tell everyone, but right now we need to leave the parking lot before someone runs us over," I say. Samuel holds me hand as we walk to the truck and even on our ride back to Mercy's. When we get home, Samuel calls Bran to tell him the good news about my results while I lay on the couch for a moment. I smile at his excited voice as he tells his father there is not too much to worry about. The call is brief, but Samuel is just filled with so much joy that his eyes are sparkling and his smile is really big. I sit up when he walks over to me and sits down next to me, taking his hands with mine.
"We should get remarried and have a big wedding," Samuel says.
"Wait, you want to do what?" I ask quickly.
"Let's get remarried and have a big wedding to make up for the last time," Samuel repeats.
"We never got divorced for us to get remarried and I thought you said you did not want a big wedding when we get married those years ago?" I ask with some confusion.
"I know, but we did not let our family come to see us get married and it was so quick. We can plan out a honeymoon for a few days or something. I just want us to take this good news and start our lives over to live it like we wanted when we got married. I want us to start over to be a happy family," Samuel says.
"Do you really want to do this or are you just filled with too much happiness right now?" I ask with a small smile.
"I mean it and I really want this to happen," Samuel says. I lean forward to kiss him softly an Samuel meets me halfway. Our kiss leads to more in a matter of seconds, making us end up in our bed all day until mercy and Alexander come back home. Alexander pokes his head into our room with a smile and a grease spot still on his face.
"Alexander, what is on your face?" I ask after pulling on Samuel's shirt and a pair of my shorts. Alexander walks over to me while Samuel pulls on his shorts and a shirt with a chuckle.
"We were working and I got a little dirty," Alexander says. I grab a towel to wipe my boy's face off quickly and look at his hair to see he did get a haircut.
"Did you have fun with Aunt Mercy?" Samuel asks.
"Yeah, we had lots of fun and I learned new stuff too," Alexander exclaims with a big smile on his face. I kiss my boy's now clean cheeks to give him a big hug and he holds onto me for a moment. "Did you and daddy have a good day, mommy?"
"We sure did, but we missed you very much," I say. Samuel scoops up Alexander to hug him and I watch the boys with a smile before walking to the living room to let them spend some time together. Mercy is making hot chocolate in the kitchen when I walk in and I hug her from behind to rest my chin on her shoulder.
"How did the visit go?" Mercy asks quietly.
"I am tumor free," I whisper. Mercy giggles while hugging my arms around her closer and I give her a small squeeze. "How are you doing?"
"Better and I have to thank you for letting Alexander go with me. He had so much fun and made the day easier at work. I think he might take over the garage when he gets older," Mercy says.
"At least he would be doing something safe and something he loves," I say. Someone knocks on the door and we turn to see Adam standing at the front door that must have been open. He raises a brow at the two of us and I kiss my sister's cheek before stepping outside for some fresh air. Everything is going well in the house, until a familiar car pulls up to the trailer and mother gets out of the car.
"Maribella Aurora Thompson," mom exclaims when she realises it is me standing in front of her. I wave a little at her when she rushes over to give me a big hug. She has not seen me since Alexander was two because I did not want to hear her nag me about sending the divorce papers to Samuel.
"Hi mom, what are you doing here?" I ask quietly.
"I should be asking you that and how long you have been here without calling me or having Mercy call me. What is with the head scarf, Marie? You are not in the 1920s," mom says. She reaches up to grab the scarf, but I duck away quickly to keep her from seeing my semi-bald head. Mom grumbles about my jumpy attitude when we walk inside the trailer. Alexander runs to see his grandma while I rush to find Mercy getting dressed.
"What is she doing here?" Mercy asks with a soft growl.
"Do not take that tone with me and I do not know why she is here," I hiss. Adam is sitting on the bed like a little boy and I raise a brow when he smiles. "Do I want to know what this lost puppy is doing here?"
"Nope, but you may want to go warn Samuel about mom not knowing you are married to the man I almost ran away with," Mercy says. I panic when I hear Samuel's voice calling for Alexander and run at him to keep him from talking to mom.
"Marie," Samuel protests while I push him into our room. He crosses his arms to wait for an explanation of my sudden panic.
"She does not know who you are except you almost ran off with Mercy when she was sixteen. She knows we are still married, but she thinks you are human," I blurt out with tears in my eyes in fear of the lie I told my whole family years ago.
"Marie, do not be ashamed of what you did, just relax and we will fix this together by telling her the truth," Samuel says. He caresses my face gently before kissing my forehead softly and taking my hand to walk with me to the living room. Mom is talking to Mercy about the incident all over the news and then turns to me when Alexander runs over to me and Samuel.
"Who is this?" mom asks.
"This is Samuel Cornick, Bran's son and the man Mercy tried to run off with years ago," I say softly.
"What is he doing here? Come to make her run off again and break my daughter's heart, both possibly?" mom asks.
"No, Margi, I am not here to break any of your beautiful daughters' hearts because one of them has my whole heart completely. I understand that you know Marie eloped with someone a few years back and she ran away from him for reasons I am not sure you know about," Samuel says. I silently applaud him for remaining calm while standing his ground against mother.
"Yes, it was discussed after it all happened and when she informed me she was pregnant with her son," mom says.
"Well, you may not like me for what I did to Mercy all those years ago, but I am the man that married Marie and I am Alexander's father," Samuel says. The trailer becomes deafly quiet with Mercy and I on edge in fear of what mom will do next.
"Are you going to make her leave you now that she has come back with a child of yours? Are you going to protect her?" mom asks. Samuel bows his head to mom before making his response.
"I will protect both Alexander and Marie with my body until the day I die," Samuel says.
"I will keep you to that because Marie was hurt when she left and yet refuses to tell me as to why she left. Protect my daughter and my grandson," mom says. I rush over to give her a hug to say thank you for approving of Samuel. "Now, Marie, you can have a wedding where I can attend."
"Mom," Mercy pipes up for me. I pull back with a big smile while mom smiles back and caresses my face. When I do not notice, she pulls my scarf off and gasps at what she sees. I step back from her when she tries to find words in her head.
"I was sick, mom," I say for her. "I had brain tumors that were taken out not too long ago, but I was told today that I am cancer free and I am going to live."
"Not you too," mom says. It takes me a moment to realise she is not talking about someone else having cancer, but me also dying at a young age like dad. She walks outside and I look down at the ground. Mercy goes after her to make sure she is okay when something appears in our living room before us. Alexander screams when he sees the mass appear and I gather him into my arms quickly before Samuel pulls us behind him. Mom comes back inside to see what the commotion is about while Mercy walks over.
"Stefan?" Mercy asks. The mass moves at the name and stares at me instead of my sister.
"She knows. Run," the thing says. I cover Alexander's face with my hand while murmuring calming words into his ear. What is going on?