The Rogers' Family Annual Camping Trip

Chris looked at Sam as they sat up and saw the smile on her face. "I'd like that, Dad. Thanks." Then he turned to Sam. "Would you do me the honor of allowing this ring to grace your finger as a token of my love for you?" he asked as he fell to one knee.

"Yes!" she nearly screamed. "Yes! Yes! A thousand times Yes!" He placed the ring on her finger and as he did so he heard a click.

"Did you just take a picture?" he turned to their parents.

"Yes," said Michelle. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes." She looked at her daughter who was blushing quite heavily. "I wanted to preserve the moment. We weren't there when you asked her to marry you, so it was nice to have something to look at and say that we witnessed you putting the ring on her finger."

Sam hugged Chris tight, gave him a quick kiss, then ran to her stepfather and hugged him, too. "Thank you, Poppa. This means a lot to me. I hope I can bring honor to it and the woman who wore it before me."

"I'm sure you will, sweetheart," Jay replied placing a hand on her cheek. "Marie would have been proud to call you her daughter-in-law."

"Would she have been upset about you marrying Mom?"

"Oh, no, honey. She would have been fine with that. She wouldn't want me to be unhappy. I will always have a place in my heart for Marie. Your mom knows that. But I love her so much. And I love you, too. You do know that, don't you?"

"Yes, Poppa. And I love you, too." She gave him another hug.

"I hate to break up this wonderful moment you two are having, but we have to consider something. How do you want people to find out about you and Chris," Michelle said. "I think it might be best if you weren't lying together on the same lounge chair for the next hour or so."

"I thought you said that Jan and Rob already know."

"They do. But there are others that don't. I think you might want to tell them before they see you acting like the lovers you are."

"You mean, like, Danielle and Mike?"

"For starters," Michelle said. "Also, your dad and Barbie."

"Yeah," Sam interjected. "That wouldn't be so good."

The two separated and waited for whatever was going to happen. It wasn't long before they heard the tap of a horn and looked up to see Steve's van pulling up, Sarah in the front passenger seat waving her hand at them as they rolled to a stop.

"Sarah!" yelled Sam as she got up off of the lounge chair she was on. She and Chris walked towards the van to greet their friends. The back door opened to reveal Robin and Gabrielle had also ridden up, as well as Charlie and Myles. "So this is why you all were more than two hours from home?" Sam asked. "You were on your way up here?"

"Yeah," answered Sarah. "Your mom called on Saturday and told me to get everyone together to come up."

"Sam," Chris interrupted. "Look at this. We have them paired up in the plan just as they really are."

"I hadn't even thought of it," she replied. "Boy. That worked out well."

"What do mean paired up?" Sarah asked.

"You guys," Sam answered. Look. You and Steve have been engaged for over half a year."

"So?"

"And then there's Robin and Charlie. Not engaged but they've been going together for almost two years."

"Actually," Robin said holding up her left hand. "We got engaged last night."

"That's great!" Sam said enthusiastically. "And Gabrielle?"

"Well. Not engaged, yet," she answered. "But, I'm working on him."

"You don't have to work on me," Myles said. "The only reason were not engaged is because I don't have the money for a ring."

"Dude," Charlie interjected. "You don't have to have the ring to ask her, and if she says yes, then you are engaged. Doing it that way, the two of you can work together to pick out the ring."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Gabrielle, what do you think? Do you mind being engaged without having the ring to go along with it?"

"It won't bother me one bit, lover."

"Then will you do me the honor of being my fiancée?"

"I most definitely will."

"Then I guess were engaged. That means we only have to find mates for you two, Myles said looking at Sam and Chris.

"That's not necessary," Sam said. "Believe me, that's definitely not necessary. What are you all doing here, anyway?"

"Your mom called and said that you were going to need some support for something that was pretty big. They're not breaking up, are they?"

"Not even," Chris answered.

"In fact," Sam added, "they were talking of possibly having another child on the way up."

"It takes longer than the six hours that it takes to drive up here to get pregnant, have the baby develop and then deliver it, Sam," teased Robin.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Sam said. "I guess I should have said it the other way around. While on the way up, they were talking of having another child. There! Happy?"

"Yep," she replied with a quirky smile.

"So, I gather that this problem has something to do with you, then, Sam. You're not sick, are you?" Sarah worried.

