A Fresh Start
Chapter Fifty Nine
Sam is sitting on the couch watching the news when Jeffrey walks in. Turning, she smiles as he lays his keys on the table by the door and then walks over to her. "Hi." He says, leaning over and giving her a soft kiss.
"Hi." She says, moving over so he can sit down beside her. "How was your day?"
"Busy."
"Do you want a glass of wine?"
"No." Jeffrey says, putting his arm across her shoulders and pulling her to him. "I want to sit here with you." He says, as she moves back against him. "What did you do today?"
"You know what I did this morning, and then I had lunch with this incredibly sexy man…."
"You did?" Jeffrey asks as Sam nods. "Should I be jealous?" He asks, leaning over to kiss the side of her neck.
"Umm no, you still have my heart."
"Good, so what did you do after this lunch date, with this incredibly sexy man?"
"I went out to the farm."
"Cassie's farm?"
"Yes, she called me this morning…."
"That's right, you told me at lunch. So, what did she want?"
"She's been helping me find a dress for the wedding." Sam says, as Jeffrey nods.
"So, did you find anything?"
"Yes, she had one of Tammy's wedding dresses…."
"Tammy's wedding dress, to Jon."
"No, I would never use that dress. No, this was the dress she wore when she married Sandy. She had it out and she brought it down. She's giving it to me, to use."
"Wow, she's letting you use Tammy's dress. I'm surprised."
"So was I, and at first I didn't want to use it, but she insisted."
"And you're okay with that?"
"Yes, it's a beautiful dress and it's just what I was looking for. And now that I have the dress I'll have time to get ready for this weekend."
"Ava."
"Yes, you're okay with me inviting her to…."
"I'm fine with you asking Ava over here. I want you both to get together."
"Good."
"So, what else did you do today?"
"Not a whole lot, avoided Olivia, and called…."
"Avoided Olivia, did she...?"
"No, she came by the farm while I was there with Cassie."
"Does she know why you were there?"
"No, I didn't say anything. When I heard her voice I told Cassie that I would come by and get the dress…."
"Did she see the dress?"
"No, not that I know of, I don't think Cassie would show it to her because I asked her not to say anything to her."
"Alright, so you have to go get the dress?"
"No, Cassie brought it to me this afternoon when she came to get the boys from a church thing."
"Alright, so can I see it?" Jeffrey asks, looking down at her.
"No, you can't see it, its bad luck for you to see the wedding gown before the ceremony."
"It's okay. I've already seen the dress."
"You have… because it was Tammy's dress."
"Right, and I, was at the wedding in question." Jeffrey says, getting up and walking into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he gets a coke and then walks back into the living room.
"Cassie said that Sandy married Tammy while he was still married to Ava."
"That's right; I don't know all the details. But Sandy was married to Ava. I think they married to please Ava's adoptive mother and then when she died Sandy left." Jeffrey says, sitting back down beside her.
"You never asked her why or what happened?"
"No, I guess I didn't want to know. I was focused on Tammy and Cassie and at the time, I didn't know that she was my daughter."
"You didn't suspect that she was. I mean she acts like you in many ways."
"Like I said, I wasn't thinking about it."
"How do you think she'll react when we tell her?"
"I don't know. I'm sure she'll be happy for us. She's been very supportive…."
"And she's defended me and our relationship to Olivia, so I guess she'll be okay with it?"
"Are you worried about it?" Jeffrey asks, turning to look at her.
"No, but I don't want you to have problems with your daughter. I want you to be happy."
"I am happy. And I honestly don't think that Ava will be upset with you and me getting married. She knows about the baby, and she did ask the question when we told her. If anything I think she'll be worried."
"Because of Olivia."
"Yes."
"We'll make sure she's protected." Sam says, moving over to him. "So, what do you want to eat Saturday night?" She asks, laying her head on his shoulder.
"I don't know."
"It has to be something special. Would you feel up to grilling some steaks?"
"I can do that." Jeffrey says. "Do you miss my steaks?"
