Chapter 37: The Party
~Sam's POV~
We stayed at the football stadium until it was too dark to see and decided to head home for the party. The party wasn't going to be too small but it wasn't going to be big either. It was moderate since we only invited 5 families and their friends. The parents had chipped in and bought so much good that it could feed an army. Since I was the only one who didn't really eat much since lunch, I got first served. I got into the living room and sat in between Jeff and Paul on the couch and started digging into my food. I was basically shoveling the food into my mouth. "Babydoll, take it easy with the food before you get sick," Paul said as he took a napkin and tried to help.
"I can't help it. I'm hungry; I didn't eat anything since lunch," I said as I took another bite out of my food.
"I know, but just take it easy, ok?"
I rolled my eyes and sarcastically said, "Ok, dad!!" He rumpled my hair and laughed.
Chrissy joined us with her food and she was sitting next to Shane across from us. She was doing the same thing. "Christine."
"Daddy, don't," I said.
"Why not?"
"This where I got the habit from," I explained.
"Ah, I see," he said as he shut his mouth and ended up laughing.
Christine looked up from her food and said with her mouth full, "What?"
"Chrissy, don't talk with your mouth full," I said.
She ate her food, "What?"
"Nothing," I smirked.
"Whatever," she said and went back to her food.
After the guys and I finished our plates, I went back for seconds. I came back with more food on my plate and when I sat down, Paul was looking at me funny, "What?"
"Are you going to eat that?"
"Yeah, I told you before that I was hungry," I said as I took the food on my fork.
"You're unbelievable." The guys had at least one plate since they had eaten something before hand. After dinner, we all sat down and talked about high school and what had happened when I wasn't there. After that, they all asked me about what it's like to work with WWF. We had so much fun talking about high school and everything.
Out of nowhere, Chrissy screamed. I looked at her funny, and said, "Chrissy, what's the matter with you?"
"Let me look at your hand," Chrissy said slowly. I showed her my right hand, "No, your left hand." I showed her my left hand and she grabbed it. "You're engaged and you never told me?" I sighed in relief.
"Yes, I'm engaged. I didn't even think about telling you since I was so busy with graduation," I explained.
"Who are you engaged to?"
"Are you that blind?" she sat there dumbfounded. "Jeff, of course. Chrissy you know that we were dating."
Oh. my. gosh," was all she said, and then she lunged at me, hugging me tightly. "I can't believe that my best friend's getting married!!!" she squealed as we laughed.
She was starting to choke me, "Chrissy. air. now. please."
She pulled back, "Oohh, sorry about that."
"It's ok. just don't kill me."
"You do and I'll kill you for killing my fiancée," Jeff chipped in.
Chrissy just stood there in shock, I squealed. "Don't you just love him? I said as I gave him a kiss on the cheek, but he turned his head at the last moment, making me kiss him on his lips. I gave him the look that said, 'Oohh, somebody's a bad boy tonight.' He had the look of: 'And you love me for it.' After the look exchange, I leaned into his arms.
"No, I don't," Chrissy said as she stalked off.
"Whatever, you still love us anyway," I said.
"Why didn't I know about this?" mom said.
"Ooppss, I forgot to tell you," I said as I looked at mom.
"It's ok, let me see the ring," mom said as she cam over to where I was sitting. I showed her the ring. "Oh, it's absolutely gorgeous, Jeff. When did you ask her?"
"Earlier today right before Matt left to join with the Federation," he responded.
"Oh, that's great to hear. I'm so happy for you, Samantha," Mom said as she gave me a hug. I hugged her back. After the hug, mom said, "I thought you were going to ask her during the party."
"I was going to but I decided to ask her earlier than expected," he said simply as he looked at me lovingly. I leaned up to him and kissed him softly.
"I love you," I said softly.
"I love you too," he said as he tightened his grip on me.
"Wait a minute. did you say that Matt went back with the Federation?" Chrissy asked.
"Yeah, I did," he said. "Why do you ask?"
"What made him decide to go back and not be here for the graduation?" Chrissy asked curiously as she looked at Jeff.
"You know what happened earlier today with Matt pinning her against the car?" Jeff asked as Chrissy nodded. "Well, Adam and Shane were both trying to talk some sense into him and nothing was working. Then Samantha was going through an emotional problem and Paul had helped her first, but then called Mark. Right before Mark went upstairs, he threatened Matt to either act up or leave. Matt left before Mark and Samantha had come back from wherever they came from," Jeff said as he shrugged.
Chrissy just sat there in shock as of what had happened. When she finally found her voice, she said, "Mark, what'd you say to him?"
"Nothing that you shouldn't know, Christine," Mark said with a smug look on his face.
Chrissy's jaw had dropped again for who knows how many times that night, "Why is everyone picking on me tonight?"
