“Hey, I found it in the closet earlier.” Brooke tugged at her outfit. “I happen to know that I was wearing this outfit in that one photograph that you still have on your wall.”

“So, that’s why it looks so familiar. And I thought it was from rooting around in your closet for something to wear.” Sam laughed.

“You don’t like leather?”

“I didn’t say that. Not at all.” She reached around and hugged the woman. “I love it, Babe.”

“Come on,” Brooke pulled back from the hug after giving Sam a brief kiss. “What do you say we go get those two and do something about dinner?”

Nodding her head, Sam agreed. “That might be a good idea. That leather is just too intriguing.” The blonde ran her hand over the leather pants and wiggled her eyebrows seductively. She looked into Brooke’s eyes, noticing a lone arched eyebrow and began to blush. “You know what I mean.”

“Uh-huh. I do.” She turned the blonde around and scooted her inside. “Hey, Petey, you ready for dinner?”

“Yeah,” he turned toward her as he stood up holding his hand out for Crystal to take. “Hey, you’re not forgetting to get the dog in, are you?”

“Oh, yeah,” Brooke feigned forgetfulness. “Sam can you let him in through the patio door? He’s in the side yard.”

“Why don’t we all just head out that way? It’s going to save us some time.” Sam pointed out.

“Okay,” Brooke looked back to Peter and motioned with her head. “Let’s go.”

Peter helped Crystal up from the couch and they followed Sam’s lead as she made her way toward the back end of the house.

“Ah…Listen. He knows I’m here.” Sam could hear the whimpers of the dog and quickened her steps to get to Mario. “Where’s my buddy?” She turned the corner and the sound of people yelling startled her.

“SURPRISE!”

The blonde stopped short and gasped for air. “What? Who? C.C., Brooke.” She called out not knowing which one to blame as the group was singing a rousing rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. Too embarrassed, Sam shook her head and hid her face in her hands, sneaking an occasional look at Brooke as she surveyed the room.

Brooke watched as Sam reacted to the surprise, pleased that she was able to pull it off.

Sam turned and whispered, “You did say ‘not at the restaurant’, didn’t you?”

The tall woman leaned into her and whispered back, “Yep…I love you.”

Sam got a very pleased look on her face as the song was coming to an end. This has to be the best birthday of all. “Crystal, did you know about this?”

“Not me.” Crystal shook her head looking innocent.

Amid the cheers and well wishes at the end of the song, C.C. walked over to Sam. “Happy Birthday there, Ms. twenty-one year old roomie.”

Sam reached out and hugged her friend. “God, C.C., I love you. You’re the best roomie a girl could want.”

C.C. whispered in her ear, “Yeah, what are in-laws for, right?” She stole a glance at Brooke, then amended her words, “Well, almost. Happy Birthday, Sam.” She moved back from the blonde but continued talking. “Come on. Mom made dinner and Dad made dessert.”

“Thanks, everyone. I never expected all of this.” Sam looked around the room with tears in her eyes, overwhelmed by the outpouring of love she was witnessing. “I really feel like I’m at home here with you guys. Thanks.”

Mable walked over to Sam and gave her a hug. “You are home, Dear. Happy Birthday.”

Sam tightened her grip on the woman, then released it saying, “Thanks, for everything.” The blonde glanced at Brooke then back to Mable. “I feel very at home here and it’s all because of you.”

“You’re welcome, Sweetheart.” She smiled and moved back toward the kitchen.

Brooke stood by the door watching her mother and Sam, smiling the whole time as she waited for Sam to make her way over to her.

“Now I know where you get that endearment from.”

“Which one…Sweetheart?”

“Yep, that’s the one.” Sam nodded her head, not seeing Mable come out of the kitchen, pausing momentarily as she walked by.

“She gets that one from me and the ‘Darlin’ from Henry.” Mable commented as she passed by.

“Well, I like them both and she uses them equally as well.” Sam called after her.

“Okay, everyone. The buffet line starts in the kitchen so don’t be shy.” After this announcement, Mable turned and took her place behind her husband in the line for food.

Brooke stayed still watching the crowd shift to the other room and grabbed Sam’s arm before she could follow them.

“Yes?” Sam gave her a puzzled look.

“Surprised?”

Sam looked around to see if anyone was looking at them, then got up on her toes and stole a kiss from the tall woman. “Very surprised.”

Brooke chuckled at her antics. “You ain’t seen anything yet.” She winked at the blonde, “Come on, let’s eat.”

