So this update wasn't supposed to take this long but I got the flu and am still sick so yea :( *coughs* Writing took a backseat. Feeling a little better now though so I was able to post something, yay!
Anyway, thanks so much for the comments, favs, follows on the 1st chapter! I'm glad y'all like this idea so far and I look forward to seeing your reactions as more comes! ^0^
And now we continue.
DISCLAIMER: *sneezes on it* There.
Sam's eyes nearly popped from her sockets when the words her mother had said settled on her eardrums and horrified, she realized the enormous mistake she was making.
Suddenly all her bizarre happiness at seeing Tim Scam made complete and total sense as she remembered the context, recalled just what her mom and her had been discussing before she'd run out of the room overwhelmed.
Sam gulped dryly at her epiphany as she felt her head spin around like clothes in a washing machine at top speed.
Her mom thought …
Oh God she thought that Scam was her—
Before she could even fully process that information let alone make a move to handle it, her mom was already making things a hundred times worse by frantically screaming to summon her father to the room.
"Shawn! Shawn get in here! Look who it is! Look who our Sammie brought home to meet us!"
Mere seconds later her dad sprinted inside, panting and heaving from having bounded up the stairwell at his advanced age and sedentary lifestyle.
"What? Wh-What's wrong?!"
Shawn stammered, panicked and wondering if there had been a downward turn in his wife's already failing health while he'd dared allowed himself to take a brief nap. And he remained pale and flabbergasted only calming down when he saw that his Gabby was fine and merely wanting him to look at something.
Slowly he followed her cue, letting his eyes go to where she was she repeatedly cocking her head towards to the foot of the bed while grinning widely. Once he did, for the first time he noticed that he wasn't the only male present in the room.
Silently he studied the younger male that was standing fixed by his daughter's side with narrowed eyes and it didn't take him long to conclude that he'd never once seen him before. He knew all of Sam's closest friends and none of them were boys, and she'd been too busy with her final year of college to date, so he also couldn't be her boyfriend.
Was he a doctor perhaps? A specialist that Sam had contacted behind all of their backs and convinced to take on her mother's impossible case? One that just so happened to have the groundbreaking cure that she required?
But he doubted Gabby would be excited to meet any kind of medical professional as she'd long accepted what she believed was her fate and God's will yet she was simply simmering with glee at seeing this fellow. So then considering all of that… who or what exactly was he?
Shawn was still in the middle of trying to solve that puzzle when Gabby, simply too hyper to wait any longer, joyfully clapped her hands together and announced the answer.
"He's our future son-in-law!"
"WHAT?!" Shawn shouted in surprise totally caught off guard, the sheer volume of his voice easily drowning out the repetition of the same word that the other man in the room also uttered in an equally, if not even more dumbstruck way right then. It was the first and only word he'd said since revealing his first name mere moments earlier.
But neither Shawn nor Gabby paid him or their daughter any mind as Gabby excitedly summarized to her shocked husband the events of the last ten minutes.
She explained to him how she'd finally asked their Sammie if she was in love with any guy as she'd mentioned to him that she intended to at some point, and how he had been wrong and her motherly instincts had been right about there indeed being someone all along. Next, she gushed about how amazing Sam had been to rush out and call him to come and meet her, and how much of a total darling he'd been to come running right away.
Then she kept going, fawning over them some more saying all sorts of hyper gibberish such as:
"His name is Tim! Isn't that SUCH a nice name? Doesn't it sound just perfect with Samantha?!"
"He's so tall and handsome! Isn't he so handsome, Shawn? Just look at him! His looks compliment our Sammie's so wonderfully!"
"My sisters are gonna be SO jealous! None of my nieces' significant others hold a candle to our Sammie's choice! Tim is so perfect!"
And on and on and on she went while the mentioned girl had a war raging inside her head as she stood there squirming as painfully and awkwardly as fish removed from water, trying like mad to figure out how to diffuse this atom bomb of a situation that was rapidly blowing up in her face.
Now not just her mom but her dad too thought that she was in love with Tim freaking Scam and he was her secret significant other that she one day, could see herself marrying.
Her emerald eyes uneasily darted next to her to find Scam mirroring how lost she felt with his own expression, standing motionless with his jaw unfastened enough to display his even teeth and his sea green eyes nearly triple from their usual size,. He'd never looked so dumbstruck before.
Sam found herself feeling just a modicum of gratefulness that at the bare minimum, at least his infamously big mouth was shut for once in his life and not adding petrol to the fire. But at the same time she was a little irked at him for the same reason, secretly hoping for him to do something, say something, anything to break her mom and dad's delusion.