"No, nothing like that," she replied. "Well, not since this morning, anyway." She smiled at her friend

Sarah jumped as she realized what she was saying. With a squeal, she hugged her friend. " You little minx," she accused. "How long?"

"Just over a month," she answered. The other two girls finally put it together and were all squealing and hugging.

"When were you going to tell us about this?" Gabrielle asked. "Shouldn't we have already known about it?"

"We weren't telling anyone, yet. We wanted to wait until after this trip was over."

"I missed something," Myles said. "What happened?"

"She got sick this morning, but she's fine now," Steve answered. Myles still looked confused. "She was sick in the morning," Steve tried again. "In the morning, sick. Morning, sickness, later, not so bad."

"Oh my gosh" Myles gasped as he finally understood. He looked at Sam and blushed. "Um, wow! Um, well, um, I guess you were right to say that I don't have to worry about finding you someone."

"Speaking of that," Sarah started. "I guess since she called, your mom knows about the baby, but what about the father? Does she know about that?"

"Yes. She seems to be as observant as you are. Or more so, I guess, since she didn't actually catch us in the middle of a kiss."

"Is she alright with it?"

"She almost praised me for making a good choice for a husband."

"Sam!" Robin suddenly yelped. "You're wearing a ring!"

"Yes," she answered. It was his mother's ring before she died."

"Dad said that she could keep it or use it as a loan until she had one of her own if that's what we choose," Chris stepped in.

"Wait a minute," Gabrielle looked at him with her eyes wide. "Are you saying that... you mean that...Sam. When were you going to reveal this?"

"I think I need to sit down," Steve said rather weakly. He went to the back of his van and once it was opened, started pulling out folding chairs.

"You knew." Myles voice was accusatory as he looked at Sarah. "You knew and you kept it a secret."

"What kind of friend would I be if I told any of you something that they asked me not to?" she asked. "They swore me to secrecy. Besides, they weren't hurting anyone or doing something illegal or anything."

"Excuse me," Charlie butted in. "But didn't you ever think about the fact that incest is illegal and that since they are brother and sister, that could lead to a lot of other problems?"

"We're, not brother and sister, Charlie," Chris jumped in. "Her mom married my dad when I was nine and she was eight. That's why her last name is Monroe, not Rogers."

"Oh," he replied sheeplessly. "I hadn't even thought about it."

"Well," Sarah said after some thought. "I guess you will all know how much I can be trusted to not spread your secrets."

"I wish you would've trusted me with it since we are engaged," Steve said before turning back to Chris. "And you, too, Chris. We've been friends for a long time. You could have trusted me."

"Oh, boy," Chris said. He was seeing things come to an abrupt end for their wedding plans. "Steve, listen. It isn't that I didn't trust you. We weren't telling anyone. Sarah wouldn't have known if she hadn't caught us kissing. Guys, please. Your friendship means a lot to us. Please don't abandon us. We're going to need your support. Besides, you're all in the wedding party."

"Wedding party?" Robin said. You two are getting married?"

"You saw the ring," Sam replied.

"Yeah, but, I mean, really soon?"

"Mom and Poppa reserved the chapel and reception hall at the museum. We have just under three weeks to get everything finalized. For the last few hours, we've been looking at everything to do with the wedding. Well, actually, I guess it started yesterday when they made us start planning it as part of an exercise. They had us plan how we would do things without telling us it was real."

"That's why you called for Kendra's number, isn't it," Robin asked. "You want her to play for the wedding."

"Yeah," she answered.

"I guess you'll have to wait till you get back home."

"Actually, I'm going to visit the community building this afternoon to see if I can get it off the internet."

"Guys," Chris interrupted. "Can we get an answer about whether you all will be there to support us? I mean, yes we kept this all a secret, but we really thought that was the best thing to do. Are you all okay with that or are you going to hold it against us? We could really use your support tonight."

"Dude. I understand your wanting to keep it quiet," Steve said. "I'm just saying that you could have trusted me. The only other thing that comes out of this, is my fiancée not trusting me enough to tell me what she knew about the two of you."

"Don't be upset with her, Steve," Sam said. "We made her promise not to tell anybody anything."

Steve sat and thought about all that they were saying. It wasn't like she had lied to him. She just hadn't told him what she knew. It could be close to the same as him not telling her about the secret that he knew about her parents. The one he had yet to tell her.

"Alright," he finally responded. "I'll let it go. You're right. You made her promise. Later, you and I will have to talk," he continued turning towards her.

