"Auntie Sam" Hannah gasped when she opened the door to her home. Sam stood there, a hand on her hip, smiling at the teen before walking in and hugging her tightly
"How's my favourite niece?" she asked and Hannah shrugged
"Fine I guess...how are you?" she noted she had managed to walk in a straight line from the door and into the hallway and Sam nodded, crossing her fingers;
"Managed not to touch a drop of alcohol in the last week...of course there is still a long way to go but I'm doing okay at the moment" Sam informed Hannah who nodded and smiled at her
"That's good then" Hannah observed "do you want a coffee? My dad and Jess aren't in...they're at the hospital"
"No boyfriend?" Sam smirked, following Hannah into the kitchen as she chuckled lightly and shook her head
"Mark's at work" she said "trainee in a law firm"
"Not bad" Sam nodded approvingly "I'm sure I made a bad impression...coming round her completely drunk and all that"
"Forget about it" Hannah waved it off, pouring her coffee and placing it on the breakfast bar as Sam took a seat on the bar stool
"Anyway" Sam said, digging into her purse and pulling out a wad of cash and handing it to Hannah who raised a brow at her
"I borrowed money from Don...and I'm paying him back" Sam explained "sorting everything out this time"
"I'll make sure he gets it" Hannah nodded and placed it into the drawer in the kitchen which was normally empty and used for safe keeping sometimes due to the fact it had a key to lock it up.
"So how's college?" Sam wondered
"It's good...costing a bit but I'm just getting into debt and I'll pay it off when I can" Hannah shrugged
"No part time job?" Sam asked
"No" Hannah frowned "the course takes up too much time for me to study and work all the time"
"Got it" Sam nodded "you know your mother Hannah...she'd be proud"
"I don't think she would" Hannah sighed "you have no idea"
"About how you got pregnant?" Sam blurted out and Hannah looked at her aunt and then smiled vaguely in disbelief and nodded
"Dad told you"
"He told me you've had a rough few months" Sam nodded "but you got through it"
"You have to get through it" Hannah said
"You could have done what I did when I screwed up...turned to the booze" Sam shook her head "but you didn't...obviously you never inherited that Flack gene"
...
"Hannah" Don called into the house as he let Jess in first as the woman held onto her inflated stomach in awe of what was growing inside of her.
"Hey dad" Hannah said "You just missed Auntie Sam"
"Sam?" Don's eyes went wide and Hannah went into the drawer and pulled out the cash
"She has a shift at the bar tonight...she brought you the money over" Hannah handed her dad the dollars and he counted them. They were all there.
"Wow" Don stated
"You sound shocked" Jess observed and Don simply nodded
"She's never paid me back before" Don stated
"Well maybe she's really trying to make something of herself now" Jess said and Don nodded
"Maybe" he said, but he would remain cautious, with Sam you could never ever be one hundred per cent positive, that was the problem.
...
"So what is this in aid of?" Hannah asked her father as he skated beside her on the ice rink which was outdoors whilst Jess sat on a bench, speaking with her parents on the phone, Don refusing to even let her within a metre of the ice.
"What?" Don wondered as Hannah twirled on the ice before looking up at him
"The family outing?" she wondered "we hardly do it and when we do it is normally for occasions"
"Me and Jess just thought it would be nice to come out for a meal...and then she said there was an ice rink in town" Don shrugged, holding onto Hannah's hand as he slightly stumbled and Hannah chuckled, leading him to the side where he steadied himself.
"So there's no catch?" Hannah checked and Don shook his head
"No catch" he agreed "Jess wants it to be a regular thing Hannah...when we have the baby and when it's growing up...all the things I never did with you"
"She knows then?" Hannah wondered and Don nodded
"I told her I sent you to England" Don clarified "I think that's why she wants to start family outings more..."
"Because of me?" Hannah asked and Don tilted his head to the side a little
"I guess I just want to prove that I'll be there for our baby...I wasn't for you" Don sighed and Hannah tightened her grip on his hand.
"It doesn't matter" Hannah said "I'd say we made the time up we lost out on"
"You think?" Don wondered
"Any more time with you and I'd be going crazy" Hannah joked "now come on...Jess looks like she needs saving" Hannah saw a woman sat next to her, with a pram as Jess remained too polite to do anything but speak to her.