Love Struck Eternal
Chapter 2 - A life changing decision.
Char's POV.
"You're school called and had me come in to discuss all the hard work you've been showing off. Your principal gave me this to give to you. Here Sam."
Just giving me an interested but still somewhat concerned look back, the wolf took the folder out of my hand and opened it up to begin reading what it was all about. I saw the moment her eyes widened to the realization. With a proud smile on, I said to her with utmost respect.
"You've done so good of a job at school Sam that G.U.N offered you the choice to pick a school and pursue whatever major you want. It's a full ride scholarship."
Both of her parents immediately questioned as their daughter was dumbfounded.
"What?"
I just nodded and looked over at Raptor to listen as he asked in what I could only describe as shock.
"She got a scholarship?"
Now undoubtedly excited for her baby, Zeta shouted out in joy.
"Oh my god! Congratulations!"
The mother of one proceeded to take her daughter into a full body hug. Sam was in complete disbelief still and questioned as she went further down the hole.
"I get to go to whatever school I want? For free?"
Displaying my own personal excitement, I replied as she looked over to Raptor to see his reaction.
"Any school. Any place. Any major. No price tag."
"How did she get it though Char? I thought you had to apply for these types of things? Did you apply for one Sam?" He asked the wolf as she shook her head to respond.
"Not that I can remember."
Unable to let her question this further, I stated while sitting back in my chair.
"G.U.N, your teachers, your friends, and your family agree that you deserve this for all you've done. You're also a special case Sam. Not many people have your level of quick wit, determination, and problem solving. G.U.N is willing to provide you with every tool on the market to enter a field you excel at after graduation. Your ability can and will save lives one day. Save them or end them. Regardless you're one of the brightest kids we have in the middle east. So believe it Sam. You've earned this."
Silence engulfed the household for what must have been at least thirty seconds. Raptor was just staring. He looked worried more than happy. Zeta however was the complete opposite and tapped me on my shoulder to ask.
"Can you afford to have a drink to celebrate Char?"
Chuckling I replied.
"Like I said to her. This is a special case. So yeah I can afford one."
"Raptor?" She proceeded to ask him as he still remained silent. Zeta wasn't picking up on his concern and instead took his silence as a positive and said to us regardless of him vocalizing.
"I'll make us all a round."
Breaking out of her own train of thought, Sam questioned after she heard her mom say that.
"Does that include me?"
Nodding as she went into the kitchen, Zeta replied happily.
"Of course it does! You're almost eighteen anyway so what's the harm?!"
"Drinking age is twenty one Zeta!" I informed her with a smirk as she quickly fired back as we heard bottles clinging and clanging.
"Well she's Russian Char!"
"Part Russian!" I shouted back which in return forced her to pop her head back out to stare at me. Giving her a small laugh, I added onto the fire.
"Giving alcohol to a minor is illegal. I'll have you know that as well Mrs. Diskov!"
Raptor finally managed to speak and at which point he told her kindly.
"It's fine hun. He's just messing with you."
With her head going back around the corner she replied.
"Well he's not eating now."
"Hey!" I shouted as she instantly let out a laugh and came back out with four glasses in her hands. Raptor handed one over to Sam and once the rest of us were armed he asked around the table.
"Who wants to say some words?"
Sam widened her eyes because she knew she didn't want to give a speech about herself. Putting my glass a bit higher up to get their attention, I said around the room.
"I'm proud to be a part of this family. Never in my life could I have asked for better people to know and love. Thank you Raptor for everything you've done for both me and the middle east. Thank you Zeta for keeping him out of trouble and for raising such a wonderful child who I'm glad I can call my niece. I love you guys. I love you Sam. No matter what you decide to do with your life going forward, I know you'll make this world and yourself very happy. Congratulations."
The girls I almost had ready to cry. Raptor on the other hand took his chance and tagged himself in to say.
"As your father I should say something, but what can I say that your uncle didn't?"
Sam took a step over towards his side of the table to listen as he went on.
"You're nothing short of a miracle to your mother and I, Sam. Ever since you were born you've been everything I've wanted. From the way you carry yourself, to the way you speak to others, to the very principle of your intelligence."
Going behind her father, Sam leaned over to wrap her arms around his neck. Leaning herself over till her chin was resting on his right shoulder. Locking eyes, he went on to tell her.
"As you know well by now, I'm not the one who gave you that. If anything you got my stubbornness, my sense of humor, and my sometimes blunt attitude."
"Hehehe." Sam chuckled.
Taking a sip of my drink, I widened my eyes to the taste. It was heavy on the vodka side, but I think she might have mixed in some kind of lime or lemon. It was tart as hell and I honestly wasn't expecting Sam to drink this. If she did I might agree with her mother about her Russian tolerance.
Raptor gave his daughter a gentle kiss on the cheek and chuckled out following it.
"You also got my color, but besides that you are mostly your mother. Who I know for a fact is your biggest supporter. You have so much potential and thanks to this scholarship you now have every option open to you. But I do have to ask you Sam…...do you even know what you want to do? No one is forcing you to take this scholarship. If you don't want to go back to school then as your father I'll stand by that with you. So will your mother. Right hun?"
Nodding her head Zeta replied.
"We just want you to be happy Samantha. This is your life and your choice to make and that doesn't have to happen right now. We want you to think about this. Unless you already have an answer planned out in advance."
Leaning up off her father's shoulder, Sam stated in a lost tone.
"I honestly don't know what I want right now. I mean I had ideas and they all were based on the price tag to be honest, but now that I don't have to worry about that; I just don't know. I mean I…..I don't…..uhhh….I can't think right now."
"That's fine hun." Raptor informed her as he clinked his glass into hers to urge her.
