Chapter 42: Christmas Eve
~Adam's POV~
It was 1 in the afternoon and Sam hasn't come out of her room all day and for the past couple of days that we've been home. We called Paul last night and mom had left earlier today to pick up Paul from the airport. I was standing in front of the window in the living room around 1 waiting for mom and Paul to show up. Sam had asked where mom was but I told her that mom went to the store. She just nodded and went back in her world. I saw mom drive up in the driveway with Paul. I opened the door as Paul walked up and said, "How is she, Adam?"
"Not so good. I just came downstairs a while ago. Sam was crying and asking for you," I said with a heavy sigh.
"I'll talk to her. Does she know that I'm here?" he asked.
"No, mom and I told her that she was going to the store instead of the airport."
"Ok, I'm going to go up there, making her think that I'm you," he said as he went upstairs. Just then, Sam had started to come down and saw Paul coming up.
~Paul's POV~
"Daddy," she said softly, as fresh tears were showing.
"I'm here, sweetheart," I said as I opened my arms to her. She immediately walked right into them, crying. "It's going to be ok. I'm here," I said as I picked her up and went upstairs to her bedroom. As soon as we got into her room, I closed the door as softly as I could. I put her down on the bed and took my shoes off and held onto her. She had calmed down as soon as I sat next to her on the bed.
"Daddy, don't leave me," she whined as I got up to go to the restroom.
"Sweetheart, I'm going to be right back. I'm going to the bathroom and get a wet cloth, ok?" I said softly as I pushed her hair back.
"You promise to come back?" she said as she pouted.
"I promise," I said. She closed her eyes and I left. I came back a few minutes later with the cloth and started to gently clean her face. She had woken up the first time she felt it and then closed her eyes immediately. As soon as I had finished, she looked like she was sleeping. I went to get a brush from her bathroom and lifted her so that she could lean against me.
She stirred and said, "Daddy?"
"I'm right here, sweetheart," I said softly.
"Brush my hair," she said sleepily.
"I'm going to do that, sweetie," I said as I started to brush her hair.
"Daddy?" she said after a few minutes.
"What is it, sweetie?"
"After you brush my hair, could we go downstairs?"
"Do you want to?"
"Yes," she said softly.
"All right," I said just as soft and continue to brush her hair. After a while, I finished brushing her hair and found her sleeping in my arms. I put the brush on the nightstand and held her as she slept. I watched her sleep for a few minutes before she woke up and rubbed her eyes. She looked up at me and smiled and pulled my arms around her and burrowed into my embrace. "You feeling better?"
"A little better," she said shyly.
"Good," I said as I tightened my grip on her.
"You promised that we would go downstairs," she said as she looked up to me.
"Do you want to go right now?"
"Could we stay like this for a little while?"
"Yeah," I said as I kissed the top of her head. I decided to sing to help her feel better and thought of the one song that I knew that will help her feel better. and that was 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing.'
After singing that to her, she looked up at me with a smile on her face and said, "Thank you daddy. I feel better now that you sang it. We can go downstairs now."
"You're more than welcome, sweetheart. Let's go. your mom and Adam are waiting for you," I said as she got off the bed and stretched. I tickled her back and she started giggling. The more I did, the more she laughed.
"Daddy, stop," she said in between laughs. I tickled her a few more minutes as she continued to laugh. Adam and Helen had come opened the door slightly and I caught them in the corner of my eye but I didn't say anything. I allowed them to watch Samantha smile. "Daddy," she said as she tried to catch her breath. I stopped tickling her and allowed her to breath.
I sat on the edge of her bed as Samantha had put her arms around my neck and leaned into my embrace. I wrapped my arms around her and said, "Want to go now?"
"Yeah, but would you hold my hand when we go downstairs?" she asked.
"Of course I will," I said as I stood up and held her hand. As I opened the door, Helen and Adam were standing outside. All of a sudden, Samantha grew shy and hid behind my back. "What's the matter, sweetheart?"
"Nothing," she mumbled.
"Then why are you hiding behind my back?"
"I don't know," she mumbled again.
"I think I know why," Adam said smirking.
She whined as she tugged on my shirt and we all laughed. "Why don't we all go downstairs and enjoy ourselves, huh?" I asked.
