Sam awoke as usual at five am, not ready, but willing to start a new day. Getting up and turning to pull the covers up, she realized that Lily was in the bed beside her. She had forgotten the child while the deep sleep took over her mind and body for a few hours. She slipped into her clothes, without making any noise and went down to the kitchen. As she sipped her coffee, she thought about the day ahead and wondered what she should do with Lily. She couldn't leave her in the house alone all day, she was already too frightened by everything that had happened to her. She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and waited. Lily popped her head around the door, checking to be sure it was safe and looked around the whole room before running to Sam. She flew into Sam's arms and snuggled down on her shoulder. It felt surprisingly good to Sam, to hold onto to this child that needed someone so badly.
"Lily, how would you like to come to work with me today?" she asked the child. Lily perked up and nodded her head, while holding her fist to her mouth. The other hand had a fist full of Sam's shirt and she wouldn't let go. "It's ok, let's make breakfast together." Sam told her, pulling her off enough to look at her. Lily smiled and hopped down off her lap at the prospect of food. Sam opened the fridge and took out bacon and eggs. "How's this look to you, Lily?" she asked. Lily nodded again and took the eggs from Sam. Sam laughed and got down a bowl. Lily pushed the chair up to the sink and opened the egg carton. Sam watched her without saying a word, laying the bacon on a paper plate and putting it in the microwave. Lily cracked four eggs and looked at Sam, "A fork?" Sam handed her a fork and stood beside her, admiring how adept she was at scrambling eggs. She must have done this quite often, Sam thought as she admired the child's ability with the eggs.
As Lily continued beating the eggs, Sam realized she had to find some clothes for the child to wear. It was too early to go to the store and there hadn't been a small child around their house in many years. She went upstairs and got the dirty clothes she had been wearing when Sam found her and took them with her own and threw them in the washing machine. Back in the kitchen, Lily had found the frying pan and had the eggs on the stove, standing in the chair again in front of it.
Lily took the pan off of the heat and sat it to the side, while standing on tip toe to reach the knob and cut the burner off. Sam didn't like this at all, Lily's shirt was almost touching the hot burner on the stove. "Good job!" she said to her. "Now, you sit at the table and I'll get us some juice."
While Lily finished up eating Sam gave her mom a call. "Mom, I know you have your hands full, getting Dad home today, but I need to tell you something." "Honey, the doctor just came in the room and I have to sign the release papers, I'll see you later today." Robbie told her and hung up. Sam stood in the hallway and looked over at Lily, putting their dishes in the dishwasher with expertise. She finished the clothes and put them away, handing Lily her meager shirt and shorts to wear for the day. Then she took Lily and headed out to the barn to take care of a few chores before they left to go into town. Lily stayed right beside her, almost as if she let Sam out of her sight, she would be left alone again. This thought made Sam think of what she needed to do, but she really wasn't ready to take Lily to the authorities..yet. The child had opened up feelings in Sam she didn't know that she possessed. Sam had never had the overwhelming desire to get married and have a family, she had gone through life day to day, without much thought to her future, or what she wanted beyond working on the ranch.
Today, new thoughts were weighing heavy with her, she felt the need to protect this scrawny little girl, so alone in the world.
An hour later they were coming out of the store with several bags full of clothes for Lily. Sam didn't really know what a child needed and based her purchases on how she chose clothes for her own needs, jeans and shorts with lots of underwear and of course jeans to work in. Lily picked out a pair of pink muck boots to wear in the barn and hugged them to her, the way another child might hug a doll. This made Sam think that maybe she should get her some toys. "Hey Lil, what kind of toys do you like to play with?" she asked her. Lily looked up at her with a frown, "I don't know." Sam smiled, "Well, do you like dolls or stuffed animals?" Lily shook her head vigorously, a definite no. For some unknown reason, Sam felt that she wanted Lily to have some kind of toy, but guessed she should wait to see what turned up later. Maybe Lily would give her a clue.
"Come on Lil, let's go to the grocery store, maybe you can help me decide what we need to buy for a celebration dinner tonight." Sam told the child. Lily turned her head in a questioning manner, "Why?" Sam realized that Lily didn't know that anyone besides herself lived in the house, "Well, my parents will be home tonight and I want to make something special. He's been sick, my dad, but will come home today." Lily's frown deepened on her face, but she didn't say a word. Sam knew that she wasn't looking forward to having other people around her. She was still quite worried about her position at the house, would she stay or go. Lily got in the truck and place her new boots on her lap and held onto them.
