Love and Marriage
Chapter Ninety-One
That afternoon, Sam, Martin and Claire returned to the house after going out to lunch and stopping by the park. "Did you have fun sweetie?" Sam asked Claire as they entered the living room.
"Yeah! I love the park, especially with you and daddy there together!" Claire exclaimed.
Sam chuckled as she sat down on the couch with Claire. She turned on the television and made sure that Claire was enraptured by the Disney channel programming before going off to look for Martin. She found him standing by the answering machine, staring at the phone. "You ok?"
"Van Doren just called." Martin told her, still staring at the phone.
"About the job?" Sam asked, hopeful that it was good news.
"Yeah." Martin replied. "She said that she had news but didn't want to tell it to an answering machine."
"So?" She stared at him expectantly. "What are you waiting for? Call her back!"
"But what if she's just going to tell me that I didn't get the job?" Martin looked at his wife.
She smiled at him. "Well then you'll just wait and get an even better job." She moved to wrap her arms around his neck. "You're a great agent Martin Fitzgerald, and they would be crazy to give the job to someone else."
"You're great, you know that?" He kissed the tip of her nose. "What in the world would I do without you?"
"Oh I don't know." Sam shrugged. "I'm sure you could manage."
"No, I'm not sure I could." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips before pulling away and reaching for the phone. "Ok. Here goes nothing."
"I'd tell you good luck, but you won't need it." Sam smiled.
"We'll see about that." Martin grinned as he dialed the long number. "Hello?…Yes, it's Martin Fitzgerald. Sorry to call you on a Saturday, but you left a message…Yes…I was getting rather anxious about finding out…Oh really?…Ok…Well thank you very much for letting me know…Ok. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment.
Sam watched him, unable to decipher whether it was good or bad news. "Well? What did she say? Did you get the job?"
"Well…" he continued to stare at the phone.
She reached over and put her arm around his shoulder, taking the fact that he was staring at the phone and not excitedly jumping up and down as a sign that he didn't get the job. "It's ok. There are other jobs."
"Yeah, there are." He grinned. "But I don't need to worry about those jobs because I already have one."
"You do?" She asked, her face twisting into a smile.
"Yep." Martin nodded. "She called to tell me that I have gotten the job and I start on Monday."
"That's great!" She reached over and hugged him.
"I know! It is! Isn't it?" He hugged her back for a moment before pulling away to kiss her. "This is wonderful."
"I'm so happy for you." Sam really meant it too. She was glad that Martin was going to have the job that he wanted. Everything was looking up for them and while she was sad that they had to move to Houston in order to be happier, it was definitely worth it. She feels closer to Martin now then she has in months, although that could also be because of the therapy that she's been getting.
"Looks like I won't be getting to spend more time with Claire before going back to work." Martin frowned.
"It's ok." Sam reassured him. "It's probably for the best. Olivia told me that Nikolas has a little bit of a crush on Claire. It probably would have killed him if Claire didn't come to daycare on Monday."
"My daughter already has guys lining up to be with her?" Martin exclaimed passionately. "How did that happen? She's not even six yet."
"Well it's just a crush, and they're just kids." Sam tried to reason with him. "You know what a crush is like when you're that age. It just means that Nikolas likes being around Claire and he wants to be her friend."
"He better not want anything more than that from her." Martin told Sam.
"Martin," she laughed, "He's only six and a half. He doesn't know that he should want anything more than that."
"Well I'm just saying that he better not get any ideas." Martin sighed, not liking the fact that Sam was laughing at him. "And what's so funny about this?"
"You!" Sam laughed harder. "You're what's funny."
"I don't see what's so funny." He wasn't amused by her laughter.
"If you're this bad now, what are you going to be like when she starts dating?" Sam was curious about this.
"It's really quite simple." Martin grinned. "She's not dating. Ever."
"Really?" Sam was intrigued by this. "You don't want her to date? Not even when she turns sixteen?"
"No because I know what guys have on their minds when their that age." Martin explained.
"And what would that be?" Sam played innocent, hoping that he would spell it out for her.
"I think you know what I'm talking about." He pulled her closer to himself.
"Nope, don't think I do." Sam sighed. "Better try to explain it to me."
"Well it starts off with this…" He leaned in and kissed her. "Then it progresses to this…" He moved down and started kissing her neck while letting his hand travel down her chest and settle on the top of her jeans. "Then clothes start falling off."
"So if that's what sixteen year old guys have on their minds, what do guys your age have on their minds?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The same exact thing as a sixteen year old." Martin whispered into her ear as he slipped his hands underneath her shirt and let them roam freely across her back. "Which is exactly why Claire will never be able to date." With one last kiss on the lips, he released her from his grip and left to go watch the Disney Channel with Claire.
That night when Martin came into bed from putting Claire to bed, Sam immediately moved to cuddle up close to him. His arms opened up and she laid her head on his chest.
"So would you mind if we talked about this sudden change that you seem to have gone through?" Martin hesitantly asked once she was settled.
"Sure." She sighed. She knew that they would have to talk about this eventually. So why not now? "You're probably wondering what's up with me, right?"
"Well, yeah." Martin admitted. "You seem happier. I haven't seen you this happy in…I don't even know how long it's been."
"That's because I am happy." She told him. "I've been going to see Jackie everyday for the past two weeks and she's done amazing things with me. Through talking with her I think I'm starting to get past everything that has been plaguing me. I mean, I still feel responsible for the miscarriages, but she's helping me put it in the past and move on. And while I still am horribly anxious about this pregnancy, she's helping me see that worrying won't really help me and won't help the baby."
"That's great." Martin smiled, letting his hands travel and rest on her stomach. "Why didn't you tell me that you were seeing Jackie so much?"
"I don't know." Sam shrugged. "I guess I wanted to surprise you with my speed therapy."
"Speed therapy?" Martin laughed.
"Yeah." Sam nodded. "Speed therapy. It's amazing how much progress you can make if you're dedicated to it and have therapy sessions everyday. It's speed therapy."
"Well I guess it's working."
"It is." Sam assured him.
"Everything's looking up for us, isn't it?" Martin asked.
"It's about time." She leaned in to his embrace, letting his arms wrap around her waist.
"And it's only going to get better." He promised.