"Because we love you," I said as I yawned.
"Whatever," Chrissy said as she yawned. Soon everyone was yawning.
I looked at the clock that was on the living room wall, "Man, it's 1 in the morning!" I stretched out my muscles.
"I think we need to get our sleep tonight," Paul said.
"That sounds like a good idea," I said, not moving from Jeff's hold, and then I laughed.
"What's so funny?" Shane asked.
"I recently said how good idea it was for us to go to sleep but I'm not moving," I said as I continued to laugh. The guys joined in once they got the picture.
"If you want, I can pick you up and put you to bed?" Paul asked. All I did was act like a 2-year-old that stuck her arms out waiting to be picked up. All the guys laughed at my actions and then Paul said, "Well, maybe not." He still sat beside me as I put my puppy dogface and whined.
"Samantha Rose Copeland!!" mom said confidently. I looked at mom and whined and she said, "You have legs, use them." I shook my head no and pointed to Paul.
"Helen, don't worry about it. I started it, so I'll do it," Paul said.
"Paul, you're spoiling her," Helen said simply.
"She deserves to be spoiled especially on her graduation day," Paul said as he picked me up and I smiled as I cuddled up against him. Paul walked us past mom and she spanked my butt.
"I whined some more as I looked at mom. "Silly girl!" and with that, I smiled real big. I looked at Jeff who was sitting there on the couch. The guys are planning to stay at our house. With my finger, I motioned for him to follow us and he did with a smile on his face. Mom and the rest of the guys laughed at what was just portrayed. Paul had taken me upstairs with Jeff following suit. Everyone knew that Jeff and I were going to be sleeping in my room.
~Adam's POV~
We had led the other families that were still there out to the driveway to their cars. There was only Chrissy's family and a couple of others. Once they all left, we headed back inside and started to clean up. "Helen, why don't you go to sleep? We can clean this up," Mark said as he stood next to mom.
"No, I can clean this up. You guys go to sleep; I'll be fine," mom said as she yawned. "Mom, Mark's right. You should go to sleep. The guys and I can take care of this tonight," I said as I started to pick up trash.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, we are," Mark said as he reassured her.
"All right, you guys win," mom said as she gave the trash to Mark, who just took it and put it in the trash bag. We all started cleaning up as soon as mom went upstairs to bed.
~Paul's POV~
As soon as I put Samantha on her bed, she looked up at me and said, "Thank you, daddy."
"You're welcome, babydoll. Now get some sleep," I said as I rumpled her hair and she smiled up at me. "I'm going downstairs to help everyone clean up the house before turning in for bed. Now Samantha, I expect you to be a good girl, ok?"
"I'm always a good girl," she said with a childlike look.
I looked at her and smirked, "Ok, whatever you say, babydoll." With that, I kissed the top of her head before leaving. "Good night Jeff."
"Good night, Paul," he said.
"Good night, daddy," she said in a childlike voice.
I smiled at her and said "Good night, babydoll." I closed the door and headed downstairs. At the same time, Helen had come up. "Helen, what's going on?"
"Mark, Shane, and Adam wanted me to go to sleep and that they will clean up downstairs," she said as she yawned.
"I'll have to agree with the guys. go to sleep. I'll make sure that the house looks clean before you're up in the morning," I said as I smiled.
Helen smiled, "Thank. good night, Paul."
"Good night, Helen," I said as I went downstairs to help clean up the living room, the dining room and the kitchen.
~Sam's POV~
As soon as Paul left, I said to Jeff, "I'm going to the bathroom to wash up, ok?"
"Ok, he said as he gave me a kiss. I went to the bathroom and washed my face and changed my clothes. When I got into my room, Jeff was already lying on my bed with the sheets covering him halfway and he was already half asleep. I smiled as I looked at him. I couldn't wait for our wedding day. I went to the other side and crawled into bed and immediately felt Jeff pulling me into his embrace as we slept in each other's arms.
~Paul's POV~
We had finished cleaning the three rooms in an hour and we were glad to be finished since we were really tired. They had three guest rooms upstairs alongside Adam and Samantha's bedroom. We all went upstairs and I decided to look in Samantha's room to see how she was doing. I opened her door a little bit and smiled at the sight of Jeff holding her in his arms protectively. Mark, Shane and Adam had joined me to see what was going on. "They look cute together, don't they?" Mark whispered.
"Yeah, they do," I said.
"Can't wait for their wedding day," Shane said. "Wonder what it will look like."
Adam and I looked at Shane and said in unison, "You don't want to know." With that, we smiled and closed the door and headed for our rooms for the night. I have to admit that, for me, it's going to be a little weird for me not to sleep without Samantha. Even at my house, she always finds a way into my bed and cuddle up against me, no matter the time of night. I'm definitely going to miss that when she gets married. With that final thought in mind, I hit the bed and fell asleep.
