Chapter 21

Sammy and Bobby were sitting with their backs to the couch in the family room, their legs underneath the coffee table. They were sitting just as their parents had at Raul's house, the night Raul and Barbara had first made love.

Instead of wine and a warm fireplace, they were sipping cokes over a pizza box, relaxing from their afternoon's labors.

Raul and Bobby had moved Sammy's bedroom furniture into the garage of Barbara's house before the wedding. Today Bobby and Sammy had wrestled it up the stairs to her new bedroom. Once it was there, Sammy happily ordered Bobby around, having him move stuff from place to place as she tried different arrangements for her room in her new home.

After that, Bobby had tackled the yard work while Sammy worked on freshening up the inside. It had been a pretty full day, particularly for Bobby who had unexpectedly had baseball practice. They were bushed, but were slowly recovering as the pizza and soda disappeared.

As they chatted over their feast, Bobby could see that Sammy was beginning to fidget. She was working herself up to talk about something. He waited patiently, talking about inconsequential things with her, until she was ready.

"Bobby," she finally began hesitantly, "I'm so excited about us living together."

"Me, too," he offered, reaching out to take her hand. "It's gonna be great!"

"But, there's something I need to ask you about," she continued. "Do you... do you remember... when we found you on the hill... do you remember what you said... about my mom?"

He dropped her hand as well as eye contact. "Uh, a little bit," he said, trying to sound casual.

"You said I looked like her," she said to prompt his memory.

"Oh! Yeah... right."

"My dad says that a lot, too," she said tentatively.

"Yeah, I know he does."

"Is that what you were thinking of? I mean, when you saw me leaning over you, did I look like... like a picture of her that dad has shown you?"

It was Bobby's turn to squirm a bit. He didn't want to lie to her. He didn't think he could lie to Sammy. "No... uh, not really."

"What do you mean?" she asked carefully.

"I don't know for sure." He looked up at her, resuming eye contact. "If you... I hope you won't think I'm crazy. I had a kind of... dream. And... she was in it. But I'm not sure what it meant."

'Oh, god, ' thought Sammy. 'Did he have the same dream I did?'

"Oh," she replied aloud, trying hard not to freak out; trying to make it just another conversation.

"Sammy... I've been afraid to tell you about it. And... I've had a dream like that... before. It was about my dad. And I've never told anyone about it except Mom."

"Can you tell me about it now?" she asked.

"Which one?"

"The one with your dad."

"I... it's kind of confusing. He talked to me, but it was like... like he was trying to tell me that everything was going to be okay. But he didn't want to tell me exactly how it was going to be okay. So I don't even know if it was a dream, or a vision, or what," he concluded.

Sammy sat thinking about what he'd said. "Was your dream about my mom the same kind of thing?"

"Uh, well, no, not exactly," he replied.

She hesitated. Should she tell him about her dream too? Not yet, she thought.

"Did my mom... talk to you? What did she say?"

"Sammy... I don't know if I should talk about it. I mean, I don't know if it means anything."

"Well, tell me then. It can't hurt anything, can it?"

Bobby remained silent, thinking about it. Sammy became concerned the longer he thought.

Finally, she said haltingly, "I... I had a dream about my mom that night too."

He looked at her with big eyes. "No shit?"

Sammy chuckled. "No shit." She pursed her lips in thought. "I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours — okay?"