Piggyback

Why was Claire running away?

Eric was still struggling with the kids.

"Go meet Desmond over there." The kids paused their assault and turned to face Desmond and Sam.

Desmond already picked up his phone and wore his most intimidating frown. It didn't work. The twins ran up to him and threw their little arms around him.

"Easy kids. Don't strangle me." He choked out.

It looked like he was in trouble. His face was already red from friction. Sam burst into laughter. Desmond gets strangled by five-year-olds.

The two identical children turned to look at her curiously. There was a boy and a girl. Oh, and they were so cute!

"Who is she?"

The girl asked, pointing at Sam.

"She's my wife," Desmond said, smiling at Sam.

Sam felt her heart perform a flip.

"She's so beautiful, Des! Well done," she said and high-fived him.

"You have a good eye." The boy said.

Sam gaped.

"Can we play with her?" The boy asked.

"No," Desmond said firmly.

Sam furrowed her brow in displeasure. The kids pouted at Desmond.

"You can play with me," Sam said.

That brightened the children's moods. They got off of Desmond and stood beside each other in front of her.

"Hello. My name is Paco," the boy said.

"And I am Kira." The girl said, "What's your name?"

"Samantha, You can call me Sam," Sam replied smilingly.

"Pleased to meet you." They chorused and offered their hands courteously.

Sam shook them one after another.

"Congratulations on adding another poor soul to your torture list," Eric said.

"Thanks, Pa," Paco said.

"Don't worry, Pa. You are still at the very top of the list," Kira assured him.

"My poor soul," he lamented dramatically.

"I want to make a special request..." Desmond began.

"Go ahead," Kira urged.

"Please put my darling at the very bottom of the list," he said, feigning sorrow.

"We'll decide by how much we like her," Paco said, superiorly.

"Oh, you're going to like me!" Sam said confidently.

"Can you piggyback?" Paco asked.

"Oh yes."

"Can you piggyback us later?" Kira asked hopefully."

"I'd be honored."

The two screamed in celebration, making all the adults flinch at the noise.

"Alright, follow Nanny inside. "You need to take a nap," Desmond stated firmly.

It was then that Sam noticed the middle-aged woman who was standing by the stairs.

"We don't want to!" They protested sadly.

"If you take a nap now, I'll read you a story before bed," Eric promised.

"Really?" Kira gasped.

"I promise."

The twins dashed upstairs. The nanny ran after them. Poor lady.

"Anyone who intends to have a nap should go now," Eric announced and picked up his newspaper.

"Let's go catch some sleep, Darling," Desmond told Sam.

Sam stood up and led the way, but before she could reach the stairs in the corner, Desmond picked her up and threw her on his back. He piggybacked her!

Sam tried to wiggle off of him. This was so embarrassing. She turned to see Eric looking at them over his papers from the sitting room. She faked a smile and wound her arm around his shoulder.

"He can't see us now. Please put me down," Sam pleaded as they'd left Eric's sight and were headed for their bedroom.

"No, he can't. But other people in the house might be hiding in corners, trying to unveil our secret," Desmond spoke softly.

Sam felt spooked. She could endure the trip to their room on Desmond's back.

"I must say, I love the soft feel of your body on mine. It makes me think of doing things to you."

Sam's face couldn't have gotten any redder. What a gross man.

Immediately after Desmond closed the bedroom door, Sam started wiggling. She dashed into the bathroom immediately after he let her down. To hide. How cute.

Desmond flopped on the bed. Life won't be boring anymore.

Sam came out of the bathroom later. Desmond was sleeping in the very center of the bed. She sighed. He must need a lesson on boundaries. She lay beside him at the very edge and closed her eyes. She hoped she would be able to catch some sleep before she would find herself on the floor like the previous time.

She hadn't closed her eyes for long when she heard loud raps on the door. She sat up startled.

"That's what you get when you hide in the bathroom for too long."

She turned and saw Desmond looking at her.

"You get no sleep. The devils are here."

She didn't feel bad about him calling them that at this point. It didn't look like he had gotten much sleep either. He must have stayed up to torment her further.

That wasn't true, though. Desmond had only woken up at the soft click of the bathroom door. He had developed a keen sense over the years. It was good to keep one eye open in his world.

The knocking persisted. Sam curses Desmond in her heart. She needed sleep! Desmond got up and opened the door. The twins dashed in under his arm.

"Sam! Sam! You are piggybacking me first."

Paco said pleadingly.

"No! Me first," Kira protested.

And they went on arguing. Sam's head was beginning to hurt.

"Alright. Sam will carry one of you, and I'll carry the other," Desmond offered.

The twins turned and sized him up while he smiled indulgently, then ignored him and resumed pestering Sam.

"I will carry Kira first," Sam declared.

The little girl leaped with delight. Paco whined.

"I'll pick you up next Paco," she said sweetly.

"I could carry you," Desmond offered.

"No, Desmond. I'll pass." And he did. He walked past Desmond and out the door. Kira ran to the window of the room.

"Why did you choose Kira? It's because she's a girl, isn't it?"

"Kira whines louder. I can't stand it," Sam explained.

"You have a point. Girls are always trouble."

"That's not true, Mr. Desmond."

He looked at Kira from the window.

"Kira!"