She wanted him to declare that they had it all wrong and snort at the idea of ever winding up becoming their son-in-law in a hundred million years! She wanted him to yell out loud for her that she could never ever in a billion eons love him because she hated him and he hated her even more!
Desperate she turned to look at him with huge and urging eyes demanding for him to do it and wondering what the hell he was waiting for when she came back to her senses remembering her mom's health condition. The last thing she needed right now was Tim Scam's help. In fact the best thing she could do for everyone right now was to get him out of here as fast as possible before any more damage was done.
Her hand felt around in her pocket for her phone confirming that she had it on her because she was going to need it before she grabbed Scam's stiff arm and began to drag him out of the room with his elbow while loudly calling out to her parents that he had to go now and couldn't stay any longer.
When her mother protested with a loud and disappointed "awww!", Sam hurriedly reminded her that the doctor had warned them that too much excitement was dangerous for her and then used Scam having work to get back to as a plausible excuse to finally silence her when that failed.
Now at the threshold of the bedroom, Sam kept moving with purpose not stopping her feet until she exited with her grip still hard on Scam's wrist and with him surprisingly not putting up any kind of resistance and going with her readily, calmly, and without making a peep.
When she finally had him outside she closed the door shut before pulling him further down the hall all the way to the staircase until she was convinced that they were completely out of earshot from her parents.
Sam released him then, ignoring the interrogating stare he was giving her that she could feel intensely burning into her cheeks like two hot laser beams. She didn't need hear him ask because she already knew he was wanting to know what the hell had just happened and why her mom had automatically assumed upon seeing him that he was her lover.
But she had no desire to answer him, nor did she feel she owed him an explanation or anything else. She was already pissed off at his unexpected and unwanted visit. Just where did he get off thinking that it was okay to massively invade her privacy and waltz on uninvited into her home?!
Clearly he thought just because they were enemies that all bets were off and he could do whatever the hell he felt like if he could get away with it. Even if she was obviously going through something that she needed to work through, it didn't matter to him. Warring countries could be civil enough to call a temporary ceasefire when it came to an extenuating circumstance like she was facing, but not Scam.
No, he was far too stingy to even offer his foe that much. Things like common courtesy, decency, and basic human empathy were foreign concepts to a soulless asshole like him and always would be. And as such she didn't want to deal with him any longer than she had already had to. She just wanted him out and she wanted him out now.
So she took out her phone ignoring him entirely as she speed dialled a number at the top of her list. After a hushed but brief conversation with the person on the other end she turned to finally look at Scam again as she spoke to him directly for the first time.
"I've called WOOHP…" Sam informed him curtly sticking strictly to business and not delving into anything else.
Putting her phone away she tried not to in front of him, but was compelled to take a second to rub her temples in a sad attempt to stave off the migraine she could feel coming before sighing from deep within her lungs when it didn't work and adding quietly, almost begging him despite not meaning to.
"Please just … go."
In response Scam didn't utter a single word as he simply assessed the girl before him taking in how broken, glum, and defeated she appeared. She was nothing at all like the one he'd known for years, the strong and fiery one who would have yelled a thousand insults at him by now and threatened to kick his ass for daring to come here and indecently invade her privacy. In fact if he were being honest, never in all his years of knowing her had he seen her look this … beaten.
No matter what perilous mission Jerry had forced her to undertake as a spy (and there had been many, heck all of the ones versus him were practically suicide ones), she'd never looked as defeated as she did in this moment, It looked quite frankly,, as though she was holding herself together by a flimsy piece of Scotch tape or a frayed piece of string that was in danger of snapping at any second.
There were deep, puffy, and dark bags under dull eyes which had no sparkle or light anymore and instead were droopy and irritated making it look like she hadn't had a proper night's sleep in months. Her cheeks looked a little sunken as though she'd lost around ten pounds very suddenly and not at all in a healthy way. Visible lines of stress were etched across the normally smooth skin of her forehead and she wore absolutely no makeup on her face, not even a thin coat of lip gloss on her lips.
Even her ensemble was disheveled and plain being a wrinkled and worn-out, light blue hoodie with a faded logo and black yoga pants while her frizzy hair was tossed up in a messy bun with strands sticking out every which way looking nothing at all like the fashionista he was used to always seeing.
To put it shortly, she was a mess in every possible way. Her mother's sickness whatever it was, was evidently taking a toll on her like nothing in her life ever had before. And deep inside his dormant heart made of cold and hard stone, for just one brief, fleeting moment he felt a modicum of guilt for what he'd said to her friends just yesterday about her missing spy work over something stupid or trivial…
"What's the matter? Did she miss a half off sale at the mall so she's in mourning? Or did her latest boy toy break up with her and she's finding it hard to function until she finds herself another one?"
