Our Own Celebration (Samara)

Gareth closed the door and looked at the tree in the corner. It was almost New Year, and he had just come home from his parents' house. The tree was one that he and Sam had put up right before going to their respective families for the actual holiday and a few days after. Now it was time for them to celebrate their own Christmas.

Gar looked around the flat. It appeared that he was the first one home. He grinned and hurried over to the tree to put an extremely late present under it. It was a special one for Sam. One that he'd been looking at, but hadn't been sure about until he'd been walking along the road their building was on. He'd gone into the shop and without a second thought, bought the present that he'd been been worrying about all through the month of December. It was just one more thing that he'd had to stop worrying about. He just hoped that Sam would love it.

Stop it, Winter! he told himself. You have GOT to start going for what you want! If Sam doesn't like it, you can take it back. But you know that she will, so knock it off, already!

He shook his head. He thought that he'd gotten past this. He knew what he wanted, and now he felt comfortable going after it. But he just had one concern. If Sam was ready as well. He would wait until she was, of course, but he wanted to let her know that he would be more than willing if she wanted him to be. And he knew that he loved her more than his own life. He knew that she felt the same about him.

Gareth closed his eyes as he sat on the couch, imagining the small celebration that was going to take place when she got home. He smiled as he imagined her expressions at the other presents that he'd gotten for her. He knew that there was one that would make her cry, but she'd been hinting at it for a while, so he couldn't very well not get it for her. She would be so disappointed.

He jumped when he felt hands on his shoulders, and spun around.

"I'm sorry, Baby. I must have dozed off."

Gareth

Samara was not in a good mood, she did not want to even think about how frustrated she was! Miranda Lane was a bitch! And no one knew it better than her! She ordered her around like she meant nothing to her, and her father just said that it was her being a brat. Well Samara would admit that there were times whens he did backtalk Miranda, but that didn't give the woman cause to make her go OUT and fetch her her damn coffee! Samara had wanted to help edit manuscripts and set up book signings for accomplished authors, she did not want to be her soon to be step-mother's maid!

And of course her and her father got into an argument about it, but that did not matter. She had left before the flames could become too hot. Samara did not like arguing with her father or causing him any unneeded stress, but there were times when it was unavoidable. They were going to disagree and she was just sick of having to stay quiet all the time.

Going into the Loft Samara slammed the door closed and stormed to the bedroom. She looked to see that Gareth was busy dozing on the sofa and decided to leave him there for a moment. Moving past to the bedroom she took a pillow, placed it over her face, and as loud as she could SCREAMED. When she was finished her throat hurt and sounded raspy. Going out into the living room, she placed her hands on his shoulders.

Smiling weakly as he jerked away she kissed him gently on the lips.

"How was your day?" she whispered, her voice raw from screaming.

Sammy

Oh, his beautiful fiancée was home. His day was complete. And her whisper sounded unbelievably sexy. It was enough to drive him to distraction. And her kiss left him with the same feeling that he'd had when he'd been helping his father with the decorations. A feeling that told him that he was ready for whatever happened with him and Sam. He wasn't going to push anything, but he wasn't going to hide that he wanted to be with her. In every way.

He looked up at her and noticed that she seemed upset about something. His heart fell. If she was unhappy, that meant that she'd gotten into a fight with her father or Miranda. That wasn't good. That meant that she would be sad, and it broke his heart when she was sad. He turned around completely and faced her, looking at her face to see if he could tell what the problem was.

"Sam, something happened, didn't it? With your father or Miranda?" He gently tugged her to him and kissed her again. "You sound like you've been crying, but it's not showing on your face, so I would guess that you got into a fight with one or both of them. Come here." He tugged her hand until she was in front of him.

That was a bad idea. He saw the whole of her outfit now, and it immediately got his attention. It was tight and short, and that was not a good combination for him at the moment. She was more important, his new revelation could wait until this was sorted. He patted the seat next to him and pointed to the tree.

"Is it about time to take that down, isn't it?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Samara sighed, she really didn't want to think about taking the tree down. She liked how the dim lights sent a rainbow of colors on their white walls. Sighing she ignored his suggestion and sat down on the sofa. She wasn't in a good mood, and that was just how it was. And when she wasn't in a good mood that usually meant that her and Gareth got into a row about something or other. Of course her beloved was always so quick to take the blame, and there were times when she really wished he wouldn't. She loved him with all of her heart, why did he always have to think everything was his fault?

