Disclaimer: I don't own the Thunderbirds or the Tracy family with the exception of Sam.
A/N: Thanks to those that have taken the time to review either by PM or regular reviews. The support that I have received is very humbling and appreciative.
Chapter15
"Sam, are you awake?"
Turning her head she tried to focus her eyes on the brother that she planned to pound into the ground for waking her at an ungodly hour. Another voice on the other side of her bed spoke up.
"I'd back up if I were you, Alan," said the new voice. Sam realized that the Terrible Two had somehow gotten into her room and were now determined to wake her up. Sitting up, she glowered at the two of them as they climbed into bed on either side of her.
"What are you two doing in my room at 4:00A.M.?" she demanded with an irritated look on her sleepy face.
"Sammie, it's Christmas morning and Dad said we can't go to the lounge until there are three of us awake," whined Alan. He and Gordon were eager to get to their presents and targeted Sam as the third person. Sam continued to glare at them until they began to fidget nervously.
"How did you get into my room?" she asked. She was sure that she had locked her doors just to prevent this from happening. Gordon grinned at her and pointed to her window. It was open and the screen had been carefully removed and put aside to allow one of them into her room to unlock the door.
"I'm going to have Dad install bars on my windows to keep you out next year," she sighed in resignation. Pushing Alan out of the way, she kicked off her blanket and stood up. Glaring once more at her baby brothers, she thought back to how she and John used to do the same to Scott.
Flashback:
"Johnny, let's get Scotty. Mommy and Daddy said that as long as he was awake we could open presents," said Sam as she lay next to John in his bed. She had crawled in next to him as soon as their parents went to bed. Try as they might, Jeff and Lucy had not been able to keep their twins out of the same bed since they were newborns. Now at the age of four, they were still inseparable and shared the same room.
"Nuh-uh, Scotty's gonna be mad if we wake him up," he argued. Worry pinched his little cherubic features. He knew from the look on Sam's face that she was determined to see what Santa had left them.
Throwing off the blankets, Sam climbed down from the bed and quietly walked to the bedroom door. Putting her ear to it, she listened to make sure the coast was clear. She slowly opened the door and made her way out into the hallway. Looking to the end of the hall she could see her parent's bedroom door was still closed. She tiptoed across the hall to Scott's room and eased his door open. Listening carefully she could hear the even breathing of her big brother. She got on her hands and knees and crawled to his bedside. Once she reached the bed, she placed her little arms on the side of his bed and stared at him. She continued to watch him quietly as he slept. Before long he could feel someone staring at him. Slowly opening his eyes he was startled to see two big blue eyes staring back at him. With a sudden yell he sat up in his bed. His yell had frightened Sam and in response she fell backwards and began to cry.
"Samantha, what are you doing in here?" he demanded.
"I wanted to see what Santa brought, Scotty," she cried as he climbed out of his bed to pick her up. John came running in as fast as his little legs could go to protect his sister. Seeing her twin she struggled out of Scott's grasp and into the safety of John's arms.
"Scotty scared me, Johnny, and I falled down," she informed her twin as they climbed up on Scott's bed. "I think I scared him too cus he screamed." She began to giggle as she snuggled between both of her brothers.
"Scotty, when can we open presents?" Sam asked him as her eyes slowly began to droop.
"Soon Squirt. Why don't you and Johnny sleep in my bed with me for awhile then we can get Virgie and Gordy and all of us open presents together," suggested Scott.
"Okay, Scotty," yawned both of the twins as they fell asleep hugging each other. Scott lay back down and wrapped his arm protectively over his brother and sister.
That was how their parents found them two hours later. Lucy had her camera in hand and took a picture of her three oldest children.
Present Time:
She walked into her ensuite and shut and locked the door. Ten minutes later she was back in her room dressed and a bit more awake. Gordon and Alan were lying on her bed waiting for her to hurry up.
