"Daddy!" Sofia yelled, running down the stairs. "Daddy, where are you?"
"Kitchen." Jason called out. She went towards that direction, seeing her father come into view.
"Those dumb boys took my doll!" she complained, crossing her little arms over her chest. "Tell them to give it back!"
"Sofia, you have to share."
"Why would she share her dolls?" Sam asked, coming in and standing next to her daughter. Her 6 month pregnant stomach was obvious now.
"Because, Sam, the boys need to feel more comfortable and…"
"It's been almost 5 months, Jason. If they haven't gotten comfortable yet, then they aren't going to." A hand went to her back, holding it tightly. Her pregnancy was becoming more and more uncomfortable as it progressed. "They are boys, they should be playing with the many toys and cars and trucks you bought them. They took Sofia's doll to annoy her."
"You don't know that…"
"Then please, enlighten me as to why 3 and 5 year old boys would like to play with a doll." Jason was silent. "That's what I thought. Now go up there and explain to them that they have their toys and Sofia has her toys and if she was playing with one of their trucks, then they wouldn't like it."
"They only boy that can play with my toys is Daniel!" Sofia shouted at her father, putting a hand to her mother's stomach. They had found out a couple of weeks ago that they were expecting a baby boy.
Sofia was still adjusting to dealing with Jake and Cameron. Sam felt bad for her daughter; all the kids around her age, besides Haven, were boys, so Sofia didn't have many people to play with.
"Cameron! Jacob!" Jason shouted. The two boys came into the room, Sofia's favorite doll in Jake's hand. "Give Sofia back her doll. The two of you have your own toys. You wouldn't like it very much if Sofia was playing with your toys, would you?"
"Here you go, Tattletale Sopeea!" Cameron shouted.
"Mommy!" Sofia cried out. Jake broke her Barbie's head off and then threw it back to her. "Barbie!"
Sam's head shot towards Jason, who looked amused. She decided that, for once, instead of relying on Jason to discipline the boys, she would do it.
"Both of you, go to your rooms right now. You will not be playing with any of your toys for the rest of the day."
"What!" both boys shouted.
"Sam, that's a little ridiculous…" Jason began.
"No, Jason, it's not. It's called discipline. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Sam looked back at the boys. "I said go to your rooms!"
Cameron and Jake ran out of the room quickly and they could hear their footsteps on the stairs.
"That was way too harsh, Sam. They were just playing."
"Playing? Breaking my daughter's doll is playing? Tormenting her? Calling her Sopeea? That's not playing, Jason. That's downright disrespectful to her and to us after all we've done for them."
"They're just kids."
"Yeah, Sofia's a kid too, but you seem to have forgotten that. She is your kid, Jason, not them. And yet, you always side against your daughter. Come on, baby." Sam grabbed Sofia's hand, leading her from the kitchen. She got to the front door before she felt Jason grab her arm gently.
"Don't leave like this."
"If I don't, then I'm going to say something I regret. Don't expect me to come back here either. Until you set some ground rules for them, we will be at my mom's or Carly's."
He watched as they left.
"Am I overreacting?" Sam asked Carly after she had told her the whole story. Sofia had gone to play in Haven's room, so it was just the two mothers in the living room.
"I don't think so. Sofia's been the princess for her entire life and she's been an only child. Now, she suddenly has two new brothers and another one on the way. It's hard for her to adjust and Jason's making it even harder by favoring the boys. Now, a little of this could be your pregnancy hormones, but you do have a valid point."
"Thanks for listening to me complain." Sam said as she hugged her best friend.
The door opened and they both looked over. Jason walked in looking at the two of them.
"I don't appreciate you coming here so the two of you can gang up on me." Were his first words.
"First of all, Sam has a point in this situation. Second, you're acting like a jerk right now and you should just stop talking before you say something you regret." Carly said, standing up.
"No Carly, let him say what he wants. Let him tell us all about how he wants Cameron and Jake because he always had this great love for Elizabeth. Sofia was just a mistake between the two of us and she and this baby mean nothing to him." Sam responded, standing up also.
"Oh here we go." Carly groaned as she sat down on the couch.
"I never had this great love that you seem to think happened between Elizabeth and I. We dated for a few days and that was it. You're making it out to be a lot worse than it was. To be honest Sam, I can't believe you are acting this way. Those boys lost their parents!"
"I'm sorry if I can't muster up some sympathy for the woman who tried to kill me and my children." She yelled.
"I'm not asking you to have sympathy for Elizabeth! I'm asking you to have sympathy for her kids that were left parentless!"
"Whatever, Jason. Those kids are as badly behaved as their mother was. You do nothing but encourage them. I just want you to know that Sofia and Daniel are my top priority. I will protect those boys if ever needed, but my children come first. I won't let Cameron and Jake make fun of them and take their toys just to make them happy. If it's between my kids' happiness and theirs, then I'm picking my kids every time. That may be harsh, but it's the truth."
"They're just little kids! They don't understand what they're doing!"
"Really, because Cam is older than Sofia and I'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing. So here's the deal. You will step up and actually act like you're Sofia's father or else I'm leaving. My daughter will not be treated like the unwanted child like I was when I was a kid."
Jason sighed. "This isn't working anymore."
"Oh, of course. Now you want to break up because things are getting harder. I'll save you the trouble and just end things." She went to the stairs. "Sofia! Come down here!"
"You're not leaving, Sam." Carly interrupted, going over to her friend. "You're really emotional now and if you get behind the wheel then you're risking the safety of you and your kids."
"I'm fine, Carly."
"You are six months pregnant, Sam. Do you really want to hurt our baby?" Jason questioned.
"So now you're worried about the kids. I'm glad to see that it has to be a tough situation for you to actually care."
"Now you know that's not true. I love you, Samantha, and I love both of our children. We're not breaking up because I refuse to let you go. You're my entire life."
She melted after he said that, hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry I'm so emotional. These pregnancy hormones are really throwing me out of whack." She wiped her tears away. "But could you please promise me one thing?"
"Anything." He immediately said.
"You need to talk to Cameron and Jake about the way they treat Sofia."
"I will." He promised. "Our daughter isn't going to be made fun of anymore. But you have to promise me something too." Sam motioned for him to go on. "Please try and sympathize with the boys. They lost their father and then their mother, they lived with their aunt, and then they were just given to two people they barely knew. It's a lot to take in."
"I know. I feel bad for them and I want to love them the way Elizabeth never did, but it's hard with them mistreating my baby. I do love them, Jason."
"I know you do." He agreed. "Maybe all of us could go on a vacation after the baby is born. Then, we can get closer and start acting more like a family."
Sam smiled. "I'd like that." Her cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Sam, it's me." She became worried at Alexis's frantic tone.
"Mom? What's wrong?"
"You need to get to the hospital. Kristina's in labor."
Sorry this isn't as long as usual. There's not much left to this story, which kind of makes me sad since this has been my baby for so long.
Do you think Sam overreacted?
Do you think Sam and Jason should keep Cam and Jake?
What do you think will happen to Kristina and her baby (remember, if Sam's 6 months, then that means that Kristina is only 7 months pregnant)?
Also, I have a new story out called Last Kiss. It's kind of horrible at first, but it will get better. Go read it. If you read The Right Life, I'm going to try and update that since there's only a little bit left.
Please REVIEW!