~Sam's POV~
The next morning, I woke up and stretched and felt a pair of strong arms holding me. I remembered what had happened the night before. I smiled as I remembered graduating from high school. I looked at the clock and it only read 9:34, and then I looked at Jeff who was already awake. I smiled at him and said, "How long have you been awake?"
"For the past hour. I didn't want to wake you up. You looked so peaceful when you sleep," Jeff said as he kissed my forehead, the tip of my nose and then on my lips. He was going to pull away, but I pulled him back and we made out, but it didn't last long when we heard knocking on the door.
I groaned as Jeff laughed. I managed to say, "Who is it?"
"It's Paul. could I come in?" he said through the door.
I looked at Jeff and he nodded, "Yeah, you can come in." I cuddled up against him when Paul opened the door. When he did, he was in his usual jeans and nice top. He smiled at the sight of us. "Daddy, why are you smiling?"
"I'm smiling because of how cute you look together," he responded.
"Hey, if anything. I don't look cute!!" Jeff said, smirking.
"Hey!!! Why do you think I'm here with you?" I said as I sat up and looked at him.
"Oh, I just thought it was because of my charms." Jeff said. I stuck my tongue out at him and he tickled me immediately. I laughed and tried to escape him.
"Daddy!!! Help me!!!' I squealed.
"I'm not getting involved with that," Paul said. Jeff stopped tickling me and we looked at each other knowingly and then looked at Paul.
~Paul's POV~
When they gave me that look, I knew that I was in trouble. Jeff and Samantha both slowly got out of the bed and stalked me all the way down to the living room. Then Samantha lunged at me and made me fall to the floor, laughing. "I can't believe you made us do that!!!" she whined as she put her puppy dogface on.
"I'm sorry, babydoll, but. I did that because I love you."
"What's going on here?" mom asked. "And why is Samantha on top of Paul?"
"Mommy, Paul said something that made Jeff tickle me for no reason," I said as I looked up at mom.
"Oh, he did that because he loves you and you know that!!"
"I know," she said shyly and started laughing as soon as I tickled her. "Somebody help me!!!" she squealed and tried to escape. Mark, Shane and Adam were already there in the living room, watching and laughing along with the antics she showed.
I stopped tickling her after a little while and she was trying to catch her breath. She covered her mouth with her left hand and something was off. I realized what it was, "Babydoll, where's your engagement ring?" She looked at her hand and realized that it wasn't there; she started to get paranoid. She ran upstairs, trying not to scream or anything. They guys and I followed suit and we saw her looking on the bed. When it wasn't there, she ran to the bathroom and looked for it. All of a sudden, there was a loud scream. I ran to her and tried to talk to her, "Babydoll?"
She looked at me with tears in her eyes, "Daddy, where's my ring?"
My heart immediately melted when I saw her like that. "Guys start looking for the ring. Check downstairs, wherever you can think of where she was last night." The guys nodded and went downstairs as I carried Samantha in my arms. Jeff was checking the bed carefully and the nightstands and the drawers.
~Sam's POV~
When Jeff looked at Paul and shook his head, I was wailing. Paul did everything he could do to calm me down. In the next moment, we heard someone say, "Found it!" Shane was running into the bedroom with the ring.
"Thanks man. Where did you find it?" Jeff asked as he took the ring.
"It was underneath the couch cushions in the living room. It must have slipped off her finger or something."
"Thanks, man. I owe you big time." Jeff said as he quickly hugged Shane and walked over to where Paul was holding me. "Hey, baby. Shane found the ring." he said softly. I looked at Jeff and then I looked at the ring.
When I spoke, I spoke to Shane, "Thank you Shane."
"You're welcome, babe."
I looked at Jeff and said, "Aren't you going to put it on again?"
I heard all the guys laughing, and Jeff said, "Yeah, I am." With that, he put it on my finger again. He checked to see if it was the right size and it wasn't. "Guys, the ring is a little big on her. I thought it was the right size."
"Jeff, I will always love you and this ring. it doesn't matter if it's the right size or not."
"No, everything has to be right with the one I love," Jeff said with disappointment in his voice. I could tell that he was trying to hide it.
"No, you can't take it back," I said as my voice broke.
"I got to, baby. What happens if it falls when you're wrestling or even when you're shopping?" Jeff asked as he looked at me with tears in his eyes.
I looked down at my hand; I knew that he was right. "I still don't want you to take it back," I said as I got out of Paul's hold and went into Jeff's arms.
~Helen's POV~
I had heard everything that was said and decided to go into my bedroom. I got the ring that my mother had given me. It looked like the right size for Samantha. I got it out and went straight to her bedroom. "Jeff, Samantha. there's something that I want to give both of you. I was going to wait until Adam got married, but Samantha, you're like a daughter I never had and I want you to keep this ring," I showed them the ring.
