“Just like that. But as I was saying, I wish we could hang out like this every day. It makes me so sad that you guys were sick this weekend and I couldn’t be there.”
“It’s okay, Sam,” Alden said. “We know you have an important job.”
“That’s nice of you to say, buddy, but I hope you know that nothing is more important to me than you are, and even if I’m not there with you, you’re always the most important people to me.”
Aubrey, who was seated in a booster seat next to Sam, reached for her hand. “Don’t be sad, Sam. We’re not. Well… we are sometimes because we miss our mommy and daddy, and Scotty misses his mom and grandpa, but most of the time, we’re happy. And we love our family and having another big brother.”
“The kids at school think we’re cool,” Alden said, “because our new dad is the president, and our new mom is the first lady and a detective who chases bad guys.”
Hearing them refer to her and Nick as their new dad and new mom made Sam teary-eyed.
“Uh-oh,” Scotty said. “Now you’ve done it. She’s gonna cry.”
“No, I’m not,” Sam said. “Hush your mouth.” They giggled at the face she made at Scotty. “I love you guys. So, so much.”
“We love you, too, Sam,” Aubrey said.
“Don’t worry about us,” Scotty said. “We’re all good. Keep doing what you gotta do and making us proud.”
The twins nodded.
“Thanks, guys,” Sam said, incredibly moved by their kindness and love.
“Pizza!” Alden said as the car came to a stop outside the restaurant they’d turn into a circus with their presence.
Chapter Thirty-Five
After pizza, ice cream and posing for photos with the delightful staff, they took two pizzas to-go for Tracy, Angela and the kids and headed to Tracy’s house.
Sam was looking forward to spending some time with her sisters, nieces and nephews and getting a sense for how they could best support Tracy and Ethan through this difficult time.
The sisters had exchanged texts earlier, about reminding the older kids that the younger ones didn’t know about what’d happened to Ethan and agreed they wanted to keep it that way.
Their arrival with pizza was heralded with much excitement from the kids and their moms. Even Ethan, who’d been resting on the sofa, sat up to greet them.
“Now I don’t have to worry about dinner tonight,” Angela said. “Yay for Auntie Sam!”
Scotty gave Tracy a long hug and said something to her that had Sam’s sister smiling and teary-eyed.
“You’re the sweetest boy,” Tracy said.
“I’m a man, and I ain’t sweet.”
“You are if we say you are.”
“And we say you are,” Sam and Angela said together.
“That sister thing is creepy,” he said as he went to find Jack and Ethan.
“How’s Ethan?” Sam asked when it was just the three sisters in the kitchen.
“He’s been quiet today, but he’s up, and he ate, and… I guess he’s okay. His therapist, Christi, came by earlier, and they talked for a bit, but he didn’t have much to say. She said he’s still processing it and will probably have more to say going forward. Finding out he’s the subject of online conspiracies didn’t help.”
“How’d he hear about that?” Sam asked.
“One of his friends stopped by to see how he was doing, and when I let him talk to Ethan, he mentioned it. I forgot to ask him not to.”
“We forget that their whole lives are online these days,” Sam said.
