"Sam?!" Drew lowly muttered. He was shocked to see her standing outside his door, so early in the morning. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
Sam stood there staring back at Drew and Jo standing in his doorway. She had no idea what she had just walked in on but she didn't like it. What was this woman doing in his room so early in the morning? Had they spent the night together? Sam could feel her eyes welling up with tears and she was determined to not let Drew or Jo see how hurt she was. She quickly looked down, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Just as she was about to make something come out of her mouth, she heard little foot steps bounding down the hallway.
"Daddy!" A small voice called out. Danny came running up the hallway with a huge smile on his face.
"Danny, I asked you to please wait for me downstairs," Sam scolded.
Danny's face fell slightly and he bowed his head from Sam's harsh words.
"I'm sorry, I just got excited to see Dadd…. I mean Drew," Danny shyly responds.
Sam quickly felt bad for scolding her young son. She knew how excited Danny always was to see Drew. The two had a special bond, since Drew was the only father Danny knew the last few years. It had been very difficult to navigate through all the emotions since the reveal that Drew wasn't Jason, especially for Danny. He didn't really understand and Jason wasn't around that much. Since Drew had been keeping his distance, Danny had essentially lost two fathers.
Sam crouched down near her young son and ran her fingers through his hair.
"Danny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound so serious. But remember, we talked about this, Dad..um Drew, is having some memory problems, and I wanted to be able to prepare him for seeing you." Sam held Danny close and stroked his arm. She wanted to handle it gently with him so he didn't feel bad if Drew didn't remember him.
Drew looked down at Sam comforting Danny and he felt bad. Since he'd been back from the procedure, he hadn't really seen Danny. He remembered a few memories of him and knew that Danny had thought he was his father and Drew wished immediately that he had done better with reassuring the young boy.
"I know you said Da-Drew was having a bad memory but I thought that once he saw me, he'd remember," Danny sweetly replied.
Drew's heart melted at Danny's comment. He quickly went into action making the boy feel better. "Of course, I remember you Danny! I could never forget such a special little boy!" Drew swiftly stepped out of the doorway and into the hallway. He reached down and picked Danny up in his sturdy arms, swinging him around and giving him a big hug.
"How have you been buddy?" Drew questions Danny as he tickles his tummy.
Danny squeals in delight at Drew's tickles and wraps his arms around his head, hugging him tightly.
"I've been good. I miss you, though."
"Ah, I miss you too buddy," Drew replies as he places Danny back down on the ground. "What do you say, we have a boy's day today?" Drew asks, lightly tapping his finger on Danny's nose.
"REALLY?! Just boys?" Danny exclaims with excitement.
Sam starts giggling when she watches Danny's eyes get wide. Drew looks over at Sam and realizes he hadn't checked with her first, to see if it was okay.
"Yes, of course, just boys, that is, if it's okay with your mom." Drew sheepishly grins and grabs Sam at the elbow as he starts in with the charm.
"Please Sam, can we?" Drew clasps his hands together and kneels down on the floor at her feet.
"Please Mommy?" Danny chimes in.
Sam smiles widely and lets out a chuckle, looking down at the two, 'children,' at her feet.
She reaches out and tousles Danny's hair and pulls at the collar of his shirt.
"How can I refuse when you both are ganging up on me?" She replies, joking as if she is annoyed.
"YES!" Danny cries out shoving his elbows into his chest and making fists with his hands.
"Awesome!" Drew reaches over and gives Danny a high five. As he stands up, he mouths, 'thank you,' to Sam. She smiles and nods her head in acknowledgement.
Just then, Drew realizes Jo is still standing in the doorway and about their plans to do their challenge.
"Uh, JJ, I'm sorry, can I take a raincheck on the challenge?" Drew looks over at her apologetically.
Jo, who had been watching how good Drew was with Danny, looks up and flashes a sweet smile.
"Of course, it's no….." She is quickly interrupted.
"Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" Danny blurts out.
"Danny, don't be rude." Sam reprimanded.
"Oh no, it's okay." Jo responds. She crouches down and holds her hand out toward Danny. "My name is Jo. I'm a very good friend of Drew's," she says with a huge smile on her face.
Danny reaches out and shakes her hand firmly.
"Jo and I knew each other when I was in the Navy," Drew explains further. "And she's right, we are very good friends, Jo is one of the good guys." Drew gushes, smiling and looking at Jo, intently.
"You're silly Drew. You mean good girls, she's a girl!" Danny retorts.
Drew chuckles and looks down at Danny. "Yes, of course you are right." "Speaking of good girls, where's your sister?" Drew questions.
"I left her downstairs with Grandma Monica," Danny states plainly. "Do we have to go see her? I thought it was just boys?" Danny grunts annoyingly.
"Hey now, it is just boys, but, I've gotta check in with my baby girl and see how she's doing," Drew chides, while he rubs Danny on the shoulder.
"How about you go downstairs and grab breakfast and let me get ready for our big day real, quick, okay?" Drew encourages.
"Okay, I'll go. How long do I have to wait?"
"Danny!" Sam exclaims, annoyed at Danny's continual rudeness.
"I'm sorry," Danny looks down at the floor, reluctantly apologizing.
"Hey, it's okay," Drew comforts him, pushing his finger under Danny's chin to lift his head. "I won't be long, I promise." He crouches down and moves in close to Danny's face. "Why don't you make a list of all the things you want to do today, so we'll have a plan, okay?"
"Wow! Anything I want?" Danny cries.
"Anything you want, Buddy." Drew kisses him on the check and pats him on the bottom.
Danny turns and runs down the hallway chatting to himself about all the things he was going to add to his list.
"Sorry, about that," Sam says apologetically.