"That sounds like a good idea," Helen said as we all headed downstairs. As soon as I sat in the loveseat, Samantha sat on my lap and burrowed herself in my embrace. She looked up at me and smiled. I looked down at her and smirked.
"So what do you guys want to do?" I asked.
"Could you tell stories?" Samantha asked.
"Sure, what kind of stories do you want to hear?" I asked.
"How about the time that you met daddy?" she asked.
"Sami, you heard that story a million times," Adam said.
"I still want to hear it again," she said as tears started to well up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sami," Adam said when he saw the tears come down her cheeks. She whined and burrowed more. Adam looked at me, so unsure of what to do.
I just decided to tell the story anyway. "You know what's funny. I met your father when you were just 6 years old and you were just starting first grade. Your father had invited your birth family over for Christmas and invited me and my family as well. Since my family was struggling financially, I came alone. I was only 16 at that time, but your father had come down to New Hampshire for several business trips over time and always needed to talk to my father. That's how we met and that's what started our relationship," I started off. Samantha sat there listening intently as well as Adam and Helen. I knew that it was the one story that Samantha never got tired of. I have never got tired of telling it to her as well. "And there was one thing that I remember the most out of growing up with Michael, do you know what that was?" I asked Samantha as she looked at me
She smiled at me, "That was me."
"No, it wasn't. It was picking on Adam," I said as I smirked.
"It was not!!!!!" she perked up and pointed her finger onto my chest. "It was me!!!! Daddy said so!!!!!" she smiled and whined.
I laughed as I pulled her closer to me. "Of course it was you. it will always be you," I said as I kissed the top of her head.
"What was it that daddy said that you could always call me?" she asked.
"Michael had said that I could always call you 'my little angel,'" I replied.
"Am I your little angel?" she asked innocently.
"Yeah, you are. And you will always be my little angel," I replied as I pulled her into my embrace and held her.
She started sniffling and said softly, "I miss daddy."
"I know you do, sweetheart. And it's ok to miss him," I said as I stroked her back.
"I want to move on, but I don't know how," she said crying.
"Just take it one day at a time, sweetheart and you'll be fine. You have me, Adam, Helen, Jeff and everybody else to help you move on," I replied as I held onto her. This was the first time I've seen her cry since I've told her that story.
"Promise?" she said softly.
"I promise," I replied softly as Helen and Adam nodded.
After a few moments of silence, Samantha asked, "Could you tell more stories?"
"What kind of stories?" I asked.
"Any kind. but I kind of want to hear stories that have a happy ending," she replied.
"Ok, now let me see." I sat back and thought. After a while, I thought of one. "Ok, this story about to tell you is something that my father told me, this is how it starts." I started to tell the story and Samantha was listening intently to what I was saying. "That was why she was the town's special princess. all because of her sharing and her humble heart." I looked down at her and she was dozing off.
"More stories." she said softly. I looked at her surprised and then I looked at Helen. She just sat there shrugging. I mouthed to them that I'm taking her upstairs and they agreed. "Daddy," she whined.
"I'm right here, sweetheart. I'm thinking of a story, ok?"
"Mmmm," she replied as she held onto me. I went inside her bedroom and got everything situated. I lied down next to her on her bed and she spoke softly and simply, "Tell me story."
"Here's another story. this is about a young boy who was poor but he loved this young girl who was about the same age as he was," I started off as she cuddled against me. Halfway through the story, I looked down at her and knew that she was sleeping and softly said, "And they lived happily ever after." I watched her as she slept. She truly looked like an angel as she slept. I closed my eyes just for a moment, just to enjoy having her in my arms. Before I knew it, I woke up to seeing Samantha lying in my arms, watching TV with no sound. She laughed softly and I knew that she was trying to stay quiet so she wouldn't wake me up. "What's so funny?" I asked as she screamed. She looked at me with one hand on her chest and one hand over her mouth.
"Daddy, don't scare me like that," she said softly.
"I'm sorry, baby," I said as I chuckled and hugged her. "What were you laughing about?" I asked as I saw a cartoon on TV.
"They were showing Tom and Jerry. I always liked watching Tom and Jerry. It's funny," she said as she turned the TV off.
"You don't have to turn it off. You can watch it if you want," I replied.
"I'd rather spend time with you than watch cartoons," she replied.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"So what do you want to do?" I asked as I stroked her hair.
