Round Robin Story A

Sam was right, they were already waiting and so was the paperwork. It dawned on Sam in a flash that he didn't know Matina's signature and even if he did he had no way of properly copying it.

going for a short one for a change, see how that goes. :)
 
"Matina, I'm so glad you made it!" Fred Bulyamia said. It was obvious he was looking at the clock on the wall, and looking at his watch by the way it was positioned on his wrist.

"Thank you," Sam said. "Fred, this is my husband Anthony."

"Nice to meet you Anthony!" Mr. Bulyamia said, standing out his chair and shaking Anthony's hand.

"It's really nice to meet you to," Anthony said, returning the grin.

Sam figured that appointments never started on time, so he had a few minutes. "Excuse me, Mrs. Bulyamia, can I talk with you alone for a minute while our husbands meet?" Sam asked.

"Of course. I'll be right back, dear," Mrs. Bulyamia said, as the two of them walked outside. "Be a dear and call us when the reception tells us to go in."
 
Sam threw the husbands a quick glance, they seemed to be getting along, good, and then focused on Mrs. Bulyamia.

"I don't mean to sound intrusive, but you will probably understand that this is very new to me too..."
So true , Sam thought.

Mrs. Bulyamia nodded, encouraging Sam to speak on.

"and of course this is an opportunity few people will ever have, to see where ... I'm babbling, am I ?" Sam grinned and sagged a little.

Mrs. Bulyamia grinned back and nodded more vigorously.
"I'm about as nervous as you, my dear."
She stroked Sam kindly on the shoulder
"Don't give it a thought. You want to know more about us, don't you?"

"That's pretty much it, yes"
They sat down on a bench.

Mrs. Bulyamia looked around, gathering her thoughts "Where do I start..."
 
Finally, Mrs. Bulyamia gathered her thoughts. "I'm a housewife, and my husband works for a nice insurance agency, though you must know that because he's going to employ your husband."

Sam nodded at this. "Yes, I know about him. But what about you?"

"Me? Well, I've always wanted children. A few years ago, Fred and I found out that I couldn't have children, and that broke our hearts. We have the money and the resources, and we would love to open our home to your wonderful children."

Sam looked into Mrs. Bulyamia's eyes for a moment. This was a very sincere woman, one who really loved children. Sam could usually tell, after so many leaps, when someone was lying or not. This woman was not. Now Sam had to get down to business, and help the Bulyamias.
 
Could it be that easy? Sam thought as the idea turned out to be right in front of him. She loved children, she was honest, kind and seemed eager for a major change in her life.

"Well, frankly I was thinking about another partner for the business we're hoping to set up"

"the ... what was it, the daycare you wanted our old house for?"

"Exactly. As me and Anthony could use a transition time into getting used to me working, it would be better to have more people who can take shorter shifts. And as you may have guessed we would not necessarily be able to compensate you for the use of the house in the beginning, but if you would join us and provide the house as an initial investment..."

Mrs. Bulyamia looked a little overwhelmed by too much information. "Uhm, we should talk to Fred about this"

"Could work" Said Al's voice. It seemed he had timed his dinner to be here... almost... on time. He consulted the handlink. Squeeking bright green jacket??

Sam turned his grin at that into a smile at Mrs. Bulyamia.
"Think of it this way. You'd always have a babysitter on call. "
Now Sam was wondering if this wasn't going to make things awkward in the future. The twins would be surrounded by both, their natural and their adoptive mother, there would have to be agreements on what to tell them, and when and possibly a lot of complications. Then again, maybe not.
 
Sam's mind wondered about how this would work out for the twins. The twins would know where they came from and would also have to learn that their parents loved them enough to give them up so they could live a better life. It wasn't always understood but sometimes it was that way.

Sam smiled a little impatiently waiting for a response.
 
After a bit, Mrs. Bulyamia finally spoke.

"Alright... I'll do it. But I do have to talk this over with my husband first."

Sam understood. "No problem. Thank you. I know that it may be uncomfortable for the baby's real parents to be so close to it, but I promise that it is yours, and we'll treat it as though it's yours, and not ours."

