Sami stared out her window with blank blue eyes. It had been nearly a month since her mother's death and her move across the country. She had left behind everything and everyone she had ever loved to live with a man she barely knew.
You could say that she was less then happy. In fact, she was down right miserable. So Sami sat and stared out the window hugging her teddy bear tightly. Just as she had been doing since she had arrived at this place.
Sami supposed that to other people, the mansion was home. It certainly was to her "father", and his girlfriend. But to her, it was just a big pile of rocks with a bunch of strangers living in it.
A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. When she didn't answer, the door was pushed in, and Sam poked his blond head in.
"Sami? Dinner time." He said, looking at his newly discovered daughter.
"Not hungry." Sami said simply, never breaking her gaze from the window.
"Sami, you have to eat something." Sam insisted.
"I told you, I'm not hungry." Sami snapped, never turning her head.
"Sami, don't talk to me like that." Sam said, stepping into her room. "Ah am your father, Ah do deserve a little respect."
"Some father you are." Sami muttered, not expecting Sam to hear her. He did.
"What?" Sam asked, looking at the sullen little girl with pained and angry eyes.
"I SAID 'Some father you are'!" Sami yelled, finally rising from her melancholy.
Sam glared down at her, trying to keep a hold of his temper.
Sami had no such restraints. " I HATE you!" She balled up her tiny fists and began to punch him in the leg. "I hate you, I hate you!"
Sam grabbed her forearms, and pushed her back from him. He kneeled down and looked at her little face. To his surprise, it was tear stained, and her blue eyes were spitting purple fire.
Sam looked away, trying to force down the pang in his heart. She looked so much like her mother at that moment. He swallowed and looked back at his enraged child.
"Sami, Ah KNOW yoah momma didn't raise you to treat adults like that." Sam said, gritting his teeth to keep from yelling.
Sami puckered her lips and stared at his, her eyes still flashing and glowing with tears. "How would YOU know how Momma raised me?!"
"That's ENOUGH Sami!" Sam scolded, raising to his feet. "Ah want you to stay here until you can behave yourself!"
He turned and walked out the room, his entire body tight with anger. Just as he was leaving, he felt something soft smack him in the back. He whirled around and stared. Sami had thrown her teddy bear at him.
His mind screamed in rage, and he took a step forward before he got a hold of himself. Sami continued to glare at him with hate-filled eyes, almost daring him to move forward. Sam growled low in his throat, and stormed out the door, slamming it shut.
Sami threw another stuffed animal at the door, and then flopped down on her bed. Tears slowly welled up in her eyes, and she sniffed loudly. Sitting up, she reached for the picture on her nightstand.
Her mother was smiling at the camera, the Grand Canyon gaping behind her. Tabitha's red hair was down around her face and her blue eyes shone like sapphires. Sami was standing next to her, holding her hand, and hugging the teddy bear she had just thrown at her father. Demi had taken it on the last vacation they had gone on before Tabitha had had to be hospitalized.
Sami sniffed, and hugged the picture tightly. Sniffing again, she pulled the back of the picture frame off. Inside, there was another, smaller picture.
Sam stood with his arms around Tabitha, his chin resting on the top of her head. Tabitha's back was to his front, and in her arms was a familiar teddy bear. Part of a Ferris wheel loomed in the background, against the night sky.
"You're not anything like I thought you were going to be." Sami wept, staring at the photograph of her father.
Sam stormed down the hallway toward his room, silently swearing. He was so angry that he missed seeing Rahne, until he almost ran her down.
"Rahne!" Sam yelped, stopping next to her.
"Sam I need to talk to ye…" Rahne started, reaching out a hand.
"Not now Rahny. Ah jus' got into a huge fight with Sami." Sam said, brushing her off and walking toward his room.
"Okay, we can talk later." Rahne said, watching him stomp down the hallway, anger flooding through her. Since Sami had come to live with them, Sam seemed to have less and less time for her. Rahne understood how hard it was for them ALL to get adjusted to Sami's presence, but he should at least spend a little time with her, shouldn't he?
Sam reached his room and flopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. It hurt…oh, it hurt so bad to hear Sami scream that she hated him. He knew he was the best of fathers in the world, but he didn't think he was that bad.
Sam sat up slowly, a few tears rolling down his cheeks, unnoticed. Something had just occurred to him…was this how Tabitha had felt? Had she felt this…anguish when he had been so cruel to her?
Sam banished that thought as soon as it entered his head. Tabitha hadn't loved him, he hadn't been as important to her, as Sami was to him.
That thought shocked Sam to the bone. He knew he was SUPPOSED to love Sami, but he had known her for so little a time, that he hadn't realized that he did. He hadn't realized that she had become so important to him in the brief time that he had had her.
Sam sank his head into his hands and cried himself to sleep. Across the mansion, his young daughter was doing the same thing.
Sami looked around her in shock. She was sitting on her bed in her room. Her OLD room, the one in her house in Arizona. Everything was the way it had been before she had moved. The window even had the same cracked piece.
