Love Me for Me

Chapter Seventeen

SAM’S POV

Once I put my coat away I walked into the kitchen to help Diane with the dishes. “Did you work everything out with Jill?” she asked. I nodded and grabbed one of the newly cleaned plates.

“Yeah; she just needed to vent about how much Derrick hurt her. We had a small fight but nothing too serious.” She nodded and put some more soap on the sponge. “Did Derrick apologize to her?” Diane nodded, not looking up from the sink.

“Yes; he said sorry for saying all of those things to her and Jill apologized for making a big scene.”

"Wow, Jill never apologizes for anything."

"You'd think after all these years she wouldn't be so defensive and be thankful for what she has." I whispered to myself.

"She had a rough childhood, Sam." Diane said. "You need to give her a little leeway." I nodded and kept drying in silence. "She's has the worst story out of all of you." Diane said softly. I looked up and saw her stop washing the dishes. "Even the other kids who didn't stay here. I never thought someone could that to a little 7 year old girl. She was so innocent." I knew it hurt her to talk about that since her kids weren't even 10 yet when they died. "I'm just glad I got her instead of some other foster parent. They would never be able to understand what she went through." I smiled and put my hand on Diane's shoulder, calming her down. "Sorry, sorry." she said, picking up the sponge again. "I'm bringing the mood down. I'll just stop talking."

I laughed as she started  cleaning again. We stood there quietly before I said something. "I want to find Marissa and Kendra." I said softly.

"What'd you say, Sam? I couldn't hear you- you're mumbling."

I turned to face her. "I think we should find out where Marissa and Kendra are so they can be together again. Maybe that way Jill can see that she has her original family and still has us." Diane faked a smile, but shook her head.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but you don't realize how impossible it would be to track down her sisters. Plus, they're around your age so they both probably live on their own somewhere." I frowned and looked at the tiled floor, feeling defeated. "But I love that you wanted to do that for Jill. That's really nice of you." I looked up and smiled, feeling good about the compliment. “So Ben seems like a really nice guy.” Diane said, changing the subject. I nodded and shyly smiled.

“Yeah, he’s pretty nice.” I said, picking up a towel and starting to dry whatever she gave me. We said nothing for a minute until I whispered something to her. “I told him about us.” She looked up from the sink smiling.

“Oh really?” I nodded.“And how did he take the news?”

I shrugged, drying a huge pot. “He was actually really interested in all of it. He told me he realized how lucky he is to have his family- it was cool.” Diane nodded, smiling, and continued washing dishes.

“You know, I think he would be a very good addition to this fam-”

“Mom!” I said, cutting her off. “I’ve only known him for 2 months. What makes you think I’m gonna marry him?!”

She just laughed at me and said nothing. “I was only kidding, Sam. You’re too young to be getting married- especially with-”

I cut her off again. “I know, I know. You’ve said it a hundred times.” She shook her head and mumbled something to herself. “What?” I said staring at her.

“Oh nothing; it’s just that you’ve never reacted this way with any other guy you’ve known.” I looked down at the dishes and didn’t respond. “You really like this boy, don’t you?” she said looking at me, smirking.

I looked up at her and smiled. “I think it’s more than like.” I said, biting my lip. Diane made a face at me, trying not to laugh.

“Ooh, Sammie has a lover!” Derrick said sticking his head in the kitchen.

“Shut up, Derrick!” I said laughing, walking over to him and playfully smacking him with the towel.

“He still loves you even after you told him the truth? Wow, he really is a keeper.” And within a second I went from being happy to pissed that Derrick had to bring that up. I just stared at him, wanting to slap the shit out of him. “Look at that” he said, folding his arms. “Long pause, no answer. She hasn’t told him yet.”

I rolled my eyes and walked back over to the sink.“Is that true, Sam?” Diane asked me with a serious look on her face. “Does he know the truth, or have you not told him yet?” I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to answer it.

“I told you so! She’s too much of a coward to tell him the truth.” I gave him the death stare as I whipped the towel on the counter.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Diane said, standing between us. “Derrick, go to your room and finish your homework.” He rolled his eyes and turned around, walking down the hallway. Diane turned to face me. “And you, have you not told Ben the truth?” I looked at the ground and slowly shook my head. “Why not?” She asked, moving my hair out of my face.

“I don’t know.” I said, not looking her in the eye. “I just feel like if I tell him the truth he isn’t going to love me anymore.” I walked back over to the counter and picked up the towel, starting to dry things again. We both stood there in silence for a minute, not looking at each other. “What if he turns out to be like every other guy out there?” I said softly.

Diane looked up and saw me almost in tears.“Sam” she said hugging me. “if he feels the same way you do, he won’t be like every other guy.” She looked at me and wiped a tear off of my cheek. “Look, I can see in his eyes that he loves you and I know you love him. Now all you have to do is be honest with him and he’ll respect you for being honest. And if he doesn’t respect you” she looked around before whispering “dump his stupid ass.”

I smiled and laughed, hugging her as Ashleigh walked into the kitchen. “Mommy, the baby’s crying again.” Diane looked right at me, so I nodded my head and walked towards Ashleigh.

“I’ll go get her. Where is she, Ash?”

She grabbed my hand and started pulling me down the hallway. “In your room; let’s go- before Jill gets upset for making too much noise again.” I giggled as she dragged me down the hallway, forgetting about what happened in the kitchen moments before.