Love and Marriage

Chapter Seventy-Two

Sam was sitting in the break room, flipping through a file folder and eating some crackers. They were the only food that she was certain she could keep down right now.

"Hey. I didn't know that you were back yet." Olivia smiled at Sam as she entered the break room and headed straight for the coffee. She had been out on her lunch break with Trevor. "How did your doctor's appointment go?"

"Fine." Sam shrugged. Her doctor's appointment with her new OB-GYN was this morning and she had found out that the baby was developing nicely and everything was fine so far. She looked behind her to make sure that no one else was in the room before replying. "I found out that I'm due sometime in January."

"That will be a great way to start off a new year." Olivia commented.

"Yeah." Sam replied with a nod of her head.

Olivia sat down at Sam's table, looking at her friend. "So what's up? What's bothering you?"

"Nothing's bothering me." Sam lied.

"No, something's bothering you. I can tell. So spill it." Olivia commanded in a nice tone.

Sam was amazed that Olivia already knew her well enough to know when she was lying. "Martin's coming to visit tomorrow and I'm still not sure how to tell him about the baby."

"But you are going to tell him?" Olivia asked.

"Yes." Sam replied. "I've definitely decided to tell him. I just don't know how."

"I'm sure you'll figure out a great way to tell him and everything will be fine." Olivia assured her.

"Thanks." Sam smiled, grateful to have found such nice co-workers.

Joshua entered the break room and sat down at the ladies' table. "Olivia, did you do the recon work we discussed?"

"Recon work?" Sam asked, intrigued by this conversation. She got up and walked over to get more decaf coffee. "What recon work? We don't have a case right now."

"He's referring to my lunch with Trevor. I was supposed to find out what kind of present Trevor wants for his birthday next week without asking him outright." Olivia explained to her.

"And did you?" Joshua asked impatiently.

"Yes I did." Olivia replied, rolling her eyes at Joshua's impatience.

Joshua pulled out a catalogue and placed it on the table. "Ok. Good. So let's go through some possible gift ideas."

Martin stepped out of the cab, paying the driver and stepping onto the sidewalk. He knew he was a day early. He wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow morning, but he decided to come and surprise Sam instead of letting her know he was coming early.

So now he was standing in front of the Houston FBI office. The flight had been horrible, marred by turbulence and a pair of screaming two-year old twins that wouldn't allow their mother to soothe them. But at least now he was here. He thought back to the session he had yesterday with Leslie.

"You look happier today." Leslie noted as Martin got comfortable on the couch. She instantly noticed a change in Martin ever since he walked into the room. It was a positive change. He was actually smiling and looked like he was doing better than he was last week.

"I feel happier." Martin told her with a huge smile.

"What caused this sudden turn around in your mood?" She was curious about why he was suddenly happier.

"Sam called me and asked me to come visit this weekend." Although he was originally going to work this weekend Jack was more than happy to give him the time off, telling him that he hoped a visit would help him. Jack even gave him Friday off too so that he could spend more time in Houston.

"Why did she do that?" Leslie asked.

"She misses me?" Martin guessed. "I don't know what prompted her invitation and frankly I'm not sure I care. I'm just happy that I get to see them."

"I understand." Leslie smiled.

"I even got tomorrow off so I think I'm going to go early and surprise them." He smiled.

A nice visit would definitely help Martin deal with the sadness created by this separation. "So what are your expectations for this visit?" Leslie asked.

"What do you mean by expectations?" He was confused about what she wanted to know.

Leslie decided to rephrase the question. "What do you think will happen as a result of this visit?"

"Oh." He understood now. "Well I'm going to get to spend some time with my family and…I guess I'm hoping that once I'm down there Sam will start to change her mind."

"Change her mind about what?" Leslie wanted to make sure that she was understanding what Martin was saying. She had a feeling that Martin was saying that he thought Samantha would change her mind about the break and end it. But she honestly didn't see that happening.

"About the break." Martin told her. "I think once I get down there and talk to her, she'll agree with me that this break doesn't need to go on any longer."

"I see." Leslie nodded. She didn't believe that would happen. It was possible that it could, but her instincts told her it wasn't likely. "What if she doesn't share your opinion and doesn't want to end the break yet?"