"They both yelled at me!" she snapped. "For some stupid little mistake! Wait, no, I take that back...the BITCH yelled at me and he sided with her! God, I don't know why my dad loves her! I can't stand her!"

Flopping back on the couch she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. She had only just started working for Miranda Lane and now she hated it. So far she was only keeping the job because her daddy wanted her to, and because her and Gar needed money to pay for their apartment...but God, she did NOT like working for that woman!

"I just want to go to bed and never wake up." she whined.

Gareth understood the problem now, but he also understood that fighting with your employer wasn't really a good idea if you wanted to keep the position.

"Sam, what did you do to @#!*% her off? If Miranda gets ticked enough, you won't have a job. I told you that I would find one, possibly work as an intern at the Ministry, but you wanted to work for your father's girlfriend. You had to know it wasn't going to be easy."

He knew that she didn't want him to take the blame for their fights all the time, she'd made that abundantly clear, and now was one of the times he wasn't going to do it. She was the one that had decided to take the position with Miranda, and he wasn't going to let her lose it just because she didn't like the woman. And he was feeling just a little hurt that his evening of just the two of them opening their presents.... and possibly a little bit more, had been put on the back burner because of her dislike for her employer!

"Sam, no one likes their boss. But you have to get along with her even if it means that you do stuff you don't like to do. And I'm not going to argue with you about the who has a job anymore. I'm putting in an application at the Ministry tomorrow, and if I get the job, then we just will have to deal with not being able to see each other as much."

He stood and went into the kitchen. All of a sudden, he needed a drink.

Samara didn't like the tone of voice Gareth was using when talking to her! It was like she was inconviencing him by telling him about what had gotten her angry to begin with! He had asked her! If he didn't want to hear the answer than why would he even ask her to talk about it!

"Shut up Gareth," she hissed. "I know what to do when it comes to Miranda, I was just fucking venting."

Her temper was already up to boiling point and he had just pissed her off more by trying to tell her how to handle it! She had wanted comforting words, not his fucking attitude at her coming home grumpy! And what the Hell was that comment about arguing when it comes to WHO has a job?! She never argued about that! Maybe he was just the one that felt insecure about not having a job!

"Don't be such a dick," she snarled. "I didn't even WANT to fight, I came home to talk to you about my day and you have to act like a self involved brat."

Gareth got a glass of water from the sink and turned to lean on it while he drank it. True, they'd never really discussed who was going to be the one working or not working, but he was having trouble with the idea of her already hating her job. He knew she didn't like Miranda, and if that was true, why had she wanted to work for her in the first place? She could have easily found a job somewhere with how talented she was. She didn't have to stay with Miranda and end up fighting with her all the time. He just wanted her to stick with it until she could find something else.

He sighed. "All right, I apologize for what I said. I just want you to be happy, and if you aren't with her, then I should go and apply to the Ministry. I don't want you to have to pay for everything around here, it's not fair to you." He finished his water and returned to the couch, sitting beside her.

"Sam, I don't want to fight with you, really I don't. It's just that I wish that I'd stayed home with you over this holiday. And I think that we both had a hard time while we were at our families' houses." He didn't really want to talk about what had gone on while he was back in his childhood home, it was still too fresh. Maybe sometime soon in the future. But right now, he just wanted to be with Sam and have a nice dinner with her, then maybe open the presents that were under the tree.

"How about I make dinner, and you can finish telling me about what happened?"

Samara sighed, Gareth would want to dismiss this so quickly. And she understood why, but she wasn't going to talk about it. It was clear that he had no interest and she wasn't hungry anyway. He medicine had run out over night and she was waiting for her prescription from St. Mungo's. So she had to wait for it before she would dare to eat.

"I'm not hungry." she grumbled. "You can cook something for yourself and I'll just do the dishes, okay?"

Samara knew that she was taking her temper out on Gareth now, but he was always the easier person to get mad at. He was calm, sure sometimes his tone could be biting, but it usually wasn't. And that was why she loved him so much. He was so patient with her and she just could not help but love him for that. No one would ever tolerate her but him.

"I'm just gonna take a bath...and go to bed I think..." she whispered. "Don't worry about it...doesn't matter anyway."