"Well, no one can grill them like you can. And we haven't had a chance…."
"What is wrong with my steaks?" Jeffrey asks
"Nothing." Sam says, smiling softly.
"It was one time, and it wasn't completely my fault. I was distracted."
"You can't blame that on me."
"Why not, you're the one that started it."
"You didn't…"
"Could I have resisted you?"
"I don't know could you?" Sam asks, looking at him
"No, and you knew that." Jeffrey says, kissing her forehead. "I'll grill the steaks, if you'll make the gooey cake you made in London."
"Alright, I can do that. But that means I'm going to have to go to the grocery store tomorrow morning."
"I didn't mean to add another errand to your busy schedule."
"Busy schedule, I'm bored." Sam says, moving away from him.
"Already?"
"Yes, already. I've never spent this much time at home and most of the planning for the wedding is done, so I don't have a lot to do."
"Maybe you can go over to the hospital and volunteer. I know the clinic on 5th street needs doctors, until you decide whether you want to go to Cedars and work or open your own practice."
"I know I want to open my own practice and since Cedars is the closest hospital for most of my patients I'll be working there…. I'm not complaining. I'm just bored."
"Do you feel like a drive?"
"Where?"
"I don't know. I thought maybe we would drive over to Oakdale and maybe get something to eat."
"I can cook…."
"I know you can, but you've been running around today and I think it would be good for both of you to take a break." Jeffrey says, standing up.
"Okay." Sam says, starting to get up until he stops her.
"Stay there and I'll be right back. I'm going to go change."
"Okay." She replies, sitting back as Jeffrey heads towards the stairs.
A few minutes later, he's back downstairs, in jeans and a t-shirt and they are leaving the loft.
When the van carrying Jon and Sarah pulls through the gate William turns back to the palace and heads to his office. Picking up the phone, he dials Richard's number at the farm. After about four rings, his voicemail picks up.
Richard holds the screen door for Cassie as they walk in from the barn. "Do you want something to eat or drink?" Cassie asks, as he closes the door behind them.
"No, I'm going to go to my office and check on some things and then I'll be upstairs." He says as he walks through the kitchen
"Okay." She says, opening the refrigerator and getting out a bottle of water.
Walking over to the table, she picks up the file folder that Olivia left that afternoon. Walking upstairs, she changes for bed and then begins to flip through the file as Richard sits down at his desk. Picking up his phone, he dials the number to check his messages. "You have one message." The automated voice says, as Richard sits back.
"Richard, this is William. I'm calling to let you know that Jon and Sarah are in San Cristobel and they are on their way to Alsworth as we speak. I'm sure he'll be in contact with you as soon as they get settled in. I hope…. I'll talk to you soon."
"End of messages, to delete this mess…." Richard hits the button to delete the message and then hangs up. Dialing Reva's number, he waits for a couple rings before she answers.
"Hello."
"Reva, its Richard."
"Hi, how are you?"
"We're good, but that's not the reason I called."
"Is he…."
"William called while Cassie and I were in the barn. They are safe and on their way to Alsworth. They may actually be there by now." Richard says, glancing at the clock.
"Everything went okay."
"I don't know the details, but William didn't sound like they had any problems and he said that he would probably be contacting us as soon as they are settled in."
"Oh, that's wonderful news." Reva says, as Josh walks in. "Alright, thank you for letting me know." She says. Hanging up, she turns to Josh and says. "That was Richard. Jon and Sarah are both in San Cristobel now."
"That's wonderful." Josh says, with no real emotion.
"What is wrong with you?"
"Nothing, why would there be anything wrong with me? I enjoy my wife talking to her ex-husband about their child."
"I have a child with…."
"And I enjoy my wife running off to do whatever because some guy that happens to look like her ex asks."
"Josh, I told you…."
"I know what you told me Reva. I still didn't want you to go."
"What do you have against Jeffrey, because I know you can't still be jealous of Richard, or Jon?"
"Why can't I be jealous of all of them? I don't trust Jeffrey, not anymore. Not after….."