"For now just celebrate with us. Let's eat some food and tomorrow we can go over options and just like your mother said, we're gonna support whatever choice you make. There isn't any downside to this. We're your parents and your happiness is all we care about."
Once Raptor had finished his sentence, he took his first sip. Sam gave him another hug during which and then took her seat next to me. Zeta got the food out and in front of us and once everything was set, we watched as Sam took her first swig. You saw the second it entered her throat because her eyes quickly began to blink and once she swallowed she looked around at us with a look of confusion to ask.
"What is this?"
Sitting down Zeta replied happily.
"Vodka. But I put in some lime juice and a dash of lemon. But it's all vodka hun. What do you think?"
In silence we watched as she responded by taking down the rest of the glass in under five seconds. I was speechless as Raptor begged her in fear for her own safety.
"Holy crap Sam! Don't chug it like that!"
I just broke out into a laughing fit as she replied confidently.
"It didn't burn. I was expecting it to. Are you sure this was vodka mom and not water you spiked?"
Zeta instantly replied while extending out her own glass.
"I wouldn't do that to you! Here! Try mine if you don't believe me!"
Sam took her offer but this time took just a sip. After it was said and done, she handed it back snickering.
"I don't see the big deal then in drinking if it's all like this. Here."
As she took her glass back her mother replied.
"Good! You shouldn't get hooked at your age anyway! More for your father and I!"
"Can we just eat?" I asked which got everyone's attention back on track. Raptor took his care however to ask his daughter who took a second to cough.
"You can't be serious Sam? Are you good?"
Nodding she replied.
"A little sting, but I'm okay. Don't worry dad."
"She's our baby Raptor. Which means she definitely inherited our tolerance."
Chuckling Raptor interjected by stating back.
"Which doesn't mean she can tank a bottle in under thirty seconds and be good. Sam? How do you feel for real?"
I saw it in Sam's eyes as she quietly mumbled.
"A little dizzy."
Raptor just let out a high pitched.
"Ha! See?!" To his wife who widened her eyes and shouted back.
"Hey! I didn't say she wasn't going to get hammered after one! I said she can just take them down easy!"
"You guys are insane." I groaned out as I took my opportunity to put together my plate. With them all beginning to do the same thing, I looked back up as Raptor looked right at me to question.
"You didn't know that?"
All I could do was laugh along with the family as dinner became our top concern moving forward and judging by the smell I had a good feeling I wasn't going to wanna leave after stuffing my face with Zeta's cooking.
Two hours later.
"It was nice seeing you again." Sam told me as she came up to the front door to hug me goodbye. I just took her embrace and gently rested my eyes on Zeta who was standing behind her with Raptor.
"It was nice to see you to baby. You be sure to let me know what happens with that scholarship. Okay?"
"I promise." She replied as she let me get to her mother who urged me with a gentle voice.
"Be safe out there Char."
Chuckling as I hugged her, I informed her of reality.
"What's there to be worried about? There hasn't been a war in nearly eighteen years. The rebellion formed into the M.E.A.F and now thanks to you and Raptor; Iran is finally a part of our government. We have nearly double our old numbers and unlike before we have a proper military with leadership to back it up. Not saying that you Raptor weren't proper. I'm just saying it's nice not having all the pressure put on one person's shoulders. Even myself couldn't imagine taking that kind of job. Even as president my name is all the title is worth. I'm a signature at the end of the day."
The three of them seemed like they were listening close so I went on.
"The middle east has no enemies. We have no battles to fight for and we have no goals to engage in. Apart from just making sure everything stays on course and we can continue to expand our borders. I have a meeting with the leadership of Syria, Jordon, and Kuwait later this week and hopefully if time permits I can speak to the people in charge of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and the rest of the smaller border countries we neighbor with."
"Peace talks?" Raptor questioned as I nodded and replied.
"Hopefully. So far everyone agrees that together we can make a big difference in our part of the world. Now G.U.N has a hand in all those other countries of course, but thanks to Hecan Moore and what he left behind before his term was up, we have a pretty good chance at making this happen. Can you imagine Raptor what this world would be like if we all worked together? We just got Iran to join up not that long ago and look at what's happened between us and them. This would be historically one of the biggest things in our lifetime to happen on this soil."
"That's a lot of work Char." Zeta informed me as I nodded and replied casually.
"Like I said we will see how things go over the next few days. Fingers crossed we can come to an agreement. Now I really should get going."
"See ya Char! I love you!" Sam shouted over her mother's shoulder as Raptor took a step forward. During which Zeta replied.
"Just stay safe Char. Regardless of the danger. We love you. If that wasn't already made clear thanks to Sam. Hahah."
"I love you guys too." I smiled back as her boyfriend gently grabbed me by the shoulder and turned me around. He guided me a few feet down the driveway before stopping. Once there I said to him.
"Thank you for dinner. It's always good to see you three."
"No problem brother. I just needed to tell you something away from them."
"Important?" I wondered as he chuckled and leaned in to reply.
"Kinda. Just wanted to let you know."
Taking me into a hug and pressing his lips close to my ear, Raptor whispered.
"I love you like my own brother…...but you keep your eyes off my daughter. I don't want to have to bury you alongside anymore of her friends."
With my face going completely red, I replied in an equal whisper.
"Raptor? I wasn't going to….?"
He cut me off with.
"I know man. I'm just busting your balls. Get out of here but don't be a stranger. You hear me?"
Nodding my head I replied.
"I won't. Keep in touch. You have my number. You need anything you just let me know. I got ya."
"Thanks Char."
Patting my back as I walked for my car, I felt a sense of relief when I got in to start the engine. Once on the road and on my way back to the capital, I began to laugh about what he said. As if I'd lay a hand on Sam. If she's anything like Zeta she can probably break me in half. And if she's like her father? Well god knows.
mT Shadow.