“Darlin’, I’ll love you forever…no matter what.” Brooke leaned over and kissed the insecure woman as deeply as she could, to erase any doubts that she could ever have. After the intensity of the kiss diminished, she placed one more gentle touch of her lips to Sam’s ear and whispered, “I love you, Sam.”

The young woman closed her eyes, savoring both the words and touch of her lover. “I was hoping you’d say that,” Sam whispered back, then opened her eyes, revealing a more confident woman. “Okay, I’m ready now.”

Brooke winked and nodded approvingly at the woman as she let her fingers glide over Sam’s cheek. “Okay Baby, just hang on a minute.” Brooke deftly opened her own door and climbed out of the driver’s seat. She grabbed the bottle of wine from behind her seat, then walked around the front of the car. Upon reaching Sam’s side, she opened the passenger door for the young woman to exit.

Smiling pleasantly, Sam took the hand that was being offered to her and climbed out of the 300. She looked up to see Brooke bringing the small hand to her mouth and kissing it while their eyes stayed locked on one another until Brooke winked at the woman, and closed the car door. Sam wrapped her arm tightly around Brooke as they made their way to the house.

The Gordon house was filling with family and friends as the time was growing nearer to the dinner hour. Being made the official greeter for the day, C.C. took her job rather seriously. She spent her time listening for the next doorbell to chime in, then took off running like a maniac to get to the door before anyone else. Her only competition came from Randi’s children. With Brooke being the only Gordon sibling left to arrive, C.C. stayed near the door, watching and waiting.

Casting a wayward look out the front window, the brunette spied Brooke’s 300 parked at the curb. Smiling, C.C. strolled over to the door and waited for the sound of the chime to announce the next guests. When the melodic sound of the Westminster chimes sounded again, C.C. pulled back the sheer curtain on the side panel of the door and looked at the two figures standing on the porch. “Hey, look who’s here,” she announced, “My sister and my roomie.” C.C. opened the door to greet them. “Glad to see you finally made it here, you two.” She then turned and yelled out, “Mom, Brooke and Sam are here.”

A lone, dark eyebrow raised on Brooke’s forehead as she wrapped her arm around Sam’s shoulder. “Of course we did. We wouldn’t miss a family holiday.”

The small crowd of children soon parted that had gathered behind C.C., leaving Mable Gordon directly in view of the door. “Ah… Sam, it’s so good to have you here.” The matriarch called out over her shoulder, “Henry, your daughter, Brooke, is here. Come and greet her.”

Brooke tightened her hold on Sam, then leaned over to whisper in her ear, “It’s ok, Baby…relax. I’ve got you.”

The young woman nodded slightly and muttered, “I’m trying.” Turning her attention to Brooke’s mother, Sam turned on her warmest smile. “Mrs. Gordon,” she saw the hurt in the woman’s eyes, then quickly corrected herself, “Mom, thank you for inviting me.”

“You are very welcome, Dear.” She wiped her hands on her apron and gave Sam a hug.

“Have my aunt and cousin arrived yet?”

“Yes, they have. As a matter of fact, we were just having a cup of tea in the kitchen. Sam, she’s just a lovely person. They both are. I’m so glad that you all could make it today.”

“Mable, what is it that you…” the man stopped short when he saw the blonde in the doorway. “Oh, Sam…your aunt and I were just talking about you.”

“Hi, Dad.”

“Hello Brooke. That was nice of you to bring Sam but I thought she was coming with C.C.”

“Hello Mister Gordon,” Sam nodded politely and smiled.

“Hey, Pop, of course I was going to bring her. I can’t stand to be without her.” Brooke turned to look at Sam, then back to her father. “Actually Dad, she’s here with me today.”

“Is that so?” There was a moment of uneasy silence as Henry looked from one woman to the other, then to his wife standing next to him. “Ah… Mable perhaps one of us should get back to the guests in the kitchen…”

“Yes… I’ll take Sam with me, I’m sure she’d like to say hello to her family. Why don’t you have that little talk with your daughter that you’ve been putting off?”

Henry took in a deep breath and let it out. “Yes, why don’t I. Brooke… care to join me in the den?” His gray eyes motioned across the hall to the room that was his bastion.

“Sure Pop, I’ll be right there.” She watched him walk away, then she gazed at the blonde, “You okay?”

Sam nodded, “I’ll be fine. How about you?”

“I’ll be alright. How about a kiss for luck?”

The young woman looked around at the bustling house, then took in a breath and kissed Brooke on the lips.

“I love you,” Brooke whispered.

“I love you, too.” Sam smiled shyly, “I guess that’s for real now… huh?”

“What’s for real?” Brooke looked deep into Sam’s eyes, “The fact that I love you? It always has been real.”

“But it’s really for real now… us, I mean.”

Brooke smiled brightly as she nodded, “Yes Sam, we are real and I love you more than ever.” She leaned in toward Sam, moving closer for a kiss when the sound of her father’s voice broke their train of thought, ending her advance.

“Brooke,” Henry called out to summon his daughter.

“Coming, Dad,” the woman quickly responded, then looked into the eyes of the woman in front of her.

Sam put her hand against her lover’s chest. “You’d better get going. I don’t want your father mad at you.”

Brooke agreed, “Okay, but I’ll be out soon to find you.” She leaned over and kissed the blonde lightly on the cheek, then watched Sam turn and walk toward the kitchen.

Brooke felt a little weird, entering her father’s den even at the age of thirty. It had been the room where many discussions of unbecoming behavior had taken place for not only Brooke but also all of her siblings. She stopped briefly at the door, seeing her father sitting behind the desk with his chair swiveled toward the window. The tall woman closed the door gently then crossed the room to take a seat on the small leather couch.

