Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Samantha was a bundle of nerves as she was introduced to Iris, Cami, Lana, and Annika.
Each girl smiled and shook her hand, looking into her eyes, but no one gave any indication that they recognized her.
The entire time her mind raced. Had she remembered to remove those blue contacts? She’d taken off her makeup. Of that she was certain. The bra with the padding was gone, too. Of course, her wig wasn’t on.
But had she removed those damn contacts?
She needed to get to a mirror to check as soon as possible. Of course, if she hadn’t, there wasn’t anything she could do about it now! She couldn’t just change her eye color in the middle of the evening.
“This is my Daddy, Jack,” Iris said, snapping Samantha from her worry.
“And here’s my Daddy, Ace,” Lana said.
“This hottie right here is my Daddy, Isaiah,” Cami told her.
“And this is Matteo. My Daddy,” Annika added.
The men greeted her, offered their hands, and then all welcomed her to the mansion.
Stepping deeper inside, she found a beautiful Tudor revival house that was well kept and oozing historic charm. That didn’t mean it wasn’t welcoming, though. The atmosphere was warm and inviting—almost as if she could feel the love in that home.
It was a blissful sensation and she wanted to just stand there in the entryway and soak it up. She wouldn’t, obviously.
You don’t want to seem completely pathetic, Sam. Just be cool.
“Something smells wonderful,” she said as the group led her deeper into the mansion.
“I’ve already started dinner,” Kendrick explained. “I left the lasagna going in the oven while I ran to pick you up. Got the dough for my famous homemade bread already prepped, too. Just need to pop it in the oven, mix up the salad, and we’ll be good to go in about thirty minutes.”
“Ooh, we can jump on the trampoline while we wait,” Iris suggested. “It’s in the backyard.” She grabbed Samantha’s hand. “Come on!”
Samantha was excited to play with other Littles, but she felt extremely guilty, too. She’d attacked those same Littles earlier. Not to mention sat by while Monica and Marissa made fun of them for wearing diapers.
But now she was just going to act like it never happened and play with them like they were her new best friends?
That guilt only increased as other memories came to the forefront of her mind.
She’d been to the mansion before. Not inside. But outside. On Halloween. The night she attacked Iris and her friends with eggs.
You’ve got a lot to atone for, Sam. How are you going to make this right?
The turmoil she felt must have been written all over her face, because Lana said, “Is everything okay?” as they walked into the backyard.
Standing in front of the giant, net-enclosed trampoline, Samantha offered a smile and nodded.
“Yeah. Sorry. I’ve just… always dreamed of having other Little friends.
Now it’s finally happening and… well, I almost can’t believe it.
” She blushed. “If it’s okay to assume you’re my friends. I know we just met.”
“Are you kidding?” Iris said. “Of course we’re friends!”
“Yeah,” Annika chimed in. “We always love meeting new people and expanding our family.”
Samantha thought of reminding them that she wasn’t part of the family yet, so to speak. She’d only been on one date with Kendrick. The ladies seemed so excited, though. Why burst their bubble?
Besides, she felt the same way Kendrick did: this was going to blossom into something big.
Maybe something forever.
Experience had made her apprehensive about getting her hopes up. But this time around, she could just feel it.
This was real.
“Thank you for being so welcoming,” she told the group, feeling a little foolish but not really knowing what else to say.
They wouldn’t be this way if they only knew…
The four other women hugged her. It was wonderful.
Once they’d pulled away, Cami said, “Come on. Let’s jump now. We might not want to after we eat. We’d barf all over the place.”
They all laughed as Samantha kicked her shoes off and climbed onto the trampoline to join the others.
The group hopped around, leapt high into the air, and even did flips. Samantha fell several times. The other girls jumped around her, making her bounce on her butt, while they laughed, too.
Fifteen minutes later, the back door opened and Auntie Athena appeared on the deck.
“Oh shit!” Samantha called loudly.
All eyes went to her.
Thinking quickly, she wobbled a bit. “Sorry. Excuse my language. Just… eh, feeling dizzy after so much jumping.”
She was indeed feeling dizzy, but it wasn’t because of the trampoline.
What was Athena doing there? Would she recognize Samantha as Tonya?
Calm down. Kendrick was a cop, so he’s hyper-observant. He didn’t recognize you. She won’t, either.
That did little to calm her fears. Auntie Athena seemed like the type who didn’t miss much.
Great. This could get dicey.
It was as if she could feel Auntie’s eyes on her. Did she pick up on something? Was it already starting to unravel?