Her last words came out frostbitten and she supposed she was just holding onto how Gareth had reacted when she had tried to vent to him the first time. She needed time to talk about herself too...sure her family wasn't the largest thing in the world but that didn't mean they were perfect...and it just seemed that Gareth felt they were.

Gareth didn't want her to go to bed! He'd missed her so much while she'd been away from him! He took her hand in both of his.

"Sam, really I'm sorry. I do want you to tell me what happened. I didn't mean to sound like a jackass when you told me about Miranda. I want you to be happy with your job, and if you're not, then maybe you would like to come with me and apply to the Ministry? Or possibly write your own book? You have so much talent with your writing that I can't believe you wouldn't become published."

Gareth knew he was sounding desperate now. He just wanted to forget about his week and start over again. It was a week that he'd not been with her, and he didn't want to think about it anymore. He looked down at the hand that he was holding. It was her left and he found himself staring at her ring finger. There was going to be a ring there in the future, and he would be the one to slip it on her. He moved his own left hand to rest alongside it, imagining her putting a matching ring on his finger. He didn't know when it was going to happen yet. They hadn't been able to talk much about the wedding with school and their families not knowing about them being engaged.

"I just want to be with you for a while longer, Love. I want to hear about what happened, I promise. But if you want to go to bed, I won't argue. It's up to you." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

Samara sighed and moved closer so that she was leaning against him. Yes she was still a little bit mad at her beloved, but when he touched her like that or pleaded with her she could not resist. She could not resist his touch and feel...she just adored him so much. Resting her head on his shoulder she cringed a bit as her stomach tightened. She needed to tell him about her medicine as well, but she just hated how smothering he became when he found out she was either sick or out of medication.

"Gar," she sighed. "I really don't want to talk about it...can we just drop it? How was your day? Let's talk about you instead."

She knew that Gareth would not let it go, but it was worth a shot. She knew that he would want to revisit this subject later, but hopefully she could jump around it till then.

"You said you had a hard week at your parents house...what happened?"

Gareth continued to stroke Sam's hand. He loved that she was leaning on him now. It made him feel better, like the whole past week had never existed. He just wanted to think about now. He didn't want to talk about what had happened at his parents' house. It still pained his heart, and he didn't want to risk it breaking again.

"Honey, I don't really want to talk about that just yet. And it's not really all that important. If you don't want to talk, we couid just sit here and stare at the tree." He leaned his head on hers and did just that. His blue gaze went to the dancing lights on the holiday decoration in the corner. He threaded his fingers though hers and played with them lightly, stroking her wrist with his other hand. Her skin was so soft, he just couldn't stop touching her.

He turned his head and kissed hers. He would have to get up eventually, for whatever reason. He'd have to go to the bathroom, get something for dinner, go to bed..... He had to get his mind off that thought for the moment. He didn't want to make any moves that wouldn't be welcome. He would be patient, wait for another time. He wanted it to happen, but like he'd been told over the last week, he had to relax and just let whatever would happen, happen. He wanted to see what she'd gotten him, though, and his curiosity was starting to get the better of him as he looked at the tree.

"Would you mind if we opened the presents?" If he had to, he would hide the present that he'd bought that afternoon. If the timing wasn't right, he didn't think that the present would be received very well.

Samara didn't want to open presents...mostly because she had not thought to buy her beloved anything. Her father had been sick over Christmas so all she had done was spend all of her time and money on him. She loved him so much and she had just lost all sense of reality while he was home sick. She felt bad now for how she had reacted at work, especially since he had just been recovering but she did not want to open a present until she had something to give him in return...something other than a kiss. She would offer sex, but she knew that Gareth froze up whenever she talked to him about sex.

Sighing Samara shook her head. She had to make him think of something else other than presents maybe if she told him about her medicine and faked sick he would place his mind on something else. The only problem it was hard to fake a CVS episode. They were usually so spot on, so that just meant she would have to induce one. She could eat something greasy, and nothing was worse than ordering a pizza from the shop down the road.

"Do you know what I would like?" she asked gently. "Let's order a Pizza from Mancino's."

Getting the phonebook from under the coffee table she took out her cell phone and placed the order. She knew that Gareth would wonder how she would react to the pizza, but she was going to insist upon it. And she could aways tell Gareth that she had taken her meds that morning. She had been at work before he had gotten up, he was bound to believe it.

Gareth was surprised. Sam never wanted pizza. It upset her stomach too much for her to be able to eat it very often. He wondered what she was trying to cover for if she had ordered it.

