A Man on an Island Ch. 07

She didn't know what she'd thought that she might expect to see in his eyes, and she was a little sad now that she'd come with her hair dyed as vibrantly as it was. It came to her that maybe she should have removed her piercings for this meeting, and now it was too late and whatever impressions that he drew about her because of them would be harder to undo if that was what she wanted.

She didn't know what she wanted. She felt as though she was on a glass specimen slide under a microscope in his gaze.

He smiled softly after a moment, "Hello, Sam. It's been years and you've grown into someone as lovely as I always knew you would. There's nothing to keep us apart anymore, is there?"

"No," she said, surprised that it came out as a whisper. The next thing that Sam knew, she was in his arms, with her face against his cheek. She felt the first tear as it slid from her eye and then she was crying as he held her. But she knew that Cale held no immunity to the moment either when she felt the wetness of his tear on her neck.

Sylvia drew back and looked at her daughter's smiling face for a moment before she kissed her and smiled, "So good to have you home and safe. And this is obviously --"

"Sam," Siobhan smiled, "Sam she is, and I think I can say that she's my new friend. I was a little nervous waiting at the airport, but then we met and we had so much fun on the way up."

Sam was glad that she'd ditched her makeup as she wiped her eyes and smiled at her father, "I want to thank you --"

He shook his head, "I need to thank you for trying to find me, Sam. We can work out everything later, ok? I just want to look at you and get to know you."

"Wait," Sam said, "I need to tell you that I'm sorry for everything, I didn't think about it until long afterward, but one day, I just woke up and knew that I'd finally driven you away when I called for money the way that I always did and you had nothing to spare for me then. You only asked for a little time, and I hung up and wouldn't answer when you called and called. Dad, I ..."

Cale shook his head and waved her words away with a smile, "Doesn't matter, Sam."

Sam felt a little nervous as he took her jackets to hang them up and they looked at her as she went to sit on the couch wearing only her black T-shirt and her jeans. Siobhan sat next to her and grinned as she looked over for a moment,

"Whoa, Sis," she laughed, "where did you get these?" she asked as she touched Sam's bicep and admired the ring tattoo there. Her other arm wore a full sleeve of ink from shoulder to wrist bearing longboats and dragons.

Sam shrugged, "I work out some."

"Very interesting tattoo," Sylvia grinned, "Celtic and Gaelic knotwork like that."

"Really awesome Viking stuff," Siobhan grinned.

"Thank you," Sam smiled, knowing that what had been said was meant.

"Do you have any more," Siobhan asked, "I've thought of getting one, but I don't know how much it hurts and they cost a bit. Of course, it was easy to admire and wonder when you can't spare the money to find out," she smiled.

"I have a few," Sam said, just a little uncomfortably, "and I didn't pay for them."

Siobhan began to chuckle, "Old boyfriend?"

"Of course," the redhead smiled.

Cale was smiling. It seemed as though he couldn't stop as he asked, "Sis?"

Siobhan looked at Cale and her mother, "I feel as though I've stepped into a dream or something. " She nodded toward Cale, "I've never seen you before, but I feel as though I've known you for years. We kind of thought that you must have become a little closer than the dear friends that I'd always been told about, and I guess we got a little silly with it and decided that if it grew serious, then the two of us would be step-sisters at some point."

"We found that we sort of liked the idea and had a lot of fun with it," Sam said with a smile, "so that's what we've been calling each other all the way up. We've decided that we like each other enough to be friends -- since it looks like you'd like us to stay and," she tilted her head a little, "uh, work together, I think?"

Sylvia held up her hand with a laugh, "I've had so many ideas running through my head ever since Sam called. But tonight isn't the night for that. We're a couple of people who each have a grown child. There's enough newness right there for the moment, I think. It's Christmas Eve and many other things as well. Tomorrow, if you'll all help out, I want to bring my grandmother home. That home is no place for a Mac Domhnaill on Christmas, especially not now. I think her clan here is growing and she should meet you as well, Sam."

Sam smiled, though she didn't really understand it all and Siobhan leaned over, "We're an old family. My great-grandmother is the matriarch, and I'm dying to see her again."

She was about to go on when they all heard the quiet clicks of nails on the porch and Siobhan stared out the front window at the apparition there outside.