When Jeff and Samantha saw the ring, Samantha had said, "Mom, this is your ring. I couldn't." she said as she pushed it back into my hand.
"No, I want you to have this. This is what my mother has given me before she passed away. I'm still wearing the ring that daddy gave me. I'll be fine, sweetheart," I said to her lovingly.
"I still couldn't mommy," she said in a childlike voice.
"Take it. this is what your father would want," I said as I gave the ring to her.
~Sam's POV~
I looked at the ring that my mother had given me and then I looked at my mother who nodded to me to take it. I didn't want to disappoint daddy, so I said, "Thank you, mommy." I went up to her and hugged her.
She hugged me back and said, "Your father is very, very proud of you. of all the accomplishments you've made. I just wish he was here to see you."
"Me too," I said as I pulled back.
"Now, go back to Jeff and make sure he puts it on," she said as she smiled at me.
I smiled back and went to Jeff. He took off the ring he had given me and took the ring from my hand. Then unexpectedly he got down on one knee and asked me again, "Samantha Rose Copeland, will you marry me?"
I had tears streaming down my face as I softly said, "Yes." And he put the ring on my finger and it was a perfect fit. I stared at the ring for a little while before looking at Jeff and hugging him. In his ear, I whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too," he said, just as soft.
~Paul's POV~
As soon as they embraced, I motioned for everyone to head out the door without them noticing and they did. I was the last one out before taking the last look at them and smiled. Samantha had truly loved him; there was no doubt about that. She has found true love that is so rare to find. She loved him for giving her a ring that wasn't even in her size. It absolutely amazed me to see someone give so much love just because of a miscalculation. I closed the door and allowed them to have time on their own. They really needed to express their love in the only way they knew how. by spending time together alone.
~Jeff's POV~
I stood there holding her in my arms and not wanting to let her go. I have never felt so much love by anyone than her. Right when she told me that she wanted to keep the ring, it made me wonder what made her say that. I decided to ask, "Baby?"
"Yeah?"
"When you said that you didn't want me to take the ring back. why did you say that?"
"She pulled back and looked into my eyes and said, "I said that because you gave it to me from your heart. That's all that matters to me. that you're giving me everything from your heart. I love your heart." When she said that, it made me love her even more. It made me want to protect her from everything that the world causes harm to her.
"Do you want to spend time with everyone?'
"No, I want to spend time with you alone today. just the two of us," she said as she leaned into my embrace.
"That can be arranged. So what do you want to do?"
"Right now, I just want you to hold me a little bit longer."
"That I can do," I said as I tightened my grip on her. Right there I decided to sing a song to her, but what? After a few minutes of thinking, I had finally chosen a song.
I hope the man upstairs isn't made at me
Because I have one of his angels and she's here with me
Each time I see her precious smile and she spreads her wings
She takes me to a place where love meets eternity
Oh no, I'm not letting go
I don't want to be alone in this crazy world
Oh, Lord, I love her so
And I'll sacrifice it all to have her in my life
I found my girl
I'll tell the world
That heaven is missing an angel
My dreams came true when I found you
Yes, heaven is missing an angel
Not a day goes by I don't thank God for you
He blessed me with my angel though I don't deserve you
Before I met you, girl, lonely was my best friend
Now that you are here in my life, I am stronger within
I can't wait to kiss my angel late at night
And watch her go to sleep until I see her rise
I found my girl
I'll tell the world
That heaven is missing an angel
My dreams came true when I found you
Yes, heaven is missing an angel
All that I do is for you
Me without you, girl, just won't do
Your love's all I want to know
Angel, don't you ever go
Life won't be the same without you
I found my girl
I'll tell the world that heaven is missing an angel
When I found you
Yes, heaven is missing an angel.
She looked up at me with fresh tears in her eyes. "Hey, baby, what's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you crying?"
"They're happy tears," she said.
I smiled at her and said, "I love you."
"I love you, too," she said and I leaned down and kissed her right cheek, then her left and lastly her lips. At first, I had planned to give her a soft kiss, but she made it deeper as her hands went to my hair. I loved it when she played with my hair while we kissed. Slowly, I blindly led her to her bed, but as soon as we got there, she turned me around and I automatically sat down and I made a 'humph' sound and she giggled. The next thing I know is that she's climbing onto my lap. I held her and stroked her back.
I broke the kiss and she whined, "Baby, we need to stop."
"Why?" she said as she put her head on my shoulder.
"Because if you want to spend time together, then we're going to do this the only way I know how," I said.
"And how is that?"
"With a bang," I said as I tickled her sides and she giggled.
"Jeffy!!" she squealed as I tickled her more. And soon after that, I had her on the bed, and she was trying to make me stop tickling her.
