Chapter 68

As soon as we got home, I wanted to find Josh. Jenna came out of the kitchen before I had taken off my coat.

"How did it go?" She asked, looking between Samantha and I, and at the bag from the pharmacy.

"All in all," I said, coming up to Samantha and putting my arm around her thin shoulders. "I would say it went very well. What about you, kiddo?"

Samantha shrugged.

"I'm messed up worse than we thought," she said.

"How so?" Jenna asked, sceptically and looking at me. I shook my head.

"I have depression and PTSD. I'm a mess," she said.

"Oh honey," Jenna said. "You have been through so much. I'd be shocked if you didn't have some effects thanks to all that. But depression and PTSD? That's not something to be ashamed of. And you know we're going to be here for you every step of the way."

Samantha shrugged again.

"Anything else?" Jenna asked.

"Well," I said beaming. "You know how we've both said this is one smart kid?"

"Yeah," Jenna said.

"Well, she's practically off the charts smart. She's reading and writing at a university level. Her reasoning and vocabulary skills are those of someone twice her age. And the reason she has trouble - though you can barely call it that - with math is because she approaches it naturally from a different angle. She gets the right answer but in a more efficient manner than they're teaching her at school."

"Well, that's something to celebrate!" Jenna said. Samantha smiled slightly.

"Have you seen Josh?" I asked Jenna.

"He's downstairs. He's party planning," Jenna laughed. Samantha got a panicked look on her face.

"I'm going to talk to him now," I reassured her.

Jenna took Samantha into the kitchen to get a snack and I went downstairs to talk to Josh.

I found him sitting at my desk on a Zoom call with Brendon, Zack, Gerard, Patrick and Pete.

"Hey!! There's the new Papa!" Brendon said cheerfully.

"How's it going, man?" Pete asked.

"Not too bad. Happy coincidence you're all on a call with Josh. I kinda need to talk to you guys about this weekend."

"You're not cancelling my hard-worked plans, are you?" Josh asked.

"Oh. No. No. Not at all. We're looking forward to it. I just have a favour to ask all of you," I said.

"Shoot," Patrick said.

"Well, Samantha has some ... issues. She's really nervous around new people. So, I don't know what time Josh called this for, but would you all mind staggering your arrivals by about a half hour? To give her some time to meet you and talk to you? Having all of you descend on the house at once might make her stress," I said.

"That's no problem," Zack said. "Except Kala and I are travelling with B and Sarah. We kinda have to come together."

"That's fine. I just think having all of you all show up at one time might not be great for her. Mentally."

"Loud and clear, my dude," Pete said.

"Thanks guys. You're really gonna love her. But please be gentle. She's a really sensitive kid. Smart. Practically a genius, but she's had a really shitty past."

"Josh filled us in a little," Gerard said. "That's messed up. How's she doing now?"

"She's getting better. A month ago she wouldn't have had the courage to tell me that a lot of people make her nervous at first. Today she was able to tell me that. So we're making progress."

"You and Jenna are saints," Zack said. "She's gonna be okay with you two as her parents."

"We have a lot of work ahead of us to undo what's been done. But we're making strides.

Anyway, I'm going to go see what she and Jenna are up to, see if she has any homework for tomorrow. I'll see you guys on Saturday?"

"You bet!" They said. I left the room.

Jenna and Samantha were sitting in the kitchen talking. Every once in a while, Samantha would wince.

"Sam," I said. "Are you okay? Are your ribs bothering you?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to take those pain pills. It's okay. They're not too bad now."

"Do you want something?" I asked.

"Those pain pills knock me out. I'll be okay." She said.

"Honey, you don't have to take those pills. Let me get you an Advil or something. You don't have to be in such discomfort."

"Okay," she said. I found a bottle of Advil in the cabinet and handed her a couple.

"Take those. It'll help. Do you have any homework for tomorrow?"

"Some math. That's about it." She said. "I'll do it before bed."

"Okay," I said.

"I was thinking we could order in again. Maybe Chinese food?" Jenna said. "To celebrate?"

"Sure," I said. "Sam?"

"Whatever you guys want," she said.

"Well, you get an opinion. Do you want Chinese food? Burgers? Pizza?"

"Can we get... no. Chinese is fine," she said.

"If you don't want Chinese food, that's okay sweetheart," Jenna said. "Remember, in this house, everyone has a voice."

Just then we heard Josh laugh loudly from downstairs.

"See?" Jenna smiled.

"Um. Can, can we get burgers? And fries?" Samantha asked.

"Sure!" I said. "Milkshakes?"

"Uh, too much sugar. A diet drink is fine," Samantha said.

"Can you have milkshakes with sugar free ice cream?" Jenna asked.

"Technically. But sugar free ice cream is pretty gross."

"Okay. Burgers, fries and diet pop for you, regular for me and milkshakes for anyone who wants," I said, texting Josh and asking him what kind of burger he wanted. I would order from a diner not too far from us.

"What do you want on your burger?" I asked Sam.

"Ketchup, mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato and pickle?"

"Okay. Sounds good enough to eat," I said.

Josh texted me back his order and Jenna and I figured out what we wanted. I phoned in the order and headed out to the diner  to pick it up.