The thought made Samantha want to cry. What if her life with Kendrick was derailed before it even started?
That would be just her luck.
Samantha braced herself for Athena to reveal the truth. Instead, she heard the matronly woman say, “Well hello there, Little Samantha. It’s lovely to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you!”
Samantha climbed down from the trampoline, careful to make it appear as if she was still woozy. She needed that story she’d just told to hold up, after all. Besides, she didn’t have to act much. Coming from the squishy, bouncy surface to the hard ground would take a few seconds to adjust to.
“You’ve heard about me?” she probed.
“Sure have. Kendrick has told me all about you. Honey, you’ve really put a spell over that man.”
Samantha giggled. “The feeling is mutual,” she admitted.
Silence settled over them. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable. But she could tell Auntie Athena was searching her eyes.
No condemnation came. Only a warm smile and a soothing hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “Welcome, honey. So good to have you. I’ve heard you want to play at my nursery.”
Samantha nodded, worried that if she spoke her voice would betray how nervous she was.
“Well, tomorrow, if you’re free, why don’t you come on by and I’ll introduce you to the Littles that hang out there. It’s not the same crowd every day, but we have a few regulars who show up a few times a week.”
Samantha cleared her throat. “Thank you! But I have to work tomorrow. Maybe the next day?”
“You come anytime you’d like, sweetie. You’re always welcome at Auntie Athena’s.”
She hugged Samantha, and a warm sensation spread inside the Little’s core.
“Dinner is ready,” Kendrick called from the back door.
Everyone filed inside. There, Samantha saw Trevon and Auntie Caroline, too. She hoped her acting skills were up for the challenge as she pretended to meet them for the first time. If she wasn’t convincing, no one said anything to her.
This evening was growing more difficult by the second! She hadn’t spent a ton of time with Caroline, so she doubted she’d recognize her.
But Trevon? He was very observant. It was his job to be. Anyone who knew him knew he took his role as the nursery’s security very seriously. And he was quite intimidating.
Would he realize who Samantha actually was?
Her stomach was in knots as she took her seat at the long table in the formal dining room.
On her right side was Kendrick. On her left was Auntie Caroline. Directly across was Athena, and next to her was Trevon.
Great! Just great. If anyone was going to recognize her, it would probably be Athena, Trevon, and then Kendrick.
She was putting him last because he was smitten. He had blinders on.
As fate would have it, she was seated directly near the people who had the best odds of figuring out her lies.
Everyone passed around dishes, filled their plates, and started eating.
“I didn’t know you guys were coming tonight,” Annika said, directing the comment at Athena, Trevon, and Caroline.
“Yes, Kendrick invited us,” Caroline said.
“Yeah,” Kendrick said. “Figured it would be a good way for Samantha to get to meet y’all. Plus, it’s just always good to see you. When we’re at the nursery, with all that’s going on, we can’t really talk.”
Iris took a sip of her wine. “Hey, it’s kind of like a practice run for Christmas. You all are coming over then, too, right?”
Samantha wondered if she’d be there for Christmas, too.
Not if your secret is exposed. They’ll run you out of town!
Should she just leave now? She was already growing attached to this ‘family’. Perhaps she should save herself the pain of when everything was revealed and they kicked her out.
Play it cool, Sam. They won’t find out!
Trevon’s deep voice nearly rumbled the walls when he said, “What I want to know is if you cuties have been good this year? Or is Santa going to bring coal?” He laughed.
“You know we’ve been good, Uncle Trevon!” Iris responded.
He lowered the breadstick he had raised to his lips. “Oh, I know you’ve been good at the nursery. But would your Daddies say the same thing about how you’ve acted around here?” He winked and then tore off a bite of bread.
“Well, they’ve been pretty good. Besides a few infractions,” Jack stated.
The whole table laughed.
“I bet,” Jack continued, “that Santa will bring presents instead of coal.”
Hearing the talk of gifts made Samantha acutely aware that she didn’t have any money. She couldn’t show up to Christmas empty handed! She wanted to bring her new friends something.
Such was new to her. She’d never had anyone to buy for.
There wasn’t anything she could do about it right then. She’d have to worry about that later.
“Well, I know Lana, Iris, Annika, and Cami have been good girls this year,” Athena said. “But I’m curious about Little Miss Samantha. I mean, I know you’ve been a good girl. But I want to hear all about you.”
Samantha took a sip of her wine to give herself a moment before answering.