"Please don't be mad, honey."

"That's not what I mean. I'm going to have to tell you something, and I hope you won't be too mad at me for not telling you about it."

"Let's let that go for now," Chris stepped in. "Okay, guys. Here's what's up. Tonight, Sam's dad and his wife will be arriving. He doesn't know about any of this. We could really use your support when we tell him. He might not like the idea."

"I'm there for you, Chris," Steve responded.

"Is that why your Mom called me?" Sarah asked. "To have us support you when you tell your dad?"

"I can only speculate that it was. I didn't know that she had called until you told me she had," Sam responded.

"Well, you know I'll be there for you." The rest of the group all indicated that they would be too.

"Thanks guys," Sam said. "I really need you all there. In the meantime, let me tell you where we are on the wedding plans. I hope that things will be alright, but we'll have to see. There's a lot to talk about, let's all get some chairs so we can get down to it."

Within the next couple of hours, everyone was informed of the plan for the wedding and agreed to help with the cost by renting or buying their clothing for it. As they began to spilt up and Sam was getting ready to go to the community building, the next group of the growing camping party arrived.

"I'll go to the building and see if I can get Kendra's number," Sarah said as the rest started pulling gear from the back of the van. "Once I have it, I'll give her a call and see if she'll play for the wedding."

"Thanks," Sam replied. "Ask her how much she would charge. We don't have a lot, but we really want to try to have a live organist instead of using canned music." Then Sam was rushing off to greet Rob, Jan, Mike and Danielle. As she passed the kitchen fly, she realized it was going to be a very busy day.

Mike was ready to jump from the car almost as soon as it was stopped. "Sam! he yelled as Jan finally opened his door. he was off in a flash, running towards his sister.

"Whoa, there Mikey," Sam said as she stopped him from hitting her belly with his feet in his exuberance to hug his sister. "So, how's my favorite little brother?"

"Excuse me," Danielle tried to get by. "Gotta go!"

"Sarah!" Sam yelled and her friend turned back. "Could you take Danielle with you so that she can stop at the facilities building.

"Sure, Sam. I could do with a visit there myself." The two girls headed off.

"Am I really your favorite?" Mike asked.

"Well, you're the only little brother I got, so it kind of makes sense that you would be my favorite, right?"

"But what about Chris? Where does that leave him?"

"Come over to the dinning fly and let's sit down a bit, buddy." They made their way to the chairs by the folding table they had brought and Rob and Jan tagged along to be available if needed while Sam tried to explain to the nine year old what was going on.

It took her a bit of thinking to figure out how to start."See the kitchen fly?" she finally said. He nodded. "Who's that cleaning up?"

"That's Mommy."

"Yes, That's your Mommy."

"She's your Mommy, too!"

"Yes, she's my Mommy, too," she laughed. "But the thing is, she's not Chris's Mommy."

"Uh-huh. He always calls her Mom."

"Yes, he does. But she's not his real Mom. His real Mom died when he was born. So, now, he's able to call her Mom."

"Nuh-huh. You're trying to tease me."

"No, Mike, sweetie," Sam continued. "There isn't any teasing going on right now. Because this is really important talking, right now, okay?"

"Really? You mean that Mommy isn't his Mommy?"

"No kidding, bud."

"I know it seems strange, Mike," Jan interjected. "But what Sam is telling you is the truth. And it's very important that you listen to what she's about to tell you. I promise you everything she's going to say right now is the truth."

"Okay," he said rather sadly. "Does that meant that he's not my brother?"

"Oh, no, buddy. It doesn't mean that at all. You and I have the same Mommy, so I'm still your sister, right?"

"Yeah."

"Now. See all the guys putting up the tents?"

"Uh-huh."

"Who's that directing them where to set them up?"

"That's Daddy."

"That's your Daddy, and that's Chris's Daddy. So that makes him your brother. But that's not my Daddy."

"What do you mean?"

"You know the guy that you call Mr. Monroe?"

"Yeah."

"That's my Daddy."

"I don't understand. Wouldn't that mean that he and Mommy had to be together sometime?"

"Yes, buddy. They were."

"No!" he nearly yelled. "Mommy wouldn't do that to Daddy!"

"No. You're right. she wouldn't. But before they were together, Mommy was with Mr. Monroe. Then Mr. Monroe decided that he wanted someone different, and he left Mommy and me to be with someone else."

"He shouldn't a done that."

