Page 31 of Fighting the Odds

We all know he gave up a lot to come here. Zander and I liked to play sports, but never played for the school team like Colton did. He worked hard to get the captain’s position at our old school, just to give it up to come here.

“Let’s go. We don’t want the pizza to get cold or the ice cream to melt. And we have some groveling to do.” Colton puts his backpack on his shoulder and picks up the food as he gets out of the car.

Zander and I both look at each other, surprised, before we smile at each other. It feels good to finally have something to smile about.

Colt’s the perfect leader when he wants to be. Maybe he can be the one to take charge of getting our girl.

“Guess we should get in there and make a little girl happy. You know if this works out with us, it’ll be like she is our little sister.” I laugh.

“Sam’s amazing, just like her sister. I just wish we could let her talk to Sierra, but that would be really pushing it. Maybe we can have her make a video and we can send that to Sierra and then she could do the same for Sam,” Zander says with a hopeful look on his face.

“You’re fucking genius, Zan. That’s even better than pictures. There’s no way she could stay mad at us. We just have to be careful around Dad. If he knows we’re doing this, he’ll put a stop to it right away.”

“Agreed.” Zander nods, opening his door and getting out. I follow as he heads inside.

Dad and John are sitting at the table with Sam, who has dark circles under her eyes. She cried most of the night. We tried to comfort her and let her know everything was going to be okay, but nothing we said or did helped. She finally asked to be excused and went to the guest room that we set up for her.

Colton’s at the refrigerator putting the ice cream in the freezer with his back to us.

“Come on and sit down, boys. We figured we could eat a little early tonight, but if you get hungry later, you can eat leftovers in the fridge.” Dad gestures toward the chairs.

Oh, shit. Today is Wednesday. It’s their date night.

We are idiots. If we can get them to go, it gets them out of the house and gives us a chance to talk to Sam in private.

“Where’s date night tonight?” I ask, and my brothers’ eyes shoot to mine. Guess they forgot too.

“Nowhere. We decided to stay home since it’s Sam’s second day here.” John looks at him and they smile lovingly at each other.

“Nonsense, Dad. The two of you should go. We can keep Sam,” I tell him. Zan and Colt nod in agreement.

They look at each other, then at us, silently debating on what to do.

Dad sighs. “Okay. If you insist. Is that okay, Sam? Are you alright staying here with the boys?”

She nods without looking up.

I’m anxious for Dad and John to leave, knowing that we’re going to make her just a little bit happier.

We continue with dinner. “So how was your day?” Dad asks, his eyes shifting between us.

“Okay. You know, the typical high school drama.” I let out a laugh, but it’s forced.

“Had a quiz. Not sure how I did,” Zan adds.

Dad doesn’t say anything, as he finishes chewing the food in his mouth. “If you did your best, that’s all I can ask. If you’re having trouble with something, I’m sure the teacher will be glad to give some tutoring on it. Want me to ask for you?”

“No, that’s okay. I can. Heck, I may just be worrying too much about it and aced it.”

Dad nods and we continue with light conversation while we eat. None of us say anything about Sierra, saving that news for Sam.

“Okay, boys, if you can handle cleaning up and doing your homework, we are going to leave so we can get back a little earlier than normal.” He looks at Sam. “Sweetheart, we know this is hard for you, but it’ll get easier. If you need us, our cell numbers are on the fridge.”

“Yes sir,” she says softly.

“Alright, be good,” Dad says as he and John stand from the table and head out the door.

We are silent until we hear the car start up and leave.

---