"I want you guys to go and fix some hot chocolate for all us and make sure the coffee pot is brewing. I'm going to wake up the rest of our brothers but blame it on you two," she said as she walked out of her room. Standing outside of John's bedroom door, she knocked a couple of times. After getting no response she keyed in his emergency code and entered.
"John, are you decent? I'm coming in and you need to make sure that you're covered," she warned. A brief pause of silence and then she heard some movement coming from his bed. Figuring that he'd heard her warning, she walked into his room. He was wrapped up in his blankets from the waist down. She noticed that he was getting broader and more muscular through his chest just as Scott and Virgil were.
"My brothers are really beginning to grow up and develop," she thought to herself. "Next year, I wouldn't doubt that they all end up with girlfriends. I just hope that they stay away from the ones in my class." Shaking her head at her thoughts, she reached out and shook John's shoulder.
"John, wake up." He continued to sleep through her efforts to wake him up. In one final effort to wake him up, she went to his ensuite and filled a cup with cold water and took it back to his bedside. Just as she was about to pour it on him, he sat straight up and caught her wrist in his hand.
"Don't even think of doing that," he warned. "I heard you come in but do you realize that it's only 4:30A.M.?"
"Of course I know what time it is. The Terrible Two woke me up at 4:00A.M.," she admitted.
"How did they get into your room?" He was clearly confused because he knew that only each of them and their dad had the codes to the other's rooms.
"One of them came in through the window and unlocked the door for the other," she replied. She was still clearly annoyed with her baby brothers and wanted nothing more than to go back to bed. Suddenly, she grinned at John. She went to his windows and made sure that they were locked and then locked his doors and pulled the curtains closed.
"Scoot over," she told him as she walked back to the bed with an extra blanket. He scooted over and she climbed into bed next to him and grabbed one of his extra pillows. Quickly she covered herself with the blanket and began to doze off. John looked at her and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Merry Christmas Sam," he whispered as she gave him a sleepy smile. Both of them fell asleep. Not even thirty minutes later a loud banging on the balcony door woke John up. Grumbling about what he was going to do to his baby brothers he opened the door. Gordon ran in with Scott right behind him.
"GORDON! Get back here right now!" yelled Scott as he pushed past John. Gordon had taken refuge on John's bed next to Sam. Sam was still trying to sleep and was not happy to be disturbed by Gordon yet again. She grabbed him and held him as Scott approached the bed.
"What's wrong Scott?" asked Sam as he grabbed Gordon.
"Thebratsdecided to wake me up by climbing in through my window. As they came through, they knocked over a model plane that I was building and broke it," he explained. Sam shook her head in understanding.
"They came through my window, too," she said. "I think that we should make them wait until Dad wakes up before they get their presents. A sudden yell from Virgil's room caused them all to jump. Moments later they heard his bedroom door slam and the tread of light feet could be heard racing to the end of the hall.
"ALAN SHEPARD TRACY… GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE NOW," exclaimed a very angry Virgil. John had opened his bedroom door and looked into the hallway. As Virgil passed him, John busted out laughing. Sam and Scott, who was still holding onto Gordon, joined John in the hallway and watched as Virgil pounded on Alan's bedroom door. Hearing the laughter, Virgil turned back to his siblings. Sam's eyes grew big and she joined John in laughing at the sight before her. Alan had taken advantage of Virgil's deep sleeping habits. He had taken some red and green hair dye and spiked his hair with it. Knowing that Virgil wouldn't notice him right away, Alan had sat down in the sitting room and watched him go to the ensuite. A few minutes of silence was shattered by the yell that was heard in John's room when Virgil saw his reflection.
Silently, Alan opened his balcony door and made his way by each of his sibling's rooms and down the stairs to the kitchen. Kyrano and his grandma were in the kitchen fixing breakfast.
"Good morning Alan," Grandma said as she became aware of her youngest grandchild. Going up to her he gave her a hug and kiss.
"Merry Christmas and good morning to you, Grandma and to you Kyrano," he replied with a smile that lit up his face. Grandma was not fooled for she had heard Virgil yell and knew that Gordon and Alan had been too quiet for a Christmas morning.