"Not after what? What he did to Cassie? Don't you think you're a little too focused on what he did to Cassie? Maybe you still have…."
"I don't have feelings for Cassie, not the way I thought I did."
"Then why are you so fixated on Jeffrey and what happened between him and Cassie, because it seems to me that if Cassie can forgive him and Richard can forgive him, why can't you?"
"He…."
"He, what?"
"He can't be trusted. We can't trust him."
"Jeffrey is a good man and if you would get over whatever this is that's got you so worked up about him, you would realize that. Now I'm going to go."
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know." Reva says, loosing patience with him and walking out of the house.
Josh turns to look at himself in the mirror above the mantel, where Waldo, used to hang. "Why didn't you just tell her?" He asks, turning away from the mirror and walking into the study.
When Richard finished with the call to Reva, he looks over some paperwork that he had brought home with him and then turning off the light and walks upstairs. When he walks in to their bedroom, he finds Cassie lying on the bed, with a file folder open on her lap and asleep. Walking over to her side of the bed, he stands there, watching her sleep for a few moments before he reaches down and picks up the folder. Closing it, he lays the file on the table beside her before he turns away and walks into the bathroom.
A few minutes later, he walks out, dressed in pajama bottoms. Cassie is still sleeping when he glances over. Walking around to his side of the bed, he pulls the covers back, before he walks around and bending down, he picks her up and then walks back around to his side before he lays her down in the middle of the bed. Lying down behind her, she instinctively moves back against him as he lays an arm across her stomach after pulling the sheet over them.
Jeffrey and Sam got back to the loft around ten. And after each of them takes a shower they both head to bed. Jeffrey's up early the next morning, and after leaving a note for Sam, he heads to City hall. He's just walking into his office, when Stacey stops him. "Sir, you have a call on line one."
"Thank you Stacey." He says, walking into his office.
Sitting down at his desk, he picks up the phone and pushes the button for line one. "Hello." He says, as Stacey brings in his messages and a cup of coffee. "Thank you." He says to her as William says. "Jeffrey, its William."
"Yes, William." He says, taking a sip of coffee.
"I wanted to let you know that I spoke with my advisors and the Police chief and they have no problem with you sending agents down here to seize Alan's computers, or anything else that you need."
"Thank you. I'll get in contact with my agency and we'll send agents down as soon as possible."
"When they arrive they will have to check in with the Police Chief here in the capital before they go to the Spaulding villa."
"I'll be sure to tell them, and thank you William. I know you're taking a chance by allowing us access to the Spaulding property."
"Yes, well, I'm already taking a chance where the Spaulding's are concerned so one more won't hurt."
"Alright, I'll be in touch when we have everything worked out on this end."
"Thank you."
Jeffrey hangs up and dials Noah's number.
Rolling to her side, Cassie is surprised to see Richard lying beside her and that she's under the covers. The last thing she remembered doing was coming upstairs with the file folder that Olivia had left the afternoon before. Turning back over, she looks at the nightstand and sees the folder laying there as Richard says. "I put it there."
Turning to him, she says. "You put it…."
"Yes, when I came up from checking my messages and some papers that I brought home last night, I found you lying here asleep with the folder on your lap. I put in on the night stand and then I moved you to my side of the bed."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep like that."
"It's alright."
"Was everything alright, did anyone...?"
"William called while we were outside."
"He did, what did he want?"
"To tell me that Jon and Sarah had made it to San Cristobel and that nothing happened on the way."
"Oh, that's wonderful. So they are safe?"
"They're fine. He'll probably call once he and Sarah are settled. So, what do you have planned for today?"
"I've got to go over to the Beacon and then I have to speak to Rev. Rutledge about our wedding and I might talk to Buzz about catering it. And I need to talk to Reva."
"Talk to Reva?"
"Yes, I've got some stuff I need to tell her."
"You're not going to get in a fight?"
"No, I'm just going to talk to her."
"Alright."
"What do you have to do today?"
