TITLE: Alternative Future #37

SERIES: Stand Alone

AUTHOR/FB etc: snarlsnout@yahoo.com

PAIRING/RATING: Sam/Lily, PG-13y

DATE: Nov 2003

SPOILERS: None

A/N: As always, hot off the keyboard--no spell-check/beta

WARNING: A very brief statement of an unspecified attack on a main character--Not as sensationalism; merely as a fact of life. No offense intended to anyone.

SUMMARY: Wacky Environmentalist Lily gets star status--altho I'm not sure she'll even appear in this one...Just a little concerned about dark clouds on the horizon. I'd say about 5 years from...NOW.

It hadn't gone exactly as planned, but Brooke had finally gotten it all--Josh, the house & picket fence, the fully-loaded mini-van, and 2.5 children.  It was the .5 child that had caused the uncomfortable blonde to relinquish driving duties to her friend Nicole.

A 5 & 12 hour excursion up the coast for Brooke's bi-annual visit with step-sibling Sam. The blonde swiveled as far as her seat-belt allowed and attempted to "sedate & subdue" her bored, squabbling Twin Terrors harnessed into the back seat. At about the 5th chorus of "The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round" Nicole was seriously contemplating abandoning her latest re-hab efforts, subconsciously scanning the strip malls for a liquor store...

The long drive gave Nicole a chance to reflect on all the changes the Kennedy High gangs had undergone. For herself, a five year haze of failed marriage (2) and faltering sobriety (5th time's the charm...). Brooke of course, living the dream. Carmen and SD off to points unknown. Mary Cherry now VP of Dallas-based Cherry Cherry Enterprises...Harrison & Popita (of all things!) now expecting their first repulsive spawn...and of course-- Lily and Sam... Lily_and_Sam!

The irrepressible brunette had blasted-off from HS with a scholarship at Berkeley and an internship at The SF Examiner. Lily had plodded along, getting an "Animal Technician" degree at the area junior college while subjugating herself to the brutal demands of Mr. Clucks. The ever-studious Latina hoping she could eventually complete requirements for a full Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree...

Until Fate stepped in to sucker-punch them of course.

Within 2 years, Sam had returned to the Palace after a vicious attack. The once vibrant, outgoing brunette now withdrawn and pensive. All her peers focused on their own budding careers and/or relationships, no one could really afford the time and patience to help. Mike and Jane did what they could, offering a safe shelter & unconditional acceptance. But for a long while the only thing that brightened the sad brunette's existence was her time spent with baby Mac, and the increasingly frequent visits from Lily. Sam had poured herself into Lily's studies and had even ventured out of the house to attend her graduation ceremony.

Of course Fate "swings both ways" tho--when one door closes...yadda yadda...

Lily had arrived one morning, giddy and giggling. She couldn't have been more happy if Japan had announced a moratorium on commercial whaling...She refused all of Sam's stubborn protests, and with Mike & Jane's blessing (and 3 Stooges'esque struggles) managed to wrangle the reclusive journalist into her fuel-efficient, electric hybrid car...

"Lily! W-Where are we going?!?"

"Road trip Sammy! A place where the trees are taller than the buildings..."

And they'd never came back. Lily had inherited 10 acres from her grandfather. Once part of a larger, and failed, vineyard. Subsequent land sales had reduced her tract to a modest cottage, barn and some scrub timber. But it had been tended with care until the old man was no longer able.

Sam seemed reborn as soon as she stepped out of the car. Her delight fueling Lily's with every new discovery they made--the secluded pond which they both dove into with delicious abandon. The house itself: it's "simpler days" amenities--root cellar, well, weathervane--thank Goddess for indoor plumbing tho...They had planned on staying a week or so, sorting thru all the items her grandparents had accumulated over the years. But seeing Sam so enthusiastic, so alive again, prompted Lily to offer the place to Sam. She didn't particularly like the idea of Sam becoming even more isolated, but the sullen brunette was more animated than she'd been in months.