Mrs. Bulyamia smiled quite largly at that. "Thank you very much, Matina. You are such wonderful people, you and Anthony. I hope that Fred and I can be as good of parents as you two."
 
So this explained why Sam had to be on time for this appointment, maybe this was the only moment that Mrs. Bulyamia would accept the idea... or he would come up with it. No matter. Mrs. Bulyamia's smile rubbed off to Sam in an instant. Al also wore a very optimistic expression. Sam expected to Leap any second now.

"This is looking good Sam. This daycare is really going to take off now. No trace of Fred Bulyamia having any trouble... "

Sam knew that look and bodylanguage. It meant Al found something bad happening and was reluctant to tell him.

"I'm sure you will be" Sam replied to Mrs. Bulyamia, trying hard not to let his worry flow into this end of the conversation. He really did believe they would. 'You will' he thought as she looked at him as if for confirmation. Al still wasn't talking.

Sam initiated them getting up and walking back to the husbands, and lagged behing just a bit to ask quietly "is it Anthony?" Al was avoiding his questioning looks.
 
"Are you sure this is wise?" Anthony asked. "Should we really be around those kids? They're going to have so many questions and every time I see them I'm going to know that they're ours by blood."

Sam looked sypathetic, "They deserve to have the best chance at life. They should know that we loved them enough to give them the best chance they can have."

That's all I could think of. Curse you lack of sleep! ;)
 
"But what about when the twins have to find out that the Bulyamia's aren't their real parents?" Anthony asked.

"Well, Anthony, that's up to the Bulyamias if and when they want to tell the twins. However, we can know that we helped to give them the best chance to succeed in life. Isn't that what all parents want for their children?" Sam asked.

Anthony looked down at this, before looking back at Matina. "Matina, I can't believe I married someone as smart as you. You had the idea for the daycare for income, and you had the idea of including the Bulyamias in it so we could still watch our twins grow."

When Sam looked in Anthony's eyes, he could see true love for his wife. The kind that said they would grow old together, and still love each other.

"Will you excuse me?" Sam said. "I have to use the bathroom for a moment."

"Of course," Anthony said, as Sam went up to get out of earshot.

"Well, Al, what happens now?"
 
“Well the day care works out well, but I’ve already said that…” Al was really trying to sound nonchalant. “Let’s see, the twins are doing alright, they actually end up taking over the business. You wouldn’t want me to spoil it for you by telling you their gender right?”

Sam was leaning against the doorframe of a cubicle, arms crossed waiting as patiently as he could. He was trying to wait Al out, but as he didn’t seem forthcoming…
“Al.” Was all he needed to say, trying to be as supportive as he could. If Al was holding back it usually was because it was difficult for him or he was trying to protect Sam. But he was letting him know that he knew something was up, and he wanted to hear it now.

Al lowered the handlink and looked Sam straight in the eye, looking somewhat defeated. He allowed letting his friend see that this touched him personally. “He’s going to leave them, Sam.” He said softly. “Anthony is going to take off and leave them. Their kids won’t take it well.” He was still holding back details but they were probably not good news.

“Why? It doesn’t make any sense. He loves Matina, he’s got his new job. What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure, but from what I can tell he has a very strong need of being needed. And if Matina is too successful, maybe, maybe that’ll scare him off. Or maybe it’s being so close to the twins and not being able to tell them he’s their father… Ziggy should come up with something soon.”

“Get Dr. Beeks on it, I need to understand his reasoning. And I need her to speak to Matina if she’s in a good enough state. ” Sam had noticed it in Anthony before, the thought of him not being the main breadwinner had frightened him and he was worried about being close to the twins. For one thing Sam felt he had to find a way of giving him a new source of confidence.

Al nodded and opened the imaging chamber door to get out.

“Uhm Al, what if I need to sign something?” asked Sam, feeling a little clumsy.

Al thought for a second “look at your passport” he stepped through the door.

Sam searched through Matina’s handbag, found a passport and sighted in relief. Easy enough, he’d remember the signature exactly and perhaps he could ascribe mistakes to being nervous.