"Sam, what are you doing? You don't have to eat pizza for me." He moved from the couch to sit on the coffee table directly in front of her. He took her hands again and kissed them. He wanted to talk to her before the pizza got there since more than likely she wouldn't want to talk after it had arrived.

"Sam, I want to tell you something. It's the reason that I'm pushing for the us to open the presents. I know that you didn't have time to get me anything, and honestly, I don't care. I just want to be with you, and that is all that matters to me."

He stood up and went over to the tree, tugging the bag that he'd put in the back when he'd gotten home that afternoon. He took it back to the couch with him and set it on the table beside him as he sat down again.

"I got this from the shop down the street. I've been looking at it in the window for the last month, and always passed it by because of the fact that I was nervous. I have been avoiding this topic because I was afraid of whether you would accept me or not. But I'm not afraid now. And I want to talk to you about it." He picked up the bag for a moment, then set it back down, changing his mind about what to do with it.

"I'm not going to ask you to open it if you don't want to, but I do want to tell you that I am ready for us to talk about sex now."

He lifted his blue eyes to her face and held her gaze.

Samara sighed, she knew that Gareth would say that he did not care about a Christmas present...but she did. And she knew that of course he would want to talk about sex when she really did not feel well. Of course she wanted to have sex with her fiance, but the fact was that right now she was not in the mood. She wanted to talk to Gar about sex but she knew that it would be better for them to wait for a day when she was in the mood...and right then and there she was not in the mood.

"Gar," she sighed. "I am very happy that you want to talk about sex right now. But I am not in the mood to talk about it...or do it."

She took his hand and gave it a gently squeeze, surely she could make him horny another day and they could talk about sex right then and there. But at the present moment she was concerned in getting their pizza and laying down.

"I...I can't open it Gar," she said softly. "Not yet...not until I get you something. I'm sorry but it's not fair that you got me something and I got you nothing."

Gareth nodded. He could understand her thinking about wanting him to have something to open at the same time she opened her presents, and he could understand her feelings about having a talk about sex right at that moment. He'd just sprung it on her, she probably needed to think about it for a while. He didn't want to make her feel bad, so he tucked the bag under the coffee table and stood as a knock sounded at the door. He answered it and paid for the pizza, opening the box as he took it to the kitchen.

She'd ordered the greasiest pizza Mancino's made. Something wasn't right here. Why would she order something she knew her body couldn't handle? Then something came to him like a light going on in his head. Her medication. He'd noticed that she'd not had much of it when she'd left to see her father over the holildays, and he'd not thought to get it filled for her, and she had probably not done so either. So why the pizza? He didn't want her to feel like she had to eat it out of guilt, or anger at him for anything.

He left the box on the counter and returned to the couch.

"Sam," he said sitting in front of her on the table again. "I want to ask you a question, and I would like an honest answer, please. Are you out of your medication?"

Samara bit her lower lip and shook her head. She did not want to worry about her CVS right then and there, and now that she could smell the pizza she kind of yearned for it. She never got to eat anything greasy. She wanted to eat something that she shouldn't eat. She did not want to eat a salad tonight! Damn it she wanted a slice of pizza. Pushing past Gareth she grabbed the greasiest slice she could and took a HUGE bite out of it. Savoring the gooey cheese, warm sauce, and mild spice of the peperoni she sighed in relief. Sitting down she finished the entire slice before Gareth could say another word.

"That...was...good..." she breathed. "I haven't had pizza in over seven months."

Licking her fingers she reached for a second piece, but she knew that it would be better to not test fate. Sitting down on the sofa she closed her eyes and rested her head on the arm. She felt fine right then and there, but she was sure that it would change quickly...and she still knew that she needed to answer Gar's medication question. Maybe if she was lucky he would just forget all about it and they could act like it had never come up.

Gareth watched her anxiously. She had to be out of her medication, she'd only had a few days left when she'd gone to her father's and their pharmacy was near the flat, but he didn't think that she'd had time to get it filled before leaving. So eating pizza, especially Mancino's, and their Heart stopper, (as he'd come to call it) was not a good idea.

He wasn't remotely hungry now, but he knew that if he didn't eat, Samara would be upset. He went to the kitchen, picked the smallest piece and took it back to the couch, sitting next to Sam again. He couldn't take his eyes off Sam, he was so worried that she would be sick anytime soon. He kenw it had to be horrible for her, not being able to eat anything that had a whole lot of grease or seasoning to it. But he'd been more than willing to follow the diet that she had to observe because of her CVS. He didn't want her to be alone in what she ate, it wasn't fair to her.

