Interested green eyes looked over at the driver. “What… just run off and not tell anyone?” Sam smiled as she whispered softly, “So… where were you thinking of taking me?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Let’s go up to New England or something. We could hide out in a room with it all cold and snowy outside, lay in front of a fireplace at a bed and breakfast somewhere. What do you say?”

“Hmmm… sounds very romantic to me. Do you think we could start that tonight… at least in our minds? I happen to know of a very special container of Hershey’s syrup with your name written all over it. Well… at least I bet I could write your name with it.” Sam slid closer to Brooke as they neared the house.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Sam.”

“Well then, I say ‘yes’. What other answer could I give you tonight but ‘yes’?” Sam practically lost her train of thought as they parked the truck in front of the house and leaned into a kiss that became very passionate to both women. After a long enticing moment, Sam pulled away for air when she noticed the shadow of someone standing on the porch. “Brooke, someone’s on the porch. Are you expecting anyone?”

Brooke furrowed her brows as she shut off the ignition. “No, I’m not. Stay here in the truck and lock the doors.”

Sam could tell by the look of determination on Brooke’s face that there would be no argument. “Okay. But if it’s James, you get right back in here.”

Brooke nodded her head in agreement as she stepped out of the truck and made her way, cautiously, towards the porch. Even with the porch light on, she couldn’t tell who the person was standing in the shadows cast by the columns on the porch. “Can I help you?”

“Brooke? Is my sister with you?” a small voice asked, shaking slightly from the cold.

“Sarah?” Brooke asked in disbelief.

“Yeah… it’s me. I need my sister.”

“Sam,” Brooke called out over her shoulder. “You’d better get out of the truck and come here.” Kicking the duffel bag at Sarah’s feet as she tried to get closer, Brooke took off her jacket and wrapped it around the teen’s shoulders.

Sam got out and walked slowly up to the porch, her eyes growing in surprise upon seeing her sister. The blonde threw open her arms and took the smaller body into them in a hug, then quickly pulled back. “Sarah? What the…”

Sarah simply shrugged her shoulders. “I… uh… need a place to crash for a while. You see, I kind of ran away from home.”

Brooke and Sam looked back and forth to each other and then to Sarah. The young girl broke the deafening silence with three small words. “Happy New Year?” she said with a tentative smile as she held up the business card that Brooke had given her father.

Chapter 24 I Knew I Loved You Part I

“… Love’s more than a four-letter word… it’s everything that they say is real…”



Letting her feet steal silently down the hall to the bedroom that she now shared with her lover, Sam thought about the conversation that she’d just had with her sister Sarah. The small exchange that was spoken now weighed heavily on her mind. God, what if Sarah’s right?

The conversation quickly passed through Sam’s mind as she tried to analyze it for all that it was worth.

“You know Mom’s gonna have a bird when she finds out you’re getting married,” Sarah said confidently. “She’ll have a whole flock if you get pregnant.”

Sam remembered the weird face that Sarah made when she saw Sam’s own shocked face, and then asked in her child’s voice. “Mom couldn’t do anything… could she?”

“Could she?” Sam muttered, wondering the same as her sister, only this time, under her breath as she turned into the doorway of the master bedroom.

The blonde paused there for a moment and gazed at the dozing form on the bed with a recent issue of Modern Drummer draped across her chest. A smile spread from one side of her face to the other as Sam remembered how Brooke had tried to make Sarah feel at home when they had found her on their porch. “God, I knew I loved you… even before I met you,” Sam whispered as she remembered hearing part of their conversation.

“So are you mad at me… for crashing in on your New Years?” Sarah’s voice was monotone, almost as if she were waiting for a scolding.

“No, why would you think that?” Brooke’s concern showed through. “Worried, yes. Angry, no.” The tone of her voice was encouraging to say the least.

“I don’t know. I thought that maybe you and Sam…” Sarah paused, taking in a breath. “Well… maybe you wouldn’t want anyone around.”

The deep timber of Brooke’s voice brought a smile to Sam’s face as she remembered it. “Uh… it’s okay, Sarah. We need to worry about you now. What were you doing on the porch? How did you get here?”

“I… I ran away.” Sarah started hesitantly. “I hitched a ride after I told my parents that I was staying with a friend.”