- Uhm that's if people carried around passports back then
 
During leaps, Sam would often have cynical thoughts, one's that he would keep in his head and not tell anybody. Frankly, he was human, and entitled to some negative opinions, which he usually felt bad about after he thought them.

Right after Al told him the news, Sam's initial thought was "If it's so hard to keep him around, maybe it would be better if he just left". He knew, though, after thinking that thought that he wouldn't leap if he didn't help the twins. And, he didn't want the twins growing up without a father.

Glad that he had a signature to use as a reference, he returned to the waiting room. When he did, he found that everyone had left. The receptionist told him that Anthony and the Bulyamias had been called in for their appointment, and to meet them in the same room as before. Sam did as he was told, and soon he was sitting in a chair, next to Matina's husband.


 
Sam didn't say a word as he sat next to Anthony. He sat stiffly and awkardly with his hands tightly folded in his lap.
 
Hunter, the same man who handed them the paperwork last time, was still smiling in his chair. He had the same batch of paperwork, but the Bulyamias had already signed their end, leaving Sam to finish off.

"First off, are you feeling better?" Hunter asked Sam.

"Yes I am, thank you. Morning sickness, you know..." Sam replied, trying to sound like a woman who had morning sickness would.

"Great," Hunter responded, pushing the paperwork across the desk, to where Sam was. "All I need you to do is to fill out these forms. I see you brought your husband along with you this time, but remember that you, Matina, have to actually sign off to finalize the adoption."
 
"Well, both of you really" Hunter continued.

Sam drew a slow breath hoping it would relax him a little as he felt he was eyeing the paper as if it was a snake about ot bite him.

"If you are certain, which it appears you are, we can finalize this today and you can witness for each other."
The Bulyamias certainly looked eager and Hunter was looking at Sam and Anthony to gauge their readiness.

He looked over at Anthony with what he hoped was a lighthearted enough smile. "Could you fill it out? I'm so nervous, I'm afraid I might make a mess of it." and wasn't that the truth.

Anthony agreed in a slightly too grand fashion, and Sam found it quite funny to observe him in the presense of his new prospective boss. It looked as if Anthony was struggling between showing himself in the best light and being true to himself. And when the tiniest thing upset that balance it seemed to Sam that he could see him wince. But perhaps that was only because he was looking for it.

Sam asked all questions he could about the process and had Hunter clarify every term and phrase he was not 100% certain about while the paperwork went around and eventually made it back in front of Sam again... it still looked coiled and ready to strike. Al had already confirmed that this was the right choice for the twins, so he convinced himself that he would have Matina's blessing to sign this for her.

He tried to hold the pen not too tightly and not as lightly that is would shake as his hand had become a little shakey now. Strange, that such a little thing would make him this nervous, compared to some of the other challenged he'd faced. Well, the fact that all eyes were on him didn't help. OK, just do it. He visualized the signature on top of the dotted line, visualized how the pen would move to create it, and again, he felt his fingers move with the image. Then he timed one long in- and out breath with him reproducing the strokes on paper. 'representing Matina Golbez' he thought to himself.

No one took much notice of the signature itself, but the mood changed once he looked up from it. Some anticipation was relieved and some new excitement arose together with new thoughts, concerns and possibilities. It appeard to Sam that they were now all one family.

"Excellent" Hunter said and sent the forms round once more so they could sign and witness the signatures on each other's copies. Sam became more routined at signing with each of them.

So the twins and the Bulyamias were doing fine, Matina was to have a successful business, Anthony would get his new job. All it left was the other three kids and what would happen to them if their father left. Or not. About this Sam was currently clueless. His gut feeling wasn't giving him any insights other that he had felt a large knot in his stomach since Al had told him Matina and Anthony's original history and that he was glad he had not Leaped yet.
 
This is going to be a lot shorter than my other posts, mostly because I'm a bit tired, and I don't quite know where I can go with this.

Now all that Sam had to do was find a way to keep Anthony and Matina together. He thought that perhaps, Al might have to consult Matina in the waiting room for this, to see what made them fall in love in the first place.
 