He finished the pizza he held in his hand and wiped his mouth on a napkin. He was finished eating, and if he could get away with it, he was going to throw the rest of the pizza away to keep her out of it.

"Sam, did you even have your medicine today?"

Samara knew that if she said no that she would be in trouble, but she couldn't very well lie and say yes. If she did that he would figure it out immediately if she got sick. Biting her lower lip she tried to find some form of distraction, but every time she found something she hit a dead end. Pulling her knees up to her chest she rested her head on the back of the sofa. She just didn't know what to say at this point, and she was pretty sure that Gareth already knew the answer. He had to know that she hadn't take her medicine, and that there wasn't anymore to take. She just didn't want to tell him because of how guilty she was feeling.

"Gar...I," she sighed. "No...no I didn't."

She knew that he would explode soon, and that they would get into another argument over it...but Samara couldn't help that her prescription ran out. They were working on filling her prescription as they spoke. It just took a bit for it to be shipped to her. The medicine wasn't exactly common so it took longer than other medications.

"You aren't going to start scolding me, are you?" she asked, a small pout forming on her lips.

Gareth pinched the bridge of his nose with a small sigh. He should have known. Sam was hurting, and he'd blown up at her. He'd apologized, and felt actual remorse for upsetting her, but he'd not planned for them to be fighting tonight. All he'd intended for this evening was to spend time with his fiancee, and maybe go a little further with their relationship. He was fine with her telling him she wasn't in the mood to talk about it, or do it, but why had she not said she didn't have her medication in the first place, and then risked an episode by eating that pizza?!

"Sam, I shouldn't have to scold you for anything. I would really rather not do it at all. I don't want to fight about your health, especially since you just ate that pizza and you haven't had your medication. I will go to get it as soon as I can, but I want to be sure that you're all right first. You matter more to me than you know."

He looked up at her and lay a hand on her leg. She meant the world to him, and he would move the world to take care of her. He hoped she did know that, because if she didn't, he intended to remind her every day, until his last breath.

"Did you have the chance to call the pharmacy to have them fill it? If you did, I can go get it for you right now." He checked the time on the clock. He had enough time to get there.

Samara nodded, she had done at least that much. She knew that Gareth probably thought she was the most irresponsible person in the world, but in all reality that wasn't the case. She was responsible, she just got sick of having to take medication every single day of her life. She wanted to have one day where she could come home, eat something, and not have to worry about the repercussions of it later. When she had been hiding it from her father that had been the worse. If he wanted to take her out to supper she always had to mind what she ate. It was better now that he knew, because now he could understand why she was that way. But when she had been younger she knew that it used to drive him frantic with worry that he was not able to figure out just why she was so sick in the first place.

"I don't want you to go get it though," she whispered. "I mean...this is your day off too and I don't want you to think that I am stealing it away from you."

She knew that he would say that she was being ridiculous but sometimes she could not help it. There were so many things that Gar missed out on because of her. He was always set on suffering with her when it came to her diet. If she had a salad for supper, than he wanted to have a salad. If she could only eat chicken that was roasted then he wanted to endure it as well. He was so understand, but it just made her feel worse. It made her feel utterly loathsome that he went through that for her and had nothing to show for it.

Gareth felt horrible for Sam. She went through so much, and he tried to be there with her for it all, but he believed she didn't want to do it. But Gareth was happy to do it. If it meant that she didn't have to make two different meals, one that she couldn't eat, and then have to watch him eat it and feel bad, he was happy. The only hard part about it was when it came to holidays, and there were so many foods that weren't on her acceptable food list. He'd actually felt bad eating at his parents' house when he knew that she wouldn't be eating the same things.

"Sam," he said, leaning forward to kiss her gently. "As long as I'm with you, you are not ruining my day off. I've missed you this last week and I want to spend as much time with you as possible. How about if we both go to get it? I need to get a few things from the pharmacy myself."

He'd looked in their bathroom and had seen that they were almost out of a few things, and didn't want to have to go all the way to the supermarket to get them. But if she didn't want him to go with her, then he would have to make the trip.