“Ran away?” Brooke paused for only a second before dropping the question altogether. “Well, you’re here and safe. Right now, I’d say that’s all that matters. How about I get the fireplace going and we start getting you warmed up on the outside while Sam’s making you that cup of tea?”

“Yeah,” Sarah responded, sounding amazed. “You know something, Brooke? I wish I had you for a parent.”

“I’ll remember to tell Chastity you said that,” Brooke smirked.

“Chastity?” Sarah paused for a moment and looked around the room. “I don’t see any kid’s stuff.”

The look on her sister’s face was a mixture of both joy and shock all at the same time as Sam remembered entering the living room with the cup of hot tea.

“Sam… are you…”

Frozen in time, Sam’s mind brought back Sarah’s words from moments earlier. “You know, Mom’s gonna have a bird when she finds out you’re getting married. She’ll have a whole flock if you get pregnant.” The words spun round and round in her head like some cheap sound byte in a horror movie.

Sam acted on her sudden need to be close to the woman that she loved as she crossed the room. Crawling into the bed with the woman seemed like a good idea. As she tried to get the thoughts out of her head, Sam laid there, staring up at the ceiling.

“Brooke…” the soft voice called out. Sam turned her head to see the dark-haired woman next to her still asleep. The blonde bit her lip tentatively. Finally, deciding that her need for comfort was legitimate, Sam gave her slumbering lover a gentle nudge and called her name again. “Brooke.”

“Hmm…” the sleepy murmuring slowly started as Brooke began to stir. “Hey, Baby…” the half-asleep woman uttered as she tossed the magazine to the floor and then curled herself around Sam’s body.

“Hey… are you sure you want to have a family?” Sam stared up at the ceiling as she waited for the answer.

“Hmm…What?” Brooke settled in wrapping a strong arm around Sam’s waist.

“Family…” the blonde looked over at her lover. “You really want one, don’t you?”

“I already have you…” she tightened her hold on Sam, “…and Mario.” Brooke chuckled as she felt the dog jump up on the foot of the bed and curl up around their feet.

“Yeah, I know, but I was talking more like the pitter-patter of little feet and I don’t mean of the four-legged kind.” Sam gave a weak smile as she looked down to the ball of fur on the bed. “Good dog, Mario.”

“I would love for you and I to have our own family… I mean if that’s what we both want. Why do you ask?”

There was nothing but silence as Sam held back her thoughts.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Brooke said, still half asleep. “Have you been thinking more about it?”

“I don’t know… I just have this God awful feeling that she’ll try to do something to get to any child that I have.”

“Who?”

“My mother, who else?” Sam smirked.

“Sam…” Brooke sat up in bed and pulled her lover into her arms. “You know that I would never let her harm you or our child, don’t you?”

The young woman swallowed hard. “I know that. I’m just being foolish, I guess.”

“Never, Darlin’.” Brooke kissed blonde hair as she nuzzled into Sam’s head. “Besides, you can have my baby,” Brooke smirked. “That way she really would have no say in it at all.”

“Your baby?” Sam looked up into Brooke’s face. “Now that would really put her in a tizzy for sure,” the young woman chuckled.

“Yep, you can have my baby, then Randi and Terri wouldn’t think you were being left out of having a…” Brooke used her fingers to make quotation marks in the air, “…Gordon baby.”

“Well, you’re a little lacking in that specialty equipment but if you say so…” Sam trailed off in a chuckle, then reached up to give Brooke a quick kiss. “Let’s sleep on that thought, okay?”

“What thought?” Brooke grinned. “You having my baby? You know, she’d really be a part of both of us then.”

“Sure, what else would I be dreaming of?”

Brooke let her gaze drift around the room. “Oh, I dunno… a wedding maybe?” Brooke leaned in and kissed Sam behind her ear, then whispered, “I can’t believe you’re going to marry me.”

The young woman looked down at the ring on her finger and smiled. “Yeah, and without a second thought too. I’d marry you right now if you wanted me to, Hon.”

“You know what?” Brooke cleared her throat as she drew lazy circles on Sam’s leg. “I was thinking… I kind of have a surprise for you.” The dark-haired woman wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

“Brooke!” Sam reached over and gave her lover’s wandering hand a little tap. “Sarah is right down the hall.”

Pulling her hand back, Brooke continued. “I made us reservations for that ski trip we were talking about.”