Cats in the Cradle

"I wasn't a nice person back then, Sam. I was doin' a lotta drugs, a lotta partyin'- I didn't care about anyone else but myself because well... I pretty much thought I was hot shit after awhile. An' no one gave me any reason to think differently." He shrugged a shoulder. "It was bad. Your mom was a victim of my bad behavior. But... over the years I changed. Woke up." He sighed. "But that doesn't excuse what I did."

The brunette nodded. She'd seen Chris' father go through similar behavior. She knew what it could do to a family. "I'd rather not focus on that though," she said, "point is, you're not that man anymore."

"Nope! I moved past that now. I'm trying to be a good man. I'm sorry I couldn't have been there for you when you were growing up, but I... I don't think I was in the right mind to even be a good father. Too selfish." He sighed and ran a hand over his ponytail. "Ah well. Are ya sure ya don't want somethin' to eat? I was about to make something."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Samantha said softly. "I don't normally eat much between taking care of Hales and my strict theatre schedule."

"But ya should! Ya gotta eat. Ya gotta get some strength in ya, or ya'll will get sick. You're too busy to be laid up, ya know that." He said and made his way into the kitchen. He worked on making them a quick lunch of some soup and sandwiches, bringing his daughter a tray. "Here we go. You eat. Eat a lot. You're way too think!"

Samantha just smiled and nodded for a moment. She'd never uttered the words she was about to say in her life. "Okay daddy."

Shawn stopped when he heard the word daddy. It was such a nice thing to hear- he wasn't expecting to hear that. He hadn't earned the title yet at least in his mind. "Eat up!" He grinned. "I make a mean sandwich."