Blonde brows furrowed for a second or two, and then Sam grinned boldly. “Guess I’m just going to have to wait and see what comes next, huh?”

The tall woman let her one eyebrow arch in challenge to the younger woman. “Guess so.”

With the dinner done and the dishes of leftover food just about all put away, Henry ventured over to Brooke and put a glass of beer in her hand. “You’re up, kid.” He winked and motioned in toast fashion with his own glass of suds.

Brooke started to protest as she accepted the glass.

“Let’s go, Brooke. We don’t have all night.” He teased her.

“Ah…you know how I hate to be put on the spot… but I seem to be doing these quite a lot.”

C.C. overheard Brooke’s protest and eagerly sought to help her sister out. “Hey, I’m twenty-one now. You want me to give it?” She jumped up ready to start, but was quickly pushed back down by Randi and Terri.

Brooke took a few steps to the center of the room and nodded in C.C.’s direction. “A sharp tongue this one has for someone who’s too big for her britches…But then again, so do the rest of you…uhm…ladies.”

“There you go, C.C. That will teach you,” Terri interjected.

“Teach her what, Terri?” Randi commented, “You know she’s hopeless.”

Brooke cleared her throat in an effort to regain control. “Excuse me. I’m trying to do my toast.”

Terri looked over at Randi and made a face causing the lawyer to roll her eyes as she sipped from her drink.

“God, no wonder you’re a pediatrician. You get down on their level, don’t you?” Randi threw her comment out just as Brooke was about to start again.

Mable glared at her daughters, then urged Brooke on. “Please continue.”

“The newest addition is no longer a child… But a twenty-one year old woman gone wild.” She winked at Sam and then continued. “I’m glad we could share with her this monumental day and welcome her, from our hearts, to stay. In such a short time she’s come to mean quite a bit…”

“Hey, Sam. You going somewhere that we don’t know about?” Terri asked.

“Ah…no. I don’t think so.”

“Hell we’ve got to keep her. Look at who she rooms with.” Randi yelled out as she heckled her youngest sister, pointing at her.

“Hey, I’m a good roomie. Just ask her. Right, Sam?”

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and nodded, never taking her eyes off of Brooke as she walked over to Sam and presented her with a single red rose.

“A rose by another name could never be as sweet, as her name on the wind, sure to make some lucky heart beat.”

Sam took the rose and found that at the same time, she was also holding her breath, waiting to hear the rest. A shy smile came to her face knowing that it was Brooke’s own heart that she was talking about.

Seeing the reaction on Sam’s face pleased Brooke to no end and she smiled warmly as she motioned to the rest of the family and she started back up with her toast. “Please accept this night as just a small token… Of our friendship, our love and deepest devotion.” She hesitated when she saw the tear roll down Sam’s cheek, but forced herself to continue on. “May your twenty-first birthday be more memorable than all the rest.”

Brooke reached out and wiped the tear from Sam’s cheek with her thumb and then smiled. “As I’m sure patience will be put to the test, of how much you can stand and how much you can take, of this birthday pastry C.C. attempted to bake.”

Sam giggled and glanced over to her roommate just in time to see the angered woman shoot the finger at Brooke as she muttered under her breath. “You wait, Brooke. I’ll remember this.”

Laughing it off, Brooke turned back to Sam and continued, “All kidding aside, we all mean well and hopefully after tonight you can tell…”

Sam looked around the room, then centered her full attention back on Brooke.

“How deeply you’ve affected the lives in this room. We’d steal the sunrise or lasso the moon to keep you smiling and keep you here to stay.” Brooke could see that Sam was trying to restrain herself from showing all the emotions that she was feeling. The fact that she was biting at her lip and sitting on her hands only confirmed her lover’s desire to be doing something else with them and she found herself getting a little warm at the thought. “Welcome to the family and Happy Birthday.” Whew! I made it.

Sam reluctantly tore her eyes off Brooke and took in the rest of the room. “You guys are the greatest. I…I don’t know what else to say but thank you.” She turned back to Brooke who was standing in front of her. “And especially you, for that wonderful toast.” The blonde wiped the tears away from her cheeks using both hands as she felt the warmth of a blush start up her neck.

The tall woman shook her head and waved off Sam’s words, “Ehh…It was nothing.” She held out her arms and embraced the small woman. “Happy Birthday, Kiddo.” Then she quietly whispered in her ear, “I love you, so much.”