"I don't know."
"Well, what do you do when Michael was here?"
"Well, we usually play board games, mainly Monopoly and Sorry," she said.
"Wanna play them?"
"Could we?"
"Yeah, want to ask Adam, too?"
"Yeah," she replied shyly. I knew that she smiled.
"Are you smiling?" I asked mischievously.
"No," she said. I could hear the laughter in her voice.
"I think you are smiling," I said, as I got ready to tickle her.
"Ok, I was smiling. Don't tickle me," she said, as she got ready to defend herself.
"Let's go downstairs and play games, huh?"
"Ok, let me go get the games," she said as she went to her closet and got the games. We both headed downstairs and saw Helen and Adam chatting in the living room. They looked up at us and saw Samantha with the board games.
"Monopoly first!!!" Adam said excitedly as he jumped up.
"Sorry!!" Samantha said back at him as she took the games behind her back.
"Monopoly," Adam said.
"Sorry."
"Monopoly."
"We're playing Sorry, Adam" Helen said as Samantha squealed as she sat down to get the game ready.
"I'm blue!" she said as she got all of the blue tokens.
"I'm green," I replied as Samantha got the green tokens for me.
"I'm red," Helen said as she got the red tokens.
"Yellow?" Adam said as he sulked.
Samantha just leaned next to me and laughed. "You got yellow." She continued to laugh.
I sat there puzzled and Helen explained to me, "In our family, yellow means that you've got the 'stinky' color because anybody who uses yellow, doesn't seem to win." I laughed as soon as I understood. We got the game started and we all played. Samantha was leading and Helen and I were second in command. Poor Adam, he just sat there moving one token at a time. Samantha squealed as soon as she got her last token in her home plate.
"I win," Samantha said, "That means I got a soda."
"What?" I asked bafflingly.
"It's like we have a family bet. Whoever wins Sorry, gets a soda of any kind. Whoever wins Monopoly, gets ice cream of any kind," she explained.
"Where do you go to get them?"
"We usually get it from one of my favorite places in Toronto and it's an hour drive. We usually go the day after Christmas." She got the game cleaned up and got monopoly set up. "I'm the doggy."
"Car here," I said.
"Thimble," Helen said.
"Shoe," Adam said. We got to play and Samantha seemed to be struggling but slowly and surely she was getting her money and property back and beating all of us and we ended up being in debt. She sat there squealing and smiling. "I just let her win."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you and what army?" Samantha asked sarcastically.
"Edge army. who else?" he asked. Samantha just rolled her eyes and then squealed as soon as Adam started tickling her. I pulled Adam off her and held him down as Samantha went for his secret spot. My eyes grew wide as soon as I found out where it was and Adam was lying there in fear. "Sam!!!!!"
She stopped and she looked at him and innocently said, "What?"
"Why did you tickle me?"
"What'cha talking about?" she said as she stuck her hands on either side of her. I looked at Helen and we were both smiling.
"You know what you did," he said as he started to stalk her.
She got up and ran behind me. "I don't know what'cha talking about," she said, but there was laughter in her voice.
Adam froze since he knew that I knew where he secret spot was. "You can't hide behind Paul."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because?"
"You're a brat."
"Because I'm a brat? I've always been a brat. That's nothing new," she replied as Helen and I laughed.
"She's got a point, Adam," Helen said through her laughter. Adam just stood there in shock as all three of us laughed. We all continued to chat and have fun until it was time for dinner. I just followed what they did for dinner and then after that we went to watch a movie at one of the local theaters that was open during the holidays. Samantha had gotten excited when we arrived to the theater.
"Daddy, sit here," Samantha said as she patted the seat next to her. One thing about the seating arrangements in the theater was that every two seats the armrest would go back and Samantha had gotten one for her and me. I sat next to her and put the drinks in the cup slots and the snacks all ready as well. We all continued to chat until the movie started. When the movie started, Samantha had grabbed my hand and put my arm around her. I smiled at the sight of her snuggling next to me. When the movie finished, we all got ready to go home.
I was ready to stand up, but Helen grabbed my arm and said, "Paul, look." I looked over at Samantha who was sleeping comfortably. I smiled at her. I got up slowly, trying not to wake her up.
She stirred a little bit, "Daddy?"
