"You already kissed me."
Mercedes smiled and continued. She had her family lined up at the door for her goodbyes. Sure to make all kids feel cherished, she tried to love on all of them… and accidentally doubled back. "Goodbye, Reed," she chirped before kissing his rosy cheek. "Goodbye, Peter." She was rejected as the thirteen year old boy moved to the other side of the crowd.
Sam swooped in to wipe her pout away. He wrapped her curvy body in his arm. "I'm going to miss you," he whispered. "Call when you land and get to your hotel. I want to know that you got there in one piece."
She nodded. "And if anything happens or if something doesn't feel right, just call me. I'll answer no matter the time."
"I got it," Sam and Whitney said in unison.
Whitney shifted her eyes at Sam. "I got it, Mom," she repeated. She took her hand and started her towards the door. She said her goodbye and warned, "I want to hear a lot of cool stuff about Houston."
After working at the school, Sam knew his day was far from over. "Day one," he mumbled to himself as he entered the house. The first thing on his mind was to perform a headcount, and thankfully everyone was where he expected.
Reed was watching a soccer game on the TV in the living room.
Logan was baking, and Thor and Prince were waiting for him to turn his back.
Braxton was in the theater, tackling his long "Summer Must See Movies" list.
Peter and Jackson had to face punishment for their fight. They couldn't be locked in their bedroom because the mother believed that "their safe space shouldn't double as a prison." They had to remove all the furniture in the room and repaint the walls. When they were done with that, they were free to continue with their summer plans.
"Why does it have to be boring white?" Peter complained.
"One day soon," Jackson promised, "you won't have to look at it."
Sam nodded as he peeked into the room. "Good job," he complimented as he studied the evenly painted walls. Before he could say another word, a door slammed. He could feel the anger radiating off of Whitney as she passed him. Spending time with his sister when she was younger, he learned that teenage girls were amazing at holding grudges, and that was one reason he enjoyed having sons. He took a deep breath before asking, "What's wrong?"
Whitney turned with a grumble. "You. Everything was perfect before you got here!" She couldn't fulfill her summer plans because her mother's office was locked. "I can't even get into rooms in my own house because you, but your son is allowed to burn the house down. Go open the door, NOW!"
"Because you asked so nicely." His wife had a speech about boundaries, so Sam didn't want her "safe space" bothered while she was gone. He knew he was going to get pushback. He refused to fold on his decision.
She growled at his sarcasm. Before starting down the stairs, she cursed, "I can't wait for my mom to divorce you." She could have unleashed a war of words on him, but she had already told him that she didn't like him.
Thor didn't know what his brother had baked, but he knew it had powdered sugar on top. "I want one." When he was rejected by his brother, he pouted. "We'll share," he offered.
After having a nice second date with Riley, Logan had to hold up his end of the deal: bear claws. "These are for Brax," he warned, pushing the plate out of reach of the two. Logan served leftover lemon snowballs. He ignored the eyerolls and left to get his phone for a picture.
Prince's nose wrinkled in discussion as he dropped the ball on the counter top. He didn't eat two day old scraps. He stopped Whitney as she stomped through the room. He took her hand and pulled her to the counter. "We asked for a piece of that, and Logan said no."
While the father dictated what they could and couldn't have, she refused to let one of his sons do the same. She broke the pastry into two and handed them out. After she grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, Whitney left the room without any more thoughts of the kids.
Prince sat at the table to eat. His curiosity for the new pastry was fulfilled with only two bites. Feeling his tongue tingle, he wrote it off as a taste that he didn't like. He passed his half to Thor. He scratched at his arm and waited until his brother was ready to play.
After returning, Logan froze at the sight of a missing bear claw. He called for Prince as he rushed across the room. He fell to his knees and studied the kid sweating in his seat and his swelling lips. He pushed the plates away. "I told you not to touch this. Thor, go get Dad… Run!" he ordered when the kid didn't move fast enough. He pried Prince's mouth open and checked that there wasn't any extra food hidden inside. "Can you breathe?" he asked, earning a nod.
