Howie put his hand under her chin and lifted her head so that her eyes met his. He kissed her lips softly. "Don't cry Sweetie. You didn't do anything wrong." He wiped her tears with his fingers. "I will admit your parents aren't quite what I expected" he whispered "But hopefully the worst of it is over." He pulled Samantha into a tight hug and kissed her hair. "It is OK Sweetie. Don't cry."

Samantha inhaled deeply. She was still trembling. "I warned you my family isn't like yours. I am sorry. I am so sorry Howie." She took another deep breath. "We can leave if you want to. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to get on the next plane out of here and never come back."

"Sam don't be ridiculous!" He kissed her again. "I intend to stay the entire weekend and show your family just how much you mean to me." He cupped her cheek. "Didn't your mom say your nieces and nephews are at the park?" Samantha nodded. "Why don't we walk down there and see how they are doing? I think we could both use some fresh air."

Samantha nodded again and led Howie away from her father's study, down the hall and into a family room where her brothers were watching a soccer match. She hoped they stayed engrossed in the match and didn't look up at her when she spoke. "Howie and I are going to walk down to the park so he can meet the kids." She said as cheerfully as possible. "We will back in a little while."

Christopher looked up from the game. "Oh no Peepers..." A worried look crossed his face. "What happened?" He asked getting up from his chair and coming over to her.

"Rien hormis le père de fait n'a juste traité Howard comme si il n'a absolument aucune intelligence! Il est l'homme le plus grossier que j'ai jamais rencontré dans ma vie!" Nothing aside from the fact father just treated Howard as if he has absolutely no intelligence! He is the rudest man I have ever met in my life! She spat in rapid French, waving her hands in the air to punctuate her words. She pulled Howie from the room before Christopher could get to her.

"Sam wait!" He called after her. "What happened?" He inquired catching her arm.

Samantha gave Christopher and her other two brothers who had joined them in the hallway, a brief synopsis of what had gone on in their father's study.

Peter spoke first. "Howard please forgive my father. He means well." He glanced at his siblings, seemingly asking for confirmation of his statement. "In his own way he means well."

"Howard you have to understand that Samantha is very important to our father." Christopher put his hand on Howie's arm. "Still, that is no excuse to treat you like he did. Please accept our apologies."

For the first time since he had been introduced, Nicholas spoke more than a sentence. "Perhaps as the weekend progresses, our father will come around and see you mean Samantha no harm. There are many factors…" he stopped mid-sentence as Samantha shook her head. "Please don't judge all of us based on how my father reacted to you."

Howie didn't know what to say. "Thank you." It was his turn to take a deep, cleansing breath. He picked up Samantha's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I want you to know that Samantha means everything in the world to me. My life was like a puzzle with the last piece misssing before I met her." He glanced at Samantha and noted she looked like she was going to cry again. He squeezed her hand before continuing. "I realize our relationship may seem sudden to you. My family was taken aback as well when I first told them. All of their fears disappeared when they met Sam a couple weeks ago. They fell in love with her the moment they met her! My sister Pollyanna says she has never seen me as happy as I am now." He looked at each of Samantha's brothers. "There are no longer missing pieces in the puzzle. Samantha completes my life." He pulled Samantha closer to him and gave her a hug. "I love you sweetie." He whispered.

Christopher stepped forward and hugged Howie. "I am beginning to see how much you care for Samantha." He smiled. "You two had better get to the park before it is time to eat. We will see you later."

"Thanks Christopher." Samantha said managing a meek smile. She took Howie's hand and led him through the foyer and out the front door.

Back in the house Christopher turned to his brothers. "Are you guys sensing Samantha isn't going to be a Danner much longer?"

"I think that is a safe assumption" Peter nodded in agreement.

Nicholas concurred, "It is pretty obvious the two of them have deep feelings for each other."

"I just hope dad lets go of the past and doesn't ruin this for Samantha." Christopher added heading back into the family room.