"I'm right here, baby," I said softly as I picked her up and started walking out of the theater and to the parking lot. Helen motioned to Adam to drive home and when we got to the car, we got into the car. Samantha stirred a little bit but soon fell asleep when I put my arms around her. The ride home was quiet and peaceful and we were all tired and ready to sleep.
"Paul, there is something that I need to tell you before going inside," Helen said as she turned in her seat.
"What's that matter?" I asked, in concern.
"It's Samantha."
"What about her?" I asked again.
"Every year on Christmas eve, she gets these nightmares that are seem very real to her. She usually won't let anyone come near her. She won't let Michael, myself or Adam near her. Adam is the only one who holds onto her and calms her down," she said as she looked at Samantha.
"Then how does Adam hold her?" I asked.
"I grab her wrists and bring her towards me and then just hold onto her tightly. She will kick, punch or whatnot to break the hold. I got bruises from that," Adam said as he just drove in the driveway.
"Thanks for letting me know."
"Please." Helen choked, ".just take care of her."
"Helen, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to take care of her," I said as I took her hand.
"Mom, you know that I'll be there for her too," Adam said as he hugged her. After a few moments, we all went inside the house and went to bed. Adam stayed with Helen to comfort her as I went into Samantha's room with her.
Samantha stirred a little bit and whined, "No, daddy. please don't go!!!"
"Ssssshhhh, baby, I'm right here. I just need to change your clothes for bed."
"No, daddy. please. you can't die!!" I looked at her puzzlingly but I listened to her as she dreamed. "Wake up!!! Daddy, you can't leave me!! Wake up!!!" She was started to cry and toss and turn. I grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards me. As I wrapped my arms around her, she screamed, "Nnnnnoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!" She woke up and pulled away from me, with tears coming down her face.
"Sweetheart?" I asked as I tried to wipe the tears away from her face.
She pulled back, in a shaky voice, "No, you're supposed to be dead."
"I'm still alive, sweetheart. I'm right here," I said as I reached out for her.
She pulled back more, shaking her head, "No!!" She started to cry, but I reached out for her and pulled her towards me. She was fighting me, but I held onto her and refused to let her go. I said soothing words to her and sang to her. I did everything I could to help her calm down.
~Adam's POV~
It was 1 in the afternoon and Sam hasn't come out of her room all day and for the past couple of days that we've been home. We called Paul last night and mom had left earlier today to pick up Paul from the airport. I was standing in front of the window in the living room around 1 waiting for mom and Paul to show up. Sam had asked where mom was but I told her that mom went to the store. She just nodded and went back in her world. I saw mom drive up in the driveway with Paul. I opened the door as Paul walked up and said, "How is she, Adam?"
"Not so good. I just came downstairs a while ago. Sam was crying and asking for you," I said with a heavy sigh.
"I'll talk to her. Does she know that I'm here?" he asked.
"No, mom and I told her that she was going to the store instead of the airport."
"Ok, I'm going to go up there, making her think that I'm you," he said as he went upstairs. Just then, Sam had started to come down and saw Paul coming up.
~Paul's POV~
"Daddy," she said softly, as fresh tears were showing.
"I'm here, sweetheart," I said as I opened my arms to her. She immediately walked right into them, crying. "It's going to be ok. I'm here," I said as I picked her up and went upstairs to her bedroom. As soon as we got into her room, I closed the door as softly as I could. I put her down on the bed and took my shoes off and held onto her. She had calmed down as soon as I sat next to her on the bed.
"Daddy, don't leave me," she whined as I got up to go to the restroom.
"Sweetheart, I'm going to be right back. I'm going to the bathroom and get a wet cloth, ok?" I said softly as I pushed her hair back.
"You promise to come back?" she said as she pouted.
"I promise," I said. She closed her eyes and I left. I came back a few minutes later with the cloth and started to gently clean her face. She had woken up the first time she felt it and then closed her eyes immediately. As soon as I had finished, she looked like she was sleeping. I went to get a brush from her bathroom and lifted her so that she could lean against me.
She stirred and said, "Daddy?"
"I'm right here, sweetheart," I said softly.
"Brush my hair," she said sleepily.
"I'm going to do that, sweetie," I said as I started to brush her hair.
"Daddy?" she said after a few minutes.
"What is it, sweetie?"
"After you brush my hair, could we go downstairs?"