"How did I get here?" Sami asked the air, still looking around.
"Me." Came a hauntingly familiar voice. Sami twisted around on her bed and found herself face to face with her mother.
"M-momma?"
"Hi, baby." Tabitha Smith said, smiling at her little girl brightly.
"Momma…is it really you?" Sami asked, slipping off the bed, her eyes wide. Her mother was the way she remembered her…not the frail woman in the hospital bed, but her beautiful mother, strong and healthy.
Tabitha nodded, and held out her arms to her daughter. Sami sprinted to her mother and threw herself into her arms, knocking her mother back onto the floor. Tabitha laughed and hugged her tightly, kissing her on the top of the head.
"ImissedyouSOMUCHMomma! I'msogladyourhereIhatelivingwiththatmanandIjustwantogohomeandlivewithyou!" Sami cried in a rush, her words merging together.
"Whoa, whoa! Slow down!" Tabitha laughed, hugging the child again.
"Oh, Momma, I hate living in the mansion!" The child sobbed, hugging her mother tightly.
"Why baby?" Tabitha asked, brushing one of her daughter's tears off her face.
Sami just cried for another minute, before she finally got out, "I hate him!"
"Why?" Tabitha questioned, lifting an eyebrow.
"Because…he didn't love me enough to come find me, and he made you cry, and he…he's not what I thought he was going to be." Sami sobbed against her mother, taking comfort in the familiar scent of her perfume.
"Oh, baby. You can't blame your Daddy for not knowing about you. That was all my fault. And as for making me cry…sweetie, I know you don't understand why that happened. I hurt him, I hurt him SO bad, a long time ago. I guess he hasn't forgotten that pain. You can't blame him for acting the way he did, sweetie. Do you understand?" Tabitha told her daughter, hugging her again.
Sami was quite for a long moment. "I think so…but Momma, why is he always so mean to me?"
"Because he doesn't know how to talk to you. He's never been a father, he didn't have any preparation time at all. You just have to give him time." Tabitha told her gently, kissing the top of her head once more.
"You really think so, Momma?" Sami asked her, looking up at her mother.
"I do. Just remember baby: I will ALWAYS love you, and I will ALWAYS be with you." Tabitha promised, kissing Sami once more.
"Sing to me, Momma?" Sami asked, leaning against her mother.
"Tell my heart to stop beating, Tell my mind not to think, Thrown a stone in the ocean, And tell that stone not to sink, Tell the world to stop turnin' around, tell the sky not to be so blue, tell the rain to stop fallin' down like tears, but don't tell me to stop loving you, don't tell me to stop loving you…" Tabitha once more sang the song she had sung for her daughter all of her life.
Sam looked around him, numb with shock. He was at his home in Kentucky, in the field where his Daddy's grave was. He spun around, not knowing what to expect. It was dark, and the moon shone full in the night sky. Sam shivered slightly; the darkness was cool.
"Hi, Sam." A soft voice sounded in his ears. Sam's eyes widened and he spun around, shock written all over his face.
"T-Tabitha?" Sam asked, staring at the woman.
"That's me." She said, smiling at him. She didn't look the way she had the last time he had seen her, pale and weak. She looked the way he remembered her, small and beautiful, with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
"What…how…your dead. How did you get here?" Sam asked, his voice quivering as he struggled to express his feelings.
Tabitha smiled gently, and seemed to float over and stand before him. "It's a little hard to explain, Sam. But I'm here to help you."
"He-help me with what?" Sam asked, trembling as he stared at her. His heart bleed in his chest when she smiled at him, a smile he remembered so well.
"With Sami. She's quite the little handful isn't she?" Tabitha asked, grinning.
"She's just like you are--were." Sam whispered, his eyes still on her face.
"I always thought she was like you." Tabitha replied.
Sam stared at her face for a moment, then shook his head. "Tabitha…Tabitha what are you doing here?"
"I told you. I'm here to help you." Tabitha said, pushing back a lock of her blonde hair.
"How can you? You're…gone." Sam whispered, forcing the pain down.
"I know that. But you and Sami both needed help." Tabitha answered, reaching up and gently touching his face.
"Both of us?" Sam asked, confused.
"You need to learn how to understand one another." Tabitha explained, her eyes bright.
"How so?" Sam asked, his eyes never straying from her face.
Tabitha didn't answer him for a second, puckering her lips the way Sami had. "Sami has a very clear vision of what she thinks your like, and I'll admit I gave to her. In her eyes, you aren't the way she thought, and it upsets her."
"What did you tell her Ah was like?" Sam asked, still watching Tabitha.
"I…I told her how wonderful you are. I told her that you never yelled, and that you loved your family very, very much." Tabitha began.
Sam winced. "Ah yell her sometimes. That's probably why she's so angry at me."
"Why do you yell at her?" Tabitha asked simply, looking him dead in the eye. Sam looked away.
