All I Want For Christmas Is You (Section 10)
Section 10 - I Dream of Sammy
Later that afternoon Sam and Mackenzie sat on the living room floor playing with all of Mac’s new toys while Mike sat on the couch engrossed in a basketball game and Jane, Grams, and Brooke all moved around the kitchen preparing Christmas dinner. Sam would look up from time to time, hoping that Brooke would come back into the living room to play with her and Mac, but Jane and Grams must have been keeping the blonde busy because she hadn’t seen Brooke since they’d started dinner preparations over two hours ago. Sam found herself growing increasingly anxious to lay eyes on her beautiful girlfriend.
Finally not able to take it any longer, Sam told Mac that she’d be right back and got up to make her way into the other room. She found Brooke alone in the kitchen, standing over the stove stirring briskly, and Sam leaned against the doorframe to stare openly at the blonde. As always Sam was struck by how truly beautiful Brooke was, and her heart swelled with pride knowing that the blonde was in love with her. Sam pushed from the doorframe and walked quietly over to stand behind Brooke.
“I don’t think I can go much longer without you touching me,” Brooke said softly, her back still facing Sam.
Sam smiled, “How did you know it was me?” She wrapped her arms around Brooke’s waist from behind and sighed when she felt Brooke relax in her embrace. She placed a small kiss on the blonde’s shoulder.
“I could just feel you,” Brooke turned around in Sam’s embrace and looked around the kitchen nervously, knowing that they could be caught at any moment.
“Where are Mom and Grams?” Sam asked as she pulled the blonde closer and studied her full mouth.
“Grams went upstairs to call a friend about a pie recipe, and Mom had to run across the street to borrow vanilla extract from Nancy.”
“Oh,” Sam’s face inched closer to the blonde’s and she could feel Brooke’s breath against her cheek.
“Please kiss me before they get back,” Brooke whispered before their lips crashed together hungrily. They both sighed into the kiss as their tongues swirled together, the intensity of their passion threatening to overwhelm them. Brooke cupped Sam’s face in both hands and the brunette fought to suppress a moan that eventually escaped her throat only to be swallowed by the blonde.
They reluctantly pulled from the kiss, breathless and longing. Sam pulled Brooke impossibly closer, resting her head on the blonde's shoulder, her face pressed tightly against Brooke's neck.
"How can I miss you this much when we've been underneath the same roof all day?" Sam wondered aloud.
"I know, I've missed you, too," Brooke whispered.
"I need to be alone with you," Sam breathed out as she began placing kisses along Brooke's neck. "Come upstairs with me."
Brooke threaded her fingers through Sam's hair as the brunette's mouth and tongue found the divot behind her ear. "I can't. I'm in charge of the kitchen until Mom and Grams get back."
Sam pulled away from the blonde's neck to capture Brooke's lips in another searing kiss. Sam ran her tongue along Brooke's bottom lip, seeking entry which was readily granted as Brooke sucked the brunette’s tongue into her mouth greedily. They knew they were being reckless but they didn't seem to care as the kiss continued and everything else just fell away. They were so lost in each other that neither woman heard the gentle fall of footsteps descending the stairs or the amused clearing of a throat that should have alerted them to Grams' presence. Grams cleared her throat louder, causing the two women to spring apart in surprise.
Sam turned wide eyes to the older woman as Brooke tried to control the blush creeping up her neck and to her cheeks upon Grams' careful appraisal of them.
"Grams, this isn't…" Sam started and stopped, knowing that the older woman had surely witnessed enough to know that it was indeed exactly what it looked like.
"Yes, Samantha?" Grams asked, the twinkle never leaving her eyes.
Sam just stood there dumbstruck, looking desperately from Grams to Brooke, racking her mind to come up with any plausible explanation as to why she and Brooke were kissing. She looked once more at her girlfriend, hoping that Brooke would help her out, but the blonde had turned back to the stove and wasn't meeting Sam's gaze.
"Brooke!" Sam whispered desperately. "A little help here would be nice!"
Grams walked fully into the kitchen to stand in front of Sam. "Are you going to tell me why you were kissing my granddaughter?"
Sam gulped audibly, her eyes growing to the size of silver dollars as the fear began to creep up her spine. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Again she looked at Brooke but the blonde was seemingly ignoring her and the situation. "Gra…Grams…I…we…" Sam gestured toward the blonde. "We were just…"
"Kissing; I could see that," Grams supplied. This was too much fun but the brunette was so flummoxed that Grams felt sorry for her and decided to put an end to the young woman’s misery. "Do you love her?" Grams smiled at Sam warmly.
"What?" Sam asked in confusion.
"Do you love my granddaughter?" The older woman asked again.
"Ye…yes," Sam stuttered.
"Do you promise to take good care of her?"
"Yes," Sam answered without hesitation.
"Then you have my blessing, dear," Grams hugged the bewildered brunette and kissed her on the cheek.
Sam watched as Grams walked over and whispered something to Brooke and the two shared a hearty laugh.