"Cu Sith," she said softly in a little awe to see the animal across the short distance, "We saw him out by the fence at the farm. Now he's even closer. I don't understand. They never come this close unless --"

"Unless they live here," Cale smiled as he opened the door.

"It's not who you think," Sylvia smiled, "though I think there's a family connection. That's not Cu Sith. That's Rufus."

As if on cue, he walked in, still with the air that he owned the place, and he stopped in front of Sylvia to be welcomed for a moment, before he stepped over to look at the newcomers and he won them in a heartbeat when he turned on his toothy grin.

Help me with the mulled mead?" Sylvia asked Siobhan and the pair got up to get what was needed to prepare it.

"What are you guys doing?" Sam asked as she watched the proceedings with some surprise as she saw Sylvia set a pot on the stove while Siobhan produced a bar of black iron and shove it into the flames.

"We're just making a hot drink," Siobhan laughed, "though I suppose that with all this hardware, it must look at least a little sinister, but this is the way that it's always been done, in our family at least. Our ancestors might only have had one pot to pee in, but the very NEXT pot surely was bought for this."

"We just do it the way that it was done first, "Sylvia smiled, "before there were shiny kitchen appliances and when it was the hearth that was the heart of any home -- especially a Mac Domhnaill home, and this is surely still close enough to be that."

"It kind of makes me wish that we had some traditions," Sam said to Cale, "But it's not that important."

"It's Christmas," Siobhan smiled, "in any of so many cultures, and before that, it was a feast to many others, long before they accepted Christianity -- or had it forced on them.

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Dinner that evening was a meat fondue surrounded by collection of finger foods - a vast collection of finger foods from everywhere; it seemed and ran the uncharted course from tiny spring rolls to eggs in any of several styles. "I went a little nuts in the frozen foods section," Sylvia shrugged ruefully.

"This is perfect," Sam said, "This is Christmas Eve like I've never had before." She looked at Cale for a moment as he smiled gazing at the fire, "And I guess it's not like you've had many of either."

He looked at her and he shook his head, not really having any words.

At one point, Cale let Rufus out and stood on the porch looking in through the window as he waited for the dog's return. The three of them were moving to sit on the floor in front of the old woodstove and Sylvia was adding more wood. It made a pleasant and tranquil-looking little scene for a moment and he felt very thankful.

But then Rufus came back, covered in the snow which had begun falling again, but Cale didn't mind so much as Rufus shook himself off before Cale would open the door for him. Rufus disappeared inside and Cale followed him. After closing the door and taking his boots off, Cale stepped into the room and stood looking at three very beautiful women caught in a moment where they all smiled and talked in at least two conversations at once with a huge wolfhoundish- looking beast lying in the middle of them.

As though he owned everything around them all and he was the lord of the place and happy for the company, Cale smirked and Sylvia looked at him quizzically.

"It kind of looks like a scene from out of the past in another place," he shrugged, "I was just enjoying the moment.

Siobhan's eyes lit up as a thought came to her and as Cale sat down next to her and accepted a cup of warmed mead from Sylvia, her daughter asked for a tale.

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Sam looked at Siobhan a long time afterward and it was plain that her very long day was catching up to her. "I never asked, where do we all sleep tonight? I sure can't drive like this. I doubt that I could even find the clutch pedal."

"Legend has it that there's a bed upstairs," Sylvia grinned, pointing.

"Which we never get to," Cale chuckled as he rolled his eyes, "We always end up staying right here. But it's a king-sized bed, and it doesn't look as though Siobhan would care much at the moment, and I'm sure it'll be big enough. There's no way that any of us ought to drive right now."

"Pfft," Siobhan exhaled past her lips, "if it's soft and horizontal, I'm sure that I'll be fine. Don't know if I can get up the stairs though ..."

"I'll get you there," Sam smirked, "this sister thing looks like it'll get its first test. I'm warning you now; I flop around a lot when I sleep."

"Awesome," Siobhan sighed as she got to her feet wearily, "I do too, so we'll probably end up passing each other. Wave to me when it happens, ok?"

Sylvia thought the whole thing to be a little hilarious, but she nodded, "No fights then. There are tons of blankets on the chair in that room, so if you find that you can't stand each other's snoring, the loser can always sleep on the floor."

