Samuel Jackson

Nova rolled her eyes, but she smiled down at her daughter and nodded encouragingly, “you can say hi, it’s okay.” She told her. It was hard to believe Leah would know her uncle, but she couldn’t help but be happy about it, even if they had missed so much time. Leah waved before telling him she liked Paw Patrol, and Nova sighed, shaking her head. “It’s on all the time.”

“Paw patrol?” He asked raising his eyebrows in amusement, “Who’s your favorite? My personal favorite is Chase,” More so because it was the only one he knew and it was purely based on what he saw in the stores when he was barely paying attention but he figured it would be enough for her to be happy. “Do you two have time for lunch?”

“She’s three.” Nova offered quietly, looking down at her daughter and then up at Sam. No matter how often she had imagined this, it still didn’t feel weird. “Sam, this is Leah.” She added, “Leah, this is your uncle Sam.” She glanced toward her brother nervously. Even if she had no reason for it she still wanted his approval.

“Hi Leah,” He greeted the little girl as he knelt down in front of her with a warm smile, “What’s your favorite show? Or is your mom too cool to let you watch anything fun?” He was happy to see his sister, but now he had missed out on three years of seeing his niece too and it kept breaking my heart.

“Well, I’ve been looking for you but then…well, she happened.” Nova admitted, readjusting her daughter in her arms. “It sort of put a pause on everything.” 

“No I get it. She should have been your focus anyways,” He promised knowing he would have done the same if he was being honest. Besides her happiness meant more to him than anything.

“Oh, my god.” She laughed, shaking her head. “That’s sweet, though. And quite the mental image, actually.”

“Yeah you should have seen me trying to talk my parents into it. But really Nova had us all wrapped around her fingers.”

“In true big brother fashion. So what’d you do?”

“My sister loved tea parties, and so to be a supportive brother the best way I knew how I went out and bought a dress that fit so that she’d have someone at her tea parties.”

“Okay, you might be right. But I think I was promised an embarrassing story.”

“Okay the first thing you need to know before the story is that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my baby sister.”

“I’ve been calling myself pathetic for like, ten minutes, there’s no reason for a front.”

“Except you’re not actually pathetic you’re just wearing rose colored glasses.”

“I doubt you’re that lame.”

“Oh I’m a huge loser. I just put a good front on for you.”

“I’m not sure I’ll ever feel less lame, but yeah please, go for it.”

“I mean I’m far more lame than you’d ever be and you don’t question that so I can make you feel better about yourself.”

“Alright, you might have a point.” Rosalyn agreed, shrugging. “I don’t know, it feels lame. But it might just be me, I wouldn’t know.”

“I can always make you feel less lame by telling you fun stories.”

“He was crazy, but he was something special.” She nodded, smiling to herself as she thought of her brother. “Yeah, you too. It’s nice knowing people older than seven still exist, as lame as that sounds.”

“Aren’t they always something special though?” Samuel asked her shaking his head, “But that doesn’t sound lame at all.”

“Nauseous,” she admitted, feeling her eyes sting but she couldn’t help crying. “I still don’t know that I’m not dreaming, but if this is real then everything is finally perfect.” Nova rambled out, not wanting to let go on him. “Are you…okay? Have you been?”

“I get that. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and that this is all a cruel dream, but I want to enjoy this while I can,” Sam admitted, “I’ve been alright. What have you been up to?”

Nova hesitated, unsure if she was still imagining it. She tightened an arm around Leah before letting herself rush into her brother’s arm and wrap her other arm tightly around him, “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Samuel murmured quietly as he reached up running his hands through her hair, “How are you, sis?”

“I’m pretty sure her dad started aging backwards after she was born, I feel cheated I got the opposite.” She shook her head, letting out a weak laugh. “Rosalyn, by the way.”

“He’s a special kind of man then,” Sam assured her in amusement, “I’m Sam. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah, I’m not a fan of that being real. Having my niece has made it worse, it’s a little scary. The older she gets, the more ancient I feel, it’s not a fun time.”

“I can only imagine what it’s like. I always said the older that Nova got I aged at least five more years.”

“Yeah, Mason was a hellion I spent my whole life trying to imitate, so I don’t know what I was expecting with his daughter. I was probably way worse than she is, time just goes way too fast now.”

“They say the older we get the fast time goes by us. I’m not surprised that it’s true though.”