Running on Insulin

Chapter 55

Tyler's POV

"WHAT?!" Josh exploded. "You're taking her to see that scumbag?! Tyler! You can't do that! You have to think of how that'll affect Samantha. Ty, it could kill her."

"We don't have a choice. If we don't bring her up there, he'll contest the adoption and tie us up in court. Maybe for years. Samantha will never be rid of him if we don't. I don't want to, but what choice have we got?"

Josh looked at me with a mix of rage and pity. He sighed.

"I guess you're right. This sucks. For Samantha. But hey, did the adoption get finalized at least? Is she your kid now?"

"Yeah. He signed the certificate and she's legally our daughter. I should be happier about this, but with this visit coming up," I sighed. "I don't know."

"I bet. Look, the visit is like, the last hurdle and even more a formality than this was, right?  So let me plan something for the weekend."

"Josh, I can't think past five minutes from now. Do what you want. I'm going to check on Samantha," I left him and went upstairs.

Jenna was already in Samantha's room, sitting on her bed and rubbing her back while Samantha cried. Jenna was trying to soothe her and convince her everything was going to be fine. I walked in the room and pulled Samantha's desk chair up to the side of her bed.

"Hey, kiddo," I said, putting my hand on her head. She turned to face me, her face red, her cheeks tear stained.

"Do I really have to go see him?  I don't want to. He's going to do something. I know it."

"We don't have a choice, sweetheart," I said. "If we don't take you up to visit, he'll contest the adoption and tie us up in courts for years. Maybe until you're an adult.  He'll always be hanging over us if we don't. Believe me, I don't want to go either."

Samantha lay on her stomach listening to me, letting Jenna rub her back, and sniffling.

"I really don't have a choice?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, sweetie.  No. But we're going to be there. And Marie will be there. And there will be a pane of glass between you and him. He won't be able to touch you. And even if he could, I wouldn't let him. Because you're my daughter now. And I'll protect you to the death. Like a knight in shining armour," I smiled. Samantha smiled a little, too.

"I'm really your daughter?" She asked. "Like really, legally, I could change my last name and everything?"

"Legally and everything. And if you want to change your last name, you can," I wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

"Is Josh mad?" She asked suddenly. "I heard him yelling at you."

"He's not mad at me. He's mad about us having to go up to the prison. But he's not mad at us."

"Oh. Okay. He sounded super mad," Samantha said.

"He is. But not at you," I assured her.

We sat there for a few more minutes while Jenna rubbed Samantha's back and I held her hand. She was still visibly upset, but seemed resigned to the prospect of visiting her dad, her former dad, one last time.

"So, we should have some lunch," I said. "And I know someone whose blood sugar might be going low because they've been upset," I said.

"Do you want to go out for lunch, sweetie?" Jenna asked. "Or stay home?"

Samantha thought.

"Stay home, if that's okay," she said.

"Of course, honey. We'll celebrate once this is all over, okay?"

Samantha nodded.

We went downstairs and Sam checked her blood sugar while Jenna made some tuna sandwiches. Samantha's blood sugar was a little low, but nothing concerning. She doses accordingly, and without hesitation. It was nice to see.

"Should we go out for dinner. Like a pre-celebration to celebrate the good things that did happen today?"

Jenna smiled.

"That sounds nice. What do you think, Sam?"

Samantha sighed and shrugged.

"I want to celebrate but I also want to stay in. But yeah, sure. Let's celebrate that at least he's not my dad anymore," she said.

We finished lunch and Josh came upstairs.

"Hello, Josephs," he smiled. "That sounds nice. How are you doing, Sam?" He asked giving her a hug.

Sam shrugged and sighed again.

"I'm okay I guess," she said.

"Sam is in the mood to at least celebrate her new family situation tonight," Jenna said.

"Sweet!" Josh said. "Dinner is on me. You guys decide where you want to go."

The four of us went into the family room and turned on the TV. Samantha's phone rang and she checked the display.

"It's Jill," she said, getting up and going into the kitchen.

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Samantha's POV

"Hey, Jill," I said as I answered the phone.

"So? Tell me. How did it go?" She said excitedly.

"It could have gone a lot better," I said.

"Why? What happened? Did you not get the certificate signed?"

"No. We did. The Josephs are my parents legally now. But Stanley sent a lawyer and the lawyer says he wants me to visit him in prison to 'say goodbye'," I explained, emphasizing the air quotes.

"Oh," Jill said quietly. "Shit. That doesn't sound... that bad."

"You'd think. But Jill, I've told you what he's like. This is another one of his games. I'm afraid of what he's going to do or say."

"Have you told Jenna and Tyler?" She asked.

"Yeah. They know I'm scared. The judge insisted that they and my social worker have to come with."

"When do you have to go?" she asked.

"Thursday. Seriously, I'm considering just taking off. This isn't worth what he could do from prison," I said quietly, hoping the Josephs or Josh couldn't hear me.

"Don't do that," Jill said. "Where would you go?"

"Living on the street would be better than living with him over my head."

"But, once you go see him, aren't you done?"

"I don't know," I said. "He says he wants to say goodbye, but I know that's not what he wants."

"You can't know that for certain. And you have Jenna and Tyler. And Josh."

"Josh doesn't live here. He'll be going back to California eventually."

"Please don't make any decisions that you might regret. Please don't run away. Maybe he really does just want to say goodbye," Jill said.

I sighed.

"I wish I could trust him that much," I said. "But I don't. But I promise. I won't take off yet."

We talked a little longer, Jill told me what I'd missed at school today and then I hung up.

I went back into the living room and saw Josh settling back in his seat. I hoped he hadn't been eavesdropping.

"I'm going to go to my room for a while," I said. "Jill told me what we have for homework so I'm going to get started on it."

"Okay sweetheart," Jenna said. "We'll discuss dinner in a little while, okay?"

I nodded and went upstairs.