Different Forms of Happiness

Part 13

Chapter 12 - Sam

Burrowing deeper into the warmth by her side, Sam let out a sigh.  There was something about waking up with a person beside her that she loved.  It may have been the fact that she was used to sharing her bed growing up.  There was always some child her mother would take in, leaving her and her sister sleeping in the same queen bed as one another.  It had never bothered Sam; if anything, she worked with children so much because of who her mother was.  Growing up with such a kind, loving woman, it was hard for Sam not to help people.

He threw his arm over her, pulling her closer.  Not opened her eyes, she let out a sigh.  "What time is it?"

"Nine in the morning," a voice answered. 

She froze, her eyes snapping open.  Without turning in his direction, she looked down at his arm.  "You're not Max."

"Nope," he said, in such a happy way that she immediately knew who it was. 

Pushing his arm off her, she turned towards Graham with a glare, which quickly turned into a frown.  "Aren't you going to have an allergic reaction?"

"Nope," another voice answered, making her jump while looking at the foot of her bed.  Scott sat there, a large smile on his face as he looked at her toes.  Flushing, she tucked the sheet over them while making a promise to kill Max as soon as she could.  The man had let them in her room when she looked like this.  Her hair was a mess, her breath was most likely horrid, and worse, she was wearing her old, ratty nightgown that she didn't have the heart to give away. 

"What are the two of you doing?" she groaned, flopping back on her pillow.

Scott ignored her question as he kept talking. "Hurry, get up.  We have something we want to show you."

Graham slung a leg over her, straddling her stomach.  "Please come look?  Please, Sammy?"

His eyes widened, his lip popped out in a pleading way.  She turned her face away.  The man had a great puppy-dog face, an amazing puppy-dog face.  Too bad, she dealt with them all day every day.  Still, if she had to admit it to herself, the man's worked better than many of the children's.  "Get out, and I'll get ready."

His hand smoothed across her chin as he turned her face back to his.  The look on his face was genuinely confused as he glanced down at her.  "What's wrong with how you are now?"

"I'm a mess."

"A hot mess," Scott said, laughing at his own joke.

Both of them turned toward him, Sam with a glare, Graham with a smile.  Turning back towards Sam, Graham held his hands right above her side.  "Say you'll come look."

She shook her head, and his hands inched down.  "Say it."

Her head shook once more, and his hands descended.  She screamed, wiggling under him as he tickled her.  Scott and Graham laughed at her attempt to evade him.  But soon, she wasn't the only one yelling.  Graham rolled off her, swiping at his face as he let out a girlish scream. "Get it off me," he yelled.

Looking over at him, she snapped a hand over her mouth as he tried swiping at the animal rubbing against him.  Reaching over, she grabbed the kitten, cuddling it to her chest.  "He's just a baby."

"He just looks like a rat," Graham mumbled from beside her before turning his eyes towards Scott.  "Go show her what we did while I wait here."  He motioned towards the door, while whispering something about animals.

Smiling, Sam jumped from her bed before placing the kitten on the ground.  This was one of the animals that would be leaving her soon, given to a family who would take care of him.  Dropping the kitten on Graham's stomach, she let out a laugh as he froze before looking down at the animal with wide eyes.  She ran out of the room with a laugh.

Scott smiled at her as he grabbed her hand and pulled her from the room. "Come on.  Graham didn't get to help, but he's really excited about it."

He pulled her from her room and into the living room.  Max sat there, his shirt off and a pair of sweat pants.  When they came into the room, his eyes turned towards them before looking back to the TV.  Something must have caught his attention because he turned back towards them, his eyes narrowed slightly.  Immediately, Scott dropped her hand, his going up to rub the back of his neck as his face flushed red. 

"This way," he mumbled, walking towards the guest room.

She shook her head before he went towards the door.  "That room never opens.  It was painted shut or something, and the key that they gave me doesn't..." she trailed off as he opened the door, a large smile on his face. 

As he motioned towards the room, she took a step in, stopping in her tracks when she noticed the iguana sitting in its tank across the room.  Scott turned towards her with excitement.  "We set him up in here.  The door is vacuum-sealed, meaning that any skin or whatever won't get into the rest of the house.  Don't worry though; he won't suffocate.  I had an air system installed."

"She," Sam whispered, trying to take it all in.

"What? Oh, the iguana is a girl?  Well, she won't suffocate."

He stared at her, before worrying his bottom lip. "Did we go too far?  I know we just met, Sam, but I hope to be in your life forever and so does Graham.  If we went too far, I can—"

She interrupted his words by flinging into him, her arms wrapped tight around him.  "Thank you," she said with a smile.  "I want you two to be my friends.  It'll be nice having more than Max and the children."

Pulling back, she saw an unknown emotion flick through his eyes before he smiled.  "Don't forget the animals."

She pushed passed him, walking towards where Max was, exited to tell him what Graham and Scott had done.  "I'll never forget my animals," she said over her shoulder.  She didn't tell the man that she planned to give the iguana back to the animal shelter as soon as they were ready for it.  Keeping that bit of information to herself seemed like a good idea, especially with the proud smile he had given her when he presented the room. 

Flopping down next to Max, she leaned into his side.  His arm automatically rose, wrapping around her shoulder.  "You like your surprise?" he asked, humor in his voice.

She leaned up, whispering in his ear, "Do they know I'm keeping the animals for the shelter until they finish getting it bombed for ants?"

"No," he whispered back, "and babe, I think keeping that to yourself for as long as you can is a good idea."

"Agreed," she mumbled, looking towards the TV.  As Graham walked into the room and sat to her left, it seemed natural that Scott took the other seat in the living room.  She was being honest earlier; she really hoped that these two men would stay in her life for a long while to come.  Now that she had them around, she didn't know what she would do without them.