AN: I know this series seems to have lost steam but I promise it's going somewhere. Honest.

Chapter 2

"So what do you think?" Heather asked Sammy triumphantly.

Sammy stood at the bottom of the stairs, her mouth agape. In front of her was a Steinway baby grand piano. Rather than the classic tuxedo black one usually thinks of though, it was a beautiful dark walnut and had a leather padded bench suitable for long sessions.

"Where… how?!" Sammy asked her friend. She couldn't even figure out how it got down the stairs.

Heather giggled. "Don't freak out. It was already down here in the storage unit. Mom paid to get it tuned though when I told her you needed a piano to practice with for the talent show."

Sammy moved towards the instrument and ran her hand gently over the wood finish. "I thought you'd just do something crazy like buy me a Yamaha." She muttered.

"Oh, I did that too actually." Heather giggled.

"What?" Sammy asked dumbfounded.

"I figured if we needed a synthesizer you could set them up together. I'm okay on the piano but I'd rather be on drums." She said, looking over at her drum set with a fond smile. "I can play a little harmonica too."

Sammy shook her head then laughed. "Heather, you're crazy."

Heather shrugged. "I told you they just throw money at stuff. Besides, I think mom would do anything at this point for me to have better friends than the Karen's."

"Who puts a Steinway in storage?" Sammy murmured in wonder.

"My grandma bought it for my aunt but she didn't want it and talked my mom into storing it here. Grandma thought Aunt Maggie would be a concert pianist."

"What did she end up doing?" Sammy asked, now curious.

"Bored housewife so far, but she was never honestly that great at the piano. Grandma was just extra."

Sammy chuckled. "All right then. I guess I better make sure this thing is up to my standards." She told Heather with a dimpled grin.

Heather laughed. "Have fun. I'll go up and wait for everyone else. Mom is out bowling with her friends."

"Your mom… bowls?"

Heather laughed. "Mom's friends are all first generation money so instead of buying designer handbags with logos they all buy expensive bowling equipment and compete in a league. They aren't half bad at it either. Mom thinks she's the ringleader but it's actually her friend Judy calling the shots. She's pretty down to earth actually. Even if her husband does play polkas at 6am."

Sammy chuckled and sat at the piano. The first strains of 'Shall we Dance' rolled off the keys and Heather laughed. "Perfect." She agreed and headed upstairs.

Jon followed his ears to the lyrical strains of Strauss. He smiled softly. He could listen to Carter play all day if she'd do so. Absently, he wondered if Sam played for Jack much. He knew they had moved her mom's piano to the DC house when they cleaned out her bungalow a few years ago. He'd bet she had a Casio somewhere in the house here though.

Lori and Lynn were still upstairs with Heather. Something about snacks. Jason would be along in a little bit. He had designated himself their manager and was working on costumes for them. Jon grinned briefly. Brian had actually had to stay after school today but not for detention. He was getting tutoring to help him pass Senior English. Sadly, Jon had known an awful lot of guys like Brian over the years. Most of them he had met in another lifetime when he was in Nam. Good kids that didn't excel in school and didn't have a family business to take over. He was honestly glad Brian had political reasons for never joining the military. He was a pacifist. He'd rather see Brian grow up and make something of himself even if it was just a good father to his future kids.

He rounded the corner to see Sammy playing the prettiest piano he'd ever seen. He whistled appreciatively though he wasn't sure if it was the piano or the vision of her playing that prompted the reaction.

Sammy's hands tripped on a note then came to a halt as she turned and gave him a dimpled grin. "Beautiful, isn't it?" she said, beaming, running a hand along the wood.

Jon's face softened as he took her in sitting primly at the instrument, her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail low near her neck and her flannel shirt rolled up at the elbows to reveal her long slender arms. She had on jeans and a t-shirt with a logo for a local grunge band they had gone to see at a coffee shop recently. She'd liked them because they were heavy on piano. He'd liked them because he'd been able to relate to their song about being in over his head. He felt that way about Sam most of the time.

It always surprised him when he thinks about how she'd done all this just to be with him. Even knowing it wouldn't be any easier just for different reasons than before. And all because he'd made an off the cuff remark to Jack about how much he missed her.

"What?" She asked him, wondering at his mercurial expression.

"Nothing." He said, shaking his head. Sammy raised an eyebrow at him.

"You did all this for me." He said to her, still unable to articulate how that made him feel without coming off as a self entitled jerk in his head.

She just smiled and shook her head. "Do you want the truth?"

"Sure."

"I wanted to do it from the day I realized what you were." She shrugged a little. "I wondered what us having a normal life might feel like but I figured I'd wait, you know, see if you even wanted that. Or if you needed time to become an adult and decide if who I was now was still what you wanted."

Jon beamed at her from across the room. "Sam, you will always be what I want. The only reason he screwed up so bad was because he never thought he was worthy of you. Hell, I'm not worthy of you." He admitted.

Sammy got up and went to him. She put her arms around his waist. "You have always been worthy. Both of you." She told him firmly.

"Yah?" He asked her half joking.

"Yah." She said emphatically. "Now quit screwing around and get your guitar. We have a talent show to practice for."

"Yes ma'am." He said with a cocky salute and turned to go upstairs. Stopped dead. Turned around and walked back three paces to her and kissed her firmly on the lips. "You're worthy too." He said with a quick grin and spun on his heel to head up the stairs. Whistling.

Sammy shook her head and chuckled. Vala had been right. Just being honest with him about this stuff seemed to be the answer to most of their problems. Jon really didn't know how to answer honestly with anything but honesty of his own. And now… they didn't have the regs holding them back. Just their ages.

And with that thought Sammy sighed and her shoulders slumped as she wrapped her arm around herself. Next year would be a watershed for both of them. And the thought that lingered at the back of her mind nowadays was… would they make it or would they be a statistic?