"Did I miss something?" Sam asked bemusedly.
Brooke turned and pulled Sam into her arms, kissing the brunette on the cheek. “Grams knows about us.”
“What?” Sam practically yelled before lowering her voice so that only Brooke could hear, “Did she hear us last night?”
“No!” Brooke was unable to control her blush this time but quickly recovered. “The other day after you left the house with Tonya, I was completely miserable and insanely jealous, and Grams totally saw through me. She got me to open up and admit that I’m in love with you and she urged me to tell you how I felt.”
Sam walked over to Grams and pulled the older woman into a warm hug. “Thank you!” Sam then kissed Grams on the cheek.
Grams rolled her eyes, “I didn’t do anything. I just told Brooke to follow her heart. I can see how happy you make her, how happy the both of you are. And I’m just as happy for you! Congratulations!”
Brooke walked over and both she and Sam enveloped Grams in a fierce hug, practically smothering her with love. Grams playfully fought her way out of the hug and walked back over to the stove.
“Now you two get out of here!” She shooed the young women out of the kitchen. “Jane and I have a Christmas dinner to prepare!”
The two women gave Grams one last kiss on the cheek before turning to leave the kitchen. She watched joyfully as Brooke and Sam walked hand-in-hand up the stairs, sharing secret whispers and laughing blissfully. She sent out a silent prayer that they would always be as happy and in love as they were now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later on that night, long after everyone had retired to bed, Sam and Brooke lay awake talking quietly and sharing languid kisses following another session of passionate love making. They’d had a hard time keeping their hands to themselves all evening - they’d even held hands underneath the table all throughout dinner - making them feel like giddy teenagers in the first blushes of young love. And no one seemed to notice that they were almost constantly touching - a seemingly innocent touch here or a sweet caress there didn’t seem to pique their parents’ attention in the slightest. Grams on the other hand couldn’t seem to stop smiling at them, and she’d even whispered to Brooke how much the blonde glowed when she was around Sam.
They pulled reluctantly from another kiss, both feeling their passion beginning to swell again. They lay there staring at each other, caught between the need to express their love physically and the need to express verbally what was going on inside and between them.
“As much as I want you again right now, I think we should talk,” Brooke said quietly.
Sam breathed a sigh of relief, “I was thinking the same thing but I’m not strong enough to resist an opportunity to make love to you.”
Brooke smiled and playfully pushed at Sam’s shoulder, “I see how you are! You’re always going to make me be the bad guy when it comes to putting on the brakes, aren’t you?”
“Yeah probably,” Sam replied guiltily. “But Brooke! Look at you!” Sam loosened her hold on the blonde and leaned away from her as she swept her eyes the length of Brooke’s body. “You are the sexiest, most beautiful woman…” Sam lifted her eyes and returned them to meet Brooke’s own. “And I have to tell you that you’ve spoiled me for anyone else.”
Brooke looked away bashfully, “Sam…”
“It’s true!” Sam exclaimed. “I know it’s probably too soon to be talking about the future and all that, but Brooke…” Sam drew in a deep breath, “I can’t see my life without you…without us. Does that scare you?”
Sam knew that she had probably said too much too soon, and she searched hazel eyes for any signs of fear or regret and was relieved when she found neither. Instead she was treated to the brightest smile she thought she had ever seen.
“It doesn’t scare me, Sam. I love you! You may not know this, but it’s the first time I’ve said those words to anyone and actually felt their meaning. Does that make any sense?”
“Yeah, it does,” Sam smiled in response as she smoothed a few strands of hair from Brooke’s eyes.
“When I was younger, I used to fantasize about my future. You know, like most little girls do. I’d meet the perfect man and he’d sweep me off my feet and take me to a beautiful house and we’d have beautiful babies and live happily ever after. But as I got older, that fantasy wasn’t fulfilling anymore. It wasn’t what I wanted. At first I thought it was because I wanted to travel and start my career before I had a family. But the thing was, while I could always picture myself with kids, that perfect man just seemed to get fuzzier and fuzzier until one day he disappeared altogether.
“And then I met you.” Brooke smiled. “Although, that’s not true because we had known each other for years, but in high school I rediscovered you. And you were this beautiful, intelligent, enigmatic, insufferable girl who made my life miserable.”
“Hey!” Sam protested.
Brooke placed her fingers over Sam’s lips. “Shhh…let me finish.” She smoothed a digit over the frown lines that had formed around the brunette’s mouth. “I couldn’t figure out why you didn’t like me, nor could I figure out why it bothered me so much. I thought I was a nice enough person and everyone else seemed to like me. I used to lie awake at night thinking of ways to show you that I was a good person, that I wasn’t just this spoiled, rich, popular girl who was used to always having her way. And one night during sophomore year I had this dream. We were at school and you pulled me into the Novak and you kissed me and asked me to be your girlfriend. And much to my surprise, I said ‘yes’!
“I haven’t looked at you the same since then. And later that same year, when I had that fantasy about my future, guess who showed up to sweep me off my feet?”