"Alan, what are you up to?" she asked. He looked at her with such an innocent expression even an angel would have been envious.
"I haven't done anything Grandma," he said as he continued to grin. He was also watching the door from the hallway incase he had to make a quick getaway. A loud stomping on the stairs let him know that it was time to go.
"I'll see you in a bit Grandma." Turning quickly he ran to the patio doors only to find himself in the arms of one angry and colorful Virgil.
"Going somewhere dear brother?" he asked in a calm voice. Alan took a deep breath as he saw the way Virgil had clenched his jaw.
"I was going to see if Dad was ready to open presents," he stammered.
"I'm right here Alan," said a deep voice that struggled to maintain a serious tone. "Virgil, I am all for showing your Christmas spirit but isn't this going a bit too far?" Virgil looked at his dad with an irate expression on his handsome features.
Sam walked over to Virgil and took his hand.
"Come with me. You can get Alan later," she said as she continued to drag Virgil with her. Once she got him to her room she led him to the ensuite and sat him down on the closed toilet. Rummaging around in her cabinet she found a special shampoo that she had bought the last time she had been on the receiving end of Alan's hair dye prank. Wrapping an old towel around Virgil's shoulders, she had him lean over the side of her tub and grabbed the shower nozzle and got his hair wet. Once it was wet all the way through, she applied the special shampoo and massaged it into his hair and on his scalp. She rinsed his hair thoroughly and repeated the process once more. She grabbed another towel and dried his hair.
"Thanks Sam," he said as he looked in the mirror. He was relieved to see that all of the red and green was gone from his hair. She handed him another bottle of shampoo to use in his hair for the rest of the week. It was the same shampoo that she'd used to help keep her hair healthy.
"Now go get dressed so we can start opening presents. While you're doing that, I'm going to scour my tub to get the red and green out of it before it stains," she said.
Thirty minutes later and the Tracy family was sitting in the lounge and opening their presents. As with all of their Christmas traditions they reminisced and looked forward to the New Year.
The next day Alan and Tin-Tin were sitting together in the lounge working on some homework that Alan had brought home. Tin-Tin was in the same grade as Alan but she was doing her school work on the island via the computer. Any questions that she may have were quickly and easily answered by Brains. She quickly grew to respect the very intelligent and shy man. He was pleased to see that she had an aptitude for computers and engineering. She would often ask him questions and watch him work on various things around the compound.
The older kids had finished their homework and were taking advantage of another beautiful day in the pool. Virgil was painting the scene from the pool deck. He was so absorbed in his work that he wasn't aware of his father until he spoke.
"Virgil that is a wonderful painting. The colors are an exact match and the way you caught the expressions of your brothers and sister is amazing," he said in awe. He would never stop being amazed at how talented his son was. Virgil blushed from the compliment and looked down at his feet. Sam had noticed how embarrassed he looked and climbed out of the pool to see what was going on.
Circling back around the easel, her breath caught when she saw what Virgil had painted. She looked up at their Dad and again at Virgil.
"Virgil, that is amazing. Have you thought of what you are going to do with it?" she asked. Virgil shook his head and began to look for a way to get away from the situation. He didn't paint to get recognition or attention. He painted because it relaxed him. He quickly began to clean up his paints and began to take them up to his room. He left the easel and the painting where they were.
"I think we embarrassed him, Dad," Sam said as she watched her younger brother retreat to his room. "I should have known better. He doesn't like to draw attention to himself." Sighing deeply, she carefully lifted the canvas and carried it up to Virgil's room. She knocked on his door and waited for him to open it.
"Here's your painting, Virgil," she said. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you by commenting on your work. I didn't mean to but you do such a great job that I am so proud of how talented you are." Not wanting to make him any more uncomfortable she quickly left his room and went to her own to take a shower.