The biting sound of his voice when he'd said so came flooding back and his gaze on her shook and started to falter, almost detaching itself from looking her straight in the eye out of shame when a loud knock at the door downstairs returned him to his senses.
And he glared hotly in the direction of it. Why should he feel bad for thinking the worst of her? She always had done the same for him, always treating him like scum just like the rest of the spy twits and their leader.
Mentally he scolded himself for idiotically feeling anything but disdain towards the redhead, for expressing a trait like compassion which was an emotion so long forgotten to him towards an enemy of all people for even a half a second, especially when he was just about to be hauled back to prison thanks to her once again.
WOOHP agents were at the door and try as he might, he could not get away now.
Angered he frowned deeply as his eyes flashed with hot venom. Part of him wanted to make a big fuss and do something rash and destructive to make her pay. He was inside her home now, he could easily pretend he had a gun in his pocket and barricade himself refusing to leave until his demands were met.
Or better yet he could take her parents, any of them hostage or even Samantha Simpson herself. She was in no condition physically or mentally to battle with him right now and would be easily overpowered. Especially with no gadgets to aid her, as he deduced that she didn't have any on her seeing she was with her mom and dad twenty-four seven right now who knew nothing of her spy career as per WOOHP company rules.
Actually he didn't even have to worry about that, he was one hundred percent certain she was unarmed because he had just watched her not so smartly use her phone in front of him to call WOOHP and not her trusty X-Powder compact which she'd normally keep with her at all times.
His dark intentions growing as he almost salivated at realizing just how much of an upper hand he had on her in this moment, at just how vulnerable and helpless one of his most loathed adversaries was and how close he was to getting some sweet revenge at last, he almost lunged to action.
But then he stopped all at once, forcing himself not to because his gut kicked in just in. It was telling him loud and clear to abort this hasty plan and instead do what Sam had asked him.
"Just turn around and walk out in silence, Tim. I promise that your cooperation will not be in vain," he could almost hear it say.
And right then and there the wheels in his head started to turn. His mind being the ruthless, calculating machine that it was, Scam quickly began to see how he could potentially use this situation to his advantage and gain that which he'd been wanting even more than the payback he had been hungering for what felt like centuries now.
Something that he'd been considering gaining for a long, long, long time, and something that was otherwise totally impossible but now could very possibly become possible with this fateful turn of events.
He was already holding the ace of spades in his hand, all he had to do now was play it right.
And as such he only hesitated for a few seconds before he made his choice and wordlessly walked his way down the stairs without any pause to willingly give himself up.
Unlocking the door and turning open the knob he didn't even need to step outside before he was expectantly snatched up by his elbows by two WOOHP burly guards in standard black suits, black shades, and earpieces in their ears.
"Got him," one of them stated smugly to the other who responded with a "well that was easy" and he had to fight hard to refrain from rolling his eyes as he wondered if they were new on the job and didn't know of his reputation. Neither one of them would be able to do anything about it if he didn't want to be captured and he almost itched to school the pair by giving them at least one matching black eye each for their insolence, when he recalled why he was doing this and begrudgingly let it go.
Making a scene right now in front of Sam's house would ruin everything. He stayed motionless as he was cuffed and then roughly herded and shoved towards a large and armoured blue van that he knew was his transport back to his usual isolation jail cell back in Los Angeles.
But before they could get him inside, for just a moment he turned his head over his broad shoulder and glanced back in the direction of home he'd just vacated.
When he did he was unsurprised to see Samantha peeking out from behind the half open door of the mansion, staring at him with a look of half astonishment and half suspicion so vivid that he could pick it up even from the large distance that they were now standing at.
And he could just tell that she was trying to read him, racking her tired brains to come up with a reason, any reason that made any sense for why he had just so complacently followed her orders and left like a pet being taken out for a walk instead of a rabid coyote that needed to be dragged out by force.
Because he wasn't this docile, tame, easy, or nice and unlike these idiotic men she knew him well enough to know that.
So then why had he behaved like this? He had to be after something, right? What was it that he was after? Or had he perhaps … already gotten it?
But while he indeed had his reason, he wasn't going to waste his breath revealing it to her. Besides, he was sure she'd be finding out soon enough as it was; why tell and ruin the surprise?
So he kept on looking at her square in the eye, never once breaking his connection with her even while he was finally pushed inside the vehicle. Through the small tempered glass window, his eyes remained unwavering and dead set on her still. And it satisfied him how quick her look of wary surprise morphed into one of panic and fear.
