Disclaimer: They are Marvel's if you know um, but they are mine if you don't.

"How come you're packing our suitcases Momma?" Sami asked her mother the next morning.

"Well sweetie, we're going on a trip." Tabitha told her.

"Really? Where?" Sami asked excitedly, bouncing up and down.

"Well, its called Westchester. It's in New York." Tabitha told her.

"Where's that?" Sami asked, her blue eyes gleaming.

Tabitha smiled. "Come here, I'll show you." Lifting her daughter up, she pointed to the map sprawled out on her bed. "This is where we are." She pointed to Arizona on the map. "And this is where we are going." She pointed to New York.

"Wow!" The child said. "That's a long way away. Why are we going there?"

"Well, we're going to visit some old�friends of mine." Tabitha explained to her daughter.

"Do I know them?" Sami asked.

"No sweetie. I haven't seen them since before you were born." Tabitha said.

Sami nodded. Putting her head on her mother's shoulder, she asked, "Are you glad to be seeing your friends again?"

Tabitha forced a smile. "Of course I am, honey." Sami smiled at her mother, and kissed her. Tabitha hugged her hard, then put her down. "Go pick out what toys you wanna bring. But you can only bring a couple. We don't have much room to began with."

"Okay Mommy." The little girl ran off into her room. Tabitha smiled and continued to pack.

A couple minutes later, as she was pulling some of her old winter clothes out of the trunk, a picture caught her eye. Putting down the things she was holding, she picked up the picture. It was an old picture of her and Sam.

Tabitha felt tears prick her eyes. She and Sam looked so happy. She was leaning against him, with a smile on her face. He had his arms around her and was kissing the top of her head. She sat and stared at the photo for a long time, before putting it down.

Then to her surprise she found another one, a few minutes later. She then remembered that she had stuck all her old pictures in here before Sami was born. Lifting them all out, she began to look at them.

Most of them were of Sam and herself. In one, they were kissing under the moonlight. In another one, she was sitting in his lap. How long ago had these pictures been taken? It couldn't be more then four years, but it seemed so much longer. She wasn't the same flighty bimbo anymore. She found herself wondering what Sam was like now.

****

"Wow!" Sami cried, pressing her face to the window. "That's pretty!"

"This is Reno." Demi told her. It was their second day of travel and they had just reached the biggest little city in the world. Tabitha was asleep in backseat with her head propped up against the window. Sami was in her child seat, ooing and awing over the lights.

"Look at all the pretty lights!" Sami cried pointing.

Rictor began to laugh. "Just like her father. Distracted by shiny objects." Then he realized what he had said and winced. Maybe Sami hadn't heard him. No such luck.

"Daddy liked shiny things?" Sami demanded.

"Sami, how much do you know about your Daddy?" Demi asked, turning around to look at her.

Sami shook her head sadly. "Not much at all."

Rictor looked at her in the rear view mirror. "You know you were named after him."

Sami looked at him with huge eyes. "I was?! Daddy's name was Samantha Zacharia Smith?"

Both Demi and Rictor laughed. Shaking his head, Ric said "No sweetie. Your dad's name was Samuel Zachary."

"Oh." Sami nodded her head in understanding. "How do you know that, Uncle Rictor?"

"Well, bonita, I knew your father." Rictor explained.

"Really? What was he like?" Sami begged.

Rictor and Demi exchanged a look. How much should they tell Sami about her father? Tabitha may not want her to know about him.

"Sami, your daddy was a very good man." Tabitha said suddenly. Both Demi and Julio jumped. How long had she been listening to them?

"What was he like?" Sami asked again.

"Well, baby, he was� very tall, and handsome. He had blonde hair and blue eyes." Tabitha described to her daughter.

"Like me?" Sami interrupted.

"Yes sweetie. You have his blue eyes." Tabitha told her daughter softly.

"Was he nice?" Sami asked, looking at her mother.

"He was one of the nicest people I ever met in my entire life. He would never ever hurt someone willingly." Tabitha explained.

"Momma, does he love me?" Sami wanted to know.

Tabitha looked at her daughter for a minute. (How do I answer that?)

"Yes, he does, Sami." Rictor answered for her.

"How do you know? He's never even seen me." Sami looked dangerously close to tears. Tabitha looked at him from the back seat with an expectant expression.

"Yes he has, Sami." Demi suddenly spoke up.

"When?" Sami demanded.

"He sees you everyday, because, even if he does not know it, you are in there, in his heart. Because you are a part of him, just like he is a part of you." Demi told the child.

"He's a part of me?" Sami asked, looking at Demi.

"Yes, he is." Demi answered.

"Where is he?" Sami asked.

"Here." Demi told her, touching her chest where her heart was. "In your heart."

"Daddy's in my heart?" Sami whispered.

"Ja. And so is your Mommy. Because it was their love that made you. So they will always be in you heart, even if they are not with you. Do you understand?" Demi asked her.

Sami nodded, a smile already stretching across her face. But to her family's dismay, Sami had one more question.

"Mommy? Do you love Daddy now?"

Rictor looked at her in the rear view mirror. Demi raised any eyebrow. How was Tabitha going to answer this?

After a long pause Tabitha finally answered. "Yes, honey. I love your daddy as much as I love you. And that is a whole lot."

****

"Oh come on Sam. Aren't you at least a little excited about getting to see all your friends again?" Paige Guthrie-Esponsa asked her older brother.

"Maybe a little bit." Sam said, not looking at her.

"Oh, come on big brother. You can tell me." Paige told him.

"Ah did tell you, Ah'm a little excited to see them all again." Sam answered her, suppressing a sigh of annoyance.

"Is Tabitha coming?" Paige asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How would Ah know?" Sam growled, turning his back to her.

"Sam, you know you have to get over her." Paige yelled at his back. "You can't keep living like this, you're going to drive yourself insane!"

"What do you want me to do?!" Sam yelled, whirling to face her. "Ah can't forget her!"

"How do you know?" Paige demanded.

"Because Ah've tried! Ah've tried for nearly three years, and Ah just can't." Sam whispered, tears filling his eyes.

"Sam�"Paige whispered, reaching out to hug her brother.

"You don't know what it's like. The pain�it never ever leaves. Ah can't make mahself let her go. Ah've tried and Ah've tried, but Ah just�can't." Sam cried to his younger sister.

"I'm sure everything will be alright Sam." Paige tried in vain to comfort her older brother.

"Right Paige. Of course it will." Sam wept, brushing the tears away. "Of course it will."

Wish Index - Back to the index