"Because it hurts so bad. Ah look at her, and Ah see…you. Ah see the reason Ah lost you. And Ah see mah failure." Sam said, his voice breaking.
"Your failure?" Tabitha asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Ah swore that Ah would be the best father Ah could be ta mah kids, back when mah daddy was dying. Ah obviously failed at that." Sam explained, close to tears. To his surprise, Tabitha's small arms wrapped around him in a tight hug.
"It wasn't your fault." Tabitha whispered in his ear, her lips barely grazing it.
"Yes it was." Sam whispered back, tears slipping down his cheeks. Tabitha leaned her forehead against his jaw, tightening her embrace. Sam continued to cry. It felt good to be back in her arms, after so many years of being without her.
"Tabitha…" Sam whispered, turning back to her after the storm of his tears had passed. "Ah…Ah wish you were still alive. Ah wish we could be rising Sami…together."
"Me too." Tabitha whispered back, leaning against him.
"Ah…Ah still love you, girl." Sam told her, more tears falling down his cheeks.
"Even after all this time?" Tabitha asked, a hint of a smile on her face.
"Even after all this time." Sam agreed.
"I love you too." Tabitha whispered to him, tracing his jawbone.
"Stay with me." Sam begged, holding her hand. He knew what he was asking was ridiculous, but he had to ask it.
"I'll always be with you." Tabitha whispered, kissing him softly on the mouth. Suddenly, she began to fade from sight.
"No! Tabitha, don't leave me again!" Sam cried, reaching for her.
Sam awoke with a start, tears streaming down his face. Sunlight poured into his room in golden streaks. Sam pushed the covers off, and slowly pulled himself out of bed. Standing up, he walked to his dresser drawers, and the mirrors that hung above it.
He looked down at his dresser draws and his eyes widened with shock. A drawing, of a little girl with big tears on her face was resting there. Written in childish scrawl were the words "I'm sorry, Daddy. Love, Sami."
Sam lifted it up from his desk and stared at it for a long second. He swallowed, and headed out of his room, making a beeline for his daughter's bedroom.
On the way, he ran into Rahne. She smiled and moved to kiss him, but he maneuvered around her. Rahne looked hurt, but Sam didn't notice. He was to intent on his journey.
"Sam, where are ye going?" Rahne asked, upset that he was ignoring her.
"Ah need to go talk to Sami. Ah'll see you after breakfast, alright?" Sam asked, already heading down the hall.
"Sam, I need to talk to ye about…never mind." Rahne sighed, seeing that he was already down the hall. She sighed again, and watched him go.
Sam made it to Sami's room, and stopped outside the door. He lifted his hand to knock, when he heard some one singing. Bending closer to the door, he listened trying to here the words.
"Tell my heart to stop beating, tell my mind not to think. Thrown a stone in the ocean, and tell that stone not to sink." Sami sang, brushing her long hair thoroughly, oblivious to her father's presence.
Sam slowly pushed the door open, and looked at her. She was still singing her little heart out, and smiling for one of the first time since had arrived here.
Sam started to clear his throat to get her attention, but stopped. He swallowed hard, and began to sing the next part. "Tell the world to stop turnin' around, tell the sky not to be so blue. Tell the rain to stop fallin' down like tears, but don't tell me to stop loving you, don't tell me to stop loving you…"
Sami jumped in response, and turned to see her father leaning against the door. She smiled and put her brush down and walked over to where he was standing.
"Did you get my note?" Sami asked, looking at him bright eyes.
"Ah did. Ah came to say that Ah'm sorry too." Sam told her, kneeling down to her level. Sam smiled at him, and slowly reached out her arms to him. Sam smiled back, and hugged her gently. Sami pulled back and smiled at him, again, her eyes bright. Again, Sam was startled to see the resemblance she bore to her mother.
"Where did you learn that song?" Sam asked her, still kneeling in front of her.
"What song?" Sami asked, tilting her head to the left.
"The one you were just singing." Sam reminded her.
"Momma use to sing it to me before I went to bed." Sami said softly, her eyes filling with tears.
"Ah…Ah use to sing that to HER." Sam told his daughter.
"I know." Sami smiled.
"Oh? How did ya know?" Sam asked, curious.
"Momma told me." Sam explained, pushing a lock of auburn hair back. Sam was struck with a memory of Tabitha doing exactly the say thing, and he looked away. Sami looked confused for a minute, and put her hand on his shoulder.
"You look so much like your mother." Sam told her, looking back.
"I do?" Sami asked, surprised.
"You do." Sam told her, smiling brightly. Sami smiled back, her eyes shining.
"You wanna go out for breakfast?" Sam asked his daughter.
"If you get dressed." Sami agreed, smiling impishly. Sam laughed, for the first time in a long while.
"Ah'll be right back." Sam promised jogging off.
It wasn't going to be easy to get through to his daughter, Sam reflected. But maybe they could learn to be a family.