Because that was how he got under peoples' skins, got his power, and put his plans in motion just like he had right now. Without her even realizing it yet, something had started just now. He was after all and master opportunist and had been one for as far back as he could now remember.
And if his instincts were right, and they were always right, then an opportunity was just what had landed in his lap today. One that he wasn't going to let go to waste. He'd be seeing her again soon, real soon.
A tiny smirk tugged at the corner of his lip before it spread because he could not contain it as the van's doors slammed and bolted shut and took off down the street with him still smirking inside.
Very, very soon.
When he finally left Sam loudly exhaled the breath that she'd been holding all this time, the blueish tinge on her face slowly disappearing as her oxygen restored itself and her heartbeat returned to a normal pace.
She was glad beyond words that that had gone smoother than she'd expected as normally imprisoning the menace that was Tim Scam was an impossible struggle. But … why had this time been so different? For just a moment the piercing way he'd been staring at her, like an x-ray beam penetrating down to her skeleton made an involuntary shudder roam down her spine and she nervously fretted over what he was up to before she sighed and decided not to go there.
Oh usually she would, normally she would be bothered enough by it to not let it go until she figured out his master plan but, she really didn't need that right now. With everything else going on she was just too worn out to. She was just grateful that he was gone and she hoped that he would never come back.
And as for her mother, she hoped that she'd wake up from the nap she was about to go suggest she take and not remember a thing about Scam. As illogical as it might be, she prayed that she'd forget him like someone did a bad dream and that her father too, would consider him a figment of his imagination brought on by sleep deprivation that his mind had made up after he'd dozed off just as he had before Scam had turned the place upside down.
Turning to go back inside to her parents, she tried to be optimistic that in a few hours Scam would be totally forgotten as if neither of her parents, especially her mother had ever seen him today.
Yes, she told herself, trying not to worry as she slowly paced back inside ignoring the red flags the size of bed sheets waving in the back of her mind because she didn't want to see them.
That was exactly how it was going to go.
"So when exactly are Auntie Isabella and Uncle Isaac due to arrive? Are they still gonna be late, or will they be able to make it with the rest of the family to Christmas?"
Sam asked at the dinner table, desperately to change the subject that had been going on for nearly forty-five minutes now about the super serious boyfriend that she'd kept hidden until today, trying like crazy to turn back time to when planning the best Christmas celebration they could to honour her mother was the only concern she had.
When her parents didn't even seem to hear her question too caught up in their conversation still, she sighed to herself inaudibly and resumed poking around at her food with her fork barely having eaten more than a bite of the creamed calamari they'd ordered from the local Italian place despite it being her favourite because she was too stressed out to do so, even more so today than five and a half months ago when this nightmare began.
Unlike she'd wished, her parents hadn't simply forgotten about Scam. The second her mom had risen from her slumber she'd immediately asked her for more information about him. His full name, what he did for a living, how long she'd known him for, how they'd first met, how they'd fallen in love with each other, and other typical questions an excited mother would want to know about her daughter's significant other.
She'd tried to get out of answering by running off to make her some tea but the second she'd returned with the steaming teapot her mother had made her sit right next to her where there was no escape and continued to try and extract whatever information she could about the one she'd assumed was going to be her future husband.
She'd fidgeted, half smiled, meekly nodded along, and done her best to not say anything because what was she supposed to say about him? She couldn't tell her mom the truth, now could she?
That he was her sworn enemy that would go to any distance just to make her suffer. Sam frowned at her plate, the mere thought of him disgusting her and filling her with rage. That he was a liar, a manipulator, a criminal, a killer, pure evil, and a thoroughly reprehensible monster of a man that she nor anyone in their right mind could ever love.
So she'd kept her mouth shut thinking that as disturbing as it was that her mother thought Scam of all men was her man, that it was okay. She'd gotten a glimpse of a man that she believed was to be her life partner, seen what she'd asked to see from her so she was off the hook and that would be the end of that. Chapter closed, right? No real harm was done.
She dropped her head and bit her cheek hard to try and contain her pent up frustration because unfortunately, that hadn't been the end but sadly just the beginning. Despite promising that she'd only wanted to see the man she loved once, now that she'd thought she'd actually seen him … her mom wanted more, so much more than she'd earlier expressed.
And the words she could hear leaving her parents mouths now only confirmed that disheartening fact to her without question.
"I wish he could have stayed for dinner," Gabby moped with a pout as she dabbed the edge of her mouth with her napkin before setting it aside on top of her now empty plate with her meal finished for the first time in a long time, a fact not going unnoticed by Sam or her father.