“Me?” Sam asked expectantly.
“Nope, Natalie Portman!”
“What?!”
“Kidding! Yes you!” Brooke laughed at the disappointed look on Sam’s face before she turned serious again. “I was terrified, Sam. I tried so hard to suppress my feelings and eventually I convinced myself that I hated you as much as you seemed to hate me and that you were this horrible person. But when our parents fell in love and forced us to live together, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep up the hateful image of you that I’d created in my head. Deep down I think I always knew how wonderful you are. The more I let my guard down around you, the more I grew to like you, and eventually love you. And then one day around senior year, that fantasy returned, and I saw what I knew was there all along…you and me together…forever.”
When Sam didn’t reply right away Brooke sheepishly lowered her eyes, “Sounds corny, doesn’t it?”
Sam hooked her finger underneath Brooke’s chin forcing the blonde to meet her gaze, “It sounds perfect.” Sam smiled. “So tell me, in this fantasy…did we have any kids?”
Brooke smiled shyly in return, “Three. Plus two dogs and a cat.”
Sam felt her heart swell impossibly larger until she thought it might burst inside her chest. She grasped Brooke’s hand and kissed the blonde’s knuckles before placing Brooke’s palm over her heart, “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that you have your happily ever after. I love you so much. I want to give you everything your heart desires and more.”
Brooke looked into Sam’s eyes as the brunette made her vow, and she knew that the journalist meant every word. She would have her happily ever after. They both would. “I love you, too, Sam.”
They kissed once again, their passion instantly reigniting. Though they still used their mouths and tongues to communicate, they abandoned all verbal expressions of their love and gave in once again to their carnal desires, making love until the sun peaked over the horizon before finally falling into the most blissfully exhausted sleep they’d ever had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brooke and Sam sat on Lily’s couch completely unaware of the daggers being thrown at them by their two friends. The four women were supposed to be watching a movie but Sam and Brooke were in their own little world and Carmen and Lily were already beginning to regret their decision to spend time with the two lovebirds. Lily had called them the day after Christmas and invited the two to her house for pizza and a Girls’ Night with herself and Carmen. As soon as the pair walked through the door Carmen and Lily could tell that their relationship had changed and they were no longer just friends. It was written all over both their faces; they wouldn’t have been able to deny it if they tried.
Brooke was currently sitting with her back against the arm of the couch with her legs outstretched over Sam’s lap, the journalist’s right hand resting on Brooke’s hip. Sam whispered something in Brooke’s ear causing the blonde to roll her eyes and giggle quietly. Brooke then cupped Sam’s face in both her hands and kissed the brunette for a long moment before Sam left a trail of kisses along a path to the blonde’s jaw and then lower to her neck.
“I told you turning off the lights was a big mistake, Lil,” an irritated Carmen stated loudly so Sam and Brooke could hear.
Sam quickly removed her lips from Brooke’s neck and looked sheepishly at the other two women in the room. “Sorry guys,” she stated contritely as Brooke removed her legs from Sam’s lap and turned to face forward on the couch.
“Yeah, we promise not to kiss anymore tonight.” Brooke declared earnestly. “From now on we’ll just be Brooke and Sam, your best friends from high school, not Brooke and Sam your best friends from high school who just discovered that they’re madly in love with each other.”
“We really didn’t mean to make you guys feel uncomfortable,” Sam added as she unconsciously slid her hand into Brooke’s.
Lily watched as Sam stroked the back of Brooke’s hand with her thumb. “Look at you two! You can’t even go a full minute without touching!” Lily looked on in amusement as Brooke guiltily pulled her hand from Sam’s. “Really, it’s annoyingly adorable but how would you two like it if Josh and I sat here and made out in front of you like you weren’t even in the room?” Sam made a face at the unpleasant thought and Lily exclaimed, “Exactly!”
Carmen spoke up again, “Don’t get us wrong, Lily and I are extremely happy that you two finally pulled your heads out of your asses and admitted how you feel about each other. Believe me; we were ready to lock you guys in a room until you told each other all the things you’ve been telling us this past week. But all this lovey-doveyness is a little nauseating, even for a hopeless romantic like me.”
“Okay, we get it, we’ll stop,” Sam held up her hands in surrender.
“Good. I can’t imagine the withdrawals you guys are going to go through in a couple of weeks when you have to leave each other to go back to school,” Lily remarked absently as she turned back to the movie.
Brooke looked at Sam despondently as the thought of being away from her, even for a few short months, filled her with such sorrow that she wanted to reach out to the journalist and hold on for dear life.
Sam turned her eyes back to the television screen and tried to block out the feeling of desolation that settled inside her heart whenever she thought about being away from Brooke. She knew that the day would come much sooner than she or Brooke wanted it to, and that it wasn’t going to be easy leaving Brooke to go all the way across the country, but the journalist knew that they’d get through it. Besides, five months isn’t that long, right? Who was she trying to kid? Five months without Brooke was going to feel like an eternity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~