~Sam's POV~
We stayed at the football stadium until it was too dark to see and decided to head home for the party. The party wasn't going to be too small but it wasn't going to be big either. It was moderate since we only invited 5 families and their friends. The parents had chipped in and bought so much good that it could feed an army. Since I was the only one who didn't really eat much since lunch, I got first served. I got into the living room and sat in between Jeff and Paul on the couch and started digging into my food. I was basically shoveling the food into my mouth. "Babydoll, take it easy with the food before you get sick," Paul said as he took a napkin and tried to help.
"I can't help it. I'm hungry; I didn't eat anything since lunch," I said as I took another bite out of my food.
"I know, but just take it easy, ok?"
I rolled my eyes and sarcastically said, "Ok, dad!!" He rumpled my hair and laughed.
Chrissy joined us with her food and she was sitting next to Shane across from us. She was doing the same thing. "Christine."
"Daddy, don't," I said.
"Why not?"
"This where I got the habit from," I explained.
"Ah, I see," he said as he shut his mouth and ended up laughing.
Christine looked up from her food and said with her mouth full, "What?"
"Chrissy, don't talk with your mouth full," I said.
She ate her food, "What?"
"Nothing," I smirked.
"Whatever," she said and went back to her food.
After the guys and I finished our plates, I went back for seconds. I came back with more food on my plate and when I sat down, Paul was looking at me funny, "What?"
"Are you going to eat that?"
"Yeah, I told you before that I was hungry," I said as I took the food on my fork.
"You're unbelievable." The guys had at least one plate since they had eaten something before hand. After dinner, we all sat down and talked about high school and what had happened when I wasn't there. After that, they all asked me about what it's like to work with WWF. We had so much fun talking about high school and everything.
Out of nowhere, Chrissy screamed. I looked at her funny, and said, "Chrissy, what's the matter with you?"
"Let me look at your hand," Chrissy said slowly. I showed her my right hand, "No, your left hand." I showed her my left hand and she grabbed it. "You're engaged and you never told me?" I sighed in relief.
"Yes, I'm engaged. I didn't even think about telling you since I was so busy with graduation," I explained.
"Who are you engaged to?"
"Are you that blind?" she sat there dumbfounded. "Jeff, of course. Chrissy you know that we were dating."
Oh. my. gosh," was all she said, and then she lunged at me, hugging me tightly. "I can't believe that my best friend's getting married!!!" she squealed as we laughed.
She was starting to choke me, "Chrissy. air. now. please."
She pulled back, "Oohh, sorry about that."
"It's ok. just don't kill me."
"You do and I'll kill you for killing my fiancée," Jeff chipped in.
Chrissy just stood there in shock, I squealed. "Don't you just love him? I said as I gave him a kiss on the cheek, but he turned his head at the last moment, making me kiss him on his lips. I gave him the look that said, 'Oohh, somebody's a bad boy tonight.' He had the look of: 'And you love me for it.' After the look exchange, I leaned into his arms.
"No, I don't," Chrissy said as she stalked off.
"Whatever, you still love us anyway," I said.
"Why didn't I know about this?" mom said.
"Ooppss, I forgot to tell you," I said as I looked at mom.
"It's ok, let me see the ring," mom said as she cam over to where I was sitting. I showed her the ring. "Oh, it's absolutely gorgeous, Jeff. When did you ask her?"
"Earlier today right before Matt left to join with the Federation," he responded.
"Oh, that's great to hear. I'm so happy for you, Samantha," Mom said as she gave me a hug. I hugged her back. After the hug, mom said, "I thought you were going to ask her during the party."
"I was going to but I decided to ask her earlier than expected," he said simply as he looked at me lovingly. I leaned up to him and kissed him softly.
"I love you," I said softly.
"I love you too," he said as he tightened his grip on me.
"Wait a minute. did you say that Matt went back with the Federation?" Chrissy asked.
"Yeah, I did," he said. "Why do you ask?"
"What made him decide to go back and not be here for the graduation?" Chrissy asked curiously as she looked at Jeff.
"You know what happened earlier today with Matt pinning her against the car?" Jeff asked as Chrissy nodded. "Well, Adam and Shane were both trying to talk some sense into him and nothing was working. Then Samantha was going through an emotional problem and Paul had helped her first, but then called Mark. Right before Mark went upstairs, he threatened Matt to either act up or leave. Matt left before Mark and Samantha had come back from wherever they came from," Jeff said as he shrugged.
Chrissy just sat there in shock as of what had happened. When she finally found her voice, she said, "Mark, what'd you say to him?"
"Nothing that you shouldn't know, Christine," Mark said with a smug look on his face.
Chrissy's jaw had dropped again for who knows how many times that night, "Why is everyone picking on me tonight?"
"Because we love you," I said as I yawned.