"I have to go in to City Hall. We have representatives from a new company coming in and I have to met them and show them around Springfield and then I need to talk to Jeffrey."
"About what?"
"My brother's family, you reminded me last night that I wanted to see them."
"And Jeffrey's your only connection to them."
"That's right."
"Alright, well I think it's time we get going. The boys will be home soon."
"Wait." He says, moving closer to her, he leans in.
"What?"
He lightly kisses her before he leans back and says. "I love you."
"I love you too." She says, smiling softly as he pushes the covers back.
Getting up, he heads towards the bathroom as she pushes the covers back and gets up.
Friday morning, Sam goes to the grocery store to pick up the steaks and other things they'll need for their dinner with Ava. After returning to the loft, she puts everything away and then heads into the living room. Pulling her cell phone out of her purse she dials the number for Dr. Sedgwick's office. After a couple rings, the receptionist picks up. "Thank you for calling Dr. Sedgwick's office, my name is Mandy, how may I help you?"
"Yes, I need to schedule an appointment with Dr. Sedgwick, if I can for this afternoon."
"Alright, can I get your name?"
"Samantha Renton."
"Okay, Ms. Renton. We have an opening at 3 would that work for you?"
"That will be fine."
"I'll put you down. Can you tell me the reason for the visit?"
"I'm expecting…."
"Congratulations."
"Thank you."
"We will see you around three this afternoon."
"Yes, thank you." Sam says before she hangs up.
Pushing speed dial 1, Sam waits for Stacey to answer the phone. After a couple rings she picks up and says. "Springfield City Hall, Mayor's office."
"Stacey, its Sam, is Jeffrey in his office."
"Yes ma'am."
"Could I speak to him?"
"Yes, could you hold please?"
"Yes, of course."
Stacey puts her on hold as she buzzes Jeffrey. Pushing the button, he says. "Yes."
"Sir, Ms. Renton is on line one for you."
"Thank you, Stacey." He says picking up the phone and pushing the button for line one. "Hi, Beca."
"Hi."
"What are you doing?"
"I just called Dr. Sedgwick's office and scheduled my first appointment for this afternoon at three."
"Okay."
"I didn't think about it, but can you make that?"
"I should be able to. I've got a meeting with Richard at 2:30."
"Will you be finished by three?"
"I'll let him know ahead of time that I have an appointment. How are you doing? Have you had anymore problems with morning sickness?"
"No, not today."
"Good, did you…?"
"Yes, I ate. I stopped at Company and had lunch before I came home from the grocery store."
"Good." Jeffrey says, as Stacey walks into his office. "Beca, I'm going to have to go, Stacey needs me."
"I'll see you at three."
"Yes. I love both of you."
"We love you too."
Sam hangs up as Jeffrey turns to Stacey. "Yes?"
"Sir, I've got the facts and figures on the house on Cedar Street."
"What's the outcome?"
"Most of the citizens that I spoke with don't want the house to be torn down. They feel like we're doing enough redevelopment on 5th and Main Streets so we need to keep a house that has deep ties to the community."
"Good. I want you to write up a proposal for city council and I'll present it to them at our next meeting later this week."
"Yes Sir."
"Thank you Stacey." Jeffrey says, as she walks out of the office Jeffrey glances at a picture of Sam and smiles.
At about 2:30 Richard walks into Jeffrey's outer office. "Good afternoon, Mr. Winslow."
"Hello Stacey, I've got an appointment with…."
"I'll tell him you're here."
"Thank you." Richard says, as Stacey buzzes Jeffrey
"Yes."
"Sir, Mr. Winslow is here to see you."
"Send him in." Jeffrey says, as Stacey nods him back.
"You can…."
"I heard." Richard says, walking towards Jeffrey's office.
"Richard." Jeffrey says, standing up as he walks into the office.
"Jeffrey." Richard replies, walking over to Jeffrey's desk. "I wanted to ask you something…."
"First, is this meeting going to take long?" Jeffrey asks, sitting down behind his desk as Richard sits down in one of the chairs across from him.