He hadn't thought about that. Truthfully, he'd been so preoccupied with setting up the trip and thinking of ways to approach her about this that he hadn't thought of what he'd do if she said no. "I don't know."

"It's definitely a possibility that she could tell you that she doesn't want to end the break yet. I think it would be a good idea to brace yourself for that, should it happen." Leslie told him.

"I guess you're right." He nodded. Honestly, he didn't want to have to come back to New York. He would be perfectly content with simply staying with his family in Houston. The thought of coming back to New York alone made his heart sink. It wasn't something that he wanted to dwell on because right now was a happy time. "I think I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it."

Sam wouldn't send him back to New York alone, would she? Of course not. Especially after he convinced her to let him stay. He entered the building and flashed the security desk his FBI badge in order to get clearance to Sam's floor.

Once he got off the elevator on her floor, he wandered around until he found Sam's desk. But she wasn't there. Frowning, he wondered briefly if she was out in the field. He was thinking about whether or not he should leave a note for her when he saw someone approaching him.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" Trevor asked. He had noticed Martin loitering around and then stopping at Samantha's desk. He wasn't sure who this guy was and wanted to make sure that he was supposed to be here.

"I'm looking for Samantha." Martin told the man.

"Oh." Trevor nodded. "And you would be…?"

"Her husband." Martin explained.

A smile crept on to Trevor's face. "Oh. So that means you're Martin." He held out his hand for Martin to shake. "It's great to meet you."

Martin shook this guy's hand. "And who are you?"

"Sorry." Trevor apologized. "I'm Trevor Scott. I work with Samantha."

"Oh." Martin smiled. "It's nice to meet you. Sam's said nothing but great things about everyone at work."

"Well she's a really great person and also a great agent. We're very happy to have her here." Trevor told him.

"So do you know where she is right now? Is she out in the field or something?" Martin asked, getting impatient about seeing Sam again.

"I actually just came back from lunch, but the last time I saw her she was heading to a doctor's appointment. I don't know if she's back. I haven't seen her." Trevor replied.

Martin became slightly worried about Sam going to a doctor's appointment until he realized that it must be her appointment with Dr. Hester.

"If you want, you can wait for her in the break room and I'll send her over as soon as I see her." Trevor offered.

"That would be nice." Martin commented. "Where's the break room?"

Trevor pointed to the right. "It's down this hallway and it's the last door on the left."

"Thanks." Martin said to Trevor before heading down the hallway towards the break room. He was almost there when he heard Sam's distinctive laugh. He stood in the doorway of the break room, unnoticed by the three people in the room.

"I think we should get Trevor this." Joshua pointed to an item in the catalogue that he was looking at with Olivia and Samantha. Olivia was sitting next to him at the table and Samantha was standing behind him, peering over her shoulder.

"You want to get him a blow-up doll?" Sam laughed.

"It's not a blow-up doll." Joshua defended. "It's one of those inflatable people that woman get to feel safe. They set them in the passenger seat of their car when they drive around at night so that it looks like they're not alone."

"And you think this would be a good gift for Trevor because…?" Sam was confused.

"It would be funny." Joshua laughed. "C'mon! Can't you just image what his reaction would be? It would be priceless!"

"I don't know." Olivia shook her head. "It seems too high-schoolish."

"Yeah." Sam agreed, reaching over Joshua's shoulder and pointing to another item in the catalogue. "How about this?"

"Ooh, I like that." Olivia agreed. "I think Trevor would like that."

"So I'm out-numbered here?" Joshua asked in a defeated tone.

"Yep." Sam smiled triumphantly. "The women over-rule you."

"Great." Joshua mumbled.

Martin watched this scene with great interest, noting the way Sam was acting. She seemed relaxed and at ease here with her new co-workers. She seemed happy and he was glad about that. While he hoped that she could find that kind of happiness in New York with him, it seemed like Houston was a better fit for her professionally. Their conversation seemed to hit a break so he thought this would be a good time to make his presence known. He cleared his throat loudly, causing all three people to look over at him.

Sam turned around and was shocked to see Martin standing in the doorway. She had to blink a few times before believing that it was really him and not some kind of daydream or something. He was early. He wasn't supposed to come until tomorrow. But looking him up and down a few times, she wasn't unhappy to see him. A smile formed on her face. "Martin."