"He seemed like such a nice, young man, didn't he Shawn?"
Shawn nodded in agreement as he sipped ice water from his glass and listened to his wife. From the first impression the boy had made on him he seemed well-mannered staying quiet and keeping his head down when meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time, mature by the way he was dressed in a semi-formal manner in sensible colors and not overly "decked out" (was that the term?) like some youngsters would. But most, it was how reliable he seemed that he found commendable with how he'd arrived the same second their daughter had called. All three were very important qualities in a decent life partner.
"I have the best daughter," Gabby declared and grinned as he turned towards her husband and touched his arm affectionately before slightly tugging on the arm of his shirt like an excited child. "Don't I have the best daughter in the whole world, Shawn?"
"Yes. Yes you do," He smiled back at her. "We do Gabby," he added placing his hand on top of hers and giving it a loving squeeze while relishing how she was bubbling in joy and nearly bursting at the seams from it with slightly misty eyes. He'd never thought he'd ever get to see her like this again.
"All I wanted was to know his name and … " Swooning in happiness, Gabby paused and let out a contented sound and a small laugh before planting her gaze on Sam as she said her next words. "She gave me so much more by bringing him home and letting me actually meet him."
"But I do find it strange that she kept him hidden from us," Shawn remarked not at all understanding why their Sammie would do something like that. "I mean, to keep a serious relationship like that from your own parents?"
He shook his head in wonder remembering how Gabby had asked her if she could see her marrying him some day so he wasn't just some random guy, he was very possibly "the guy" and yet she'd gone on pretending that he didn't even exist.
Oddly she'd acted like all she'd ever experienced when it came to love were silly crushes that meant nothing or passing boyfriends that never ended up sticking because they weren't her type, when all this time she had already found whom she believed was her Mr. Right and decided to keep him hush hush for some inexplicable reason.
"Oh come now!" Gabby dismissed his skepticism with a small giggle as she leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin on the backs of her hands while regarding him with a teasing look.
"Remember that I kept you hidden from my mother and father until I was fully convinced that we were serious?" she reminded him with a playful wink of just how long it had taken for them to actually fully commit to one another mostly due to his indecisiveness, so it wasn't really fair for him to judge his daughter and her Tim for keeping this under wraps until now.
Whatever their reason was for waiting to come out as a couple, she was sure that it had seemed valid to the both of them when they'd decided to do so. Besides they all knew now so why did it even matter? It was all water under the bridge! Truthfully, the surprise element of it all made it doubly exciting for her!
Feeling sheepish Shawn cleared his throat, buying a second before arguing back.
"Well serious or not he still needs my stamp of approval! Don't think I'm not going to test the boy! I'm going to make sure he suits my daughter's temperament and nature," he started counting off his fingers with a serious look of scrutiny on his face. "That they're compatible and—"
"But the only thing that really matters is loooooove honey," Gabby cut him off, trying to get him not to be so hard on Sam's choice. Sure she understood being a protective father, but it really didn't seem warranted here at all.
"He came to see her mom just like that," she snapped her fingers to illustrate the near split second it had taken for him to get there once Sam had called for him, before fixing Shawn with a sternly raised eyebrow.
"Now don't sit there and tell me that that doesn't say all that needs to be said about him; that he just dropped everything and came running for Sammie's sake."
Giving her daughter a sidelong smile to say that she had her back, she continued appealing to her husband for her boyfriend showing a glimpse of what she would be like if she was a mother-in-law. Supportive, kind, and loving; the type that would see her daughter's husband as her very own son and accept and welcome him to the family with open arms.
"He clearly very much and very deeply loves our Sammie," she professed never taking note of how rigid Sam went as she said that, as stiff as a wooden board.
"Alright," Shawn finally relented because he could not argue with that logic. "But I am still her dad! I need to scope him out a little."
This was after all his only daughter's very possible future spouse they were discussing here, he needed to at least do that much or he'd feel like he hadn't done his due diligence.
"I need to at least see that he's well taken care of."
"I'm have no doubt that he is," Gabby stated firmly as she reflected back on what little she'd seen of the man in question. But even with her foggy memory and not having seen him for long enough to memorize his features fully, she had still registered that he was immensely handsome and almost had a regal air about him, one of authority as though he were royalty or some other important figure like a senator, or scientist.
"He seemed like a prince," she mused with a dreamy look in her eye leaving Shawn to shake his head in amusement at how his wife was so smitten with Tim after seeing him for just a few minutes. Clearly he had effortlessly woven a spell over his wife just as he had over his daughter, something that he would feel territorial and jealous about normally but couldn't help but feel pleased about because it let him see his Gabriella this animated and full of life.
