“And this is Matteo. My Daddy,” Annika added.
The men greeted her, offered their hands, and then all welcomed her to the mansion.
Stepping deeper inside, she found a beautiful Tudor revival house that was well kept and oozing historic charm. That didn’t mean it wasn’t welcoming, though. The atmosphere was warm and inviting—almost as if she could feel the love in that home.
It was a blissful sensation and she wanted to just stand there in the entryway and soak it up. She wouldn’t, obviously.
You don’t want to seem completely pathetic, Sam. Just be cool.
“Something smells wonderful,” she said as the group led her deeper into the mansion.
“I’ve already started dinner,” Kendrick explained. “I left the lasagna going in the oven while I ran to pick you up. Got the dough for my famous homemade bread already prepped, too. Just need to pop it in the oven, mix up the salad, and we’ll be good to go in about thirty minutes.”
“Ooh, we can jump on the trampoline while we wait,” Iris suggested. “It’s in the backyard.” She grabbed Samantha’s hand. “Come on!”
Samantha was excited to play with other Littles, but she felt extremely guilty, too. She’d attacked those same Littles earlier. Not to mention sat by while Monica and Marissa made fun of them for wearing diapers.
But now she was just going to act like it never happened and play with them like they were her new best friends?
That guilt only increased as other memories came to the forefront of her mind.
She’d been to the mansion before. Not inside. But outside. On Halloween. The night she attacked Iris and her friends with eggs.
You’ve got a lot to atone for, Sam. How are you going to make this right?
The turmoil she felt must have been written all over her face, because Lana said, “Is everything okay?” as they walked into the backyard.
Standing in front of the giant, net-enclosed trampoline, Samantha offered a smile and nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. I’ve just… always dreamed of having other Little friends. Now it’s finally happening and… well, I almost can’t believe it.” She blushed. “If it’s okay to assume you’re my friends. I know we just met.”
“Are you kidding?” Iris said. “Of course we’re friends!”
“Yeah,” Annika chimed in. “We always love meeting new people and expanding our family.”
Samantha thought of reminding them that she wasn’t part of the family yet, so to speak. She’d only been on one date with Kendrick. The ladies seemed so excited, though. Why burst their bubble?
Besides, she felt the same way Kendrick did: this was going to blossom into something big.
Maybe something forever.
Experience had made her apprehensive about getting her hopes up. But this time around, she could just feel it.
This was real.
“Thank you for being so welcoming,” she told the group, feeling a little foolish but not really knowing what else to say.
They wouldn’t be this way if they only knew…
The four other women hugged her. It was wonderful.
Once they’d pulled away, Cami said, “Come on. Let’s jump now. We might not want to after we eat. We’d barf all over the place.”
They all laughed as Samantha kicked her shoes off and climbed onto the trampoline to join the others.
The group hopped around, leapt high into the air, and even did flips. Samantha fell several times. The other girls jumpedaround her, making her bounce on her butt, while they laughed, too.
Fifteen minutes later, the back door opened and Auntie Athena appeared on the deck.
“Oh shit!” Samantha called loudly.
