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Her caffeine buzz refreshed and four pages folded to mark the items she wanted to keep an eye out for later Donna spotted Sam in the crowd of arriving travellers.
�I thought Josh was picking us up,� Sam said as he pulled Donna into a warm embrace. Two days of assorted family members was enough for Sam. He�d spent some time with his father, had a couple of tense conversations with Theresa, sat at his sister�s bedside for a few hours during which she didn�t wake up once, and he�d even managed to get away to have dinner with his mother because he knew that if he was in the SoCal area and didn�t drop by for at least one meal he would end up very, very dead. Sam loved his family, but there was only so much he could take. It was good to be home.
�He has to staff the President today. Mallory caught the chicken pox from one of her students and, according to Josh she is the absolute worst sick person in the world, so, since Mrs. McGarry is in London until tomorrow Leo took the day off to sit with Mallory and make sure she doesn�t scratch too much,� Donna said. She knelt down so that she was at eye level with the little girl who was holding onto the fabric of Sam�s pants in a death grip. �You must be Meredith. My name is Donna.�
�Donna works with me,� Sam explained, his hand moving to rest tenderly amongst the mop of messy brown curls atop his niece�s head.
�Hi,� Meredith said shyly. She peered up at Sam with wide blue eyes full of innocence and curiosity. If she didn�t know any better Donna would have sworn the little girl was Sam�s daughter. �Do I get to live with Donna, too?�
Sam blushed and Donna smiled. �No, sweetheart, but anytime you want to see me, for any reason, just give me a call, okay?� Donna said, pulling one of her cards out of her purse and handing it to the little girl. Meredith stared at the numbers for several moments before tucking it away in the bib pocket of her overalls.
The buzzer went off alerting everyone that was waiting that bags would be descending the conveyor belt and Sam told Meredith to keep her eye out for her bag. Being an expert at travel Sam had only packed what could fit in a carry-on, but Meredith had packed many essential items like stuffed animals and books that she just couldn�t live without as well as enough outfits to keep her clothed for a month without doing laundry. �There it is!� Meredith exclaimed when a large suitcase in a funky floral print more commonly seen on Hawaiian shirts came sliding down toward them. Sam stepped forward and heaved it up before it could travel away from them and the three started working their way toward the parking structure. Sam was struggling with a wobbly wheel on the suitcase so Donna took Meredith�s hand to make sure she didn�t get separated from them.