"No, it shouldn't, why?"
"Because Sam just called and she scheduled her first appointment for Dr. Sedgwick for three."
"We'll be through in time. In fact we'll be through in about five minutes."
"Is this about work?"
"No, it's personal. I wanted to ask you about my brother's family."
"Your brother's family, I don't understand?"
"The one that died around the same time as my accident, the one the agency found."
"In Chicago, what about them?"
"I want to meet them and I thought maybe you could arrange that for me?"
"I ah… I guess I could. I don't know exactly where they are. The agency has all the information in your file. I can contact Noah and see if he can arrange something."
"That would be good. Do you know if my mother is still alive?"
"No, I'm afraid not. She died within a few months of your brother's funeral."
"So, only his wife and kids are left now?"
"Yes, as far as I know. Noah would be able to get more information."
"Okay."
"Could you contact him and ask?"
"Of course I will." Jeffrey says, as Richard stands up.
"Thank you." He says, holding his hand out.
"You're welcome." Jeffrey says, shaking his hand.
"I've got to meet the CEO of that new company that's coming in."
"Alright."
Richard leaves as Jeffrey follows him out. "Stacey, I've got a personal appointment to take care of, I'll be back later."
"Yes Sir." She replies, as Richard and Jeffrey walk out of the office.
"I'll contact Noah."
"Thank you." Richard says, before he turns towards his office and Jeffrey leaves.
Sam has just reached Dr. Sedgwick's office when Jeffrey walks through the door. Walking over to her, he leans down to give her a quick kiss before he sits down beside her as she says. "Hi."
"Hi. I'm glad I'm not late?"
"I just got here myself. I fell asleep on the couch and I woke up about ten minutes ago." Sam says, as Dr. Sedgwick's nurse calls her name.
Standing up, Jeffrey follows them back to the exam room. "If you could change into this gown and Dr. Sedgwick should be in, in a few minutes." The nurse says, handing Sam a paper gown before she leaves the room.
"Thank you." Sam says, beginning to get undress. Putting the gown on, she sits down on the exam table and then glances at Jeffrey and smiles. "So, what did Richard want?"
"Oh, he wants to meet his brother's family."
"I thought William didn't have any family, beside's Richard."
"He doesn't, no he wants to meet the family of his brother from Chicago."
"The one the agency switched him with."
"Yes. He wants me to contact Noah and get the information from him."
"Will they tell him?"
"I don't know. I didn't have a chance to call Noah before I left City Hall, but I don't see why not. Camille is caught. Richard is awake and safe as is Cassie and his brother's family." Jeffrey says, as the door to exam room opens and Dr. Sedgwick walks in.
"Dr. Renton." She says, walking in to the room. "I'm surprised to see you back here. My nurse says that you're expecting."
"Yes." Sam says, as Dr. Sedgwick looks over at Jeffrey.
"And are you the father, Mr. Mayor?" She asks.
"Yes." Jeffrey says, taking Sam's hand.
"Well, congratulations to you both. I know this isn't your first child." She says, nodding to Jeffrey. "But what about you Sam?"
"Yes, this is my first child."
"Okay, well first we're going to start with a routine exam. I'm going to check to make sure nothing is happening that shouldn't be happening. We're going to take some blood to check your levels and other things and then we'll talk about what you should expect in the next few months and weeks ahead." Dr. Sedgwick says, as Sam nods. "If you could lie back, we'll start the exam." Dr. Sedgwick says, as Sam lays back and Jeffrey continues to hold her hand.
After a few minutes, Dr. Sedgwick rolls over to the trash can, taking her gloves off as Jeffrey helps Sam sit up. "So." Sam asks.
"Everything looks in order. I'm going to have my nurse come in to draw the blood, if you want to get dressed and then I'll be back to talk to you."
"Okay." Sam replies, as Dr. Sedgwick gets up and leaves the room as Sam reaches for her clothes.
She dresses quickly. And sitting down on the table again, she turns to Jeffrey. "So, you think that the agency will tell Richard where his brother's family is?"