"Well, that doesn't matter, now. Mommy was able to be with your Daddy because he left. So it's alright, now. Okay?"

"Okay. But, does that mean that you and Chris aren't brother and sister?"

"Yes it does."

"But that's not okay," he said. "You two need to be brother and sister.

"Aw, that's sweet, buddy. But it's okay for us to not be, too. You want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because that means that I can marry him and he and I can be together like Mommy and Daddy are with each other."

"You mean that you would be his wife?"

'Yep. Would that be alright with you?"

"I guess."

"Know what else?"

"What?"

"I get to have a baby."

"You do?"

"Uh-huh."

"Mommy said that you could?"

Rob put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

"Well, I'm sure she would have wanted me to do it differently than I did, but she's alright with it."

"Can I go with you to pick it out? I wanna be sure that it knows how to talk 'merican."

"What?"

"Billy said that his uncle went to the Vest and Darin horse pistol and they got a kid that's German and is gonna grow up to be a shepherd."

Rob couldn't help but let a small laugh escape. Jan had her hand over her mouth as did Sam as she fought to keep from laughing at the misunderstanding.

"Sweetie," Sam said finally. "I'm going to say a word and then after I say it, I want you to say it, too. Okay?"

"'Kay."

'Alright. The first word is veterinarian. Can you say that?"

"What is it?"

"Veterinarian."

"Veterinarian," he repeated.

"Good. Now, let's do it again with another word. The word is hospital."

"Hospital."

"That's good. See, that's where Billy's uncle went to. A veterinarian hospital. Do you know what a veterinarian is?"

"No."

"A veterinarian is an animal doctor. So when they went to the veterinarian hospital, what they got there was a German Shepherd puppy. It's a type of dog."

"Oh."

"With people, we don't choose the baby."

"You mean you have to take whatever one the nurses make you take?"

"It doesn't work like that, Mike. I will bring home the one I give birth to. Right now, my baby is inside me. Somewhere right about here," she pointed to a spot on her abdomen.

"What's it doing there?"

"It's growing and developing. Becoming the baby that it will be when it is born so that it can survive outside my body. Right now it's wrapped in a bubble of warm fluid to protect it until it's able to survive. If you could see it, you wouldn't even recognize it as a baby. It's probably no bigger than the very tip of your littlest finger. But it will grow and get bigger until it's ready to come out and be in the world."

"You mean the baby people will cut you open and take it out? Won't that hurt? What about you? How do you survive?"

"They won't have to do that, Sweetie. There's a special tunnel called the birth canal that the baby will be pushed through to enter the world."

"Really? I like tunnels. Can I see it?"

Rob's head lowered and his hand was now over his eyes as he tried to keep his composure. Jan was beginning to squirm and look uncomfortable as the conversation got more intimate.

"No, that wouldn't be right, Mike. You'll have to trust me that it's there. Okay."

"Okay. If the baby is in your belly like that, does that mean that you had to swallow something to make you have it in you? I don't want to eat the wrong thing and end up with one inside me."

"No, buddy. That's not how it works."

"How did it get in there then?"

"Look," Jan said. Danni and Sarah are back. Why don't you see if Danni wants to play a game of tag?"

"Okay," Mike said as he got up to go.

"Mom, guess what?" Danni said as they got close enough to talk. "Sarah said that Sam and Chris are going to get married. But they can't, can they? Isn't that ingest?"

Jan groaned at the ten year old's statement. "Danni, sweetie. Ingest means that you are eating something."

"See?" Mike stepped back in. "I was right. It is because you ate something."

Sam looked at Jan. "You handle yours, I'll take him to Mom," she said. With a nod from Jan, she got up and grabbed Mike's hand. "Come on, Mike. Let's go see Mom."

After a couple of minutes whispering in her mother's ear with Michelle doing some giggling, Michelle sent her son to her tent so that she, Jay and him could have a talk. When he came back out much later, his face was flushed quite red as he looked at Chris, and got even redder when he saw Danni sitting with her mouth open and her eyes as big as they could be, also with her face red.

Once all the tents were set up, Jay had everyone meet in the dining area. "Okay gang," he began. "There's still a lot to get done. We've still got one more group coming, yet, but it's getting to the point where we need to talk things out. First, if you are at least the age of eighteen, I'm not going to bother with tent assignments. Mike, you will be sharing your tent with Kenny when Mr. Monroe and his family get here."