Chapter 2

Chapter II

“Here Comes Santa Claus, Here Comes Santa Claus right down Santa Claus lane.” They were about three hours into their five hour ride.  Alex had slept for the first two hours next to Diesel and had woken up in great spirits.  After stopping at Mcdonalds, Nico had found a holiday station and they had been singing ever since.

“Mom, do you think that grandpa really is gonna have dinner ready for s?”

“I don’t know, baby, why?”

“I don’t think I could eat another bite and I don’t want to be rude.”

“Oh sweetheart,” Sam turned around and looked at alex. “I wouldn’t worry about that.  He’s just gonna be so happy to see you!”

“Do you think so?”

“Of course sweetie! He’s so excited!  He got the downstairs ready just for us!’

“and Tante Leena and Uncle Jake are there?”

“ummhmm.’

“And Jenny, Amanda, and Sean?”

“Yes, your cousins are there too.”

“And we’re all gonna live together.”

“yes, my darling, is that okay? Remember we talked about this?  We’re all living at grandpa’s house until we find a place and Tante Leena and Uncle jake are waiting for their house to get fixed.”

“so that means nine of us in one house.”

“Whew.” Nico said under his breath.

“Yes,” Sam shot him a look. 

“I like it!” alex said suddenly. “It’s like teta’s Laura.”

That got Nico’s attention.  He looked at sam and then chuckled. “Oui, c’est vrai.” Nico was trilingual and so was Alex due to the fact that his dad was and also because of the school.  Sam was the only one in the family who wasn’t fluent in Arabic, French, though she did a pretty banging job with the English language.  She had studied Arabic in order to make conversation with her in laws, but she was pretty hopeless with French and Arabic.  Alex, of course, took to it flawlessly and he and his dad often had conversation which Sam understand every tenth word.

“See?” Sam said to both of them, meaning two totally different things.  She knew that Nico was not thrilled at the prospect of staying with her father.  In dubai they had owned a beautiful villa in the best part of town and the prospect of sharing a house with another family and her dad, just wasn’t high on the top of Nico’s list. But sam had convinced him to wait because it would’ve been too difficult to rent something from overseas.  And truthfully, she didn’t trust anyone one else to choose a place for her.  She had to see it herself.  As well, she had spent the last five christmas’s with Nico’s family and was looking forward to surrounding herself with her own.

Her sister was at her dad’s house and her brother lived down the road.  There were plenty of cousins for Alex to play with and she couldn’t wait to catch up with her siblings and their partners.

A short hour later, the three pulled down the private lane to sam’s dad’s house.  She sighed.  The house was at the end of a cul de sac and was a sight to behold.  The windows were light with range lights, the trees outside adorned with white lights and the driveway was filled with cars, a sight Sam always loved.  She jumped out of the car before Nico had even stopped and ran up to the front door.

“Merry Christmas!” She burst in and was greeted by her two nieces.

“Auntie Sam!” Jenny flung herself into Sam’s arms.

“Melly Sismas!” Amanda toddled over.  She was three.

Sam lifted her up and gave her a kiss.

“cold.” Amanda said and rubbed her cheek.

Woof! Diesel bounded in excited by all the commotion.

“You have a dog?” jenny patted him.

“doggy!” Amanda said and tried to climb on his back.

“Hi.” Alex stood in the doorway looking slightly unsure of himself.  He looked so different than towheaded cousins.  Olive complexioned, dark, curly hair and almond shaped eyes, he was a perfect combination of his Lebanese father and Filipino mother.

“Alex!” Jenny stood and gave him a huge hug.

“X!” Amanda copied her sister and hugged him too.

Alex looked surprised but then he busted out into a grin and hugged his cousin’s back. 

“Wanna see the tree?  I think there’s some stuff under there for you!”

Amanda tugged on his hand and the three of them went down the hallway just as Sam’s dad poked his head around the corner.

“Who’s that heating the outside?” he boomed.

“Dad!” Sam ran to her father and he enveloped her into a huge hug.

“Welcome home, Sam,” he kissed the top of her head.

“Merry Christmas, sir,” Nico said from behind Sam.

“Sir? Who’s sir?  I’ve told you a thousand times, Nico, it’s James.”

“Merry Christmas, James,” Nico said.

Sam and her dad both said, “Thanks!” and they laughed.  Having the same name had always been a point of pride for Samantha.  She loved that even though she had been adopted and was the youngest of all five kids in her family, no one else had her dad’s name.  Not even any of the boys, which had always been a mystery, but her mother had always said that they were saving the name for her.

            “Well, we should probably get all that stuff out of the car,” Nico said.

            Sam looked at her husband and she could see that he was exhausted.  She went over and hugged him. 

            “Baby, you’ve done such a phenomenal job today, thank you so much for bringing me home.”

            Nico brightened and hugged Sam close.  “I’m so glad you’re happy.” He held her tight.  Things had been so strained, it was a huge deal for Nico that Sam looked so happy here with her family.

            “Why don’t we call the boys and get you guys unpacked?” Dad asked.

            “yes, dad, that would be brilliant.  We are exhausted.”

            “Done.  Why don’t you two go take a load off?  Fires on and we’re gonna order your favorite tonight! We’ve been waiting.”

            “what? Naru?” Sam smiled, she got a little obsessive about food, a trait she shared with her dad.

            “Of course!” he laughed. 

            At that Alex looked over at her.  He had supersonic hearing.

            She smiled at him and then said, ‘dad, why don’t we order in, that way, we can eat whatever we want and have leftover.  Besides, we can’t really eat there anyway.”

            “Sounds great.  I’m going to call your brother.  He was planning to stop by to say hi, but I’ll see if he can come over now to get your stuff downstairs. Your sister and Jake should be home soon.”  Sam looked at his watch and then reached for his phone.  “You two go relax and I’ll take care of everything.

            “thanks dad, sam said gratefully.  She took Nico’s hand and joined the kids in the TV room.