Samantha's party was planned and we went all out for her. We hired a DJ, had a party tent pitched in the yard in case of rain, and invited our families, her friends and her teammates.
Because Mark wouldn't answer any of our questions - all asked through our lawyer, we'd had to order Samantha a new leg since she didn't know at which point she'd lost it. The company was fantastic though. They'd put a rush on it and we'd had it much faster than if it had been newly ordered. Though we'd had to have her stump recast.
Sam was more open about what she'd endured with her mother's brother than when her birth father had taken her.
She had told us that the first few days were okay, in terms of her physical health, and that somehow he'd managed to get a hold of insulin, but if she thought how much her birth father had made her ration her insulin when she had access to it at all times, this was ten times worse.
"But I wasn't really hungry much because I felt so sick all the time. Especially towards the end," she'd said
I wasn't surprised. With high blood sugar and not enough to eat, she would have felt dizzy and nauseated most of the time. Lethargic as well. She said for the last couple weeks, before she'd had the chance to get help, she felt heavy, tired and disconnected from herself.
"Things were happening, I don't know, around me. I really didn't feel like I was connected to myself or anything that was happening. It was like I was participating in life through a gauze screen or something."
I hated that she'd been through what she'd been through, but the way she had bounced back from the abduction, it was truly a statement to how much she had grown.
The night of Samantha's party, she was wearing her new leg, had dressed nicely in pants and a blouse and was engaged, happy, smiling. Real, true smiles that reached her eyes. I watched her with her guests and her friends.
A testament to the type of person Samantha was, the gift table was overloaded with gifts from our family and from her friends.
"Sam!" I heard Jill call out when she arrived with her parents and her brother Kyle.
"Jill!" She cried, making her way over to her friend. The two wrapped each other in a tight hug.
"I can't believe you're not going to be here for Senior Year!" Jill was saying to her. Sam looked sheepishly at her best friend. Jill and Sam had been close since Sam's first day of school all those years ago. They'd had only one big disagreement in their five years of friendship.
"I know. I wish I could be, but I need this," Sam said.
"I know. You're going to call me all the time though, right?"
"Dude!" Sam laughed. "Of course! Make sure your camera is working. I'm gonna be FaceTiming as much as I can! You have to keep me up to date on all the SCHS gossip!"
I smiled as I listened in.
All night, Samantha bounced from friend to friend to teammate to teammate. She was all smiles all night. It was so great to see.
Towards the end of the night, I saw Sam sitting alone on a pool lounger. Frowning, I went over to her and sat beside her.
"Hey there," I said, putting my arm around her. "Are you okay?"
She looked at me with tear filled eyes. Rubbing the tears away, she wrapped her arms around me.
"I feel like I made the wrong choice but I also feel like I really need this," she sniffled.
"Oh, baby," I said, tightening my arm around her. "I get that. It's completely up to you. If you want to stay home, that's okay."
"No. I need this. I need to go. Chris told me she saw Tristan the other day and he isn't remorseful at all. He's still bragging!"
I was furious. He'd spent less than six months in jail and the little shit was still bragging about what he did?! To him it was a game! To my daughter it was the loss of her last bit of innocence. I knew I would be calling Jake in the morning and asking if there was any recourse but I doubted anything would happen. He'd already served his time.
I held Sam as she sighed. I wasn't going to say anything to placate her. She needed to feel what she was feeling and I would be there for her if she needed or wanted to talk.
Over the course of the next hour or so, our guests started leaving. Samantha said goodbye to every one and hugged all of her friends. She was smiling again and I was happy to see that. I didn't want to influence her decision, but I kind of wanted her to stay home, too. With everything that had happened to her not having her home was going to be hard. I wouldn't know what was happening every day. I wouldn't know if her sugars were in control. I knew she was much better at it than she'd been when we first adopted her, and she had her pump and the CGM. Brendon and Sarah would keep on top of her for that, too. But I'm a mom. I'm her mom. I worry. I have since the night she landed in our backyard. She truly was my daughter starting that very first night.
But she was becoming a confident young woman and I had to let this young lady spread her wings and fly. She deserved it. Her birth father had tried to clip those wings and stop her from growing. But she'd managed to defy his plan and here she was, 18 years old, leaving the nest for the first time, knowing she had a place to come home to whenever she wanted.
As we were bringing the gifts inside after everyone had left, I put my arm around Samantha's shoulder.
"I am so, so proud of you," I said. "I don't think I tell you enough."
"You tell me all the time," she said, wrapping her arms around me. "But you can keep saying it. It makes up for when I didn't hear it."
I knew what she was referring to and I wasn't going to comment any further. But Samantha had a wistful look in her eyes.
