Part 3
Luke met Sam Fortimer a few weeks before he'd gone home for spring break. Sam was in his final year of his master's degree, had the keenest mind in the faculty and was, by far, the coolest guy that Luke had ever met.
Luke had no idea what Sam was doing at a lame college like Wesleyan. Any of the Ivies would have taken Sam in a heartbeat and it wasn't as if Sam were following in his Dad's footsteps like Luke was. Sam's Dad, Tom Fortimer was filthy rich and could have sent Sam wherever the hell he liked.
But Luke guessed that Sam wouldn't have been able to get away with half the stuff he pulled at any other (more reputable) college.
Firstly, there were the pranks and scams - most of which were immoral, probably illegal, hilarious and brilliant. If it wasn't for his Dad, Sam would have been kicked out before his bags had hit the dorm room floor.
Secondly, there were the girls. To call Sam a womaniser was possibly the understatement of the year. He left a string of broken hearts from the Fauver to Middletown and back again. But, weirdly, no one held it against him because…
Well… there was the charm. Luke would kill, definitely kill for an ounce of Sam's charisma, his confidence, to be that articulate without being either pompous or smarmy. And yes, Sam always said he was a little jealous of the "brooding thing" that Luke had going on, but Luke found that very hard to believe.
But then, Luke found it hard to believe that Sam would hang out with him at all. He suspected that Sam just secretly always wanted a little brother. The older guy had explained to Luke that his two Dads had adopted him just before their rights had been taken away (Luke couldn't believe how homophobic the world had been back then) and had never been able to have another kid. Luke was quite happy to take the vacant position. After all, it got him a fake ID and a pass into a lot of great parties. Didn't help his grades much, but…
Sam was going home for the summer. It turned out that his Dads lived in New Jersey, near his Uncle Marshall and Aunt Lily, so they decided to travel back together and drop in and see Luke's cousins before heading into Manhattan. Sam didn't drive and the long bus journey had them discussing films and music and everything in their lives except the one thing that was really bothering Luke.
Oddly, Sam didn't call him on it, although he swore that Sam talked more to cover his friend's awkward silence than anything else. He did find out a lot about Sam - how he'd grown up mostly on the West Coast before living in Manhattan when he was a teenager. Luke found they had a lot in common and loved hearing Sam's outrageous stories about all the things he'd got up to in school, but it did make him feel boring by comparison.
A while through the journey, Luke was p-mail-ing his sister on his Apple iSync and Sam demanded to see a picture of her. Luke blushed crimson as Sam whooped it up, telling Luke his sister was "a fox" and "totally hot" until Luke glared at Sam until he shut the hell up.
"If you so much as look at her… Man, I'll rip your heart out!"
Sam grinned weakly. "Dude. As if. She may be a ten but nailing your sister would be a major Bro-code violation."
"Bro-code?"
"Yeah."
Luke laughed, but his chest tightened a bit and his stomach burned. He hadn't heard that phrase outside of his Dad's stories. Over the past few months, when not distracted by Sam, Luke had a lot of time to think over what had happened at home back in March. He'd remembered how he and Leia had been shocked when his Dad had got to the part in the story where he'd been riding in a taxi and another car had hit them, then how Leia had actually cried when Barney had been hit by a bus trying to get to his friend.
He remembered the look on his Dad's face, how he'd reassured both of them and how he'd rapidly skipped on to the bit where Barney had been revealed to be alive... How his Dad had wrapped everything up neatly before Luke had left for college, even putting in the hint of a romance between Uncle Barney and Aunt Robin and how Leia's face had lit up at that.
And ever since the stories had gotten more and more outrageous and (Luke hated to say it) unbelievable. There had been more holes and more holes for him and Leia to pick at. And Barney had pined for Robin (albeit inconsistently, until Leia reminded Dad about it and demanded some progression).
Yeah, it was as if Dad had been making up the story as he went along. He'd been playing to the audience, giving Luke and Leia what they wanted to hear because the truth was too painful for him. Luke realised, that in actuality, Barney had died thinking Dad was no longer his friend - that his Dad never got to make amends.
Perhaps Dad was telling the story for himself? A version of the story where he got to fix his mistakes and live the life he wanted...?
As the miles rolled away beneath them, Luke realised that he really was going to have to try and talk to his Dad and make things right. But there were fifteen messages on his p-mail from home and he didn't feel like answering any of them.
*--*--*
Aunt Lily just had to make a big thing out of Luke's homecoming. He could swear that the table was more heavily laden than any Thanksgiving meal. In fact, he was having second thoughts about the whole thing until he realised that Mitchell (his youngest cousin) was home and he got to be the "big brother" for a change. Of course, Mitchell took a shine to Sam right away, everyone did.