"Do you want to?"
"Yes," she said softly.
"All right," I said just as soft and continue to brush her hair. After a while, I finished brushing her hair and found her sleeping in my arms. I put the brush on the nightstand and held her as she slept. I watched her sleep for a few minutes before she woke up and rubbed her eyes. She looked up at me and smiled and pulled my arms around her and burrowed into my embrace. "You feeling better?"
"A little better," she said shyly.
"Good," I said as I tightened my grip on her.
"You promised that we would go downstairs," she said as she looked up to me.
"Do you want to go right now?"
"Could we stay like this for a little while?"
"Yeah," I said as I kissed the top of her head. I decided to sing to help her feel better and thought of the one song that I knew that will help her feel better. and that was 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing.'
After singing that to her, she looked up at me with a smile on her face and said, "Thank you daddy. I feel better now that you sang it. We can go downstairs now."
"You're more than welcome, sweetheart. Let's go. your mom and Adam are waiting for you," I said as she got off the bed and stretched. I tickled her back and she started giggling. The more I did, the more she laughed.
"Daddy, stop," she said in between laughs. I tickled her a few more minutes as she continued to laugh. Adam and Helen had come opened the door slightly and I caught them in the corner of my eye but I didn't say anything. I allowed them to watch Samantha smile. "Daddy," she said as she tried to catch her breath. I stopped tickling her and allowed her to breath.
I sat on the edge of her bed as Samantha had put her arms around my neck and leaned into my embrace. I wrapped my arms around her and said, "Want to go now?"
"Yeah, but would you hold my hand when we go downstairs?" she asked.
"Of course I will," I said as I stood up and held her hand. As I opened the door, Helen and Adam were standing outside. All of a sudden, Samantha grew shy and hid behind my back. "What's the matter, sweetheart?"
"Nothing," she mumbled.
"Then why are you hiding behind my back?"
"I don't know," she mumbled again.
"I think I know why," Adam said smirking.
She whined as she tugged on my shirt and we all laughed. "Why don't we all go downstairs and enjoy ourselves, huh?" I asked.
"That sounds like a good idea," Helen said as we all headed downstairs. As soon as I sat in the loveseat, Samantha sat on my lap and burrowed herself in my embrace. She looked up at me and smiled. I looked down at her and smirked.
"So what do you guys want to do?" I asked.
"Could you tell stories?" Samantha asked.
"Sure, what kind of stories do you want to hear?" I asked.
"How about the time that you met daddy?" she asked.
"Sami, you heard that story a million times," Adam said.
"I still want to hear it again," she said as tears started to well up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sami," Adam said when he saw the tears come down her cheeks. She whined and burrowed more. Adam looked at me, so unsure of what to do.
I just decided to tell the story anyway. "You know what's funny. I met your father when you were just 6 years old and you were just starting first grade. Your father had invited your birth family over for Christmas and invited me and my family as well. Since my family was struggling financially, I came alone. I was only 16 at that time, but your father had come down to New Hampshire for several business trips over time and always needed to talk to my father. That's how we met and that's what started our relationship," I started off. Samantha sat there listening intently as well as Adam and Helen. I knew that it was the one story that Samantha never got tired of. I have never got tired of telling it to her as well. "And there was one thing that I remember the most out of growing up with Michael, do you know what that was?" I asked Samantha as she looked at me
She smiled at me, "That was me."
"No, it wasn't. It was picking on Adam," I said as I smirked.
"It was not!!!!!" she perked up and pointed her finger onto my chest. "It was me!!!! Daddy said so!!!!!" she smiled and whined.
I laughed as I pulled her closer to me. "Of course it was you. it will always be you," I said as I kissed the top of her head.
"What was it that daddy said that you could always call me?" she asked.
"Michael had said that I could always call you 'my little angel,'" I replied.
"Am I your little angel?" she asked innocently.
"Yeah, you are. And you will always be my little angel," I replied as I pulled her into my embrace and held her.
She started sniffling and said softly, "I miss daddy."
"I know you do, sweetheart. And it's ok to miss him," I said as I stroked her back.
"I want to move on, but I don't know how," she said crying.
"Just take it one day at a time, sweetheart and you'll be fine. You have me, Adam, Helen, Jeff and everybody else to help you move on," I replied as I held onto her. This was the first time I've seen her cry since I've told her that story.