It had been ages since last she'd behaved this way, since she'd talked so much and smiled so much. Ever since her tumour diagnosis...
Shawn halted that thought dead in its tracks refusing to think about it and bring down the mood as he turned his head around to look at his daughter, at the source of all this sudden joy that they'd received out of no where just like an unexpected gift from God and grinned widely as he tried including her in their family talk having noticed her being mostly silent.
"Did you hear that princess? Your mom already has your Tim pegged as being Prince Charming!"
Listening to both her mother and father break out into happy laughter after that Sam stood up and excused herself with a forced smile to not tip off her parents yet, but turning and going up to her room because all of this getting to be too much for her to just sit there and listen to anymore.
She didn't even stop to correct them when she heard them say how cute they thought she was running away like that all shy at this discussion over the man she loved.
And as such they happily continued to chit chat about him even without her being in the room anymore right up until it was time for bed.
She hesitated restlessly turning the doorknob over and over in her sweaty hand as she stood in the darkness of the hallway outside her parents' room, her heart beating hard in her chest as she kept going back and forth and asking herself just one question over and over endlessly.
Should she do this?
Biting her lower lip hard, Sam took in a deep breath as she once again tried to fully make up her mind.
When she'd finally stolen away from her mom and dad and had a chance to contemplate the situation, she'd come to the conclusion that she could not let this lie live on. It wasn't right and she was not at all comfortable with it. Had this had been any other man, literally any other man on the planet she might have been able to find a way to tolerate it. But an enemy, and that too Tim Scam? No, she could not do it. She just couldn't!
Her resolve made up she let herself in not surprised to find the door unlocked because she knew this was her dad's usual time to go down to the kitchen and get himself a drink of water. Which made this the perfect window of opportunity for her to do this.
She approached her mom as she lay there snoring softly having finally figured out what she could say to her about Scam's identity and why he'd been at their place today.
It had taken her time to come up with something because her parents knew her too well to make it easy on her. As nice as it was to be so close-knit, sometimes it created unique problems like this one that other girls wouldn't have to deal with with their moms and dads.
She couldn't just say he was a friend because her parents had literally met all her friends and new intimate details about them, and she also couldn't get away with lying that he was related to Clover or Alex because her mom just so happened to be besties with both their moms and knew their family lines inside out.
But luckily for her there was still someone, a friend that they knew of but didn't know so well that could work. A friend that she was sure would happily vouch for her when she asked her to.
Britney; they'd only met her once and only for a minute when she'd been dropping her back home after the special girls night out they'd had to celebrate her joining them for a mission again before she returned to Australia.
So she was going to lie that he was her brother who was in town on business and had decided to drop by to see her because he knew what she was going through (via his sister of course), and wanted to come offer moral support because it was the polite thing to do. That it was just bad timing that he'd entered at the precise moment to be mistaken for her boyfriend and hadn't said anything to her parents because of the sheer awkwardness of what had followed, and had instead asked her to resolve the misunderstanding with her mom as he left because she'd be much better at getting through to her without embarrassing her for her mistake.
That way she could cover everything that had happened today and simultaneously keep the ugly reality of Scam being a criminal to herself without having to tell the whole, entire truth.
And to explain away his total lack of any physical resemblance to Britney? She was going to say that he was adopted.
Another reason she was choosing to make him a close friend's sibling instead of anything else, was because her mum was well aware of the pact she'd made with her girlfriends ages ago about never dating around in each other's families. This was out of fear of a possible break-up causing a strain on their friendship which meant everything to them.
This would also take care of the possibility of her mother wanting to play matchmaker for Scam and her once she told her they were not together and that she was still very single. Which could very well be just what she'd do next judging by how infatuated she seemed with him for no reason.
Feeling like she had a sound plan of repair in place, Sam tapped her mom on the shoulder gently to wake her and get this over with. It only took a second for her to begin to stir.
"Hmmm?" Gabby mumbled rolling over from her side onto her back as her mouth tightened and eyelids flickered for a second before she went right back to snoring.
Sam waited for a moment and then another before she sighed, about to poke her again this time a little harder to get her attention but paused when she heard her mother start to talk while still asleep, a habit that she had mentioned inheriting from her grandmother and something she herself had gotten from her.
"Mmm… Rick sweetheart, give me a minute I… I have to help your sister Gabby out first…" she murmured before a drowsy chuckle left her lips as she patted the surface of the mattress next to her as if patting a child's head affectionately.
"Oh don't make that face, pumpkin! It'll only take a min—"
"MOM!" Sam called out, now shaking her slightly and finally Gabby's eyes snapped open as she was brought out of her slumber.