But one thing Luke didn't regret was making an entrance. Sam had persuaded him (somehow, he wasn't quite sure how) to wear a suit to go visit his Uncle and Aunt. Luke only had the one and it felt stuffy, uncomfortable and itchy. But he and Sam arrived and saw what an effort Aunt Lily had made, Luke felt only mildly out of place (even if he didn't quite wear his suit with the aplomb of Mr Fortimer).
"So who's your handsome friend?" Aunt Lily said, bringing them both in for a clumsy, floury hug. "Mitch, you get down here!" She yelled raucously up the stairs. Luke threw Sam an apologetic look but Sam took it all in his stride.
"It's great to meet you!" He said with a lopsided grin, actually taking Aunt Lily's hand and kissing the knuckles.
"You little charmer!" Lily said, swatting him away, although Luke could see her cheeks were pink. Did Sam pump out some kind of chick-conquering pheromone or something? Luke thought. And if so, could he get some? Please?
Mom and Dad arrived shortly after and Leia threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug and Aunt Robin sauntered through the door with a bottle of scotch.
Then things went weird.
Robin froze, in mid turn, just as Leia let Luke go and Sam threw his sister a wink and a nod. Robin seemed hypnotised, not saying a thing but staring, staring at the two of them, at Luke and Sam and her face went completely white.
Lily stepped forward. "Hey, Robin honey? Are you okay?"
Robin shook her head and flailed one hand to grab on to Aunt Lily. Luke dashed forward but Sam got there before them. They all supported her to the couch where they lowered her carefully into a seat.
"My god…" Robin mumbled, patting her face.
"Robin, are you okay?" "Sweetie, take a deep breath!" "Give the girls some air!" They were all fussing until Uncle Marshall, mountain of a man that he was, waded in and pulled them back.
"I'm fine… I'm fine…" Robin said, a little grumpily.
Slowly, everyone found a seat except Luke, and Sam who hung back by his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" Lily said, visibly concerned.
Robin tilted her head towards Luke and Sam, who looked at each other. Luke frowned and shrugged.
"Am I the only one seeing it?" Robin asked. Lily shook her head helplessly. "It's like a window into the past. It's like it was only yesterday…" Robin sighed. "Ted, he's so like you. And… Sorry, what was your name?"
Luke cleared his throat. "Sam. Sam Fortimer."
Sam shrugged and grinned.
"Barney," Robin said. "It's Ted and Barney, twenty years ago. I swear, Lily, if Carl walked through that door right now, I probably wouldn't bat and eyelid."
There was silence. Then Uncle Marshall boomed. "No way, no way, no WAY!"
Then all hell broke loose.
*--*--*
Later, when the bottle of scotch lay empty on the table, Sam brought them all up to date with everything that had happened to his Dads, James Stinson and Tom Fortimer, since James's brother had died.
"It's a miracle!" Marshall repeated, for about the hundredth time.
"Sure it is, sweetie," His wife patted him on the back of the hand.
"Do you understand anything about what's going on?" Mitchell whispered in Luke's ear.
"Very little," Luke whispered back. "Sam's our long lost cousin. Or something."
"It's such a shame you guys lost touch after the funeral," Sam said. "My Dads talk about you guys sometimes, you know. I just never made the connection with Mosby, here…" Sam flashed them a pinball grin.
Luke saw his Dad's expression tighten. To think of the years of guilt that he must have carried on his shoulders! It was obvious that Sam saw that too.
"It's not like they're mad at any of you or anything." Sam insisted. "They know it wasn't your fault that Uncle didn't look both ways while crossing the road. And I've heard all the stories. Sounds like he was pretty wild."
"Sounds like someone else is pretty wild too…" Leia said with a smirk. "I've heard all the stories…"
Sam flashed Luke a pointed look but Luke was more interested in the expression on Leia's face and the interest in her eyes. That was so not happening. No way, no way and no way. Not his sister and lover-boy over there.
"It's late…" Aunt Lily said, patting Marshall on the arm to wake him where he'd nodded off. "You boys can stay over in Steph's room. You don't mind doubling up? No, you're young and your hips still work."
Marshall groaned as he levered himself up from the comfortable sofa. "Ted, Sarah? Do you have to go back into the city?" He asked them.
"Yeah," Luke's Dad said. "We're driving Robin and she's got a flight to catch tomorrow."
Aunt Robin yawned hugely as his Mom pulled her upright and everyone began saying their goodbyes. Robin gave Luke a quick, tight hug before stepping back to take a good look at Sam. She gave him a quizzical smile before she embraced him as well. "It was good to meet you, Sam."
Robin looked over her shoulder at Luke's Dad and he followed her gaze. Luke noticed how his Dad's grin seemed wider, his eyes a little brighter than before - how he chased his Mom, Leia and Aunt Robin out of the house with warmth and gusto.
Then he looked back at Sam.
Perhaps something had been given back to their family that day that he'd never even knew had been lost.
The end.