Pulling into the drive, Sam saw her mother's vehicle at the same time that Lily did. Sam's excitement quickly vanished, as she realized that Lily was in a panic. She had slunk down in the seat, hiding with her face behind her boots. "Lil, it's ok. My mom is going to just love you. She's a very nice person too, she's like me. You don't have to be afraid." Lily wouldn't look at her but said, "Will she make me go away?" Sam didn't have an answer for this question, so she decided to avoid it. "You know, it looks like the dog is in the house, he loves my dad, Lil." Lily thought about this and took Sam's hand to get out of the truck. Sam was in a hurry to see them and pulled Lily along, she was dragging her feet and pulling back, not ready to go in at all.
Robbie opened the door to greet Sam and was totally surprised to find her with a little girl in tow. "Sam? Who's this?" Before Sam could answer, Dog pushed past Robbie and began to lick Lily, making her giggle. "Mom, this is Lily. This is my mom Lil, can you say hello to her?" Sam tried her best to make Lily feel comfortable. Robbie knelt down and held out her hand to Lily, somehow realizing that she was afraid, "Hello Lily, I just love your name. It's almost as pretty as you are." Lily smiled at the words and looked over her pink boots up at Robbie. "Come on here you two, we brought home some goodies for lunch and I have it all ready." Robbie told them. Sam went to her dad at the table and hugged him. Luke reached up and grabbed her hair pulling her down for a good hug, "What have you been up to honey?" spying Lily.
"I can explain, but for now..let's eat." Sam replied as she pulled out a chair and sat Lily in it. "Honey, let's put your boots by the door with mine." Lily wouldn't let go of them and Sam decided they were her doll, so she let her hold onto them. Robbie got another plate and filled it for Lily. Luke just stared at the child, trying to figure out how in the world Sam had come to care for her. Dog had left Luke's side and put his head in Lily's lap as if to tell her it was ok. Lily leaned down and kissed his head. Now Luke was really interested in the story of the child. He looked at Sam and said, "Honey, would you mind letting us in on this?" Sam looked at Lily and chose her words, "Well, Lily found me the other day. She had been traveling with her brother, but he left, so Lily found me, and we have been having a wonderful time together." She smiled down at Lily and the child looked up at her gratefully, with her huge blue eyes shining.
Luke and Robbie looked at each other, realizing that Sam had spoken so affectionately, she must care a great deal about this orphan that had shown up somehow. Sam had never been one of those girls that dreamed of having kids, so they were both completely surprised at Sam's tone and manner with the child.
Luke held out the plate of rolls to Lily and smiled at her, "Try one honey, they are my favorite." Lily politely took a roll and took a bite of it, then placed it on her plate. She was too afraid to eat, even though she wanted to. Sam took her mother's hand in hers, "Mom, you have to see the clothes we bought this morning, for Lil. You can help us with them after lunch." Lily stared at their hands and looked up at Sam, smiling. "Come on honey, you have to eat so we can get some chores done this afternoon." Sam told her. With this information, Lily dug in and finished quickly, not wanting to miss helping Sam., she was always hungry nowadays.
Sam sent Lily upstairs with the rest of the bags and told her to sort everything and take the tags off. While she was gone, Sam explained things to her parents. "Honey, you have to call the Sheriff, she might be a run away." Robbie told her. "I don't think so, I think she told me the truth. I am going to call the Sheriff, I just wanted her to not be so afraid..." a tear slid down her cheek and Robbie hugged her tightly. "Sam, what are you thinking?" Robbie asked. Sam laughed, "I want to keep her." Robbie had thought this was what was going through Sam's mind. "Well, honey, I'm not sure how that would work." she said carefully. "Your dad needs to rest and a child running around would mean an awful lot of extra work."
Sam didn't respond to this at all. She sat down in the chair and looked at her dad. Finally Luke laughed, "I'm not dead Robbie! It might be nice to have another little girl around the house again." Sam reached out to her father, "Then you'll help me?"
"Sure we will honey, right Rob?" he answered. Robbie smiled, "We'll see." Sam was ecstatic, she knew that her mother was on board with those words. She looked up to see Lily peeking around the door and held out her arms to her. Lily came flying into them and held onto her tightly. She had changed into one of her new outfits, jeans and plaid shirt. She looked like a little Sam, blond hair and all. Robbie melted with this scene in front of her. "Guess you better call Tim."
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