Bonus Chapter 3
Zander
My heart aches as I watch Sam sit on the couch, her legs curled up under her as she stares out the window, her little fingers drumming against the glass.
She’s barely smiled since she’s been staying with us.
The only time I saw her light up and smile was when we told her about sneaking the video messages back and forth to Sierra.
Seeing her unhappy like this, all because someone turned them in to child services, doesn’t sit right with me.
She should be a kid, outside, running around and laughing with friends.
Not sitting here miserable, missing the one person she loves most in the world.
She’s already lost too much to lose Sierra, too.
My brothers step up beside me. When I look over at them, their eyes are locked on her.
“Fuck, she’s breaking my heart,” Brax whispers, while Colt nods in agreement.
“That’s it. I know what we’re doing.” I head toward the couch, not bothering to clue them in on my plan. I don’t need to. I know they’ll go along with it.
"Alright, kiddo," I say as I step up to her, ruffling her hair. "Today’s all about you. We’re gonna spoil you rotten."
"Like a princess!" Brax adds, grinning.
Sam turns, her eyes lighting up for the first time in days. "Really?"
"Absolutely," Colt confirms. "First stop—ice cream. And we’re getting extra sprinkles."
“I love sprinkles,” she squeals as she jumps up from the couch, taking a turn hugging each of us.
“Then I guess you need to go and get your shoes so we can go.” She doesn’t hesitate, instead she takes off in a dash, darting out of the room.
“So what’s the plan?” Colt asks.
“I saw them setting up a little fair in the parking lot of Hudson’s yesterday. We can take her there, let her play some games, then come home. I’m going to let her paint my nails, and then we can watch a movie.”
“Sounds fun. Hell, I'll let her paint my nails too. I’ll even let her paint them pink.” Brax smiles brightly.
“Okay, I’m ready!” Sam yells as she comes running into the room, skidding to a halt in front of us.
“Then let’s go. Want to ride in the back with me, Princess?” I ask her, to which she eagerly nods.
We all head outside and pile into the Jeep and drive to Sam’s favorite ice cream shop, Tastee Freeze. She manages to con us into getting the biggest cone possible, and drowning it in rainbow sprinkles.
True to our word, Colt, Brax, and myself get the same as her.
Watching Colt eat the ice cream was the best, especially since he’s not fond of it.
Particularly strawberry, which is what Sam chose for him.
Each bite he took was a laugh for the three of us as we got to watch the show of cringing faces he made.
“It’s okay, Colton. You don’t have to eat it.” Sam finally speaks up, putting him out of his misery.
“Nope, it’s your favorite, and I’m eating it.” He takes another bite, trying to hide his grimace as he swallows it. I wonder for a moment why he didn’t take the out. The only thing I can think of is that it’s his way of punishing himself for being a dick to Sierra.
From there, we head to the pop-up carnival. Sam’s eyes light up when we pull into the parking lot.
“Can we go on all the rides? If it costs too much, we don’t have to.”
Knowing that Sierra had to work so hard just to provide for her and Sam guts me.
“We have it covered. We’re riding all the rides,” Colt blurts as he jumps out of the Jeep and opens her door, taking her hand in his. “Let’s go get some tickets.”
Brax and I double over laughing before running to catch up with them.
True to Colt’s word, we go on every single ride, not once, but twice.
With each one, our laughter mixes with the sounds of the fair brightening our moods even more.
Sam’s favorite was the carousel. She made sure to pick the biggest horse and wave like a queen to the crowd.
After the rides are done, we play the games and lastly get our faces painted—Brax ends up with a ridiculous tiger face that has us all cracking up.
It was a perfect day and Sam didn’t lose her smile once. And we still have more planned for her.
When we make it back home, we let Sam take charge.
“We’re thinking we want nails as pretty as yours. Will you paint ours?” I ask her.
“For real?” She gasps, unable to believe we’re wanting her to.
“Yep!” we all blurt in unison.
She takes off for her room, coming back with various fingernail polishes in hand.
“Do you want me to paint your fingers or toes?”
I tap my finger on my chin as I think about my answer. “Both,” I finally decide.
She takes her time painting each of our fingernails one by one. Colt winces at the bright pink polish but lets her do it, anyway.
"This better not end up on the internet," he mutters, making us all laugh.
We make sure to snap plenty of pictures for Sierra—though deep down, we all hope she’ll never actually see them. No way in hell do I want her thinking I’m not manly enough for her.
Once we all look pretty with our bright nails, we cuddle up on the couch with popcorn and turn on Moana.
Sam snuggles up against me and is fast asleep before the movie is halfway through.
"I think she had a great day," Brax whispers, not wanting to wake her.
"I think so too," Colt agrees.
I look down at the sleeping girl beside me. "Too bad Sierra wasn’t here to see it."
"We’ll make sure to do it again once they can see each other," Brax promises.