Later that night:

"Hey baby, I'm home!" Sam says as he walks into the bedroom.

Jessica looked at him then back at Eloise who she was breastfeeding.

"Not even a hi?" He sighs

"When were you going to tell me?" She says sternly

"Tell you what?" He says with confusion

"Don't play stupid. I do your laundry, I'm not stupid." She hisses

"Whoa, if you're accusing me of cheating, you're crazy!" He says nervously

"Not that! The fifteen thousand in this new secret account! I found the receipt in your jeans. I didn't even recognize the account number!"

Sam sighs then runs his hands through his hair. He sits at the end of the bed and turns to Jessica.

"It's my savings account that my grandparents made for me... I put it in there for backup." He says

"Where are you getting almost sixteen thousand dollars from?" Jessica says to him

"My parents.... they gave it to me the day we went to the pool. I didn't tell you because..."

"We tell each other everything... why wouldn't you tell me? Because you knew I'd tell you to give it back?" She says

"Yes... and because it's money that I'm going to use to take care of you. I want you to be happy and not see those shitty doctors at the clinic." He says quickly

Jessica stops for a moment and processes what Sam just told her. She couldn't believe his parents gave her money for her. She felt so embarrassed and helpless. She didn't want sam to have all this money to take care of her.

"Sam- you can't use this money on me." She cries

"I love you, okay? And I'm scared to leave you." He says breathlessly

Jessica looks up at him with tears in her eyes. It really hit her that he was leaving. Sam was her everything. For so long she has spent every single day with him. Him leaving didn't sit right with her.

"...I'm worried for you, okay? What happened at the park really scared the shit out of me! I never want you to feel like that ever again. I just kept thinking how alone you must have felt for so long. I hate myself for not asking you how you are more and not making myself more available to you. Jess, honey. You've been through so much and I put you through a lot during your pregnancy. I wasn't there for you more when you were living at Ann's and-"

"Sam, stop it. Stop saying all of this. It isn't true. Please, none of this is because of you. You've been there for me through thick and thin. Just you being next to me makes me feel better, or driving in the car with you, when you hold my hand everywhere. Sam I couldn't ask for anything more. Me keeping it all in was nothing personal. And I can't imagine how frustrating it has been for you, watching me not take care of myself, I'm sorry." She cries

She reaches for his hand as he looks at her with watery eyes. Sam was the most affectionate person. He was so loving and cared for everyone so much. All he wanted was for Jessica to be happy and to never hurt. Seeing her go through all the toxic things life has handed her broke him even more.

"I was going to tell you about the money before I leave. When I'm gone I don't want you to have to start working yet. It will be your senior year and I know how much it kills you to be away from Eloise. You'll already have so much on your plate and I don't want you to carry that extra stress. I was hoping that we could also set aside some money for the future." He says

She nods her head. "Just please don't keep things from me. We are a team. But this money can't be used for me. My mom and I talked about her covering my medical bills and Eloise's from when she was at the hospital. My insurance can cover the doctors bills. I'm sorry I haven't put in effort to getting better but I will." She cries

"Do you promise?" He says

"I promise. I don't want you worrying about me. Let's keep the money where it belongs for now. We just keep letting it grow until the time comes for us to be on our own. I'll set aside money too." She exclaims

"What about you working?" He asks

"Sam I can work. You'll need to focus on school too. I don't want you to carry the stress of working and supporting me. I would hate that." She says

Then, Eloise makes a little noise. Sam and Jessica stop and smile.

"Maybe we should save this conversation for another night?" Jessica whispers

"Yeah, maybe. I can't help but stare at her now." He says as he looks at the beautiful sleeping baby.

Jessica slowly hands the baby to Sam as she cleans herself up from breastfeeding.

Sam sits back on the bed and holds his daughter.

//-//

August 6th;

There was only a week left until Sam left for college. Jessica and Sam made sure they spent as much time together as they could. They spent so much time together as a family and tried to soak up every last minute.

Though Sam promised he'd be home as much as possible, Jessica knew it would be different not having him home. It was going to be a hard adjustment, but Jessica made a promise to him. She promised that she'd take care of herself and that's what she started doing. Jessica has a new therapist now that is helping her much more and respecting her option to not take medication.

Within the first week of Jessica seeing this therapist, everyone noticed a big change but were also worried for when the time came for Sam to leave.

"Look, I got her all dressed today." Sam says pointing to Eloise.

She was sitting up in the rocking chair all cuddled up in her swaddle. She had her eyes closed as she went in and out of sleeping.

"She looks so adorable, but honey it's 90 degrees out. We have to put her in a onesie and little shorts." Jessica smiles as she goes through the drawer.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but dress her to be all comfy cozy." He says picking her up.

"Eloise, you have to tell daddy that you will get so hot outside!" Jessica says in a baby voice as Sam lays her down to be changed.

Eloise opens her eyes all hot and bothered that her parents interrupted her sleep, but they couldn't help themselves.

"She's mad." Sam says "I might have to step away."

"She's not mad!" Jessica laughs

"Look at that face! That's the face of a baby getting ready to scream." He says backing away

"Oh stop! You're making her sad." Jessica sighs as she gets a little pout

And right before Jessica finished changing her, she let out a loud cry.

