Savage Love (27 page)

     “They really won’t let anyone else visit?” Samantha asked hopefully.

     “Sorry, Honey. Bryson and Kate got a couple of motels rooms nearby and are flying home this afternoon. They can’t even come back to say goodbye. They are trying to keep their patients as calm as possible without too much excitement. Samantha…how are you doing?”

     “I’m doing better than I had thought possible. I have friends praying for us and I am trying to stay busy, on some good advice from my Pastor.”

     “Good girl! Stand in faith in His Word.”

     “I will sure try my best. Call me anytime day or night to keep me informed and tell Daffyd I love him,” said Samantha.

     “I will go one step farther and give him a hug and a kiss from you!”

Chapter 27

Healing

     Spring came with a burst of color and warm weather. Samantha found herself at The Mountain Home for Spring Break with the whole family…except Daffyd and Bryson. Daffyd was still fighting his battle in Mexico and Bryson had flown down to give Lucille a break. Instead of going to her home, she came to spend time with them all. Bryce had arrived the week before Seanna and Samantha
, getting an early start on his Spring break. Seanna had arrived the day after her mom. The Montana weather was much warmer than Wisconsin and the kids were in the pool. The rest of them were on the patio soaking up the warmth and chatting when Samantha’s cell phone rang.

    
“Everybody! It’s Daffyd!” she yelled before she answered. “Hello…Daffyd,” she said excitedly.

     “Samantha can you hear me?” Daffyd asked.

     “Yes, I can hear you!”

     “Are you close to everyone?” he asked.

     “They are all right here, Daffyd. We are out on the patio.”

     “Can you put me on speakerphone?” he asked.

     “Ok, Daffyd. We can all hear you now. The kids are out of the pool and are here with your Mom and Trisha and Leal.”

     “Dad is here with me and I have you all on speaker phone
too,” said Daffyd.

     “Hi Bryson…Hi Honey…Hi Grandpa,” said several voices at once.

     “Hi everyone!” yelled Bryson in the background.

     “I have something pretty important to tell you...” said Daffyd.

     Everyone in Montana looked at one another with varying degrees of hope and excitement.
Oh, Lord, please let this be good news…let him be cancer free,
thought Samantha.

     “Last night at ten thirty I asked Jesus to come into my heart.”

     “Oh, Son. I am so proud of you!” said Lucille.

     “That’s great Uncle Daffyd,” said Bryce.

     “It’s about time,” said Trisha.

     “I have met so many people here with such great faith. I know all of you have plenty to spare, but these people are in the same boat as me and some of them a lot worse off than me, but they still trusted God. Then this sweet young girl passed away yesterday with all of her family around her. I just couldn’t believe how calm and loving they all were. No one was panicked or afraid. It was so peaceful and…I just can’t explain it, but I knew right then that I was ready to just give up and let God in.”

     “How are you feeling Daffyd,” asked Samantha trying not to sound disappointed.

     “I feel wonderful! I have never felt so un-anxious and un-worried in my life!”

     “No…I mean physically,” she clarified.

     “Oh…qui
te a lot better, but I’m not scared anymore. I’m not afraid to die,” he answered.

     “Good for you, Daffyd,” said Samantha as she got up and
went in the house.

     “Mom!” yelled Seanna with a frown.

     “Let her go, Sea. She’s just scared…give her some time,” said Bryce.

     “What’s going on?” asked Daffyd.

     “Mom’s having a meltdown again,” said Seanna, totally disgusted.

     “I thought she’d be happy…” said Daffyd confused.

     “Daffyd, this has been really hard on Samantha. Being away from you for so long and worried about your health. She has been doing pretty well, but I think she was hoping that your good news was more about the physical than the spiritual. I’ll talk to her later after she calms down a little,” said Lucille.

     “Well
, the rest of us are thrilled. We are really a family now, Daffyd!” said Seanna.

     “Yep…
Brother
Daffyd,” laughed Leal.

     “I hope to see you all soon. Keep me in your prayers. We are starting a new phase in the treatment tomorrow,” he asked.

     “We will,” they agreed.

     “Well I better go, thanks for seeing after Samantha, Mom. And Seanna cut your mom some slack, girl.”

     “Ok, Daffyd,” she agreed.

    
“Promise?”

    
“Promise!”

     Lucille found Samantha lying in bed with a pile of tissue on the pillow beside her. The room was dark and she could hear the quiet crying from the door.    “Honey, it’s Lucille…can I come in?”

     “Ok…”

     Lucille sat on the bed next to Samantha and patted her on the shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

     “I feel awful. The most important thing that can possibly happen in a person’s life has happened for Daffyd and I can’t even be happy about it!” she choked out.

     “Why is that, do you think?” asked Lucille gently.

     “It wasn’t what
I
wanted to hear. I
wanted
to hear him say that he was healed, that he was cancer free and coming home,” she sobbed.

     “Honey, that’s something we all want to hear. But as his Mom, I am so happy and relieved that Daffyd is saved. I am convinced that Daffyd will be healed…whether here or in heaven. But had he
not
gotten saved then I wouldn’t be confident of his healing. He could have, like so many others, died and spent eternity separated from God.”

     “Oh, Lucille, I feel so selfish. I want Daffyd healed for
me,
so I can be happy and feel fulfilled. I prayed more for Daffyd’s healing than I did for his Salvation. What kind of a human being does that make me?”

