Of course his brother would ask him if he 'had a girl yet'. That was so much like him. He sighed, running a hand through his short hair, shrugging, "Nope. Went on a couple of dates, but just haven't seemed to find a girl I actually want to stay with." Those couple of dates he had went on were girls he actually saw every day. Co-workers or regular customers at the cafe. They weren't bad people, it was just that he and none of those girls had really clicked. They still talked though. Sometimes they would even hang out when he was on lunch or such at the cafe. He considered them friends, but he just didn't feel for them in the romantic sense.

He watched as his mother led Cari off and chuckled slightly, shaking his head, "She just can't wait to show off the house." He had to admit, his brother had gotten with a very beautiful girl. And she even seemed really nice too. He just hoped that, despite his brothers bad past with girls, that he was treating her right. But than again, who was he kidding? If he could make a guess he would say his brother probably had two or three girls on the side. This was Reinier and he never changed. No matter how pretty or nice the girl he was with seemed to be, he would always find a reason to go chasing after some blonde bimbo. 

There really wasn't much to do during their little visit. Their mom showed Cari around and pretty soon after they ate his mother's chicken casserole she had made for dinner. It was one of his favorite meals and it was really nice to have everyone together again for another meal. Sure, he managed between his work schedule to have at least a few times a week have dinner with his parents and keep them company, but he also knew they missed Reinier and they had to be overjoyed to have him back here for the holidays at least. The smile on his mother's face and the way his father chatted with everyone said it all. This brought a smile to his face and when he was done eating, made sure to feed Midnight before heading into the living room with his father and Cari. He himself sat on the couch , playing with his phone a little bit. He had heard many a tale about his father's work and all of the stories he was telling to the girl was ones he had heard at least ten times already through out the years.

Though, when he heard Cari state she worked at a museum, he glanced up, slightly interested in what she had to say. Putting his phone way, he listened to her talk about some of the thing they had a the museum and couldn't help but notice the passion she seemed to have in her work. And she was obviously a had working girl if sh had managed to snatch up a job at such a place. He stayed there listening to she and his father talk back and forth and when he checked the time an found it was around five thirty, a half hour before he was supposed to be at work to perform. And so, standing up he sighed, stretching, before he made his way upstairs to his own room. Coming back down the stairs, his guitar case strapped on his back, he said a brief goodbye to his father as the older man left for work and spoke himself, "Yeah, I have to head out too. I'm working at the cafe until around ten." He said this information, mainly so his mother would know what time he would be home.

Yet, he didn't even make it to the front hall when there was a knock on the door. When his mother let the man in, he let out a laugh, "Well, if it isn't Jamie. What's up man?" Shaking his hand in greeting, he grinned a well, "In this small town, I'm pretty sure everyone is related to somebody." He joked, fixing the trap of his guitar, "As much as I'd like to stay and chat, the boss man said I need to be there at six, so I gotta head out. I'll see you later man." He patted Jamie on the back as he walked out the door, "Oh, and nice meeting you Cari. See you around." And with that, he left out the door, heading for work. 

~*~

"Just another hour." Samantha stated, sighing to herself a she sifted from one leg to another. She was starving, having not eaten since that morning. That and her heels were killing her by now. She just couldn't wait to get out of them. Walking over to one of the displays sitting in the middle of one of the aisles, she began to stack up some of the teddy bears and a moment later heard the door to the small shop open, "Hi, welcome to Garretson's. Feel free to look around." She stated as she continued to stack the bears. That was the way she always said hello to the costumers and it was the same way her father had when he was alive. 

Thinking about her father made her smile slightly. This toy store held so many memories of sh and her father and it was why she had chosen to run the store herself. The toy store was the very first store her father had ever bought and he himself had run it all by himself as well, where as his other stores he had other people run. After school he would bring her to the store and let her help set thing up, play with toys, and sell to the costumers. It was a really great childhood and it meant she always had great toys, new and old. Most importantly though, it had been a great way for her to bond with her father and spend time with him. It was memories she would always cherish.

Sam moved away from the display for a moment to grab the other box of bears when she heard giggling coming from around the corner, two little children darting into the aisle she as on and not looking knocked right into the cardboard display stand, knocking it over and the children to stumble. Gasping she quickly set down the box and went to the little boy and girl, checking them over, "Are you two okay?" She helped the two stand up and neither seemed to be crying or hurt, but more worried about the mess they had made. At her question, both looked regretfully at the teddy bears spilled out to the floor, nodding to say they were fine but the little girl spoke, her voice having a nervous tone, "We're sorry 'bout the teddys."

"The teddys?" Sam asked, giving her a smile, glancing at all the bears on the floor before looking back at her, "The teddys can be fixed. I'm just glad you two aren't hurt. Make sure you're careful, okay?"

"Yes 'mam." Both children said in unison making Sam smile more and laugh lightly at the fact she was being called 'mam even though she was still fairly young herself. Or maybe it was the fact these kids seemed much more polite than most kids she ran across. But either way it wasn't something she saw often and it made her day, "You can call me Samantha."

This made both beam for some reason and the little boy spoke, "Okay Saman....Sami..."

When she noticed him having trouble say it, she grinned, "If you want you can just call me Sam."

He smiled more, "Okay Sammy!"

These kids were the most adorable kids she had ever seen. She wished she just just hug them kiss their cute little faces, but she knew with these not being her kids and she not knowing who their parents were she knew that would look weird. So, she just simply smiled again, ruffling their blonde hair before standing up, "Good. You two can go back to playing if you want." With that she watched the two children hurry off once more, a soft smile on her face before she went to pick up the display and the teddy bears from the floor, kicking off her heels for now while she did.