"Promise?" she said softly.
"I promise," I replied softly as Helen and Adam nodded.
After a few moments of silence, Samantha asked, "Could you tell more stories?"
"What kind of stories?" I asked.
"Any kind. but I kind of want to hear stories that have a happy ending," she replied.
"Ok, now let me see." I sat back and thought. After a while, I thought of one. "Ok, this story about to tell you is something that my father told me, this is how it starts." I started to tell the story and Samantha was listening intently to what I was saying. "That was why she was the town's special princess. all because of her sharing and her humble heart." I looked down at her and she was dozing off.
"More stories." she said softly. I looked at her surprised and then I looked at Helen. She just sat there shrugging. I mouthed to them that I'm taking her upstairs and they agreed. "Daddy," she whined.
"I'm right here, sweetheart. I'm thinking of a story, ok?"
"Mmmm," she replied as she held onto me. I went inside her bedroom and got everything situated. I lied down next to her on her bed and she spoke softly and simply, "Tell me story."
"Here's another story. this is about a young boy who was poor but he loved this young girl who was about the same age as he was," I started off as she cuddled against me. Halfway through the story, I looked down at her and knew that she was sleeping and softly said, "And they lived happily ever after." I watched her as she slept. She truly looked like an angel as she slept. I closed my eyes just for a moment, just to enjoy having her in my arms. Before I knew it, I woke up to seeing Samantha lying in my arms, watching TV with no sound. She laughed softly and I knew that she was trying to stay quiet so she wouldn't wake me up. "What's so funny?" I asked as she screamed. She looked at me with one hand on her chest and one hand over her mouth.
"Daddy, don't scare me like that," she said softly.
"I'm sorry, baby," I said as I chuckled and hugged her. "What were you laughing about?" I asked as I saw a cartoon on TV.
"They were showing Tom and Jerry. I always liked watching Tom and Jerry. It's funny," she said as she turned the TV off.
"You don't have to turn it off. You can watch it if you want," I replied.
"I'd rather spend time with you than watch cartoons," she replied.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
"So what do you want to do?" I asked as I stroked her hair.
"I don't know."
"Well, what do you do when Michael was here?"
"Well, we usually play board games, mainly Monopoly and Sorry," she said.
"Wanna play them?"
"Could we?"
"Yeah, want to ask Adam, too?"
"Yeah," she replied shyly. I knew that she smiled.
"Are you smiling?" I asked mischievously.
"No," she said. I could hear the laughter in her voice.
"I think you are smiling," I said, as I got ready to tickle her.
"Ok, I was smiling. Don't tickle me," she said, as she got ready to defend herself.
"Let's go downstairs and play games, huh?"
"Ok, let me go get the games," she said as she went to her closet and got the games. We both headed downstairs and saw Helen and Adam chatting in the living room. They looked up at us and saw Samantha with the board games.
"Monopoly first!!!" Adam said excitedly as he jumped up.
"Sorry!!" Samantha said back at him as she took the games behind her back.
"Monopoly," Adam said.
"Sorry."
"Monopoly."
"We're playing Sorry, Adam" Helen said as Samantha squealed as she sat down to get the game ready.
"I'm blue!" she said as she got all of the blue tokens.
"I'm green," I replied as Samantha got the green tokens for me.
"I'm red," Helen said as she got the red tokens.
"Yellow?" Adam said as he sulked.
Samantha just leaned next to me and laughed. "You got yellow." She continued to laugh.
I sat there puzzled and Helen explained to me, "In our family, yellow means that you've got the 'stinky' color because anybody who uses yellow, doesn't seem to win." I laughed as soon as I understood. We got the game started and we all played. Samantha was leading and Helen and I were second in command. Poor Adam, he just sat there moving one token at a time. Samantha squealed as soon as she got her last token in her home plate.
"I win," Samantha said, "That means I got a soda."
"What?" I asked bafflingly.
"It's like we have a family bet. Whoever wins Sorry, gets a soda of any kind. Whoever wins Monopoly, gets ice cream of any kind," she explained.
"Where do you go to get them?"
"We usually get it from one of my favorite places in Toronto and it's an hour drive. We usually go the day after Christmas." She got the game cleaned up and got monopoly set up. "I'm the doggy."
"Car here," I said.