“Your mother seems to think that I need to talk to you, Brooke.” Henry swiveled his chair to face her. “So, how’s life lately?”

“Life…” Brooke smiled, “Life is wonderful.”

“And work…Is your company doing alright?” He asked studying her closely.

“Work is great. In fact, Peter starts working for me after the first of the month.” Brooke watched the expression on her father’s face as it turned more puzzled, “Dad?”

“Yes, Brooke?” He looked up from his hands that he had pressed tightly against one another.

“Just spit it out, Dad. I am an adult now.”

The one corner of Henry’s mouth turned upward at the thought. “Okay,” He

nodded. “I’ll treat you like the adult that I hope you are. You always did have a

no nonsense mind.”

“Still do,” Brooke smirked, then eased back into the couch.

“So, what’s up with you doing all this…” Henry looked for the right word to use, “…stuff,” he coughed, “for C.C.’s roommate?”

Brooke sat up, looking rather perplexed, “Stuff? What stuff? Do you mean the birthday party?”

“Yes, the party at your house, the band coming together, all the running around to take her places. Those things…and well, like today.”

“Today…” Brooke thought for a moment, “Today is not for her, Dad. Today is actually for me.”

“Where are you going here, Brooke? How is today for you?”

“Dad,” Brooke leaned forward in her seat, “I love her and she loves me.”

Henry shifted in his seat, “Brooke, you’re thirty and Sam… Sam’s younger than C.C.”

“By one month, Dad.” Brooke moved to the edge of her seat, “What difference does that make anyway? You’re ten years older then Mom. Rick is eight years older then Terri.”

The man leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the desk and looked Brooke straight in the eye. “You didn’t knock her up…” he stopped when he saw the surprised look on his daughter’s face, then started again. “You didn’t go banging her in the…” gray eyes rolled as Henry realized what that sounded like also. “I mean… ah… you didn’t go hitting her head on the floor like you did C.C., did you?”

A smile slowly came to Brooke’s face as she leaned back, relaxing into the couch, “No, I didn’t bang her head on the floor, Dad.”

“So, you’re serious about this. Is she?” The man voice sounded relieved.

“Yes, and before you ask, it has nothing to do with Loran.” Brooke watched as her father’s face took on a rather worried look. “What’s with the face?”

Henry sank back into his chair, “Brooke, I’ll be honest with you. I never thought that I’d have to have this talk with you.” He looked up to see concerned blue eyes looking back at him. “I thought I was safe. I mean, you never brought anyone around, you never seemed that interested in… ah…” Henry gulped back the word he was about to say. “You know, when you came out to us with your sexual preference, your mother agreed to have that talk with your sisters and I had you.” Henry chuckled, “You know… father to son… er… daughter.” The man laughed openly at his error.

Brooke hid her mouth behind her hand, keeping the laughter to herself. “You want me to help?”

“Help… what do you mean?” Henry began to perspire and took his handkerchief out to wipe his brow.

“Dad, I’m thirty years old. You don’t have to explain the birds and the bees to me.” Brooke thought about what she had just said and amended it, “Well, birds and birds.”

Henry choked as he tried not to laugh at his daughter’s concept, “Not that talk.” He rolled his eyes and offered a prayer to God above for small favors, “The talk about living with someone… marriage,” his voice went silent realizing that it wasn’t the word he wanted to use. “Ah… partnering. Isn’t that what you call it now?”

“That’s what I call it. What about it?”

“Well, it’s a big step and not one to be taken lightly.” His eyes studied his daughter’s face.

“I know, Dad.”

“Then, you’ve thought about it?”

Brooke looked up into her father’s eyes, “Yes, I have… quite a bit, as a matter of fact.”

Henry looked a little surprised at Brooke’s revelation. “And it doesn’t scare the hell out of you?”

Brooke looked directly into her father’s eyes, “No Dad, not when it comes to Sam.”

“I take it this isn’t your first date then, right?”

“No, that was in August about a week after Sam came over for dinner.” Brooke smirked, “And you can blame that one on your youngest spawn.”

Henry viewed his daughter in a different light now. “August?” His eyes bugged out. “I should have known.” The man shook his head in disbelief, “Cjersti… I should have known.” Henry looked out the window for a moment before addressing Brooke. ” Well, I guess you’ve taken her out a few times then, but why wouldn’t you say something sooner?”

“Dad, I love Sam. We knew some people would have a problem with a couple of things, namely her being an Anti-Zero fan, my being ‘Loran’, and the difference in our ages.”

Henry looked over at his daughter, then said only one word, “Randi.”

“Yeah, and you know what?”

The man sat up in his chair, “What, Brooke?”

“We were together before she ever found out who I am. Actually, she got pissed.”

“Because you were Loran?”

“No, because at first she thought that I was trying to imitate her biggest crush, Brooke Loran. She told me that I was messed up because she loved me, Brooke Gordon, not who I was pretending to be.” Brooke smirked, “She actually walked out. Sam thought I was lying to her, making it all up.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you correct that?”

“Oh, I didn’t. C.C. did.” Brooke smiled thinking about the lengths that her sister went to to keep them together. “She drove Sam back to the dorm and talked to her, then drove her back to the house. I still don’t know what was said, or what exactly changed Sam’s mind. I’m just glad that she did.”

“Brooke, what do you mean… drove to the dorm and then back to the house?”

“Ah…it was the day after C.C.’s party. Remember? They stayed over that night.”

Brooke giggled, “Well actually, Sam and I have spent every weekend together since the week after Labor Day.”

Henry let out a groan and visibly sank into his chair as he covered his face with his hands.

“What? What’s wrong, Dad?”