"Whatever," Chrissy said as she yawned. Soon everyone was yawning.
I looked at the clock that was on the living room wall, "Man, it's 1 in the morning!" I stretched out my muscles.
"I think we need to get our sleep tonight," Paul said.
"That sounds like a good idea," I said, not moving from Jeff's hold, and then I laughed.
"What's so funny?" Shane asked.
"I recently said how good idea it was for us to go to sleep but I'm not moving," I said as I continued to laugh. The guys joined in once they got the picture.
"If you want, I can pick you up and put you to bed?" Paul asked. All I did was act like a 2-year-old that stuck her arms out waiting to be picked up. All the guys laughed at my actions and then Paul said, "Well, maybe not." He still sat beside me as I put my puppy dogface and whined.
"Samantha Rose Copeland!!" mom said confidently. I looked at mom and whined and she said, "You have legs, use them." I shook my head no and pointed to Paul.
"Helen, don't worry about it. I started it, so I'll do it," Paul said.
"Paul, you're spoiling her," Helen said simply.
"She deserves to be spoiled especially on her graduation day," Paul said as he picked me up and I smiled as I cuddled up against him. Paul walked us past mom and she spanked my butt.
"I whined some more as I looked at mom. "Silly girl!" and with that, I smiled real big. I looked at Jeff who was sitting there on the couch. The guys are planning to stay at our house. With my finger, I motioned for him to follow us and he did with a smile on his face. Mom and the rest of the guys laughed at what was just portrayed. Paul had taken me upstairs with Jeff following suit. Everyone knew that Jeff and I were going to be sleeping in my room.
~Adam's POV~
We had led the other families that were still there out to the driveway to their cars. There was only Chrissy's family and a couple of others. Once they all left, we headed back inside and started to clean up. "Helen, why don't you go to sleep? We can clean this up," Mark said as he stood next to mom.
"No, I can clean this up. You guys go to sleep; I'll be fine," mom said as she yawned. "Mom, Mark's right. You should go to sleep. The guys and I can take care of this tonight," I said as I started to pick up trash.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes, we are," Mark said as he reassured her.
"All right, you guys win," mom said as she gave the trash to Mark, who just took it and put it in the trash bag. We all started cleaning up as soon as mom went upstairs to bed.
~Paul's POV~
As soon as I put Samantha on her bed, she looked up at me and said, "Thank you, daddy."
"You're welcome, babydoll. Now get some sleep," I said as I rumpled her hair and she smiled up at me. "I'm going downstairs to help everyone clean up the house before turning in for bed. Now Samantha, I expect you to be a good girl, ok?"
"I'm always a good girl," she said with a childlike look.
I looked at her and smirked, "Ok, whatever you say, babydoll." With that, I kissed the top of her head before leaving. "Good night Jeff."
"Good night, Paul," he said.
"Good night, daddy," she said in a childlike voice.
I smiled at her and said "Good night, babydoll." I closed the door and headed downstairs. At the same time, Helen had come up. "Helen, what's going on?"
"Mark, Shane, and Adam wanted me to go to sleep and that they will clean up downstairs," she said as she yawned.
"I'll have to agree with the guys. go to sleep. I'll make sure that the house looks clean before you're up in the morning," I said as I smiled.
Helen smiled, "Thank. good night, Paul."
"Good night, Helen," I said as I went downstairs to help clean up the living room, the dining room and the kitchen.
~Sam's POV~
As soon as Paul left, I said to Jeff, "I'm going to the bathroom to wash up, ok?"
"Ok, he said as he gave me a kiss. I went to the bathroom and washed my face and changed my clothes. When I got into my room, Jeff was already lying on my bed with the sheets covering him halfway and he was already half asleep. I smiled as I looked at him. I couldn't wait for our wedding day. I went to the other side and crawled into bed and immediately felt Jeff pulling me into his embrace as we slept in each other's arms.
~Paul's POV~
We had finished cleaning the three rooms in an hour and we were glad to be finished since we were really tired. They had three guest rooms upstairs alongside Adam and Samantha's bedroom. We all went upstairs and I decided to look in Samantha's room to see how she was doing. I opened her door a little bit and smiled at the sight of Jeff holding her in his arms protectively. Mark, Shane and Adam had joined me to see what was going on. "They look cute together, don't they?" Mark whispered.
"Yeah, they do," I said.
"Can't wait for their wedding day," Shane said. "Wonder what it will look like."
Adam and I looked at Shane and said in unison, "You don't want to know." With that, we smiled and closed the door and headed for our rooms for the night. I have to admit that, for me, it's going to be a little weird for me not to sleep without Samantha. Even at my house, she always finds a way into my bed and cuddle up against me, no matter the time of night. I'm definitely going to miss that when she gets married. With that final thought in mind, I hit the bed and fell asleep.