"Sam, wait," he shouted as she reached her bedroom door. He ran up to her and gave her a hug. "I appreciate the support you give me. It's just that I don't do it to get attention." Sam looked him in the eye and nodded her head.
"Virg, I know that you paint to relax and I know that you don't go seeking recognition. I compliment you because I am able to see how good you are and I am proud that you are so unassuming and normal. I would hate to see you become a pompous jerk because people realize how talented you are."
After hearing her say those words, he visibly relaxed. He was once again reminded of how much Sam was like their mother. She always knew the right things to say that made everything better.
"Would you like to have the painting?" he asked. Sam looked at him carefully to see if he meant it or if he was still upset.
"Virgil, I would love to have that painting hanging up above the couch in my sitting room," she said. "But only if you truly don't want it for yourself."
"Come to my room for a minute," he replied. Following him into his room and into a small corner of his room. Looking down, she was stunned to see a stack of paintings that he had completed.
"There are ten stacked there and in the storage room across the hall are about another fifteen," he informed her. "Dad is going to turn that room into an art studio for me to use."
"I am glad. You really need a bigger area to work in," she said. "I'm going to go soak in a nice bubble bath before dinner. I'll talk to you later, Virg."
The rest of their holiday vacation was soon over and they were heading back to school. Sam was glad to be going back so she could hang out with Catie. Scott was ready to go back to see a girl that he had decided that he liked. He was about to ask her to be his girlfriend. He would have to get her to promise not to say anything to his siblings because the teasing would be unmerciful. He shuddered to think what Alan and Gordon would come up with.
In April, Scott turned sixteen and his dad flew in to take the family and a friend each out to dinner. Instead of a friend, Scott brought his girlfriend, Kelli. She had been accepted by the boys but Sam was still a bit weary of her. She seemed to be fake and shallow. Sam was afraid that Kelli was using Scott because she knew that his family was wealthy. Kelli also seemed obsessed with flaunting Scott as if he were nothing more than a prize to be displayed.
Over dinner, Jeff asked Scott if he had completed his pilot classes. He knew that most of his free time had been used to log in flight time and class work.
"I have just one more flight and test to go and then I'll be finished," Scott said with a bit of pride in his voice. He looked over at Virgil and grinned.
"Virgil should make a good pilot too once he does the flight work. He has already studied all the class work while helping me," he continued. Virgil looked down at his plate and took a bite of his salad. Sam squeezed his knee under the table and gave him a small wink. Virgil gave a small nod in response to her reassurance.
"That's great Scott how come you haven't told your favorite sister?" teased Sam in an effort to get the attention off of Virgil. Scott looked at her and shook his head.
"Sam, I couldn't get you away from Catie long enough to tell you," he teased back.
"You mean all those cross-country practices didn't give you a chance to talk to me? Oh, that's right. It would be difficult to talk to someone who has left your butt in the dust," she grinned mischievously at him. Her eyes lit up as she continued to torment him.
"That's it tomorrow you and I are having a race, little sister," he challenged. Their brothers looked at each other and back to Sam to see if she'd rise to the challenge.
"Sure thing, big brother," she shot back as her eyes began to sparkle with determination to beat him in his challenge.
"Scott, we were going to see a movie tomorrow. We made plans last weekend," whined Kelli. Sam huffed at her whining and quickly excused herself from the table. She couldn't resist a parting shot at Kelli.
"Why don't you quit your damn whining, Kelli? It's not like he doesn't spend every waking moment with you," she snapped. "Thank gawd that he hasn't given up his dream to be a pilot just to be used by you." Turning on her heel, she stormed off to the ladies room. Moments later, Catie followed her.
"Remind me to never make you mad," she said as she spotted Sam leaning against the wall. "Everyone is stunned that you went off like that. You even made Gordon and Alan sent up and take notes."
"I can't stand that wench. She is not good enough for my brother and she never will be," Sam fumed as she began to pace. She knew that she was working herself into a major fit and gawd help the person who crossed her at that time. The ladies room door opened and just the person Sam didn't want to see walked in. She walked straight up to Sam and pushed her against the wall. Catie backed up because she was aware of Sam's ability to beat the crap out of those that hurt her or her brothers.