Sam groaned, "I'll probably end up there anyway. I'm not big on sleeping with anybody anyhow." She looked at Sylvia and her father, "Thank you for the best Christmas Eve that I can remember, and for everything. I don't know what to say beyond that."

"Merry Christmas," Sylvia smiled warmly, "I feel as though I have a family again, so Cale must feel that even more." She looked at him and he nodded.

Cale and Sylvia watched as the pair of them made their way up the stairs and offered them a quiet call up the stairs to wish them a good night before they went back to the stove to look at the flames for a little while. She leaned against him with a sigh after he put his arm around her, "I'm so happy."

They sat in silence for a time before she said, "Sam looks a lot like you. She's just as I pictured her to be -- well, other than that hair. What color is it without the dye?"

"It used to be a really nice honey blonde," he said, "I haven't seen that in a long time. Every time that I saw her from about the age of fifteen, it was always black. She was a Goth girl then and thin as a nail. She's got quite a build on her now."

Sylvia looked up and smiled, "Siobhan told me that Sam is a licensed blacksmith, among her other surprising accomplishments."

Cale felt his eyebrows rising, "Really?"

"Oh, I think that we'll find out a lot of things about her tomorrow," Syvlia grinned, "She's every bit as remarkable as her father."

"I'm not a blacksmith," he said.

"No," Sylvia smiled as she opened a button on his shirt to slide her hand against his chest, "Have you ever been a fighter?"

"What do you mean," he asked, "do you mean, as in brawling in an alley? I've done it, but it's not something I was ever proud of. That was just some of my stupid coming out and that was a long time ago."

She nodded, "Back when you were in an angry young man stage?"

"Something like that," he admitted, "but I got it in hand before it landed me in jail."

"Maybe Sam has had her angry girl stage," Sylvia said, "She's fought in the ring before."

"Huh?" he was incredulous, "you mean she's boxed?"

"I guess," Sylvia said, "Siobhan said she's fought in mixed martial arts fights."

As he sat in a little wonder, Syvlia pulled her hand back and pulled her dress off over her head. His shirt was next and before he knew it, really, she was leaning down, kissing him as she reached to caress him still on the furs and blankets, she smiled.

"I was right, though. We made great kids."

She pulled him down onto the furs with a grin, "Why are you looking so nervous?"

"I dunno," he smirked up at her and whispered, "Maybe because our daughters are here."

"They're not here - here," she smiled as she held up a finger, "They're up there," she held up another, "I'm sure that they can figure it out and likely won't mind if we're quiet, "she held up two more fingers.

"And it's Christmas and I love you," she smiled at him in the darkness.

"Ok," he smiled, "That's the one."

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"How do you want to do this?" Sam asked as she helped Siobhan into the room and turned on the light, "or do you care?"

Siobhan sighed, "I just want to lie down and close my eyes, I don't think they'll stay open for much longer and if I get to that point, I'll just feel nauseous -- and considering that I had a few cups of mead, that'll be a bad thing. Where's the bathroom?"

"Right there," Sam replied, "just out the door to the left. You go, and I'll get those blankets laid out somewhere so that you don't trip over me if you need to go in the middle of the night."

"Nope," Siobhan said as she walked to the bathroom, "This is an old house that belonged to an old family. It was nothing back in the day for two girls in my family to share a bed in the winter when it got cold."

Sam looked at the empty doorway as she heard the echo of Siobhan's quiet voice from the bathroom.

"So we're not really sisters," she went on, "but I don't care. I'd rather be warm. If you have a problem with that, then tell me now, but if you're going to sleep on the floor because you think a drunk farm girl is going to mind, I've got a surprise for you.

If that's all it is, I'll just sleep on the floor with you if you don't object. Warm is number one in my book. This place will get cold before the morning."

When she came around the corner, Sam was already in the bed shivering a little at the feel of the cool sheets against her skin. She was wearing her sportsbra and a thong, but that still left plenty of bare skin against the linen. She watched as Siobhan turned off the light, took off her sweater and her pants and climbed in next to her.

She looked over and smiled, "Thanks for everything and for offering me your friendship. I've never had a Christmas that felt this good to me." She reached over and kissed Sam once before she rolled over to face away from her for a moment as Sam lay there blinking.