"What's on your mind, Sam?" I asked her, as we headed upstairs. Junie had been in bed for hours. Rosie was in her father's arms, fast asleep. She'd refused to go to bed and wound up falling asleep on a lounge chair by the pool.
"Five years ago, I would never have imagined any of this. I don't think I'd still be here," she said.
"But you are. And you're becoming such an amazing young woman, Samantha. You're so resilient. You're so strong. You've weathered so much and you keep coming out stronger."
She blushed. I knew she didn't feel like she handled things well all the time, but given her past, she really did a great job. Better than she gave herself credit for.
Tyler came out of Rosie's room and joined us in Samantha's.
"Did you have a good night?" He asked, hugging her.
"I did. Thank you. So much. Really. I know I said I didn't want a party but I'm glad we did. It was a lot of fun. I'm going to miss everyone, but I know I need this."
Tyler and I smiled at her. He wrapped her in a hug.
"I know I said I won't influence your decision, so I won't. But you will be missed."
"Dad," Samantha said in a warning tone.
"I love that word," he said. "You made me a dad. You made your mom a mom. You made us a family. We couldn't be prouder of who you are and who you've become. With everything you've been through.
I want to be like you when I grow up."
Samantha laughed.
"Oh. Gee, Dad. Really? You want to be an 18 year old girl with a prosthetic leg and diabetes? Along with a host of mental health issues?"
"Well, I already have those, but maybe I don't want to be just like you when I grow up," he laughed.
"What am I gonna do about the scholarship?" Samantha said, sitting up.
"I'm not sure if you heard," Tyler smirked. "There's this brand new invention called cell phones and the internet. And email. You can send messages across time and space and get in touch almost instantly with anyone anywhere."
Samantha frowned at her father, but her eyes were sparkling.
"Very funny, Dad," she said.
"I thought so," Tyler said. Sam rolled her eyes. I smiled. Typical teenager.
"Your board will handle things and they can call us. They'll email you and keep you in the loop, too," I said. She nodded.
"Yeah. It'll be okay," she said, more to herself than us, but I knew it would weigh on her.
"Sweetheart, you have a very good board in place. They ran it just fine while you were in school, and they'll run it just fine while you finish school and when you're in college. It's going great and it will continue to go great," I said.
She nodded.
"I know. I just want it to be really great, you know? It's, just, you know me. It has to be great."
I smiled at her. Samantha was a bit of a perfectionist.
"Get some sleep," I said to her. "We can talk more in the morning. Sleep well, my amazing and wonderful daughter."
"Night, Mom. Night, Dad," she said, giving us hugs and lying back down. I tucked the covers around her and kissed her forehead.
"Good night, Sam. We love you."
"Love you two, too," she smiled. I smiled down at her, Tyler said good night and we went to our own room to get ready for bed.
"I sort of regret giving her the option of going to California," Tyler said. "But I know it'll be good for her. I know she needs it and I know she'll be okay. I know Brendon and Sarah will take good care of her. But I'm going to miss seeing her every day."
"I know. Me too. All of the above. But we can't hold her back. And she'd be going off to college next year anyway."
"I know," he said. "I'm not ready for that, either."
I smiled. She may have only come into our lives five years ago, but Samantha had been our daughter forever.
But we were going to encourage her to he her best self and live her best life. She deserved it and she needed it.
Just a few short days later, we were checking her in at the airport with her luggage and saying goodbye for a while. She was nervous and excited for this next chapter in her life.
She stayed outside the security area until she couldn't any longer. Sam gave Rosie and Junie tight, long hugs and then turned to us.
"Thanks so much. I'm gonna miss you a lot but thanks for letting me do this."
I hugged her tight.
"Be good. Listen to Sarah and Brendon. Call us when you land, well, when you get to their house anyway. I want to hear from you every day."
"I'll try," she smiled.
"I tried to hide in your suitcase," Tyler said. "But I didn't fit."
Sam laughed as she hugged her father.
"Thanks, Dad. I'll talk to you soon."
Rosie grabbed Sam's leg and hugged her again.
"You call and tell me bedtime stories, okay?"
"You bet little bug," Sam said, picking her sister up and kissing her cheek.
"Junie, you take care of Rosie and Mom and Dad, okay?" Sam said to her baby sister. Junie smiled and laughed.
"Bye bye, Sama!" She said.
"Well, someone is happy I'm leaving," Sam laughed.
She gave us all one more hug and kiss and turned to go through security.
We watched her walk away until the doors closed and we couldn't see her anymore.
The four of us turned around and went home.
I just hope this was the right decision.