     “Just that, human,” Lucille answered her.

     Samantha sat up in bed and blew her nose loudly. Lucille got up and grabbed the small garbage can and brought it back to Samantha. After Samantha had picked up all the evidence of her childish pity party, she looked up at Lucille with a lopsided grin.

     “
I guess Daffyd is pretty disappointed in me,” she stated.

     “I think he’ll get over it. Besides
, when you first get born again, it takes a lot to bring you down. I’m thinking he’ll be flying high for a while. And I want you to think about how much stronger his faith will be now when he confesses his healing,” stated Lucille with her eyebrows up.

     “You’re right. He really believed that God could and would heal others, now he should be able to believe that God will heal
him,”
said Samantha. “What else did he say after I ran away?”

     “He asked us to pray for him. They are starting some new treatments tomorrow.”

     “Sounds like perfect timing.”

     “Sounds like
God’s
timing!” said Daffyd’s mom. “Now, go wash your face and maybe change your shirt. You’ve managed to just about soak that one and let’s go see what Trisha has whipped up for dinner.

     “No matter what she made, I think I will be eating some ‘humble pie’,” said Samantha.

     Samantha apologized to everyone around the dinner table without making any excuses for her behavior. Leal mentioned how hard it had all been on everyone and told Samantha that that was what family was all about.

     “We get to be real around each other without worrying if they are going to stop loving us. My grandma always said ‘Home is where you can act the worst and still be loved the most.’” said Leal.

     “I’d sure like to meet that lady some day,” laughed Bryce.

     “I think by now we can safely say that the ‘rose colored glasses’ are off,” said Trisha. “We’ve gotten a chance to see the good and bad of each other.”

    
“Nope, not yet. You haven’t seen the really bad me,” said Seanna shaking her head.

     “Oh, really?” asked Bryce.

     “She’s right, it takes a lot to get Seanna riled up, but when she does, watch out!” warned Samantha.

     “So what ‘riles’ you up?” asked Bryce.

     “One time she punched a boy in the mouth for saying something about her best friend,” said Samantha.

     “He called her a heifer,” said Seanna with a shrug.

     “So you get mad when people get picked on?” asked Leal.

     “Only if they can’t defend themselves, some people can handle it
, Sara couldn’t. She was a little chubby but she was also the sweetest person I knew and didn’t deserve to be treated mean by those boys.”

     “Remind me to never get you mad,” laughed Bryce, “I kind of like my smile the way it is.”

     “Don’t worry about your teeth, I’d have to stand on a chair to reach your mouth. I’d worry about your ribs,” said Seanna.

    
“Point taken. So what else don’t we know about each other. Anything else we should be warned about?” asked Samantha.

     “I’m afraid of mice and rats, well, I guess rodents in general,” shared Trisha.

     “I hate watching the news,” said Lucille.

     “I tend to feel sorry for myself,” said Samantha.

     “I sometimes get up in the middle of the night to sneak cheese and crackers,” offered Bryce.

     “That explains a lot…” said Trisha.

     “What about you, Leal. Anything we need to know?” asked Bryce.

     “Cabbage makes me pass gas,” he volunteered.

     “Honey, you’re supposed to tell us something we don’t already know,” said Trisha as they all laughed.

     “I don’t give up very easily. I know that can be a good thing, but sometimes we need to be able to know when we’ve done enough,” said Leal.

     “That’s what you have me for,” said Trisha.

     “And that is exactly my point about families. God puts us all together because we need each other,” explained Leal.

     “Well, I for one am happy to have a family, even if we are a little nutty!” said Seanna.

Chapter 28

Metamorphosis

     Samantha was finishing up her School year in Wisconsin while Daffyd continued to grow better physically and spiritually in Mexico. Lucille and Bryson were both at home since Daffyd seemed to be doing well and the clinic suggested they allow their son some time alone with God. Part of their healing process was working through things with the Lord one on one. Daffyd was getting to know God in a way that he never experienced before and was becoming a new man.
His body was not yet cancer free but Samantha still had faith that the call would come.

     She was on her way to visit Pastor Shane’s office after school to talk to him about the next school year. With much prayer and some council from her “family” she had decided not to teach the next year. Daffyd had invited her to move to Montana and stay at Mountain Home until his return. Though they hadn’t discussed any long term plans, they frequently talked about the next few months. With summer fast approaching and summer break for the two college
kids right around the corner, they were all making plans to be together. They didn’t know when Daffyd would be joining them, but they wanted to all be together when he did.

     Samantha was a little nervous about sharing her plans with her Pastor. Not sure if he would see things the same way that she did, but knowing in her heart she was making the right decision. She said a quick prayer before she knocked on the door.

     “Well, Samantha, why don’t you have a seat and tell me what brings you to see me today,” he said gesturing to a chair. 

     “Thanks, Pastor. I guess I’m here for a couple of reasons. First of all
, I wanted to let you know that Daffyd has invited us to come and stay at his home in Montana for the summer.”

     “Oh, is Daffyd coming home soon then?” he asked.

     “We are hoping,” said Samantha with a smile. “But we all want to be there when he does get to come home. Seanna and Daffyd’s nephew, Bryce, have become very close, he’s like the big brother she always wished she’d had. Bryce is also an only child, so he likes having a little sister as well.”