Chapter 9

The next night as they were having a heated discussion about pizza versus Chinese food for dinner, the doorbell rang.

Samantha looked up from her pizza menu and shouted towards the bedroom as she opened the door,

"For the last time, we are having PIZZA!" Her mood, along with her jaw dropped instantly when she saw who was on the other side of the door, looking at her.

"Maria." They both stood facing each other for a few seconds. It occurred to Samantha how striking she was. She was at least ten years older than Samantha but she had an hourglass figure and nice features.

"Hello Samantha, is Jack here?" Samantha shook herself and nodded, gesturing for her to come in.

Jack came out of the bedroom to see a possibly explosive situation before him. His ex-wife standing in the middle of his living room looking around and his girlfriend staring at her, with a "get the hell out of here, bitch" look on her face. She seemed to be trying her best to stifle it, however.

"Maria, what are you doing here? Where are the girls?"

"They're staying with friends in Chicago. I'm just here for today, for some meetings. I'll be flying back in two hours."

Jack had never felt so uncomfortable. Had she simply come to visit or spy? He was suddenly very mistrustful of the woman he had shared a life with.

Maria sighed, clearly not wanting to be there either.

"Look, the thing is the girls have this pageant at school in two weeks and they want to know if you could make it. It's on Saturday the tenth."

"That should be ok, yeah; I'll call them tomorrow night."

"Fine, let me know your flight details and where you are staying and I'll arrange things so that you can spend some time alone with them on Sunday."

"Ok."

Maria turned to leave but stopped at Samantha.

"They want you to come too." She spat, her face full of contempt for Samantha.

Samantha gave her a wry smile and spat back,

"I'd love to come since they want me to."

Jack smiled at that and as the door closed swiftly behind Maria he was sure he could hear the faint sound of cats hissing at each other.

Samantha smiled and walked over to him, satisfied that she had the upper hand over Maria. She snaked her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.

"Gee, I could just feel all the love in the room." Jack said as he recovered from her kiss. "I thought there was gonna be a girl fight any second."

Samantha laughed and backed towards the bedroom pulling him with her. As they flopped down on the bed she quipped,

"It would have been a short one, she's got at least thirty pounds on me."

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly be making our descent into O'Hare. The captain would like me to take this opportunity to thank you all for flying with us and wish you all a safe journey, wherever you are headed. Thank you."

As the plane landed on a humid Friday night in July Samantha couldn't help but be nervous. This was her first official school function and she wanted desperately for everything to go ok.

Jack sighed and looked out the window. He hoped that little parting shot in his apartment a few weeks ago hadn't been a preview of things to come. He knew Samantha wouldn't rise to the bait but he wouldn't put anything past Maria. They were on her turf now.

Maria searched through the crowd of people and she saw Jack and Samantha emerge, hand in hand. She frowned at the sight; it was going to be a long weekend.

The girls spotted them too and broke away from her.

"Samantha, Samantha!" They shouted in unison as they practically knocked Jack over.

"Whoa there. Hi guys, I think you've both gotten bigger since the last time you were in the city. Katie, you finally lost that tooth huh?" Samantha gestured to the gap in Katie's teeth.

"Yep, it came out yesterday. I put it under my pillow and got a whole dollar!"

"Wow" Samantha said as she stood up. She whispered to Jack, "Inflation's gone up; I only used to get a quarter!"

He laughed and put his arm around her.

As Maria watched them she thought they looked like a perfect little family. She may have got her husband but she wasn't getting her children, she promised herself before stepping forward.

"Hey, how was your flight?" Trying her best to be civil in front of the girls.

"It was a little bumpy coming in but otherwise fine. Thanks for picking us up." Samantha got in before Jack. He smiled proudly at her. She was trying to make conversation with Maria.

"No problem, I think the girls may have staged an uprising if I'd refused. Well, let's go get your luggage, huh?"

After an uncomfortable car ride (not because of the condition of the roads), Jack and Samantha finally found themselves alone in their hotel room, settling in.

Jack sat looking out the window wistfully as Samantha hung up their clothes for the following evening. She sighed almost triumphantly as she hung the dress she had planned to wear. It was black, simple but it hugged in all the right places and the last time she had worn it Jack had followed her around like a puppy all night. She looked over at him.

"Hannah's gotten taller, don't you think?" Samantha ventured. He hadn't said much in a while.

"Yep" he said finally. "Her hair's got longer too." He said that almost to himself. She came over and knelt down in front of him, folding her arms across his knees. She looked at him as he laid his hands on her arms and shook her head.

"I hate seeing you hurt like this, baby."

He closed his eyes momentarily, relieved that she knew what he was thinking without it having to be spelt out for her. Opening them again he nodded slowly.

"It's just that every time I see them I feel like I've missed something else, you know. Whether it's Katie's tooth or Hannah's height." He paused and sighed, "It sucks being a part-time dad."

Samantha became angry and took his face in her hands so she could look him directly in the eyes.

"You are anything but a part-time dad. I won't hear that from you. Those girls are on your mind twenty four hours a day and everyone knows there is nothing you wouldn't do for them. Stop putting yourself down. I know it's hard for you and them but it's just the way it is. You have to make the best of it or it's going to eat you alive."

He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly.

"How do you always know the right thing to say?" He mumbled into her shoulder.

"Because, I'm a woman."