Drew looks over and rolls his eyes at her.
"Oh please, don't apologize. The kids been through a lot. I get it."
Drew reaches out and pats Sam on the arm. Suddenly he realized he never got to explain what Sam walked in on with him and Jo. He wanted to clear the air right away, so he decides to explain.
"Look Sam, what you saw with me and Jo…" Just as Drew begins Sam interrupts him.
Sam knew that Drew was trying to explain and she didn't want to get into it right now. She needed to find out more about this Jo person and plus she didn't feel like talking about it with Jo standing right there.
"Um, I better go and relieve Monica, with Scout. You know how she can be kind of grumpy in the mornings." Sam smiled over at Drew and touched him on the arm, caressing it lightly.
Jo slightly rolled her eyes and chuckled under her breath a bit. She could tell Sam was letting her know that she was moving in on her 'territory.' Jo shook her head slowly and sighed.
"Sam, can that wait just a minute, I really think we need to cle…."
"Mommy! Scout's throwing her food again!" Danny cried from halfway up the stairs.
"See, she's grumpy this morning." Sam gave Drew a smirk and tilted her head slightly. "I've gotta go." Sam pointed her thumb back, towards down stairs, and started to walk away. "We can talk later!" She calls out back behind her, where she had left Drew standing.
As soon as she was out of sight, Sam stopped for a second and leaned up against the wall. She rubbed her hands over her face and ran her fingers through her hair. Wow! She thought to herself, that was awkward. "What is going on with those two?" Sam wondered to herself. She really needed to find out more about Jo and just what did she and Drew share in their past? As soon as she got Scout settled, she was going to set her sights on figuring out Miss Joanna Jenkins.
"Well, that was awkward." Jo blurts out, once she sees Sam walk out of sight.
Drew turns around and looks at her. He lets out a deep sigh.
"Yeah, that was pretty…..weird." Drew chuckles. "JJ, I'm sorry, I baled on our plans. It's just I haven't spent much time with Danny, lately and really none since I had the procedure and…."
"Drew, stop! It's fine, I mean it. It's actually pretty cool seeing you in 'Dad,' mode." Jo giggles and pushes on Drew's shoulder. "We can do our challenge any old time. I would have kicked your ass anyway." Jo teases.
"Really? You think so huh? Well, you're just lucky you have more time to train now, so you won't be as embarrassed when I kick your ass!" Drew laughs and leans in close to Jo's face. Jo smirks back and leans in a bit closer, too. The urge to kiss Drew washes over her. Quickly she turns her head and takes a step back. She didn't want to go there with him right now. Especially since he admitted he has feelings for Sam. Jo needed to figure out what was going on with her. Also, she would like to know a bit more about the woman.
"So, was that true?" Jo breaks the silence and the tension with her question.
Drew, was taken aback, he had felt an urge to kiss her wash over him and thought Jo felt the same thing. Although, he was kind of glad she had quickly turned her head, he wasn't sure he would have been able to hold back and it wasn't a good idea to be kissing her right now. Remembering she had said something, but not being able to remember what it was, Drew shook off his urge and turned his attention to what was said.
"Uh, um what?" Drew looked over at Jo with a confused look.
"Was that true? Did you really remember Danny?" She reiterated.
"Oh, that. Well, yeah. I have remembered some things about Danny. We had some fun times, he and I." Drew recalls fondly.
"You're really good with him. It's cute." Jo praises him sweetly.
"He's a good kid and he's been through a lot. He found out I wasn't his 'father,' and then Sam and I broke up, but his 'real,' father doesn't come around that much either, so I'm sure he's hurting. This whole situation has been toughest on all these kids involved." Drew laments bitterly.
Jo stares at Drew, quietly listening to his rant. She knew he had a deep loyalty to anyone he considered family and she loved hearing him in his protective mode.
Drew looks up and sees Jo gazing at him. He quickly gets a little embarrassed and also realizes he has Danny waiting downstairs.
"Uh, sorry, for the rant. I – I, better, get ready, Danny will be antsy to go soon. I don't want to keep him waiting."
Jo, jolts her head quickly, realizing she had been staring and that Drew had noticed. She turns her head slightly, completely embarrassed that she was caught admiring him.
"Yes, of course, you should definitely, NOT keep Danny waiting. You two have a great day." Jo quietly replies.
"Hey, why don't you meet up with us later?"
"What? No way! Did you see how happy that kid was to have a 'boy's day? Um, that means no girls allowed." Jo points back at herself and moves her arms up and down.
"Ha, ha, you are so funny," Drew mocks. "I know that, but it's pretty early and he'll eventually tucker out. Meet up with us this afternoon at Kelly's. I can bribe him with a cookie or banana split or some other sugar filled goody, and trust me, he'll be fine with it." Drew continues, throwing Jo a sheepish grin.
Jo was hesitant to give in to his request. She wasn't sure it was a good idea, especially with her jumbled-up feelings. Drew, kept looking at her though, with that puppy dog look and she couldn't say no.
"Okay, sure, fine. I'll come. Just text me when you want me to meet you," She relents, with a laugh.
"Yes!" Drew quietly rejoices with the same victory motion, Danny had given earlier. "Okay, I'll see you later." Drew quips.
"Bye, go get ready," Jo retorts, waving him back to his room.
Drew waves and disappears into his room. Jo stood in the hallway outside his room for a moment longer, tapping on door. She shakes her head and stares off with a fond look. Drew really was a great Dad. It was nice seeing that side of him. She was happy that he was letting her into that part of his life. After a minute, Jo gathered herself together and headed down the hall to her room. She was looking forward to her meet-up with Drew and Danny later. In the meantime, she needed to learn more about Sam McCall.