Mommy, Where Is Daddy? The Forsaken Daughter's Return novel Chapter 37

"You know... you are like Mary Poppins' bag." Samantha pursed her lips, turning to Ethan before announcing, "You come in a bag, full of surprises."

That made Ethan give out a genuine smile. He leaned over to Samantha and declared, "Speaking of surprises, you sure gave me the biggest... surprise in my life."

Samantha chuckled and suggested, "Showing up, having two kids?"

"I suppose," with his business-like expression, he said while leaning sideways, maintaining the stare at Samantha.

While munching on her popcorn, Samantha realized how rarely Ethan looked at the screen. She whispered, "You are barely watching."

"I'm listening," Ethan answered.

She glanced at him for a second and said, "You did not eat any of the popcorn."

"I'm feeling all tired from the trip. I can't move my hands. Do you mind... feeding me?" Ethan said it so casually, it did not seem like he was making a move.

It utterly made Samantha giggle while shaking her head.

"It's fine if you don't - "

"Here," Samantha offered a popcorn, going into his mouth.

"Thank you, Sam. You are very kind," Ethan while chewing down the popcorn.

Up until the end of the Marry Poppins movie, Samantha wound up feeding Ethan a piece of popcorn each time.

As the film progressed, Ethan would ask a question, now and then.

"Ah, so this is where supercalifragilisticexpialidocious came from," remarked Ethan, seeing the part where Marry Poppins introduced a new word. With a smirk on his face, he asked, "How does Kyle like watching this?"

"He doesn't really love it, but just watches it for my sake and Kenzie's," responded Samantha. Shifting her eyes back on Ethan, she added, "I'm surprised you are still awake, though."

Ethan cleared his throat and fixed his coat before answering, "It's a... new learning. I'm always awake when something new enters my brain."

When they reached the part of the movie where Marry Poppins sang "Stay Awake" to the children, he suggested, "I bet... you sang this to them in order to sleep."

Samantha chuckled and admitted, "Yeah, when they were three years old. It's not working now though."

"Tell me, Sam... How did you raise the children on your own? What was it like?" Ethan inquired while adjusting his torso, perfectly turning to Samantha.

The probing made Samantha sigh and put the popcorn on the other seat. After wiping her fingers with a tissue, she said, "It was hard, Ethan... It was so hard."

Taking another deep breath, she told, "When they were born, I had maybe just two to four hours of sleep every day, even with aunt's help."

"They were feeding every two hours and cry out of nowhere. I just could not understand it. Back then, my aunt was still working and during the day, I was alone to take care of them." Samantha looked down and admitted, "Sometimes, I felt lost and angry at myself."

Halting her words, she gradually turned to Ethan and told, "I think... the worst part was when I could not produce all the milk they needed. At eight months, my breast milk depleted, and that was when."

Samantha became nostalgic before she revealed, "That was when I started struggling to provide for them. Two cans of milk every week, plus their diapers, vaccines. Grandma Matilda and aunt Diana aided in providing for me, but it was just not enough. Especially since grandma's funds were controlled by my father as well... Sometimes, my grandma would send money on time, but sometimes, she could not. Especially when she was unable to get out of the military camp."

She was feeling very emotional, recalling those trying times that Ethan had to comfort her, caressing on her back and reaching for her hand. He stated, "I'm sorry, Sam. I really am."