After we had been home a few weeks and I had begun to heal even more I took our little girl outside to sit in the swing so I could watch the horses. Sam and Nancy were off riding somewhere in the back pasture and Dean and Liz had gone back to their own house. D was off checking out another lead on what seemed to be a never ending list of weird things going on. I looked down at my sweet daughter as she made a sucking motion with her mouth in her sleep. D had taken to calling her Sammi Jo and so had most of the rest of us. I noticed Sam looked very proud every time he heard the name. I decided to get in a little reading while Sammi Jo sat in her bouncy chair under the shade of the oak trees.
After what seemed to be hours I heard the gentle clip clop of hooves from the path beside the barn. I looked up and saw Sam and Nancy riding up on Patches, my bay and white spotted gelding. Nancy was sitting in front with Sam behind her, his long arms around each side of her and one hand holding the reins while his other rested on Nancy's left thigh. They were talking to each other and I saw Nancy look over her shoulder at Sam lovingly. He smiled down at her, deepening his dimples even more. I was so happy to see these two together. Nancy had had a rough time with her last relationship. He hadn't treated her like the lady she should have been treated like. I knew that Sammy would take good care of her and be there for her. He knew what it was like to have a not so healthy relationship. Heck I guess we all did for that matter and that's what made our relationships so much stronger.
Sam guided Patches over to where Sammy Jo and I sat and he dismounted. He reached up for Nancy, helping her down from the saddle. She slid down Sam's body as he helped her to her feet and caught her mouth in a lingering kiss. I smiled quietly and looked down at my book to give them some privacy. After a few seconds they broke apart because Patches reached around with his velvety nose and nudged Sam's hand. Sam smiled at him and said, "Ok ok. Yeah I've got your treat right here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of peppermint, unwrapped it and held it out on the flat of his hand for Patches to nibble it out of his hand. Nancy sat beside me on the swing, "Whatcha reading Nicole?" I shrugged and flipped the switch on my Kindle closing down the page, "Just some horror novel. It is about demons invading a town because of something tragic that happened to some children there." Sam wrapped Patches reins over the side of the braces of the swing and walked over to Sammi Jo as he shook his head, "Why in the world would you read that stuff? We live it!" He squats down beside the baby bouncy chair, "How long has she been asleep?"
I reach for Sammi Jo and unstrap her from the seat and hand her to Sam. "She's been down for a couple hours. Here you can hold her but if she's wet you get to change that." I grinned up at him as he stood and cradled Sammi Jo against his chest. "Oh shit! She is wet!",he held her away from him for a second and Nancy and I laughed. "Told you! Now go change her. There's a diaper on her changing table." Sam frowned at me, "I know where they are.", he almost snapped. He carried Sammi Jo into the house and I turned to Nancy, "So you two are spending a lot of time together. What's up?" Nancy tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks at me with an almost sheepish look. "I really like him Nicole. He's so gentle and good but so protective all at the same time." I nodded knowing exactly what she was talking about. Sam was a good soul and I said so, "Sam is a good man. He's got a sweet soul and I'm so happy for the two of you. You guard his heart and never take him for granted." Nancy takes my hand, "D is too Nicole. He's a great father and so loyal to his family." I nodded and Nancy continued, "Just think, we could be sisters in law one of these days! OMG!" This started us giggling like school girls.
Sam came back outside with Sammi Jo. He had changed her diaper and fixed her a bottle. He was holding her in the crook of his arm with the hand of that same arm holding the bottle in her little mouth. She looked up at him with her bright green eyes and reached for his hair as he lowered his head to kiss her little forehead. She succeeded in grabbing a handful of hair just as he went to hand her over to me. Nancy leaned forward and took her, helping him untangle his hair from her little fingers. She fussed a bit as Nancy took her from Sam and looked as if she wanted to go back to him. "She's all cleaned, then she was hungry so I took care of that too. I need to get Patches back to him women." We smiled at Sam, he leaned down and kissed Nancy and then took the reins and led Patches to the barn where he unsaddled him, brushed him down and then turned him out into the lot with several of my mares.
Nancy cooed at Sammi Jo as the baby finished off her bottle. When she was finished I handed Nancy a burp cloth so she could burp her. We sat and talked while Sam fed the rest of the horses and then we heard the Impala barreling up the driveway. I turned and watched as the dust swirled around the rear of the car when D put her in park. He strode on bow legs over to where we were and Sammi Jo lifted her little head to look up at her daddy. She began to coo and trying to smile at him and a huge smile spread across his handsome face, lighting up his eyes. He reaches and lightly pinches her little fat cheeks, "How's my little Sammi Jo?", he says in a kiddie voice. I smile to myself loving this man even more now that he's a daddy. When he's through talking to Sammi Jo he leans down to place a lingering kiss on my lips, his hands on each side of my face tilting my head up.
Someone cleared their throat and D broke from our kiss. He ran his thumb over his own bottom lip as he stood to his full height and turned. Sam was grinning at us slyly, "You know that's how you two got that little one don't you?", he teased. D clapped Sam on the back as he stepped closer, "Yeah well you just remember that little brother.", he said as he cut his eyes at Nancy. Nancy fidgeted and turned her attention to Sammi Jo. D changed the subject. "Sam did you and Dean ever get finished at Camilla's while we were in the hospital with Sammi Jo?" Sam shook his head, "No not completely, things have gotten better for her but that damn thing is still coming by. It just can't seem to get to her since she's prayed about it." D nodded and looked down at the ground. "As bad as I hate to say it we're going to have to do the whole bait and kill thing." Sam nodded to D.
Sammi Jo became fussy so Nancy handed her to D and he and I made our way to the house. Sam and Nancy stayed out on the swing and when I looked back I saw Ghost at Sam's feet. He had his head thrown back and he was enjoying the scratching Sam was giving him. I took D's hand and walked into the house with him. "She's probably hungry again.", I said as I took her from him and walked into the living room and made myself comfortable on the couch. I unbuttoned my shirt and she was soon nursing happily as I lay my head back onto the back of the couch and closed my eyes. I soon smelled the wonderful aroma of cooking food from the kitchen. After a few minutes and a switch of sides for Sammi Jo, D came in and sat beside me. "I have chili cooking on the stove. It's one of the things I know how to make.", he said smiling at me. I marveled at the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. "Thank you baby, I've been so wiped out since Sammi Jo got here." He put his arm on the back of the couch behind me and I readjusted so that my back was against his side. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close. His thumb skimmed over Sammi Jo's little cheek as she suckled. "You have good reason to be tired. You just take care of this little one and I'll take care of you."
Sam and Nancy came in after the sun was beginning to set. Nancy got busy getting all the side stuff out for the chili and Sam poured sweet tea for everyone. We sat at the kitchen table and ate our supper while Sammi Jo slept in her swing in the living room where we could see her. When we were through with supper and the dishes were put away Sam and Nancy retreated to Sam's room. I looked at D and smiled, "They're good for each other." I said to him as he picked Sammi Jo up from her swing and we made our way to our room. "Yeah I'm liking Nancy for Sam. He needs someone to be good to him.", D said as he lay Sammi Jo in her own bed. I threw back the covers and climbed in and D soon followed after he shed his jeans, boots and shirt. D crawled in beside me and pulled me close, tucking me under his arm. "Thank you for our beautiful daughter.", he said and kissed my head. I snuggled in close to him and nodded an answer. I lay my hand on his chest and felt his heart beat beneath my fingers and I was more than content.