The hellion had opened the window and was leaning into the edge too much, trying to see something at the bottom. Desmond ran to her and pulled her out the window.

"What were you saying again?" He asked Sam sarcastically.

"Alright, young lady. Hop on," she said, getting off the bed and offering her back.

Desmond brought her to Sam and set her on her back.

Sam stepped out of the room carrying the giggling Kira while Desmond followed. They met Paco in the sitting room, pestering Eric to dance with him.

"Look, Paco!" Kira called him.

He jumped up and down in excitement and waited for them to get to the bottom.

"It's my turn now." He whined.

"He's right, Kira. Calm down."

Surprisingly, she didn't protest. Paco hopped on next.

"Let's go to the garden, Sam," he said excitedly.

"Alright."

Desmond held Kira's hand and they led the way out. Eric let out a sigh. He should have gone to bed when he had told everyone to. He kept the papers and went upstairs.

"Wow. This is paradise," Sam gushed.

The whole ground was covered in the soft grass. There were several fruit trees, a few shrubs, and beds of flowers. It looked so tranquil.

"So, what are we doing today fellas?" Desmond asked.

"Hide and seek." The twins chorused.

Desmond held up a cotton bag she hadn't noticed him carrying.

"Before we start, we must..."

Before he could finish, Kira bolted into a run.

"Come back here, Kira!" Desmond yelled and ran after her.

Kira was a smart girl. She kept turning him around shrubs, sometimes running right past him. Since he was taking care not to hurt her, it was taking him forever to catch her. While she was having a lot of fun, Desmond wasn't finding it funny at all.

"Do you like our garden?" Paco asked Sam.

"Yes. It's so beautiful."

"Baby Desmond used to play here before," he said intelligently.

Sam chuckled.

"How did you know that?"

"Papa told me."

"Who is Papa?"

"Timothy Landon," he said proudly. "He is very rich."

They were Timothy's kids? Maggie and Ann had only told them about Claire. No wonder it was her that brought them.

"Papa doesn't like Desmond. "I heard him tell Mama he's an asshole," Sam exclaimed, gaping at the profanity.

"You shouldn't listen to people's conversations, Paco."

She looked up at Desmond circling a tree with Kira. He was going through all this for someone who despised him so much. He finally grabbed her and threw her on his shoulder as she laughed heartily.

She imagined Desmond as a father. Someday he might have a wife, a real one worth marrying. She didn't know what kind of husband he would be, but he would be a great father.

She tried to picture what he would be like with his wife, but his wife kept bearing her face. She couldn't start imagining things like that.

Desmond pulled out a yellow helmet from the bag and put it on Kira's head, fastening it to her. As he was checking if she was comfortable, Paco tried to run right past him. Luckily, Desmond caught him.

"Not so fast, little guy." He sneered then wore his yellow helmet on him too. The twin dashed away immediately.

He took a bigger helmet and approached Sam. She realized he was going to make her wear one too. She glued her eyes to his face as he fastened the helmet.

When he was done, he noticed how Sam looked up at him with those beautiful, green doe eyes. He smiled at her.

Sam's heart flipped. He brought his lips close to her ears.

"We need to set examples."

Then he did something weird. He brushed his lips against her earlobes. Sam felt her stomach flutter. Must be those butterflies people talked about

When Desmond stood straight again, Sam was flustered. He winked at her, then turned and ran after the twins.

Sam huffed in self-disappointment. He was aware of the effect he had on her, and she wasn't even trying to prove him the opposite. He was using her for his amusement.

She didn't notice Paco running around behind her back as she stood there thinking about how to control her hormones. He suddenly shrieked, startling her.

Paco held his stomach and laughed hard. Desmond and Kira, who were close by, had seen what he had done and were laughing too.

Sam charged at him and he ran. Kira cheered as they ran through the garden.

In their short time in the garden, they had put up a tent and built flowers around it. Well, they just plucked some flowers and threw them around. Now they were lying in the tent with the twins in the middle.

Sam didn't like how all this was making her feel. Something was telling her she was going to find it difficult to separate from the twins.

"Knock knock." A high-pitched voice interrupted their 'sleep'.

"Does anyone of you want to have dinner with me?"

Sam laughed as she recognized the voice. Eric was doing a terrible job of trying to sound like a lady. Even Desmond smiled.

"We'll be right there, ma'am," Kira said theatrically.

They all came out and met Eric.

"You are not wearing a dress, Pa," Kira said.

"No, Kira. Let's go eat."

The party filed to the dining room and had a very lively dinner. Sam had never had so much fun in one day.

"Claire has a boyfriend," Kira reported to her grandfather while they were eating.

"What!" Eric squealed dramatically. "Tell me who it is so I can kill him."

"You can't kill him, Pa," she whined.

"Why not? Do you want him to run away with your sister?" Eric asked.

"He won't and Claire promised to give me his brother if I don't tell you I saw them kissing in her car the other day."

The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Eric and Desmond had frozen. They exchanged looks.

"Now you've told him. "You won't get a boyfriend," Paco said.

"Claire won't find out I told Pa," Kira said confidently.

Oh, she would. in a heated way. From the looks, Eric and Desmond exchanged, it was clear Claire was in trouble. The guy she was kissing was in a bigger one.