"i can be ready to go in a few minutes if you do want to go?" He kissed her again and stood. "I promise not to get in your way while we're there. I know that you are responsible enough to get your medication, and don't want you to think I'm a mother hen about it. I harp on you enough about taking it, don't I?"

He looked down at his feet bashfully.

Samara gently lifted his face so that he would look at her again. It was true that Gareth did tend to smother her, but she knew that it just meant that he loved her. And he knew, very well, that she loved being taken care of...in more ways than none. She found it rather sexy that he wanted to baby her all the time, however there were times when it got to be tiresome. Gently she leaned forward and kissed his lips. Feeling the warmth from them she slipped her tongue inside his mouth, knowing that this may be the only moment she could do it before her CVS kicked in. And she could already feel it starting.

"I'll go with you baby," she cooed. "And I love you so much, sweetheart. And yes, you can be smothering, but I know you love me and that's why you do it. So...I don't mind that you baby me...I actually find it kind of hot."

Kissing him once more, she went to get her coat and came back in snatching his hand up in her own. It wasn't too cold outside, but she knew that as she slipped into an episode she would start to get more feverish and that meant that she would be freezing outside in lukewarm weather.

"We should go and get them now," she said weakly. "We aren't going to get them before my episode starts, but at least we'll have them for after it stops."

Gareth's brain shut down for a few seconds when Sam told him that it was hot that he babied her after kissing him, using her tongue in the process. He had to shake his head to clear it. He needed to be in his right mind now. Sam needed her medication, she was starting to look like she was about to have an episode, and he was being affected by her kiss. It didn't bother him as much as it used to, to his surprise, but he still felt that it was inappropriate.

He squeezed her hand when she took his, smiling at her warmly. He led the way to the door, grabbing his coat on the way, and released her hand only long enough to put the garment on. Recapturing it, he brought it to his lips as he grabbed his keys and opened the door. He locked it behind them and headed toward the front door of the building they lived in. Out on the street he pulled out his wallet and checked the money he currently had in it. He was going to have to use his charge card. He didn't like doing that unless it was an emergency. This didn't exactly qualify, but he didn't want to keep Sam out for too long.

"I promise I won't take too long, Sam. I want you to be at home if you feel like you're going to be sick. I want you in a comfortable environment." He turned to face her and gently pushed a lock of hair that had fluttered into her eyes back behind her ear with a small smile.

Samara nodded and gently pulling away from him she went to crawl into bed. She could feel her stomach beginning to revolt the pizza she had just eaten, and it just made her so regretful. She had loved the pizza and it had tasted great from the usual salad or bland crackers she was accustomed to. But now she wanted to throw up, and it was starting to become overwhelming. Closing her eyes she laid down on her tummy and placed her hands down on it.

Whimpering softly she closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would just help her ignore the aching in her belly. Squeezing the pillow tight she began to cry softly. No one knew what this was like, no one knew how hard it was. They assumed it was just as simple as popping a pill or drinking a potion, but no one thought to ask what it was like to lose so much weight, or the type of side affects that came with it when it came to having to take so many different medications at one time. She didn't even think Gareth understood. He told her all the time to just take her meds, but he never really understood how much it affected her. Both physically and mentally.

Gareth all but ran to the pharmacy and the first thing he did when he got there was to pick up Sam's medication. It was always the first thing in his mind. He wondered how she got through this sometimes. It had to be murder on her, not being able to have the foods she would like to eat because they might trigger an attack. He knew that since he didn't have CVS, he could never trully understand the torment that his beloved endured each time she got sick. Her weight alone contantly worried him. She could never gain wieght, and although he saw her first with his heart and not his eyes, it didn't pass his attention that she seemed so frail.

Gareth had a moment that he felt he needed to get home right away. He finished getting the items he'd come for and went to the checkout. Unfortunately, there was a line of seven people ahead of him. He waited with an impatient sigh. There wasn't much else he could do. When he was the third person back, Gar spotted something that might make his beloved smile. He added it to his order as he reached the counter.

Ten minutes later, he walked into his home, looking for Sam. He assumed she'd gone to lie down, she'd not been looking well when he'd left. He put the shopping away and got her present ready, taking it and her medication with him to their bedroom.

"Oh, Sam," he said when he found her on their bed. "You are sick. Is there anything that I can do for you?" He sat on the bed and rested a hand on her forehead. Setting down the vase that held the rose he'd bought her, he turned and pulled a light blanket over her.