Reaching over she flicked on the bedside lamp before slowly sitting up in the bed. She rubbed her eyes and then blinked before she proceeded to turn her head left and right a few times as if looking for someone. After a moment of doing that she let out a nervous laugh and scratched her cheek with her index finger.
"I was dreaming … wasn't I?"
When Sam nodded at her that yes she must have been. Gabby shook her head to herself knowing she should have known better than to think it was reality. How could everything she had seen in that dream possibly happen so soon? It logically couldn't she knew, but alas she was just a mother who could not help but fantasize about her daughter's future now that she'd seen a preview of what a large part of it could be like.
Hugging her knees to her chest and smiling cheerfully she began recounting her dream out loud, her voice hushed and sounding far off as if she were still dreaming the same dream despite now being conscious.
"I saw that you were married Sammie … and I saw your kids. The most adorable kids with auburn hair and pretty green eyes and they were playing in my lap, and running around the house, and I was chasing after them. Oh it was just wonderful! There was so much joy and laughter and—"
Gabby stopped herself short at the wild and bewildered look on her daughter's face and blushed a little knowing she was likely making her very uncomfortable with all of this.
"Look at me getting so far ahead of myself after seeing Tim just once," she laughed at herself for being such a mom about this whole thing before she gave a soft shrug and tried to explain her hastiness and getting so carried away.
"I-I guess I can't help it…" she admitted meeting her daughter's wide eyes with nothing but happiness overflowing in her own. "You two just seem so perfect for each other."
The way they'd looked when she'd posed them next to one another literally gave her tingles, they appeared to be the ideal couple as though their very forms were crafted at the same time by God himself and then they were sent down to Earth to find each other, eventually fall in love, and make the other whole.
"Just like soul mates," she whispered before emitting yet another dreamy sigh. And with that she seemed to slip back into her reverie leaving Sam standing frozen in a state of total speechlessness. A moment passed, and then another, and then another one ticked by.
"Well, what are you waiting for?! Do it!" her mind nagged at her, telling her it was now or never. It was just her and her mom, her mom that she could always talk to openly without fear. All she had to do was open her mouth and tell her the lie that she'd rehearsed and this, all of this would be over.
But while the muscles of her mouth yearned to move, to speak, her mind gagged it shut. Because sometimes a situation was enough to make someone feel as helpless as if they were physically bound with iron chains from head to toe.
As much as she'd tried to deny it, to not pay it any mind because of the subject being Tim Scam, she still couldn't help but notice just how … happy her mother was.
She truly hadn't seen her like this since her sickness began. Being so excited about something, truly and genuinely looking forward to something. Even the thought of Christmas, her favourite holiday that they were set to celebrate extravagantly hadn't made her seem quite this happy. Even if she hadn't said it, they'd all known it was because this time her mother knew in the back of her mind that this would be the final one and that was why everyone was making such a big deal about it.
And as such everyone could see the subtleties in her preparations for the celebration and how they were different than every other year, how she was different, and how exhaustively her unforgiving illness had tainted what would otherwise be a happy occasion.
But Scam, her supposed serious boyfriend was … new. He hadn't had a chance to be contaminated by her sad reality because he wasn't something from her past for her to be nostalgic about seeing one last time before she passed on. To her mom, he was the present and the future that would outlive her.
And that was why …
Sam realized as she watched the beaming smile on her mother's face and admired how luminous it was and how it refused to fade away, staying exactly the same as it had looked from the precise instant she'd seen Tim Scam and believed him to be her future husband.
With her heart crumbling inside her, Sam came to a eye-opening realization. She couldn't tell her mother the truth about Scam and her not being together, of there not being a man in her life. Oh God, she just couldn't! Because she could tell that even though her mother had just mentioned one dream to her, that in the last several hours since meeting Scam, she'd silently dreamt so many more about her future with him. So many dreams that were beautiful, heart-warming, and precious to her.
How then could she open her mouth and tell her to stop dreaming? Rip away the source of her mother's fragile smile and force her to stop smiling forever? Be so damn heartless? So selfish? So terribly cruel?!
Sam shook her head to herself. No, she wasn't self-centred enough to do any of that to her beloved mother. No, not her, never her and not in her final days when she'd swore to do anything and everything it took to make her happy even if it was just for one single second.
Her face hardening in a determined way she reminded herself of that solemn vow she'd taken.
Her own happiness didn't matter. Her comfort was irrelevant. Only her mother mattered. Only her, and what she wanted now held any relevance for her. Nothing else. Nothing else.