"I told you!" He says

Jessica rolls her eyes and picks up the baby. "You made her cry!" Jessica says

"No I didn't! You did!" He chuckles

Jessica laughs then soothes Eloise back to sleep.

"Magic." He says as Jessica lays Eloise down in her crib.

"Shhhh, let's get out of here before you make her cry again." She says walking out the door.

They make their way downstairs to see Ann and Madison that had stopped by.

They all sat at the dinning table with Jane and Dorthy. It looked like wedding planning.

"Oh perfect! You're here!" Ann says getting up and hugging Sam and Jessica

"Yeah! What's up?" Jessica asks

"Where's Ellie?" Dorthy pouts

"Napping. She's very cranky." Sam chuckles

"Well, come sit. We have some stuff to talk about." Ann says

Jessica and Sam take a seat across from Ann and Madison. Jane and Dorthy sat at both ends of the table.

"So Madison and I decided we want to get married this fall now. We looked over Jane and Sam's college schedule, looks like they have an extended weekend on October 14th through the 18th. So we decide to get married on the sixteenth." Ann says

"Oh wow! That's great!" Sam says

"I'm excited." Jessica smiles

"We were going over the guest list..." Jane says softly

Ann sighs and everyone looks at Jessica. "What?" She asks in a panic

"I don't know if I'm going to invite dad." Ann says softly

Jessica looks down then to Sam.

"I wanted to know how you'd feel." Ann adds

"Ann, it's your wedding. If you want dad there then dad can be there!" Jessica says

Of course seeing her dad would be hard, especially since she hasn't heard from him in almost a year. But it was Ann's day and she wanted it to be special.

"I don't even know yet. He hasn't even met Madison nor put in any effort." Ann says

"I'm okay with it." Jane says

"Me too, honey." Dorthy smiles

"But he wouldn't even be the one to walk me down the aisle." Ann says abruptly

"Yeah he doesn't get that privilege." Madison says

"Are you going to walk down by yourself?" Dorthy asks

Ann shakes her head. "No, I want Jessica and Jane to walk down with me." Ann tears up

"Wait? Really?" Jessica cries

"Ann! That's so sweet!" Jane sniffles

"You guys mean the fucking world to me. You've been there for me through everything and I want to walk down with you guys. I want you to crazy ones to give me away." Ann giggles with a soft cry

Jane and Jessica get up and run to Ann. They all hold each other tightly.

"Of course Eloise will be the flower girl and Sam too." Madison laughs

"I get to be a flower girl? No way." Sam chuckles

Everyone in the room laughs.

"Baby, someone will need to help Eloise with the job." Jessica says to him

"I love it!" Dorthy says cracking up

"We even put in a special order for you- a Fanny pack." Madison adds

"Oh my gosh! Honey, you're going to be a flower girl with our little girl!"

//-//

After they did some wedding planning Dorthy ordered pizza for everyone. Eloise woke up to say hello but soon became a handful when it was time to clean up.

The girls insisted on doing the dishes so that Madison, Sam, Dorthy and the baby could all go outside and hang out. Jessica and Ann made a fruit dish while Jane mixed up iced tea and lemonade.

"Sam and Eloise are so cute together." Ann says looking out the window

Jessica was cutting up fruit on the other side of the kitchen. She turns around and looks out. "I know. She's such a daddy's girl." Jessica giggles

"How are you feeling about him leaving?" Jane asks

"It's going to be hard. I'm sad you're going too. But I know it won't be for long." Jessica says trying to hold back tears

"Anything special planned before he leaves?" Jane asks

"...not that I know of." Jessica sighs

Her sisters turn to her and laugh.

"Tell us" Ann says

"Tell you guys what?" Jessica laughs

"How long has it been?" Jane says crossing her arms

Jessica gets embarrassed "what are you talking about?" Jessica says

"Please, I sleep in the room right next to yours. I haven't heard anything in a while." Jane laughs

"That's so gross. It's none of your business." Jessica hisses

"Oh, I know you Jess. If you were getting it you'd be bragging." Ann laughs

Jessica turns to her sisters with an angry face. "Almost four months, okay! Are you satisfied?" Jessica huffs

"Oh no..." Jane shakes her head

"Just because sex is what got you pregnant doesn't mean you can't have it again." Ann says making fun of her

"Try pushing a giant baby out of your vagina then tell me if you're ready to be penetrated. Besides, Eloise is always in her bassinet next to us and it feels weird. But I miss it, I really do. It's been past six weeks and I'm in the clear... but there is never a right moment. My body isn't the same anymore and I don't even know if he wants to." Jessica sighs

"He definitely does. Maybe he just doesn't know if you're ready."

"Maybe, I don't know."

Then, Dorthy walks into the kitchen.

"Are you girls done yet? Everyone is waiting but all I hear is... well I don't want to talk about what I heard." Dorthy laughs

"See! You guys always ask me stuff and then people end up hearing it!" Jessica pouts

"Go get your slow butts outside and I'll finish desert." Dorthy chuckles kicking them all out of the kitchen.

//-//