Over the next weeks they toured the nearest small townand found it a haven for artists, crafts folk and like-minded alternative life-stylers. They bonded with their closest neighbors (a 1/4 mile away via wooded path) Grover and Moonbeam--an Old School Hippie couple who'd migrated to the region in the early 70s. On a whim, Sam had applied for a part-time job at the local bookstore. Her hiring guaranteed her at least enough income to survive. It was settled. They called Mike and Jane and arranged to have her car and scant belongings brought up. Lily figured she would follow the McQueens back down to the city until Sam choked out--

"L-Lily...Please...stay with me."

And that had been all it took. Their love for each other growing in tandem with the love they invested in building their new home. Lily worked part-time at a Vet's office constantly bringing home more mouths to feed--a blind horse, 3 legged dogs etc. She completed training and eventually seemed determined to take over Moonbeam's mid-wife practice. Their garden grew more productive with 3 consecutive seasons; they'd learned to preserve foods themselves from some elderly farm-wives eager to pass their knowledge on (their own children having abandoned the family farms for the lure of the cities). Harrison had come up the following summer and helped them rewire the entire house to run solely on 3 old wind-driven generators they'd scrounged. Solar panels for hot water were a priority on next year's budget, along with the high-tech Swedish composting toilet...Deadfall and scrub trees provided seldom needed firewood w/o harming their carefully planned ecosystem.

Not all their pursuits were physical in nature-- Sam had computer access and free-time at the bookstore and had slowly gotten more involved with Environmental causes and reportings--still the journalist; just using a different (earth-friendly) medium. The D.V.M. Lily worked for helping her schedule her needed classes and tutoring her on the more intense studies.

And yet some pursuits were most enjoyably physical-- neither quite sure how they'd consummated their feelings for each other; only that it had happened, and continued happening with increasing passion, commitment and frequency! Lily secretly thanking The Goddess every morning for allowing Sam to heal, to become the vital, productive, vibrant young woman she'd always been meant to be...

Which pretty much leads us back to--

Sam and Brooke exchanged a delighted hug on the front porch, Sam meticulously prodding/inspecting the slender blonde's cantaloupe-sized belly-swell. Josh Jr. and Amanda now cavorting with several refugee canines in the yard. A scream and a car door slam draw the McSisters' attention to poor Nicole. Thru a barely cracked window--

"Spam! Help! I did not drive 400 miles to be mauled by a pit-bull!"

"You do realize this is a goat, don't you Nicole?" Sam teased as she shooed the curious creature, "I'd have thought Satan would be more familiar--"

"If that thing takes another chomp out of my Prada, it's going to be house-shoes for Mary Cherry" Nic huffed not altogether unplayfully...

Later, as dusk descended on the small homestead, Sam and Nicole sipped tea in the kitchen listening to delighted squeals of Brooke and her kids out back playing with the malformed menagerie. Sam rose to attend a simmering pot of vegan stew, leaving Nicole to answer the door--

"OMG! Spam--It's Charlie Manson! Quick, call 911!"

"Chill, Oh Hyper One" Sam brushed past the coiled-and-ready-to-strike little blonde to grant the bearded behemoth entrance--"Nicole. Grover."

The 2 eyed each other distrustfully as Sam led them both to the table. Sam imaging the gears stripping in Nicole's head if she told her that life indeed goes on after severing the umbilical cord w/ Ma Bell (tho they had contemplated a cell phone or ham radio for emergencies...)

"Don't be alarmed OK Sam? Lil just called our place--They got arrested again up in Medford for chaining themselves to bulldozers...looks like she'll have to spend 24 hours in holding...Figure I'll drive up tomorrow and post bail..."

Nicole shuddered with repulsion as Sam gratefully kissed the face buried under the scraggly beard. Then pulled a loaf of bread out of the oven and gave it to the departing messenger...

Sam turned back to the stove, as the stillness that followed was interrupted by Nic's scoff--"All this time and she's ~still~ convinced she can save the world!"

Sam kept one of her Sweet-Sammy-Smiles to herself, along with the thought--"And she started w/ me."

End.