They'd had a quick conversation before, about what they needed to know. Next to the things that bound the couple together, and that could be a good ice breaker, they also had to delicately find clues to Anthony's anger management. Verbena Beeks had a few guesses about his underlying issues, but was going to keep her mind open.

Al for his part had to keep his own anger in check. Even though Sam had averted Anthony's orignal outburst, what he really wanted to tell Matina was to grab the kids and get away before Anthony would hurt them either by leaving or by losing control.

Then they really just stood there waiting for Matina to see them. How exactly they were to go about things would partially depend on how she responded to them and which one of the two she'd feel more comfortable around. She looked generally comfortable in the state of the art pregnancy recliner they'd gotten in for her.
"No chance of any hazelnut spread with crackers and smoked bacon is there?"

Dr. Beeks grimaced a little at the combination but wasn't worried about Matina seeing it, tastes differ. "We'll see what we can do."
 
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Al said nothing but rather looked off to the side. He had to admit he was partially amused by this woman's questions.
 
(I don't technically know if this would work, but hey, enjoy :) )

In the end they’d gotten her the desired meal and found out that it wasn't a pregnancy craving at all. Apparently smoked bacon and hazelnut spread were a delicacy on pancakes... to Matina. It was as good an ice-breaker as any.

As far as she was concerned she'd gotten stuck in a rare and random cosmic event that had her temporarily stranded in another reality and all would be fine. She was not completely closed off to the concept of the supernatural, so that worked for her. Eventually, they gathered enough information for Dr. Beeks, Ziggy and even Al to formulate a likely theory.
They left her with some more crackers and got their heads/RAM-chips together as to what to make of this. Al was quite satisfied with the approach and wasted no time to instruct Sam.

In Matina’s house’s ‘Leaper’s conference room’, aka bathroom, Sam and Matina’s reflection both looked a little perplexed. “Shock him? How do I shock him?” And why? Was the rest of his question, but Al was way ahead of him.

“By the time Matina comes back, Anthony has to realize how much he has bottled up and if we do it well, he’ll also realize that it may hurt those he cares for and he’ll have to do something. ”

Sam nodded along starting to catch the drift. “If he explodes with just Matina and the Kids he may harm them as in the original history”

“…and then plummet down a guilt spiral, and so on. ” Al continued for him. He wasn’t happy making excuses for Anthony, but Dr. Beeks’ explanation had made sense.

Sam grinned “But I’m not Matina.”

“You’re not Matina” Al seconded. “I dare say you could have a few surprises up your laced sleeve. Nice blouse by the way, covers your twin belly quite well.”

“Right.” Sam couldn’t help but chuckle, despite the seriousness of the suggestion.
“I will have to find a way to get to him alone, the other kids preferably at Mrs. Rico’s place…”

“And make sure you find the right balance, Sam. Beeks is very particular about this. He has to go overboard enough to realize how bad he’s off, but he can’t actually harm you.”

“Where’s your friendly neighborhood shaolin monk when you need one?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing”
 
No. I'm sorry, I've been out of it for the last few days. The only thing that has really occupied my time lately is the Presidential Election :)cry :(), so I've been putting almost everything else aside. However, I'll add a new part. :cry

Sam spent his whole day thinking about what he was going to do to make Anthony mad enough that he would go over the top, but not bad enough that he would go out of control and attack Sam. He toyed around with the idea of telling Anthony that he had second thoughts about the adoption, but figured that would be a bit too dangerous. He walked into the kitchen, deciding that a snack might clear his head.

For some reason, hazelnut spread with crackers and smoked bacon sounded really good.
 
For some reason, hazelnut spread with crackers and smoked bacon sounded really good.
*LOL* this is the point where I must confess that it's actually one of my favoride own food inventions, and yes, I recommend black forest ham with nutella and pancakes :lol

Then again, he mused, avoiding risk was a luxury he didn't really have on most Leaps, and even though this one had started benign it didn't mean that he could afford to play it safe just because he'd gotten used to it. Even if he couldn't afford really getting hurt.