"Listen you little bitch. I am Scott's girlfriend whether you like it or not and I intend to be around for some time so get used to it," she said as she continued to push Sam into the wall. Sam glowered at Kelli and relaxed her posture. Kelli thought that she had won this little battle of the wills.
"Kelli, you are not going to be around for some time. In fact, I'd say that after tonight you won't be around at all," retorted Sam. "You made a mistake in calling me a bitch because all you have done is made me even angrier." Reaching out quickly, she seized the back of Kelli's head and pulled her hair. As she was pulling, she dragged her to one of the toilet stalls. Flipping up the seat with her foot, she shoved Kelli's head to the bowl and pushed her hair into it and flushed the toilet. Kelli's hair and part of her face were soaked with toilet water.
"Watch out who you call bitch in the future," Sam warned as she stormed out of the ladies room. Catie followed behind her laughing hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"That was classic, Sam," she laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Together the friends went back to the table. As they sat down, all eyes were on Sam. Her brothers knew from the expression on her face nothing good had transpired in the ladies room. Gordon had even warned Kelli not to go in there while Sam was there.
"Samantha, where is Kelli?" Scott asked nervously. Sam looked up at him and jerked her head towards the ladies room. "What did you do to her?"
"Would that be before or after the wench called me a bitch?" she asked. Jeff cleared his throat and gave her a fatherly look that let her know that the language was not tolerated.
"I helped her wash her hair and part of her face…in the toilet," she sniggered. The rest of those seated at the table looked at Sam with huge eyes. Gordon and Alan busted out laughing. Scott started to stammer his outrage at the way Sam treated his girlfriend.
"FINE, Scott. It's okay for her to treat me poorly but if I stand up for myself like you taught me to you get angry with me," she stormed. "Well go baby the manipulative wench. When she wrecks your plans of becoming a pilot don't try to blame anyone but yourself and your hormones." Shoving her chair back she quickly left the table and walked out of the restaurant. Catie was right behind her.
"Come on Catie let's start walking back to school," Sam said as she turned in the direction of their school. They were halfway back to the school when the limo pulled up next to them. Jeff got out and walked up to Sam. He motioned the limo to go on.
"Excuse us for just a moment Catie," he said as he steered Sam off to the side of the road. "Samantha, I am very disappointed in your behavior tonight. Kelli is soaked with toilet water and you ruined her new blouse. I don't know what got into you but I am restricting your activities for the rest of the semester. You will only be allowed to go to class and cross-country practice and races. The rest of the time you are to be in your room. Not any of your brothers' rooms- just yours."
"Dad, that's not fair. She is the one that called me a bitch and threatened me. I only stood up for myself and I am being unjustly punished," stormed Sam in a fit of anger. "FINE- blame me and punish me. Whatever but I will not apologize to that person." She jerked out of her dad's grasp and began to run back to the school. By the time she reached the dorm she had worked out most of her anger. Walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, she was soon on the third floor. She walked to her room and unlocked her door. Just as the door unlocked she was grabbed by her arm. Spinning around she found herself face to face with Scott.
"I should beat the hell out of you for what you did to Kelli," he said in a quiet voice. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw was clenched. Sam looked up at him and waited for the blow to fall as he raised his hand to strike her. Suddenly her head was knocked against the door and her face was stinging from the force of his blow. The imprint of his hand was on her cheek. With anger and hurt flashing in her eyes, she dared him to do it again.
"Is that the best you can do Scotty?" she raged as the tears began to fall from her eyes. "Come on I can take whatever you dish out." With a sudden cry of anger, Scott knocked her to the floor and raised his hand to strike her again. This time the blow was even stronger as his anger came into full play. Sam reacted by punching him as hard as she could in his stomach. He fell off of her and landed on his back.