~Sam's POV~
The next morning, I woke up and stretched and felt a pair of strong arms holding me. I remembered what had happened the night before. I smiled as I remembered graduating from high school. I looked at the clock and it only read 9:34, and then I looked at Jeff who was already awake. I smiled at him and said, "How long have you been awake?"
"For the past hour. I didn't want to wake you up. You looked so peaceful when you sleep," Jeff said as he kissed my forehead, the tip of my nose and then on my lips. He was going to pull away, but I pulled him back and we made out, but it didn't last long when we heard knocking on the door.
I groaned as Jeff laughed. I managed to say, "Who is it?"
"It's Paul. could I come in?" he said through the door.
I looked at Jeff and he nodded, "Yeah, you can come in." I cuddled up against him when Paul opened the door. When he did, he was in his usual jeans and nice top. He smiled at the sight of us. "Daddy, why are you smiling?"
"I'm smiling because of how cute you look together," he responded.
"Hey, if anything. I don't look cute!!" Jeff said, smirking.
"Hey!!! Why do you think I'm here with you?" I said as I sat up and looked at him.
"Oh, I just thought it was because of my charms." Jeff said. I stuck my tongue out at him and he tickled me immediately. I laughed and tried to escape him.
"Daddy!!! Help me!!!' I squealed.
"I'm not getting involved with that," Paul said. Jeff stopped tickling me and we looked at each other knowingly and then looked at Paul.
~Paul's POV~
When they gave me that look, I knew that I was in trouble. Jeff and Samantha both slowly got out of the bed and stalked me all the way down to the living room. Then Samantha lunged at me and made me fall to the floor, laughing. "I can't believe you made us do that!!!" she whined as she put her puppy dogface on.
"I'm sorry, babydoll, but. I did that because I love you."
"What's going on here?" mom asked. "And why is Samantha on top of Paul?"
"Mommy, Paul said something that made Jeff tickle me for no reason," I said as I looked up at mom.
"Oh, he did that because he loves you and you know that!!"
"I know," she said shyly and started laughing as soon as I tickled her. "Somebody help me!!!" she squealed and tried to escape. Mark, Shane and Adam were already there in the living room, watching and laughing along with the antics she showed.
I stopped tickling her after a little while and she was trying to catch her breath. She covered her mouth with her left hand and something was off. I realized what it was, "Babydoll, where's your engagement ring?" She looked at her hand and realized that it wasn't there; she started to get paranoid. She ran upstairs, trying not to scream or anything. They guys and I followed suit and we saw her looking on the bed. When it wasn't there, she ran to the bathroom and looked for it. All of a sudden, there was a loud scream. I ran to her and tried to talk to her, "Babydoll?"
She looked at me with tears in her eyes, "Daddy, where's my ring?"
My heart immediately melted when I saw her like that. "Guys start looking for the ring. Check downstairs, wherever you can think of where she was last night." The guys nodded and went downstairs as I carried Samantha in my arms. Jeff was checking the bed carefully and the nightstands and the drawers.
~Sam's POV~
When Jeff looked at Paul and shook his head, I was wailing. Paul did everything he could do to calm me down. In the next moment, we heard someone say, "Found it!" Shane was running into the bedroom with the ring.
"Thanks man. Where did you find it?" Jeff asked as he took the ring.
"It was underneath the couch cushions in the living room. It must have slipped off her finger or something."
"Thanks, man. I owe you big time." Jeff said as he quickly hugged Shane and walked over to where Paul was holding me. "Hey, baby. Shane found the ring." he said softly. I looked at Jeff and then I looked at the ring.
When I spoke, I spoke to Shane, "Thank you Shane."
"You're welcome, babe."
I looked at Jeff and said, "Aren't you going to put it on again?"
I heard all the guys laughing, and Jeff said, "Yeah, I am." With that, he put it on my finger again. He checked to see if it was the right size and it wasn't. "Guys, the ring is a little big on her. I thought it was the right size."
"Jeff, I will always love you and this ring. it doesn't matter if it's the right size or not."
"No, everything has to be right with the one I love," Jeff said with disappointment in his voice. I could tell that he was trying to hide it.
"No, you can't take it back," I said as my voice broke.
"I got to, baby. What happens if it falls when you're wrestling or even when you're shopping?" Jeff asked as he looked at me with tears in his eyes.
I looked down at my hand; I knew that he was right. "I still don't want you to take it back," I said as I got out of Paul's hold and went into Jeff's arms.
~Helen's POV~
I had heard everything that was said and decided to go into my bedroom. I got the ring that my mother had given me. It looked like the right size for Samantha. I got it out and went straight to her bedroom. "Jeff, Samantha. there's something that I want to give both of you. I was going to wait until Adam got married, but Samantha, you're like a daughter I never had and I want you to keep this ring," I showed them the ring.
