Chapter 6

Next Saturday came quicker than she had counted on. She went from confident and looking forward to it to silently dreading it.

She wasn't going to chicken out because she knew it was important to Jack but that didn't stop her from being terrified. She desperately wanted the kids to like her but she gathered that Hannah had a reputation for being a little obnoxious. Plus, who knows what Maria might have filled their heads with in preparation for Operation 'Make the Home-wrecker Miserable.'

They had planned to meet at the skating rink and as she walked up the steps she could have thrown up.

Jack tried to keep one eye on the girls as the other one watched for Samantha. He thought back to the previous evening when he had told them about her. It hadn't been as bad as he'd thought, thank God.

"Is she the one from the office who sits near Danny?" Hannah asked, not interested enough to be drawn away from the picture she was drawing.

"That's right. You see I've been going out on dates with her and I really like her. Do you guys think that's ok?" He asked waiting for the backlash.

"Yeah." They said in unison.

"Great. Would you like to meet her tomorrow night? She'd like to meet you. I thought we could all go ice-skating and then go out for some ice-cream, how'd that be?"

"Can we get any flavour?" Kate asked. She had a one-track mind when it came to ice-cream.

"Of course you can, just not all of them at once all right? You don't want to be sick on the plane tomorrow."

"Ok Daddy."

Hannah had been quiet during all this but she hadn't said no. In fact, she'd been quiet since they'd arrived but he didn't want to push her. He'd guessed she must be mad at him, thinking he'd caused all this and stayed away from her on purpose. He hoped she would open up with Sam around. He knew Katie would be ok but Hannah was a tougher nut to crack.

"Hey guys don't go too far ok?"

Suddenly he saw Samantha appear through the throng of people. It seemed everyone in the state had decided to go ice-skating that night. He put up his hand to attract her attention.

"Hey, Sam! Over here!"

She heard her name and looked around. There he was. There they were, oh God, she wanted to run away. Instead she took a deep breath and went forward, pushing her way through the crowd.

"Hi." She politely kissed him on the cheek as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Or maybe he's trying to keep me from running she thought.

"Hannah, Katie, come here guys."

The girls managed to look away from the dancing figure skaters long enough to come over to the couple. Katie clung to her Dad's leg, wary of strangers. Independent Hannah stood with her arms crossed.

"Girls, you remember Samantha don't you?"

"Hi." They both said shyly.

"Hi. So are you ready to go get some skates?" Samantha said cheerfully.

"Ok." Kate reached out for Samantha's hand and started to pull her towards the kiosk.

"Hannah?" She reached out for the girl's hand but Hannah never offered her own. Samantha made nothing of it and simply smiled and walked on with Katie.

Jack took Hannah's hand and walked on with her. He heard Katie asking Samantha a million questions, barely allowing her to answer one before moving on to the next one. He had to laugh, Katie was shy but once she latched onto you she'd talk her little head off.

He eyed Hannah who seemed to be glaring at Samantha. Uh-oh. This was going to be fun, he thought.

Jack struggled with the laces while the three girls stood ready shaking their heads at him.

"Jack the ice will have melted by the time you do those up." Samantha and Katie laughed. Samantha thought she saw a smile on Hannah's face but it disappeared quickly. It was going to take a little longer for her to melt Samantha told herself. At least she'd conquered Katie. She'd barely allowed her to let go of her hand since she had first grabbed it.

Samantha liked it too. She was never that good with kids but Katie had definitely got to her.

"Ok, ok, I'm a geek leave me alone. Look why don't you guys do some laps while I figure these things out." Jack was flustered and even more so because he was being ridiculed.

"Ok, how about it girls are you ready?" Samantha said holding her breath. She was pretty sure Katie would come with her but she wasn't so sure Hannah would leave Jack.

"Ok." Came the surprising answer from Hannah. She still wouldn't hold Samantha's hand even though it had been offered to her, choosing to hold Katie's instead but it was a start nonetheless.

As they stepped out on the ice the girls were shaky at first but they soon found their rhythm. Jack watched them from the side-lines; having given up on his boots (they were too small anyway). He thought they looked great together, skating around. Katie looked at ease with Sam and Sam with her. That was good, he thought. Then he looked at Hannah. He sighed. One at a time, he thought to himself. The frosty look on her face was identical to the one Maria used to give him when he was in trouble.

Just then Hannah almost fell over. Samantha reached out and caught her hand to steady her. After she was sure she was steady again, Samantha went to withdraw her hand but Hannah held onto it tightly. She offered Samantha a shy smile and then looked away.

It was a small victory she thought, but Jack had seen it and she felt better about the whole thing.

They stood in the ice-cream parlour. Katie still clung tightly to Samantha who wondered if there would be a permanent indentation of the little girl's hand in her palm.

"I can't decide." Jack sighed looking down from the huge menu, feeling sick just looking at it.

"I've got an idea." Samantha ventured. "Me and my friends used to order a different flavour each then we'd sit down, have a few bites and then switch until everyone had a little of each. How does that sound?"

"Cool, " Hannah said, "I'll have Cookie Dough Fudge Mint Chip please."

Samantha raised her eyebrows at Jack who returned the gesture bemused that a flavour could have such a name and that his 10 year old daughter could recite it so easily.

"Oh, I'm so full-up, I don't think I can finish mine, any takers?" Jack said, beat.

"Me!" All three girls said at the same time. Then they looked at each other and laughed. Samantha reached across the table for his bowl and evenly divided the remains between the three of them. Jack sat back and watched them, amused. He was baffled at how three skinny girls could have put away that much ice-cream and still be reaching for more.

Once they'd finished they took a walk to try and burn off the calories they'd just consumed. Around a block away from Jack's apartment, Katie stopped dead.

"I can't go on Daddy." She whined.

Jack looked at her exasperated as he had already been carrying Hannah on his back for three blocks.

Samantha bent down to Katie's level and said, "Piggy back?"

A weary Katie smiled and stepped around Samantha as she carefully lifted her up. They continued to walk along in silence and Jack wished he had a camera. They were the picture of the family he'd always wanted. An old couple walked past them and smiled, Jack couldn't help grinning like an idiot back at them. Now he was with the woman he loved and he had his girls. Hannah's breath on his neck reminded him that the image would shatter tomorrow when he had to say goodbye to them.

"I'm beat!" Samantha said as she flopped down onto the sofa beside Jack and laid her head on his shoulder.

"It's a tough job, huh?" Jack said with a smile.

The girls had been asleep when they got in and they'd had to change them and put them into bed. They'd slept through the whole thing. When they had tucked them in they stood in the doorway and looked at them.

Samantha thought back to her neighbour's kids and her fantasy. Well, the kids weren't hers but they were his and they liked her. She was proud that she had won Hannah round. She couldn't blame her for acting that way at first. Who is to say she wouldn't have done that at 10 years old.

The next day, Katie jumped on Jack at 7.30am to call Samantha and insist that she came to the airport to say goodbye. As Jack watched them make plans for the next time and giggle, he sighed with relief. He had wanted so much for them to get along and after a somewhat shaky start it had happened.