Chapter 3:

Sam frantically paced the floor of the penthouse. It would be a huge understatement to say that she was nervous about meeting Jason's daughter. At least Jason wouldn't really have a headstart on knowing her. She had talked to Justus briefly about Olivia, finding out what her favorite color was. Her room was now painted a sunny yellow color. Her things had arrived earlier in the week, and were now boxed and waiting for her. Sam had wanted to do more to her room, but didn't want to go through her things. Teenagers liked their privacy. Didn't they?

She plopped her pregnant frame down on the couch, and realized she was completely out of her element. She didn't know anything about teenagers, but maybe Olivia would be good practice for her baby's teenage years. She hoped that she and Olivia would become friends, and she'd be able to talk to Sam about things. Grow up Sam she told herself. They weren't going to be gal pals, but maybe she'd have and ally against Carly. That'd be fun. The two of them could mess with Carly together. She laughed out loud at the idea. Just then the door swung open and Jason came in followed by a stunning girl. She was taller than Sam, and had light brown skin and a mass of curly black hair. Her eyes were pure Jason though, a clear blue color.

"Sam, this is Olivia." Jason said.

"Call me Livvie," she told them.

"Okay, it's nice to meet you. I'll show you your room." Sam turned and climbed the stairs with Livvie trailing her.

Jason watched them go and then sank down onto the couch. He rested his face in his hands. The car ride had been painfully silent broken only by the repeated snapping of the rubber band on Livvie's arm. He wondered what that was all about. He wondered a lot of things about his daughter. He didn't know anything about her. Over the years, he'd wondered about her, but had never sought her out. He'd always believed that she had been better off without him so he'd resigned him self to the fact that he'd never see her. Then suddenly Justus is telling him that Keesha had a brain aneuyrism and can he take Olivia. It was almost too much to handle.

"You okay?" Sam asked quietly behind him.

"Where's Livvie at?" he asked.

"Nice dodge," he felt the couch sink next to him. "She's in her room. Unpacking her stuff. I'm here. Ya know in case you wanna talk about it."

Jason looked at her,"Did you eat dinner?"

"Nope, I ate dessert though. We need more ice cream."

Livvie looked around the room Sam had shown her to. It was yellow, just like her room in Chicago. There were dozens of boxes sitting around, and she had to manuever carefully to get to the bed. She threw herself face down across it with a sigh. The car ride to Jason's penthouse was awkward to say the least. She had wanted to say something, but the only thing that came to mind was "So, you're my brain-damaged father huh?" It didn't really seem appropriate. She kept thinking about her mother too so that hadn't helped. She was seriously considering hacking her hand off at the wrist. It'd probably be less painful than the rubber band. There was sudden knocking on the door.

"It's open," she said through a mouthful of bed covers. She rolled over and saw Sam's petite form fill the doorway.

"You want something to eat?"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry," Livvie told her even though she was.

Sam smiled, "Jason left."

"Well in that case I'm starving."

"She's my daughter and I haven't said two words to her." Jason had come over to Sonny and Carly's hoping that they could shine some light on the situation.

Carly bounced Morgan on her lap,"Where is she?"

"Across the hall with Sam," Jason told her.

Carly giggled,"Trying to turn your daughter into a slut already?"

"Carly," Sonny barked. "Knock it off. That's the mother of my child you're talking about."

They got into an argument, so Jason slipped out the door. Maybe a ride on his motorcycle would help.

Sam and Livvie were sitting on the kitchen counter working their way through some leftover chinese food when Livvie finally said something.

"When are you due?"

Sam answered through a mouth of sweet and sour chicken,"November."

"Boy or girl?" Livvie asked slightly amazed that someone as small as Sam could possibly eat so much food.

"It's a girl, and before you ask, it's not Jason's. It's Sonny's. He lives across the hall, I slept with him while he was divorced from his wife. Long story short, he and his wife got back together, I'm pregnant and Jason's stuck in the middle. Oh yeah, his wife Carly pretty much thinks I'm a whore and doesn't miss the opurtunity to tell me so."

"Wow," Livvie was surprised that Sam was so blunt about it."If they were divorced, why's the wife so bent outta shape?"

Sam was peering into the fridge, but turned to answer her,"You got me. She shacked up with the local arms dealer while Sonny and I were together. You do know about the whole "coffee business" thing right?" Sam said it using finger quotes.

Livvie slid off the counter and tossed her fork in the sink."You mean that the coffee business is just a legal front for their mob crap? Yeah, I know. Type in Jason's name on any internet search engine, and the articles say it all."

Sam looked thoughtful,"Really? That's kinda cool, Jason's on the internet."

"I guess, I think I'm gonna head to bed. G'night Sam."

"Night Livvie." She watched the tall girl turn and leave. Livvie reminded her a lot of herself when she was younger. God help her.

Hey, sorry it took so long. With school starting up again, I'm not sure how often I'll be updating, but I'll try my best.