"What happened?" Sam asked as he rushed into the kitchen.
"He ate almond butter."
Sam took Logan's cell phone and directed him to keep everyone upstairs. "...But send Whitney," he called after his son. He dialed 911. Listening to the ringing, he studied the hives rising on the six year old's brown skin. He continued to look the boy over. "Can you breathe?"
He slapped the hand that reached for his chin and huffed at the repeated question. He didn't feel short of breath. He couldn't see the swelling. "I'm itchy," he announced, "and it's hot."
"911, what's your emergency?"
Whitney pushed Sam out of the way to get to her brother. After almost losing him to a pack of peanut butter crackers, she knew asking questions was a waste. "Whatever happens, don't get up," she dictated and ignored all the hypothetical scenarios he made up as an excuse to move. With all that talking, she could only think God that he didn't go into shock at the first taste. She started off to find his EpiPen, but stepped back after catching his little hand wandering closer to his face. "And don't scratch." She gave him her phone, hoping that it would keep his fingers busy.
When asked for the address, Sam stuttered, "Um, um, four, um." He didn't want to freeze, but the tension was getting the best of him. He managed to get the location out and began to parrot the dispatcher's questions to the kid. "Has this happened before… Are there chest pains… " He ran his fingers through his dark blonde hair as he looked over at the teen rummaging and slamming drawers.
It pained her to give up. "I can't find his medicine, so tell them to hurry up," she warned Sam before scrabbling through the freezer for the ice pack. When she sat at the table, she moved the weary boy into her lap. She pressed the wrapped pack to his swollen cheek and whispered words of encouragement into his ear. Listening to his faint wheezing, she prayed that help would get there before he got worse.
Sam was at the hospital for hours, and even after Prince was released, he was still a bundle of nerves. He cradled the sleeping boy as he tried to work the lock of the front door. He followed the single light through the dark house, and the sight in the living room would have melted anyone's heart.
Cramped between two sofas, seven kids slept. Although the theater could have seated them all comfortably, they all wanted to be in the front room to wait for Prince. It didn't matter who sat where. It didn't matter who was related to who. They put on a movie and waited for news.
Whitney jumped awake after feeling Sam's presence over them. She tried to free herself from between Peter and Braxton, but realized it was too tight of a space. "Is he okay?" she whispered.
He nodded and clinched the kid tighter. "I got a prescription for another EpiPen, but I don't know if your mom likes one pharmacy over another." he worried, but Whitney promised to take care of that. He moved between each kid, softly tapping at their shoulders. "Prince is fine… He is okay," he repeatedly answered as they woke up and asked. The father stopped the kids from picking up the pizza box and empty plates. He volunteered to clean the room, sure that he wasn't going to get a wink of sleep that night.
Everyone agreed that "If you weren't here to see it, then you shouldn't know." They had the best intentions when they made their decision to keep Prince's emergency under lock. None of them wanted the mother to worry. Although the older kids knew how to keep secrets, Sam and Whitney had to sit the youngest three down and explain it to them.
Prince argued, "I'm not supposed to lie to Mama."
"No, you're not… because she'll always find out the truth," Whitney warned. "We're not going to tell her a lie. We're not going to tell her anything at all."
Prince stopped everyone from agreeing. He picked the tots out of his breakfast casserole as he thought. "I want popsicles and a puppy." He was raised to never let anyone make him feel worthless, so his silence had a price.
"No," Sam rejected.
"Braxton!" he called for his brother as he got up from the table. "I want to call Mama." Before he could walk off, he was caught by his sister.
She scowled as her brother smirked up at her. She had taught him well, but her lessons were never meant to be turned on her. "I made a monster."
Sam huffed, certain he couldn't meet the kid's terms. "You can have popsicles and a day in the pool." He looked at Whitney. He wasn't willing to give just anyone his trust, especially when his kids were involved, but her actions in the second half of that day gave cause for a little leeway.