Right then she swallowed the words she'd been intending to say when she came into parents' bedroom, never allowing them to leave her tongue and deleting them from her mind as if they had never even been there.
She knew what she had to do even if she hated and disapproved of the idea with every fiber of her being. Regardless, it was her duty. Her mother had made so many sacrifices for her throughout her life and now … it was her turn to pay her back.
… But with Tim Scam?
The second she thought about him she felt frenzied and dizzied and wanted to back out of doing this and just run away from him, from it all.
Gulping dryly, she decided that she just needed a little more time to think. Maybe a night of shuteye would help her sort her mind out even though she knew she had not been sleeping since that fateful graduation day that she'd received her dad's phone call, and it was a far cry that she'd sleep at all tonight after this new and latest disaster in her life. Still, she had to try,
Coaxing her mother to lie down and get some rest because it was late and they could talk about this later, Sam pulled the blankets up to her chin as she tucked her in just the way she used to tuck her in when she was a little girl.
"Sleep well mom," she sweetly whispered leaving Gabby's smile to somehow grow even wider before she giggled playfully.
"Oh I will for sure, dreaming of you two."
Sam didn't comment as she kissed her forehead and watched her mother close her eyes almost looking eager for sleep. And it was clear to her that was because she was hoping to continue the dream that had been interrupted by her arrival, the one starring Tim Scam, herself … and their many children.
Trying to get that disturbing thought out of her head and not picture it for herself, she began to walk away desperate to get some much required sleep and hopefully with it, some even more needed clarity.
"Thank you so much, Sammie."
Sam skidded to a stop when she heard her mom's voice again.
"… For what?" she turned to ask her to find her mom watching her with one eye open and that smile still plastered on her lips.
"For making my deepest wish come true," Gabby uttered with nothing but palpable relief in her hushed tone. "I can't even begin to tell you what a burden you've lifted from my mind by telling me about Tim. I … I'm just so happy, and I owe that all to you. Thank you so much darling, for Tim."
"I'm… glad to know that mom," Sam managed to mumble out after a long and tense pause before turning to leave again, her state of desperation higher than ever for an escape.
"Now please get some sleep."
But just as she had one foot out of the door, just as she'd thought she'd almost gotten free, she heard her mother's voice once more stopping her dead in her tracks.
"Sammie… He'll come again, right?"
Knowing full well which "he" she was referring to, Sam sealed her eyes in torment. It seemed that she didn't have the luxury of time to make up her mind. Her mom was already in love with Scam, her heart was set on him for whichever reason leaving her with no choice and no wiggle room whatsoever.
With her back to her mother the way her back was against a brick wall, Sam stood there wordless and motionless for a long moment, her lips quivering and her eyes shaking in trepidation as she asked herself if she knew what she was getting herself into? Did she understand the consequences that would follow? Did she?!
She knew she did and how dire those would be, but standing there in the very room that her mother had sacrificed for her it all came rushing back to her just how many things her mother had given up to make her happy. How many times she'd put her own hesitations aside and granted her wishes over and over without fail…
Letting her enroll into inline skating classes when she'd been just a tot despite fearing her breaking her still-developing legs…
Expressing enthusiasm when she'd announced in grade 3 that she'd joined the talent show at her elementary school and was going to sing for it, and then sitting in the audience uncaring about the embarrassment she must have felt by identifying herself as the mother of the most tone-deaf child by being the only one cheering her on …
Battling with her father to let her take a boy she had a huge crush on to her very first prom instead of the neighbour's son whom they both knew and trusted to not cross any lines with her, Lloyd Bradley, the very same boy that she'd shared her first kiss with the same night …
Allowing her to move out and live with her friends in her high school years even though she'd never wanted her only child to leave home before she got married …
Supporting her decision to attend Malibu University to be with Clover and Alex and being okay with her rejecting her acceptance letter from Harvard even though every member of her family had been so excited to hear she'd gotten entry from such a prestigious university, attending which would have elevated her family's rich academic tradition to new heights…
… Just to name a few.
And when she weighed all of those sacrifices her mother had made just for her on one side of the scale and her own comfort in the other, she knew there was no question as to which held more weight and what the right thing to do was.
If she could give her mother some moments of happiness by pretending to be in love with her enemy … then it was worth it. No matter what, it always would be.
"Sammie?"
Sam heard her mother repeat and she felt the weight of all the hope in her eyes as they remained pinned only to her, immobilizing her from walking away before giving her a response.
And then just some seconds later, quietly and cooperatively she gave her exactly the answer that she knew she wanted to hear from her.
"… Yes."
?
But will Scam come?