This recipe for one thing was a test of courage all on it's own. I smelled alright, but despite the original craving he had to force himself to take a bite. Weird, eek, but hmm, salty. Salty and chocolaty with cracker. Mhhmm. Could use a bit more hazelnut...

The adoption could work. Or he could try to hit closer to home. Anthony's role in the family perhaps or his job. Sam felt he would be able to evade, defend and possibly defeat Anthony if nessecary, but he would have to do it with the physicality available to Matina. That was possible too, but harder. Just how far to push Anthony. Well, first things first, find a safe spot for the kids.
 
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Sorry I haven't been around. I worked the polls election day and have been working on getting my energy back. What a day that was, I was so tired. :(

Sam took another bite of the food. He didn't much care for it but it was also so addicting. For a second he had lost track of time as he enjoyed the food he had spread out before him.
 
Errowyn said:
Sorry I haven't been around. I worked the polls election day and have been working on getting my energy back. What a day that was, I was so tired. :(
Wow that must have been a lot of work!

The kids started gathering around Sam
"Uhm. Angel Sam?" said a tiny voice to his lower right.

Ah yes, Angels, Sam recalled Al's 'cover story', he seemed to like that one. He hoped he looked devine enough with not too many hazelnut traces. He quickly reached for a napkin, just in case, and did his best to make sure he was presentably angelic.

"I know we're not supposed to be impatient" the oldest one took over "but is Mommy coming back soon?"
 
I am very sorry that I haven't posted on this for five days. I've been so busy. But I'm back now, so hopefully this thread will start booming again!

"Well," Sam thought, wondering what to tell the children. "I have to help your Daddy before Mommy can come back."

"Why doesn't Mommy just help Daddy?" the middle child asked.

Sam had to take a minute before answering. He knew that the wrong answer might insult Matina, or give away his plot. Sam didn't want to upset the children, and had to think fast for a good excuse. "Well you see, children, Mommy asked for some help, and God sent some angels down to help Mommy help Daddy."

"What do you have to help Daddy with?" the youngest one asked.

Sam was starting to get the slightest bit annoyed about the many questions that the children were asking. Soon, they were going to ask one that may get dangerously closet Project Quantum Leap.

"Well, I have to help him do the right thing. But, that's secret business."

Sam then hoped that no more questions would be asked.
 
"Do all angels have names like yours?" One of the children asked.

"Some of us do," Sam said. "Al and I are special angels that God sent to help people."

Sam quietly prayed that that would be the end of the children's questions. Not that he could blame them for their questions, had he been in their position he would be asking the same things.
 
Sam was still debating over how to anger Anthony. He could easily mention Anthony's lack of being a provider, but wondered if that would push him too far. The adoption was a bit more impersonal, but it would still be a challange to his authority, and Sam knew that he wouldn't like that. Sam didn't know if Al could project what the odds were that a particular subject would work, and that probably wouldn't help, since that would be objective, something that Ziggy was not good at dealing with. He now wrestled on two issues he could confront Anthony with: the adoption or his lack of working.
 
And Sam wasn't as comfortable as Al with the Angel story. Looking at the expctant little faces he knew how it could work for him, though.
"There is even a way that you three can help."

All three seemed very eager and were actually quiet for a change, waiting for Sam to explain.
"You can make sure that Daddy let's you play at Mrs. Rico's house for the rest of today."

"Oh that's fun!" one of them said.

Sam was tempted to warn them that the house may be in a mess when they'd be back, but maybe it wouldn't be, no need to worry them.
What to say to Anthony... maybe what Sam had to do was to feel his way into the moment once he actually spoke to him. Alone of course.
 
Anthony was in the back room, getting ready for his first day of work, which was next Monday. Fred Bulyamia promised him the job, so that might not work so well to mention his job, when he would soon be supporting the family. But to comment on his injury just might do the trick. Sam didn't know. He never had to make someone angry before, and it was harder than he thought it would be. However, Sam took a deep breath, and walked into the back room where Anthony was.