When Jeff and Samantha saw the ring, Samantha had said, "Mom, this is your ring. I couldn't." she said as she pushed it back into my hand.
"No, I want you to have this. This is what my mother has given me before she passed away. I'm still wearing the ring that daddy gave me. I'll be fine, sweetheart," I said to her lovingly.
"I still couldn't mommy," she said in a childlike voice.
"Take it. this is what your father would want," I said as I gave the ring to her.
~Sam's POV~
I looked at the ring that my mother had given me and then I looked at my mother who nodded to me to take it. I didn't want to disappoint daddy, so I said, "Thank you, mommy." I went up to her and hugged her.
She hugged me back and said, "Your father is very, very proud of you. of all the accomplishments you've made. I just wish he was here to see you."
"Me too," I said as I pulled back.
"Now, go back to Jeff and make sure he puts it on," she said as she smiled at me.
I smiled back and went to Jeff. He took off the ring he had given me and took the ring from my hand. Then unexpectedly he got down on one knee and asked me again, "Samantha Rose Copeland, will you marry me?"
I had tears streaming down my face as I softly said, "Yes." And he put the ring on my finger and it was a perfect fit. I stared at the ring for a little while before looking at Jeff and hugging him. In his ear, I whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too," he said, just as soft.
~Paul's POV~
As soon as they embraced, I motioned for everyone to head out the door without them noticing and they did. I was the last one out before taking the last look at them and smiled. Samantha had truly loved him; there was no doubt about that. She has found true love that is so rare to find. She loved him for giving her a ring that wasn't even in her size. It absolutely amazed me to see someone give so much love just because of a miscalculation. I closed the door and allowed them to have time on their own. They really needed to express their love in the only way they knew how. by spending time together alone.
~Jeff's POV~
I stood there holding her in my arms and not wanting to let her go. I have never felt so much love by anyone than her. Right when she told me that she wanted to keep the ring, it made me wonder what made her say that. I decided to ask, "Baby?"
"Yeah?"
"When you said that you didn't want me to take the ring back. why did you say that?"
"She pulled back and looked into my eyes and said, "I said that because you gave it to me from your heart. That's all that matters to me. that you're giving me everything from your heart. I love your heart." When she said that, it made me love her even more. It made me want to protect her from everything that the world causes harm to her.
"Do you want to spend time with everyone?'
"No, I want to spend time with you alone today. just the two of us," she said as she leaned into my embrace.
"That can be arranged. So what do you want to do?"
"Right now, I just want you to hold me a little bit longer."
"That I can do," I said as I tightened my grip on her. Right there I decided to sing a song to her, but what? After a few minutes of thinking, I had finally chosen a song.
I hope the man upstairs isn't made at me
Because I have one of his angels and she's here with me
Each time I see her precious smile and she spreads her wings
She takes me to a place where love meets eternity
Oh no, I'm not letting go
I don't want to be alone in this crazy world
Oh, Lord, I love her so
And I'll sacrifice it all to have her in my life
I found my girl
I'll tell the world
That heaven is missing an angel
My dreams came true when I found you
Yes, heaven is missing an angel
Not a day goes by I don't thank God for you
He blessed me with my angel though I don't deserve you
Before I met you, girl, lonely was my best friend
Now that you are here in my life, I am stronger within
I can't wait to kiss my angel late at night
And watch her go to sleep until I see her rise
I found my girl
I'll tell the world
That heaven is missing an angel
My dreams came true when I found you
Yes, heaven is missing an angel
All that I do is for you
Me without you, girl, just won't do
Your love's all I want to know
Angel, don't you ever go
Life won't be the same without you
I found my girl
I'll tell the world that heaven is missing an angel
When I found you
Yes, heaven is missing an angel.
She looked up at me with fresh tears in her eyes. "Hey, baby, what's the matter?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you crying?"
"They're happy tears," she said.
I smiled at her and said, "I love you."
"I love you, too," she said and I leaned down and kissed her right cheek, then her left and lastly her lips. At first, I had planned to give her a soft kiss, but she made it deeper as her hands went to my hair. I loved it when she played with my hair while we kissed. Slowly, I blindly led her to her bed, but as soon as we got there, she turned me around and I automatically sat down and I made a 'humph' sound and she giggled. The next thing I know is that she's climbing onto my lap. I held her and stroked her back.
I broke the kiss and she whined, "Baby, we need to stop."
"Why?" she said as she put her head on my shoulder.
"Because if you want to spend time together, then we're going to do this the only way I know how," I said.
"And how is that?"
"With a bang," I said as I tickled her sides and she giggled.
"Jeffy!!" she squealed as I tickled her more. And soon after that, I had her on the bed, and she was trying to make me stop tickling her.