"Thimble," Helen said.
"Shoe," Adam said. We got to play and Samantha seemed to be struggling but slowly and surely she was getting her money and property back and beating all of us and we ended up being in debt. She sat there squealing and smiling. "I just let her win."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you and what army?" Samantha asked sarcastically.
"Edge army. who else?" he asked. Samantha just rolled her eyes and then squealed as soon as Adam started tickling her. I pulled Adam off her and held him down as Samantha went for his secret spot. My eyes grew wide as soon as I found out where it was and Adam was lying there in fear. "Sam!!!!!"
She stopped and she looked at him and innocently said, "What?"
"Why did you tickle me?"
"What'cha talking about?" she said as she stuck her hands on either side of her. I looked at Helen and we were both smiling.
"You know what you did," he said as he started to stalk her.
She got up and ran behind me. "I don't know what'cha talking about," she said, but there was laughter in her voice.
Adam froze since he knew that I knew where he secret spot was. "You can't hide behind Paul."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because?"
"You're a brat."
"Because I'm a brat? I've always been a brat. That's nothing new," she replied as Helen and I laughed.
"She's got a point, Adam," Helen said through her laughter. Adam just stood there in shock as all three of us laughed. We all continued to chat and have fun until it was time for dinner. I just followed what they did for dinner and then after that we went to watch a movie at one of the local theaters that was open during the holidays. Samantha had gotten excited when we arrived to the theater.
"Daddy, sit here," Samantha said as she patted the seat next to her. One thing about the seating arrangements in the theater was that every two seats the armrest would go back and Samantha had gotten one for her and me. I sat next to her and put the drinks in the cup slots and the snacks all ready as well. We all continued to chat until the movie started. When the movie started, Samantha had grabbed my hand and put my arm around her. I smiled at the sight of her snuggling next to me. When the movie finished, we all got ready to go home.
I was ready to stand up, but Helen grabbed my arm and said, "Paul, look." I looked over at Samantha who was sleeping comfortably. I smiled at her. I got up slowly, trying not to wake her up.
She stirred a little bit, "Daddy?"
"I'm right here, baby," I said softly as I picked her up and started walking out of the theater and to the parking lot. Helen motioned to Adam to drive home and when we got to the car, we got into the car. Samantha stirred a little bit but soon fell asleep when I put my arms around her. The ride home was quiet and peaceful and we were all tired and ready to sleep.
"Paul, there is something that I need to tell you before going inside," Helen said as she turned in her seat.
"What's that matter?" I asked, in concern.
"It's Samantha."
"What about her?" I asked again.
"Every year on Christmas eve, she gets these nightmares that are seem very real to her. She usually won't let anyone come near her. She won't let Michael, myself or Adam near her. Adam is the only one who holds onto her and calms her down," she said as she looked at Samantha.
"Then how does Adam hold her?" I asked.
"I grab her wrists and bring her towards me and then just hold onto her tightly. She will kick, punch or whatnot to break the hold. I got bruises from that," Adam said as he just drove in the driveway.
"Thanks for letting me know."
"Please." Helen choked, ".just take care of her."
"Helen, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to take care of her," I said as I took her hand.
"Mom, you know that I'll be there for her too," Adam said as he hugged her. After a few moments, we all went inside the house and went to bed. Adam stayed with Helen to comfort her as I went into Samantha's room with her.
Samantha stirred a little bit and whined, "No, daddy. please don't go!!!"
"Ssssshhhh, baby, I'm right here. I just need to change your clothes for bed."
"No, daddy. please. you can't die!!" I looked at her puzzlingly but I listened to her as she dreamed. "Wake up!!! Daddy, you can't leave me!! Wake up!!!" She was started to cry and toss and turn. I grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards me. As I wrapped my arms around her, she screamed, "Nnnnnoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!" She woke up and pulled away from me, with tears coming down her face.
"Sweetheart?" I asked as I tried to wipe the tears away from her face.
She pulled back, in a shaky voice, "No, you're supposed to be dead."
"I'm still alive, sweetheart. I'm right here," I said as I reached out for her.
She pulled back more, shaking her head, "No!!" She started to cry, but I reached out for her and pulled her towards me. She was fighting me, but I held onto her and refused to let her go. I said soothing words to her and sang to her. I did everything I could to help her calm down.