"Don't you ever hit me again, Scott," she sneered down at him. "Leave me alone." She opened her door and walked into her room leaving him lying on the floor outside her door. She slammed her door shut and went to her bed. She fell across it as she rubbed at the stinging sensation on her face. A sudden pounding on her door made her groan. Stumbling to her feet, she went to open the door to find Scott standing there.
"You didn't think we were done did you?" he asked as he launched himself at Sam once again. As she fell backwards from his attack she screamed as loud as she could.
"Scott what the hell are you doing? Get off of her," yelled Virgil as he ran to pull Scott off of Sam. "JOHNNY, get in here now!"
"GET OFF OF SAM NOW!" John yelled as he and Virgil continued to try and separate the two. Gordon and Alan had come in when they heard the yelling.
"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" thundered another voice from the hallway. The siblings looked towards the door and saw Jeff standing there. "Gordon, Alan, John, and Virgil go to your rooms." Walking up to where Scott and Sam were still struggling on the floor, he grabbed each of them by their arms and separated them.
"Explain yourselves right now. Sam you first," Jeff ordered. Sam swallowed nervously and began her version.
"I was getting ready to walk into my room like you told me when Scott grabbed me from behind. He had raised his hand to hit me and then he hit me hard enough that I had his handprint on my face. I dared him to do it again and then he knocked me to the floor and hit me even harder the second time. This time I retaliated and punched him in the stomach and got him off of me. I locked myself in my room and suddenly someone knocked on my door. I opened it and there was Scott. He launched himself at me again and knocked me backwards again. This time I screamed and that was when Virg, John, Gordon, and Alan came in to try and separate us," hanging her head down she lightly rubbed at her face where the outline of Scott's hands could still be seen. She was in such a state of emotional turmoil that she could feel a headache working up. Knowing the amount of stress she was under now, she knew it was going to be really bad.
"Alright, Scott, let's hear your side," Jeff ordered.
"It's just as Sam said, sir," he said. He was starting to feel guilty for striking out at his sister. Though secretly he was proud of her she had refused to back down and had been able to withstand his attack and come back with her own. He knew that she'd be able to defend herself against someone attacking her. He was startled to see Sam get up from where Jeff had sat her. She began to stumble towards her bed. Halfway there she collapsed to the floor. Jeff and Scott raced to her side and carefully rolled her over.
"Sam, look at me and tell me what's wrong," ordered Jeff. Sam grimaced and tried to open her eyes.
"Headache is all. Please help me to bed and I'll be fine," she whispered. "There was too much excitement and emotions for me tonight. Just wanna sleep, Daddy." As soon as she called him Daddy, he knew that she was hurting bad.
"Scott, go get the nurse and have her bring Sam's medicine in the im form," Jeff said quietly as he picked her up and put her in bed.
"No, Scott, I don't wanna take any medicines. I just…wanna…sleep.." she slurred her words as she buried her face in her pillow. Scott looked at Jeff and nodded. He quickly ran out of the room and to the nurse's office. They returned to Sam's room. The nurse quickly looked over Sam and prepped her arm for the injection. Sam felt the wet wipe on her arm and jerked away.
"Said..I ..didn't… want a stupid shot," she said angrily as she glared at her dad. "I just wanna sleep now leave me alone okay?" She rolled back over and once again began to doze off.
"Scott, go get John," said the nurse. She knew that John would be able to calm Sam down. Moments later John was kneeling next to Sam.
"Sammie, you need a shot for the headache," he coaxed.
"NO! Johnny…just …wanna…sleep," she said. "Don't…let them…give..it to me." He ran his fingers through her hair to relax her. She leaned into his touch and focused on relaxing. When he had her distracted, the nurse quickly administered the pain relief.
"Johnny…you…were…supposed…"she stammered as she fell in a deep sleep. John crawled into bed next to her and wrapped his arms protectively around her and refused to leave until she woke up next. Jeff and the nurse knew that it'd be pointless to argue with him. Jeff had to get back to NYC and Tracy Island.