But that only lasted a minute before Siobhan muttered to herself and began to wriggle out of her bra. "Sorry. I can't sleep in this, and I'm too lazy to try to find one of your dad's T-shirts to wear, so I'm way too lazy to ask him even if I saw one here to ask about ... or something.

I'm probably going to be embarrassed for this in the morning, but right now, I've just got to close my eyes. Good night, Sis, and Merry Christmas."

They heard the soft clicks of canine toenails coming up the stairs and then they saw the shape standing before them and Siobhan stretched out and arm to pet the huge head there in the darkness, "Good night, Rufus," she whispered as she felt his warm breath on her arm.

Sam was still blinking in the darkness, but at last she smiled at the way that she suddenly felt as though she had a family, not that she was exactly certain of just how that might feel, but she did feel as though she fit here to some degree. It was such a strange feeling, but she liked it and after a moment's hesitation and thought, she moved a little and kissed Siobhan on the cheek.

Goodnight, Sis," she smiled, "Merry Christmas to you too."

Siobahn's head was turned away, but she smiled with closed eyes and sighed.

It left Sam with more of the strange feeling, and as she thought about the uncertainty and fear that she'd seen in Siobhan's face earlier during the trip up, she found herself feeling protective of this slightly odd, but beautiful girl who -- no matter how it was couched in smiling terms or even laughter, seemed to have a want in her to have Samantha Fletcher as her older sister in a way.

That made it easy.

She reached over Siobhan very carefully and pulled herself against Siobhan's back as she closed her own eyes to go to sleep. Siobhan opened her eyes and after a moment, she pushed back to find the best fit and smiled, "Thanks, Sam."

Rufus turned away then and lay down on the floor in the only place large enough to accommodate another person. Sam knew it as it happened and decided that she wanted to be where she was anyway.

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In the morning, Sylvia stood there at the top of the stairs rooted to the top step as she looked into the bedroom. She looked for a moment more and then she turned to Cale and waved him up, holding her finger to her lips to caution him to be silent. When he reached the top step, she smiled at him and pointed.

They were looking at a pair of sleeping heads under the blankets and a thick comforter. All that could be seen of the pair were their heads, but it was a little plain that Sam was lying with her arm on Siobhan's shoulder.

Sylvia smiled to him and whispered, "They look like they really are a pair of sisters, like a couple of kids."

He smiled back and went back downstairs to get some coffee going and with the caffeine, he hoped that he could formulate a plan which might yield them all a breakfast. As he did that, he thought about what he'd seen and He found that he had to agree. Their daughters were different in their appearance, but the damndest thing was that the way that they looked there asleep, they did look as though they were sisters.

Then he smirked to himself, thinking that they'd probably started out far apart when they'd fallen asleep and had likely drifted together after that for warmth for the way that that room could get cold. He figured there'd likely be an awkward moment when they woke up.

Sylvia tiptoed into the room to set the pair of housecoats that she'd bought for them onto the chair. As she was on her way out of the room, she saw Sam's eyes open and she put her finger to her lips and left with a smile, closing the door behind her.

After a few minutes where Sam thought about the previous day and how warm and pleasant it felt to be there against Siobhan, she very carefully and slowly disengaged herself and got out of bed. Seeing the housecoats, she held them up for a moment and selected the larger one and put it on, not knowing that Sioban had been watching the whole time and marveling at Sam's body and the tattoos which adorned it. When Sam looked back, Siobhan's eyes were closed and she feigned slumber.

Sam went into the bathroom and Siobhan sat up and then got to her feet, reaching for the remaining housecoat, unaware that Sam was peeking back around the door at her, not being able to help herself in her curiosity.

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Breakfast had taken Cale too long to even begin to conjure when Sylvia shooed him out of the kitchen, so he sat with the two girls and they all nursed their mugs of coffee. Neither of them had any gifts for Cale, but it was a little plain to see that he already had more than enough gifts with them being together.

"We're a little late to be the regular sort of family," Siobhan smiled somewhat warmly, "but I like the way that this feels to me anyway."

They opened the gifts that were there anyway and Cale sat with a grin as they all found gift certificates for a full day's pampering at a spa in town -- the works -- as Sylvia laughed, and they agreed to go together and make something of a day of it.