"They should, everything is settled."
"Do you think they'll want to see him?"
"I don't know. He's the last connection they have to his brother. I would want to know him. He asked me about his mother."
"He did, is she...?"
"No, she died within months of her son's funerals."
"What was his brother's name? I never asked Noah."
"Matthew Woodward."
"And his mother's name?"
"Juliana Woodward."
"Does the agency know anything about her?" Sam asks, as Dr. Sedgwick's nurse walks in the room.
"I'm here to take some blood." She says, putting her kit on the counter beside the exam table as Sam nods, holding her arm out to her.
After rubbing her arm down with some alcohol, Sam watches as she sticks her with a butterfly. After a few seconds, she starts to fill a couple of vials of blood as Jeffrey looks away and Sam looks up at him. He's not really squeamish when it comes to blood, he just didn't like watching it coming out of Sam's arm.
After the nurse finishes with the last vial, she pulls the needle out and puts a cotton ball on the hole before she pushes Sam's arm up. "Could hold that for a moment?" The nurse asks, as Sam nods and she begins to label the vials.
Putting them in her kit, she reaches for a band-aid. Leaving the cotton ball in place, she puts the band-aid on it and then wraps it with a pressure wrap. "You can leave the wrap on for an hour, the band-aid for at least two. Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine, although I'm not to sure about my fiancé over there." Sam says teasing Jeffrey as the nurse looks at him.
"I'm fine." He says, smiling at her.
"Dr. Sedgwick will be back in, in a few minutes." She says, smiling.
"Thank you." Sam says as the nurse walks to the door.
Opening it, she leaves as Sam looks at Jeffrey and asks. "Are you really okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You seemed a little unnerved watching her take the blood."
"It's not the blood. It was that it was coming from you."
"From me?"
"Yes, I know it wasn't hurting you, but it looked painful and I don't want to watch you hurt."
"Well, you're going to have to get over that because when this baby decides to make his entrance, I'm going to hurting a whole lot." She says, as he leans over and kisses her.
"I'll be fine when that time comes."
"Are you sure about that?" Sam asks, as Dr. Sedgwick walks back into the room.
"So, everything is done." She says, as she sits down on the stool she vacated a few minutes before. "Now we need to talk about what you can expect."
"I know most of it." Sam says, looking at Jeffrey
"Have you started having any symptoms?"
"Ah, I've had a few bouts with morning sickness and nausea, but other than that, nothing has happened so far."
"Okay. Well, I would suggest…."
"Keeping a box of crackers close at hand, I've already started." Sam says
"Do either of you have any questions?"
"Why did you take the blood?" Jeffrey asks.
"We took the blood to check her vitamin levels and to make sure her blood sugar is normal, along with her iron level. Speaking of that, you need to start taking prenatal vitamins." Dr. Sedgwick says, looking at Sam as she nods.
"What else are you testing?" Jeffrey asks.
"We'll test to see if there are any STD's present."
"STD's?" Jeffrey says.
"Yes, it's routine. Not that we suspect anything."
"Okay." Jeffrey replies
"Is there anything else?" Dr. Sedgwick asks.
Sam shakes her head, as she looks at Jeffrey and he too shakes his head.
"Alright, I'm going to write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins. I want you to start taking them immediately. Watch what you eat, watch your caffeine intake, and try to increase you calcium and water intake. And you can exercise, but nothing strenuous."
"I've already started." Sam replies.
"Good, I also want to see you again in a month. So be sure to schedule an appointment with my receptionist before you leave." Dr. Sedgwick says, as Jeffrey helps Sam off the table
"I will." Sam says, as they walk to the door.
"Good. Everything looks good. I will call you if there is anything we need to discuss after I get the results back from the blood work, but I don't believe that anything will come back, so I'll see you in a month." Dr. Sedgwick says, following them out of the room.
Stopping at the front desk, Sam makes another appointment and then she and Jeffrey leave a few minutes later. They are walking to Sam's car, when Olivia spots them.
59.13