"I'll see you all in about six weeks," he said as he got into the limo.
"Bye, Dad," said Scott. He went back into the dorm and went straight to his room. He had a lot to think over and work out. He felt guilty about the fight he and Sam had. He was surprised at himself for hitting her but he was so furious for what she did to Kelli. Kelli had given him an ultimatum- her or his sister. He wondered if Sam saw something about Kelli that he was missing. He knew that she was obsessive and wanted all the attention focused on her. He'd have to sort through things later when he wasn't so tired.
In Sam's room, John was holding Sam close as she slept. He was propped up against her headboard and she was nestled against his chest. The steady beat of his heart calmed her and she was able to sleep peacefully with the sound of his heart and the medicine. Thankfully, they didn't have class the next day because it was a weekend. When John woke the next morning he found that during the night he had slid down and was snuggled closer to Sam. She was still under the affects of her pain medicine. He carefully slid out of her bed and went to her bathroom. He checked on her again before he went back to his own room to change into his jeans and sweatshirt.
Three weeks later:
Scott and Sam called a truce though things were strained between the two of them. Sam always made sure that she always had another brother with her when Scott was around. One day Sam was sitting in her room when Scott knocked on her door. Hesitantly she let him in.
"Um, what do you want Scott?" she asked nervously.
"Sam, I don't like the walls that we have built around ourselves," he began. "We have always had a good relationship and this is bothering me. I don't want to fight with you over my girlfriend. I am so sorry for hurting you that night. I don't know what came over me. I overheard Kelli bragging about how she had finally broken our bond. I broke up with her when I heard that. She was using me as a conquest and I can only hope that I haven't let her destroy my relationship with you." He looked down at the floor and Sam could see how hurt he was.
"Scotty, do you mean it?" she asked. She wanted so badly to have her big brother back but she didn't want to interfere with his relationship with Kelli. She had long ago let go of the hurt and anger over their fight. She knew it was all part of having a big family. They sometimes fought and fought hard but they were always there for each other. One thing the boys never forgot was that Sam was capable of giving as good as she got.
"Yeah, Sammie, I mean it. I don't want somebody destroying my relationship with any of you guys," he admitted. He was still looking at the floor when Sam barreled into him. He hugged her close as she began to cry. Wiping her tears with his sleeve he held her close and rested his chin on the top of her head.
"I missed you Scotty," she said through her tears. "I'll always love you even if you do date some bimbos in the future."
"I missed you too, Sam," he admitted as he held her even closer. She could hear his heartbeat and felt safe and secure. No longer did she feel out of sorts nor did Scott.
"I will always love you too but your future boyfriends have to go through a rigorous interview process," he warned her.
"Yeah, a process that involves five protective brothers," quipped four more voices from the doorway. John and Virgil had seen Scott go into Sam's room and had quickly gotten Gordon and Alan.
The remaining three weeks went by fast as they were spent studying for finals and year end tests. Free time was spent in Sam's room due to her punishment that still stood. The last day of school finally came around and Jeff was there to pick them up just as they were heading to the dorm to get their stuff. They had all packed the night before and only had to grab their stuff and load it into the limo.
Just as they were walking to the limo, they heard someone scream Scott's name. Kelli was jogging towards him with a smile on her face. Sam quickly climbed into the limo. John and Virgil followed her and dragged Gordon and Alan in too. Scott waited for her outside the limo.
"What do you need Kelli?" he asked politely. She pressed herself against him.
"I just wanted to wish you a safe trip," she cooed as she batted her eyelashes at him. "You will call me over the summer, won't you?" Scott looked at her incredulously.
"You have some nerve, Kelli," he said. "I heard your comment about breaking the bond I have with my brothers and sister. I don't have any need for someone that can't accept how important my family is to me." Without another word he climbed into the limo and closed the door in her face.
"Let's go home, Dad," Scott said as he grinned over at his sister. Sam gave him the biggest and brightest smile that she could. She mouthed the words "I love you, big brother of mine."